In the seventh chapter of A Hat Full of Sky<\/i>, I refuse to forgive any of you for this. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Discworld<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For extensive talk of bullying, abuse, and death<\/b><\/p>\n
I am upset<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Mrs. Earwig (pronounced Ah-Wij)<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n I feel like it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kind of damning all by itself that Mrs. Earwig doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t truly suspect that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something wrong with Tiffany. To me, it speaks volumes to where her mind is at. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m feeling much more confident in my assertion that Mrs. Earwig and her pupils are obsessed with image over function. They have an interest in presenting themselves a specific way, and anyone who doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t conform to Earwig\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s opinions is met with suspicion. Like, she judges Tiffany for wearing green<\/i>. THAT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S IT. That is the only thing worthy of suspicion! The color of clothing! But this was the part that made me realize just how ridiculous Mrs. Earwig really was:<\/p>\n Tiffany looked around\u00e2\u20ac\u201d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe hiver looked around<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u201d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u201dand thought: I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to be the strongest. When I am strongest, I shall be safe. That<\/i> one is week. She thinks you can buy magic.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n WELL, THERE WE GO. And you can see how this manifests later once we learn about the magic shop, because\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get there. Because\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 look, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m conflicted. I love few things more than bullies and abusers getting their comeuppance, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s probably not at all surprising that someone like me would enjoy stories like that. So, yes, I admit I kinda<\/i> wanted to see if Annagramma would get a little taste of her own medicince! That being said, I also can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deny that what does<\/i> transpire made me deeply, deeply uncomfortable. This isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t how I wanted it to happen. I know that part of the reason this is so frustrating is because Tiffany<\/i> isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the one getting closure. And as far as I can tell, Annagramma doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t actually learn that her behavior is terrible! She just adapts to the situation and decides to be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153friends\u00e2\u20ac\u009d with Tiffany because Tiffany appears to have power. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s advantageous for her to keep Tiffany in her life! (Which is ironic, since the hiver is literally doing the same with Annagramma in order to amass allies for itself.)\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Oh god, it all gets so much<\/i> worse, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all.<\/p>\n The Matter of Brian<\/b><\/p>\n HI, WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS BODY HORROR NIGHTMARE??!?!?!?! Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, the chapter title is a goddamn pun, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a terrifying<\/i> one. I truly think this is one of the most upsetting sequences in the entirety of the Discworld<\/i> series, and there are so many reasons why I feel that way. Part of it is because this hiver is controlling Tiffany\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s body, and the imagery of that is creepy enough all by itself. An eleven-year-old girl is the one enacting so much violence and terror on the world around them. Within this, though, there is<\/i> an exposure of the fraudulent magical beliefs that Mrs. Earwig, ZakZak, Annagramma, and many others hold. Which I suspect that, deep down, Tiffany is <\/i>learning about? Maybe not\u00e2\u20ac\u201dshe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just a little<\/i> bit occupied for the moment. Regardless, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m certainly learning about this! ZakZak peddles magic and magical wares to people, knowing full well that all<\/i> of it is bullshit. On some level, do his customers know it, too? I could understand Annagramma believing it all; she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s young. But Mrs. Earwig? Does she purchase things from him? Does she believe they work?<\/p>\n Anyway, it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take long for Hiver Tiffany to wreak her havoc upon ZakZak\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shop, and it is so unnerving to me that one of the things the hiver does is toy with a person\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perception of reality. Twice in this chapter, Hiver Tiffany causes significant damage with magic, then immediately \u00e2\u20ac\u0153fixes\u00e2\u20ac\u009d whatever was broken, making it appear like it was never broken in the first place. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a bold display that is clearly meant to show the extent of the hiver\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s abilities inside Tiffany. At any moment, she can tear you apart, only to put you back together on her whims. Which is a understated way of referring to the matter of Brian, ZakZak\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153security\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153wizard\u00e2\u20ac\u009d who threatens unruly and rude patrons with his magical abilities. Of which he has none, mind you, because he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a wizard by any stretch of the imagination. So when ZakZak tries to eject Tiffany after Hiver Tiffany is rude to him, it\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go well. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no way to just summarize this because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an experience. A waking nightmare. So wrong and gory and YET IT ALL HAPPENED.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ha! That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just a figure of speech!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d snapped ZakZak. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to see you<\/i> turn someone into a frog!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Wish granted,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Tiffany, and waved the wand.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So, not that<\/i> bad in the grand scheme of things, right? It definitely felt like a powerful demonstration of magic and a bit of a shocker, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not exactly unheard of in a fantasy universe, right?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even the worst thing in this fucking chapter:<\/p>\n ZakZak didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t look at the frog. He was looking at the thing that went gloop, gloop<\/i>. It was like a large pink balloon full of water, quite pretty really, wobbling gently against the ceiling.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve killed him!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he mumbled.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What? Oh, no. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just the stuff he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need right now. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sort of\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 spare<\/i> Brian.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Who hurt you, Terry Pratchett? Why are you doing this to me??? WHO ALLOWED THIS?!?!?! I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even have anything smart to say about this because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still<\/i> disturbed. As horrible as Annagramma has been, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even say I enjoyed watching her scurry away from Hiver Tiffany, begging Hiver Tiffany not to do the same to her. The whole thing is just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so, so much further than I thought Pratchett would take this, AND IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S STILL NOT THE FURTHEST THING.<\/p>\n Granny Weatherwax<\/b><\/p>\n At least there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one<\/i> major sign of hope in this book: Hiver Tiffany\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s use of such powerful magic caused ripples that woke Granny from a long period of Borrowing, and SHE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S GONNA GET INVOLVED. Oh my god, I CAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T WAIT. What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fascinating about this is that I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know who will affect the ending of this book more: Tiffany, the Nac Mac Feegles, or Granny Weatherwax. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like a big race to a solution! That being said, I feel like Tiffany\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s struggle is the most important of them. She has to consistently maintain her identity and her sense of self before the hiver pushes her out entirely. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the hardest part of all of this.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The PLN<\/b><\/p>\n OF COURSE THEY DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T HAVE AN ACTUAL PLAN. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the Nac Mac Feegle! This is what they do: they show up and they\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 fight? Everything and anything? Lots of stealing, too. And drinking! And do they even need to do anything else? Except this is where Pratchett reveals that despite them not having a PLN, they do<\/i> have an ability no one else does: they can get inside Tiffany\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s head through her dreams. Now, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know if Hiver Tiffany even needs to sleep. Eventually, right? Tiffany\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s body is still human, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel like the hiver can get around that. But then\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 what? Can they help her once they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re on the inside? And how<\/i>? Rob says there is<\/i> a possibility of keeping Tiffany\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s real self alive:<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If we can track her doon,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said the gonnagle. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If we can find the wee bitty bit o\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 her that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still her<\/i>. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a bonny fighter when she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s roused. Ye see, mistress, a mind\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like a world itself. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be hidin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 in it somewhere, lookin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 oout through her own eyes, listenin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 wi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 her own ears, tryin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to make people hear, tryin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 no\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to let yon beast find her\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be hunting her all the time, trying tae break her doon\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve definitely seen some of this already! So, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still fighting, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like the Nac Mac Feegle can be support soldiers in her mind, right? Oh god, what does her mind look<\/i> like? I CAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T WAIT TO SEE THIS.<\/p>\n Tiffany\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Return<\/b><\/p>\n I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve commented multiple times at this point at how often this book has escalated and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all happening sooner than I anticipated. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all child\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s play compared to what happens here. I had not figured out that Hiver Tiffany had stolen money from Mr. Weavall, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the final straw for Miss Level, who finally<\/i> decides to confront the hiver. At worst, I assumed that Hiver Tiffany would escape again and just not<\/i> come back to Miss Level\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s. She didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need her anymore, right? Why stick around?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n (I HATE TYPING THAT BECAUSE IT IS TRUE THAT HIVER TIFFANY DIDN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T NEED MISS LEVEL AT ALL AND I AM SO UPSET<\/b>)<\/p>\n And for a moment, there was a flash of hope. Tiffany tricked the hiver into Borrowing, allowing Tiffany to appear fully<\/i> in her body, only for the hiver to lash out, and\u00e2\u20ac\u201d<\/p>\n The hiver turned.<\/i><\/p>\n The hiver struck<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The hiver\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 killed<\/i>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I know that Miss Level is not a twin, and yet I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ignore how much this stings as<\/i> a twin. Miss Level has always had another version of herself nearby, and this is an epic tragedy. How? How is Miss Level supposed to live with only one<\/i> body?<\/p>\n I AM TRULY FUCKING UPSET.<\/p>\n https:\/\/youtu.be\/P7ueWPG2UzY<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – My YA contemporary debut, ANGER IS A GIFT<\/a>, is now out in the world!\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the seventh chapter of A Hat Full of Sky, I refuse to forgive any of you for this. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Discworld.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[451],"tags":[551,463,248],"class_list":["post-4647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discworld","tag-a-hat-full-of-sky","tag-mark-reads-discworld","tag-terry-pratchett"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4647\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}