Ancillary Mercy: Chapter 1 discussion!

[kaberett]

Don't have Chapter 1 yet? You can get it by signing up for a low-traffic Ann Leckie-specific mailing list. (Warning: that link takes you to her 17th post in a series that's parcelling out chapter 1 in advance of publication. It is very nearly an essentially spoiler-free sentence, however.)

SO. What are your thoughts? :D

Comments

[kaberett]

the majority of my reaction is BREQ. B R E Q. BREQ THAT IS SOME FIRST-GRADE A+ BREQ-ING YOU'VE GOT GOING ON THERE.

Like, the sheer level of oblivious it takes to ponder how uncomfortable the Amaats might be "flooding [Seivarden] with tiny intimacies" while Seivarden is acting for Ship to make your morning tea, after Kalr Twelve hugged you for ship...!

All of which is to say, really, that I am endlessly delighted by how thoroughly unreliable a narrator Breq is, and how easy it is to get sucked into considering her a flawless objective omniscient observer or, to perhaps put it another way, to believe what she believes about herself...

[hokuton_punch]

BREQ ARE YOU EVEN PAYING ATTENTION TO HOW MUCH MERCY OF KALR ADORES YOU, I MEAN REALLY. *_* It's fabulous.

[vass]

COSIGNED.

It is the best quality obliviousness, and I am eating it up with a spoon.

And then we come to the gravity malfunction, and then to THAT paragraph (the one ending "Had I thought that? Why would I ever think that?") and I just... that sentiment where you really want to hug someone except not because they would not like that at all?

Breq: "a favorite officer's tea was never cold."
One page later, Seivarden, not even prompted by Ship: "Your tea is getting cold."

"Seivarden, who had always been oblivious to her ships' feelings" oh god. I mean, she's not wrong about Seivarden and her previous ships, but LOOK WHO IS TALKING HERE.

[hokuton_punch]

I HAVE ALL THE BREQ/MERCY OF KALR FEELINGS. ABSOLUTELY ALL OF THEM. ;o; And all of the Mercy of Kalr feelings in general. I do love to see an AI growing. ♥

[vass]

Months ago, before all of this, I started compiling quotes for a (as yet unfinished) meta post about Seivarden and Mercy of Kalr's friendship.

Most of those quotes have now become things Breq could use as evidence for how Seivarden is obviously Mercy of Kalr's favourite. (I do not think Breq's interpretation is right, obvs.)

But they're also evidence for how much Seivarden's grown, and how if she were Ship's favourite, she wouldn't be as likely to hurt Ship as Breq's thinking. Their dialogue with each other is so much fun. And then this happens:

"There's been some speculation in our decade room. It's unusual to find a fleet captain in command of a Mercy. We've been wondering if Fleet Captain Breq isn't going to send Captain Hetnys here and take Sword of Atagaris for herself. It is the faster and the better armed of the two, after all."
Seivarden blinked. Said, in a dangerously even tone, "Don't underestimate Mercy of Kalr."

And then:

"Fleet Captain Breq will do as she thinks best. But in the interest of preventing further misunderstanding" -- she leaned on that word just a bit -- "let me say clearly and unequivocally that the next time you threaten this ship you'd best be able to make good on it."

But mainly, just... I am so all about this as an OT3 where Seivarden and Ship are buddies whose first point of commonality was both loving Breq, but who have come to like each other on their own merits too.