Notes

I only sort-of cheated on that beast of a chapter. In the re-workings of the behemoth from the first draft, I had, as mentioned, decided to move some chunks around. What I didn't realize, until I went to work on this one today, was that this chunk? Was originally written from Carey's viewpoint, and Meres was his companion. Which means that everything Carey said, Meres was now saying, and everything Meres did in reaction, Azal was now doing.

So, I basically re-wrote the entire thing. I kept the old stuff at the bottom of the screen for reference, and so some of the content was kept (i.e., they said much of the same things as before), but the wording, the setting, all that was changed. What Meres' reactions would have been are not what Azal's would be. And then I added in lots, took some things out, moved a sentence I liked out of a paragraph I cut...

I have no idea how this was all accomplished today. Let's not discuss today, it was not a happy evening, except for the amazingness of my coworkers.

I am likely going to cheat my way out of naming the actual books they're looking at, at least for November. Enoch, I need to re-read before adding much detail here. And I suppose I should look into the Babylonian stuff some more as well, I haven't read anything directly, apart from Gilgamesh (which I also should re-read).

Two things about this chunk that are making me superhappy right now:
1) Giving myself a freaking sweet loophole, in the line about how a single mispronounced syllable in an incantation can screw the whole thing up. I'd been worrying more and more about how close the names I've used for the characters are to the grigori listed in Enoch. Meres - Meresin? really? he forgot that? But I think the point I made is a really good one, and enough to stand on.

2) Azalya. Only Meres would call Azal this. I am so in love with this pet name. (Once at home with internet, I double-checked the meaning of azaleas - an unintended connection. Romance and temperance. Which at first made me laugh, that seemed so far off... but then I realized, maybe not? Because Azal shows extreme temperance in his romances - he keeps things strictly physical, and does not let his emotions become attached, after having been stricken so hard after his first human love.)

I. Love. This. Story.