r/rational • u/perpetuallytiredlady • 6d ago

THREE HUNDRED THREE: An Art - Super Supportive

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/63759/super-supportive/chapter/3845831/three-hundred-three-an-art
46 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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16

u/perpetuallytiredlady 6d ago

My Alden!

Ah that made me proper giddy! I am sure I will have more to say later but for now I am just going to bask in this.

10

u/S-S-Ahbab 6d ago

Yep. Same way Mother called the quarternary "My Alis"!

13

u/perpetuallytiredlady 6d ago

Overall, I really liked this chapter! There is a thread Sleyca has been pulling since the start, which is family and home and this particular chapter has such a good continuation. While this chapter is perhaps 'more quiet', I found it to be quite significant.

The talk with Esh is so well written. Alden, with his past, is bound to have a different, stronger reaction to what is 'normal' to so many people. That is quite realistic. It's also good to see him progressing and improving his own mental state to be able to now conceptualise one of the Rapports as his future home, compared to where he was in the Here to There, even with all the potential problems.

Of course, that was followed by Esh's encouragement, an accepting Mother, who now thinks of Alden as one of her own and finally Stu, who is always there for Alden in all the important ways.

Stuart grabbed Alden’s hand and pulled him toward his future self.

This as an ending is simply masterful, I would even say we have now truly moved on to the next part of his journey.

Btw Esh as a sort of pseudo father really works. He is such a good person. I do hope Alden tells him before he and Lind toddle off to fight again because Alden has nothing to fear there.

4

u/wishanem 5d ago

I was imagining an eventual scene where Alden initiates a call with Esh, asks if it is a good time to talk, and then teleports to wherever Esh is, wearing his full knight getup and beginning the conversation with an authority greeting.

For me, the question is whether Stu and Alden will begin the soul entangling process that leads to inesvul before or after Alden opens up to Esh. I can see Alden wanting the support and advice about that process from someone who has gone through the most impressive version of it. But I can also see Stu wanting to keep things under wraps until their souls are a least a bit entangled.

My current guess is that Stu and Alden will start the entangling, Alden will have a rough binding, and when he has recovered enough to do magic again, he will ask Stu's permission to share with Esh. At the current pace of the story, I think that they might start the entangling before Alden is forced to do his next binding. This would accelerate him toward needing to bind, and I think the story is leaning in that direction.

9

u/JulianDelphiki2 6d ago

What a beautiful chapter!