...you may as well
Forbid the sea for to obey the moon...
-William Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale

...
Immortality does not make a person immune to time; if anything, it makes it easier to believe that time is somehow meaningless, that every hour, once spent, will be replaced with a dozen more. The world doesn't work that way. Perhaps it did once, but that was in Faerie, and Faerie, as we all know too well, is another country.

One of the overarching themes of Seanan McGuire's October Daye series is that Faerie is dying, a slow moment by moment loss of mystery and decay of magic brought about largely by the arrogance of the Fae. These stories are loss writ large, across the tragedies of a handful of beautiful, wonderful heroes we her readers have come to know and love so well. We read, knowing each time that she is going to rip our hearts out, rip out her own to tell us this story.

And, damn, but she's done it again. Another beautiful loss. I admit I was cringing a little at first; I didn't really want to see Tybalt in another romance. (I hate romance small r in most all stories, but when I 'ship, I 'ship hard.) But then the light turned and I realized just who the actual interest was and she had me hooked, set up like a fool for the blow I knew was coming. (Regarding that interest, don't click if you don't want it spoiled (and don't read the book summary or any other reviews), but I can't contain my glee:The part of me that adores [b:Captive Prince: Volume One|9305362|Captive Prince Volume One (Captive Prince, #1)|C.S. Pacat|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1356028113s/9305362.jpg|14188292] started squealing like a girl, m/m! m/m! Why didn't somebody tell me that the incomparable Seanan McGuire had written an m/m story?!? *End squee.*)

What I love the most about her is how well she understands who her characters are. Nothing ruins a story faster than an author who betrays her characters for a plot (or anything else), and you just don't have to worry about that with McGuire. Everything in Tybalt, Cait Sidhe that he is, says cat at all times: his boredom, his willingness to chase down a whim, his refusal to do the sensible thing. This whole story, perfect cat-ness. And, wow. That epigraph.

So, the point. You need to have read at least through [b:One Salt Sea|10783217|One Salt Sea (October Daye #5)|Seanan McGuire|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312045992s/10783217.jpg|14735184] in the series, or this story will not really carry the power it should, as some things will not make immediate sense. So, if you've read that far, it's free at http://www.seananmcguire.com/tobyshorts.php in epub, mobi or pdf. Go. Read now. You will be glad you did. If you haven't started the series, I highly recommend [b:Rosemary and Rue|6294549|Rosemary and Rue (October Daye #1)|Seanan McGuire|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1406866868s/6294549.jpg|6478937], at least to see if McGuire's rendition of Faerie (the only one I have ever cared about, myself) is the fairy tale for you. ( )

Enjoyable short story set 10 years after Tybalt's ascension to the King of Cats in London, when he is the only Cait Sidhe in the Kingdom. This features his affair with a selkie man, and was sweet but wasn't my favorite of the shorts. Tybalt is a new king at this point, especially since he's had no subjects in town for the majority of his rule. The affair with Dylan was sweet, but obviously doomed from the start. (I don't see anyone reading this short without having read some of the novels in the series, and I don't recall Dylan ever being mentioned. Therefore I didn't expect their fling to last even for as long as it did.)

That said, I did enjoy the short story. Also, it's worth reading for Tybalt's humor alone. ( )

me: I know this short story is a prequel so it technically doesn't have spoilers, but it is recommended to be read after book 5 for best emotional impact, so I really shouldn't read it early because I'm only about to start book 3

me, a few hours later: yeah actually fuck that, I can just re-read it after book 5

--

This story reinforced the feeling that Tybalt is my favourite character ever. Also, ouch. ( )

A little love story about a catty fairy and a selkie before I start the October Daye series. ( )

Heartbreaking. This, maybe, was the actual moment when Rand became Tybalt. ( )