New microfiction on the site

[Arjan]

It was Christmas Eve, and perhaps she cleared it with the angels that she meant no harm.

She can not do harm. She was a guest and I think the angels just know that. And the carpenters have the cobs living downstairs.

[Mira]

She can not do harm. She was a guest and I think the angels just know that. And the carpenters have the cobs living downstairs.

Oh she can always do harm, but perhaps not on Christmas Eve.  Also there might be just enough humanity left in her that she can pass the threshold?  They didn't apparently stop the Turtlenecks either, and while they are not totally human anymore, they still fit in that category and entered.  It is indeed a weakness in the guardian angel defense.

[Arjan]

Oh she can always do harm, but perhaps not on Christmas Eve.  Also there might be just enough humanity left in her that she can pass the threshold?  They didn't apparently stop the Turtlenecks either, and while they are not totally human anymore, they still fit in that category and entered.  It is indeed a weakness in the guardian angel defense.

Mab can not do harm in the carpenters house because she is a guest and a Side. It is hard coded in her nature, she simply can not. She can wait outside of course but that is different.

As explained Sidhe can pass a threshold and then they are bound by the rules of hospitality. That is how the brownies could clean Harry’s appartement. That is how Mab could fix little Chicago and enter the carpenters home. That is what was explained when Thomas insulted Cat Sith in cold days. Cat Sith popped up suddenly inside the threshold and because he was a guest he did not rip Thomas entrails out but started to educate him.

She is also not stupid enough to insult Uriel by doing such a thing but that is beside the point.

Sith directed his eyes to Thomas and said, “While I am here, I am bound by the same traditions as would apply were I your invited guest,” he said. “I will offer no harm to anyone you have accepted into your home, nor take any action which would be considered untoward for a guest. I will report nothing of what I see and hear in this place, and make every effort to aid and assist your household and other guests while I remain.”

There is even more information there giving details. Mab came in without evil intent and was bound by the rules of hospitality. Another reason for her to bring a gift.

[Mira]

There is even more information there giving details. Mab came in without evil intent and was bound by the rules of hospitality. Another reason for her to bring a gift.

I doubt that her intent has anything to do with it, it is more about who she is.  I say that because Mr Grey wouldn't enter the Carpenter yard for fear of the angel guard, even though at that point in time he had no evil intent.  Or at least he didn't want to push it.

[Arjan]

I doubt that her intent has anything to do with it, it is more about who she is.  I say that because Mr Grey wouldn't enter the Carpenter yard for fear of the angel guard, even though at that point in time he had no evil intent.  Or at least he didn't want to push it.

The point is that because she is Sidhe the angels can be sure she is not doing any harm as a guest. Her nature is simply different from Grey.

Mab can not pass the threshold with evil intent. That is not who she is. And that is why the angels let her in.

[Mira]

The point is that because she is Sidhe the angels can be sure she is not doing any harm as a guest. Her nature is simply different from Grey.

Mab can not pass the threshold with evil intent. That is not who she is. And that is why the angels let her in.

I think it is more complicated or perhaps more simple, why was Ethinu confident that the Turtlenecks would get past the angels?

[Arjan]

I think it is more complicated or perhaps more simple, why was Ethinu confident that the Turtlenecks would get past the angels?

Apparently because they were human enough for that purpose or the ones chosen for that mission were. The distinction between human and not human is vague in the dresdenverse.

But that has nothing to do with why Mab was allowed to enter because she is clearly not human enough and would have been stopped if she was a threat. She clearly was not and the hospitality rules for Sidhe explain why.

[Telynn]

Kringle is St Nicholas (of course) so whilst he is Mab’s vassal he also does Uriel’s work, which is how on Christmas Eve he is able to get into the Carpenters without being bug zapped. Their lunch I suspect is a planning session taking place on St Nicholas Saints Day, 6th December.

We know on a related note from The Good Folk that Harry has taken back the Placard from McAnally, as the “Royal Guard” we’re able to break into his ale store.

I would think some little fairies breaking in to raid the kegs would be a bit beneath what the placard is for.  I doubt whatever it does would kick in for that sort of thing.  Seems like the wording implied people being protected. 

[Mira]

I would think some little fairies breaking in to raid the kegs would be a bit beneath what the placard is for.  I doubt whatever it does would kick in for that sort of thing.  Seems like the wording implied people being protected.

The Placard may have already been returned to the island for safe keeping.  And stealing a keg or two of ale doesn't actually hurt anyone.  I wouldn't be shocked if that had done it before and that Mac actually takes that into account when he makes his ale, that a keg or two would be lost to greedy little Brownies and Pixies.  They need beer to go with all that pizza, right?

[Con]

No Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer?!?!?!

He has more childhood belief than there is in Eldest Gruff or the Erlking.

[Arjan]

No Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer?!?!?!

He has more childhood belief than there is in Eldest Gruff or the Erlking.

But he is also pretty recent and maybe Kringle just does not like him.

[Kindler]

It is mainly about the let the world burn mentality and what he did to Molly. Harry breaks himself about killing Susan but that was not the point, Susan wanted it and for good reasons. I do not think the killing of Susan was considered evil at all. There was not that much attention to it given in ghost story as a thing Harry had to learn about.

Personally, I've always thought Changes was about Harry's personal chickens coming home to roost—the consequences of all of his decisions between Storm Front (really, everything he'd done since Justin) and Turn Coat. The friends (and enemies) he'd made, the Big Things he'd done, the cataclysms he'd stopped... all of it came to a head, and he was left with a terrible situation. We know how he "resolved" that. But, in my opinion, the plot of Changes was still very much happening with Harry; it was his own, personal comeuppance. Naturally, Harry's comeuppance isn't focused on making him suffer. It's centered on making someone he cares about suffer, because that's what would suck more for him. The fact that the heartripper ritual would kill him too almost doesn't even matter to him.
Ghost Story was about the impact of Harry's decisions (including the genocide and subsequent suicide) on everyone else. It's about showing him the debris field of him bullrushing through a dozen or two major events and mistakenly believing that he was the one paying for all the damage he caused. He paid for a lot of it, but not all of it; others wound up trying to cover the remainder of the bill. And now he wasn't there to even help...provide... cover for the dine-and-dash? The metaphor is getting away from me.
Anyway, I see Changes and Ghost Story as mainly illustrating two sets of consequences of The Decisions of One Harry Dresden, Mad Wizard and Defender of Little Guys: the first for himself, the second for everyone else.

On the microfiction: this kinda ties in really well with my thoughts on the Defenders of the Bean. Molly is expanding Harry's reputation tremendously here. Makes me wonder what kind of impact that's going to have later on, if any.

[vincentric]

I think that this will draw the Librarians directly to Harry and hopefully he'll become a n informal liaison between the the Magical and Mortal worlds. Maybe he'll even get Tilly(transferred) or someone like him as a regular contact and Bradley(also transferred) in charge of SI.

[BrainFireBob]

I think that this will draw the Librarians directly to Harry and hopefully he'll become a n informal liaison between the the Magical and Mortal worlds. Maybe he'll even get Tilly(transferred) or someone like him as a regular contact and Bradley(also transferred) in charge of SI.

You realize this is a happily-ever-after scenario? And those don't happen in Dresden?

[Dina]

We don't know, when we arrive to the ending, we will see