"Yes, I think that if there is a possible behavior that will make us inclined to let him go or do something else which is tolerable to him, we should tell him what it is, and if there isn't then we should make it the case that he gets less of what he wants if he instead spends this decade giving both sides in the civil war that'll ensue when he's deposed nukes or something, and if there is no way to give him less of what he wants because we're set on killing him and he's purely selfish, then I think there should be another one of him at his side the whole decade."

"I'll pass that along. I think the thing he actually wants is his Findekáno being returned to him though."

He mumbles some inventive curse words he learned from Cricket. 

"He asked if there was a way to make him forget him."

"Is that an Elf thing because it sounds extreme even for an Elf thing. But. If he actually wants that which is tremendously fucked up I could probably do it. Especially if Elf Dad comes through on working memory."

"I don't know if it's an Elf thing. ...It's possible it was a sounding-really-dramatic-so-we'd-feel-sorry-for-him thing though."

"Did it work?"

"On Mama a little bit maybe but she'll know it shouldn't have."

"I feel weird about developing a memory-altering spell just to call his bluff but I will at least consider it."

"He could go to a Vala about it, I'm probably going to go to one to get something I don't want removed, but the Valar do not like him as much as they like me so it probably isn't an appealing prospect."

"Probably not."

"Explaining incarnates to Valar is kinda fun."

"What are you getting removed?"

"I have all the memories the guy Mama usurped ever copied, and he took them from a lot of people. One of them was my dad."

"...ah."

"I would love to hear more about the vampire revolution."

Elspeth will tell the story of the vampire revolution! It is very exciting and parts of it are horrible!

He will be a good audience and be excited at the exciting parts and horrified at the horrifying ones!

Iobel is also these things! She is particularly appalled about Chelsea!

He clutches her hand and is equally appalled about Chelsea.

And eventually it is Elspeth's bedtime and she teleports home four hops to go to bed.

"I want one," remarks Iobel.

"...ooooh. Do you think it's - however this absurd thing works - will you get one regardless, first child of a Bell, or do you need the father to be an alternate of her father, or is it even possible..."

"I have absolutely no idea, and I don't fancy guessing six times till we figure it out," Iobel says. "But if we do ever observationally form a solid model of however this absurd thing works and I can have one of those I want one, she's great. - Well, I'd probably ask her first. And would probably want to know that her template doesn't come inextricably attached to the story of her life, because there are parts of that I'd sooner skip."

"We seem to exist without the horrifying tragedy that afflicted all of our alts so far. I occasionally worry that just means it's in the future, but. Seems unlikely."

"Yeah, it's just there's only the one of her so far. Your family seems to be obligatory and mine's not; maybe her story is obligatory."