#rodrick myndacious

[cassianandfenrysaremyboyos]

Rory's eyes go straight to Sybil when everyone else is looking at Four! He thinks she's the pretty one!

[jadedbugart]

Sybil and Rory 🦋🗡️🤍

alternate versions below the cut:

[hexedlawyer]

Elain Archeron ("innocent and naive" seer with mommy issues that was traumatized by being forced to drown in the magical water that everyone worships and getting magic in her blood from drowning) whos LI is a hot emo guy

🤝🤝🤝

Sybil Delling ("innocent and naive" diviner with mommy issues that was traumatized by being forced to drown in the magic spring that everyone worships and getting magic in her blood from drowning) who's LI is a hot emo guy

[moplayspoke]

I met Rachel Gillig this week while she was on her Knight and the Moth tour.

Charming woman, etc etc but I also was able to write down the majority of takeaways from her interview and follow up audience Q & A featuring some sneak peeks on the sequel.

(BEWARE OF SPOILERS)

This was all originally posted on my bluesky (mo.seeks.quest) thread so I will be referencing posts from there.

1. The Knight and the Moth was like a conglomerate of inspirations including but not limited to: Legend of Zelda, A Knight’s Tale

2. She listens to music while she writes and you can find her playllist for it on spotify… what is with every author being obsessed with Sleep Token? Conspiracy

This is her spotify playlist for The Knight and The Moth: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Jr0DumKr1Ym63wGceG7eI?si=fb1AJczbTDqls3E4ujc6vw&pi=iDrosKscT12xL

3. The sequel to Knight and the Moth has already been drafted. It’s going through editing right now. No official date yet but it does have a title which has not been announced yet.

4. For the sequel she was inspired by a Knight’s Tale especially. And if she had to sum it up in one word it would be “tournament”. If that gives you a clue on what it’s going to be about.

5. Everyone loves the gargoyle character and basically the gargoyle isn’t inspired by anyone, it’s just Rachel’s own inner monologue coming out. So really that was all her cracking those jokes.

6. The gargoyle is also her favorite character.

7. If she had to pick any MMC of hers she would pick Elm (heavy, HEAVY audience pressure)

8. If she had to live in any world she wrote (Shepherd King vs Stonewater Kingdom) she would pick the Stonewater Kingdom because she claims to be a victim of her own clumsiness and would immediately die in the mists.

9. Rodrick/Rory from The Knight and the Moth was inspired by Tomino, the Belgian/Egyptian music artist who has rings on his ears and eyeliner or “guyliner” and finds him hot.

10. She is also a “pantser” and not a “plotter” which surprised a lot of people. A pantser being someone who writes “by the seat of their pants” and does not have a plan or outline.

She has a general idea of what she wants to do and makes her characters before she writes what is going to happen.

11. A lot of her research was just watching renfare festivals for outfit ideas and knighthood gear.

Note: She found out they used animal feces to cast custom knight gear on their bodies when researching the “Wax” chapter in a Knight in a Moth. Renfare people used something similar to wax so she was happy to use that instead obviously.

“Ew that is so not sexy!”

12. She really doesn’t get to read much being busy writing and reading for blurbs from the publisher. It’s similar for other authors.

13. Her and other authors basically get NO say when it comes to what their book looks like, how many special editions it has, how many bonus features it has etc. That is all controlled by the publisher.

She did mention if you’re a big author you eventually may get some say in that process.

14. Easiest character to write — the gargoyle

Most difficult character to write — Benji

She clarifies that Benji was difficult to write because she had to make sure certain subtleties are there and that can be challenging.

15. Someone asked her if she got to choose a medium in which her book would see the big screen would she do 2D tv show, live action tv show, movie, or musical.

“Oooh musical? Trying to imagine Elspeth singing and dancing LOL”

She also mentioned having a 2D tv show like castlevania would be cool.

16. SPOILER FOR KNIGHT IN THE MOTH BELOW

—

She also affectionally called her book tour an “apology” tour knowing how people are going through the motions after that ending. And she apologizes for it (kinda).

—-

SPOILER FOR KNIGHT AND THE MOTH ABOVE

17. She has never written fanfiction. Ever.

She has written random stories for herself when she was younger but only ever for herself. No one else has read them.

18. When asked what her takeaway was after her first series (The Shepherd King duology), she first said she didn’t learn anything (joke) then mentioned The Stonewater Kingdom was a challenge for her in terms of having an open world (Whoo Legend of Zelda inspiration) and how these various places would connect, look, interact, etc.

She made her map (she sketched a cruse looking one herself first), made her magic system, made her characters and started from there.

19. There was no single inspiration used for the cathedral in the Knight in the Moth. She just knew she wanted it to have stained glass, rose windows and that gothic architecture. So really just a mashup of any cathedral that fits that description.

20. Additional inspiration for her dark, whimsy style comes from a lot of the 90’s/00’s darker movies and themes like.. Pan’s Labyrinth, The Last Unicorn, etc.

21. When asked if she would choose a sword vs the providence cards, she would pick the cards but mentioned she would hurt herself either way.

22. Someone asked her if the sequel would be like The Shepherd King duology where there is a different couple per book.

She said no, that the Stonewater Kingdom duology would have the same couple for both.

23. Unless I suddenly remember something else, that was pretty much it for interesting tidbits.

Rachel was great she was super sweet and patient and she was popping out jokes left and right. 10/10 would meet and greet again.

A well deserved auto-buy author. ✍️

Happy reading!

Mo

[jubb-b]

Rodrick Myndacious just wanted a gothic (in an architectural way) muscle mommy to step on him.

And I respect him for that.

[theknightandthebroth]

my babes

[lavendarneverlands]

THE KNAVE AND THE MOON, Bartholomew’s, how are we?!

Official Book Cover Drops:

— THESE ARE *chefs kiss* PERFECTION 👌👌

Official Release Date:

Coming September 1st of 2026

— I REPEAT A SEPTEMBER RELEASE DATE!! *this is way sooner than I thought* 😆🥳😃

Official Book Description:

“Aisling Cathedral is in ruins. Rodrick Myndacious, Bartholomew, and Maude Bauer are rumored to be dead—and the king has taken Sybil Delling as his bride. To show off their union and solidify his power over Traum, Benji proposes a series of tournaments throughout the hamlets. Captive and drugged, Sybil remains determined to vanquish him as she once did the Omens, even if she destroys the kingdom's faith—and herself—in the process.

But then a mysterious knave rises to the top of the tournament lists, a man with no name and no memory who may just be Sybil's ticket to undoing Benji's power. For in a land where stories repeat themselves, where a king can prove as cruel as a god, the only way to truly destroy the Stonewater Kingdom's faith is to save it.”

AND QUOTES FROM THE BOOK & Queen Rachel Gillig herself:

“I’m sorry. I don’t care to go back to this part of the story either, Bartholomew, but I must. To know the world is, in some part, to mourn it. And what is the past, really, if not a portent? If I don’t tell you what occurred exactly as I know it… it could all happen again.”

— slay me now, BARTHOLOMEW!

[ackerbabezzz]

Yall,

WHERE ARE THE KNIGHT AND THE MOTH FICS????