To Bertram, Lucas, and Helena
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TennyoCeres84
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To Bertram, Lucas, and Helena
What has been the most difficult thing for you to adjust to since leaving Darlarath and living in Hope?
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IamLEAM1983
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As Bertram, Lucas, and Helena
Bertram: "I think I'll leave Helena the honor of tackling our more intimate freedoms, and mostly focus on my discovering this weird surface-dweller concept of business sense...
See, Meris could tell you Dalarath runs on threats. Personal threats, religious threats, hexes, curses, murders and attempted murders - all of that. So naturally, business owners kind of follow suit. You're a librarian and someone else has better copies of the Chants of the Ninth House that are driving customers away? You threaten the competition. They strike back by trying to kill you - so you go at it one extra round. Ad nauseam. Fail to land threats, and you've missed out on a social cue. Threats are Dalarath's pleases and thank yous...
So - my mate gets killed, I escape and contact mister Gammell, I meet David a few months later - and I realize I'm into comics and board games. George helped me kickstart the Wizard's Nook, but I've never bartered or haggled before! I've never had to work with fungible assets, I've never had to set price points or keep a budget - we used to make the Chant books with the Black Speech; we didn't need distributors or contacts with publishers to get it done!
Granted, I never was much of a threat-maker. If Meris had been around to meet me back then, she'd have realized we have different degrees for the same basic suggestion of violence. I was the polite type, who threatened you because he had to, not because he wanted to. I, um, needed a few stealthy spot-checks from other friends of George's to make sure I'd dropped that habit. I never entirely did lose it, I'll admit - and just converted threats to suggesting that I'm open for negotiations on some occasions.
Dave's more straightforward than I am, something just doesn't feel quite right if I don't squeeze some customers a bit, maybe sneak in rebates or deals. Thankfully, that means the smaller publishers have no trouble keeping me stocked."
Lucas: "Girls. Definitely girls. You grow up an Animate, you can go years without realizing that genders are a thing. I used to think everyone just, well, existed, and that sex was just another way to bond. We never saw any Squids mating, even once I ended up here.
Things kind of fell into place once mister Gammell saved me from my owners. First off, he was the first person I'd ever meet that I'd even want to consider as a man - and he still comes across as the kind of man I'd like to be. Like, he's worried for us, but he takes it on him to try and reassure us, makes it seem like we're all super easy to deal with and keep safe. I know we aren't, but it's that little lie of his - the way he wants to reassure you first, that really impresses me. I needed a lot of time to stop being suspicious about it, and I still remember when I managed to let go.
I used to hate it when people touched me. That first real hug, though? That's when I got the sense that I was home. Safe. Mister Gammell saw that, I guess, so he's a bit more tactile with me. Hand on my back, shoulder clasps, that kind of stuff. I started feeling like more of a boy, then more of a teen and, well, I met Hanako and...
It's stupid. Mister Gammell says I might have a crush on her; I just think it's nice to have a friend that doesn't have tentacles for a change."
Helena: "The openness of the surface world shocked me. I'm a recent immigrant, so to speak, so I never had to deal with the years before the LGBT community was recognized. I left Dalarath a Void Weaver stuck with an undiagnosed case of body dysphoria and horrific mutilations to nurse, and reached Hope as a proud trans woman - all thanks to George and his contacts. As long as I don't mention the sunken cities, dead gods or insane plans the Loyalists keep for the world's destruction, I can relate my personal experience to anyone I want. I've met bigots, sure, but people out here on the East Coast seem so... accepting.
If anything, it makes the rest of it a little painful. I get the sense that once I find the right guy, I'll be able to drop my Flesh Mask, the way Bertram did for Dave. The thing is - will that actually happen?"
See, Meris could tell you Dalarath runs on threats. Personal threats, religious threats, hexes, curses, murders and attempted murders - all of that. So naturally, business owners kind of follow suit. You're a librarian and someone else has better copies of the Chants of the Ninth House that are driving customers away? You threaten the competition. They strike back by trying to kill you - so you go at it one extra round. Ad nauseam. Fail to land threats, and you've missed out on a social cue. Threats are Dalarath's pleases and thank yous...
So - my mate gets killed, I escape and contact mister Gammell, I meet David a few months later - and I realize I'm into comics and board games. George helped me kickstart the Wizard's Nook, but I've never bartered or haggled before! I've never had to work with fungible assets, I've never had to set price points or keep a budget - we used to make the Chant books with the Black Speech; we didn't need distributors or contacts with publishers to get it done!
Granted, I never was much of a threat-maker. If Meris had been around to meet me back then, she'd have realized we have different degrees for the same basic suggestion of violence. I was the polite type, who threatened you because he had to, not because he wanted to. I, um, needed a few stealthy spot-checks from other friends of George's to make sure I'd dropped that habit. I never entirely did lose it, I'll admit - and just converted threats to suggesting that I'm open for negotiations on some occasions.
Dave's more straightforward than I am, something just doesn't feel quite right if I don't squeeze some customers a bit, maybe sneak in rebates or deals. Thankfully, that means the smaller publishers have no trouble keeping me stocked."
Lucas: "Girls. Definitely girls. You grow up an Animate, you can go years without realizing that genders are a thing. I used to think everyone just, well, existed, and that sex was just another way to bond. We never saw any Squids mating, even once I ended up here.
Things kind of fell into place once mister Gammell saved me from my owners. First off, he was the first person I'd ever meet that I'd even want to consider as a man - and he still comes across as the kind of man I'd like to be. Like, he's worried for us, but he takes it on him to try and reassure us, makes it seem like we're all super easy to deal with and keep safe. I know we aren't, but it's that little lie of his - the way he wants to reassure you first, that really impresses me. I needed a lot of time to stop being suspicious about it, and I still remember when I managed to let go.
I used to hate it when people touched me. That first real hug, though? That's when I got the sense that I was home. Safe. Mister Gammell saw that, I guess, so he's a bit more tactile with me. Hand on my back, shoulder clasps, that kind of stuff. I started feeling like more of a boy, then more of a teen and, well, I met Hanako and...
It's stupid. Mister Gammell says I might have a crush on her; I just think it's nice to have a friend that doesn't have tentacles for a change."
Helena: "The openness of the surface world shocked me. I'm a recent immigrant, so to speak, so I never had to deal with the years before the LGBT community was recognized. I left Dalarath a Void Weaver stuck with an undiagnosed case of body dysphoria and horrific mutilations to nurse, and reached Hope as a proud trans woman - all thanks to George and his contacts. As long as I don't mention the sunken cities, dead gods or insane plans the Loyalists keep for the world's destruction, I can relate my personal experience to anyone I want. I've met bigots, sure, but people out here on the East Coast seem so... accepting.
If anything, it makes the rest of it a little painful. I get the sense that once I find the right guy, I'll be able to drop my Flesh Mask, the way Bertram did for Dave. The thing is - will that actually happen?"
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TennyoCeres84
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To Lucas
Why do think it's stupid? How did Nami make you feel?
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IamLEAM1983
- Site Admin
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- Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2013 4:54 am
- Location: Quebec, Canada
As Lucas
"It's stupid because I guess I'm not used to dealing with my own feelings. You spend so long being afraid, everything else just feels... weird. It's like mister Gammell is reading too much into how I act around Nami, I know it, and it kind of bothers me. At the same time, I wonder if he isn't right, you know? Maybe he is!
Something tells me he's right, but... I don't know. It's like a part of me is going 'That's too much trust to place in one person! Stay away, you're gonna get hurt!'. I say that, and I know we're all safe around Nami, but..."
He sighs.
"It's my brain that's stupid. Mine, and a lot of other people's. You come out of Dalarath and someone extends the first olive branch you've ever seen in your direction? You freak out. Your head goes 'Of course it's a trap, it's always been a trap before!' A lot of mister Gammell's quieter clients have trust issues.
I mean - mister Gammell told me about Liam, having no place to sleep and huddling with his kid in an abandoned basement, about being both of the kid's parents at once and his realizing that for a monster stuck homeschooling a human boy, he could be super thorough and loving and all - but it's like there's one last step to being human that I just - can't take, for some reason. It's like I'm afraid of dropping an old set of armor that's way past its expiry date."
Something tells me he's right, but... I don't know. It's like a part of me is going 'That's too much trust to place in one person! Stay away, you're gonna get hurt!'. I say that, and I know we're all safe around Nami, but..."
He sighs.
"It's my brain that's stupid. Mine, and a lot of other people's. You come out of Dalarath and someone extends the first olive branch you've ever seen in your direction? You freak out. Your head goes 'Of course it's a trap, it's always been a trap before!' A lot of mister Gammell's quieter clients have trust issues.
I mean - mister Gammell told me about Liam, having no place to sleep and huddling with his kid in an abandoned basement, about being both of the kid's parents at once and his realizing that for a monster stuck homeschooling a human boy, he could be super thorough and loving and all - but it's like there's one last step to being human that I just - can't take, for some reason. It's like I'm afraid of dropping an old set of armor that's way past its expiry date."