An Age of Mysterious Memories

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Hello [Reggie], thank you for joining me at the Teashop Between Worlds and thanks to your author [Trips Titan] for introducing us. 

 

1. First of all, please introduce yourself. Name, pronouns if you wish, and tell us an interesting fact about yourself.

Wow, this is pretty weird, me being interviewed? I mean, I guess at this point in the primary timeline, I’m known as Reggie Shellcracker, a Hero of the Order of the Onyx Dawn, an archmage aliased Schism. Oh, gosh that must sound pretentious. I’ve gotta recite my titles fairly frequently… for reasons. I prefer they/them pronouns, since I don’t have a gender, let alone a biological sex. Do those uh, count as an interesting fact? I guess I’m technically from https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/50464/an-age-of-mysterious-memories though it seems super weird to be acknowledging that. I suppose I’m going to have my memories erased after this interview, huh? Why does that seem familiar…

 

1. Can you tell us a bit about the world you live in?

 

Ah it’s a bit weird, when we thought a big event was going down, that there was no walking away from, we found ourselves on a planet called Rayileklia. The whole planet is covered in what I call the Worldstorm. It’s a sky filled with acid-rain cloudbanks made of acid-dragon dragonbreath, filled with rivers of lightning-dragon lightning.

 

This one country called Aasimovia,(I wonder if that has anything to do with Aasimov, an author from my Fakeworld memories), preserves its dead by animating them. These Ancestors as they call them, wander around, with free-will, though they don’t react much to what’s going on around them, since they don’t have souls. They tend to just enact things they’d have done in life. It’s sort of like muscle-memory I guess. The whole reasoning behind this phenomenon is because they as a whole practice a spiritual belief that eventually one of them will complete “The Great Work,” which is calling a spirit back from the Afterlife. When they do, they intend to reunite all souls with their bodies, which have been animate, enhanced by durability enchantments, and so on, to live in an eternal immortal utopia with their ancestors. They’re also conscientious that maybe someone might not want to come back, or might want to opt out at some point. There’s a place called Noirdivinhoz, the house of dark divinity, that manages that. Essentially I guess it sends souls on to a rest so final, that there is no reaching it from Rayileklia ever again.

 

1. Let’s a have a quick-fire round of This or That. Try to just answer and not think too hard about it. [Can have some personalised stuff if I know the book or character, or author can add some of their own that they think are interesting.]

 

• Tea or coffee? 

Hot cocoa, sorry.

• Sweet or savoury? 

Savory, weird, I’d have thought I’d say sweet.

• Music or sports? 

Music, by about a million times.

• Paperback or ebook? 

Does my digital brainbank count as an ebook? Otherwise paperback.

• Paint or pencil? 

Pencil.

• Countryside or city?

Countryside, despite how much time I spend in the wilds, at least it isn’t full of people I don’t know… usually. Helps the social-phobia to not be around them.

• Fight or negotiate?

Context needed, brain bluescreened on this one. I’ve had to fight for so much of my lives. If I can negotiate, I will.

• Sword or gun?

Sword, wanna see Frostburn or the Riptide Katana? Or Claiomh Solais? (That one’s technically an arch-sorcerer staff, but it translates to sword of light.)

• Vampire or werewolf?

*Shivers* Werewolf, please. There’s a timeline in which I become a vampire… that version of me is… it’s tragic.

• FIlm or TV series?

TV series I suppose, more content I guess?

• Morals or laws?

Morals, by a billion times.

• Kids or puppies?

Ick, um, puppies I guess. Sorry, felt some implications from this one. I don’t have the biology to have kids.

• Museum or beach?

Museum if it’s ancient and abandoned, for spelunking/archaeology, otherwise the beach.

• World peace or end famine?

World Peace. I can already end famine. Want some stew from Daghda’s cauldron?

• Winter or summer?

S..w..pring. Seasons didn’t exist on Can’Z’aas, and Rayileklia only has one weather pattern: storming, permanently.

• Dance or football?

Dance, for sure.

• Olives or sardines?

Sardines. Want some sashimi?

• Rainbows or monochrome?

Rainbows, I mean, my inner circle is full of rainbow-fam.

• Brain or gut?

Brain, I’m introspective.

• Traditional or new?

I can’t really imagine traditions. New, always, especially if a plan fails. I have to come up with new ones on the fly, often.

• Revenge or justice?

Justice. Unless you threaten or hurt a Shellcracker or member of the Onyx Dawn. I don’t think I’d be able to stop myself from exacting revenge.

• Fast zombies or slow zombies?

Slow zeds please… we’ve got enough apocalypses to worry about.

• Mountains or oceans?

Mountains! Please! Erm, sorry. Some bad experiences with… losing family to tsunamis and tidal waves.

• Afterlife or ghost?

Afterlife, haven’t met any ghosts yet… well, except maybe that one thing. It might be a ghost. I’m not sure.

• Friendship or the law?

Friendship.

• Fantasy or reality?

My reality… might be fantasy to you? Reality though, it’s where my loved ones are.

 

If there are any of those you want to tell us more about, feel free.

 

1. What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?

I’ve glassed an entire section of beach with lightning.. Twice. Survived a meteor.. Eight times. I took the combined attacks of a thousand human mages in order to translate all that magical energy into a single maneuver that managed to blow back and freeze hundreds of square miles of lava, possibly saving those of us left alive on the Night of All Burn.

 

1. Have you ever broken a law?

I mean, let me list the Reggie Shellcracker accidental assassination missions. The Beaver Dam tunnel complex… three times, almost a human general, an ancient purple dragon, an ancient red dragon… Let’s just say, one might think I had a problem with authority from my track record. I swear they were all accidents. I mean, when I learned they were tyrants, I ended them.

 

1. What’s the most embarrassing story you know about one of your fellow characters?

Oh gosh, poor Teuila. Te would be embarrassed having her emotional problems aired in front of others. I don’t really want to do that. I guess it’d be better to pick myself. I’m easily flustered, and Luni makes a habit of doing it intentionally.

 

1. Who or what is the love of your life?

Without a doubt, Teuila and Luni are my most romantic, most sacred relationships in the love department. I love Lil platonically with a strength that rivals the gravity of celestial bodies.

 

1. If you had to hide a body, whose would it be and who would you ask to help you?

Uh, I suppose if I was stuck on Fakeworld, it’d probably be a fascist tyrant. Maybe I’d have Te chuck the body into orbit? I think she’s probably strong enough to do that at this point. Without magic, or her Latent. Her Latent is “precise control over the forces of attraction.”

 

1. Are you a spiritual person?

I… have lost several spirits who were friends. Elementals who sacrificed themselves so that I could succeed in my selfish goals of rescuing others, and so on.

 

1. What cause or underrepresented group do you champion?

The oppressed in any form. But I suppose if we boil it down to who I’d be on Fakeworld(Earth), I’d have to say LGBTQIA+ peeps with mental health issues. Can I say peeps? Does that sound weird? I’m not sure what century or whatnot that I might be talking to, if we’re on Fakeworld right now in this interview. In fact.. Am I dreaming? That’d explain me being on “Earth”, since there’s no such planet.

 

1. If you could go back and do one thing differently, what would it be?

*Gulps back a sob and clenches their eyes shut.* I… I’d save them… S-sorry, I can’t… It’d break the timeline. I can’t make changes that would alter the flow of events, or I could lose everyone. I might even put the entire universe in jeopardy. I’m… I’m sorry that I let so many atrocities happen, in order to maintain the primary timeline.

 

1. If you’re artistic, tell us about your craft and how you got into it.

Well, runecrafting is pretty difficult, the manual dexterity required is normally beyond me, so I have to train myself to transcribe each rune in the air perfectly by muscle memory by rote, in order to be able to craft them at all.

 

1. They do tea leaf readings here. Would you ask about your future and, if so, what do you want to know?

I mean, if future me had something to tell me, they would. I mean, I would. Erm, sorry, I don’t really do time in a linear fashion the way most people are used to. If for some reason I couldn’t rely on that, I’d ask me if my fam made it out okay… if they survived.

 

1. If you know a martial art, tell us about it and how you got into it.

*Quotes,* “I know kung fu,” nah, kidding, for some reason, I have pop-culture zeitgeist knowledge frameworks, but no real memories from which to anchor them, where I could have learned them. I’m untrained, and it shows in my combats. I am not a skilled swordsperson or martial artist.

 

1. If you had to design a meal around a favourite memory, what would we be eating?

Despite having had so many servings of it, digital sashimi from Can’Z’aas, thinking about that first party we threw for the Shellcrackers, celebrating having settled Shellcracker Pond, creating a home for ourselves, carving out a little niche in such a dangerous, unforgiving world.

 

1. Give us your desert island five for any type of thing you like e.g. books, music, food, company, gadgets, weapons, spaceships, really anything you’re passionate about.

Company, for sure! Lu, Te, Lil, Lucky, and um, oh gosh, the fifth spot, there’s so many people, I can’t choose. My heart breaks trying to choose between any of the people outside my inner circle who’ve become so important to me.

 

1. What’s the worst date you’ve ever been on?

…*Blushes* I… I think I’ve only really been on the one that I made for Teuila, where we danced beneath the Worldstorm, and kissed in the rain. Worst and best, unless we consider some of our adventures dates, then, um, probably the Beaver Dam tunnel complex, off the top of my head. Or maybe the hydra, since I had to cut it open, climb inside, kill it from inside, and sleep inside it until I recovered enough to cut my way back out.

 

1. What’s on your birthday wishlist?

Snuggles with my inner circle. Them to all be safe, healthy, and happy, and close-at-hand.

 

1. If you were in charge of the country, what’s the first thing you would do?

Try to find a way to provide for everyone, for all their needs, safety, food, shelter, everything. I can already do the food, though distribution could be a problem. Same with shelter honestly, since we can leverage the digital shop structures for infinite wealth, and infinite materials. Then it’s just down to distribution and construction.

 

1. How do you feel about magic? If you use magic, tell us a bit about it.

On Can’Z’aas, I relied on my Space skill mostly. It lets me control objects’ velocities, quantities, and locations in Space. I could temporarily duplicate things in my inventory, and fire them around. When I realized I could use that for mobility, I felt like an idiot for falling so far, so many times, instead of catching myself in the air by calling materials or items from my inventory with upwards velocity beneath me. Um, I also gained thermokinesis and electrokinesis on Can’Z’aas. I still technically have access to those, but it requires me bleeding light and life for eight minutes to perform a single magical action from Can’Z’aas now due to my Changeling-mana-residue-corruption-sickness. On Rayileklia, since I cannot use a mnemonic,(the ability with which someone capable of using magic casts spells at a reasonable pace) I had to learn all the runes for each spell by hand, by rote, and empower each attempt. It’s exhausting, and time-consuming. Thankfully I have “subtle-spell metamagical rigor” as Jarrah calls it, and quickening metamagic both available. Using the latter eats up more of my “SP” as Bud would call them.

 

1. Have you ever been betrayed? How do you know someone is a true friend?

I… lost a brother, in many ways.

I’m not certain how to define a true friend. I give my heart freely, and will always try to. There’s just… no way I can be anyone other than the me that tries, despite the frightening possibilities of betrayal. I have to offer my heart and hand, whenever I can, even in the heat of battle, when possible.

 

1. If you’re not the main character, tell us what you think of them. If you are, pick a supporting character.

Gosh, could you imagine if my life was just a story? It’d be such a terrifying, yet fulfilling, wild ride. I mean, Lil’s been by my side since nearly Day… One… *Reggie goes catatonic during a PTSD flashback episode, accidentally saying a trigger phrase for one of their worst memories. After some time, they return to their senses and apologize.* S-sorry about that. I’m um… I have some mental health issues. Lil or Te though. Lil’s been with me the longest, but since we’ve been together, Te has always been there for me, even when Lil needed time apart.

 

1. What is the nicest random act of kindness you’ve performed?

Uhhh, offering mercy, and saving the kinsmen and egg-clutch of Attraxiaz the Loud, a Thunderer, perhaps. I mean, quantitatively I guess. It’s a bit hard to put value on kindness, when I try so hard to make it a core principle of my being.

 

1. Do you have a good relationship with nature?

I’m only mildly embarrassed to say I hugged trees before I even knew I was a Fae. I was dismayed at the loss of the ancient arbor during the Night of All Burn.

 

1. What superpower would you choose?

*Snrk* Sorry, sorry. Uh, I’d probably go with my Space skill, and duplicate digital shop structures all over the world, so that everyone has access to infinite: food, water, medicine, supplies, materials, and so on. Basically you can buy materials from the shop, craft them into something, sell them back for more than you paid, and repeat ad nauseum. A few other Can’Z’aasian magical things too, but that one’s the most important to me, because it helps others. It helps everyone, without needing violence.

 

1. How do you feel about social situations? Do you throw yourself into it or are you the person rehearsing every conversation in their head a million times?

Oh gods, the latter. I’m pretending this is just a conversation in my head, honestly. My heart is already starting to quicken its pace, racing a million miles a minute realizing I’m in a strange social situation.

 

1. If you had the time and money, what new hobby/skill would you like to learn?

Um, hm, I guess I’d like to learn something inspiring, something that can bring joy to others. Some kind of creative skill, or art, or uh, stuff like that. Videogame design perhaps.

 

1. If you were filling out an online dating profile, how would you describe yourself? What would you be looking for in your potential match?

Erk, I’m, I’m plenty happy with my web of poly romances and platonic relationships, just putting that out there. I don’t go seeking others. If I were to do so, say if I were just some version of me living on Fakeworld(Earth), who didn’t have Lil and Lu and Te and Illy and Kinzul and Errissa and Linti and Prinrin, I’d uhhhhhh. My brain’s bluescreening. Hard to imagine my life with even a single one of them missing. I guess I’d describe myself as an agender aroace who’s just struggling to do the right things, as often as I can, no matter what odds are stacked against me. My ideal match would be someone whose ambition, love, passion, drive, and personality are all intense. Someone who’d push and challenge me to be my best self, while also dragging me along to new excitements, sharing their joys and discoveries with me. That’s what Teuila is to me. That’s how we met. She grabbed my hand, bashed my shoulder, and dragged me across the sands of the beach towards her home. We’ve been running towards new discoveries, hand in hand, ever since.

 

1. What’s the last thing that made you laugh and/or cry?

I think I laughed at a joke Teuila made about her powers, or the state of the war. I cried for the losses of life we’ve already endured, and the many more we’re sure to endure before we defeat Terrorzin, let alone stop all three apocalypses.

 

1. Is there a place, other than your home, that is *your* place, where you are content and safe?

In the arms of my SAP. That’s the Shellcracker Adventuring Party. Wherever we are, if we’re together, that’s home.

 

1. Tell us about your relationship with your siblings.

I uh.. Wasn’t born. I was adopted into the Shellcrackers though… which I guess kind of makes Luni and Teuila my… siblings. Ick. I really don’t want to think of them that way. Bleugh. Mataalii… he hates me. I hope he’s still alive, out there somewhere, despite everything he did, everyone he hurt, everything he put us all through.

 

1. Do you have anyone who is part of your family but not biologically or legally related to you?

Well, I mean, no one’s biologically related to me, and we didn’t really have a government on Can’Z’aas, so the adoption was unofficial. It’s a found-family, the Shellcrackers. We keep adding new members too, like the entire catfolk clan under Fawns At Sunsets. The Shellcrackers welcome anyone with open arms, no questions asked. If you need love, support, and a home, we bring you into the fold.

 

1. Have you ever had an imaginary friend or foe?

I wish the Celestial Emperor was only imaginary. Grr. I mean, he may as well be, for how little interaction we’ve had on a personal level. Yet he still hounds me across worlds, throughout space and time, and I have no idea what his beef with me even is! Still, I know he’s an evil, soul-stealing tyrant. So eventually, we’ll band together to take down this manxome foe.

 

1. What’s your biggest achievement?

Finding those who love me and accept me, and somehow managing to keep so many of them at my side, safe, and still loving me, despite all we’ve been through.

 

1. What’s your weirdest break-up story (can be a platonic or romantic break-up)?

Um, I, I guess Lil and I temporarily broke up… after we… died. It’s a long story. It’s platonic, but Lil blamed me for… everything. He was right to. I do have time travel powers, and I did let all those horrible things happen. When we reunited, he forgave me, because he knew as well as I, that we had to let events play out the way they did, or no one would have had a shot at survival.

 

1. Have you lost touch with a friend you wish you were still close to? Why don’t you contact them?

I… can’t get home. I don’t know how to get back to Can’Z’aas. Laomati, Agwai, Fawns At Sunsets, Linti, Sugar, Spice, Manaia, Manameia, Six Wind, Three Thunder, Spring Blossom, and so many more… all my beloved family, save my inner circle, are back there. I only hope they’re alright. I only hope our sacrifice was worth it, and protected them from the calamity.

 

1. What situation would be ‘too much’ for you to handle?

Losing another Shellcracker, but specifically one of the SAP, my inner circle. I’d go crazy with grief.

 

1. Do you dream? What's the weirdest dream you've had?

Uh, apparently Lil says I used to talk in my sleep about dreams I was having, like narrating them. I narrated from the point of view of Aces the Assassin, somehow, quite a bit. But I’ve also talked from the dreamer’s point of view in weird places like, some kind of space vessel, during a xenomorphic event, or the point of view of well, I can only call them a cowboy, Jesse McShaw. Wait, no. I was in Arnie the Carnie’s point of view, wait, no, both. Wait, no, two different dreams about McShaw, but I was never in his PoV, one was Arnie the Carnie, and another was some reporter, reporting on him being the only known non-hysterical survivor of Malta Verde.

 

1. What would be the best date/romantic outing/friend date outing someone could take you on? If you've been on it already, tell us about it. If not, is there someone you want to take?

Teuila lifted me in her arms, rocketed skyward, and paused our gravity, so that we could dance among the clouds, beneath the stars. It’s.. really hard to top that, literally.

 

1. Have you ever written someone, or had someone write for you, a song, poem, story, etc?

Luni makes music! Um, though she’s mostly about the sounds, the uh, composition of the music itself, not so much the lyrics. Lu and Agwai were the family storytellers though, before Dreams of Days. Our tradition was to sit around a campfire, our storyteller, or someone with a new story, entertaining us before we all crawled into a big cuddle pile for bed.

 

1. Is there a piece of art, writing, music, or media that has especially significant meaning for you?

For some reason, there are lyrics about a land of ice and snow, with a midnight sun, where hot springs flow. Something about a hammer of the gods, ships, and new lands… It reminds me of the Norse Pantheon, at least, the comic-book version of it from Fakeworld. Their God of Thunder, well, Teuila wields Mjolnir, so it has significant meaning in reminding me of her, and would totally be her themesong if our life were a film or television series.

 

1. If you knew the world was ending tomorrow, what would you do?

*Snrk* I’d do everything in my power to save it. Even if that meant reliving the same day several million times, until I get it right. It might not even be me doing the saving, but me just getting the right information to the right people to prevent the world’s end, y’know? Time Travel. I don’t need to be the hero, or savior, or have any sort of attention or accolades… I just want everyone safe, healthy, and happy.

 

1. If you could travel between worlds & meet a character from another book, who would it be & why would you want to meet them?

I’d… go back to Can’Z’aas, to be with my family. Um, but if we’re talking Fakeworld literature and media, uh, there’s a Doctor Who travels in time, in a blue box that’s bigger on the inside. They deal with a lot of Time And Relative Dimension In Space, something I’m all-too-familiar with. I think they could relate. We’d probably share a “cuppa” as I’m sure they’d call it.

 

1.  If one of your exploits was turned into a ballad, what story would you want telling? Do you want it to be true to the facts or embellished?

Oof, uh, just please don’t be the time I swam through lava down to Lord Deckard Agni(The Pure and Desolate)’s back, and fought the mite-hulk swarm along it. Uhm, maybe our assault on the Shiz-Tinth stronghold, and play down my role in it, playing up the goodness of Shiz and Atter, that they saw fit to accept mercy and join the side of good, of the Onyx Dawn, leaving behind the Ice of Rage’s banner. Maybe it’d inspire others that it’s okay to accept mercy, to stop following their tyrant.

 

1. If you could change into an animal, what would it be?

*Smirks* I can. Wanna see lightning-cat? Lizardfolk? I’d choose otter though, to be closer with my family, the Shellcrackers. Oh, they’re otterfolk bee tee dubs, whether spheriform, feraform, or humaform. It’s a whole thing.

 

1. Have you ever had to escape from somewhere? Were you successful and was there a cost?

Y-yeah… Yes, to both. Several times over. The swamps with Octorochi. The Beaver Dam… the Cragbeast Warren… ShizTinth Stronghold… The Fall of Autumn Brook… There’s always a cost. Always. I will never stop lamenting my failures, or the costs incurred. I’m no hero, that’s why only Luni can call me one.

 

1. What are you most grateful for in life?

The friends I’ve made along the way. Corny, I know, right? But seriously, they’re my everything. My whole reason for being. My reason for reason. I’ve always said, my greatest strength is those that love me caring about me, and… yeah.

 

1. What’s your ideal holiday?

Just an endless snuggle pile with my SAP, and maybe a few of the other poly partners we’ve picked up over the years.

 

1. Tell us about the antagonist in your life.

That blasted manxome foe, the Celestial Emperor. He’s been hounding me since I began existing, somehow. I don’t know how, or why, but fragments of him are scattered through the cosmos across several realities. I know he steals souls, and that when I spawned, I was a sickly, weak soul, broken and buggy, on Can’Z’aas.

 

1. Have you and your author ever seriously disagreed on something? What was it and who won?

*Reggie’s eye twitches.* Right… my… author. *Reggie gazes towards “the camera”* I’m feeling a bit like Deadpool or some other fourth-waller right now. I guess we disagree on what sort of tale we have to go through to get our point across. I’d much prefer if it were some slice of life dramedy, rather than some epic with cosmic horror undertones. I suppose all the events though are just the backdrop, for all the interactions I have with all the people I meet and love. I guess the author won out, y’know?

 

1. Are you musical? If so, what type of music do you prefer and do you play an instrument?

Oh heavens, no. I can slap my thighs I guess, mostly somewhat on-rhythm. Unless I’m even misjudging that.

 

1. What are the rules of magic in your world?

Hooboy, I could write an essay on this! In fact, I have! Ah dangit, wait, that’s back on Rayileklia with Nala. I’m not sure if you’d really want me to break it down, especially since technically I break all the rules. I’m not even supposed to be able to do magic. I brute forced my way into learning it. I’m an outlier. I’m a sorcerer with no source. No mnemonic, no source, “Nothing.” In fact, that’s my Latent. “Nothing.” Latents I guess are sort of like innate affinities, abilities, or super powers. Like X-mutations, or Quirks. I guess it just means a latent ability. So that’s one magical thing. Um, Can’Z’aas’s magic had a whole skill system interface, and I sort of broke that too. I forced my way into gaining thermokinesis and electrokinesis by intentionally taking enough thermal and electric damage that my resistances to those got so good, that they stopped being passive control over thermic and electric activity of atomic structures, and became active. I mean, I kept my passive resistances, but also became aware of how the system was manipulating atomic motion, which is heat, and so on, and how to do that myself.

 

1. Would you consider overthrowing your government?

*Smirks and snorts a laugh* Yes. Yes I would. I have, and will. Repeatedly. “The Reggie Shellcracker Patented Accidental Assassination Mission,”(patent pending), has happened too frequently in my life. I stumble into a region, find out the ruler of that region is a fascist or tyrant or literal evil monster, and since I’m there… With great power, comes great responsibility. I’ve got a lot of powers, and tools, a wide toolbelt. I can’t help but try to use them for the common good.

 

1. If you were in charge, what kind of government would you have, e.g. democracy, meritocracy, dictatorship, monarchy, etc…

Gosh, um, a free-ocracy? I guess I’d try to let people rule themselves, and try to restrain myself from getting too involved. I can provide infinite wealth, goods, food, medicine, and infrastructure to everyone. If people still have problems after that, then I think there’s no hope for humanity. I’m fairly certain that most problems arise from classism, wealth inequality, and a few other things. I… don’t want to try to go into my feelings on, um, xenophobia as it pertains to people from certain… groups. I don’t know how to fix that. I don’t know how to protect human rights for everyone, without just straight up killing violators. I wish I did. I wish I did.

 

1. Have you ever pranked someone?

Hm, Illy and I tease each other. Tiktik pulls regularly scheduled pranks. I can’t recall doing anything I’d really call a prank. I joke around and tease, but that’s about it.

 

1. What’s your answer to the trolley problem?

Time travel. I’d try to see if I could merge the two timelines in some way. One in which I save the people on the current track, one in which I try to save the people on the switch-to-track. I mean, realistically, I probably pull a “Freewill” by Rush. That is, “If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.” I’d probably be crippled by indecision paralysis. Otherwise, I’d try to cut off the knowledge at a certain point, determine that that’s the sphere of influence I can conceivably work with, and then save the greatest amount of goodness, at that point.

 

1. Are you a risk-taking gambler or do you analyse everything and only take action when you know all the variables?

I’m kind of both I suppose. I can pause time, and analyze things in retrocognition, and my genre senses provide me odds and variables, but, well, hm. There have been so many situations, where something goes awry, and needs to be addressed immediately, that I have to be able to also commit to new courses of action on the fly. There’s no time to waste when the outcomes are mere instants from being determined. Especially when people’s lives are on the line. If it’ll cost me my own to save them, then so be it.

 

1. If you could go back to one point in history, what would it be? Would it be to observe or to change something?

I uh, I suppose if I were on Fakeworld(Earth), my Time skill probably wouldn’t be functioning properly, if at all. Having so much experience with timelines, I wouldn’t alter the past. Too much butterfly effect branches out from even small changes. Who knows what atrocities I might accidentally create. I’d probably go back to the dawn of time and watch the birth of the universe though. That sounds like a spectacle worth viewing at least once in my… lifetimes.

 

1. Science, arts, or both?

I try to approach things scientifically. There’s so much that’s science-fiction in my life, or straight-up fantasy, that I need the grounding logic of the scientific method, and analysis of systems at play. I don’t really have time to give the arts the attention they deserve. Maybe if I were just some ordinary denizen of Fakeworld, I could commit to the arts, or be able to be/do both, instead of someone who has to face down epic conflicts, tyrants, apocalypses, and so much more.

 

1. Are there any circumstances under which you’d kill someone?

If they harm innocents with no remorse, no repentance, yeah. If they harm a Shellcracker, yeah. If they’ve committed too many atrocities over their eons of existence, most definitely. I wouldn’t be able to trust any supposed remorse or repentance shown by “The Ice of Rage” at this point. Terrorzin has had millennia to stop being a tyrant, to stop committing atrocities, and instead, in the year of his fated demise, he intends to raze the world in a fit of, “If I can’t have it, no one can!” He’s going down. Somehow.

 

1. Are you superstitious? Please share a strange superstition from your world/locale/family.

Hm, it’s hard to tell. I mean, I know some lesser deities, who say that greater/elder deities exist. I know of actual souls, and things that influence souls. I know of afterlives. In my realm, on my worlds, it’s all real. I suppose some of the lore from my Fakeworld knowledge frameworks is superstitious stuff I follow or utilize. Things you might learn on a wikipedia page entry for a mythological creature, stuff like that. If they have a weakness, exploit it, and so on. Since, well, since they don’t exist on Fakeworld, the beliefs that they have those weaknesses are just superstitions. But since they do exist in my realm, they’re tactical facts to apply to situations.