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physticuffs · 7 years

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Hello! I have a question.... what are your favorite books, and why? (I love your blog!)

@smallricochet

Wow, thank you! Took me forever to reply because my first answer got erased when i was halfway through. Rawr. anyway, here’s the thing: i don’t have favorites. I just love books so much i can’t choose! And there are books for different moods, too, or books that i love for different reasons. There are those that i can read anytime because they’re friendly and easy to sink into, but aren’t necessarily the best of anything in a particular aspect. There are books that i have to be in a specific mood to read but that i love more than anything when i am in that mood. There are books that are outstanding in one thing and lacking in another…so i don’t have favorite books, and when i have to think of my favorites, they’re divided by genre. This is gonna be a long post, haha. Without my bookshelf in front of me, there may be some I’m forgetting, but those are the ones that stand out in immediate memory.

Fantasy: most of the books i’ve read would probably count as fantasy if you included YA, but i’m going to break out YA as its own thing because i look for different things now than i did when i was younger. For one thing, the writing style plays a much larger role now for me, which is one of the things that makes Neil Gaiman one of my favorite authors. American Gods is this gorgeous book examining the nature of belief, with such evocative language that i felt like i was taking the journey alongside the characters. The characters themselves are rather stock, but that’s okay–Gaiman has a true sense of the mythic and interweaves old stories with new in a way that captivated me. I also loved The Ocean at the End of the Lane, which just felt…almost more real than our own world. I read the book (it’s quite short) in one sitting, and when i finished i realized i’d teared up. There’s a scene where the main character is immersed in this experience of understanding everything and then is pulled out of that state, and i felt the same way upon closing the book. The sense of the world-beyond-our-world was intense–again, taking the journey with the characters. I adore Good Omens, which was co-written with Terry Pratchett, and i think combines the best of both authors: Gaiman’s sense of mythology, Pratchett’s humor, and their shared love for stories that examine the values individual people hold. Individual values are a theme often repeated in Pratchett’s books, of which my favorites are Hogfather and Thud! because of the beautiful, hopeful characterizations and complex conflicts. Pratchett’s books really carry this sense of optimism and hope for how much better we can be; his characters have this evolving humanity (lol some of them are dwarves and trolls and werewolves) that really strikes a chord with me. Also, those books are fucking hilarious.

I’ve written about Guy Gavriel Kay recently; his novel Under Heaven is remarkable for its beautiful language, fascinating characters, and exciting political plot. I love that niche–historically-based political fantasy–and am really relieved to have found someone besides George R. R. Martin who does it, since Kay is much subtler and doesn’t have Martin’s penchant for shock and gore. I’m about to read every other political fantasy novel Kay has ever written. I used to think that if i could write like anyone i’d want to write like Gaiman, but now that i’ve read Kay’s work, i’d rather write like him, because that’s the genre i’d want to succeed in.

Then there’s Susanna Clarke’s exquisite Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. I know this is very much a love-it-or-hate-it book, and i love it. Actually, i think it’s a perfect novel. I would change nothing about that book; there’s nothing that could make me like it better. The descriptive visual language is rich and flowing, the dry humor is just right, and the mythology she builds is original and forms a perfect pattern. One of the things that stood out to me the most in the book are the names. I’ve never seen an author choose names like her–they’re all lyrical and evocative without being literal. I don’t even want a sequel because the plot is wrapped up perfectly; i just want a whole series set in that world. (Clarke also wrote a short story collection in that setting, The Ladies of Grace Adieu, which is excellent, but does not fulfill my desire for a million more full-length novels.)

Historical fiction: The Lymond Chronicles. This is a masterwork, to the point that the author, Dorothy Dunnett, was knighted for her books being such a huge contribution to UK culture. They’re hard to read, no denying that, but they are unparalleled for incredible descriptive language, depth of emotion, dexterity with shifting viewpoint, epic scope, characters’ journeys and personalities interwoven in fascinating ways…they so far outshine every other work of historical fiction i’ve read that i think i can say that series is my favorite. HOWEVER, the irony of it is, i have never reread those books, except the first. I flick around occasionally to reread passages, but they’re simply too dense to make for good light reading in between all my new reading material. I love Les Miserables too, in the sense that i think it’s one of those almost accidental masterpieces that would never make it to market in full form today. Victor Hugo was a mystic grandpa whose interest in architecture/public infrastructure reeeeally got in the way of his own plot. I can’t HELP but love that book and i don’t even know why, except that Hugo captures the emotions and complexities of youthful rebellion so well, and is deeply respectful to the tragedy of it–not flippant, not over-aggrandizing, but accepting in just the right way. I also wanna give a shoutout/honorary mention to Romance of the Three Kingdoms. (It’s sort of unfair to put it with historical fiction, given the part where a guy’s ghost wanders around beating people up, but like. What else do i call this book.) I mean, it’s not my usual fare, but it well deserves its place as one of China’s four great classics. It’s so different from modern writing, which places a lot of emphasis on knowing individual characters. Three Kingdoms doesn’t give a shit about the inner lives of the characters. This is a story about how empires are formed and fall. it’s a true epic, and a fascinating look into one of China’s most tumultuous historical periods. (most tumultuous, except for all the others. You do you, China.)

Nonfiction: I’ve only rather recently become interested in nonfiction, and most of what i like is just a combination of good writing style and a topic i’m specifically interested in. How Not To Be Wrong, by Jordan Ellenberg–applied math and statistics, written in a very fun way. The Disappearing Spoon and The Violinist’s Thumb, by Sam Kean–a history of the periodic table and genetics respectively; Kean is such an engaging writer and really knows how to draw a common thread through anecdotes. Fermat’s Enigma, by Simon Singh–a history of the quest to solve Fermat’s Last Theorem. Weapons and Fighting Arts of Indonesia, by Donn Draeger–uh, what it says on the cover, but also a very interesting cultural text, although the info is a bit out of date. Walking the Bible, by Bruce Feiler–Feiler travels through the Middle East, examining the historical context of biblical stories; i’m reading his other works now. There also have been a couple books i’ve read for school that i loved–one was a cultural study of Hello Kitty, of all things, and one was about coffee farming in Honduras. Both were for a globalization course, but i can’t remember the titles offhand. I also read Walkable City by Jeff Speck for urban studies, about the importance of building walkability into your urban planning, which kicked off an interest in urban planning for me. I wound up getting three other urban planning books out of the interest generated by that one.

YA: Most of the books that have stuck with me after i read them as a teen had characters i wanted to be friends with or that i strongly related to–books with a lot of analytical, assertive girls, or girls who loved stories and were very imaginative. These include Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery, the All-of-a-Kind Family series by Sydney Taylor (bonus points for multiple girls i related to and they were Jewish), The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall (again bonus points for multiple girls i related to), Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, and The Princess Academy and The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. These last three (modern takes on fairy tales) mattered so fucking much to me, and they seriously hold up on rereads. Hale and Levine don’t protect their readers from harsh events, but it’s still fantasy, still has the magic i love reading about. They show the young characters win magical battles and friendship through intelligence, creativity, and determination, instead of beauty like the original tales, so that was really inspiring for me, and i related really hard to the main characters personality-wise. All three main characters in these books do find relationships or even marry at the end, but it’s because they’ve already been best friends with their love interests for a while. There’s also The Hunger Games, which had fascinating characterization, and unusually subtle morality for a YA series, especially in the last book, and the similarly adventurous Icemark Chronicles series by Stuart Hill, which is historically-based fantasy–think Guy Gavriel Kay for younger readers–with a wonderful main character that i really looked up to. And then there’s The Pushcart War, by Jean Merrill. The Pushcart War is just completely charming. It’s a friendly, quick-read book about a group of pushcart vendors trying to make space for themselves in New York City, opposing the aggressive truckers, and it was just plain fun while also being…actually pretty educational about urban design.

So…i know that’s super long, but y’know, asking me about favorite books is a dangerous thing to do. And i can’t emphasize enough that this is only what i can think of off the top of my head, without my bookshelf in front of me. But thank you so much for the question!

#books #asks #tagging my asks hell yeah

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minusthemurderfantasies-blog · 6 years

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“Listen, there is something you gotta know before we go in there.” Erik warned. “I should’ve told you this a long time ago…” My thoughts raced in that pause. Oh god that pause. What could he have to tell me? Was he married? Was this not his apartment? Was he homeless? Did he have a secret Joe Dimaggio bobblehead collection? Oh god I don’t even know who Joe Dimaggio is? Or was? Is he dead? Can I google that without him noticing? He saved me from my breakdown. “How do I say this? My roommate, he’s uh, he’s… he’s a serial killer.”

A euphoric rush gripped my body and I started laughing harder than was socially acceptable. I managed to regain my composure and reply, completely ignoring his stone-faced expression. “Geez, you had me worried. It’s no big deal, people have bad roommates. I still want to meet him.”

“No you don’t understand, he is legit a serial killer. He murders people. What am I doing? I shouldn’t be getting you involved.” Erik started to walk away from the door. I put my arm out to block him.

“Nope, you’re not getting out of this that easy. After all you’ve told me about your roommate I am going to meet him.” He gave out an exasperated sigh and turned back towards the cheap wooden door.

“Your funeral,” he mumbled to himself. “Let’s just hope not for real this time.”

The lock turned with a rusty squeak and the door swung open and revealed the most stereotypical apartment owned by two twenty-something men. An off-green sofa sat in the middle of the room in front of a coffee table littered with comics, magazines, and small origami figures. The couch was flanked on either side by two chairs which could only be described as matching if you completely forgot what matching meant and were also blind. One was a large recliner style leather seat and the other was a worn wooden chair that one would see in a museum of the earliest American colonists. Both were probably found on a curb and hauled up to the apartment. The seating trifecta was opposed by a large CRT TV. You know the kind that would make your hair stand up and could transmit messages from the spirit world? Their small kitchenette area was barren and most likely unused. One wall of the apartment was mostly dusty windows with a poor view over the city.

The most interesting part of the room was the man standing at the other end, tossing darts at a board with casual accuracy. He looked like the first search result for the word “hipster.” He looked like he only listened to bands with more syllables in their name than fans. He looked like the one to bring a complicated board game to a party and insist that everyone play it, no matter how little sense it made. He did not turn when we entered. “Hey man. Back so soon? Did things not go well with whatsherface?”

Erik cleared his throat. “Actually, Christine is here with me.” The man spun and froze like a kid with a stutter at a spelling bee. He raised his hand in a wave and his mouth hung open. Erik continued, “This is my roommate, James. James, this is Christine.”

I smiled and shook the embarrassed James’ hand. “Nice to meet you, James.”

“Nice to meet me.” Yep, this smooth operator was totally a serial killer. “Oh wait, no, I mean, uh… oh hey, you’ve got something on your hand.” I looked down and sure enough there was a red stain where his thumb had been.

Erik, pointed at the door that the dart board hung from. “There’s a bathroom right over here, you can clean up in there.” James stepped aside as I hurried into the bathroom without looking back. What did I get the mark from? I must have spilled something on me during dinner. Such a great first impression. I walked in and closed the door tightly behind me. Oh god, this room smelled like death poorly covered by expired air freshener. Okay, take it slow Christine, it’s not that bad. And I’m sure Erik doesn’t care if I look a little dumb. I looked into the sink. Outside I heard James shout, “Wait, no!” The sink was filled covered in a dark red liquid congealed into globbed. At the drain lay an oval object covered in the red. Oh god, is that… a human ear? The world focused in on that ear. My ears rang, my knees wobbled. I did not hear the scream start to escape my throat, I did feel the gust of wind from the door flying open, I only smelt the chemical-scented rag which was clasped over my mouth and nose, I only saw the world go dark.

I awoke to shouting.

“What was that, James?! You can’t just chloroform my girlfriend! We have rules about this!”

“No, we have rules about killing your girlfriend. Chloroforming is okay.”

“Chloroforming is not okay! That shouldn’t have to be said. It’s common sense. Where did you even get chloroform?”

“It’s a mix of rubbing alcohol and bleach. Look, I did what I had to, if she screams people ask questions and it gets bad. What was she doing here anyway?”

“It is a perfectly normal thing for a guy to bring his girlfriend to meet his friends. What was an ear doing in the sink?”

“You consider me your friend?” James’ tone was candid and slightly proud.

“Only because you keep killing the rest of my friends and girlfriends.”

“Name one time.”

“Lauren.”

“That’s not my fault, she wore orange on the sixteenth!”

“Her dress was peach!”

“Fine, name three more.”

“Assad, Cindy, Greg.”

“Assad took up two parking spaces, and you have no proof that I am to blame for Cindy’s disappearance.”

“What about Greg?”

“Greg was a dick, I did you a favor there.”

“Greg taught underprivileged kids music.”

“Yeah, but did he have to be so pretentious about it? Oh look at me, helping the children, I’m so righteous.”

“You’re a monster.”

“I’m a monster that pays rent.”

“Really, you’re bringing this up now?”

“Yeah, yeah I am.”

“Okay how about the fact that there was a human ear in the sink. What happened to keeping it out of the apartment. Rule seven James, rule seven.”

They stopped shouting when they noticed me watching them.

Erik started, “How you feelin?”

“What. The. Fuck. Erick? ‘How you feelin?’ Really? Is that be best you can do. There is a dismembered body part in that bathroom and you want to know how I’m feeling? I’m feeling scared, I’m feeling confused, I’m feeling pissed the fuck off.”

“I… I tried to warn-”

“Oh no, don’t you dare tell me you told me so. I thought you were kidding and you didn’t stop me. How could you bring me here? How could you live with this freak?”

“Don’t call me that,” James growled.

“What, you don’t want me to call you a freak? I’m sorry, I should be more considerate of the fucking murderer. You are a sick, psychotic freak. So what, you’re going to kill me too now? Am I just going to become another ear in your sink?” I glared at Erik with disgust. “Is that why you brought me here? Am I just another victim?”

“It’s not like that Christine. We made rules for him, he doesn’t kill anyone I know. He only kills bad people.”

“Oh great, he’s like fucking Dexter. And from what I hear his track record isn’t too good with that anyway.”

“That was before the rules. Trust me, you’re safe.”

“Trust you?” I shook my head in disgust and stood up. “Goodbye Erik, have fun in jail.” I strode towards the door. I felt air rush pash my hair and heard a loud thunk as a knife embedded itself in the door.

“Sit down,” James commanded, his hand already grabbing at one of the knives at his belt. I obeyed. “Now shut up and listen.” Erik tried to intercede but James silenced him with a glare. “You are not a victim. As far as I am concerned you are a friend. Your protection continues until that ceases to be true. Now going to the police and turning us in is not something a friend would do. If I see you climbing the steps to the precinct, you will be dead before you reach the top; if I hear you calling the cops, you will be missing by the time the operator picks up. Do you understand me?” I nodded, too scared to breathe. “You have learned a lot today, and I don’t expect you to like all of it. However, you will live with it. Understood?” This time I managed to whisper a meek affirmation. “Good, well in that case I am going to bed. Erik, would you please drive Christine home? Good night and good luck.” And with that James retreated into one of the room and slammed the door behind him.

Erik and I did not speak the entire drive back to my apartment. The silence was too thick to be cut. The dark of the city was oppressive. I shrank with each shadow and rejoiced in the light. That car ride may have been the longest of my life. Finally, like hikers summiting Mount Everest, we reached my apartment building. I unbuckled and fled the car without waiting for Erik. I locked the door, slid the bolt, and checked each window securely. When I was ensured of my isolation I fell upon my bed into a deep sleep.

I awoke beneath my sheets refreshed and anew. Free from the nightmare that plagued the night before. That’s what it had to be right? A nightmare? I would tell Erik all about it today. He would enjoy it, he always enjoyed hearing about my dumb dreams. My relief was short lived. Its end was marked by my heart stopping for several beats. There upon my dresser, something that was not there the night before. I approached the dread object like a parent in a horror movie approaching their child’s crib. Sitting amongst frames filled with family and sanguine memories was a leatherbound journal. Laying on top of the journal was a note:

“Sorry for snapping last night. It’s going to be rough, but here’s a friend that you can talk to

-James”

And that was the beginning of my friendship with a serial killer.

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dividedwerisetogetherwefall · 7 years

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Chapter 8: Let’s Die Together

“Man, today just flew by.” Pandu whispered to himself as he pulled the shower curtain aside so he could enter the stall. He turned on the hot water faucet, and experimented until he reached the perfect temperature, at which point, he entered the stall, and closed the shower curtain. He closed his eyes and smiled as he took a few seconds to enjoy the warmth of the water, then quickly began to apply shampoo to his fur soon after. Soapy suds and bubbles rose through the air as he thoroughly massaged it into his fur. After a few minutes of vigorous washing, he enjoyed the warm water for a few more seconds, then turned the faucets off. He stepped out of the shower and onto the cold, moist tile floor, and dried himself off with a fluffy white towel. As he made his way to the row of mirrors, he threw the towel into a nearby laundry basket. Quickly, he groomed his hair with a comb, then exited the bathroom.

Everyone else is already sitting in their seat in the circle, waiting for Pandu to take his seat. “God, what’s taking him so long, the new guy could come here any second now!” Ultra said, staring at the clock which sat on the opposite wall, as he sweated generously in his seat. “Bro… Chill.” Patrick said with a chuckle. He looked at Ultra with his red, half-opened eyes. “Yeah Ultra, calm the fuck down.” Yolk said, with an “I don’t care about anything” tone. “Shut up!” Ultra shouted furiously, as his laundry door mouth flew open and shut rapidly. “I have the right to be worried! This sotta thing is important! Aight?” He crossed his arms and sat back on his chair. Yolk rolled his eyes. “Whatever dude.” He said sarcastically. Suddenly, Pandu sprinted out the bathroom and into the living room, leaving faint footprints on the ground as his damp feet collided against the ground. He dashed to his chair, and quickly sat down. He smiled and laughed nervously. He quickly explained himself before anyone could stop him. He rambled like an idiot. “Sorry guys, I went as fast as possible, I don’t want to ruin this for our new group member or anything, I just want to make sure that I don’t hurt anyone’s-” “Pandu. You’re fine, quit worrying so much.” Lex said with a reassuring voice. He quickly glanced at the clock, and with a booming voice he shouted, “6:59 guys! Prepare yourselves!” Instantly, everyone turned their attention to the giant metal door that they had all once passed through. As if it were waiting for its cue, the airlock on the door unlocked and the door slowly slid to the side, revealing the new member of Team NP. A yellow pony with pink hair named Thaecrasis stood in front of the circle of people awkwardly. He stared at the floor, in attempts to avoid any form of social interaction, but alas to no avail, his attempts failed. After what seemed like forever, Lex got up from his seat, walked up to Thae with astounding bravery and shook his hoof with a toothy grin plastered on his face. “Nice to meet you, my name is Lex.” He smiled as he firmly shook Thae’s hoof up and down. Thae smiled nervously and replied, “Hey, nice to meet you too. Um… My name is, um. Thae! Thaecrasis! Nice to meet you!” Lex let go of his hand, and he put it back down on the ground, then gave him a hug and a pat on the back as if they were close friends. He pointed to the last empty chair located next to Pandu. “Please! Have a seat.” Thae awkwardly walked across the floor and took his seat. Pandu gave him a hasty wave and a smile, and Thae returned the favor. Before anyone could say anything else, Lex quickly said, “Why don’t we introduce each other to our new, and possibly last member. Would anyone like to start us off?” He looked at the others in the circle of the chairs. “No? Alright, guess I’ll start then.” And so, the onslaught of introductions and salutations began. *** Before he knew it, it was Thae’s turn to introduce himself. Thae could feel ten pairs of eager eyes were stuck to him like glue as he opened his mouth to speak. “Hi, my name is Thae. I just moved to Azulair, I work at Feel Good Inc, I like to play tabletop games with my friends, and I like to play video games. Any of you guys heard of Demon Slayer XXI?” While everyone else shook their heads, Yolk quickly blurted out, “I thought I was the only one! I love that game! Who’s your favorite character? I love using Azure, her mobility builds are so fun to use! You ever use-” “Jesus dude you’re such a nerd.” Ultra commented saltily. “Yeah I know.” Yolk said. “Anyways, what do you think of the strength build on her in patch 10.76.2? I personally thought it didn’t deserve a nerf, it was so fun to use and it didn’t even break the meta. It made her into such a versatile character and I really feel like she would’ve been fine untouched but no! They just had to nerf her strength gain at level 87, didn’t they? Oh, and you know what else is complete bullshit? The nerf on Eldorian! His key combos were so fun, and now they changed them for 20 basic spells, it's so unfair! Seriously, his dexterity build was so underrated and fun to-” Lex quickly cut him off. “Hey Yolk, let’s let Thae finish, alright?” Yolk put up his finger in protest then quickly put it back down. “Yeah of course, sorry Thae.” Thae looked at Yolk apologetically. “Yea, No worries, I was done. Sorry if I made it sound like I was done, I’m um… not very adept at conversations.” “Yeah, no problem man.” Yolk said. “I was going a bit over the top, sorry.” “Alright, thank you.” Thae replied. “Good to know I’m not the only nerd around here.” They sat in awkward silence for a few seconds. “Alright, I’m famished. I say, we should all get some dinner!” Lex said enthusiastically. “Yes, I too am extremely hungry! Even though I do not have the capacity to eat food!” Carson said monotonically. “Yea, me too.” Ponyhidden said as he looked down at his stomach. And upon that note, they all got up from their chairs and headed to the kitchen. For once, they had some courtesy getting dinner. They formed a single file line and one by one went into the kitchen to prepare their meals, instead of tripping over each other to obtain their food. They dashed to get good positions in line, but Thae took his time. He stood in the back of the line to the kitchen, happy that he was giving others the opportunity to be served first. Realizing that their newest member was in the back of the line, Lex, who stood at the front of the line, walked up to the back and said to Thae, “Here, take my place, I’ll go to the back.” He attempted to herd Thae to the front but Thae resisted. He shook his head as he said, “No no no, thanks, I’m fine here, you can go ahead!” Lex replied almost instantaneously, “No! I insist! Please!” “Lex, please! I musn’t go to the back, you got there first! Please! I Insist!” Thae responded. “Come on Thae! You deserve this spot! Everybody agrees! Right?” He waved to everyone else in the line, and they were all nodding. “Ye Thae! You deserve dis!” Ultra said. “I second that!” Ponyhidden said. “I third that!” Pandu said enthusiastically. Realizing he was fighting an uphill battle, Thae gave up, and finally said with a sigh, “Alright, alright. I’ll move to the front.” He sheepishly walked to the front, grabbed a plastic plate, and began to sweat under the pressure of holding everybody back from getting their meals. He entered the kitchen and he felt all the eyes watching his every move. He thought to himself as he rummaged through the cupboards in search of some good food to eat. “I should hurry up.” He whispered to himself, even though only a few minutes had passed. He quickly looked over his shoulder to check on the others, who were patiently waiting for him to finish. Despite the relaxed looks they gave Thae, he couldn’t help but feel pressured by the sheer presence of the others. His plate was still empty when he entered panic mode. He frequently looked over his shoulder to check on the glances of the others while he frantically gathered food. He almost dropped his plate multiple times during his rushed preparation but miraculously, he made it out of the kitchen alive and well. He sat on a couch which was tucked away in the corner of the room. He wiped the sweat off the back of his neck as he sat down with his meager dinner plate consisting of canned beans, pretzel sticks, eleven and a half sour cream and onion potato chips, and a few slabs of teriyaki beef jerky. Usually he was so hungry he could eat a horse, but his appetite was ruined. Thae listened to the chatter of the other team members as he popped pretzel sticks into his mouth one by one (which he did with considerable talent considering the fact that he didn’t have opposable thumbs). He heard all the dirty jokes and the petty arguments, and they made him think, “How could they be happy in a dire situation such as this?” He set his gaze to the pathetic meal that sat on his lap. He finished his pretzel sticks and moved onto the potato chips. Suddenly a voice erupted from the other side of the room. “Hey Thae! Could I sit with you?” Thae looked up from his plate and tracked down the source of the voice. It was Pandu. He responded, “Yea! Um, sure! Of course!” Pandu quickly made his way across the floor and sat down next to Thae. He carried a plate containing a large portion of white microwave rice, and some strange rectangular pink meat. He packed a considerable amount of food inside his mouth the second he sat down on the couch. He chewed it quickly and throughly, and Thae watched him as he continually consumed the food with little to no pause, it was almost as if his stomach was a void and this food was trying to fill it. Miraculously, after several mouthfuls of food, he stopped to speak. “So… Where were ya before dis whole Red Wafarfare ding?” Said Pandu as he tried his hardest to not to spray specks of chewed food at Thae’s face. Thae replied, “Well um, I used to work for Feel Good Inc, ya know that one company that makes um… What was it again? Oh yea, um- Wait no. They make… Electronics? No, can’t be. Music? No. Hold on give me a second to think.” Pandu shot him a confused stare. “So you don’t even know what this company makes, but you still work for em?” “Well, I guess so.” Thae replied shyly. “What do you do at work?” Pandu asked quickly. “I do tasks on the computer, paperwork and stuff like that.” Pandu quickly shoved another forkful of food into his mouth before speaking once more. “Paparwork abou’ whot?” Pandu said with his mouth full. “Uhhhhh, legal stuff?” “Legal stuff ‘bout wot?” Pandu quickly replied after gulping down his food. Thae sighed and said, “Alright look here Pandu, I’m gonna be completely honest with you. I forgot what I work for. I just feel like--I feel like I just hated my job. My work was so boring and mundane I began to lose my humanity. Everyday was the same, wake up, go to work, eat dinner, go home. Rinse and repeat.” Thae paused and stared sheepishly at the plate which sat on his lap. He forked some cold, canned beans before continuing his rant. “Ya know, I’m honestly sort of glad I got caught in this whole Red Warfare thing. I feel like I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I weren’t here.” Pandu looked at Thae and smiled a toothy grin. The fur around his mouth was stained with grease. “I get what ya mean.” Pandu said. “My life before this sucked too. I’ve spent almost my entire life tucked away at some military school. I guess this whole tournament thing is a nice break from my daily life.” Pandu scraped the sides of his plate with his fork and gathered the few remaining pieces of meat and rice, and inserted them into his mouth. With his plate still half full, Thae got up from his seat and smiled as he looked down at Pandu. “Well, nice to meet you Pandu, I hope after this whole Red Warfare ordeal is over, the stars will align and we’ll see each other again. “Yea, same here.” Pandu replied. “But if we’re gonna die, we gonna die together alright?” Pandu smiled and put his hand up to shake Thae’s hand. “Deal?” Thae smiled, and shook his hand. “Deal.”

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