driftfleet | (no subject)

Who: Cyril and OPEN
Broadcast: Fleetwide Video
Action: Wonderduck
When: Daytime

I've heard of a few people finding surprises in the cargo bays of their ships and it seems it's my turn. I wanted to share them - especially for those of us from Thedas.

[He turns then, and shows what he was given. It is a collection of books. He's managed to get them into his room and has them organized by publish date. The first one has the title The Dasher's Men and the last declares itself The Inquisitor Lavellan Story. The only thing stopping this from being a complete collection is the missing copy of Tale of the Champion.]

The nearly complete works of one Varric Tethras. I even have the newest part to Swords and Shields for those of us who like silly romances.

[He smiles in a way that hints he's remembering something fondly.]

I am of course willing to let others borrow them, provided they're treated well. Each one is signed by the author to me and I like having a reminder of home.

[Even more so when the reminder is that somewhere out there his friends actually know him. After a moment, he addresses his shipmates,]

Thank you for everyone on the Wonderduck who helped me get them to my room. They turned out to be rather heavy. Someone needs to tell Varric to write shorter books...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I've heard a thing or two about these books. Sad to say, I haven't had a chance to read any, save for skimming one or two. [Court life and then life on the road afforded her little time to read them. She feels kind of bad.] I will definitely have to borrow one sometime. I've heard mixed things about the romance serial.

Mixed things are probably the best way to describe the romance serial, honestly.

I would suggest Hard in Hightown, of course. Everyone does.

The poor author's not even here to defend his works. Then again, most romances are not something one brags about writing.

[they're there for quick, easy money for most authors.]

Ah yes, I've heard some good things about that one. The crime solving one, yes?

I'm not sure Varric would defend this one. Most of the negative things I've heard of it came straight from him.

As far as Hard in Hightown, that's right. It's his most popular one because he manages to be a master of intrigue. It's... really more about uncovering a massive conspiracy between agents of the Divine and a shadowy organization but... Oh if I say more I'll ruin it for you. I'll just have to let you borrow it.

Someone else, who I think is likely Anders, is taking the latest copy of of the romance series anyway so if you start with Hard in Hightown you can read Swords and Shields after him.

Ooooh, I do like a good mystery. I'd very much like to give it a cursory read and see what it's about. If I like it, I'll definitely continue.

[She raises a brow.]

Anders is reading the romance one? I never pegged him as the type for that, though he can be quite romantic and soft when he wants to be, now that I think about it.

You know... In my Thedas he and Hawke are an item. Sort of like Wolfe. That story is tragic and complicated, but still rather romantic too.

It's rather hard for me to picture Anders with anyone else. He and Wolfe fit so well together. [She's just so glad that Anders found someone in some version of her world.] But it's strange... Anders knows me, Wolfe knew of me when he came here, and yet... when I heard about the Champion of Kirkwall back home, everyone said she was a woman.

So... that would mean that there's some version of you in their Thedas as well?

This is so complicated.

Welcome to parallel universes. They're a barrel of fun.

I've noticed.

The reality that everything that happened to me which defined who I am could just have easily happened to someone else - leaving me to die in an explosion - was such a fun, exciting thing. [His tone of voice is so light, it's hard to tell how seriously he's taking this. He probably wouldn't have said it to anyone else, though. She's one of the few he trusts can understand and relate to the mix of emotions he has over the idea.]

Though the space travel is fascinating.

Ah, yes. It's a very... disconcerting realization, isn't it? Just how little it would have taken for your life to completely change - or get cut short. One decision and that's all it takes.

[She heard about the different Heros, and she's even met one of them here.]

I wish I understood better how it all works. Space travel, the ships, all of it. But it is sort of neat, isn't it? Hurtling through the void of space and barely realizing it?

And imagine how even the idea of other worlds would have been unthinkable back home. The entire idea that space is a thing that can be traveled through is new.

It's so strange to think back to that and remember that I didn't know about any of this, that I had no clue this was all out here. Thedas is so... far behind. We can barely stop ourselves from killing each other on our best days, let alone get off that rock.

[Honestly, it's... kind of sad.]

Or even conceive that we are indeed on a rock. I imagine that so many thing Thedas is the entire universe, with the stars moving about around it.

An understandable point of view. I'll be honest, I never really thought all that much about it until I arrived in the fleet. Did you?

I thought a bit about the stars, but I never had an inkling they were things one could travel to.