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[sharktrash]

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[sharktrash]

[ He really is. It's a little like having a vague memory of being arrested last night but you're still too drunk to figure out how you got to a yacht instead. ]

Sure. I've been there. Well, the city, not the library.

[ Squalo'sworld is largely the same as the regular twenty-first century Earth, except with large mafia alliances factually holding more power (and probably money) than governments. Then again, who's to say it's not the same everywhere? It's not exactly public knowledge. ]

[ Oh, and there's energy magic. In addition to the fact that Squalo's apparently so good he can go with a sword against semi-automatic submachine guns. ]

I didn't realize librarians travel that much.

[cahooted]

You have? [Okay, re-evaluating that bit.] I thought you were some kind of Italian ninja samurai from the past. What year are you from?

[It's funny how it's always the traveling bit that seems to give him away. Flynn wonders if he might want to stop mentioning that.]

We have conferences. And I work for a special collection, sometimes I have to go and pick up new additions, cooperate with other libraries...

[sharktrash]

Italy never had samurai. Or ninja. [ If he looks a bit offended, it's because he's had his ass handed by a tiny Japanese teenager who was pretty much a samurai in the modern sense. He's got nothing against the warrior caste itself. ] It was [ some year between 2006 and 2012, when satellite phones already existed, since that's when the manga ran ] when I left.

[ ...he'll definitely want to stop mentioning that. ]

A special collection of... books?

[cahooted]

Yes, I know that but perhaps in some other world it– [Flynn's voice trails off in surprise when they're roughly from the same time. That's just weird.

Then again, he is an Excalibur-wielding collector of magical artifacts in the early 2ks so maybe not that weird after all.]

Yes. Very special books. Unique, one of a kind. [He'll skip the artifacts for now.]

[sharktrash]

[ Nothing is really weird once you've seen enough shit. Squalo wouldn't mind finding other worlds, though. He did always fancy being a gladiator, not that it probably would have changed much. ]

Like, handwritten by monks and stuff?

[ he is having a hard time comprehending "special" and "books" in a single sentence ]

[cahooted]

[... Sure, let's go with that.]

Sort of. Like, first edition to ever come into existence special. Thought to be lost to the ages kind of special.

[sharktrash]

...never got the deal with "first edition". Does it matter if the cover's different if the contents are the same?

[ yes good let's talk about jocks and books rather than feelings ]

[cahooted]

[Are you sure, Squalo, because you're entering territory he is very passionate about.]

Does it-- of course it matters! Editions, especially in early times, always bring the risk of massive creative freedom in terms of editing, censoring or abridging. History is never neutral.

[sharktrash]

[ ...he might have a few regrets. ]

Winners write history, right?

[cahooted]

Exactly. [Flynn smiles.]

Which is why original copies can be groundbreaking and highly contested material. Books have been considered dangerous or forbidden throughout the centuries.

[sharktrash]

I guess.

[ He vaguely knows about it, but he's not particularly invested, and it's probably audible. ]

You've got a favorite forbidden book?

[ Because that should be interesting. What dark secrets could a travelling librarian possibly hide? ]

[cahooted]

A favorite? [He puffs his cheeks, thinking.]

If we're talking favorites, that would be Shakespeare's King Lear. It was banned from stage for a long time because the madness in the story rang too close to the insanity of King George III.

... But you were probably thinking more dark and twisted, weren't you?

[sharktrash]

No, why would I think that?

[ there is nothing dark and twisted about protecting another human which is totally what he does!! ]

Can't deny I thought you'd come up with saucier banned content than politics, though.

[cahooted]

I don't know, just a hunch.

[He has a lot of fake memories to go with that hunch okay.]

Saucier? What, you mean like... [Indistinct hand gesture, don't make him say it.]

[sharktrash]

[ gdi fake memories, ruining his perfectly good lie. ]

Y'know, something interesting. Unusual. Fucked up, if you'd like. Something that makes you go "did someone really write this?"

[cahooted]

... Well, there's this 14th century witchcraft book that has some... explicit ritual descriptions. It's a little hard to imagine someone sat down and wrote it with a straight face.

Or stomach.

[sharktrash]

Any highlights?

[ He sounds like he thinks it's light reading. ]

[cahooted]

[Of course he does.]

There was a pretty bad one about the power to take flight. Which they actually stole from the Norse, but that's a different story.

They'd restrain the victim and hack at his ribs until-- are you seriously going to make me recap that? Like, can we just stop here and you take my word for it that it's really bad?

[sharktrash]

Does anyone actually end up flying?

[ He doesn't seem troubled but he's not going to push it, because he honestly doesn't care that much. ]

[cahooted]

... No. Get their ribs partly torn out and their lungs spread spanned them to resemble wings but it ends there.

[sharktrash]

Point for effort.

[ But not good enough, clearly, even if the imagery is amusing. ]

So. Sword fight. I'm in the Radiation Zone right now. Where're you?

[cahooted]

I guess that's one way of looking at it.

[Why is he not surprised?]

You're asking for a rematch? ... Or... wait, is it a rematch if the original match didn't actually happen?

[sharktrash]

Rematch of a rematch, does it matter? I'll win anyway.

[ look how cute he is ]

[cahooted]

[Adorable, really.]

Industrial zone. Though I got my hands a bit full at the moment. You know. Traumatic memories to sort through, broken friendships to mend, that sort of thing.

[sharktrash]

A load of horseshit, in other words. Come on! A good fight would do you some good.

[ Mr Sensitive strikes again. Then again... he's not entirely wrong in that a good exercise can usually help with feeling down. ]