But who can be upset about that when he has Caster - Solomon's poetry in his hands? Atsushi immediately drops what he's doing - he's already forgotten why he went out - to find a good place to sit down and read the entire volume.
All two hundred pages of it, and then another hundred pages of notes, in one sitting. He couldn't put it down even if he wanted to.
He doesn't have an owl to track down Avicebron wherever he is in the city. Which is why, in that same afternoon, he sends a text message:]
I've finished your poetry, but I want to keep a hold of it for at least one more reread, if that's alright. It's beautiful. Your use of rhythm is masterful and your imagery is so vivid - your secular poems bring spiritual weight to any subject. You're equally talented in one or two stanza poetry and in longer pieces like Kingdom's Crown.
Lancer said you might be particular about your true name, so don't worry, I wasn't going to share. In private, do you prefer Caster or Solomon?
[ He dislikes receiving compliments about himself, but his work is fair game. So the first half of the message does earn the tiniest unseen smile. ]
Thank you. I have no connection to the book, you can keep it as long as you'd like.
In this form I'm unused to being called Solomon. As a spirit, most know me as Avicebron. My name was corrupted in past translations. You can call me what you'd like.
We met recently at his bar, and you came up when we were talking about spirits. He didn't say anything bad about you, don't worry. It was more me gushing about you to him than anything else.
[ Atsushi, he is like 95% sure you are a Nice and Good Person, so why do you keep ending up in these situations that have him screaming interally. ]
Assuming we are speaking of the same Lancer, he must have been in a particularly magnanimous mood to tolerate such talk. There is very little about me that deserves such praise, much less for someone like him.
[ Would it be better or worse if it was some totally different Lancer-class servant that showed up and was subject to this gossip. He's genuinely not sure. ]
[ UGH HE TAKES IT BACK you're not nice and good at all. ]
Disregarding your incorrect impression of me, Lancer is someone who greatly values strength and integrity. He would consider me an ally, but hardly one worthy of such praise.
[ Also he, uh, totally betrayed the Black team, but you know, that's just the Grail War for you. ]
Of course we do. We're writers, one of the most melodramatic professions known to man.
Akutagawa and Tanizaki are still fighting over whether structure or content is more important in a story. Dazai threatened to stab Kawabata the moment he showed up for denying him a literary prize when they were alive. Chuuya picks fights with everyone, Kyouka and Tokuda have never stopped arguing despite their mutual teacher trying his best to calm them down, and even I have people I try to avoid lest it turn into a fight.
We have the same goal, but interpersonal disputes happen daily.
I have some difficulty imagining you fighting with anyone.
[ Still ... petty squabbles, mostly. Not that he particularly enjoyed those sorts of fights himself, but what Atsushi's describing does make him feel a touch of nostalgia for back when he was alive.
But that wasn't his point. ]
Heroic Spirits like Lancer and myself can be summoned in several different contexts. Though we currently consider ourselves allies, we could have easily been summoned to kill each other, instead.
[ In other words, relationships can get a little weird sometimes. ]
I have people I dislike, just like anybody else. Ranpo in particular frequently hassles me. He's not a bad person, just... tends to consider interesting people subjects for study without thinking of their own comfort.
That does seem like it would make your relationships complicated. At least here you don't have to fight each other.
I can sometimes be guilty of the same thing as this Ranpo, though I try to contain myself. Since you seem to have an unfortunately high opinion of me, I may allow myself to be more careless in that regard.
If you dislike it, I can refrain from calling you that.
[Not quite a brush-off, but also not quite what Avicebron meant by the warning.]
He wasn't. But neither he or I perfectly match the 'real' Atsushi.
Spirits like us are influenced by what people thought of us and our stories - like you and your mistranslated name - and my/our stories, especially our most well-known short story, had themes of dualism and conflict in identities. So it isn't surprising.
It could have been worse, really. The children's literature authors were summoned as actual children.
[ That's not -- ... ugh, he'll deal with it later. He honestly can't focus on that when there's a much more intriguing subject on hand.
It really is quite fascinating how these library spirits seem so similar to Heroic Spirits in many ways, but different in others. ]
I see. Public perception is equally important for a Heroic Spirit's identity. There are those whose identities have been warped by poor reputations or gossip.
It must be a troublesome condition to deal with. You speak of it with surprising candor.
Honestly, I've spent a long time deeply troubled by it. Worried over if I'm the real 'me', if he's the real 'me', if either of us even remember our life the same way... We can't communicate directly, and even now that we're exchanging notes, I don't know him all that well.
I can't say that I'm at peace with it. But I know he doesn't mean me harm, at least.
...he says 'hurt him and I'll kill you', by the way.
[ Though Atsushi's other personality is probably in the right to be wary. It's a droll thought that he shoves to the back of his mind. ]
Some Heroic Spirits can be summoned in different forms depending on the summoner, the location, and other factors. But no one form is more 'real' than another. They are simply different manifestations of the same legends and rumors.
In that regard, I would think both of your personalities are 'real' by virtue of existing. As long as both of your personalities are virtuous and of worth, 'realness' seems unimportant. You've little to worry about.
[ The world's most indirect way of trying to be reassuring. ]
[Despite its indirectness, it works. Maybe even more than direct reassurance would have.]
Thank you. Yet again, I'm grateful for your support.
I'm saving up to buy an orb for one of my short story collections, but unfortunately, I don't have a cute owl to deliver it to wherever you are in the city. Should I mail it, or would you prefer to collect it in person?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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But who can be upset about that when he has Caster - Solomon's poetry in his hands? Atsushi immediately drops what he's doing - he's already forgotten why he went out - to find a good place to sit down and read the entire volume.
All two hundred pages of it, and then another hundred pages of notes, in one sitting. He couldn't put it down even if he wanted to.
He doesn't have an owl to track down Avicebron wherever he is in the city. Which is why, in that same afternoon, he sends a text message:]
I've finished your poetry, but I want to keep a hold of it for at least one more reread, if that's alright. It's beautiful. Your use of rhythm is masterful and your imagery is so vivid - your secular poems bring spiritual weight to any subject. You're equally talented in one or two stanza poetry and in longer pieces like Kingdom's Crown.
Lancer said you might be particular about your true name, so don't worry, I wasn't going to share. In private, do you prefer Caster or Solomon?
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Thank you. I have no connection to the book, you can keep it as long as you'd like.
In this form I'm unused to being called Solomon. As a spirit, most know me as Avicebron. My name was corrupted in past translations. You can call me what you'd like.
[ But that aside ... HOLD UP A SECOND. ]
You know Lancer?
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[so about that disliking compliments thing]
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Assuming we are speaking of the same Lancer, he must have been in a particularly magnanimous mood to tolerate such talk. There is very little about me that deserves such praise, much less for someone like him.
[ Would it be better or worse if it was some totally different Lancer-class servant that showed up and was subject to this gossip. He's genuinely not sure. ]
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I disagree, but I don't think I can convince you otherwise.
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Disregarding your incorrect impression of me, Lancer is someone who greatly values strength and integrity. He would consider me an ally, but hardly one worthy of such praise.
[ Also he, uh, totally betrayed the Black team, but you know, that's just the Grail War for you. ]
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Well, he didn't complain about it out loud. I can't say whether or not he was silently judging me for my taste.
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You said you and your fellow author spirits fight a common enemy. Do you never fight amongst yourselves?
[ A totally innocent, totally unrelated question. ]
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Akutagawa and Tanizaki are still fighting over whether structure or content is more important in a story. Dazai threatened to stab Kawabata the moment he showed up for denying him a literary prize when they were alive. Chuuya picks fights with everyone, Kyouka and Tokuda have never stopped arguing despite their mutual teacher trying his best to calm them down, and even I have people I try to avoid lest it turn into a fight.
We have the same goal, but interpersonal disputes happen daily.
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[ Still ... petty squabbles, mostly. Not that he particularly enjoyed those sorts of fights himself, but what Atsushi's describing does make him feel a touch of nostalgia for back when he was alive.
But that wasn't his point. ]
Heroic Spirits like Lancer and myself can be summoned in several different contexts. Though we currently consider ourselves allies, we could have easily been summoned to kill each other, instead.
[ In other words, relationships can get a little weird sometimes. ]
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That does seem like it would make your relationships complicated. At least here you don't have to fight each other.
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I can sometimes be guilty of the same thing as this Ranpo, though I try to contain myself. Since you seem to have an unfortunately high opinion of me, I may allow myself to be more careless in that regard.
[ He's joking. It's just ... a very bad joke. ]
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I'm sure you have nothing to worry about as long as you can take 'no, I don't want to talk about it' for an answer within a year. The bar is very low.
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It's something I usually keep a secret, because I don't want people to look at me differently or take pity on me. But it's alright for you to know.
[A fair trade: a secret for a secret. One unwillingly revealed, one freely given in exchange.]
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But there was no need to tell me if you would have preferred to keep it a secret.
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...and even if that hadn't happened, it's not a terrible thing if my friends know.
[Unstated, because it's obvious and doesn't need to be said: they're friends.]
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Though you'll probably dismiss it, I must still make something clear: I am not the type of person you should be so quick to declare a friend.
[ But since he gets the sense Atsushi's just going to brush off that warning, he won't dwell on it, either. Not at the moment, at least. ]
Was the split personality something you had in life?
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[Not quite a brush-off, but also not quite what Avicebron meant by the warning.]
He wasn't. But neither he or I perfectly match the 'real' Atsushi.
Spirits like us are influenced by what people thought of us and our stories - like you and your mistranslated name - and my/our stories, especially our most well-known short story, had themes of dualism and conflict in identities. So it isn't surprising.
It could have been worse, really. The children's literature authors were summoned as actual children.
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It really is quite fascinating how these library spirits seem so similar to Heroic Spirits in many ways, but different in others. ]
I see. Public perception is equally important for a Heroic Spirit's identity. There are those whose identities have been warped by poor reputations or gossip.
It must be a troublesome condition to deal with. You speak of it with surprising candor.
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I can't say that I'm at peace with it. But I know he doesn't mean me harm, at least.
...he says 'hurt him and I'll kill you', by the way.
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[ Though Atsushi's other personality is probably in the right to be wary. It's a droll thought that he shoves to the back of his mind. ]
Some Heroic Spirits can be summoned in different forms depending on the summoner, the location, and other factors. But no one form is more 'real' than another. They are simply different manifestations of the same legends and rumors.
In that regard, I would think both of your personalities are 'real' by virtue of existing. As long as both of your personalities are virtuous and of worth, 'realness' seems unimportant. You've little to worry about.
[ The world's most indirect way of trying to be reassuring. ]
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Thank you. Yet again, I'm grateful for your support.
I'm saving up to buy an orb for one of my short story collections, but unfortunately, I don't have a cute owl to deliver it to wherever you are in the city. Should I mail it, or would you prefer to collect it in person?
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I can collect it in person. Thank you.
[ A pause before something occurs to him and he sends a second message, an addendum. ]
Or I can give you control of the owl golem if you'd like. For as long as it lasts.
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All I would do is pet it, I'm sure you have much better uses for it...
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full ascended avi today...
CONGRATS please enjoy him in all his gaudy-ass golden glory
I will!!
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avi is at lv 69 rn. I just thought you should know that.