#I actually wrote something :O

[marigoldendragon]

oh. I am more nervous posting this than I anticipated. I don't get the writing bug very often (last thing I wrote was at least a year ago) and I've never written fanfic before. But this one wouldnt leave me alone so... have some fluff and a drawing.

Lilia Vanrouge x reader. 400 words 

You sat there in Ramshackle lounge, across from Lilia, having just finished a long, difficult and necessary conversation about the nature of your relationship moving forwards. There were many things to consider when dating a fae, especially when you yourself were from a whole other world. Butterflies fluttered in your stomach, a flush crept up your cheeks as the situation started to sink in. You were now officially dating Lilia Vanrouge.

You shifted in your chair ‘So what now?’ 

He tilted his head ever so slightly, his smile grew wide. You could see just the hint of his fangs as his vermillion eyes locked onto yours.

‘Now?’ 

A soft chuckle escaped him as he leaned forwards and slipped off his dusty chair. His feet didn't touch the ground, and yet you could swear he was prowling towards you. Eyes lidded, sultry, holding promises of devilish things yet to come as he crosses the distance. 

Your heart thudding a strong tempo in your chest, he leans over you. The swirling of butterflies now a raging storm as his face ghosts close to yours, wisps of hair tickling your face. His gaze piercing, breath heavy; he wants this as much as you do. You close your eyes, anticipating. His hands ever so gently caressing your face, tilt your head up so his lips can meet yours…

Only for his kiss to find your forehead instead. It’s soft, it’s tender, it's lovely. It wasn’t what you were expecting. 

He pulls back as you sit and blink in confusion. You look up at him, floating there, arms lightly crossed, body shaking in suppressed mirth with the biggest shit eating grin on his face. 

The storm inside you ran through the gamut of emotions in quick order, eventually landing on annoyance. The worst part, the worst part  was that it made you love him even more. Rogue. Villain. Rapscallion. You scowled up at him, making your displeasure known.

He floats further back, eyes glinting in the lamplight, feet barely above the threadbare carpets. Drinking in your reaction. Still barely suppressing his laughter. Smug as the cat who got the cream. 

Oh. Oh you were going to kill him. 

You leapt out of your chair with a small puff of dust as his deep laugh finally burst free. You swatted at him futilely as he elegantly danced away from your ire.

‘Come back here and kiss me properly you menace!’

Mirth crinkled his eyes as he blew you a kiss. 

[fala-alfredo-pasta]

One of the most weirdest things to me about the fandom is the idea that Nagito would be extra-warm towards Hajime upon waking up, due to Hajime retaining all of Kamukura's talents. To me I think it would be the total opposite. I think there'd actually be a lot of angst deriving from just how alienated Nagito feels around this Hajime, who's not quite the same person he fell in love with anymore. Taking into account what 2.5 implies about his true feelings about talent (that deep down he's always resented what talent has done to the world and his life), I think it could be especially aggravating if Hajime tried to act as if there's no power imbalance between the two.

"...Stop pretending like I'm still your equal. I'm a talentless freak with a brain that's falling to bits, and I'll be gone in a few years. You're the most talented ingenious human being on Earth, and you've probably got a life expectancy of like 250. You don't get to reap all the benefits of being the Ultimate Hope, and then act like you're still an average joe just because you had some profound revelation in a computer world about how okay it is being talentless."

Yeah I feel that. Though it's understandable fandom would run with the "Talent-sexual" Nagito joke given how much he fawns over those with talent and to then apply the logic to "the more talents = the more Nagito will like you". The moment in the anime when he's overwhelmed with adoration simply being in Izuru's presence for the first time also doesn't quite help in this regard, though pretty sure that was put in there more so for fanservice and comic relief.

Funnily enough, as you mentioned, the anime also brought into question how much sincerity Nagito's love for talent truly is. So then it makes you think--if Nagito actually resents talent, then applying the earlier logic: wouldn't the more talents = the more Nagito resents you? Both things are somewhat of a flawed logic, but it's interesting to explore that side of Nagito because it really paints a picture of how deeply entrenched his delusion with hope and talent are. How many layers of denial and repression do you have to be in order to act so sincerely and consistently with your fake ideal that talent=hope and the Ultimates are destined to bring forth that hope? To the point that you circled back around and gaslight yourself into believing it to be a fundamental truth?

At what point did that resentment arise? Did it grow alongside his admiration for talent? Every time he felt his resentment towards talent did he push it back down with positive thoughts of talent instead to try to "look on the brightside/find the silver lining"? Did it get to the point that his resentment was so incredible that he had to think talent positive thoughts 24/7 just to keep it at bay? Is he doing this because otherwise all he'll have left will be hatred, despair, and a bleak view of the world being cruel and unfair? And he'll constantly be wondering why some are blessed with advantage and prodigy while others are seemingly born to suffer and stay stagnant despite their best efforts? Why does the world continue to favor some and crush everyone else? What has everyone done to deserve the life they have?

Honestly, this just further proves that Nagito's obsession with hope and talent are his last ditch attempts at giving himself purpose in a world cursing his existence. Ironically, this unhealthy coping mechanism is the better of two mindsets he chose to follow. Really goes to show that Nagito, despite everything he says, has not given up on himself if he's trying THIS damn hard to keep up the facade and have a reason to keep going everyday. And this is the reason why that OVA is my favorite episode from all the anime as that one line adds so much more nuance to Nagito's already complicated ideology.

Sorry, I sorta derailed things to ramble about Nagito but what did you expect from a Nagito simp after all? He's been rotting my brain for over four years now. But to come back on topic, this post-game Nagito with his looser chokehold on hope and talent would most likely have to contend once again with that resentment, but now with a weaker shield. As such, I do think he'd have mixed feelings about Izuru/Hajime. Part of him would probably sympathize with Hajime's pain from the surgery and the fact that he'll never quite be only Hajime anymore. Izuru is and will always be there. Learning to live with the permanent changes to his body and mind is something Nagito knows intimately--way before he became a remnant. That being said, well....Hajime did get the best case scenario for his outcome. Even some of his emotions returned despite the physical improbability of it happening. And yeah--he gets to keep all those useful talents now too. He's also in better physical health than most of their other classmates and his real name isn't inherently associated with Ultimate Despair. He could go back into society looking the way he does with his legal name and no one would even know he was ever involved with Hope's Peak.

So yeah, that sympathy Nagito has would not be enough to squash down his resentment. I can't imagine him fawning over Hajime post-game given everything that's happened and especially after finding out how Izuru was created (as I talked about in a previous ask). There will definitely be an adjustment period where in Nagito may even be passively hostile towards Hajime. But I think a part of Nagito--the part that white knuckled that silver lining for talent---would try its best to look past that and accept Hajime as a sincere friend. It's just going to take a while for him to get there. But he'll try. Doesn't mean he won't be a snarky passive aggressive guy through out it though. I do think he'll be more blunt about his honest feelings towards others whether they like it or not. Talent be (slightly) damned.

[nostalgia-tblr]

I watched Avengers: Age of Ultron (apart from I skipped some overly long action sequences) and I am not sure so can someone tell me whether or not Tony Stark was the baddy in that film? Because about halfway through I was sure he was but then it was maybe just an evil robot after all and I am confused because either this film was surprisingly subversive or it was about robots hitting each other.

[crossbackpoke-check]

it’s all the rest of what i want with you

connor dewar/brandon duhaime :: 8k

Summary:

“Brandon,” Connor says with a sigh. “There’s no baby in there.”

“Not yet,” Brandon says. Connor feels his stomach twist, almost like what he would imagine a baby kicking to feel like.

in these trying times of dewvorce, may i offer you 8k of pwp inspired by @stillfertile’s wonderful art which i had. several breakdowns about 🫶 anyway please enjoy!!!

[kimvvantae]

SO bigbang coming back outta nowhere made me feel nostalgic and i remembered this 40k+ words g-dragon fanfic i wrote in 2017, about gd and a YG trainee falling in love (cough cough the mc was definitely not a self insert), and now that i'm done reading it i'm PISSED at myself for never finishing the story. it's a bit cringy but i was ENTERTAINED?? NOW I DON'T REMEMBER HOW I PLANNED IT TO END????

[seventh-district]

7am, eating cold leftover teriyaki stir-fry for breakfast and crying over blorbos

[snailor-bee]

You're the Lucky One

GN!Reader / SFW / 1.5k

Summary: Kyojuro is called to help out a fellow demon slayer on a mission. It's easy enough, but somehow you weren't quite what he was expecting. Tags: Kyojuro POV, no pronouns for reader, pre-relationship.

Song: "The Lucky One" - Alison Krauss

Branches blocked out the faint light of the stars, the leaves rustling in the breeze. The moon was absent tonight, making the forest feel that much more dark and foreboding. 

Not that that bothered Kyojuro. He stretched his senses out, bright smile trained on his face as he walked briskly down the path. 

He heard a noise before he saw anything. Kyojuro cocked his head as he turned the bend and he saw you. Ah, ha! So you were close by. 

Hurrying his steps, he was careful not to make a noise. As he got closer, the sound you were making cleared into a song. He couldn't quite make out the words but the melody was crisp and clear. Lovely, in a strange way, though why you were attracting attention in a demon-filled forest was beyond him! 

He'd been hoping to surprise you—it was important to always keep one's senses up!—but somewhere above a crow cawed and you looked over your shoulder, voice halting suddenly. The quiet seemed oppressive in the song’s absence. 

"Oh!" you said, dipping your head in a slight bow. "Rengoku-san, isn't it?" 

"Yes! I was alerted to help out a fellow demon slayer, as I was close by!" he boomed as he came up to you, his voice echoed out into the forest but he figured it didn't matter. If demons were close they would have already heard you singing. "What's your name?" 

"That's very kind of you!" you said with a smile and gave your name before you turned to continue walking. "I was just scouting the area."

Kyojuro began to walk beside you and he hummed. "Very good! I will just be here for assistance if you need it. Otherwise, I will let you take care of things!" 

Normally, lower-ranked demon slayers got nervous at that. They figured his presence meant they didn't have to do any work themselves and could instead sit back to let the Hashira handle things. Not at all what should happen! Kyojuro was adamant that experience was the best teacher. 

But you didn't falter, just nodded your assent, eyes trained on the treeline that booked the path on both sides. 

"Do you like music, Rengoku-san?" you asked suddenly. 

He blinked a few times at the question. "Well enough!" he answered quickly. 

"Do you have any favorites?"

"Not that I know of!" Unbidden, a memory of his mother singing a lullaby came to mind. Warmth filled him and he let the memory linger for just a moment before he pushed it aside.

"Would you like to hear a song that makes me think of you?" 

"Perhaps after the mission is completed!" He didn't know why you were asking such a thing, but it seemed harmless enough. 

Kyojuro sensed something from his right and was just opening his mouth to point it out to you when another bird caw had you turning sharply, eyes intent in the direction he felt a demon lurking. 

Wordlessly you stepped off the path and Kyojuro let you take the lead, ever-present smile growing. How interesting! You'd found it all on your own.

"You're the lucky one, so I've been told." Kyojuro almost jumped with surprise as your voice suddenly rang out, singing again. "As free as the wind blowing down the road." 

If it wasn't for your hand on the hilt of your sword, Kyojuro might have reprimanded you. Still, you seemed focused enough, random singing moment aside. 

You stopped in the middle of a clearing, back straight. He could sense your breathing as it weaved along with the words you sang. Interesting, he hadn't seen someone do that before. "Loved by many, hated by none... " The words drifted before all once, the sound of claws hitting steel rang out. 

The demon had lunged and you met it easily. Just as the demon was jumping back, you followed, swiftly cutting off its head. 

You didn't relax, both hands firmly grasping the hilt of your katana. Good. Kyojuro could feel several more demons rushing towards the two of you. 

"You look at the world with a smiling eye and laugh at the devil as his train goes by."  You were smiling, Kyojuro noticed with a gleam of intrigue. "Give you a song and a one-night stand and you'll be lookin' at a happy man, 'cause you're the lucky one!" At the end of the line, another demon burst out into the clearing and you rushed to meet it. 

The battle was easily won, a swarm of demons descended upon you but you handled them all with ease. They were low-level demons but apparently they had sectioned out this forest amongst themselves, as travelers frequently had to travel down its path in order to trade and barter between the towns on either side of it. 

Kyojuro only had to intervene at the end, when a demon tried to jump you from behind while you were busy beheading another. A roar of flames briefly lit up the space, bringing with it a rush of heat before they faded, leaving only the two of you standing there. 

"That was amazing, Rengoku-san!" you praised, sheathing your katana. 

"I could say the same about you!" Kyojuro returned, just as joyfully as he did the same. "You did great work!" 

You smiled back. "That means a lot, coming from a Hashira. I'm sad though!" Suddenly your expression fell and Kyojuro stared back, suddenly worried you'd gotten injured without him noticing. "I barely got to see your flames," you continued with a pout.

Kyojuro burst out into surprised laughter. "I apologize! I felt it better to eliminate the demon rather than show off." At his teasing tone, you shoved at him playfully as you walked back towards the path. 

"That's not what I meant, Rengoku-san!" 

"What did you mean then?" he asked, suddenly curious. 

You hummed, clasping your hands together. "Ah! Well. It might seem a little silly but it's like a goal of mine to be able to see all the different forms of breathing!" 

"I see!" Kyojuro burst out. "I don't think that's silly at all!" 

Giggling, you shrugged a little self-consciously. "Thank you. A lot of people think it's weird but I just think it's really cool to see the differences and how people take to the techniques. Water breathing looks like dancing, don't you think? And of course Thunder is so fast! I could barely see anything at all but the impact—" You clapped your hands together "—that sudden boom is just so electrifying, wouldn't you say?" 

"HA! I would!!" Kyojuro agreed with enthusiasm, laughing loudly at your pun. 

"And you look just like a flame!" you gushed leaning into Kyojuro's space as he smiled back. "With your hair and eyes, it's really beautiful!" 

Unbidden a flush rose to his cheeks with your easy honesty and compliment. His smile didn't waver though. "Thank you!" 

"Mmhm." 

The conversation petered out as the two of you hit the path. Kyojuro felt a bit flattered but also curious. 

"If I may ask a question?" 

"Of course," you looked up at him. 

"Why was it that you were singing before? Aren't you concerned about demons hearing it?" 

The wind whistled as it rustled your hair and clothes. "Not really," you replied. "I sing all the time. I've found demons think that it means I won't hear them coming and encourages them to charge me. It's actually worked out more in my favor because I don't have to chase after them." You tilted your head before smiling wide. "I think it's important to have any kind of joy we can in this life, you know? Singing makes me happy, so does witnessing new breathing techniques I haven't seen yet. I know these are small things but every day may be our last. I try to cling to the things that lift my spirits." 

"I see!" Kyojuro felt the tips of his fingertips tingling, excitement and joy rushing through him. "I think that's a great way to look at things and I greatly encourage you to continue doing so!" 

You thanked him and Kyojuro watched you from the corner of his eye. This was the first time he had met you but he liked your spirit immensely.

Yelling your name loudly, you jumped but dutifully turned to face him when he stopped walking. "I would love to show you the rest of my flame breathing, if you'd like!" He crossed his arms, looking above your head, not quite wanting to meet your eyes. 

Gasping loudly, you grabbed onto his arm, jumping in place with excitement. "Really?! That would be so great, Rengoku-san!" 

He nodded. "It will depend when we arrive at a Wisteria House but if neither of us are called out on a mission—"

"Then let's go at once!" you interrupted, grabbing at a wrist and tugging him down the path. "There's ten forms isn't there? Oh, I can't wait! You'll show all of them won't you?" 

Laughing, Kyojuro caught up to your pace easily and agreed readily. 

Neither mentioned how long it took for you to finally drop your grip from his wrist and Kyojuro didn't bring up the fact that the skin where you touched felt almost like it burned. 

A thought to explore later, maybe. His smile grew. 

[thetangibleghost]

I need to go. Store.

[johnhelliwell]

Oh i am so mad at Roger. They settled with Rick at least but are still going with Roger.

[greatgoddyke]

work place pissing me the fuck offfffff

[surreal-duck]

honestly now that i think abt it each year i rly do end up making a new batch of ocs that i proceed to rarely do anything about... theres really too much like my masked double life idol girl and then the fantasy cast and the magical girls circa 2017-2020. then i started to think of normaller(?) school settings like rival neighboring schools being forced to merge into one huge one due to the way too heated rivalries between its students but that one is a collab w my good friend bc i talked abt my mom telling me an irl story of exactly that and we just kept adding onto it. and the recent four r also just a group of normal high school girls struggling. not to mention the aroace + lesbian comic i had in the works for fun. and dont get me started on the random ones i imagine amvs to

[rosesradio]

.

[skinnyhyena]

I wanna hear the TedTalk

[realboutfatalfury]

ooohhh so many changes with the anime and manga of mashiro no oto actually wowzer they cut off a lot of things like taketo being relevant and showing rai wasn't the one that gave setsu advice but taketoooo i seee.... there's so much differences actually i don't think i can name it all... orz i guess i'll talk about the ones i thought was neat!

the part where souichi gets back home from school and notices that mai was eating his popsicle and mai replacing it with a different flavor and shutting himself in his room was awesome actually not bc that happened to him but i like that they did that :) showed more of souichi's character and show how he is as a person

was a bit disappointed they didn't show much of him during the anime and the anime equivalent of that scene only showed him enjoying the popsicle and mai was doing whatever she was doing originally without him interrupted

the other difference i really liked is umeko sky diving instead of getting a massage before she learns souichi joined a tsugaru shamisen club doesn't really affect the scene but i thought it was funny that she was just skydiving for kicks

biggest difference from the anime to the manga though that like changes much of the parts of the story is that the manga is clearly set during the late 2000s while the anime adaptation is modernized and set in like present time i wouldn't say it was a bad decision to set it in the present time but it makes some of the parts in the story more confusing i guess? like me and my sister were wondering how old exactly matsugorou and maeda's grandma was bc maeda's grandma was talking about having to be evacuated to the countryside bc of a war i think and me and my sister just kept getting confused bc she would've been reaaaaally old especially matsugorou

but since reading the manga it cleared it up since it would make more sense if the story was set in about 2009-2010 or maybe even earlier into the 2000s and the ages would match up at that point... idk there was also the scene with setsu asking kaito if he had a cassette tape played in the manga setsu didn't have one bc he just doesn't while the anime had to make kaito an audiophile to explain he had a cassette tape player it doesn't bother me at all i just thought it was funny there's also the whole thing with tv broadcasts still being a thing and people using emails in the manga while the anime's equivalent is livestreams and texting it's really fun to see the difference ^_^ hehe i guess that'd explain mai's whole thing about being a woman in a mostly male space and her struggling to be a competent player compared to her brother but i haven't gotten to that part so i'll just wait and see how that plays out

oh also the manga i say is better for showing more of the characters especially setsu's feelings while the anime is amazing at showing the visuals and sounds of the shamisen as well as character's reactions to it and showing more of the story's setting i'm not saying the opposite does a bad job than the other i fairly enjoyed the characters in the anime as well and the visuals of the shamisen playing is beautiful as well in the manga i just think they compliment each other! so if anyone actually reads it i think watching the anime and the manga is a good idea they compliment each other yeaaaaaah o)-<

[oh-look-car-horns]

Wondering what boop count your 3 letter word corresponds to? I gotchu:

Using a python script I wrote, I booped myself 50,000 times, saving an image of my boop-o-meter every 500 boops. Before we get into the results, there are two important limitations to this study that I should mention:

Firstly, because I only recorded the boop-o-meter every 500 boops, if a message appeared for less than 500 boops it may not have been caught.

Secondly, every now and then my computer would lose a boop or two when a click wouldn't register. This is seen in the 500 and 1000 boop images below, which in reality read 498 and 994 respectively. Because of this, boop values are slightly lower than they appear.

With that out of the way, lets dig in.

0-999:

From boops 0-999, the boop-o-meter displays your boop count, and changes color as you boop

Boop count: 0 Boop count: 500 Boop count: 1000

Boop fact: the colors do not change after 1000

LOL:

Between boops 1000 and 1500, the boop-o-meter changed to display 'LOL'. This likely took place at 1000 boops, but maybe it said 'MAX' or sumn for awhile at first? Idk this is already the misinformation website so not my problem.

Boop count: 1500 (actually more like 1490 ish)

More results below the cut

OMG:

Between 1500 and 2000, the boop-o-meter changed to display 'OMG'. Again, this probably happened at 1500 but who knows. Maybe staff made it 1523 for the bit or something.

Boop count: ~2000

WOW:

The boop-o-meter remained at omg until the 3500 boop readpoint, when it switched to 'WOW', meaning this transition happens somewhere between ~2980 and ~3480.

Boop count: ~3500

Boop fact: 'WOW' is the second longest reigning message

*-*:

Between 5000 and 5500 the boop-o-meter switched to '*-*'. You get the idea at this point so I'll speed it up.

Boop count: ~5500

WHY:

The boop-o-meter changed to 'WHY' between 6000 and 6500 boops. For science. That's why.

Boop count: ~6500

PLZ:

Next was 'PLZ', switching between 7000 and 7500.

Boop count: ~7500

AAA:

I'm not sure what bloody urine has to do with anything, but for some reason staff felt is was important to display, switching between 7500 and 8000.

Boop count: ~8000

;_;:

Huh the colon makes that one look weird. 8000-8500.

Boop count: ~8500

Boop fact: That fucking cat haunts me in my dreams

0_0:

I realized after I set my pyautogui script running that my computer wouldn't turn off its screen because of the clicking, so there was a strobing blue light in my room all night. This encapsulated my expression while trying to sleep (8500-9000).

Boop count: ~9000

MAX:

After 9000 it displayed 'MAX'. This was cap. (9000-9500 switch).

Boop count: OVER 9000 (9500)

<33:

I miss my wife. 9500-10,000.

Boop count ~10,000

TUM BLR:

THE HOLY GRAIL. The boop-o-meter switched to displaying 'TUM BLR' between 10,000 and 10,500 boops. Because my actual boop count was slightly behind my theoretical, I'd guess that this change happened at 10,000 boops.

Boop count: ~10,500 (likely switched at 10,000)

Summary:

When charted the boop curve looks as follows:

Boop curve: 0 - 10,000 boops

My script continued to run until 53,000 boops, but no further changes were observed. Again, there were quite possibly more messages at lower boop values, but my ass is not checking. Maybe I should have scaled my sampling accordingly, but it is what it is. Thank you for joining me on this journey, and if you have any corrections or more information, please add it to this post.

Boop fact: Terfs DNI

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

Terry Pratchett about fantasy ❤

Terry Pratchett interview in The Onion, 1995 (x)

O: You’re quite a writer. You’ve a gift for language, you’re a deft hand at plotting, and your books seem to have an enormous amount of attention to detail put into them. You’re so good you could write anything. Why write fantasy?

Terry: I had a decent lunch, and I’m feeling quite amiable. That���s why you’re still alive. I think you’d have to explain to me why you’ve asked that question.

O: It’s a rather ghettoized genre.

Terry: This is true. I cannot speak for the US, where I merely sort of sell okay. But in the UK I think every book— I think I’ve done twenty in the series— since the fourth book, every one has been one the top ten national bestsellers, either as hardcover or paperback, and quite often as both. Twelve or thirteen have been number one. I’ve done six juveniles, all of those have nevertheless crossed over to the adult bestseller list. On one occasion I had the adult best seller, the paperback best-seller in a different title, and a third book on the juvenile bestseller list. Now tell me again that this is a ghettoized genre.

O: It’s certainly regarded as less than serious fiction.

Terry: (Sighs) Without a shadow of a doubt, the first fiction ever recounted was fantasy. Guys sitting around the campfire— Was it you who wrote the review? I thought I recognized it— Guys sitting around the campfire telling each other stories about the gods who made lightning, and stuff like that. They did not tell one another literary stories. They did not complain about difficulties of male menopause while being a junior lecturer on some midwestern college campus.

Fantasy is without a shadow of a doubt the ur-literature, the spring from which all other literature has flown. Up to a few hundred years ago no one would have disagreed with this, because most stories were, in some sense, fantasy. Back in the middle ages, people wouldn’t have thought twice about bringing in Death as a character who would have a role to play in the story. Echoes of this can be seen in Pilgrim’s Progress, for example, which hark back to a much earlier type of storytelling. The epic of Gilgamesh is one of the earliest works of literature, and by the standard we would apply now— a big muscular guys with swords and certain godlike connections— That’s fantasy. The national literature of Finland, the Kalevala. Beowulf in England. I cannot pronounce Bahaghvad-Gita but the Indian one, you know what I mean. The national literature, the one that underpins everything else, is by the standards that we apply now, a work of fantasy.

Now I don’t know what you’d consider the national literature of America, but if the words Moby Dick are inching their way towards this conversation, whatever else it was, it was also a work of fantasy. Fantasy is kind of a plasma in which other things can be carried. I don’t think this is a ghetto. This is, fantasy is, almost a sea in which other genres swim. Now it may be that there has developed in the last couple of hundred years a subset of fantasy which merely uses a different icongraphy, and that is, if you like, the serious literature, the Booker Prize contender. Fantasy can be serious literature. Fantasy has often been serious literature. You have to fairly dense to think that Gulliver’s Travels is only a story about a guy having a real fun time among big people and little people and horses and stuff like that. What the book was about was something else. Fantasy can carry quite a serious burden, and so can humor. So what you’re saying is, strip away the trolls and the dwarves and things and put everyone into modern dress, get them to agonize a bit, mention Virginia Woolf a few times, and there! Hey! I’ve got a serious novel. But you don’t actually have to do that.

(Pauses) That was a bloody good answer, though I say it myself.