#grey element

[askgreyelement]

What is you wedding going to be like? -When- is it going to be?

When I can’t answer, I don’t know when Hope will be in the country long enough.

As for what it’s going to be like, I’m thinking a simple ceremony as the sun sets, probably at the lakeside chapel not far from my parent’s house. And then probably a feast followed by dancing until the late hours. You know, typical wedding reception activities.

[askgreyelement]

When you used to work at a university, did you have pranks pulled on you at all? Get bullied or anything for being a researcher?

Not when I was working there, no. The atmosphere among the staff was pretty professional and students are rarely allowed access to the parts of the library I was working in. 

Now… When I was still a student… That was a different matter.

[askgreyelement]

What made you decide to stop working for someone else and pursue your own research?

Limited opportunities for advancement mainly and limited financial reward. I’m a terrible teacher, which cuts most avenues of advancement at the University, leaving only the coveted position of Librarian. But I don’t want to spend five years as a researcher and another thirty as an assistant librarian without a guarantee of success.

I suppose I could technically have stayed on and worked on my own studies in between my work for the University, but even though I work less now than I did then, I enjoy the freedom that comes from not being shackled to an institution.

[askgreyelement]

Have you ever outright refused to do a job? If so, why?

Numerous times. Usually because the client asked the impossible for the amount of time they were going to give me to get it done or tried to haggle down the cost of hiring me. This I can’t stand. When I say it’ll take four weeks to catalogue the cartload of books they’re dumping on my doorstep, I mean it. And when I tell them it’ll cost eleven hundred bits, I mean eleven hundred bits. It’s already less than eight bits to the hour.

There are other reasons I refuse jobs, but those vary depending on the circumstances. 

[askgreyelement]

What's the most boring, tedious thing you've ever had to research?

The writings of Black Lock of Dunbridge. That stallion could make daemonology boring, and yet I still spent five months checking for a rumoured hidden cipher in his works. Absolutely nothing, and I now know more about the digestive tracts of sea monsters than anyone could conceivably need to.

[askgreyelement]

Have you ever been injured in your line of work?

To be honest, mostly paper cuts and the occasional electric shock. But if you’re not careful, all manner of things can go wrong.

You see, a long time ago, alchemists, sorcerers and the like tended to be very paranoid, partly because they didn’t want their work stolen and partly because they feared persecution. As such, most of what they wrote is either in code or protected by wards, curses and both magical and mechanical traps. Fire is a common danger, as is blindness and poison. Fortunately however, the worst has been singed fur and getting buried under a pile of books.

[askgreyelement]

CheerMod: Happy Birthday, you lovable eccentric practitioner of arts esoteric! I know these wishes and hugs are somewhat late, but I wish for you only the very best, a bright and favourable fortune and future and all your desires and wishes fulfilled! Again, happy birthday~!

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So, as you can see, it was my birthday recently. As a result, I ended up kidnapped by a giant and almost scarily cheerful Pegasus. I can assuredly say, that has never happened to me before.

Mod: Thank you heaps. You're a very kind and awesome person, and any who say otherwise are clearly misinformed. And don't worry, my birthday persists for three quarters of an hour yet on Baker Island. 

[askgreyelement]

Some ponies do that, and it's been getting a lot more popular in recent years, but the simple approach is more traditional. Plus, it's less ostentatious, which appeals to my fiancée and I.