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Sort of kind of obsessed with the idea of a black clothbound Guide with the chronocompass embossed on the cover in gold foil now? For no reason?
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I can’t explain the elation (and sick satisfaction) I get when something I planted, and hoped A) wasn’t too obscure or B) someone cared enough about the world to look for, gets uncovered and pieced together later.
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A “coffee table” edition of The Guide to Magiq? What an interesting thought… 
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I just assume if I’ve had a thought it’s already crossed your mind and is in the works.
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Can I just endorse gold-foiled anything? It’s my jam. 
Also, stuff like this:
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- If you could choose one Mountaineer from the 90s to sit down with and talk to today, who would it be?
I mean, Augernon would be the obvious choice, but Knatz is a favorite too for obvious reasons. And we can’t forget, of course, about Saberlane cough
- What are some emerging themes in the book?
I think one theme that is beginning to stand out to me as I read is love and trauma. There is a lot of pain involved in the loving relationships we see in the book so far, between Marty’s hardships with Sebastian and his granddaughters (who he has never met), to Deirdre’s relationship with a father who left her everything but was never there in her memory.
- Think about the other people we’ve been introduced to thus far, besides Marty. What do you think Marty’s involvement with the Mounties from the 90s looked like from their perspective?
I think that, had his ex-wife Bella known about it (for example) it would have looked very sad and desperate. She secretly believes on some level that Marty did something that caused Sebastian to forget him.
From the Mounties’ POV, I feel like the fear that he was only there to exploit them or make a laugh out of them could have been sidestepped if he had told them up front what had happened to him. Can’t get trust without giving it, and he seems unhappy about being on the outside of their core group, but it was avoidable with some vulnerability on his part. (Or did I forget where he told them what happened to Sebastian?)
- We learn in these chapters about Marty’s experience taking the assessment in the Guide to Magiq. What did you learn about yourself when you took the Guide, and when you became a part of your chosen Guild?
Taking the Guild was a perplexing and delightful experience. I have taken it several times and and it always leads me back to Ebenguard. I learned from the tenets and traits of my guild something I aspire to be, gained something to strive for. Being an Ebenguard to me, means being willing to lead the way, and having your hands in a wide range of activities; testing yourself and striving for better; being willing to make hard decisions. Joining my guild gave me a sense of belonging and purpose, like I’d been waiting for a long time for something without knowing what, and finally having found it.
- Here, Marty’s story converges with that of the Mountaineers of the modern-day, and our own adventure. This is when he was welcomed into our midst, although he would not begin mingling with us until later on. What were your feelings and experiences upon coming to the forum for the first time?
Oh my gosh. Intimidation. We jumped right in at the beginning of a new fragment, new set of challenges and mysteries, and an ongoing narrative. I felt a little lost trying to find my place and contribute, but felt strongly that this was something I wanted in my life.
- Some of our very favorite familiar names and faces enter the story in these chapters. If you could join a committee headed by one of these persons, which would it be, and why? (Tech support with Bash? HR with Eaves? Social networking with Itsuki?)
I feel like I could learn a lot from Bash, but I do not know that they are the teaching type. So I might feel like I was the unnecessary third wheel.
- What happened in these chapters that surprised you? Made you sad? Made you happy?
What made me sad and happy at once in these chapters was the sort of bigger picture of all these connected lives touched by the same need, desire, and risks. People from all walks trying to find answers and coming to find magiq in their own way. What surprised me… going back and reading all these small details I had forgotten. Reading about things early in the adventure that we weren’t aware of until late, late in TMP. Like Marty’s being in possession of the token.
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