un: evergarden | text

[shiritai]

[ It's bright and early in the morning when Violet sends out this message – she's got unpacking to do, so it seems like the smart idea to get this up now and come back to it when she's got some more free time. Of course, Violet being Violet, what's supposed to be a simple "new school who dis" post ends up being, uh, kind of more verbose. ]

Good morning. I hope I haven't posted this too early for anyone to see.

My name is Violet Evergarden and I'm a new student here – I will be joining the 12th grade students once the school year starts up again. Since there's so many of us here and quite a few of us are away from the school currently, I thought it would be best to introduce myself through the network.

I come from Germany, so traveling to France has been quite a change for me, though I've done some traveling before. But this is my first time attending a school like this, especially with so many other magic users, so I'm looking forward to meeting the people I will be spending my time at school with.

Since I've just arrived, I'm not quite used to the campus yet, so I'm curious to know what the more interesting places in the school are? Or if there are any student clubs or organizations it might be good to look into joining.

Regardless, it's good to meet everyone and I can hope we can get along for the next few years.

Comments

[shiritai]

It's nice to speak with you, too.

I'll be making my way over to the library once I've settled in a bit – truthfully, I've been looking forward to seeing the selection of books. It seems to be much bigger than any of the libraries I've been to before, so the selection should be much wider.

Are there any books they have that you'd recommend?

[ofexperience]

I'd recommend William Blake's works--I've had a fondness for those since my childhood.

That aside, however... Do you have any particular preferences?

[shiritai]

I mostly prefer mystery and detective novels – though I don't think I have a particular favourite author, as much as I do particular individual stories that I like. I enjoy true crime novels and autobiographies, but that usually depends on how they're told more so than the content itself.

[ofexperience]

I'm rather fond of Agatha Christie's works as far as mystery novels go, though I'll admit I need to read more sometime.

I'm rather particular about presentation in true crime novels myself, which probably contributes to why I don't partake in those much.

[shiritai]

Yes, it's been a while since I've finished one myself. It's not that I mean to be a snob about it... I just feel as though sometimes, the authors can be a bit too excited about how gruesome and awful a crime is.

It feels a bit... distasteful, I think I want to say? Or maybe a bit voyeuristic. But I suppose you could say that about the whole genre, really.

[ofexperience]

I don't find it snobbish at all. I understand exactly what you mean. I can't say I'm too fond of any authors that tend to glorify the crime or the criminals who committed it, particularly in the case of something especially gruesome.

The genre is interesting, but not... that.

[shiritai]

Yes, I think that's what I meant. Something about turning into a spectacle feels as though you're giving the criminals the sort of attention they don't deserve – or that you're turning the victims into a spectacle over something they'd rather move past. It seems like a hard balance to strike.

I think that might be why I prefer fiction over true crime novels. In fiction, even if something's a bit gruesome, no one is really getting hurt.