#and the weirder part isn't that i haven't mentioned it after so long

[bookshelf-in-progress]

Success! I told someone in real life about one of my fantasy story concepts, and they didn't act like I was crazy!

#maybe she thought i was idk #but she was engaging with it #asking follow-up questions #noting parallels #i think it helped that i pitched it one weird concept at a time #like 'it's just after wwi and this guy's kind of a psychic' #'and then he had to go to war' #'and he's very aware of the fact that everyone he helped to kill was a person with an entire inner life' #'he's staying with his friend and doesn't want to see his family' #'because they're all mind readers too and would know all the stuff he's done' #and once she grasped that part i could bring in the mouse shapeshifter #and she seemed to get the appeal #and i could talk about how i accidentally gave myself emotions about these two #i'm pretty sure she's the first real-life person i've ever mentioned this story to #and the weirder part isn't that i haven't mentioned it after so long #but that i mentioned it at all #because this is one of my most convoluted concepts #so the lack of outward disdain was a nice moment