From an old coot like me? Geh-HAH!!

I ain't taught nobody nothin' they ain't already knew!

Ain't nothin' wrong with bein' a little green.

The people around you... the people that hold connections to you and your "enemy," even if not directly... they'll feel that ripple.

... That's not to mean there's any shame in it, though.
Jus' somethin' I like t' keep in mind.

Hmm. Well... now, fights are a precarious thing. And, sometimes, they just gotta happen.

No way around it.
But, for every fight... there's a Ripple.

Is this an afterlife? Or an encore?

... Heck if I know! It's a nifty one, though, geheehee.

... Eh? Nope? Not quite dead yet, I reckon.
Guess someone's still thinkin' of me out there.

Wahahah! Why not?

Can't an old man finish his letters in peace? Geh.

Lotsa ruckus about.

who the hell

Y'see, that's the difference between stories and reality; stories end. But life... life just keeps on'a goin'.

Story ain't a story if it don't end. But when somethin' real, somethin' genuine ends... then it, too, becomes a story.

The line can become thin. But, is that so bad...?

For the first time, for the tenth time, or the hundredth time... don't make a difference. It was important enough to ya that you saw it through... all the way to th' end.

Mmhm. Fer some reason... jus' feels like a few people just finished a real damn good story.

mmhm. and what are ya gonna do about it?

not one's doomed, so long as the story ain't over yet.

//

Now... Why was he going about acting like this was a regular thing you young fellas do...?

... Hmm.

Well, I like a bit of room for artistic interpretation, but this seems a touch too unnecessary...

Geheh-! Who said the paper was goin' outta print, anyhow? Les'see here...

get cooked, all of you. #hopemaxxer

Wahaha-! Real or not, that might hard to say. Reality's only what we make of it, ain't it...? And, well, I can fer sure see this place, and smell it, hear it... and feel it.

... Unless ya mean to tell me that this place AIN'T makin' yer socks feel soggy, cuz it's certainly havin' that effect on me.

Hmmm... Looks pretty real fer somethin' that ain't, though, ain't it?

// i know gerson just not using the crystal at all is the popular interpretation but i really like the idea of him BEING tempted by the crystal's vision but just... being able to move on from it. What good could come from obsessing over it?

// hee hee

Didn't tell me nothin' I didn't already know.

... What do y' expect to see when you look in one'a them things, anyhoo?
Actually, scratch that-- what is it you WANNA see?

Geheh. Well, if missin' out is yer issue, then I guess I can share what I saw in that ol' thing.

All I saw... was a small hammer. Locked in a lil' glass case.

... Wahaha-!! Borin', ain't it? I bet'cha maybe I could'a seen more in it, if I kept it fer longer... but I think my 'magination's better.

Geheheh! Sure as shuck, I did.

Was a beautiful thing, it was... never seen anythin' like it. But, what's a vision from a little shard'a glass gonna do fer ya?

The stuff on th' outside of the crystal... th' thing it can't show you: everything that's around you. I'd say that matters MUCH more!

Weird lil' baubles. Didn't get much use outta the thing.

Forget the answer, what's your AFTER lookin' like?

Hmph. Ya'd think some folks 're so *obsessed* with findin' out whatever truth it is they're after... that they end up losin' sight of whatever it was they needed that truth for.