Video // un; E.A Poe

[quotetheraven]

[The video feed cuts to a rather pensive looking man, somewhere in his forties. He could be heard mumbling about odd machines, and something about not really expecting the afterlife to look like this. Quite a few people should instantly recognize him.

And without any warning he starts mutter a poem to himself.]

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow —
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand —
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep — while I weep!
O God! Can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

Bah, whatever. Greetings to all of... whatever you all are. I am Edgar Allan Poe. Here to join you all in this fever dream.

Comments

[quotetheraven]

Jules Verne?

[He looks a bit startled for a moment but shakes it off. Verne... So, perhaps the detective figured it out after all? He gives her a smile, like nothing was wrong and he didn't see a ghost.]

Ha, is that so? Certainly wish Longfellow could hear that.

But, what is a... influencer mean here?

[peninhand]

Mhm! Do your know him, sir?

[ That was a bit of a strange reaction. Admittedly she wasn't a specialist in 19th century literature, so perhaps she was wrong. But the dates made it unlikely for the two to have ever met... Right? Well, regardless she answered her question: ]

Influencers are people who post on social media channels. They have an audience who follows their content and respect their views— Hence the term influencer. There's no real rule on who can become one... It helps if you have entertainment skills, a field or expertise or charisma though! Just because you get the influencer license doesn't mean anyone will want to watch you, let alone respect your opinions unless people enjoy watching your content. [She chuckled.] In my case, it'd be literature. And I'm just beginning, so my audience is still small. It may take months if not years to really become a respected figure.

[quotetheraven]

I've heard of him, once. A young Frenchman and up and coming novelist, if I remember correctly.

[That was a name that he really didn't think he'd hear again. Not so much that he's gotten to read any of Verne's works. But he's heard of him... unfortunately.]

A commentator then, with more of an entertainment sense. [To him it sounds like a mix between a critic, an actor, and someone that writes adverts for newspapers.] Well I might argue that you are far more charming a person than I. If our short conversation is anything to go by. Though perhaps I might give it a try in the future. At length I certainly won't say no to joining you in your... show.

[peninhand]

Mm-hm. And later in his life, he became one of the greatest figures in literature to have ever lived.

[ He'd heard of him, huh... Well, it was possible there were differences between their homeworlds. Or more likely, history hadn't recorded every last details about their lives. A good thing, really. She'd hate for people to know every last details of her own life. ]

That's an apt description. [She nodded.] Ahaha, thank you for the compliment! But I think you're selling yourself short. I would subscribe to your channel within a split second if you had done. In the meantime, I shall be looking forward to your presence on my show then~!

[quotetheraven]

Hm, I'll have to keep an eye out in case any of his works show up here.

[In fact he'll probably end up actively looking for them. All to see a sign of a clue as to how things might have ended back home. Granted that it sounds like the said author had lived a long life. Which was a good sign.]

Oh, but I will await your invitation eagerly as well, young lady.