Would you rather?

[The Seamstress]

(I'll heed your advice if I ever meet her. Two legs are enough for now, thanks...)

Hm, I've never tried ayran, but according to Wikipedia, it's similar to kefir, so I can vaguely imagine the taste.
Both aren't very appealing, tbh, but I guess I'd have to go with cola, it seems to be the safer choice. Too much of the yoghurt stuff and I'd probably be sick.

Would you rather time-travel to witness the 1789 French Revolution, or the 1848 Revolution in Vienna (assuming that in both cases you're protected by magic so can't be harmed)?

[Jubal]

I think the French Revolution? It feels bigger and more historic to me, and I have no greater attachment to either.

Would you rather all your bookmarks made disparaging comments about your choice of books, or that your books all made disparaging comments about your choice of bookmarks?

[The Seamstress]

Both would be rather annoying. I think I'll choose the bookmarks, though, maybe they'd be more likely to just shut up if put aside while I'm reading.

Would you rather attend a drawing lesson with Maria Sibylla Merian or a music lesson with Ludwig van Beethoven?

[Jubal]

Merian sounds more interesting! Though I don't know if either of them spoke particularly good English which might make either exercise less fruitful.

Would you rather train to be a cobbler or a cooper?

[The Seamstress]

Googling tells me that a cobbler might not be the same as a shoemaker? One does repairs, one makes new shoes, if I understood that correctly. Or are the words synonymous nowadays? If the latter, then I'd be a cobbler because being able to make my own shoes would be really cool. And if I could just do repairs... probably still cobbler. I'm not that interested in barrels.

Would you rather be the test subject in a mad scientist's questionable experiment finding out what's inside a black hole, or in an experiment swapping your brain with that of an anteater?

[Jubal]

I think it's one of those things where definitions have become muddled through time - AIUI a cobbler repaired shoes and a cordwainer/shoemaker made them, but also sometimes the distinction was in leather type (so a cobbler could make shoes, they just couldn't use fresh leather to do it) and sometimes they became synonyms, especially in modern parlance. I'd probably still think of "shoemaker" as fancier than "cobbler", I guess, but I'd expect a cobbler to have basically every skill needed to make a shoe.

I am absolutely going for the anteater brain swap. I could be SO FLUFFY.

Would you rather get given the gift of prophecy & foresight, or of immortality?

[The Seamstress]

Everyone's going to have to call you Floof-bal, then, so are The Rules.

(Thanks for explaining the cobbler vs. shoemaker thing!)

I guess always knowing what's going to happen has the potential to a. make life boring, or b. turn me into a nervous mess if I see bad things coming and am unable to change anything. Unless I could change things, but still, that would probably involve getting a government to act fast which we sadly know isn't what governments are usually willing to do. I think it'd have to be immortality, at least then I could learn every trade, or language, read every book I want etc. so that would keep me busy & occupied for quite a while.


Would you rather go into the cave of Greg The Killer-Grizzly (who loves to invite people over for tea, and maybe for making them his snack), or into the den of Bert The Murder-Badger (who has no tea, but beer, and might get a little agitated and claw-y if he thinks you rude)?

[Jubal]

I think Bert, in that I think I could survive a round or two with a badger. Not win, but survive. Whereas I flat out couldn't with a grizzly.

Would you rather be a centaur or a merperson?

[The Seamstress]

Centaur, I think, because I'd at least have legs and could gallop from A to B, live in the woods and be gloriously weird. Though how I'd wear pants I'm not sure.


Would you rather live in a world without electricity or in one without any kind of motorised/public transport?

[Jubal]

I think no motorised transport: horses and sailboats could still get me home occasionally, albeit slowly. And I wouldn't want to condemn all the people who'd die without electricity, though I guess the lack of motorised supply chains would also be a huge deal. There's really two very big alternative histories to write there!

Would you rather langos or goulash?

[The Seamstress]

Langos! With garlic. (Now I want langos. With garlic.)

Speaking of food... You're only allowed to eat nothing but one of these for a week, would you rather choose Germknödel or the classic Kaiserschmarrn?

[Jubal]

I think I mostly got introduced to langos via medieval markets around Vienna. It's a while since I went to one, I want to try and go to one or two of the ones happening in August

I quite like both Germknodel and Kaiserschmarrn, and I think I would be very sick eating either for a week, but I think Kaiserschmarrn is the better bet for me.

Would you rather read an as yet undiscovered play by Shakespeare, or hear a previously unperformed piece by Palestrina?

[The Seamstress]

After having listened a little to previously-unknown-to-me Palestrina, hm... not bad, just not really my thing. *shrugs* So I'll go with Shakespeare, I guess.

Would you rather eat food prepared for you by Giovanni the Italian Cryptid or by Pierre-Louis the French Spectre? Neither of them has functioning tastebuds. (Giovanni has none at all, in fact.)

[Jubal]

Giovanni, absolutely. A spectre will just serve up what it remembers of  human food, a cryptid might do something more exciting and I want to know what.

Would you rather be in Buda or Pest?

[The Seamstress]

Buda, because I've already seen a bit of Pest.

If you were a wizard, would you rather command water or fire?