diff --git a/desktop/settings.edn b/desktop/settings.edn
index fbf18cf0..03c7f454 100644
--- a/desktop/settings.edn
+++ b/desktop/settings.edn
@@ -1 +1 @@
-{:sound-volume 82.0, :music-volume 33.0}
\ No newline at end of file
+{:sound-volume 82.0, :music-volume 86.0}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/desktop/src-common/advent/screens/rooms/inside_castle.clj b/desktop/src-common/advent/screens/rooms/inside_castle.clj
index feb5661a..71fb2b85 100644
--- a/desktop/src-common/advent/screens/rooms/inside_castle.clj
+++ b/desktop/src-common/advent/screens/rooms/inside_castle.clj
@@ -160,9 +160,41 @@
                                                                          :game-player "My history books.")
                                                   :choices actions/previous-choices}
                                                  "... and what?"
-                                                 {:run #(actions/respond entities % :game-player "Choreography.")
+                                                 {:run #(actions/respond entities % :game-player "Caligraphy."
+                                                                         :game-player "With all this writing, I get plenty of practice!")
                                                   :choices actions/something-else}
                                                  ]}
+                                      "What are you reading all of these books for?"
+                                      {:run #(do (actions/respond entities %
+                                                                  :game-player "I'm not reading them."
+                                                                  :game-player "I'm writing them!"
+                                                                  )
+                                                 (brian-get-to-work entities)
+                                                 (actions/talk entities :game-player "I've written three books so far today!"))
+                                       :choices ["Can I borrow one?"
+                                                 {:run #(actions/respond entities % :game-player "No!")
+                                                  :choices actions/previous-choices}
+                                                 "Tell me about one of your books."
+                                                 {:run (fn [m]
+                                                         ((rand-nth
+                                                           [#(actions/respond entities m :game-player "Have you read my seminal work on vampire dentistry?"
+                                                                              :game-player "Forget nail biting!"
+                                                                              :game-player "It's neck biting!")
+                                                            #(actions/respond entities m :game-player "How about 'The Universe and Ewe'?"
+                                                                              :game-player "It's a children's book about theoretical physics and sheep.")
+                                                            #(actions/respond entities m :game-player "How about 'Proton: A Life'?"
+                                                                              :game-player "It's a self-help book."
+                                                                              :game-player "It shows you how to be positive when surrounded by a cloud of negativity!")
+                                                            #(actions/respond entities m :game-player "Have you read my book, 'Disection for Dummies'?"
+                                                                              :game-player "It gets right to the heart of the matter.")
+                                                            #(actions/respond entities m :game-player "Have you read 'The Elements: From H to Z'?"
+                                                                              :game-player "It was periodically written on this very table!")])))
+                                                  :choices actions/previous-choices}
+                                                 "Let's talk about something else."
+                                                 {:run #(do (actions/respond entities %)
+                                                            (brian-pause-from-work entities)
+                                                            (actions/talk entities :game-player "Sure."))
+                                                  :choices actions/something-else}]}
                                       "Do you know anything about the sword in the stone up there?"
                                       {:run #(actions/respond entities %
                                                               :game-player "It's the Sword of Blergh. "
@@ -312,8 +344,8 @@
                                             (aget game-player-talk-sheet 0 i)))
         game-player-stand-down (utils/make-anim "inside-castle/brian-working.png" [40 44] 0.1 [0 1 1 2 0 2 2 1 0 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 ])
         game-player-talk-down (utils/make-anim "inside-castle/brian-working.png" [40 44] 0.2 [2 3 2 2 3 2 3 2])
-        game-player-pause-from-work (utils/make-anim "inside-castle/brian-working.png" [40 44] 0.2 [2 3 4 5 6 7])
-        game-player-get-to-work (utils/make-anim "inside-castle/brian-working.png" [40 44] 0.2 (reverse [2 3 4 5 6 7]))
+        game-player-pause-from-work (utils/make-anim "inside-castle/brian-working.png" [40 44] 0.15 [2 3 4 5 6 7])
+        game-player-get-to-work (utils/make-anim "inside-castle/brian-working.png" [40 44] 0.15 (reverse [2 3 4 5 6 7]))
         game-player-flex (animation 0.075 (for [i [0 0 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 7 8 7 9 7 8 7 9 7 8 7 9 7 8 7 9 7 8 7 9 7 8 7 9 7 8 7 9 7 8 7 9 7 8 7 9 7 8 7 9 7 8 7 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5  4 4 0 0 0 0]]
                                            (aget game-player-talk-sheet 0 i)))
         trophy (utils/make-anim "inside-castle/trophy.png" [16 16] 0.1 (flatten [(repeat 50 0) 1 2 3 3 3 3 2 1]))