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vannahfanfics · 4 years

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All In A Day’s Work

Category: Friendship Fluff

Fandom: Pokémon Ranger

Characters: Lunick, Solana

Hey, guys! I wrote this piece for a zine application, so I thought I would drop this in case anybody is a Pokémon fan! :)

Lunick grimaced slightly as he stretched his arms above his head, feeling his vertebrae pop in rapid succession as his back muscles loosened to their limits. A smile of satisfaction materialized on his face at the pleasurable sensation that spread across his spine as he dropped his arms down, like warm honey coating his skin. Nothing like a good stretch before a patrol to get the blood flowing! he thought jubilantly. He placed his hands on his hips and breathed in the fresh, aromatic Ringtown air; the quaint settlement’s crisp breeze always smelled of nectar and petals. He couldn’t have asked for a better Ranger Base assignment.

“Lunick!” The dark-haired boy craned his head as a girl’s voice joined the harmonic rustling of the tree leaves on the wind. Solana came trotting over, pausing to coax a sobbing little girl alongside her gently. Lunick cocked an eyebrow, but then a grin spread across his face as he smelled a mission on the horizon as well. The girl cried petulantly as Solana tenderly guided her over by the hand. “Lunick, this little girl says her Skitty ran into Lyra Woods,” his fellow Ranger explained, sweeping her teal-hued hair out of her face before crouching down in front of the child. “Hey, shush, now, sweetie. We’ll find your Skitty.”

“Yeah!” Lunick breamed, flexing his elbow and patting his bicep as a show of confidence. “That’s what Rangers do! We’ll find your Pokémon, no problem!” At the reassurance of the two older teens, the girl managed to quiet her tears and look up at Lunick with watery, wide green eyes.

“I-I know you can… It’s just… She must be so scared right now. It just makes me s-s-sad that she’s a-a-alone…” As she began to dissolve into pitiful sobs again, Solana tutted soothingly and hugged her to her chest.

“Now, now. Let’s go inside to talk to Spenser so we can get everything officialized. Wanna hear a secret?” Momentarily distracted by the possibility of being privy to confidential information, the child ceased crying once more and gave Solana a meek nod. Solana grinned and leaned forward to whisper in her ear, “Our styler technician makes the best lemonade. If you ask her, I’m sure she’ll give you some.” The girl giggled delightedly. Pleased with her successful efforts to cheer the child, Solana stood. Lunick stepped aside so his partner could corral their client into the base. As the two Rangers ushered her through the sleek sliding glass doors, Spenser and the other Rangers greeted them jovially. Spotting the tear-streaked face of the girl tucked against Solana’s legs, Spenser clicked his tongue and strolled over with a friendly smile.

“Hey, now. What do we have here? Do you have a problem we can help you with, Little Missy?” The girl blushed slightly and turned to hug Solana’s legs, peeking shyly at Spenser as she smooshed the rest of her face into Solana’s shorts.

“Lost my Skitty…”

“How unfortunate. Well, these two Rangers here will be more than happy to help you out. In the meantime, I think I hear our tech fixing lemonade…” The girl timidly peeled herself away from Solana to scurry to the counter, where their technician was smiling charmingly and gesturing for her to approach. As the girl trotted off, Spenser’s expression turned serious. “Lunick, Solana, I’m officially assigning you to find the young lady’s Skitty and return here post-haste. Should be a straightforward case, but radio the base if any funny business occurs, ya hear?” The two young Rangers soluted their leader before whipping around to stroll out of their command center. As they marched toward Lyra Forest, Lunick rested his hands behind his head.

“Did she tell you anything else?” Solana put her hand thoughtfully on her chin, eyes narrowed.

“She said that she was talking to her mother, who is ill with a cold, about Pecha berry jam. The store has been out of it for some time, and her mother misses it. After that, the Skitty bolted out of the door when went to water the plants on the porch.” Lunick clicked his tongue against his teeth, dropping his arms to pinch the end of his chin.

“Pretty odd behavior for a Skitty. They’re not exactly known to dart off unexpectedly like that…” Solana hummed in agreement. The shadows of the forest then swallowed them, blocking out the bright sun to drape them in cool air tinted with the aroma of soil and decay. The twittering of Taillows and Pidgeys echoed in the canopy, and distantly, Lunick heard the bay of a Poochyena echo through the gloomy wood. “Ready?” he asked Solana, who nodded with a small smile.

“Yeah. Let’s make a little girl smile again.” Smirking in agreement, Lunick rolled his shoulders, inhaled deeply, and then plunged into the wood.

The Rangers worked to keep the labyrinth of pathways snaking through Lyra Forest clear of underbrush, but only just; dead leaves littered the earth, crunching under their feet as they walked, and low-lying branches plucked at their hair with nimble spindly fingers. The wind fluttered through the leaves, making them sing in excitement. Lunick spotted a Caterpie munching on some of them; it paused to gaze at them with glassy, black eyes before returning to his lunch, unfazed. A few Beautifly fluttered by, sparkling mist falling from their paper-thin, colorful wings. Nothing seemed amiss in the forest upon first glance, but nothing was ever as it appeared in the world of Pokémon.

Lunick spotted a patch of disturbed leaves in the path and whistled to Solana before crouching, carefully moving some of the leaves to inspect the mud patch. “See something?”

“Looks like Skitty tracks,” Lunick reported with a nod of his chin. A few small pawprints pressed into the soft brown mud, slightly diagonal and pointing down a northeast path towards Krokka Tunnel. Hopefully, the Skitty didn’t wander too far to venture into the cavern; many large and rough Pokémon dwelled within its catacombs, which would be a dangerous place for a small, dainty creature. Then again, a family of Weepinbell and Victreebel called Lyra Forest home. They didn’t take well to trespassers, so the Skitty wasn’t exactly safe into that region, either. “We need to find her quickly,” he frowned as he stood. “She’s heading for trouble.” Solana nodded resolutely. They hurried down the path, scanning the trail for any more disturbances.

The Skitty’s path was erratic; she zigged and zagged across the uneven way, pausing to examine the underbrush intently as evidenced by the tufts of pink fur caught in the brambles. Lunick had to wonder what the Skitty’s motives were for venturing so far into the woods; a Skitty’s first instinct would be to climb a tree and yowl for aid, not scurry around the forest like it was searching for something. The thought made Lunick’s steps falter, an idea suddenly dawning on him. As he slowly tottered to a halt, Solana also stopped to look at him nonplussed.

“Lunick?”

“Hey, Solana… What did you say about Pecha berry jam?”

Before she could answer, a pitiful wail split the tranquil forest air. As both their heads snapped around in the direction the screech had come from, several warbling snarls joined the high-pitched noise. “Looks like our Skitty found the locals,” Lunick groaned, snatching his Styler from his waistband as he took off down the path, Solana following close behind. He followed the angry hisses and cracking twigs around a bend. The canopy above thickened considerably, dousing the forest in shadows and causing the air to be rank with decay and must. The trail sloped down into a small clearing, where several Weepinbell and a large Victreebel pranced around a tall oak angrily lashing the bark with their vines. A little pink form huddled within the large green leaves, mewing fearfully as she clung to the quivering branch for dear life.

“Hey!” Lunick shouted. The Pokémon turned at his loud cry, with its white eyes narrowed in hostility. Lunick planted his feet and held out on hand in a “halt” gesture, while the other brandished his Styler. “Hey, now. Let’s all calm down, all right?” The Victreebel responded by whipping at him with its long vines, scouring the ground a foot or so in front of him.

“You have never been good at the soothing thing,” Solana chuckled, making him grimace.

“Yeah, well, thankfully, I’ve always been good at this thing!” He flung the capture disc out into the clearing with a grunt, a shimmering blue line connecting it to his styler. “I’ll get the big guy; you focus on the others!” he told Solana, who griped about him stealing the show before dashing a few feet forward to subdue the Weepinbell. The Victreebel keened and lashed at him with its vines again. Lunick ducked to avoid being smacked savagely in the head, frowning as the green stalks struck the tree behind him with enough force to make a few acorns rain down into his midnight-blue hair. Carefully avoiding the thrashing of the Pokémon’s large, yellow, pitcher-plant body, Lunick manipulated the capture disc around, conveying calm and reassuring emotions. After successive loops, the Victreebel ceased attacking and shrieked sharply, drawing its vines back near its body. Holding up his hand again so that the Pokémon faced the flat of his palm, Lunick slowly approached the massive creature.

“There, now,” he coaxed gently. The leaf-like appendages decorating its yellow body quivered as he cautiously drew close. “That’s right. Let’s just all take a breather.” When he gingerly extended his hand to pat its smooth front placatingly, the Pokémon gave an appreciative rumble. Lunick chuckled and rubbed the Pokémon’s strange, rubbery skin a little as he continued to utter soothing words. “It’s all right. No one’s come to infringe on your territory. That Skitty’s just a little lost. We’re gonna take her on home, so you and your friends can rest easy, all right?” The Victreebel snuck a suspicious glance up to the Skitty, who mewled quietly. With another rumbling drone, the large Pokémon reached up with one of its tentacle-like vines to prod Lunick’s cheek a few times. Then, it turned to shamble off into the underbrush, with the Weepinbell Solana quelled bouncing along behind it. Lunick flashed Solana a cheesy grin and a thumbs-up. “Great work, partner!”

“Thanks,” she laughed, approaching the broad trunk of the tree. She grimaced at its surface, broad trenches in the bark leaking sticky sap everywhere. “This will be a pain to climb.”

“Hey, up there!” Lunick shouted up at the Skitty. She peeked over the edge of the branch and responded with a tentative cry reminiscent of a meow. “It’s all right now! Why don’t you go ahead and jump down?” The pink Pokémon mewed frightenedly and curled into a ball on the limb. “Don’t worry!” he reassured while extending his arms. “I’ll catch you! Promise!” The Skitty glanced around tentatively, weighing her options, before cautiously approaching the edge of the branch. She took a moment to judge her distance, wiggling her raised haunches and adjusting her paws, before springing powerfully from the stem. Lunick shuffled side-to-side, tongue sticking out and eyes narrowed as he tracked her fall. He positioned himself under the plummeting Pokémon so that she plopped safely right into his arms. He gave her an appreciative pat to the head. “Atta girl!”

“We’re going to take you home, okay?” Solana added. At her comment, the Skitty meowed angrily and squirmed to force herself out of Lunick’s grasp. She ignored his surprised cries. She steadfastly dashed to the edge of the clearing. She turned in a circle before pawing at the bushes with loud and insistent mewls. Lunick trotted over, crouching down and pulling away a few of the spiky-leaved branches to see what she was so fussy about.

“Oh!” he laughed. When Solana inquired what was so funny, he angled himself so she could see into the small cleft in the bushes. In the shade sprouted a handful of Pecha berries. “Pecha berry jam.” Holding the branches aside, he plunged his arm into the small hole, groping around to careful pluck as many berries as he could from the cluster growing in the shady little grove. The Skitty cheered delightedly as he did so, running semi-circles around his form. Once he had a sizable pile held in his Ranger uniform’s upturned fabric, he stood, watching as the Skitty scampered off down the path. She paused at the entrance and mewed insistently, all but demanding they hurry up so she could go home.

“She wanted to find some Pecha berries to make the girl’s mom happy,” Solana mused with a small smile.

“Yup. Never made jam, but there’s always time for a first, right?” Lunick laughed as he strolled after the Skitty. The Pokémon flitted around their feet as the two Rangers walked side-by-side on the trail, the sun filtering more and more through the trees as they neared the forest edge. They spotted Spenser and the little girl waiting patiently in the entrance; as soon as she spotted her Skitty prancing up the path, she split away from the man’s side to dash up to her beloved friend.

“Skitty! I was so worried!” she wailed as she fell on her knees, arms outstretched. The Skitty yowled and thundered forward to leap into the child’s arms, burying her head into the girl’s neck. The Skitty’s purr vibrated the air from the intensity of its elation. “Why did you run away?” she pouted. Lunick smirked as he approached, bundling the crop of Pecha berries in his shirt.

“I think we have a pretty good idea about that.” The girl, clutching her loudly-purring Skitty, trotted over to inspect his find.

“Pecha berries! Aw, Skitty, did you hear Mom talking this morning? You went to find some berries so we could make some homemade jam...” A sad expression appeared on the girl’s face. In the next moment, unbridled affection replaced it. “You’re the sweetest Pokémon ever! Mom will be so glad when we surprise her with her favorite!” The girl giggled excitedly before looking up at Lunick and Solana with bright, admiring eyes. “Thank you very much, Mister and Miss Ranger!”

“All in a day’s work!” Lunick crowed and flashed her a toothy grin.

“I’d say this is mission success. Great job, you two!” Spenser praised as he walked over, hands in pockets. “Let’s deliver this young lady, her Skitty, and her Pecha berries home, yeah?” As they began walking back towards Ringtown, the girl looked between them excitedly.

“Do you all want to stay and make jam with me?” she chirped.

“That sounds like a vital mission to me,” Solana joked.

“Seconded!” Lunick agreed. Spenser laughed mirthfully, shaking his head at the frivolity of his two youngest Rangers.

“Well, if it will make the young lady happy…” the green-haired man reasoned with a light chuckle. The girl squealed and jumped up, then took off in a run as they passed under the arch of tree limbs marking the transition between Ringtown and Lyra Forest, bleating at them to hurry. Lunick ignored her request for a moment and paused, taking his one free arm and stretching his arm above his head to once more relax his muscles.

I really couldn’t have asked for a better Ranger Base assignment! He thought happily as he rested his hand on his hip, smiling up at the bright blue cloudless sky. If every day was like this, it was a life well-lived indeed.

“Lunick!”

“Wha-? Oh! Coming!”

I’ve still got a full day of work ahead of me! Better get jammin’!

Art done by @lemonjelloarts for my November 2021 Art Contest! Link here!

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

#lunick #solana #pokemon ranger #pokemon #pokemon fanfic #pokemon fanfiction #pokemon ranger fanfiction #pokemon ranger fanfic

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magicianapprenticelyra · 4 years

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PolyShips w/ the Kids! [I]

—I’ve been thinking about some multi/poly relationships within the fandom with the LIs and their apprentices.

I’ve been wondering how these dynamics would work with Lyra and her kids from the other parents!

First one of the bunch—

Asra/Lyra/Muriel:

How It Happens: Honestly this is the one of the polyamorous relationships that has a high possibility of happening.

It comes about from when Lyra and Asra first become a couple, and eventually Muriel joins the relationship.

Muriel feels really awkward and feels like he’s intruding on his best friend’s relationship.

The feeling eventually goes away, because no matter what—and it took a while but it worked—Asra and Lyra involve him in everything.

When they do go out together, Muriel tends to be in the middle, all of them within arms reach.

Muriel made the rings for Asra and Lyra for their wedding, and eventually he was gifted a ring from them.

He teared up. They all did.

Muriel divides where he sleeps at the shop and in his hut.

Lyra’s uncle Bảo helped them get a custom bed in the shop so the three of them could fit on it.

Muriel was sure it was magic somehow, even if said uncle isn’t magically inclined.

The topic of kids coming up made Muriel wary to say the least.

Still, he was the one that made the cribs, giving each kid a custom headboard designed with their names surrounded in protection spells.

[More under the cut!]

⁂

The Kids Themselves

Hải and Noor are the older set of kids to happen first, a set of fraternal twins. Parents are Lyra and Asra.

They’re older than Iris (Muriel’s her father) by about four to five years.

Iris grows tall really, really fast.

She’s born as a really big baby: Lyra needed to get a C-section (both in-game/in the Modern AU)

Muriel felt awful and wasn’t in the room when it was happening, but once all the blood was mostly cleaned up, came back in and cried upon seeing this little tubby baby of theirs.

Asra was sniffling in the background and the twins are just in awe.

Also slightly terrified since they saw a part of the procedure before running out of the room.

⁂

The Parents’ Relationship With The Kids:

Lyra:

w/ Hải

She is really worried about him in general.

He’s not the most social.

She’s the one that has to nudge him to go outdoors more often than not.

Painfully, socially awkward to the point he’d hide under the bed in order to not have to go out.

Her son didn’t really want to have friends.

It seemed the case until she found out about the bullying.

Modern AU: She went to the principal’s office about it but not much was done.

In-game: Pulled the parents aside to talk. Pretty much the same results.

Lyra was with him when he found his familiar: Scheherazade the Earless Monitor Lizard.

Scheherazade is a much older little lizard—Hải named her that because she had many a story to tell his curious little self.

She is usually the third person—it’s a toss-up between the Countess or his grandpa for first and second—to see his designs for prosthetics.

He’s working on models geared to be affordable to the general populace and with less expensive materials than the metals his grandparents work with.

Bounces ideas off of each other for his sketches of possible toys for kids.

He uses wood usually, and he makes steel tops for kids.

w/ Noor

The baby can do fire and water magic?? Oh dear.

Lucky for Lyra and her partners, Noor wasn’t too out of depth with her magical capabilities.

Noor took an instant shine to dancing when she saw Mom, Dad and Zaza doing so.

Noor compares marriage to having a life-long partner—or partners!—that would each take turns catching the other, be it in the highs or lows.

When she is old enough is able to handle herself on her own, Noor takes trips all over the place to learn dances from all the regions she can.

Lyra: “Please show us signs of life through letters.”

Noor: “I promise, I promise!”

Noor keeps her promise, and always returns within a handful of months from each departure.

Noor does have trouble with finding a place in Vesuvia.

She gets a bit mad about it, and Lyra pulls her over to Selasi’s in order to beat the shit out of some dough.

Most of the time the dough is too overworked to be given to paying customers, but she still eats it.

Has a little too much fun being a tester for any of the toys her twin creates, so Lyra usually follows along to make sure no one loses their eyebrows, again.

It is a looooooooong story.

w/ Iris

Oh she was so heavy as a baby.

Julian talked to Lyra about her options in terms of delivering, and they agreed upon the C-section procedure.

Iris was a whimsical child.

Learned to crawl, and then run before walking.

Often gave her mom heart attacks when she’d walk off into the Forest, forcing Lyra, Muriel and sometimes Asra—Inanna was always in tow, sniffing her out—to go and bring her back to the safety of the city.

Makes friends with a baby Pika who eventually became her familiar.

Lyra: “Honey, why is he named Flower?”

Iris: “He had a mouthful of them when I met him!”

Lyra: “Fair enough.”

Wanted to be as strong as her Papa.

Lyra often secured places for her to work out as a teenager.

Lyra even convinced Nadia to allow Iris to sometimes attend training sessions of the Palace Guard.

Was offered a position many times, but Iris preferred to help out in the shop.

Biggest sigh of relief for Lyra, to be honest.

Lyra is often greeted by this child in the way of being picked up and swung around.

She’s learned to become a noodle when Iris swings her around.

Is deeply amused by the fact she’s fallen in love with Noah, the blind son of Julian and @vesuvianoak‘s apprentice Ąžuolas.

More often than not is a silent observer of their interactions from afar.

Was the one to get Noah’s ring size from Ąžuolas and nudged Iris with it so she could get the ring bands.

Muriel:

w/ Hải

Their relationship doesn’t have a lot of spoken dialogue.

Hải can be having a really bad day so Muriel goes to where he’s sulking with a pair of whittling knives and blocks of wood.

They carve together in silence, with Hải holding up his work so Muriel can give pointers.

Muriel is the one that takes him and his siblings out into the woods to get ingredients their Zaza can cook for meals.

Helped Hải get over his fear of moving water.

He taught him to swim.

To be honest, it’s just a doggy paddle.

No one is willing to point it out though.

He was the first parent to learn that Hải was aro-ace.

Muriel reminds him that Lyra is ace as well. Being aromantic didn’t change the fact his entire family was going to support him no matter what.

They hug it out a while and Hải is really thankful for it.

Mun note: I deeply headcanon Muriel is biromantic ace.

Became good friends with Scheherazade when Hải came back from his trip with his mom and grandpa—Salim took him to see and learn from some other alchemists in Zadith.

Was worried Scheherazade was truly a very small dragon, but Hải assured him she wasn’t.

When Hải needs something heavy to be held down or picked up, he turns to Iris and Muriel for help assisting with the task.

Muriel enjoys watching Hải in his element. It’s the most peaceful state he’s seen his boy.

This includes on the annoyingly complicated commissions he works on with his grandparents.

w/ Noor

Was not at all surprised of the magical aptitude she has as a child.

Deems Noor the one with the flashiest tastes in fashion.

Being family friends with the Countess does not help things.

Seriously the kid’s like a beacon or an explosion of colors wherever she goes.

The Masquerade is a big one.

Noor tries to get her Dad to dance a little more.

Works as well as you think.

Is the shoulder and warm arms she cries on when things don’t go well with any of her romantic relationships.

Muriel: “...I could have Inanna scare them.”

Noor: *through her tears, she manages to laugh*.

Usually the first one to see her coming back on her little trips, be it with Asra or by herself.

Also makes sure she eats after her rigorous routines.

She forgets to a lot and he will keep poking her about it until she eats.

This goes for also making sure she doesn’t eat too much or too close before a performance too.

Makes her flower crowns, and was the one to teach her as a kid.

w/ Iris

Muriel was scared he was going to lose his daughter and his wife when Lyra was getting closer and closer to her due date.

It didn’t go nearly as planned with the twins, how could the pregnancy with his child end well?

Luckily, the C-section was a success and Lyra wasn’t in too much pain after the fact.

Iris always points out the scar on Lyra’s abdomen when she does get a glimpse of it.

Was not expecting Iris to want to be like him in two distinct ways: Very Tall and Very Strong.

She tops off in height at 6 feet tall as an adult and she is very strong.

Carried her over his shoulder on the way back home when she snuck off to The Forest.

Iris: “I wanna see the Peryton!”

Muriel: “No they’d chop you into pieces and have you for snacks.

Iris: “DAAAAAAAD! I’M A WHOLE MEAL.”

In the bg, Asra and Lyra are dying with laughter.

*Siiigh*

Unlike Noor, Iris’s style is more in the realm of the feminine: poofy skirts, princess-sorta ball gowns, etc.

Again with the Satrinavas, they spoil her time to time.

The tailors have a good time with Iris, since she has so many anecdotes to tell.

Muriel reassures her each time she puts on a special outfit that yes, she looks beautiful.

If anyone says she ain’t pretty enough because of her muscles, Noor and Hải would look for Auntie Nahara to prove them otherwise.

When Iris starts dating, Muriel asks her to keep a protection charm on her at all times.

It’s a little charm made of twigs, some flowers and a couple of smoothed stones from the river.

Then she up and goes dating one of Julian’s kids.

It’s a funny dynamic, really.

No one had a dry eye at her wedding though. N o o n e.

Muriel: “I’m proud of you. Congratulations, sweetie”

Iris: :D!!

Asra:

w/ Hải

Is not surprised by anything in terms of Hải’s interests nor secrets.

He’s the most chill of all the parents: most things don’t ruffle his feather in comparison to his spouses.

Scheherazade was a bit unexpected, but she’s good friends with the Stove Salamander.

Was very, very proud of the fact his child was able to discover what his magical abilities were, even if he started late compared to most magicians.

If said customers ask about his kids, Asra regales the story of the magnetized spoon to the kitchenette upstairs to every customer

Asra: ✧٩(ˊωˋ*)و✧ “I’m so proud of him! He was really worried about it for a while but—”

Hải: (￣￣|||) “ZAZA YOU’VE TOLD THEM A HUNDRED TIMES. STOP, PLEASE!!!“

Gets him things made of various metals on his trips.

Upon the return trip Asra either sends them in piece by piece or they all arrive at his father’s shop at once in a number of sacks.

Hải: o(≧∇≦o) | o(*>ω<*)o | (ﾉ^∇^)ﾉﾟ|

Will help Hải paint any and all his projects, because while the kid is great at building and assembling things, his knack for painting is left to be desired.

Asra: “Are these colors okay?”

Hải: “Zaza, we’re trying to not blind people. Switch out the blue with...green?“

Asra: “Dark green, got it. I’ll make it match your Dad’s eyes.” (≧∇≦*)

Muriel: (>.<);;;

Asra always encourages Hải to do what he loves.

Gets into arguments with Noor about the toys time to time, the disagreements over the size, color and shapes.

w/ Noor

Asra’s the one she goes to for pointers on how to dance.

Noor: “Am I angled right?”

Asra: *makes the necessary adjustments.*

Noor: “Ohh, right. Thanks Za!”

Asra: o(*>ω<*)o

Was the parent that was happy to allow Noor to go on a trip by herself.

He went around in circles with his spouses for about a week until Muriel and Lyra relented.

Before she left though, Asra added in a punch of reminders of protection spells, just in case.

Every time a romantic endeavor went sour, Asra was the one to make her favorite comfort foods while the others huddled around her and hugged out the sads.

Faust was usually mysteriously gone until she returned, looking too pleased with herself.

Lyra: “Faust? Where have you been?”

Faust: Crimes!

The next day Noor would find out her ex(es) had a terrible incident happen to them.

Nothing major mind you, but they looked ridiculous for about three weeks or so.

Helped her to pick out her outfits for performances.

Lyra and Muriel helped to subdue the technicolor ‘monstrosities’ if they deemed it too much.

Noor’s loudest cheerleader in audiences.

One time he got ejected from the area for being as such.

Muriel and Lyra get a kick out of pointing it out, much to his chagrin.

Asra: “I love seeing you perform and having so much fun!!! I’m sorry...” ( ͒˃̩̩⌂˂̩̩ ͒)

Noor: “It’s okay, Za.”

w/ Iris

He asked the cards what sort of a child she was going to be.

He did not expect a jumble each time he asked.

Asra: “Even the cards couldn’t predict you, sweetie.”

Iris: “Good!!”

Is the victim of all the ‘short’ jokes from the kids to the parents, despite the fact Lyra is only two inches shorter than him.

Iris has used him as a weight when she was pulling carts around, or helping some of the neighbors with fixing up their homes.

Goes to her if he can’t open jar or two, or seven.

Iris: “Papa’s not around?”

Asra: “In the woods with your mom and siblings.”

Iris: *pops them open with ease*

Asra: “Thank you, sweetie!”

Iris: “You’re welcome.”

Oftentimes finds Faust curled up around Iris’s shoulders, because she runs the warmest in the house, second to Muriel.

Will join them, and subsequently, so will the rest of the family.

Will help her do makeup on the occasions she wants to look extra pretty.

Asra: “Glitter or smokey eyes?”

Iris: “Both!”

Asra: “Alrighty, let’s see...”

With any of the seemingly random color combinations she imagines, it turns out better than expected!

⁂

Miscellaneous Details:

Levels of confidence from most to least from childhood to adulthood: Noor, Iris, Hải.

Hải gets better with his self-confidence years down the line. It’s a long process, but he will get there.

As teenagers Iris offered free piggyback rides to her friends and siblings—the twins of course always called first dibs.

Being aro/ace, Hải never looked for any partners in the romantic or sexual sense.

[Modern AU]: His sisters defend him to the point of were Noor almost threw hands with a belligerent, willingly ignorant S.O.B.

Iris was happy enough to let her sis whup the asshole’s ass but Hải had to pull her back.

Also if Iris gets physically combative with anyone it would end up with a hospital visit for the other dude.

Hải is the Best Man at both of his sisters’ weddings.

Everyone cries, because goddamn it we love it all.

And that’s it for this post!

Next: Muriel/Lyra/Julian—TBA

#The Arcana #fan apprentice #Asra #Muriel #asra x muriel x apprentice #asra x apprentice #muriel x apprentice #magicianapprenticelyra #the scribe writes #The Mind: Hải #The Heart: Noor #The Forthright: Iris

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theplatinthehat · 4 years

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*nails my piece of paper to Philip Pullman’s front door*

So, I made a joke earlier today about writing up my grievances with the world-building of the His Dark Materials trilogy. I genuinely didn’t think anyone would be interested enough to ask me about this. But someone did, so I’ve abandoned the actual jobs I needed to do today and went away to cobble together this post to summarise My Thoughts (and no-one was more surprised than I to find that there were more than two).

Let me say that these are my thoughts and opinions on this particular canon of work. I don’t judge anyone who likes them (hell, I love the idea of daemons and I certainly think there are some interesting concepts explored in the series) and you are more than welcome to disagree with me on any (or all) of the points that I outline below. And you’re certainly allowed to acknowledge that there are issues with a text and still find enjoyment from them. I’m not looking to Cancel anyone – I just have questions and I’m prepared to shout them into the void.

If anyone does reblog this, I ask that you don’t tag it with #hisdarkmaterials or #hdm, because that’s unfair on the people who are using those tags to curate a positive fandom experience.

Caveat to all of this – I haven’t read the books, but I have watched the current BBC/HBO series in great depth. I’m also writing a fanfic called The Shadow Mandate set in the world of His Dark Materials and that has required me to do extensive research and engage with multiple sources about the world. It’s as a direct result of this research that much of these questions and critiques have arisen. I am planning to read the books soon though (mainly so I can roast them more thoroughly)

Don’t send this to Philip Pullman (or Philman, as I will probably refer to him from here on out). 1 – he isn’t going to care what I say (he’ll just say it’s a metaphor and to not read too much into it or something equally as infuriating) and 2 – I don’t care what he says.

Now all that boring stuff is done, let’s get to it. I’m putting this all under the cut so the poor folk who want nothing to do with this can ignore at their leisure.

This will possibly get a bit tongue in cheek in places – just a warning

One Church to Rule Them All, One Faith to Bind Them

So, one of my main questions about the world of His Dark Materials is the Magisterium and the Holy Church. And that question is “How?”

Overlooking the fact that this was probably a conscious decision by Philman to Make A Point, I still have questions behind this behemoth of an institution. Based on my research, I’m of the understanding that Lyra’s world parted from our own when John Calvin became the Pope, and transferred the seat of Papal power to Geneva. After Calvin’s death, the Magisterium was formed and they consolidated power from there.

In my mind, this just doesn’t work. Because it makes it sound like Calvin was the only person standing between the Catholic Church and the Protestant Reformation. Whilst he had a big role in the Reformation, he just wasn’t the only person working for reforms (I mean – Luther? Hello? He had 95 problems, and Indulgences were all of them). You could probably argue with me on this, as he was a significant figurehead of the Reformation, but there were so many people working for change in Europe at the time that I would have thought that someone else would have taken that place (you can read more here).

The lack of denominations also doesn’t really sit with me because if there’s one thing I know about Christians, it’s that we love to argue over teeny-tiny details and build whole new ways of worshipping around them. The fact that the Magisterium doesn’t just tear itself apart is, to be honest, quite surprising. And, you know, the Eastern Orthodox tradition was already a thing at the time… (here’s a brief overview of the East-West Schism of 1054)

I’d also like to point out that Papal power was dominant in Western civilization. That leaves a lot of the world for the Magisterium to then suddenly gain power of. Or did Philman conveniently forget that Judaism (although the Jewish people had suffered significant persecution in Europe by this time), Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism (and many others) were all already very well-established religions in other parts of the world that I doubt would have taken too kindly to the Magisterium’s political advances. This idea of a religion having such a heavy-handed control over the whole world just seems a bit too far-fetched for me to believe.

However, I have to acknowledge that I say this as a white, Western Christian – perhaps people genuinely feel that is the case.

I do know that the witches are mentioned at having their own religion, but I can’t really find any information about it, so I can’t really compare them. It could well be that other religions and faith practices are mentioned in the books themselves, but I’m struggling to find them (do the shamans count? I’m not sure). Perhaps this is just me, but one religion consuming the whole world (or, at least, the vast majority of it) doesn’t strike me as particularly plausible.

Beast from the East

This is probably my most serious critique of the series, and one that’s actually been the most nightmarish for me to deal with in my own expanded world-building of Lyra’s world for The Shadow Mandate. This is an issue that has been discussed at length Marek Oziewicz in the paper ‘Representations of Eastern Europe in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, Jonathan Stroud’s The Bartimaeus Trilogy, and J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series�� – which I highly recommend you read!

(And it dunks on Ms R*wling too – what a treat!).

I’ll do a little summary for those of you who haven’t got the time to read a whole paper:

The His Dark Materials trilogy is told from a very British point of view (understandable, the author is a white British man)

Britain is a positive and exciting place, where all the characters are individuals with the capacity for good or evil

The general geographical sense of the world-building is that the further East you go (in Europe) that the less ties the people have to the Holy Church and the more barbaric they are – see the Tartars and their ‘Breathless One’ practices

The Eastern European races are frequently described with qualities such as “cruelty, pitilessness, barbarism, fierceness, physical and emotional instability” (Oziewicz, p. 8)

A lot of nationalist stereotypes surround the peoples of these races/countries

I mean, the treatment of the Tartars (which is a living, breathing ethnolinguistic group) as a whole is pretty disturbing. They’re described to be like a ‘warmongering race of xenophobic genocidal humans who want to conquer the whole of the Earth’ (Quote) - compare that to the complexity of the characters from the West. Oziewicz notes that the Tartars are somewhat akin to the Imperial Guard of Star Wars, as their helmets have ‘no eyes – or at least you couldn’t see any eyes behind the snow slits’ (Northern Lights, p. 289). As far as I can tell, they’re pretty much just tarred with one brush – made particularly plain by the fact that all Tartars seem to have identical wolf/husky daemons – unless that was a requirement when the Magisterium put the job posting on Indeed.

So, a whole nation of people has been reduced to a single archetype – one that plays on existing prejudices in British culture. That just feels like extremely lazy world-building to me – I don’t know a single country or ethnic population that could accurately be described as one archetype.

I also feel that a lot of other countries in the world are written off with sweeping generalisations – or just kinda lumped together? So, a lot of my research has involved me looking at the canonical list of Globetrotter Maps, and a whole bunch of countries tend to get lumped together – particularly, I’ve noticed, the South American countries. It does this really intriguing and complex world a major disservice. As I said, this is something that I’ve had to grapple with for my own work – and I hope that I’ve done enough work so as to begin to dissemble what Philman started.

A new and exciting way to get around the ‘G’ slur

For those of you who are unaware (although, you’re on Tumblr – how could you possibly not be aware?) the G-slur is considered to be a pejorative description of the Romani ethnic group, associated with idleness and itinerancy. It comes from the mistaken European belief that the Romani people came from Egypt (they aren’t). You can read more about that here and here.

Philman decided to name his ethnic group known for travelling and trading as they go ‘Gyptians’. I won’t insult your intelligence by explaining any further.

Should I let this slide with the explanation that the term is so pervasive in Britain that it’s actually a legal term? Perhaps, but I’m not going to.

Kill Bill God

My only issue with this is that if Philman wants to kill God, he should kill… God. Not some angel with a superiority complex. But seeing how badly some people took it, I can understand why he didn’t. I still think he’s a coward.

Sex, Dust and Dragons

I have a whole other bone to pick with Philman about his obsession with sex in children’s literature, but that’s not what you’re here to talk about. No, you came to hear about His Dark Materials.

It’s established in the world that Dust doesn’t settle on children because they don’t have experience – they are too innocent. Based on the research I’ve done, and the language used in both the film and the mini-series is this maturation from childhood to adulthood is though protosexual experiences e.g. kissing. And this is what Mary Malone’s role as ‘the serpent’ is – she’s the one that make Lyra think about her sexuality for the first time:

As Mary said that, Lyra felt something strange happen to her body. She found a stirring at the roots of her hair: she found herself breathing faster. She had never been on a roller-coaster, or anything like one, but if she had, she would have recognised the sensations in her breast: they were exciting and frightening at the same time, and she had not the slightest idea why. The sensation continued, and deepened, and changed, as more parts of her body found themselves affected too. She felt as if she had been handed the key to a great house she hadn't known was there, a house that was somehow inside her, and as she turned the key, deep in the darkness of the building she felt other doors opening too, and lights coming on. She sat trembling, hugging her knees, hardly daring to breathe, as Mary went on...

Marzipan, The Amber Spyglass

(That’s such a long quote)

It’s then made explicitly clear that it’s the intimacy of Lyra and Will’s relationship, and the touching of one another’s daemons, that causes Pan and Kirjava to settle in their true forms.

Andrew Lloyd Webber was right – love really does change everything.

Here’s where things get a little bit petty.

So, if Dust begins to settle on children once they’ve had their first ‘sexual awakening’ – what about those people who don’t ever experience that? Because, believe it or not, asexual people have existed for a very long time. If they don’t experience this, then would their daemons settle? What are the implications of this? Are asexual people remaining in the ‘childlike innocence of the Garden of Eden’? (Quote)

Asexual fans of His Dark Materials, I pass this question to you – do you lack a soul because you’ve never experienced sexual desire? Is sex truly instrumental on the road to maturation? I’d love to hear your thoughts, and what you’d do if your daemon never settled. Would you let them shift into a dragon? I know I would if I were in that position.

This issue, to me, is massively indicative of the prevalent attitudes towards the asexual community. There is a tendency for media products to portray a-spec people as immature because they don’t experience sexual attraction – which is just not true. The ace community has said many times that they feel that this attitude infantilizes their orientation, and it’s a view that needs to be challenged. Check out this source for more information on the microagressions faced by this community – section six is particularly relevant. Asexuals are mature – despite this lack of ‘experience’ that Philman seems to think all people need to have in order to become free-thinkers. This just isn’t true. I don’t understand why society seems to believe this theory, but with its prevalence in media it’s not too difficult to see why this view pervades.

Anyway, the only reason I’m so petty about this particular aspect is that I’m so bored of reading stories where sex and romance are the most important thing. I think heresy is a much more interesting sin than sex, so that’s what The Shadow Mandate will be about once I’ve finished it.

I also have some more minor world-building issues both in HDM and the later Book of the Dust trilogy including, but not limited to:

Why is it New Denmark? The Dutch were quite famous for reaching America – New Amsterdam being the original name for New York. Admittedly I’m only cross about this because I got mixed up in my own world-building.

There’s even more ‘othering’ of non-British races – particularly the Skraelings who are analogous to the Inuit people (but possibly a term for all Native-American peoples) who carry out ‘barbaric’ practices such as trepanning

Witches can’t forgive men that turn them down. Well I don’t have much of a problem with this as such, but it just makes me think of that quote about fairies from Peter Pan – “Fairies have to be one thing or the other, because being so small they unfortunately have room for one feeling only at a time.”

The treatment of Pantalaimon by Lyra in subsequent adventures

Malcolm Polstead needs to leave Lyra tf alone

I appreciate that this is a very long and whingy list about things that I don’t like, so congrats on making it this far! I’d love to give you something – perhaps your time back – but alas, my powers only extend so far. I appreciate that the His Dark Materials books are well-loved and that most people would probably disagree with what I’ve said – I just have lots of questions and Philman doesn’t have as many answers as I would like. But then again, should I really read this much into the work of a writer who seems willing and capable to ignore the personality of their protagonist for a whole book? I don’t know. But I do know, that axolotl daemons would require a lot of work.

(I have beef with Philman – thank you for humouring me)

Leave your hatemail in my inbox <3

#rant post #his dark materials rant #is this what i'm going to be known for?#maybe so #philip pullman do not interact #philman #hdm rant

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rxbxlcaptain · 7 years

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I have been tagged by @grexigone, @justkeeponthegrass, and @strong-bottle-of-jyn to make a list of my Top Ten Favorite fan fictions of all time. Wow, I’ve been reading mainly RebelCaptain fanfiction since December, but I knew I needed to go back through my old FanFiction favorites to find my all time favorites and (let me tell you) this was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Half of this list is Rebelcaptain (again, because that’s what I’ve been reading) but half are from various other fandoms.

Prisoner of War - Some Monsters are Human by RavensGame (ff.net): Supernatural. An AU in which a teenage Sam Winchester discovers about his demon blood and, well, things go sideways. (Because it’s the Winchesters)

Semper Familia by KatZenSPN (ff.net): Supernatural An AU in which John Winchester buys a Lilim to help with a case, and Dean has a hard time dealing with how human the kid looks -- and how much he looks like his little brother who went missing a lot of years ago

Here I Go Again by Above the Winter Moonlight (ff.net): Star Wars (Republic Era) The Force sends Obi Wan Kenobi to the past in the hopes of preventing the rise of the Empire (hey, turns out I did read Star Wars fanfiction before reading Rogue One stuff! Who knew!)

The Life and Times by Jewels5 (ff.net): Harry Potter (Marauder’s Era) And I’m a sucker for every fic about how James and Lily Potter fell in love. Hence why there are two of them on this list. But, really, I think I love this one because it does such a fabulous job delving into all the other characters important to their story rather than just James and Lily. Sadly, it was never completed (last updated in 2013...)

Before the Fawn by andelyn kinsey (ff.net): Harry Potter (Marauder’s Era) Yet another “We All Know James and Lily Are Going To Fall In Love Eventually” fic (because I live for those). Also sadly unfinished but at least we got all the way to Lily finding out she’s pregnant before it cuts off

Resistance is Built on Hope by @chronicolicity (AO3): Rogue One A WWII AU that is so beautifully built. A story of our favorite rebels coming together in a different war to fight for what they know is right. (Still a WIP)

floating, sinking by @shu-of-the-wind (AO3): Rogue One Honestly, if you’re a RebelCaptain shipper and you haven’t read this fic yet, I don’t know what you’re going with your life. Basically, Rogue One escapes Scarif and have literally zero tolerance for the Alliance losing the Death Star plans and decide to take matters into their own hands.

Personal Effects by mosylu (AO3): Rogue One This is only 2k words but man does it pack a punch. It’s not even RebelCaptain and I love it to pieces. Basically, no matter how few personal belongings Cassian Andor had on the Rebel base, he still left some things behind. (Be prepared to cry)

Whatever I do (I Do It To Protect You) by @callioope (AO3): Rogue One When Lyra was forced to choose between going after her husband and staying with her daughter, she chose Jyn, and Jyn experienced a very different kind of upbringing.

Beinahe by @ruby-red-inky-blue (AO3): Rogue One Where Jyn and Cassian survive Scarif (but the rest of the crew doesn’t) and a lot of survivor’s guilt occurs (also a lot of tears occur as well)

I know I’m super late to this party so a lot of the people I’m going to tag have probably already done it, but I’m going to tag @callioope, @thenewleeland, @cornholius, @wearesuchstuff1, and @rapidashpatronus! (And if you guys have already made a list, send me the link! I’d love to see your favorites!)

#kat rants #fan fic rec #rebelcaptain #rogue one #harry potter #marauders era #jily #star wars #supernatural

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