#my brother came up with the pun and it was too good to not illustrate
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Chestnuts roasting on an open Pyre~🔥 🐦
#they have fun#my brother came up with the pun and it was too good to not illustrate#this drawing took 5 years off of my life btw#last post if the year 💥#happy new years 🥂#orginal oc#sawyer#eureka rambles#monster hunting tag
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Tsurune Book 3 Chapter 4 - Old Friend (Part 1)
this chapter broke into my house and robbed me. this chapter punched me in my stomach and proceeded to kick me as i was down
anyways we meet Seiya's brother Gaku. Gaku seems to be a gnc person but is still referred to as Seiya's brother so i will be using he/him pronouns for him
Glossary here
Full list of translations here
Translation Notes
1-18. The explanations of the puns were so long that i decided to make a separate post for them. tbh you can just skip the puns and go all the way to the end of this section
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It was a certain day off.
The five boys of the Kazemai High School kyudo club gathered at Minato’s house. It was a study session to prepare for a regular exam, and since Minato’s father wasn’t at home because of work, they occupied the living room.
Seiya smiled.
“Ryouhei, if there’s anything you don’t understand, feel free to ask me. I can help you with most of the liberal arts subjects.”
“Woo! I’m so glad that I have you, who’s at the top of our class, as my childhood friend.”
“I’m happy to be helpful to everyone.”
Nanao, hearing that, waved his mechanical pencil with a frog on it. There was also a pencil case with frogs in traditional Japanese design on the table.
“As expected of President Mustache. You really give off the composure of someone worthy of a mustache. Maybe I should have chosen science classes too, though it’s a bit late for that now.”
“Apparently, nowadays there are some universities where they don’t divide the courses into the sciences and liberal arts, but allow students to take both.”
“This is what they call the age of diversity. Our future is shining brightly. Exciting, sparkling!” Ryouhei also chimed in.
“Sparkling! This humble one is also excited!”
Next to them, Kaito put down his pen.
“You two! Those Yotubers’ ways of talking are rubbing off on you. Nanao, stop playing with frogs and focus on your problem set.”
“Yeah, yeah, Kacchan. Follow your own path.”
After checking on everyone, Minato went to the kitchen. He returned to the living room with a drink in hand.
Minato’s cup was purchased on the return trip from last year’s regional tournament, and it had the illustration of a dormouse on it. In his left hand, he held the dormouse mascot that Masa-san gave him. The dormouse was a small mouse that was a natural monument and also called the spirit of the forest and the guardian deity of the mountains. Masa-san gave him, who was suffering from target panic, the dormouse mascot in place of a talisman, but Minato had no way of knowing the prayer it contained.
When the five’s cups were emptied, the intercom sounded. When Minato looked through the camera, he saw a young woman standing there. “Hello?” he answered.
“Mii-chan, it’s me. It’s been a while.”
“Oh! I’m opening the door now.”
When Minato opened the door, the woman suddenly hugged him.
She was in her twenties. She was gorgeous and bewitching, but also cute—she was a superb beauty who made one feel that gap. She was dressed in a stylish outfit, and her straggling hairs fell gently.
The beautiful woman exclaimed in joy.
“Mii-chan, you smell as good as ever! Is it rosemary? It’s different from a vegetarian’s scent. The fact that you smell like this and don’t use antiperspirants or perfume is nothing short of a miracle.”
“Can’t you do something about that quirk of yours?”
“I feel so refreshed when I smell your scent, Mii-chan. ‘Mina-huffing’ is way better than cat huffing!”
Minato grimaced, looking fed up. Since he knew that the other person only looked slender in clothing and was actually a Jeet Kune Do master, Minato didn’t disobey her and stayed still. It was a martial art where the opponent was defeated within six seconds. He wouldn’t be able to stand a chance if he was hit in a vital spot.
“I’m studying right now.”
“Oh, that’s right. I came here for something else. Let me just come in for a minute.”
The woman left Minato and went into the living room without hesitation. She opened the door with a bang.
“Who’s that?” Just when Kaito muttered in his mind, Seiya shouted, “Onii-chan!”
Kaito let out a splutter.
Rather than the fact that the person who he thought was a woman was actually Seiya’s brother, he was more shocked by the fact that Seiya calling him “Onii-chan.” Seiya’s brother completely ignored the dumbfounded Kazemai High School kyudo club members and made a beeline for Seiya.
“Seiya, you completely ignored your phone even when I called you. I came back home after all this time, so keep me company for a little bit at least.”
“Why are you coming in all the way here, Onii-chan? You’re as restless as ever.”
“Can’t you be a little more affectionate towards your beloved brother? Something like, it’s been so long, I missed you, Nii-san!”
Seiya made no comment. His eyes were glassy.
“Ugh, you’re such a prickly kid. Everyone, sorry for interrupting your studying. Nice to meet you, I’m Seiya’s older brother, Takehaya Gaku. I do the branding for ‘Hanayoi,’ which promotes Japanese style merchandise. You over there, that frog pencil was also one of the things I had a hand in.”
“Whoa!” Nanao said. “I know Hanayoi. You did a collab with Yumihiki Douji recently.”
“You watched it? I’m so happy to hear that.”
Gaku sat down in front of the table.
“I’d feel bad about staying here for too long, so I’ll just tell you why I’m here. Everyone here should also listen. I chose the path I liked, so Dad wants Seiya to inherit the hospital. He says he wants Seiya to start preparing for that soon.”
“You’re talking about that again? And this isn’t something you talk about in front of everyone, you know? Onii-chan, you do what you want, and yet you expect to me to obey you.”
“Mom and Dad always respect our wishes. But in their hearts, they think that you’re suited to becoming a doctor. This is the countryside, so doctors are absolutely needed. They want you to contribute your service to the community. They won’t back down until you say yes.”
“There’s no point in using martial arts on me. I know your weak spots. It’ll be no trouble for me to defeat you.”
“Ugh, Seiya, how invincible are you? Well, it doesn’t matter. I plan on staying here for two or three days longer anyway.”
Gaku stood up, then stared at Nanao, who had been listening with his chin in his hands.
“…Magnificent. You’ve caught my eye since the moment I entered this room, but you’re so beautiful. How would you like to become our new brand image character?”
Gaku’s eyes roamed over Nanao’s figure, then he raised his hand and inhaled the scent deeply. Gaku’s sense of smell was unusually developed, and he was an eccentric who judged people based on their body odor. It was said that only one in five people could sniff out asparagus smell, which was the smell of urine after eating asparagus. He was one of them, and he was also a perfumer.
“Mm, mm, what a pleasant scent. It’s sweet, heartrending, and strong—. You fit the image perfectly. You’re the very picture of the crowned Frog Prince.”
“Hold on a minute, I can’t see what you’re talking about.”
“There is no one better suited for this role than you. This is a big project that will be expanded overseas. Don’t you think it’s a great opportunity?”
“No, no, no, the more skillfully someone speaks, the more I’m on guard.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being cautious. Please give me a reply in three days.”
After only saying what he wanted to say, Gaku left. In the calm after the storm, the five boys remained silent.
Ryouhei moved to break the silence.
“I was so surprised to see Seiya’s brother. He got even prettier than I remember. What will happen if Nanao takes on that job?”
“I’ll be okay, but it might be tough for Nanao to balance his thing with kyudo,” Seiya said.
“Huh!? Can’t you wait for a moment? Then I’m against it. You agree with me, right, Minato?”
“…I will respect the two’s wishes.”
“Huuuh!? Kaito-kun, you of course are also against it, right?”
“I dunno. It’s up to Seiya and Nanao.”
“What? Why aren’t you stopping them? Don’t you all want to stand on the same stage together again? We can only be high school second-years once! Well, you can be held back a year, though!”
Seiya opened the reference book on the table.
“Sorry, guys. My brother’s always like that. He throws everyone around him into confusion and immediately leaves. Nanao, you should think about it carefully before responding to him.”
With complicated feelings, the five boys faced the table again.
After the study session finished and everyone left, Nanao went to Kaito’s house.
He took two teacups in the kitchen and poured black tea, milk, and sugar into them. His brain needed sugar to work. He put the cups on a tray and went to Kaito’s room on the second floor.
“Hi, Kacchan. Today, I’m specially making this tea for you. Be thankful.”
“Yeah, yeah, Frog Prince.”
Nanao put the teacup on his desk and sat down on the bed. He flicked the frog-shaped clock by his side with his finger. The second hand was moving as usual.
“Kacchan, what do you really think about what Gaku-san talked about earlier?”
“I already said that I don’t know.”
“You didn’t put a stop to it this time.”
“Hah? Did something like that happen? If I say anything, your judgment might be affected, so I kept quiet.”
“You could have at least given your cousin some advice. What a useless man.”
“Shut up. Neither you or Seiya are little kids anymore. It’s the truth that by the summer vacation of your second year in high school, you have to decide on your career path to some extent.”
“That’s so early. I feel I only just entered high school.”
Seiya was also faced with the dilemma of choosing his career. Kaito was probably feeling nervous on the inside. Even Minato should be wondering whether he should encourage or discourage him.
Kaito got his phone out and started playing a game. Lately, he had been absorbed in a city building game. He had built a kyudojo, a library, and a concert venue just for Japanese rock. Once, he had cried tears of gratitude when the avatars of the bands he liked in the real world performed there.
Lucy the cat rubbed against Kaito’s back and showed her belly. Kaito petted Lucy without looking away from his game, and Lucy kicked him as though to tell him to look at her.
Nanao remembered when he and Kaito visited Tokyo together in middle school.
Kaito had let out a big yawn.
“Ah, this is such a pain. I only care about kyudojos and kyudo stores. Are there any nearby?”
“Don’t say that, Kacchan. Let’s take the classic course first.”
He stuffed his mouth with crepes and peered into a store where everyone was lined up. At the storefront where accessories were arranged next to each other, he could see a man giving out rings as a gift.
It was fun to walk around the city. The place where they lived was surrounded by mountains, but this place was full of man-made object and people. It was a stimulating and lively space.
A little further away, there was a man running through the crowd.
“Why is that guy running?”
“Who knows, maybe he forgot something.”
As they were talking, the man quickly approached them and handed him his business card. The name of an agency was printed on the front, and the names of the talents affiliated with the agency were printed on the back.
Talent scouts really did exist. He thought it was an urban legend.
Kaito’s eyes flashed in their usual way. From his point of view, the person approaching Nanao was nothing but a suspicious person who deserved to be guarded against.
“Sorry, we’re in a hurry,” they declined and started walking away.
As they continued on their way, eating snacks, someone called out to them again. Nanao didn’t know if it was a scout or someone trying to pick him up, but he completely ignored them. However, some people were persistent and would stubbornly keep talking to him. Thanks to that, they walked faster and faster.
“Hey, hey, you over there. You’re a shining diamond in the rough. Could please just listen to what I have to say?”
“If you put it like that, I might be a little interested.”
“Tell the kid next to you to consider it too. I really think he’s got what it takes. Getting famous with videos is fine and all, but I recommend that you join an agency that can manage you properly.”
“No, thank you,” Kaito answered.
“Why don’t you join with him, then? I think a combination of two different types is also a good idea.”
“…”
“You might have to pay for the lessons, but we also have plans that are better than other agencies.”
“Shut up! This guy won’t leave our hometown!” Kaito shouted and grabbed Nanao’s hand, then started running.
Masquerade.
This was a city where you could meet a different version of yourself.
A doll-like girl spinning on a music box and a man holding a fake sword studded with sequins. Were the woodwind instruments being played foreign? Many boats floated on the meandering river, and the two went against the current. Was this really reality? His feet felt unsteady.
“Let’s leave this place quickly. There’s too many people and we’ll keep getting bothered.”
“You’re right.”
The sounds of people bustling about was comfortable.
Kacchan said that there were too many people here, but everyone was nose-deep in their phones and no one’s looking around. No one’s paying attention to us. No one knows who we are.
I will protect Kacchan. In this city, he’s the only who knows me, and I’m the only one who knows him.
I will never forget Kacchan gripping my hand.
It seems like he forgot about it, though.
That’s fine. This is a memory that only I remember.
“Kacchan, I wanna eat chips. Go and buy some.”
“What, go buy it yourself. I think we have some downstairs.”
“Can I eat them?”
“Yeah.”
“Thanks, Kacchan.”
When Nanao got up, Lucy let out a small meow.
After the study session, Seiya and Minato watched Ryouhei leave until they could no longer see him.
“Minato, I’m going to go shampoo Kuma. Wanna come?” Seiya said.
“Of course!”
Minato went to Seiya’s house. He rolled up his sleeves, took off his socks, and Kuma, who realized what was going to happen, ran around excitedly. When Kuma was still a puppy, just getting him to soak his paws in the bathtub full of hot water was a difficult task, but now it was one of his favorite times. They wetted his fur in the shower and lathered up the dog shampoo.
“Kuma, doesn’t that feel good? Do you feel itchy anywhere?”
Kuma tilted his head left as though to say, “Here,” so they focused on that area. As they were rinsing off the later with the shower, Kuma shook his whole body.
“Kuma, don’t shake!”
“Kuma seems to be in high spirits,” Seiya said.
While they were shampooing Kuma, they saw a gecko on the windowpane of the bath. It had a light pink belly and the base of its tail was heart-shaped. The edges of its five tiny fingers were transparent and beautiful. It didn’t so much as twitch even when Minato touched it through the glass. He once saw one in his own house, and he had captured it and let it go outside. The gecko was still clinging to the window even after they finished shampooing Kuma.
Seiya’s brows lowered when he saw Kuma leaning against Minato as he wiped his wet body.
“Kuma, you sure are making a nice face. Even though I’m your master.”
“Kuma likes people.”
The two and Kuma went out for a walk. As they walked toward the red sun, the indigo sunset approached from behind. The first star of the evening shined in the evening sky, and it matched the speed of the two boys and dog. When they stopped, the star also stopped. The large yellow moon shined on the horizon.
On the roadside, bees gathered by the fleabanes, and butterflies gathered by the milk thistles. A loud chorus of frogs could be heard from the rice fields that had just been filled with water. There were also baby praying mantises in the purple thistles, shortawn foxtails, and ixeris flowers. Though their bodies were only one centimeter long, they were vibrating them like adults. They seemed to be imitating the appearance of swaying leaves, but it was said that only two percent of two hundred eggs could grow into adults. Minato sent thoughts of encouragement for everyone to survive safely.
Minato patted Kuma on the head.
“It seems that there is a family of wild rabbits living in Shuu’s garden. At first, when we saw each other, they would run away like rabbits do, but lately, they are the ones who have been approaching me.”
“With that house, I’m not surprised about anything that lives there.”
“To tell you the truth, I once asked your dad a question. I asked him, aren’t you worried about Seiya quitting Kirisaki? Is there anything I can do?”
“…No way, really?”
“He told me, ‘There’s nothing to worry about. Worrying would mean that I don’t believe in Seiya’s strength. Both Seiya and his brother are people who don’t see hardships as hardships and can blaze a trail forward.’”
“Dad said something like that? I didn’t know.”
“You have a great dad. He’s really cool.”
“Yeah, he is, thanks. My brother’s a weirdo, though.”
“Kuma’s cute too.”
“My brother isn’t cute, and I don’t listen to what he says.”
“Brothers, huh. I’m a bit jealous.”
Minato looked up at the sky. The full moon was changing from yellow to silver.
“The moon is beautiful tonight.”
“…Yeah, it really is. Minato, do you know the anecdote about Soseki Natsume?”
“The one where he had a habit of pulling out his nose hairs when he got writer’s block and line them up on his manuscript paper?”
“That’s what came to your mind? It’s the one where he said that when Japanese people convey their love, they don’t say ‘I love you,’ but use another way to express it.”
“Sorry, I don’t know that one.”
“You and Kaito really don’t waver, huh.”
“What will Nanao do? Kaito was clearly shaken.”
“The two of them are probably discussing things right now. It might be something that’s hard to talk about in front of us.”
“You’re right. Oh, I saw two dormice in that tree hollow ahead. You wanna go see them?”
“Yeah. Let’s go.”
The two boys and dog went to the woods. When they went into the woods, Kuma took the vanguard position, probably with the determination to protect his masters.
When the wind shook the leaves, white-tailed skimmers spread their wings.
The wind blew through the blue yamichi of Kazemai High School’s kyudojo.
After the prefectural tournament qualifiers, the club members headed toward the targets as they pleased. Not thinking about unnecessary things and simply releasing arrows with all your strength was also a pleasant feeling. They surrendered themselves and rode the updraft.
When they generally finished shooting their arrows, the signal to gather was given.
“Today, we’ll be having a special class today. Let’s warm up before inviting our speaker. First question, what day is September tenth?”
Ryouhei immediately raised his hand.
“It’s Kyudo Day!”
“Correct. Now, the second question. Does anyone what day is August tenth, a month before that?”
“Yep, yep, it’s Masa-san’s birthday!”
Kaito turned to Minato and grinned triumphantly. Masa-san smiled in embarrassment.
Tommy-sensei continued. “Third question. What day is September first?”
“The questions suddenly got harder. Seiya, do you know?” Minato said.
“Hmm, is it famous?”
“Oh? Takehaya-kun not knowing something is surprising. Let’s get into the main topic. Self-possession is necessary for kyudo. Learn the best techniques to stay calm in any situation. That’s right, it’s all about words, it’s about how you perceive events positively through words. Here comes the specialists. Come on, everybody!”
The ones who appeared at Tommy-sensei’s signal were two elderly men. Question marks popped up over everyone’s heads.
“These two are acquaintances of mine. They are alumni of the ‘Kazemai High School Bad Puns Association.’”
Seiya’s glasses flashed. Kaito had a bad feeling.
The class began.
“Bad puns are things that have ‘creativity and impact,’ and enriches communication between people. We take advantage of the infinite ‘attraction’ of puns, and our wish that bad puns will bring color and richness to life and delivers salvation to the world is embedded in September first.”*
“…I can already sense that this is going to be a disaster.”
Kaito was in agony, but Seiya straightened up even more and listened attentively.
“A barrage of dad jokes that follow up on each other. This is indeed ‘jab-jab’ humor, Kacchan.”*
“Na-na-o, not you too!”
As the cousins’ comedy routine unfolded, practical training began. First, they were asked to tell the bad puns they already knew.
Keyaki went first. “The principal’s in good form!”*
Kanbayashi went second. “The dog’s so nervous that it’s wetting itself.”*
Himuro went third. “Suki kuu mushi mo tadetade.”*
Everyone’s eyes widened at the fact that Himuro spoke, but only Seiya sighed by himself.
“It’s no good, first-years. You can’t just say such excellent bad puns.”
Keyaki shrank back.
“What exactly is an excellent bad pun…? It’s too difficult for amateurs. I feel like successfully pulling off a bad pun is more difficult than the path of the bow for me.”
“First, we must learn the classics. I’ll give you some examples. ‘6:30 is the best time on a clock, hands down.’ ‘Thanks for being so grape!’ ‘Camping: like many of the best things in life, it’s tree.’”*
The two teachers applauded.
“Wonderful! As expected of the club president, you have a very good understanding of this. Oh, you over there, you say a pun too.”
“Me too?” Masa-san said.
“Of course. To us, you’re also a Kazemai kid, Coach Takigawa.”
“Then if I may be so presumptuous, I will contribute one pun. ‘My back is kaino at kai.’”*
Seiya inadvertently laughed, but then made his face serious in an effort to hide that he laughed.
“Recreation is a form of communication and relaxation that’s also used in free schools, and it is also a way to train people to think in a way that softens their stiffened heads. Now, we pros will show you how it’s done.”
“What kind of sport is kyudo? The kind of sport that makes your chest squeeze tightly and impresses the people around.” “If you draw a bow in Yamagata, your arrows will bend.” “Ah, I hit the inside of the curtain.” “Hakama wa hakanma.” “What are yuu going to the kyudojo for?” “I get angry when I don’t do the uchiokoshi well.” “When I do uchiokoshi, you go to the front.” “Let’s have a third party look at our daisan.” “Ya o hanatsu to yugaeru kero.” “Zan, shin!!”*
Kaito quickly stood up.
“They’re cold, they’re too cold! Are we in Siberia or Alaska or something!?”
Unable to endure it any longer, he left.
Tommy-sensei chuckled. “…Good reaction, Onogi-kun.”
Before they went home, they received a large amount of broad beans from the teachers, who had grown them in their home gardens.
“Hey, hey, what are you going to do about Seiya’s brother, Gaku-san’s offer?” Ryouhei asked Nanao.
“Oh, I think I’m going to turn him down on that day.”
Kaito’s face relaxed.
“You’re giving your answer too early. You might regret it later that you should have accepted it.”
“I won’t regret it, and even if I do in the future, so be it. I’ll consider it again at that time. The current me has decided not to do it. My dream has already been fulfilled. I wanted to become a normal high school student.”
“A normal high school student?”
“Don’t you think it’s amazing? Frogs and birds risk their lives to get food every day, but we normally eat our lunches in our classrooms, normally make side trips on our way home from school, and normally groan about bad test scores.”
“Is Nanao really a high school boy? You have a pretty philosophical view of things,” Seiya murmured.*
The second-year girl, Hanazawa, writhed in agony. “Takehaya-kun, don’t just smoothly insert an old man joke here.”
“The only old man we need is Takigawa=san,” Shiragiku said.
“Putting aside the fact that our club has a high concentration of old men, I don’t know how a guy with a fan club could be called normal,” Seo continued.
“That isn’t something I wanted, but I’ll properly fulfill the role given to me. I don’t want to disappoint the girls who love me.”
“Wow, you’re like a real prince.”
When Ryouhei looked at him with eyes full of respect, Nanao gently lowered his eyes. If the fan club girls were here, they might have fainted on the spot.
When he opened his eyes, a strong gaze appeared there.
“I want to become a carpenter. I want to start with design. Kacchan, let me build your house.”
Kaito’s eyes widened.
“This is the first time I’m hearing of it.”
“Of course it is. Because it’s the first time I told someone. Before I came here, I asked the teacher to let me switch from the humanities to the sciences.”
“That was fast! I didn’t know you could change it.”
“First, I want to build a round wooden frog house in a green forest. The eyes will be the windows, where you can see the starry sky through them at night. The Summer Triangle of summer and Orion of winter. It’ll be amazing to gaze at them while lying down on the floor with everyone. Right now, I’m researching the costs.”
“You’re really moving too fast. Where are us students gonna get that money from?”
“It’s not about whether you can or can’t do it, it’s about envisioning it first. I don’t think it’s that difficult.”
The first-years applauded.
“As expected of Kisaragi-senpai’s super positive thinking. He has a dream!” Kanbayashi said.
“I will try thinking about what I really want to do,” Keyaki said.
“I want to continue doing kyudo even after I graduate. Have you decided on what you’re going to do, Narumiya-senpai? Are you going to go to a university with a strong kyudo club?”
Minato looked indifferent.
“All I thought was that I should probably go to university. On the career preference questionnaire, I thought about my family finances and wrote down the names of several universities I was interested in, including a local public university, a department where I could study Japanese culture, a university with a Shinto course, and an agriculture department.”
Seiya pinched the corner of his eyes. “Our teacher is probably very confused, thinking that Narumiya-kun is supposed to be in the sciences.”
“I’m interested in what Shinto priests do, but I don’t know if I want to do it as a job… To be honest, I’m at a loss.”
Tommy-sensei, who had been silently listening to them, laughed out loud. Masa-san was also next to him.
“Ah, the worries of vibrant youth. Try talking to yourself, not others. It might be a good idea to try drawing a mandala chart. By the way, the goals I set when I was fifty were to walk eight-thousand steps every day, learn the names of flowers and plants, and take pictures of clouds. Please look at my work.”
Tommy-sensei showed them pictures of clouds in the shape of soft-served ice cream, candy, and dried squid. He told them that they weren’t edited images, but actually floating in the sky.
Ryouhei’s eyes sparkled.
“What’s that, it looks tasty!”
“Ho ho, there’s Pucky here too. And even a Koala’s Dash.”*
“Whoa, I wanna try searching too! Nee-chan, Shuu-kun, and Sae-chan would definitely love it if I show this to them.”
It seemed that Tommy-sensei taught them a simple game once again. Minato thought that the people who could laugh at bad puns and were curious no matter how old they were might be the masters of life.
When Seiya returned home, he told his parents this.
“I’m going to be a doctor. But right now, kyudo is my top priority, so I might become a ronin.* Mom, Dad, will you still support me?”
“Yes, of course we will.”
“Do your best, Seiya-kun.”
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{from Mana} She's still slightly terrified of Julius and even Ludger but she has come to bring them gifts. For Ludger there is a few cookbooks and a few daggers. For Julius she made a few tomato plushies, and since Sunny said something about him wanting a prized possession box, he gets one with little cats carved into the side. And she brought Lulu some treats she got from the katz. "Happy holidays from my family to yours!"
@pastelfates cause the boys got gifts (and some in return~)
Right as Ludger's oven went off, so did their doorbell. Did Nova come early? "Nii-san, can you get the cookies?" It might be a gamble to ask, but surely Julius wouldn't set the house on fire opening an oven door. Guess they'd find out.
Anyway, the door! To his surprise, his guest wasn't Nova (well she wasn't too surprising; she's never early) or even Zig; Mana came bearing gifts! "Oh, Merry Verius Evening to you too, Mana!" Ludger greeted. "Could you step inside for a minute? I've got something for you in return!"
"Merry Verius Evening to you, Mana," Julius managed to not burn anything down by himself, allowing him to offer the welcome guest fresh, warm cookies. "We're both honored you'd come to personally deliver our gifts. Then again, finding an interdimensional mail courier is the bigger hassle." Not unless Lady Norn pulled small favors, wherever she was.
"While I stall for time, we have gifts for you and Ms. Sunny as well. We kept them in Ludger's room so Lulu didn't use the box as a scratching post--" A loud ting rang from the railing in Ludger's closet. He told him not to stash it too far back; little brothers never think ahead. "--So they should be unharmed. But while we wait, do you mind if I open mine?"
Julius set the cookie tray down on the table and opened his box. His eyes settled on the tomatoes first, big shock, giving them a gentle squeeze. Definitely plush; good thing he tested first. "These are lovely, Mana. My room needs a bit of sprucing up."
As for the cute kitty box, it took Julius a second to realize the inspiration behind it. When it clicked, he couldn't help a hearty chuckle, "Ms. Sunny got a good memory-- I didn't think she'd remember that compliment on her prized possession box idea." Suffice to say, he'd already put one thing: an old photo of Ludger's 10th birthday party Julius used to remember why he never stopped fighting.
How it held up without creasing this long, call it an Origin's miracle.
And after all that talking, Ludger returned with custom gift boxes cut into a sunflower and rabbit respectively. "Sorry for the wait! I uh-- I'm sure Julius said why," Julius' wry smile said as much. "I won't talk your ear off after you endured his stalling. Merry Verius Eve to you and Sunny!"
Mana's box held two items: the first, a hand-printed and published fifty paged animal pun book, illustrations included, by Julius himself. At its side would be a doll of the book's cover mascot, a custom sewn Bunnykins. Its arms were positioned and reinforced enough to hold Mana's new book, should she want to display them both.
Sunny's box also came with two separate things: Ludger's gift was a hand-selected copy of several Elympion and Rieze Maxian dishes cook book Ludger tortured a copy machine to cobble together. Julius' gift required some serious networking to recover a milennia old Spyrix casing which Julius managed to buff off the rust and dirt off of. Wouldn't trump her milennia old keepsakes, but it'd sure try its best.
"Enjoy the holiday your world celebrates! We're happy to have you around any day you'd like--" Wait a second... did Mana have cat treats in her hands? Well, it was the holidays; he'd let it go this once. "A-And I'll open my gift if you don't mind!"
A new set of twin daggers! Always good to have a backup-- his Ardent Vesperias weren't shining as much as they used to. "I'll never turn down a nice pair of weapons," He'd give them a test run out on the Highroad when it warmed up. The books though, oh they'd get used right away! "And cookbooks from another world? Sign me up every time! Thank you and your sister both! Keep warm and safe!"
#pastelfates#v;; Winnego Morderca#m;; Big Brother#jv;; As Brothers Must Be#a;; Muffled Truths#ja;; A Big Brother's Word#[D'aw thanks Mana (and Sunny in spirit)]#[Hope your holiday was good C: Sorry if I took a bit to answer.]m#[I'm an ask word sandwich.]
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The Snow Queen fairytale as a motif used in GoT/ASOIAF
First of all, how many fairytales and myths can GRRM fit into this story, seriously?? I know many have written well thought and well informed meta of various fairytale motives fit with ASOIAF/GoT, and I am just here adding into an already huge pile, but it bothers me, okay. I have to get it out there into the tumblr void. And this is not really a well thought and well informed meta (I’m not a folklore/literature expert, not to mention European folklore/literature), I’m just pointing my fingers into the patterns I saw fit. Also, I can’t count myself as ASOIAF book reader, I just watch the show. What I know about the books, I read it here in tumblr.
But anyway, you might be surprised as to which character I saw fit as The Snow Queen in GoT
It’s Daenerys Targaryen.
I know I know... whaat? The Mother of Dragons, Bride of Fire as The Snow Queen? Get out of here, right...
But it’s a pun. It’s not The Snow Queen, it’s Jon Snow’s Queen, get it? Remember how Jon repeatedly saying “you’re my queen” to Dany during season 8? Yeah. Oh and Jon is Kay, while Sansa is Gerda.
What made me realize that Dany is The Snow Queen is when I was reading my son the fairytale. In the version retold by Kate Friend, it describes The Snow Queen as beautiful and terrible. And I was like, huh, just like Dany, especially with the white hair and the all white costume in season 8.
Daenerys Targaryen, beautiful and terrible.
And then of course the story went on describing how Kay becomes her prisoner and then I was like, well that’s like Jon Snow during season 8 too.... And then in Disney’s adaptation Frozen, Elsa has white hair with purple eyeshadow, while Anna (Gerda) has....red hair....which is like... Sansa Stark. Then I also remember the illustration on my son’s book which is by John Patience, that reminded me of the Iron Throne.
The Snow Queen illustration by John Patience. See how much alike this setting is with the Red Keep? Especially in Dany’s vision in HoTU when snow was falling.
So I went investigating, and shit... I mean obviously the sequencing was moved around, GRRM likes to subvert things, but my God!
Before we get into Jon Snow and his queen, I have to start with the other characters first. And I will be taking excerpt of the story from The Hans Christian Andersen Center website which I assume would be the most original one.
Gerda = Sansa Stark
Here is a description of Gerda’s power: “No power that I could give could be as great as that which she already has. Don't you see how men and beasts are compelled to serve her, and how far she has come in the wide world since she started out in her naked feet? We mustn't tell her about this power. Strength lies in her heart, because she is such a sweet, innocent child.”
Furthermore, her connection with Kay are through roses (they have a window box full of roses) and a song that goes like this: "Where roses bloom so sweetly in the vale, There shall you find the Christ Child, without fail." Another variation of the song is: “The rose in the valley has flowers so sweet, and angels come down there the children to greet.” She saved Kay with her prayers, hugs, kisses, tears and her song and their reunion literally ended winter and brings spring. If that’s not Sansa Stark (and the jonsa reunion), then I don’t know what is.
Gerda made a journey to the North to find Kay and bring him back together with her to their home. Sansa did not meant to make a journey North to find Jon and bring him back home, but this is what happened anyway. The story even stressed on the fact that when they came back to their homes, they were no longer children but grown ups. On her quest Gerda offered her red shoes to the river to get information about Kay’s whereabouts but the red shoes were given back to her the first time. But she did it once again and the river set her on the path to find Kay. I’m not really sure but for Sansa it could be her betrothal to Joffrey that was then canceled but then she got married to Tyrion Lannister. Her red shoes is her name and her claim to the North.
Gerda then met an old woman who wanted to keep her and made her forget about Kay by keeping all the roses underground. The old woman’s place was beautiful. Here is an excerpt: “Then Gerda was led into the flower garden. How fragrant and lovely it was! Every known flower of every season was there in full bloom. No picture book was ever so pretty and gay. Gerda jumped for joy, and played in the garden until the sun went down behind the tall cherry trees. Then she was tucked into a beautiful bed, under a red silk coverlet quilted with blue violets. There she slept, and there she dreamed as gloriously as any queen on her wedding day.” But then she saw a rose on the old woman’s hat and finally remembers her purpose of finding Kay. I would say that the old woman is Cersei Lannister who tried to make Sansa forget about her home and her innocence. Sansa was also saved from her clutch by roses (The Tyrells).
Then Gerda with information from a crow, met a Princess and Prince. She thought that the Prince might be Kay, but it turns out he was not. This might be Sansa’s vale arc and the Prince is either Petyr Baelish or Harry Hardyng. The Prince and Princess also gave provisions for Gerda’s journey to the North, so this may be that the KoTV helps Sansa getting Winterfell back. The crow, has a ladylove, another crow and they finally get married and live in the Princess’s castle though unfortunately the crow then died. The crow was a wild forest crow while his ladylove is a tame crow. These two crows could be genderbent into Sam Tarly and Gilly. Remember that Sam is mock as Jon’s ladylove by Alliser Thorne?
Next Gerda met a robber girl who sleeps with a knife and have plenty of pigeons. Yep, of course that is very much like Arya Stark (who sometimes is being referred to as “a girl”)
The pigeons told Gerda about Kay and The Snow Queen. The robber girl finally gave Gerda her reindeer called Bae for her journey to the North. The girl likes to tickle the reindeer’s neck with her knife. At the end of the story it is told that the robber girl then decided to leave her place and find adventure in the world. Very much like Arya’s ending.
Now about that reindeer Bae who helped Gerda to reach to Kay in The Snow Queen’s palace in the far North. In ASOIAF/GoT, we can connect Bae to Baelish. Make sense. Petyr Baelish helps Sansa get to North and Arya’s knife did end up in his neck. But also we can connect it to two foreshadowing of Sansa bearing Jon’s child. The first is more well-known: Bael the Bard. The second one I think is more hidden and I made a post about it quite long ago: Baelor. Is this far fetched? Maybe, but I’ll take it.
Kay = Jon (+ The Night King)
Kay and Gerda are neighbours and they share a garden (particularly a flower box full of roses). Their relationship, in the words of Hans Christian Andersen himself are: “These children were not brother and sister, but they loved each other just as much as if they had been.” So they are NOT brother and sister but love each other as such. While Jon and Sansa are also NOT brother and sister but was raised as such.
Then Kay got splinters of magic mirror stuck to his eyes and his heart. The mirror “made everything great and good that was reflected in it appear small and ugly, but which magnified all evil things until each blemish loomed large”. It made Kay hated all the roses, they look ugly now to his eyes and also made Kay loved the snow and the cold. Jon Snow at the beginning of the story was a cynical little boy because he was raised as a bastard. He wanted to leave Winterfell and sneered at the idea of having a family of his own because he felt that he can’t have them. So he went to the coldest place there is.
In the story, Kay plays with his sled, and then The Snow Queen came with her sled and Kay hooked his sled to hers. The Snow Queen first, covers Kay in a bearskin rug and gave Kay kisses. The first kiss “was colder than ice. He felt it right down to his heart, half of which was already an icy lump. He felt as if he were dying, but only for a moment. Then he felt quite comfortable, and no longer noticed the cold”. The second kiss makes Kay forgets about Gerda and their homes. The third kiss, The Snow Queen does not give him because it would be the kiss of death.
I argue that GRRM subvert this story. I think Jon Snow was already saved by Sansa before he met Dany. The splinters in his eyes and heart was already gone when he faced The Snow Queen. The reunion happened before he met Dany. The first two kisses also already happened: Jon Snow had died and came alive again, and he also forced to forget about his home and family while he was at the Night’s Watch. The bearskin rug which The Snow Queen used to cover Kay can allude to Jeor Mormont and/or Longclaw.
Then Jon Snow met his queen finally, but instead of a hooking sleds.... it’s dragons. Jon Snow’s sled was his dragon Rhaegal which are hooked to Dany’s sled Drogon. But his eyes wasn’t blinded by the splinter and his heart were already warm. He knowingly and willingly follow the dragon to save his family.
And the third kiss of death that wasn’t given by The Snow Queen? Jon Snow will give it to his queen instead.
Now let’s go back a little bit. Kay was also given a puzzle from ice by The Snow Queen, and if he can solve it then he is free. He was supposed to spell the word “eternity” but he couldn’t figure it out with the shard in his eyes and heart. In GoT we know exactly who has got an shard in his heart.
The Night King. And so that is why he plays with puzzle in ice. He is struggling to form the one symbol that would set him free.
Bonuses
Other than those patterns, there are several interesting tidbits from the story that fits with ASOIAF. There is this one blog said that The Snow Queen story was inspired by another story called “East of the Sun and West of the Moon” which if you read it, it is essentially “The Bear and the Maiden Fair” (the bear is a white bear, by the way)
More bonuses here. When Gerda finally remembers to find Kay during her time in the old woman’s home because of the rose, different flowers gave her different stories even though none tells her about Kay.
This is the story from tiger lily:
"Do you hear the drum? Boom, boom! It was only two notes, always boom, boom! Hear the women wail. Hear the priests chant. The Hindoo woman in her long red robe stands on the funeral pyre. The flames rise around her and her dead husband, but the Hindoo woman is thinking of that living man in the crowd around them. She is thinking of him whose eyes are burning hotter than the flames-of him whose fiery glances have pierced her heart more deeply than these flames that soon will burn her body to ashes. Can the flame of the heart die in the flame of the funeral pyre?"
So GRRM didn’t take the sati ritual for Dany’s rites of passage as mother of dragons from just anywhere, but it is from this story.
Also, hear this story from hyacinth
"There were three sisters, quite transparent and very fair. One wore a red dress, the second wore a blue one, and the third went all in white. Hand in hand they danced in the clear moonlight, beside a calm lake. They were not elfin folk. They were human beings. The air was sweet, and the sisters disappeared into the forest. The fragrance of the air grew sweeter. Three coffins, in which lie the three sisters, glide out of the forest and across the lake. The fireflies hover about them like little flickering lights. Are the dancing sisters sleeping or are they dead? The fragrance of the flowers says they are dead, and the evening bell tolls for their funeral."
Of course this immediately bring to memory the quote of Jon Snow with Val: “The light of the half-moon turned Val’s honey-blond hair a pale silver and left her cheeks as white as snow. She took a deep breath. “The air tastes sweet.”” Well then, according to Hans Christian Andersen, that means death. There are three sisters here which could allude to the three queens at the almost end of GoT: Cersei Lannister (red), Sansa Stark (blue) and Daenerys Targaryen (white).
So those are my stab at it. I would be interested to hear if anyone’s take on it.
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THE POPPLIO'S PEARL
Written by Mod Nicky
Storyboard by Mod Colored
Illustrated by Papa Leo (pun name lol)
Once upon a time, there was a Popplio, who believed she would never evolve like her big brothers and sisters.
Unlike them, she could not carry a tune. Popplio was tone deaf. Because of this, she felt very sad.
One day, she decided to go for a swim. While swimming, the Popplio found a big shiny pearl.
With nothing else to cheer her up, she picked it up and took it with her to the surface.
She took the pearl and balanced it upon her nose playfully. As she did so, the pearl began to glow brightly.
Amazed by the mystical light, the Popplio said to herself, "Perhaps it's magic? Maybe I could get a wish out of it?"
Hearing this, her brothers and sisters tried to go over and take it for themselves.
The little Popplio would not allow this. She held the pearl tight and swam out far to sea, as fast as her flippers would allow her.
While swimming, she came across a crying Phione. He was standing right in front of the place in which the Popplio had found it.
The Phione cried out, "Waaaah! My beautiful pearl! Who could have taken my precious pearl?"
Feeling guilty, the Popplio swam downward and returned the pearl to the Phione. She apologized to him.
"I'm sorry I took your pearl Phione. I didn't know it was yours. It looked cool, and I thought it could grant my wishes."
The Phione smiled, seeing his beloved pearl once more. "I forgive you. You sound honest. But it is not magical at all."
Popplio looked disappointed. "It is not a magical pearl? But it glowed like it was!"
Phione shook his head in reply. "No, it is just my night light. I need it to sleep at night."
With nothing else to help her, the Popplio began to cry. The Phione wiped the tears from the Popplio's face.
"Do not cry, young Popplio. If it is a wish you want, I can take you to my mom. She can grant any wish. But you must promise to be my friend."
Hearing this, Popplio stopped crying but still looked somewhat sad. "You want to be my friend, even after I took your night light?"
Phione nodded. "We can both play with it together!" Popplio smiled and replied, "Of course I will be your friend!"
Phione smiled, and led Popplio to his mother, letting her hold the illuminated pearl. When they arrived, the Phione's mother welcomed Popplio and his new friend.
Phione said to his mother, "My friend Popplio has a wish that she would like to make. She has agreed to be my friend."
Manaphy nodded. "I am glad you have found a trustworthy friend, my son. I can sense the good in her heart."
The friendly mother Manaphy turned to Popplio. "I understand you wish you could sing like your brothers and sisters?"
The Popplio was shocked and amazed. "How did you know I cannot sing?" The Manaphy replied, "I know much of my seafaring friends."
"If you truly wish, I can give you the gift of a beautiful voice. But you must promise that your words are genuine, and that you will be my son's friend."
Popplio nodded. "I promise with all my heart." The Msnaphy smiled. "Then it shall be that your voice will be the most beautiful of all your siblings."
The Popplio smiled, and as the Manaphy began to sing, so too did Popplio. And soon, as Manaphy stopped, Popplio continued.
Popplio continued to sing, singing the song her mother once tried to teach her. And suddenly, the Popplio began to glow.
The Popplio was now a beautiful Brionne. "Thank you, Manaphy. I have never been more happy in all my life."
And so the Brionne, and her new friend, went back to the beach, and the two played with the pearl, and they lived happily ever after.
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Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun: After-School Radio #0
I have seen bits of the Hanako-kun radio show translated here and there, but never the entire episodes, so here’s to the people who wanted to know how the rest of them goes down. The whole thing is ridiculously funny.
Raw || Index || Next →
Ogata: Everyone... happy... New Year.
[Quiet chuckes]
Ogata: I’m the one who voices Hanako-kun from “Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun”, Ogata Megumi.
Akarin: *giggles*
Ogata: I was—
Yuu-kun: What’d you say?
Everyone: *laughs*
Yuu-kun: Sorry, what’d you say??
Chikape: Cut it out, Handsome.
Ogata: You’re such a clown, huh! I’m sorry! I’m really sorry! I was put under a spell that took away my voice for today.
Akarin: A supernatural! A supernatural! It was a supernatural!
Ogata: I’ll leave the progress of things to Yashiro from now. Here. Counting on you, Yashiro!
Akarin: Yes!
Everyone: *laughs*
Akarin: Ah! Ogata-san has stood up from her seat. *laughs*
ChibaShou: If it was a supernatural’s fault, there’s just no helping it!
Akarin: It was a supernatural’s fault.
Yuu-kun: Hey, hey, go on!
Akarin: Yes! Anyway! Hello, all!
Everyone: Hello!
Akarin: I voice Yashiro Nene from “Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun”. My name is Kitou Akari! Also, happy New Year! Cheers!
[Applause]
Akarin: Eh, the very popular original work by AidaIro-sensei, serialized in G Fantasy, “Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun”, will finally have the first episode of its much-awaited anime adaptation broadcasting from next week onward, on January 9! For those who can’t wait for it to air, today, I, Kitou Akari, who play the role of Yashiro Nene, am intruding into the studio in the middle of the recording, to ask everyone in the cast about their passion for it! Yaaay!
[Cheering]
Akarin: It’s already clear that it’s pretty lively here, though!
Yuu-kun: Thanks!
Akarin: *laughs*
Staff: Aren’t you the same?
Akarin: True. That’s right. I’m the same. *laughs* Talki—Talking like that to your Senpai— *laughs* That’s true. It’s a bit—
Ogata: *whispers* Yashiro, take it seriously!
Akarin: *laughs*
Yuu-kun: She ain’t taking it seriously!
Satou: She is! Come on!
ChibaShou: It’s a supernatural! A supernatural just came by!
Satou: A supernatural is doing this!
Akarin: A supernatural passed us just now. *laughs* Okay, anyway. Well, let’s get right to it. Eh, then, first... I want to ask about the enthusiasm of Kou’s voice actor—
ChibaShou: YES!!!
Chikape: Whoa! He’s so eager!
Akarin: *laughs* Chiba Shouya-san!
ChibaShou: Yes!
Akarin: Chiba-san, how about it?
ChibaShou: Please stop playing around like I’m so cool when we’re at a stage where I haven’t said a single line yet!
Akarin: *laughs*
ChibaShou: That’s a pretty good retort! Hum—
Ogata: The one who played around was Mizushima Takahiro!
Akarin/ChibaShou: *laugh*
ChibaShou: That’s right. It was Mizushima-san. Hum, speaking of Mizushima-san, I’m Chiba Shouya!
Akarin: *laughs harder*
ChibaShou: Hum, I voice Minamoto Kou. My name is Chiba Shouya. Everyone, happy New Year!
Akarin: Cheers!
ChibaShou: Cheers. Man, seriously. This was such a long-awaited anime adaptation.
Akarin: Hm-hm!
ChibaShou: Ever since this work was announced, as expected, each of the viewers were like, “Ah! That thing’s gonna get animated!”, so it seems this series is truly loved by people of many age groups.
Akarin: Right?
ChibaShou: Anyhow, the more you read it, the more you become a captive of it! Hum, for me, this year is coming after a bad one...
Akari: Oh!
ChibaShou: Erm, things are going horribly...
Akari: “Horribly”... *giggles* Huh? That’s awful.
ChibaShou: Kou-kun has really been exorcising all of it this whole time.
Akari: Oooh.
ChibaShou: Because he says in the PV, “Hanako, I’ll exorcise you”.
Akarin: Hehe, true.
ChibaShou: So maybe he’s exorcising my bad year too.
Akarin: Whoa!
ChibaShou: That’s what I think.
Akarin: You said something kinda smart. *laughs*
Yuu-kun: *laughs* Aaaah...
Akarin: You said something smart.
Yuu-kun: He said something good.
Akarin: *giggles*
ChibaShou: Hum, I’m the first, so I’m just contemplating. Being the first in turn and all.
Akarin: *laughs*
ChibaShou: Hum, but anyway, for real, I want a lot of people to watch it.
Akarin: Yep!
ChibaShou: And we’re very... how should I put it? We’re recording a fun series with a fun atmosphere.
Akarin: Yep, yep!
ChibaShou: That’s why I kinda guess it’ll be a fun start of 2020 for the people watching. So please do look forward to the broadcast every week together with us! We’ll be in your care.
Akarin: All right!
ChibaShou: That’s it.
Akarin: Thank you very muuuch!
[Applause]
Akarin: Okay! Anyway! Then, next is... Uchida-saaan!
Yuu-kun: Yeees! Heeere! Hellooo!
Akarin: Welcooome! Hellooo!
Yuu-kun: ‘Ello, thanks!
Everyone: *laughs*
Yuu-kun: Ever since this thing started, my “little brother” has been kinda—my “little brother” has been kinda—
Akarin: *laughs*
Chikape: You’re stammering!
Yuu-kun: *laughs*
Chikape: Sorry!
Yuu-kun: Now the older brother—the older brother is here!
Akarin: Oh! Onii-chan!
Yuu-kun: Hello. I voice Minamoto Teru. My name is Uchida Yuuma.
Chikape: Onii-chaaan!
Akarin: Counting on you.
Yuu-kun: Yeees, I’m in your care~. There’s an (illustration of the) Onii-chan right behind me too~.
Daichuu: So handsome!
Akarin: Handsome!
Yuu-kun: Of course you’d bring that up!
Everyone: *laughs*
ChibaShou: We’d already been saying it since earlier!
Yuu-kun: Of course you’d bring that up! What kind of malice is this?
Akarin: It’s because the Onii-chan is indeed handsome!
Yuu-kun: Oh, yeah, yeah. The Onii-chan is really handsome.
Akarin: That’s right!
Yuu-kun: You see, in the Minamoto family, Kou is still quite a lively kid and he’s all over the place.
Akarin: Hm-hm!
Yuu-kun: So the brother watches over him gently, kind of as if cherishing him, and by God, he’s also student council president and can manage his studies well.
Akarin: Hm! He’s brilliant.
Chikape: Wow!
Yuu-kun: What a brilliant Onii-chan he is.
Daichuu: He’s gotta be popular!
Akarin: *laughs*
Yuu-kun: “Popular”! *wheezes* My bad!
Akarin: He’s definitely popular.
Yuu-kun: *villain voice* M-My bad!
Everyone: *laughs*
Yuu-kun: My bad, Kou! *evil laughter* Well, he’s not that kind of character, though! But, that’s right, he has quite some popularity amongst all the fans, so I keep thinking that it’ll be great if I can perform Teru-kun well. The pop-like and cute worldview of the series really does unravel in the anime too, so it’d make me happy if people could look forward to it! That’s what I think.
Akarin: Hm-hm!
Yuu-kun: Yes, I hope everyone will look forward to “Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun”~~~!
Akarin: All right~.
Yuu-kun: Thank you very much!
Akarin: Thank you very much. *claps*
ChibaShou: *Kou voice* Onii-chan just said something nice!
Yuu-kun: That’s right! *rough voice* Praise me, praise me!
Akarin: *laughs*
ChibaShou: Awesome!
Yuu-kun: See ya! Bye!
ChibaShou: “Farewell” seems better!
Yuu-kun: Farewell!
Akarin: “Farewell”! *laughs* Farewell. Then, next is Satou-san!
Satou: Yes!
Akarin: Come over, come over!
[General cheering]
Satou: I’m in your care~.
Akarin: Please!
Satou: Yes. Erm, I play Akane Aoi-chan. My name is Satou Minako.
Akarin: It’s a pleasure!
Satou: Pleasure is mine.
Chikape: Eeeh, she’s so cute!
Akarin: Cute! *laughs*
Satou: Eh, hum—
Everyone: *laughs*
ChibaShou: Radio! It’s your first time on the radio, right?
Satou: Yeah, it’s my first time in a radio show—
Akarin: Ah!
Chikape: Ah! Eeeh!? Waaah! Yaaay!
Akarin: Amazing!
Satou: Yes! It’s amazing. My first!
[Commontion in the background]
Akarin: That’s so rare! Having your first time on the radio with a scene like this!
Satou: Yes. I’m super nervous!
Akarin: It’s not a sight you get to see everywhere.
Satou: Yes! I’m incredibly nervous.
Akarin: Hm!
Satou: Erm, “Hanako-kun” is my first participation in an anime—
Akarin: Oh!
Yuu-kun: Eeh??
Akarin: Waah!
Satou: Yes! I didn’t know left or right at the beginning, and even now—
Daichuu: You still don’t know?
Satou: I don’t! I don’t know where right or left is!
Akarin: Right is... Right is that way~.
ChibaShou: There’s only the right side in here!
Everyone: *laughs*
Satou: I get nervous even now, but I keep challenging the recordings while being helped by these Senpais and the people behind the production every time.
Akarin: Hm-hm!
Satou: The one I play, Akane Aoi-chan is the most super popular girl in the academy.
Akarin: She’s cute!
Satou: Very. And I—
Akarin: Both so popular!
Everyone: *laughs*
Satou: There’s both a popular girl and popular guy here. And she’s quite different from me, but—
Akarin: No, no!
Satou: —I want to do my best from now on too, so that I can keep performing Ao-chan with all my might!
Akarin: All right!
Satou: I’ll be in your care.
Akarin: Counting on you!
[Applause]
Akarin: Thank you so much! Then, next is Anzai-san!
Chikape: Yes!
Akarin: Please!
Daichuu: Ah. Cute.
Chikape: I voice Nanamine Sakur—you liar!
Akarin: “Cute”! *laughs*
Chikape: You liar! That was such a monotone!
ChibaShou: Hey, beauty!
Chikape: Liar!
Ogata: There are only supernaturals in this studio!
Everyone: *laughs*
Ogata: Only “supernaturals”!
T/N: This is a pun with the similar pronounciation of the words “supernatural” (kaii) and “cute” (kawaii).
Akarin: “Supernatural”~.
Yuu-kun: They called her a “supernatural”~.
Chikape: It’s full of “supernaturals” here~. I voice Nanamine Sakura. My name is Anzai~! Yay~!
[Cheering]
Akarin: Counting on you!
Chikape: Hum, today, Mizushima-san and I were revealed as part of the cast.
Akarin: Ah! That’s right.
Daichuu: Yeah.
Yuu-kun: Hm-hm!
Chikape: Right. Well, we can’t talk much about what kind of roles they will be. *chuckles*
Akarin: Hmmm, true.
Chikape: That’s right. We’re in charge of two mysterious figures!
Akarin: Yes! *laughs*
Chikape: I want to keep this up mysteriously!
Everyone: *laughs*
Akarin: That’s just like them!
ChibaShou: Can’t tell what’s on the inside!
Chikape: But really, she’s kind of occasionally here and there all of a sudden, and it just makes you go, “Uh, could she be...?”
Akarin: That’s true.
Chikape: So I hope people will eventually become a bit interested in her.
Akarin: Hm-hm.
Chikape: The recordings are fun. *laughs*
Akarin: *laughs* Right~?
Chikape: It’s fun. We always do it like this, don’t we? *laughs*
Akarin: Right~? *laughs*
Chikape: Is it enough yet?
Everyone: *laughs*
Akarin: Nothing else to say about your enthusiasm?
Chikape: None at all, none at all!
Akarin: “None at all”?
Chikape: From now on—
ChibaShou: What kind of year do you want this year to be?
Chikape: What kind of year I want this year to be? An olympic...
Everyone: *laughs*
Chikape: An olympic year??
T/N: This has to be the most ironic thing I’ve ever translated, omg.
ChibaShou: That’s got nothing to do with the series!
Chikape: Ah, the series? For the series, let’s see...
Daichuu: May it become a series worthy of a gold medal.
Chikape: Ah, that’s right!
Akarin: Aaah!
Chikape: *claps* As expected of you~~~!
Akarin: *claps* As expected of you!
Chikape: I hope we can convey this joy right now to everybody through the anime.
Akarin: That’s right!
Chikape: We’ll be in your care. Look forward to it! Wey!
Akarin: Thank you very muuuch!
[Applause]
Akarin: Now, Mizushima-san!
Chikape: Yay, yay!
Daichuu: Yes!
Akarin: Daichuu-san, counting on you!
Daichuu: I’ll be in your care. Haah~!
Chikape: Whoo! So cool!
Everyone: Cool~~~!
ChibaShou: Coo-coo!
Daichuu: For real?
Everyone: *laughs*
Daichuu: Do you think that from the bottom of your hearts? Do you?
ChibaShou: He seems pretty happy.
Daichuu: Then I am.
Akarin: Yes.
Everyone: *laughs*
Daichuu: Okay, eeeeeh... I play Hyuuga Natsuhiko. My name is Mizushima Takahiro!
Akarin: All right, counting on you!
Daichuu: Okaaay!
ChibaShou: Yay~!
Chikape: Whee~!
Daichuu: Man, it makes your heart race, doesn’t it? That the show will soon be running.
Akarin: Hm-hm!
Daichuu: And also the fact that we’re now here—we’re now here, in a situation like this.
Akarin: “In a situation like this”?! *laughs*
Daichuu: My heart’s racing right now.
Chikape: This isn’t some matchmaking date!
Daichuu: Eh, it’s not? I think this whole thing about being interviewed by Kitou-chan...
Akarin: *laughs*
Daichuu: ...is kind of... really nice.
Akarin: Ah, really?
Daichuu: Hm.
Akarin: What are your hobbies?
Daichuu: My hobby is—
Ogata: To create an air of misunderstandings.
Everyone: *laughs*
Daichuu: My hobby is Akari Kitou, I guess.
Akarin: Uh? Your hobby is me?
Chikape: Shouya, run.
Akarin: *laughs*
Chikape: Hurry and run away~.
Daichuu: No, this is my role! My role! I’m incorporating my role!
Akarin: “Incorporating your role”?
ChibaShou: Your role is already showing!
Akarin: Ah, you’re in your role?
Daichuu: Yeah, I incorporated it a bit too hard.
Akarin: You’re in your role, huh. I see.
Satou: We’re in a recording site, after all!
Daichuu: Erm, might kinda happen when I get in front of a microphone.
Akarin: Indeed.
Ogata: *whispers* Liar!
Daichuu: It’s part of me—
Akarin: “Liar”, she says!
Satou: “Liar”!?
ChibaShou: *laughs*
Akarin: Ogata-san is calling you a liar!
Ogata: *whispers lower* Liar!
Yuu-kun: *laughs*
Daichuu: Eh, Ogata-san, what was that?
Ogata: *gets close to the mic* Liaaaaaar!
Everyone: *laughs and claps*
Daichuu: Please just re—
Akarin: Daichuu-san.
Daichuu: Please—please rest. Please go rest.
Akarin: Please let her rest. *laughs*
Daichuu: That’s right. Okay, anyway. Well, the recordings are really like this—I mean, they’re not that messy, but they’re extremely fun.
Akarin: Hm-Hm!
Daichuu: And it’s almost like it leaks from the series. So the serious part of it is hoping that people will enjoy it like this, I guess.
Akarin: Hm-hm.
Daichuu: Also... what was it again? I’m... what again?
Akarin: *giggles*
Yuu-kun: You’re what?
Daichuu: Eeeh, anywaaay...
Akarin: What is it?
Daichuu: Anyway, I’m... thinking of chopping Chiba to shreds.
Chikape: What do you mean?!
Akarin: *laughs*
Daichuu: In a cool way.
ChibaShou: I’m gonna be chopped up!
Daichuu: I’m gonna chop you up.
Akarin: *laughing* “Chop you up”...
T/N: This is a joke with Chiba Shouya’s name and the term “chop up” (“chibachiba”).
Daichuu: *laughs* Really, none of the things I’m saying have substance!
Akarin/ChibaShou: *laugh*
Daichuu: But this is how it is! This is it.
Akarin: This is it!
Daichuu: Yes!
Chikape: We won’t lose!
Daichuu: That’s right!
Akarin: That’s true, indeed.
Daichuu: Story-wise, we’re still not there, I really want people to look forward to us.
Akarin: Hm-hm.
Daichuu: That’s how I want to conclude it.
Akarin: *laughs*
Daichuu: Anyway, I’ll... I’ll be gone.
Akarin: “I’ll”... *laughs*
Daichuu: Thank you very much!
Akarin: Ah, you’re leaving?
Chikape: Please don’t create a misunderstanding.
Daichuu: Yes! Well, we’ll be in your care~~~!
Akarin: So we will!
[Applause]
Staff: Now, the last is... Kitou-san.
Akarin: Ah! Is that okay?
Staff: Yes.
Ogata: Yashiro!
Akarin: Ah!
Ogata: Go, Yashiro!
Akarin: “Yashiro”...! Can Yashiro... Can Yashiro also speak? *laughs*
Staff: Please proceed straight to the point.
Akarin: *laughs* Okay. Well, I, Kitou Akari, want to talk about my excitement—
Daichuu: Waaah. Cute.
Akarin: *laughs*
Chikape: Sooo cute.
ChibaShou: AWESOME!!
Akarin: “Awesome”?
Chikape: That sense of transparency is extremely good.
Akarin: No, no!
ChibaShou: It’s like she’s the heroine!
Yuu-kun: So cute~!
Akarin: No, hum, I am, in a sense, playing the role of the heroine, Nene-chan. *laughs*
Daichuu: Behind you! Behind you!
Akarin: Ah, Ogata-san is behind me... *laughs*
Daichuu: You just can’t relax looking at that!
Everyone: *laughs*
Akarin: Well, about the anime “Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun”, the staff transmits even to us when we’re recording that they made it with a lot of enthusiasm, and all of us, the actors, are performing with our very souls, so I think it’ll become a truly wonderful series when it broadcasts. Thus, I would be happy if everyone could watch and stick with it until the very end! We’ll be in your care!
[Applause]
Akarin: All right! Thank you very much! So, lastly, is it okay to have Ogata-san, who voices Hanako-kun, talk about her excitement with a bit of whisper voice?
Ogata: *whispers* It’s all right.
Everyone: *chuckles*
Akarin: “All right”, you say?
Ogata: Because everyone is doing this properly.
Akarin: *giggles*
Ogata: I think it will turn out to be a series that will stick to the viewer’s backs like this.
Akarin: *laughs*
Ogata: What an unpleasant series that would be!
Akarin: *laughs harder*
Ogata: All right, that being said, please support us. That’s it.
Akarin: Okay! Thank you very much!
[Applause]
Yuu-kun: Her attitude was incredible when she sat there.
Akarin: When she sat there?
Daichuu: It was a different atmosphere.
Akarin: *laughs* Okay, anyhow. *laughs* I think Ogata-san will soon be able to carry out this show in a better condition.
Daichuu: If not, I’ll do it.
Akarin: Ah, then, do that.
Ogata: I ain’t letting you! Buzz off!
ChibaShou: That’s the only thing she’ll do whatever it takes for!
Akarin: Okay, we’ll be in everyone’s care. Now, here’s some news! Chiba-kun, please!
ChibaShou: Ah, yes! I’ll do it!
Chikape: Choppily!
ChibaShou: “Choppily”?
Akarin: Choppily! Please do it choppily!
ChibaShou: Eh, let’s see. “Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun” has... This isn’t working. Forget the “choppy” part, seriously.
Everyone: *laughs*
ChibaShou: The comic version of “Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun”, from volume 1 to 12, plus volume 0, the artbook and the official spin-off comic, “Houkago Shounen Hanako-kun” are all on sale.
Akarin: Hm-hm!
ChibaShou: Eh, it turned into a end-of-year sale. Everyone, did you buy them? I did. Eh, please try reading them during New Years break!
Akarin: Please!
ChibaShou: Now, information about the TV anime. It starts airing on TBS, a Thursday, at 25:58 on January 9! And other than TBS, it airs on Friday, January 10, at 24:03 on Sun TV. On January 11, Saturday, at 26:03 on BS-TBS. On January 15, Wednesday, at 26:03 on CBC. It’ll be aired in sequence. Please look forward to it and wait for the broadcast!
Akarin: All right!
ChibaShou: Gonna be aired in lots of places, huh?
Akarin: Hm-hm!
ChibaShou: Also, “Hanako-kun” can be watched in the streaming sites of each. For the people who can’t watch it in real time, please check the official home page!
Akarin: Okay! Moreover, we—
ChibaShou: *sighs* I ended up talking seriously like normal.
Akarin: *laughs*
Daichuu: What the—Why are you saying that now?
Satou: He’s regretting it.
Akarin: He regretted it! He regretted it. Also, we have happy news from this After-School Radio too!
Chikape: What is it?
Akarin: From the next episode onward, guess what!
Chikape: “Guess what” what?
Akarin: We’ll stream it live~~~!
Chikape: Eeeeeh??
Daichuu: What the...!
[Applause]
Akarin: Amazing!
ChibaShou: Awesome!!
Akarin: Live!
ChibaShou: Live streaming!
Akarin: My, my!
Daichuu: We’ll be on live.
Akarin: So, the scheduled date for the next streaming is January 17, Friday!
Daichuu: That’s when it’ll stream?
Akarin: It’s the day just after the second episode.
Chikape: Oh! Amazing.
Akarin: People will get to hear everyone’s voices live, immediately after the anime’s broadcast!
Chikape: Amazing!
ChibaShou: Amazing!
[Applause]
Akarin: Whee, hooray!
Chikape: Amazing, amazing!
Daichuu: That’s so awesome...
Akarin: Yes! The details of the streaming will be publishd in the anime’s official Twitter, so please look forward and wait for the news flash!
[Background music starts playing]
Akarin: We’ve promoted the “Hanako-kun” anime right before the broadcast here in the radio! Everyone, let’s enjoy both the radio and the anime together!
Everyone: *laughs*
Ogata: Whether or not we managed to promote “Hanako-kun” will depend on each of the fans when it airs.
Akarin: *laughs*
Ogata: Soon enough, I want to be delivering more of our excitement to everyone live.
Akarin: Hm!
Ogata: Look forward to it~!
Akarin: Look forward to it!
Ogata: These have been Hanako-kun and everyone that will make an appearance in “Hanako-kun”~!
Akarin: *giggles* Bye-bye~!
Everyone: Bye-bye!
Chikape: Look forward to it!
Akarin: Look forward to it!
ChibaShou: Look forward to it. We’ll be in your care.
Akarin: We will!
#jibaku shounen hanako kun#toilet bound hanako kun#hanakodaily#jshk#tbhk#hanako kun#kitou akari#hanako#ogata megumi#chiba shouya#uchida yuuma#anzai chika#mizushima takahiro#radio#my translation#seiyuu
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BOOK | Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick
About the author: Anna Kendrick is shorter in person.
No really! That is the last printed page of this book; she wrote it herself! The shortest (haha pun intended!) author bio I think I’ve ever seen... but honestly, such a true testament to she who is Anna Kendrick. She may no longer be a “little nobody” in the world, but the scrappy part is still vehemently true, as proved through the plethora of personal stories shared in this, her debut novel. And I enjoyed every minute of it.
I’ll admit, I used this book the same way I’ve used many books I’ve read lately – as a way to decide if I like a celebrity or not. Like, for some reason, I seem to think I need proof that celebrities are likeable and human just like me, and then proceed to put a lot of pressure on their ability to write a book about themselves. HEAVEN FORBID they say something I don’t like.
*throws book down and walks away*
. . . *sighs*
*trudges back, picks it up and continues reading*
As a Twi-hard in my younger days, I knew of Anna Kendrick from the Twilight film adaptations (ok shush, it’s still a guilty pleasure despite all its numerous faults). Then, she was the cool rebellious-ish girl I always wanted to be as Beca in Pitch Perfect; she was actually great as Scott’s sister Stacey in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World; and it became fact that she reaalllly had pipes when she starred as Cinderella in the musical film adaptation of Into the Woods. And if that weren’t enough, on occasion we could all be reminded how entertaining she was/is/could be when she takes to the Twittersphere. She even wanted to call this book “A Tweet but Longer”. But, like many who came before her, I didn’t have any solidified opinions of her or her work; she was just another celebrity, and a seemingly quirky one at that. Yet I remained indifferent as always (I’m so annoyingly forlorn that way). Well, consider me swayed, y’all – I fricken love her. Let me say it a little louder for the people in the back just in case you missed it. I LOVE ANNA KENDRICK.
Sorry - sorry, I'll calm down.
Initially, what I thought were atypical jests from Anna that she would just post on social media, turned out to be the way her mind actually thinks and works on the regular. Or, ya know, she’s really good at faking it for roughly 270 pages and countless tweets. The entirety of Scrappy Little Nobody was full of amazingly witty quips that I absolutely relished in. Especially the wisecracks in which she was able to incorporate pop culture (I really do love when other people utilize pop culture references into every day banter; it brings me joy). Even better, I was actually able to learn more about her PERIOD, from the woman herself! Which is absolutely my preferred method of enlightenment. Because it turns out, I really didn’t know anything about her. Long story short, reading Scrappy Little Nobody was a revelation in more ways than one, and now I legitimately just want to binge all the work she’s ever done in film (and I suppose in series as well, as she recently starred in a HBO Max original show too).
I’m slightly fan-girling here, and it reminds me of the time I was blind to how great Amy Poehler was before reading her book. Oh, the rocks I’ve been living under. I’m slightly embarrassed.
There’s something to be said about actors that begin their careers in theater. Like, they give off a different sort of vibe that I’m not sure how to properly articulate. Anna is one of those actors, having gotten her start in le theatre when her age was still in the single digits. Commuting from Portland, Maine, to New York City for auditions may sound absolutely horrible – that’s a five-plus hours commute she would often make alone with her 14-year-old older brother – and then living away from home for months at a time during the run of said shows, SUCH KUDOS for that dedication. To add to the wonder of Anna’s diligence to her craft, this did gain her the “second youngest person” Tony Award nomination for her role in High Society. She was outdoing us long before any of us knew who she was.
Through tales of her childhood, young and not-so-young love, and what it’s like to be a part of films and the Hollywood scene at various ages, we learn that in a more realistic sense, Anna is actually more stocked with us commoners than her celebrity counterparts. During some of her retellings of award shows, events, and similar ventures that comes with her cinematic stardom, I felt as though she was just “one of us” that was allowed to take part in these things, so she could then regale to us an inside scoop of the realities of Hollywood. She is there because of her talent, of course, we all know; but she’s just as nervous around other celebrities as we middle-class fanatics would be. I know that even the most well-known, highest salaried celebrities are still just as human as I am, but sometimes it’s people who really show their vulnerability like Anna Kendrick that are naturally more easy to relate to. Like she tries her hardest to illustrate the warmth and tenderness shared during her time working with George Clooney, but you can’t help but still feel that that man is some form of superhuman regardless, even to her. The “OH MY GOD IT’S GEORGE CLOONEY” is still there. To quote the woman herself, “I am - at best - a normal human being, and this [her fame] has all been a big misunderstanding.”
However, amidst all the feelings of incompetency she constantly repeats throughout Scrappy Little Nobody (similar in the way that Amy Schumer constantly demeaned her own looks in Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo), I still enjoyed Anna’s book. I adored her style of humor, as it really does align with my own. And while her personality is inherently quippy, she shows a deeper, more poignant side of herself through some crucial topics she chooses to discuss within these pages. She may crack jokes, as we all might, to help lighten the tough stuff, but she still provides strong opinions – even if it’s just a sentence – about things that are important to her, sprinkled throughout pages about life in Maine, the theater, and Hollywood.
How do I most like Anna Kendrick though? She too is a 10-hour sleeper. I have finally found my people!
#book#books#read#reading#literature#scrappy little nobody#anna kendrick#pitch perfect#into the woods#twilight#scott pilgrim#scott pilgrim vs. the world
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VLD AU - Wishes
Another lovely installation of the mermaid Pidge AU! And with an illustration a little ways into the tale. Well! Enjoy the 2,350+ ficlet in the “keep reading” below.
Pidge looked up at the stars. She knew she couldn’t always have Lance around, he had to return home so people didn’t go looking for him and accidentally find her, it was understandable, but she couldn’t help but miss him when he wasn’t with her. She wondered if this was how others felt when they were in love and couldn’t spend time together.
Love. Weren’t they just friends, though? She was friends with Hunk and Keith, too. But Lance, she felt something different with him. Sure, it was nice listening to Hunk and Keith when they spoke about their interests, but when Lance did, she just listened completely, her attention solely on him; when she would talk about what she liked, he did the same. She liked how he would go out of his way to explain something and she loved the gifts he brought and would put together for her. She loved the different models he had set up in her cave, finding those to be her favourite ones.
She loved the way that Lance was so relaxed around her, able to fall asleep in her hand or on her chest. She never minded, she even thought he was cute when he did that, and she often would find herself singing to him, letting the music give him good dreams. And he even met Matt! Sure, he was understandably nervous about the much larger mer, but he handled the situation fairly well.
Is it… because he likes me, too? Is that why? She thought, thinking of how her parents had told her before that sometimes others will put up with things that they may not like or that frighten them because of someone they love. Can we even be together? I’ve heard stories about others having once been with humans before our ancestors hid themselves, but… they’re all smaller… I’m… She looked herself over. Large. She was enormous. Sure, she wasn’t nearly as big as her parents or brother, but she was still massive, especially compared to humans. To Lance. He was so small compared to her, she could easily hold him in the palm of one hand.
Pidge looked up, watching as a star… no, it was a piece of debris, a meteoroid she recalled Lance informing her, that fell. She then closed her eyes. “I wish I could be closer to Lance… if anything can grant my wish… please… please… I just want to be with him more. Hold him in my arms, not my hands…” she whispered. She opened her eyes again before sighing. She then dove back down, returning to the ship she had her collection and home in. She went to one of the emptier areas and snuggled down in the bottom, looking to the wing from Shiro’s plane.
It may have been Shiro’s plane, but it was because of that plane and Shiro that Lance went looking for her. Alongside the models Lance had gifted her, this was her favourite in her collection. It may have been simple, but it was this simple thing that helped to start their friendship that she hoped was blooming into love.
I wish… I wish… to be with… Lance… she thought as she drifted off to sleep, smiling for she knew Lance was coming back to visit her.
-+-+-+-
“Quit grinning like that. It’s creeping me out.” Keith commented as he sailed out with Lance. “What’s got you so excited anyway?”
“Probably because he’s gonna see his girlfriend?” Hunk smirked, clearly teasing Lance.
“What?” Lance exclaimed. “She’s… she’s not my girlfriend. Just… you know… a girl… and a friend… and...” He was blushing and did his best to hide it. Seeing that, both Hunk and Keith grinned. Yup. Their friend definitely had a crush on the curious mermaid.
“Oh yeah, he likes her.” Hunk sang a bit.
“Falling in love with a cryptid… actually sounds nice.” Keith hummed.
Lance scowled. He did want to make a comment about this being different than Keith’s obsession with Mothman, but if Pidge could exist, why not Mothman? “Anyway! A crush is… tricky right now.”
“A big issue, you might say?” Hunk inquired. Okay, if Lance was sometimes annoyed by Keith’s obsession with cryptids and conspiracy theories, then Hunk’s puns took the cake.
“Really?” Lance inquired, though Keith was snickering a bit.
“Hey, you opened the door to that one, I just walked through.” Hunk defended himself. “Anyway, so what if she’s bigger than you. Much… much bigger. You can still like her, right?”
“Well… yeah…” Lance nodded. He then looked out to the ocean. “Hmm… odd… Isn’t Pidge supposed to be here by now?” He wondered if her brother stopped her. He was definitely the protective sort. Well, that was to be expected, it just meant he cared for his little sister. Mermaids and humans alike, it was nice seeing siblings look out for each other; it showed that their species weren’t too different from one another.
“Maybe she got held up?” Keith suggested.
“Lance? Lance!” The three humans looked. They heard Pidge, but they didn’t see her. They then checked over the side of the boat where Pidge’s voice was. And there she was… but much, much smaller. She did her best to smile when she saw Lance look over the edge, but she looked so panicked. “Lance… I… I don’t...”
“Holy crow… Pidge is… smaller...” Hunk whispered.
“Hold on, I’m coming down.” Lance assured, getting up on the railing and diving off and near Pidge. When he came up, she was quickly against him, hugging him and crying. “It’s okay, Pidge, I’m here. I’ve got you.” he assured, putting his arms around her. Wow. She was actually small enough for him to do that. It was both amazing… and frightening. What happened? How did she get so small? “Do you know how this happened?”
“No.” Pidge shook her head. “All I know is I went to sleep last night, but when I woke this morning, I was all… tiny. Everything is so much bigger than me...”
And that scared her. Pidge was probably used to being one of the biggest creatures out there, suddenly being so small terrified her. He couldn’t blame her for her emotions. Creatures she probably hunted and ate probably saw her as prey now. The ocean was much larger, she probably couldn’t get from one spot to another as quickly as she used to.
“What about Matt? Did you talk to him about this?” he asked softly.
“No… I… I didn’t go look for him… he goes to deeper waters usually...” Pidge mumbled. Deeper waters. It was probably more dangerous to a mermaid who was so small. “I’m so scared… I don’t know what to do...”
And the ocean was dangerous. “Okay, we’ll think of something… we’ve got to.” Lance said. “I mean, you can probably stay close to my place.”
“Um… voice of reason here.” Hunk got their attention. He missed the part about Matt, the two spoke too softly for that, but Lance’s tone was normal again when he made his suggestion. “But the odds of someone noticing Pidge there are very likely. I mean, I get she’s somehow stayed hidden all this long, but...”
“Quiznak… you’re right!” Lance groaned.
Keith was watching them before he spoke up. “Why not the villa?” he suggested. Lance and Hunk gave him questioning and are you serious looks. “Okay, hear me out. She’s small enough, she should fit in the bathtub, right? And it’s just us who lives there.” Sure, they had family near, but the three were given the chance to live alone and pay rent from their part-time work with AARC and the tasks they do there. It was seen as great training for when they may take off to live alone. Or continue to live there, have their own private place on the islands and close to family and friends at AARC. “She can use your room’s bathtub, Lance; it’s upstairs and out of the way, the odds of even Allura stumbling upon her would be low.”
“What about Matt?” Pidge whispered.
“I’ll find him and explain, but you don’t have to go to the villa if you don’t want to.” Lance responded just as softly. He then nodded. “If you want to go to the villa, we can help you there, help find out what happened, and help keep you safe. If you don’t, we’ll still find a way to help you.”
Go with Lance? To his home? Sure, he shared it with Keith and Hunk, but… Lance lived there. Lance may not have noticed, but her cheeks took on an even darker green as she blushed, the webbing of her ears getting stiffer. “You’ll… you’ll look for Matt at times? And let him know?”
“If he doesn’t find and eat me first.” Lance teased, getting Pidge to giggle. Oh good, he could still make her laugh in her tense situation. “But yes, I will. I’ll try to go out a few times a week at least, just to find him. He’ll probably be looking for you, too, so it shouldn’t be too hard.”
Pidge nodded. “Okay… because this is… scary.” she admitted.
“We can get the boat to the small dock near the villa.” Lance nodded. “I dock there all the time, no one will think anything of it.”
“I can go in and check, make sure Allura’s not visiting, then let you know if it’s clear, then you guys can bring Pidge up.” Keith added.
“Sounds like a plan.” Lance nodded. “Right, Pidge?” Pidge nodded in agreement, trusting Lance and his friends to keep her safe. “Well, let’s get you on board and get back to the island then; if you need back in the water, just let us know, okay?” he asked, swimming around the boat to the gap in the railing so they could get on board. Hunk met them there and helped get Pidge on board, being careful of her fins so he didn’t get hit or hurt her.
“Um… question, can she even be in a fresh water tub?” Hunk asked.
“Fresh water?” Pidge asked. “Isn’t water water?”
“Oh boy...” Lance blinked. He really hoped they wouldn’t need to find a way to get the bathtub’s water to have the right salinity levels for Pidge. Well, they would find out soon enough. He captained his boat to the small dock, typically used to jump off of and swim in the water, but sometimes Lance used it if he decided to not dock at one of the main AARC buildings.
When Keith gave them the all clear, Hunk and Lance worked together, picking Pidge up and carrying her together. It wasn’t that she was heavy, but rather she was still fairly long and they didn’t want her dragging and getting hurt. When they entered the house, Pidge looked around curiously.
A house. A villa, as they called it, but it was still a home. And it was definitely different from caves used by others in the sea. It was really… peaceful. And she liked seeing the photos lining the wall the stairs went up. She soon found herself being brought through Lance’s room.
Blue. Of course it was blue. It looked nice. And it was a bit cluttered, too, though he managed to keep it as tidy as possible. Video games and plush toys alike, the toys were cute, depicting sea life. He really does love the ocean. She thought, her ears twitching happily. And then came the bathroom, blue definitely being a theme for Lance.
“I got the water started.” Keith said. “Pidge, is it fine? Too warm? Too cold?”
Pidge reached. A little cool but very comfortable. “It’s perfect.” she said. Carefully, Hunk and Lance lowered her into the tub and Keith put in a stopper, letting it fill up. Once it was full enough with Pidge in it, the water was turned off. “It’s comfy. And it feels safe here.” Pidge hummed, making herself comfortable. “It feels different from the ocean, but nice. My skin feels smoother in here. And my gills do just fine.”
“So the freshwater isn’t bad?” Lance asked, sitting on the edge of the tub.
“Not bad.” Pidge assured with a nod before putting her head under the surface. Yup. This was nice.
Lance smiled. “Well, you can stay as long as you need to.” he assured, the mermaid nodding, clearly hearing him. “I’m going to step out for a bit, okay? Want me to go to the market and get some fish? Or go fishing?” Another nod, this time more eager. Ah, she must have skipped eating in her panic. “Okay, we’ll do that.” He stood back up before lowering the shower curtain. “So you can close it more easily if you want privacy. We won’t be gone long.”
Pidge lifted her head back up. “Be safe. Come back soon.” she said.
Lance blushed deeply. “Yeah. Will do.” He nodded before leaving the bathroom, letting Pidge pull the curtain shut. “Holy crow...”
“Your girlfriend is living in your bathtub… have fun sleeping at night, buddy.” Keith patted Lance’s back.
“Good luck.” Hunk chuckled.
“Anyway… let’s go get some food for Pidge, she’s probably hungry.” Lance sighed, nudging his friends away. He couldn’t help but smile, even with their teasing. Maybe… maybe it is possible for us to really be together. He thought to himself. But I need to also help her find out what happened… and find Matt to let him know what’s going on; he’d be worried about her.
Inside the bathroom, happily in the tub, Pidge hummed to herself. Her situation was frightening, but she had good friends. Hunk and Keith were very helpful. As was Lance. Lance was amazing, kind… perfect. I’m his size now, too. She added as a thought. It’s not so bad when I think about that part. And I can be close to him. Maybe… maybe my wish came true? She shrugged before shutting her eyes, letting herself doze off in the safe, cool waters and the room that she realized smelled like Lance. It made her feel even safer.
Just as he trust me to keep him safe in the ocean, I trust him to keep me safe here.
Well, here you guys go. And it’s official that Pidge is small! Though how and why, we’ll find out another time. 😉 But now we know that her fitting in the bathtub is official and it’s not just me making people happy with the same size for Plance moments.
Also, as a reminder, installations most likely will be out of order (as they have been before). I write what comes to mind, so I don’t have a full/actual timeline, though it can be relatively easy to guess.
Anyway! Until the next part!
#Pidge#Pidge Gunderson#Lance#mermaid!pidge#mermaid pidge#mer!pidge#mer pidge#mermaid au#VLD#Voltron legendary defender#alternate universe#plance#pidgance#ficlet#fanfiction
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atwq book one thoughts
when the first atwq book came out, i was no longer part of the targeted audience. still, when the book came out and i was at walmart shopping with my mom, i was able to check out the book/magazine section and read at least up to the end of chapter one (we had to leave because we needed to go to the checkout line). i liked what i read, and wanted to read more, but i just couldn’t afford to buy the book.
few years back i got spoiled on rather minor details of the books. i decided to do everything in my power to not get spoil from that point on (i usually hunt down spoilers in my other fandoms, but asoue was one of my first fandom i entered via me and my sister. no one else read the books or weren’t fans of them, so we turn to each other to talk about them. getting spoilers for my first fandom hurt me in a way that doesn’t hurt when compare to my other fandoms)
now i got a chance to read the atwq books and i took my sweet time (i began reading at the beginning of the new year year) for the first book. i hope i don’t get spoilers for the remaining books. i’m basically going to do a review of sorts for all four books, but it’s not going to be organized half the time and me probably having some rambles of the original asoue book series + personal stuff that’s not heavy. it’s under the cut to not clog up space + keep most spoilers out.
so this first book and i guess the rest of the series only exists because lemony and kit wants to steal something in the city and lemony deciding to leave kit all by herself, this hangfire wants a stolen statue that’s actually not stolen (because he’s the one who basically came up with the story it was stolen) for reasons, and hangfire deciding that as well as making up a lie he also decides to kidnap a man from his daughter for the BB statue (i’m too lazy to write out the whole name), with lemony deciding to stay to help ellington and strain’d-by-the-sea (i’ll call it sbts i’m too lazy to right it fully again).
thought it does make me wonder something. just how super important is ellington’s dad to be worth kidnapping and become a hostage as well. like, this guy is straight up willing to use ellington and her desire to get her dad back. yes, ellington has shady vibes but they’re all here because of someone who doesn’t want to do his own freaking work of stealing a freaking statue!
granted because i got also strong noir vibes, especially given lemony is sort of crushing on her but not really and agreeing to help ellington find her dad and like, the opening paragraph of the book is something of a give away, i get the feeling i shouldn’t trust and have my heart on my sleeve 100% for ellington. she is clearly the kid friendly version of the woman character who makes the request to the detective and is totally gonna backstab the detective at some point.
but because i’m not really seeing these signs now in this first book, as well as having terrible judgement when it comes to backstabbing characters i’m just gonna do exactly as the above. i think because ellington talks fondly of her father from what i know of, i think it’s just me wanting a character in this series to have a good parent who is alive.
onto the next character moxie! i like moxie and her friendship with lemony. he needs friends who aren’t completely in this whole vfd mess. bit off topic, but i always thought the kind editor in asoue was a woman for some reason. and despite knowing her for a few days, lemony trusts her enough to tells her things kind of makes me think she is the kind editor.
so, pip and squeaks are clearly the kids who will wear a trench coat and pretend to be an adult. looking at the illustration, squeaks looks like a walking toddler but i get the feeling’s like, five. pip looks like his age so no problem there. so, gonna headcanon that when they go out to get their driver license they are going to ace the test with all early practice
in regards to dashiell qwerty, i like him, and for weird reasons. first off, his freaking last name is something i adore. qwerty is just the freaking first letter row of a keyboard. this is some ace attorney level of naming (they love puns and meanings for many of their characters). second, the one illustration of qwerty makes me of ghost trick (the hair and sunglasses is basically the character design of the main playable character). i’m honestly sorry for bringing of things you probably don’t know, but i like him and trust him. i feel like i shouldn’t get too attach to him. if the sub-sub-librarian got freaking shot with a harpoon gun, i should expect something bad happen to qwerty. the fact he’s not even part of vfd makes me even more worry.
on prosper lost i have little to say. well, i can say ‘eh’. but it’s a good eh. he’s just a man trying to run a business in a dying sbts. i wish him all the luck it doesn’t close down
i have some harsh words about the mitchum family. but before i go into it, i want to talk about carmelita spats. as a child, i did not like her. she reminded me of a bully i had while as a kid who eventually left the school, so her return in the later books made me upset because shes like, agreeing to work with the villians. i wasn’t immune from bullies at least until my first year of high school, so when i did a re-read in middle school (and post high school pre-netflix show) i still didn’t like her.
however, i admit i feel some pity i did not have for her when i was little kid. she’s clearly an orphan who doesn’t know it (i think her parents during taa were alive and spoiling her rotten), and while knowing that she was going to side with esme and olaf, a part of me wished something in the narrative change. i knew that realistically she was going to still side with the villains, but at the same time, i had the dumb idea that maybe she wouldn’t (so when it happens, i went ‘why did i thought the opposite that i’m being silly’). watching netflix!asoue and another re-read with netflix’s show in mind, she’s just a character i love to hate while having a ton of pity for her. i think her rotten behavior is because her parents are showering her love and affection, but sadly by this ‘babying’ and spoiling, it made her think she deserves everything and handed on a platter. hearing the wonderful words from esme and olaf (more esme than olaf), carmelita believe they were going to be loving her like her parents did, maybe even more.
when it came to deciding what is carmelita’s fate is, i usually think she survived the fire, but died from fire related injuries. however, after meeting the mitchum and their oh so ‘lovely’ son, i’m recanting it. i thought carmelita was a terrible child, but no, stew is the real terrible child. i read this book twice, and i can’t find anything from the pages to my freaking heart that can make me love to hate him or give him pity (like, even in the smallest ounce of pity my middle school self gave for carmelita). it’s not help that his parents are too blind and obsess with fighting with each other to work together and see their son is not the sweetheart they think he is. worst, i can’t tell if stew is using this to his advantage or if he’s just that much of bully who gets away with it and doesn’t know his parents are arguing that much.
(going back to carmelita, my new headcanon for her is that she was thought to be dead, and esme - who i think survived the fire- ditch out of grief. upset at being abandon, carmelita decides to go back home to what she presumed to be her worried parents (she’s been missing for like, a few days at max). but discovering the remains of her family house in ashes she enters an almost breakdown because in hindsight, she should have listen to the orphans, as well as having to accept she’s an orphan -the one thing she didn’t want to be. while on the trip back to her parents carmelita drags ernest -who i think also survived- into taking her home because since he worked with esme, carmelita is his responsibility now. ernest is still in grief over the lost of his brothers and wants nothing to do with her, but does so because he wants this kid to return back home to her real family and have no more part of vfd. with the discovery, ernest decides to raise her as his own. it works out compare to esme’s care, and carmelita becomes a better person due to ernest raising her as a real parent and not someone spoiling her 24/7 and because of their experience allow them bond and reflect their life choices.)
in regards to s theodora markson...i don’t know how to feel about her. everything she does in this book towards lemony makes sense if he was an older teenager of 17 or 18. she doesn’t want back talk and is willing to kick lemony out of the car. she is making lemony do things no one his age should do. i know lemony is an apprentice but this is all so mind-boggling hard for someone his age to do (like, even at 17 and 18 is the same but that's older so i’m not as worry but worry none the less). however, given she’s a vfd member, i bet what she went through is just a tough and harsh (maybe even more; times change it’s possible what lemony is going through is actually a water down version of what she and her generation went through), and if the schism affected her in ways i may never know. i do wonder who is her last apprentice.
as for lemony snicket himself...i have words. i got introduced to the asoue series as a kid via my sister and the movie, and it’s actually a funny story. my sister told me there’s this cool movie i would like. when i saw the the littlest elf stop motion i almost left the living room out of confusion. then some british narrator cuts in and after he does his bit, i sat back down and my sister paused the movie and laugh at me (turns out she watch the movie beforehand and wanted to see my reaction). throughout my entire life i only knew lemony snicket as guy who is very sad man who lost everything in his life and does his best to help three children who as it turns out, are children to the woman he loves (loved), and has maybe a faint hope of reuniting with what may be the last member of his family (i read the beatrice letters once and and beatrice’s ii letter wanting to meet him is one of the few details i remember).
so basically reading a kid!lemony snicket is jarring. i can’t say he has a personality change because kid!lemony is still the same as adult!lemony. clearly getting pinned for crimes he didn’t commit, being force to be on the run, and his fiancee broke things off with him happening around the same time and with the fact he probably never saw his siblings again when becoming a fugitive was the biggest shift to a lonely, depressed man who is willing to stay at the edge of a random town and cry and not set foot in it. however, i think there are traces of who kid!lemony eventually become.
kid!lemony is willing to go to a random town he doesn’t know. kid!lemony is spunky and wants to solve this mystery in his own correct way. kid!lemony is all ‘i’m gonna do something and there’s nothing you [theodora] or anyone else can do to stop me’ and like any kid, will make mistakes and will screw up (he fell for hangfire’s voice mimicry after all). but i know that in the end of the day, it’s only a matter of time before things turn sour and traces of adult!lemony shows up in kid!lemony. his ‘talk’ to the imaginary kit is definitely traces of what is the eventually adult!lemony: a lonely person who wants someone/something that is familiar comfort that could brings some amount of joy. kid!lemony uses his imagination, while adult!lemony turns to his memories (netflix!lemony could be using his imagination to ‘look’ into his memories to feel better).
there isn’t too much left to say, other than the spoilers i learn. i am upset to learn asoue characters cameo in the series. i got more upset that one of the cameos i learn was hector. i knew he was a vfd member because the tua confirm it via jacques letter to lemony, but this really 100% confirm it. i wanted to be surprise. it seems i wasn’t completely spoiled, because i was really surprise to see hector be the first cameo.
hector is one of the few adult characters i like. i think it’s because i relate to his skittish behavior- i’m not on the level as him- i thought of him as hispanic/mexican -i’m half mexican from my father’s side- and because until jerome and justice strauss’s return in the tpp, hector is the only adult who while failing baudelaires (for not standing up for jacques and willing to leave them in their jail cell) makes up for it 100% and grows as a character. he successfully helps the baudelaires when it came to saving duncan and isadora via the self sustaining hot air mobile home (contrast to jerome, who when the children begs for help, decides to not help because he realizes he’s not brave enough for the task), and rightfully calls out vfd the place for their rules and overall behavior (contrast to justice strauss, who while does use her judicial powers to make the marriage null and calls count olaf out, has listen to a legal argument first due to being enraptured by the idea of being on the stage).
i think by default, i like kid!hector. he basically had my reaction when asking confirmation that the butler (hangfire) did it, and i share that desire of wanting a (good) mexican restaurant [i consider taco bell as a ‘mexican restaurant’ but honestly i don’t like their menu]. it’s jarring to see kid!hector speak his mind and can be harsh without any signs of the skittish behavior. i will say kid!hector’s call out reflect nicely on how adult!hector at the end of tvv called out vfd the place. i guess hector is the type of guy who would make call outs on other people, not the person who is the target of call outs. it’s sad kid!hector call outs kid!lemony for not helping kit, but adult!hector will do nothing to save jacques from his eventual death. adult!hector is the thing kid!hector would hate, and i can’t help but wonder if hector hates himself for what he did.
#all the wrong questions#atwq#who could that be at this hour#lemony snicket#asoue#a series of unfortunate events#carmelita spats#i talk about her for a good while she deserves to get tag in this post#this is a text post
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"Come and find me." for Ari?
OK, Maker this got away from me and turned into something super long. Sorry about that. Hope you like it:
"Come and find me. -A"
That's all the note from Ari said. Alistair had found it on his door when he awoke this morning. He'd been in a funk since the disastorous reunion with Goldanna the night before. He hadn't even joined the others for cards, preferring instead to hole up in his room and lick his wounds.
Alistair ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. He supposed she was going to try to get him to talk, but he really didn't want to talk. She just couldn't understand, he didn't even fully understand. Fergus may be missing, likely dead, but she at least had happy memories of her brother. They'd cared for each other and loved each other. Goldanna, she saw him as the reason for his misery. Just one more person to blame him for being born, something he'd had no control over. Something sometimes he'd wished hadn't happened.
Still, he knew if he didn't look for her, she'd come looking for him, likely with her temper for him ignoring her request. Since she'd only signed it "A", Alistair was unsure if it was a formal request as the lead Warden, or just a friendly ask as his best friend. When it came to her temper, always better to err on the side of caution.
He headed downstairs to the Gnawed Noble's main room. Looking around the only member from his party he found was Zevran. Alistair tensed a bit. It wasn't exactly that he didn't like Zevran. He just didn't like him with Ari. He knew men like Zevran, and worried that he was a heartache waiting to happen for Arianna. She'd already been through so much, that he couldn't help but want to protect her from more pain if he could. Alistair just didn't see anyway things didn't end in hurt between those two, intentional or not.
"Zev," Alistair nodded to the elf.
"Ah, Alistair," Zevran looked up from the book he read, no doubt something dirty. "Did you sleep well, my friend?"
Alistair shrugged, thankful at least that he wasn't bringing up Goldanna. Zevran had been there for that embarrassment. "Only mildly. Any chance you know where Ari is? She asked me to find her."
Zevran gave him a knowing grin. "I do not, but my lovely vixen did order me to present you with this should you ask."
He handed Alistair a folded piece of paper and a small bag.
"I do so love when she get's bossy," Zevran chuckled as Alistair blushed. He did not need those ideas in his head.
"Yeah, uh thanks," Alistair shuffled away. He opened the sack first, in it was a sweet roll. He sniffed it, cinnoman, his favorite. Alistair bit into the roll, feeling slightly, only slightly, lighter as the sweetness of the roll delighted his tastebuds. He opened the note.
"Did you really think I'd make it that easy for you? Come look for me someplace 'Wonder'ful - A"
Ok, so she it was 'friend' Ari sending him on this quest. That at least took some pressure off. Alistair tried to figure out where she could be. He looked on the back of the note, nothing there. The bag was empty. He read it again, surely there was a clue. He walked as he tried to figure out just what she meant. When he came upon the "Wonders of Thedas" shop he figured the clue out.
The Tranquil behind the front desk watched Alistair as he entered the store. Alistair searched around for the familiar bushy red hair but didn't see his fellow Warden anywhere. He did, however, see Morrigan. Ugh.
"Morrigan," he nodded as he approached the witch.
"I do not see why you two think we should stop to play games when there is work to be done," Morrigan sighed as only she could and handed him a book and another note. "Be gone. Templars scare away the other mages."
Alistair was all too happy to get away from her. He exited and looked at the book. "Illustrated History of the Grey Wardens". Alistair smiled, but only a little. He put the book in his pack, finding he was feeling eager for when he had time to look through it. He opened the note.
"Sorry. I hope she wasn't too awful to you. I'm still 'Wading' around for you. -A"
Alistair rolled his eyes. Her puns were awful. At least this time he knew where to look, and headed off to Wade's Emporium. It was impossible to not notice Sten when he entered. The Qunari seemed to take up half the room as he looked over the weapons on display. The shopkeep looked more then a little uneasy at the giant in his store.
"Sten," Alistair hoped using his name might set the shopkeep at ease, upon seeing that he was friendly.
"Warden Alistair," Sten nodded. "I am considering a weapon, until we find mine."
Alistair looked over the swords and picked up a rather large one, one that even he struggled to hold up. "Try this," he grunted.
"You are Alistair," the shopkeep called.
"Er, yes," Alistair answered hesetently, well aware that they were still wanted posters around Thedas of them..
"I am Herrer," the man introduced himself. "Something was left here for you." He handed Alistair a rune and another note.
"What is the rune?" Alistair looked at the odd symbol on it.
"It is not one of ours, but it appears to be Master Cleansing if I'm not mistaken," Herrer answered.
"Uh, thanks," Alistiar waved goodbye to Sten and attached the rune to his sword. It lit up for a moment, embuing the weapon with extra skills against Darkspawn. That must have set her back a pretty silver, he thought as he placed the sword back in it's sheath.
"Look for Try to find Look I can't think of anything clever, just go to the Pearl. - A"
Alistair chuckled. Then blushed as he realized she meant for him to enter a brothel. Alone. Maker.
He entered the, well he was just going to pretend it was a regular tavern. There just happened to be a lot of barely dressed, good looking people in this particular tavern. Nothing out of the ordinary at all. Nope.
He looked around and spotted red hair. Trying not to look around because... Oh, that was definitely a breast... he knew he was blushing. He was going to kill her. He arrived at the table, and sighed with disappointment to find that it was Leliana and not Ari whose hair he had spotted. She was playing cards with a few others.
Leliana handed him a key without looking up. "Third door on the left, through there."
Andraste's ass, please tell me she didn't get me a whore. Alistair had never felt like running as much as he did at that moment. He walked in the direction he'd been told, his hands shaking. I'll just tell the nice woman thank you so much but no. I'm sure that's ok, she'll be paid anyway, right? He really didn't want this to be how his first time went.
He opened the door, ready to turn tail and run when he stopped in shock. What was before him was definitely not what he had expected. Ari sat at a table, reading something. On the table was a large plate filled with nearly every type of cheese imaginable. A carafe of wine beside it, and she took a sip from her glass.
"Ali!" she beamed up at him. "Come on in."
Alistair blinked a few times and then nodded, closing the door behind him as he took his chair. "Ari?"
"I wasn't sure which kind was your favorite so I panicked and got them all," she indicated the plate.
"I uh...Any cheese is fine really," he picked out a piece of Nevarran blu.
"So," he spoke around a bite, "what was with the having me running around town? Why not just bring the cheese to the tavern?"
Ari chuckled and shook her head, "Because that would have defeated the point."
"The point?" he thought back, but couldn't figure out what she meant.
"Since you got the note this morning, did you even once think about that bi... the unpleasantness from yesterday?" Ari raised an eyebrow.
Alistair's face broke into a wide grin as he realized she was right. "No. No I didn't."
"Well there you go. And now there's cheese and wine and we don't have to share it with anyone else," Ari laughed.
Alistair grinned and helped himself to the treats. He really was amazed at how something as awful as the Blight could bring him something as wonderful as a friend like Arianna Cousland.
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Pâro
Fandom: Undertale
Premise: After the True Pacifist Ending, Asriel/Flowey meet a strange yet familiar face that wants to offer him something. Asriel-centric, Frisk-centric, OC and Chara also deeply involved.
Warnings: Nothing so far, but the definition of pâro might give you an idea of what’s in store in the future...
Ch1: Laughter
Ch2: (Not done yet)
The silence was deafening.
I was reminded of those times where I killed almost everyone. There wasn’t any screaming after battles, no movement either, just eerie and utter silence. And it wasn’t like the Underground was all that windy, either.
No, the monsters didn’t send anyone after me when I went on a killing spree. They just ran. Because they were weak. Because they were kind. Because they were afraid.
Luckily, Sans was there to stop me. I’m grateful that he stopped me… and that I had the power to reset taken away from me forever.
A part of me hated to be in this abandoned Snowdin. A part of me felt righteous pleasure that everyone had left me behind. But even those feelings were ephemeral. The power everyone had left me was fading fast, but I grit my teeth and never wandered past where the barrier used to be.
“The world doesn’t need me… the world doesn’t need me anymore…” A tiresome chant was growled through my teeth, distorted terribly.
And that was when I felt a vibration in my roots. Heard crunching of snow. Looked up and saw a familiar form in the distance that took my breath away.
“Chara?” I called hopelessly, and the human lifted their head, “Chara, is that you?”
Chara was unsteady on their feet, and taller than what I remember. On their chest, swung a heart-shaped locket as their red eyes flashed and met mine.
/Don’t go to them! You don’t deserve it! You don’t want the suffering to happen all over, don’t you! Run!/ The Asriel within me cried.
/Chara! My best friend finally came! I want to meet them, talk to them-!/ Flowey called out soon after. I was stuck. Chara made their way over to me, their clothes covered in snow, as if they had been lying in it.
“You’re not Chara.” I said, shaking my head, “You’re not Chara!”
“You’re right.” Chara’s voice spoke, and I looked up to see their face smiling at me, tears in their eyes.
“D-don’t joke around with me, meanie!” I said, so emotional now that Asriel’s voice was coming out, my face surely forming into a goat’s by now.
“I’m not Chara.” Chara repeated, reaching out and wiping the tears so gently from my eyes, as if they were afraid of hurting me. I shut my eyes for a moment, and got a hold of myself.
“Then who are you?! Don’t play tricks on me, Chara!” I yelled, making Chara fall back as I grew in size and glared down at them, roots cracking the ice around us, twining around Chara’s wrists so they couldn’t leave- no, not /again/. I was much bigger now- probably large enough to swallow them whole-
“I am the final threat.” Chara spoke clearly, their red eyes unwavering and overly gentle in an expression that I /knew/ Chara’s never had, “Who do you think was left with the power to RESET after Frisk was gone?”
“You……” I felt cold certainty go through me. There had been someone /puppeteering/ Frisk throughout their adventures. It was obvious. What sane creature would willingly reload their save files just to relive the same thing over and over again? Frisk had gone back /five/ times just to talk to me again before leaving forever. I didn’t count in this equation, by the way. I knew my sanity was thin as it is. My voice distorted, my vines tightened painfully around Chara’s arms, “WHY DO YOU LOOK LIKE THIS NOW?!”
“To tease you?” Not-Chara smirked and grit their teeth and raised their head as my vines wrapped around their neck, “Yeah. Kill me, Flowey.”
I stopped. What was… I doing??? I was about to kill someone! I quickly calmed my magic, shrunk in size, and loosened my grip.
“Because you can just load your last save point.” I said tiredly, “Are you done? Is your sick pleasure satisfied? Who even are you? How are you doing this?”
Not-Chara rubbed their neck.
“I can’t tell you my name because Chara’s name will just change to that name.” They moved their arms, and I tightened my grip somewhat until I realized they were just sitting back up, cross-legged, “So call me Chara. I don’t want their name to be lost, too.”
“Call you Chara? I don’t get it...” I grumbled irritably. This person was the one who made Frisk beat me over and over until I had to force myself not to say anything new, just so this person-this /demon/- wouldn’t get bored!
“As for how I did this… Well, it’s simple, really. This is an alternate universe. I copied the original world and inserted myself in… but it’s easier to use already-existing assets in this game, and in the end Chara was the most compatible with my soul.” Not-Chara replied, waving their hands about to illustrate their words- circling their hands, touching their chest, bringing a shining red soul out. I quickly CHECKED their soul.
/CHARA. LV 1. ATK 0, DEF 10. A combination of a time-traveling empty body and a strange mixed soul./
“So your name really is Chara…” I muttered, not sure about the ‘mixed soul’ part, “So, I don’t really get the world-copying thing, but what do you want?”
“I want you to take my soul.” Chara replied simply, “And live on your own on the surface.”
And with that, my suspension of disbelief was shattered. This person HAD to be Chara! Maybe with different memories, but-
“ARGH! Chara is DEAD!” I screeched, didn’t Frisk fight beyond any limits a human could go to show me that very fact?! “YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!” My voice was distorting again, I felt the world get smaller.
“Yeah. So kill me and take my soul.” Chara said calmly, lifting up their arms to their sides as they knelt, completely defenseless. They grit their teeth, “Quickly, I can feel pain-”
“NO! I promised I wouldn’t hurt ANYONE /EVER/ AGAIN!” I shouted angrily. Chara frowned, contemplative, and lowered their arms. Slowly, slowly, they lowered their eyes, then their head, slightly. What were they planning now?
“Then let’s go together.” Chara said, and everything seemed to still into silence again as I stared at them, “Come on. I came here fully intending for it to be a one-way trip. I can’t go back to my world… I want to stay with you. I can show you everything. We don’t have to see Frisk and the others… it’s a really big world out there.” They extended their wrapped hands towards me, flashing a big, pained grin, “Whaddya say, Asriel? Let’s go on an adventure. I could use your company.”
My willpower snapped. I let go of their arms and shrunk in size.
“Let me… think about it.” I grumbled.
“Coolio.” Chara said, and laid on the snow. They started laughing for some reason…
“... Weirdo.” I muttered. I didn’t feel like joining them.
“Says the talking flower.”
“Hypocrite, monsters come in all shapes and sizes.”
“Soulless flower.” Chara corrected themselves through their laughter, and sighed, “Man, I thought you were really gonna kill me. That was scary.”
“But you wanted to die…?”
“Doesn’t make it any less scary!”
“Ugh…” I grumbled, putting a leaf to my forehead, “I’m going somewhere else. It’s a headache to talk to you.”
“When you decide… I’ll be waiting in the bone brothers’ kitchen.” Chara spoke with that scary gentle-serious tone from earlier.
“Whatever…” I ducked underground to go somewhere to collect my thoughts.
------------
Frisk woke up with an odd ache and emptiness in their chest. However, they didn’t think much of it- going through puberty meant odd aches and pains everywhere, after all. Not to mention the mood swings...
They got out of bed and set out their clothes for school. A meaty smell drifted through the house-Toriel had finished cooking breakfast. Frisk went downstairs.
“Good morning Frisk!” Toriel greeted warmly.
“Good... morning, mom.” Frisk said, as a faint twinge of pain sparked through their chest again. They touched the center of their chest gently.
Toriel, with her mother intuition, quickly noticed.
“Are you feeling alright? Do you have a cold?” Toriel fussed over them, coming closer to put a hand on their forehead. A wave of healing magic eased the pain somewhat, before it ebbed back again.
“No… just… growing pains.” Frisk replied, and ducked under Toriel’s hand to eat breakfast. Sans, a regular guest, was sitting at the table, looking half-asleep and tapping away at a cell phone.
“Mornin’ Frisk.” Sans said without looking up. His eyes were smiling at the phone- no doubt he sent someone a bad joke- and he was slumped in his chair in a relaxed manner.
“Mornin’ Sans.” Frisk echoed, before shoveling the spinach-egg-bacon breakfast pie on their plate down their throat.
“Whoah there! I doubt you can /quiche/ all that down if you swallow it in one bite!” Toriel said slyly, and Frisk coughed and pounded on their chest and coughed. Toriel looked at them, a bit worried, but Frisk cleared their throat and gave her a thumbs up.
“Don’t /pie/ on us, kiddo!” Sans retorted, and pressed a button on his phone.
“HELLO? SANS? ARE YOU AT GOAT MOTHER’S HOUSE!” Papyrus’s voice came through Sans’s phone on speakerphone.
“No puns... while I eat!’ Frisk protested as the two chuckling monsters flashed each other a conspiring grin, “I... /crusted/ you to not let me choke on my breakfast!”
Toriel roared with laughter while Sans chuckled.
“UGH! IT’S TOO EARLY FOR PUNS!” Papyrus groaned, “FRISK? WILL YOU DO THE HONOR OF ASSISTING ME IN OUR AMBASSADOR DUTIES AFTER SCHOOL TODAY?”
“Of course.” Frisk replied seriously.
“ALRIGHT! IT’S NO BIGGIE! ALSO, I’VE GOT SO MANY FRIENDS IN MY HOUSE TODAY! WOWEE! THEY’RE HUMANS WEARING FANCY BLACK SUITS AND TELLING ME TO STAY IN MY HOUSE OR THEY’LL TAKE ME AWAY? I WOULDN’T REALLY MIND VISITING THEIR HOMES TOO, BUT I HAVE WORK TO DO- ”
There was silence in the kitchen.
“That… well, I’ll head over, Paps.” Sans said.
“Coming with.” Frisk said in a tone that left no room for argument, standing up.
“Cool. I know a shortcut.”
“THE MORE FRIENDS THE MERRIER.”
“Do you require my assistance as well?” Toriel asked.
“No. I can handle it on my own. Sans is just the bus.” Frisk said, making Sans narrow his eyes at them.
“Well, do be safe, you two.” Toriel said, worried, “Do you want me to pack you a lunch?”
“Nah. Sans will treat me.” Frisk said confidently.
“Hey, pal…” Sans said in a mock warning tone, “Well, come over here then. We’ll go to Grillby’s after.”
“Try to be back in time for school, Frisk! You stay safe too, Sans!” Toriel called as Frisk followed Sans. Frisk waved to her with a fearless smile as both they and Sans disappeared from sight.
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Where Are Our Black Boys on Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy Novel Covers?
Why are there no boys like me on these covers?
My seventeen-year-old brother who lives in Lagos, Nigeria, raised this question to me recently. Not in these exact words, but sufficiently close. I’d been feeding him a steady drip of young adult (YA) science fiction and fantasy (SFF) novels from as diverse a list as I could, featuring titles like Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti, Martha Wells’ Murderbot series, Roshani Chokshi’s The Star-Touched Queen and Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother. The question, at first seemed like a throwaway one, but as my head-scratching went on, I realised I did not have a clear-cut answer for it.
His question wasn’t why there were no black boys like him in the stories, because there definitely were. I guess he wanted to know, like I now do, why those boys were good enough to grace the pages inside but were somehow not good enough for the covers. And because I felt bad about the half-assed response I offered, I decided to see if I could find a better one.
So, I put out a twitter call for recommendations.
Can anyone point me to science fiction & fantasy novels with black teenage boys on the cover? Asking for my teenage brother. I know there's Tristan Strong, & books from Victor LaValle & Colson Whitehead, but I need more. Most YA I see with black boys are contemporary lit.
— Suyi on hiatus. (@IAmSuyiDavies) May 6, 2020
The responses came thick and fast, revealing a lot. I’m not sure I left with a satisfactory answer, but I sure left with a better understanding of the situation. Before I can explain that, though, we must first understand the what of the question, and why we need to be asking it in the first place.
Unpacking the Specifics
My intent is to engage with one question: How come there are few black boys on young adult science fiction and fantasy novel covers? This question has specific parameters:
black: of Black African descent to whatever degree and racially presented as such;
boys: specifically male-presenting (because this is an image afterall), separate from female-presenting folks, and separate from folks presenting as non-binary, all regardless of cisgender or transgender status;
are displayed prominently on covers: not silhouetted, not hinted at, not “they could be black if you turned the book sideways,” but undeniably front-of-cover blackity-black;
YA: books specifically written for young adults (readers aged 12-18), separate from middle-grade (readers 8-12) and adult (readers 18+);
SFF: science fiction and fantasy, but really shorthand for all speculative fiction and everything that falls under it, from horror to fabulism to alternative history;
novels: specifically one-story, book-length, words-only literature, separate from collections/anthologies or illustrated/graphic works (a novella may qualify, for instance)
I’m sure if we altered any of these criteria, we might find some respite. Contemporary YA and literary fiction with teenage protagonists, for instance, are littered with a relatively decent number of black boys on the covers (though many revolve around violence, pain and trauma). Young women across the people-of-colour spectrum are beginning to appear more often on SFF covers too (just take a look at this Goodreads list of Speculative Fiction by Authors of Color). Black boys also pop up on covers of graphic novels here and there (Miles Morales is a good example). But if we insist on these parameters, we discover something: a hole.
It is this gaping black hole (pardon the pun) that I hope to fill with some answers.
The Case for Need
Think about shopping at a bookstore. Your eyes run over a bunch of titles, and something draws you in to pick one–cover design, title, author, blurb. You’d agree that one of the biggest draws, especially for teens to whom YA SFF novels are aimed, is the character representation on the cover (if there’s one). Scholastic’s 7th Edition Kids & Family Reading Report notes that 76% of kids and teens report they’d like characters who are “similar to me,” and 95% of parents agree that these characters can help “foster the qualities they value for their children.” If the cover imagery, which is the first point of contact for this deduction, is not representative of the self, there’s an argument to be made that reader confidence in the characters’ ability to represent their interests would be significantly reduced.
The why of the question is therefore simple: when a group already underrepresented in literature and readership (read: black boys, since it’s still believed that black boys don’t read) are also visually underrepresented within their age group and preferred genre (read: YA SFF), it inadvertently sends a message to any black boy who loves to read SFF: you don’t fit here.
This is not to say that YA is not making strides to increase representation within its ranks. Publisher’s Weekly’s most recent study of the YA market notes various progressive strides, touching base with senior publishing professionals at teen imprints in major houses, who say today’s YA books “reflect a more realistic range of experiences.” Many of them credit the work of We Need Diverse Books, #DVPit, #OwnVoices and other organizations and movements as pacesetters for this growing trend.
In the same breath, though, these soundbites are cautiously optimistic, noting that the industry must look inward for underlying reasons why easy defaults remain commonplace. Lee&Low’s recent Diversity in Publishing 2019 study’s answer to why unquestioned go-tos still reign supreme is that the industry remains, sadly, 76% Caucasian. For a genre-readership with such exponential success, that makes the hole a massive one. Of the Top 10 Best Selling Books of the 21st Century, four are YA SFF franchises by Rowling, Collins, Meyer, and Roth, the most among all listed genres. In 2018’s first half, YA SFF vastly outsold every other genre, amassing over a quarter of an $80-million sales total. This doesn’t even include TV and film rights.
I once was a black boy (in some ways, I still am). If such a ubiquitous, desired, popular (and don’t forget, profitable) genre-readership somehow concluded a face like mine on its covers was a no-go, I’d want to know why too.
Navigating the Labyrinth
Most of the responses I received fell into three categories: hits & misses, rationale, and outlook. Hits & misses were those who attempted to recommend books that met the criteria. If I had to put a number to it, I’d say there were around 10+ misses to one hit. I received many recommendations that didn’t fit: middle-grade novels, graphic novels, covers where the blackness of the boy was up for debate, novels featuring black boys who were not present on the cover, etc.
The hits were really great to see, though. Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds was the crowd favourite of the recent recommended titles. The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad by Minister Faust was the oldest recommended title (2004). One non-English title on offer was Babel Corp, Tome 01: Genesis 11 by Scott Reintgen (translated to French by Guillaume Fournier, published in the US as Nyxia). Non-print titles also showed up, like Wally Roux, Quantum Mechanic by Nick Carr (audio only). Lastly, some crossover titles like Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds (MG/YA) and Temper by Nicky Drayden (YA/Adult) were present. You’ll find a full list of all recommendations at the end of this article.
Many of the hits were worrisome for other reasons, though. For instance, a good number are published under smaller presses, or self-published. Most are of limited availability. Put simply: a high percentage of all books recommended have severely limited wider industry coverage, which twanged a sour note in this orchestra.
The rationale group attempted to approach the matter from a factual angle. Points were made, for instance, that fewer men and nonbinary folks are published in YA SFF than women, and fewer black men even so, therefore representing black boys on covers may increase with more black male authors of YA SFF. While a noble thought, I do argue that various YA authors, regardless of race or gender, have written black boys as protagonists, yet those didn’t make the covers anyway. Would more black male authors suddenly change that?
Another rationale pointed toward YA marketing, which many stated mostly targets teenage girls because they are the biggest audience. I’m not sure how accurate this is, but I know sales often tell a different story from marketing (case in point: 2018 market estimates show that nearly 70% of all YA titles are purchased by adults aged 18-64, not teenage girls). If the sales tell a different story, yet marketing strategies insist upon a one-note approach, then it’s not really about the sales, is it?
Lastly, the outlook responses came mostly from readers, authors and publishing professionals who are long-time advocates of increased inclusion in publishing. The overwhelming consensus was that, while there is no complete absence of black boys on YA SFF covers, the real problem is the difficulty in pointing them out. It was agreed that it speaks volumes that we have to do this deep-dive just to find an okay amount of recommendations. Many left with a feel-good note, though, since more authors and professionals dedicated to inclusion and visibility are finally getting their feet into the doors at Big Publishing. Thanks to advocates like People of Color in Publishing and We Need Diverse Books, the future looks exciting.
So, I’ll end this on another feel-good note by offering an ongoing list of recommendations that fit the bill. You’ll find that most are absolutely worth a look-see. This list is also open for public updates, so feel free to add your own recommendations. And here’s looking to the decision-makers at Big Publishing to make this list even bigger.
+Black Boys on YA SFF Novel Covers: A List of Recommendations
#books#black literature#black lit#black children's books#children's books#black children#black boys#people of color in publishing#we need diverse books#tor#ya#sff#representation#publishing
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The Search (15/16)
Disclaimer: Red vs Blue and related characters are the property of Rooster Teeth.
Warnings: Language, Canon-typical violence, Psychological manipulation and trauma
Rating: T
Synopsis: [Canon Divergence - Alternate S15] The Reds and Blues saved Chorus, but it has been a year and they are still missing. A motley crew has been gathered with the common goal of finding the war heroes, though the road is more troubled than anyone seems to realize.
A/N: Oh my gosh. We only have one chapter left to this installment! I have had such a good time writing this series, even if it’s way past the ending of the actual season, it’s been such a grand relief to get to put a vision of where the series could have gone down for myself. And, if it weren’t obvious before, I plan on continuing the grand tradition with Season 16, following this particular storyline. Though that’s long in the future where I’m concerned.
Special thanks to @secretlystephaniebrown, @analiarvb, DisneyFreak-Lover, Mayhem21, and Yin for the comments and feedback!
Sanctuary
No one could carry a ridiculous number of floral arrangements and Get Well balloons by splitting a hospital’s hallways like the Red Sea unless they were Private Kaikaina Grif.
That was some biblical shit she was closing on her way to her first but far from last stop on her morning trip. And she really didn’t have any intention of stopping before that first destination, but fuck if she was lucky enough to be stopped by any voice calling her name.
In that case the voice belonged to Doctor Grey and not the security guards who got all pissy when she used frisky as a well placed pun and a valid threat to report directly to the Presigeneral.
And despite herself, Kai still felt some kind of way for everyone who helped her find her brother. Even Grey.
“Private Grif! I am so glad you came in this morning!” Grey said gleefully as she caught up with Kai. She slowed as she grew near. “And… oh my! I can… Well, you certainly have a colorful arrangement here.”
Pursing her lips in a pout, Kaikaina squinted at Grey. “Dude. Are you insulting someone who’s colorblind?” she demanded with a huff.
Grey seemed genuinely surprised by Kai’s defensiveness. “Oh… Why no! Of course not,” she answered quickly. After a thoughtful pause, however, Grey raised an eyebrow to Kai. “But surely colorblindness would not explain why one of those balloons has Happy Birthday and another Congratulations.”
“Dude, do you know how hard it is to get the same thing over ten times! Every time I started to walk out of the store I remembered there was another Red or Blue I hadn’t gotten things for,” Kaikaina huffed. “I don’t see you getting floral arrangements!”
“You’re right, I have been rather busy… saving their lives and keeping them healthy by overseeing my hospital staff,” Grey answered in a voice that was almost saccharine.
“Dude, Doctor Grey Medicine Woman, you’re gettin’ saucy on me. I kinda like it,” Kai joked before reshuffling the arrangements. “Ugh. Sorry. I’ve got, like, a lot of shit to hand out, and I don’t know if you noticed yet, but these assholes are so whiny about not getting attention every second. I bet you Caboose and Tucker are going to bitch about how I betrayed Blue Team by visiting my brother first and all that shit. And then messing with the gross old man? There’s so much bad blood there. And I don’t mean like the screechy blondie’s kind of bad blood. I mean the real kind of bad blood. Like in high school. Where we’d cut holes in our nails to scalp each other during lunchroom fights.”
“Yes, you’ve illustrated with that example before,” Grey assured her. “I found it just as concerning when you last mentioned it as I find it now.”
“Okay, cool. I’ll spare you the details of what I did to this fucker Amber in the ninth grade then, later,” Kai quipped rather abruptly, turning to make her way down the halls.
Again, however, she was stalled, as Doctor Grey grabbed a hold of her shoulder and forced Kai to look at her. Kaikaina did so, but only with the world’s most undeniable groan of contempt.
“You do have a lot of things, Private Grif… Kaikaina. Please, let me help you,” Grey requested. “I would like to visit my friends as… well, their friend and not their physician, too. Especially when things got so close and… well, could have turned out so much worse.”
Nose curling a bit, Kai puffed out her lip. “Yeah. Ya mighta actually, y’know, given them up and betrayed them behind their backs and all that shit. Hate for you to have to go through with that little plan of yours and the Presigeneral’s.”
A tired look came to Grey’s eyes almost immediately, but somehow her smile maintained. If anything, it seemed even more honest. A bit more pained. “You’re right. That would have been among the worst outcomes that could have happened. It was one I dreaded more… well, sometimes I dreaded it even more than perhaps being too late to save any of them.”
“Dude, having some bullshit guilt woulda been worse to you than my brother dying? For fucking real?” Kai scoffed. “For the record, I thought about it since our little ship talk. And yeah. I was totally there to save Dex… but I was also there because I knew it was more than Dex. Could you imagine what it’d be like for us to lose anyone? Could you imagine what it’d be like for the ones we saved when they learned that we couldn’t save the others? Saving Dex was the start for me. But it wasn’t ever gonna be enough. Not for me. And I kinda was hoping at the end of the day it wouldn’t be enough for anybody else, too.” She couldn’t help but let her annoyed, angered expression fold into the real disappointment and betrayal she was feeling instead. “Guess I was hoping a li’l too hard that we were all a bit more Re and Blue than we ended up being. Fucking story of my life.”
“Kaikaina, it’s just as I said to you before. There’s no defense for the indefensible. And I won’t waste either of our time by even so much as trying to do so,” Grey assured her. “And my guilt would have not been enough to amend for actions I was fully willing to take for the good of my planet. But those types of sacrifices are simply the ones we all have to be willing to make. Personally. Which… Well, which is why the part of the plan I didn’t confide with you on was what would happen once Chorus disavowed its relationship with the Reds and Blues,” she continued.
Raising an eyebrow, Kai looked the doctor over. “What’d’ya mean?”
“I mean, I didn’t tell you that… I was never going to stop being with the search team. I was never going to personally turn on the Reds and Blues. That was the backup plan for Kimball and Chorus,” Grey explained. “I was staying with you — all of you. And consider myself, well, one of the Reds and Blues. It meant I was forfeiting my ability to come home to Chorus for any foreseeable future but, darn it, it was worth it. And hopefully if I stood by you all long enough and paid my penance by making it up to you all as the best friend and doctor I could be, then I could redeem such a decision. Either way. I was going to stay with the only people who had ever truly made me, someone who has always been quite the outcast, feel like I had somewhere to belong.”
Despite herself, Kaikaina looked at the doctor with some amazement. “Wow, Doc. That’s almost kinda cool. Except. You can’t be a Red and Blue you have to be a Red or a Blue. It’s how it works. We have, like, different bases and everything.”
“I couldn’t be a neutral medical officer?” Grey teased.
“I guess, but the last one turned out to be kind of a perv and also, like, the main bad dude for a little while? So it’s got some baggage,” she admitted. “But, considering the circumstances, I guess you could play the part if you want.”
Some light returned to Grey’s eyes at the passing approval. “Thank you, Kaikaina.”
“Yeah, dude, whatever, you said you were gonna help me hand out these stupid plants and balloons, right?” she asked, already pouring half of them over into Grey’s arms.
“Oh! Well, yes — I, uh. Yes. I’ll carry all of these,” Grey responded, rather flustered.
“Sweet,” Kai snickered. “By the way, Doc, I was just giving you a hard time. You’ve been off the rap since you saved the reporter lady. To be honest, I just like watching you sweat. No one else worries about my opinion so much. Maybe Wash. But that’s just ‘cuz of my ability to sniff out a sting before the undercover cop gets his johnnies satisfied. I call it the Grif Tease. You can see it sometimes when my brother’s making bedroom eyes with Lanky Shortstop Dude.”
“Agent Washington isn’t actually a police officer,” Grey attempted to correct her.
“Dude’s totes a cop. You see how much he wants to cop a feel, heyoooo, no really though, I have him wrapped around my finger and he doesn’t even know it yet,” Kai snorted. “It’s awesome.”
“If you say so,” Grey hummed in response just as they reached the first stop.
“BIG BRO!” Kai screamed out happily the moment they were through the door.
Being Space Jesus didn’t get Junior as much mileage with humans as it had with his own species, but a few growls and snaps of his jowls had been more than enough to make sure the staff didn’t impede on his self-declared right to stay by his father’s side in the hospital room.
For his part, Junior’s father had been uncharacteristically quiet, even when the attractive nurse had earned a Bow Chicka Honk Honk from Junior, his father had missed out. And in that way, it was the first time since they saved his father that Junior was genuinely concerned that things were not okay.
Sitting in the uncomfortable plastic chair at his father’s bedside, chins laying against the bedsheets while he looked up woefully toward his father’s distant gaze, Junior began to think about all that they had seen before. He thought about the horrors of prison world, the visceral reaction which Washington had had at the notion that Junior’s father and the rest of his family were being made subject to some kind of sick modifications.
All of it seemed to add up to a darkness and hurt that Junior was not old or experienced enough to understand yet for himself. He was, after all, a fifth grader, and outside of knowing that his father was hurting, he felt completely useless to do anything really about it.
His dad was exhausted — all of the Reds and Blues were — on IVs and getting extra rations spread out through the day to regain muscle mass and lots of bedrest and sleep to make up for what their brains had missed while they were with Hargrove. But there was something sadder to Junior’s father’s silence. A stewing anger that reminded Junior of the burst of aggression he had shown right before killing Hargrove and saving both Junior and Miss Andrews.
Really, it made Junior’s dad the hero he always knew his dad to be.
But in another sense, it seemed to be causing the kind of frightening deep reflection on himself that Junior was unaccustomed to seeing.
And it only became more apparent when the door opened to President Kimball herself, a security detail by her side.
“Oh!!! Captain Tucker! Captain Tucker! I’m glad you’re awake!” the one Junior was beginning to recognize as Palomo called out gleefully. Which was something he did rather frequently when coming around them, Junior learned.
Finally, an expression other than brooding crossed his father’s face and he looked to Kimball almost pleadingly. “Palomo? Really?”
“You trained a good soldier,” Kimball responded before waving to the guards behind her. “Lieutenants, please stay outside and guard the door, I need to get counsel from my friend.”
With a bit of fluster, the guards did so, and Kimball approached Tucker’s bed.
“My, they really meant it when they said you wouldn’t leave your father’s side,” Kimball said, looking Junior’s way as he raised his head. “That sort of loyalty is a fine feature, young man. I hope you maintain it for all your years. It is a very, very valued trait.”
Junior clicked his mandibles together and sat back in his chair, but made it clear he was not leaving.
“Hey, don’t be rude,” his father said, sounding the closest to normal that he had since they arrived on Chorus. It was enough to warm Junior’s cold blooded heart. Then his father looked seriously toward Kimball. “How’s everyone doing?”
“Feeling more like themselves as far as I can tell,” Kimball assured him. “Fortunately none of you were in critical conditions save for the reporter. It’s strange. Your bodies seemed to be suffering from exposure rather than anything else. Agent Washington seems to believe that it comes from something else controlling a nervous system and interrupting the direct line of control from your consciousness to your own muscles. In fact, he seemed rather insistent on that being the cause.”
“Sounds like whatever was happening to the Meta,” Tucker Senior huffed. “Y’know, except none of us are gorilla body builders. So it sucked more.” He trailed off before glancing back to Kimball. “Where is Wash, anyway? Still visiting Caboose? He usually is bothering me again by now.”
“I believe he is actually getting lunch with Agent Carolina,” Kimball answered. “There… are many things we all need to be discussing. Serious matters.”
“Almost dying felt pretty serious at the time,” his father joked flatly.
Not happy with that brand of humor, Junior turned his head toward his father and clicked his jaws angrily at him, bearing his teeth in frustration. He would gladly travel the whole universe on their little ship again to find his father and family again, but he wasn’t so keen on reliving the moments where everyone was getting shot and stabbed. That seemed unnecessary.
“Calm down,” his father attempted to soothe. When Junior slumped down in the chair, his father gave his full attention to Kimball again. “So that reporter lady is going to be okay?”
“More than that, she’s going against resting orders and trying to write an entire exposé on all of you, on Chorus, and on Chairman Hargrove. In all honesty, her intensity is… concerning on some levels. I’ve rarely had someone so adamant on interrogating me from a hospital bed. Not since you and I first met, in any case.”
“Sounds like someone I’d like,” Tucker admitted.
Kimball let out a sigh and crossed her arms. “It’s the other additional patient and the complications he adds to all of this mess that has me truly concerned. Even if he is who he says he is and can provide us with the connections to the UNSC that he claims that he can,” she explained.
“The mercenary?” Tucker asked. “I don’t trust him. Or like him. Or hate him. Honestly I’m fuzzy on him, but Wash and Carolina said he knew Felix so… Piece of shit in my book.”
“But if he truly is an undercover agent for the UNSC and he can straighten things out for Chorus and for all of you, it would be to our advantage to keep him alive… for now,” Kimball admitted.
“And if he’s lying?” Tucker raised his eyebrow.
“Then you will be the most wanted man in space,” Kimball declared. “You did murder the most powerful man in the UNSC and the arms trade underworld with a weapon that only you can wield.”
“Blargh,” Junior chastised his father.
“Well, fucking great,” his father groaned, sinking back against his pillow. “Do we have good news?”
“You have a friend in Chorus no matter the outcome, I am willing to give all of you asylum here,” she assured him. “Of course, such a brave stance to make is much easier when you’re contacted by friends in high places.” She finally turned her gaze on Junior, much to his surprise. “Which is where you come in my young friend.”
Junior blinked and pointed at his chest. “Blargh?”
“If Santa properly translated the message we received through all of the newly opened tower portals on Chorus… then yes, little one. Chorus’ new alliance with Sangheilios is all in thanks to you and your people’s decision to stand by their religion and their chosen one. It is the first of hopefully many independent bodies who would be willing to put their support behind Chorus against the UNSC’s overreach.”
To that, Junior could only blink again, still pointing at his chest. “Blargh?”
“Yes, you,” his father laughed affectionately, reaching forward and rubbing Junior’s head with his hand. “Of course my kid’s special enough that entire planets would fight for him. That’s just the logical thing for planets to do!” His smile became a little wobbly for a moment. “Next to lewd comments, fighting for son’s the only thing I can do that’s strong enough to get me out of a trance.”
Junior’s eyes grew blurry with tears and he cooed lovingly despite his father’s depreciating comments. Then he lunged forward to hug his dad as tight as he could.
Kimball kept a respectable distance, but she laid a gentle hand on Tucker Senior’s shoulder, as if to prove her solidarity.
“All of you, the Reds and Blues, are easily the strongest men and women I know,” Kimball assured him softly.
Junior didn’t need to hear that from Kimball to know it, but he was glad she said it for his dad to hear all the same. There was a lot behind his brooding and silence that Junior was afraid had only just begun.
#writing#rvb fic#RvB: The Search#Kaikaina Grif#Tucker Junior#Emily Grey#Lavernius Tucker#Vanessa Kimball
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Game Over....
Epsiode 4
The Plot that was Promised.
Silence. Not a sound could be heard on the air. Jon swung his head around to catch Tormund’s eye and the old wildling raised his bushy, ginger brows.
“Ahh!” They both chimed in unison as it all began to make sense. Jon looked at his feet, now more than a little embarrassed, unable to look his son in the face. “Well, that makes sense! Although…”
“I know…I know; you couldn’t help it! But then all of this,” Torrhen gestured to the frozen vista around him and Drogon followed the arc of his gesture inquisitively. “Well, it’s not canon is it? You are not telling me this is where you imagined you would end up after all they put you through? Jesus, you didn’t even get to take out the Night King after devoting your life to defeating him!” Torrhen made low tutting sounds under his breath. “That must have stung like shit!” Tormund frowned, discomfort writ large on his face whilst Jon hung his head, pursing his lips, his shaggy hair falling forwards to hide his expression.
“It was…a bit…disappointing, yes.”
Despite the sympathetic tone, his son was unrelenting.
“But, didn’t you even stop to question my mother going bat-shit crazy in the space of one episode? I mean, pissed off at Cersei, yes. Fucked off by the Mountain – totally, but she could have destroyed them both in just one triumphant flypast of the Red Keep! But no – she suddenly goes all Rambo and blows the whole bloody place apart! Really? Complete and utter certifiable homicidal madness on the basis of two deep fried Tarly traitors and Varys? And to be fair, she warned him what she would do to him episodes ago. There were a lot of things no one saw coming but that one…you would have had to have both your eyes pushed in by The Mountain not to have seen that one!”
“You weren’t there,” Jon mumbled sullenly, digging a hole in the snow with the toe of his boot. After all, there was nothing else he could say? It was all true. Too true. “We had no choice.” Torrhen raised his fair eyebrows, his face a picture of scepticism.
“So, after you read the script and learned what you had to do, did not one of you have the balls to look the writers in the eye and say ‘Not Today?’”
“I didn’t get any good lines.” Jon mused moodily. “At least, not that good.” He flapped a hand in Tormund’s direction. “He did though.”
“No, but you did get to look good,” Tormund piped up, pulling at his grizzled beard. “I really envied your post-death man-bun era!”Jon’s smile lit up the snow.
“Aww, thanks mate!”Torrhen snorted in utter disgust.
“Jesus guys! What’s wrong with you? Admittedly, it all started so well! All those heart-warming reunions at Winterfell! Well, apart from Sam who for some reason spent a fortnight in the library before he went to see you in the crypt? And he was supposed to be your closest friend?” Jon and Tormund stared back at him nonplussed. “Ok, maybe a fortnight was an exaggeration but you get my point, why wasn’t he out with everyone else when you arrived? Did he not get the Raven? Was the library soundproofed?” Even Drogon nodded in agreement then, which Jon felt was completely surreal. “Everything else was so promising! The swelling music! The call backs to an era when things didn’t move at the speed of light leaving bloody great big plot holes! When it could take a whole series for the Hound and Arya to travel the length of two football fields. A device that was completely abandoned until the Night King took three hours to cross the Godswood which was probably stalling for time whilst Arya found a ladder to jump from. And then…the battle started…”
“I know what you are going to say!” Jon interjected hastily.
“Really?” Torrhen remarked flatly. “Go on then, enlighten me!”
“Nice one!” snorted Tormund, slapping Jon on the back. “Enlighten!”
“Oh how I wish someone had…” sighed Torrhen, rolling his eyes dramatically.
“Energy saving lighting rigs!” Jon piped up defensively. “We had to consider the environmental effects of making a television series over five continents with a cast and crew of thousands and taking over a decade to do it! What you didn’t see is that by the time the night shoots were done all the bulbs had warmed up and…” Jon’s voice trailed off to a murmur as he realised how stupid he sounded. “You sort of had to be there to see it.”
Torrhen looked distinctly unimpressed and cocked one eyebrow high, affecting a high pitched whining voice which made Tormund grin.
“That was rather the point wasn’t it? You couldn’t. Well, you could because you were there but as for anyone else! Are you sure it wasn’t more like “‘Oh well, budget constraints and all that! All this CGI we committed to in order to pull all you sad sacks in for several years is soooooo expensive! This will only take can six episodes if we hack through the character arcs and keep the dialogue to words of less than two syllables. The fans can imagine the rest; they are good at that. Besides we have no more books to go on which is making it really really hard work and it will be much easier to go and make a million more bucks ruining a Star Wars Franchise!’” Tormund leaned into Jon, whispering, his face worried.
“I didn’t see this guy at the table reads!” Jon shook his head, sadly as Torrhen began his punishing rant once more. Cold facts, hotly spoken. Fire and Ice.
“So who was it?” Tormund and Jon scowled as he asked the question. “Who gave the order to charge? Was it Melisandre, because as soon as she lit all those swords, it was like she had plugged them all into the mains! Talk about Duracell Dothraki! Off they went, charging into the dark and towards what? It was the Khalasar equivalent of driving a free Volvo into a brick wall! Then your sister suddenly learns how to fly and kills the Night King by gliding across the Godswood like some caped superhero, passing a hundred or so wights and all the assembled generals without anyone making any sort of attempt to swat her down! Was she invisible? I know if ‘no one’ is there you can’t see them, but this was pushing the ‘no one’ premise just a tad too far don’t you think? And by the way, exactly what was your brother doing whilst he was letting everyone else die? No doubt he was off bargaining with the old Gods and the New to secure a better ending for his character, maybe one where he asked them if it could be Bran for king. He was certainly no for-king use in the battle!”
Jon and Tormund milled about sheepishly, offering up no defence. How could they? Their lives had been at the mercy of different forces those days. But Torrhen had not finished, and was now striding about, waving his arms around to illustrate his points, his former calm a memory. Jon felt sure that if Drogon had eyebrows he would have raised them in tacit agreement at every declaration of dissatisfaction.
“So Night King, the whole lot, gone! Eight years of build up, plot seeding and misdirection and some weird science fiction scene much earlier on in the series which obviously meant nothing, all eliminated in around ninety minutes and then, what? Yay, none of us have a scratch on us so lets all go down to King’s Landing to kill Cersei! Even though technically at that point there should be only around twenty men left despite the – ahem – script unbelievably insisting that only half of the Dothraki had gone. Well I counted six that survived myself, and a horse, mind you it was very hard to see. Is that why they kept it so dark, so the bleeding gaping plot holes weren’t visible? Or maybe they weren’t dead, they were just pining? Then, here it becomes so bloody hysterical if it wasn’t tragic! Mum, apparently, was in such raptures of joy flying around the skies on Drogon that the reason for going to Dragonstone in the first place completely eluded her. That, and the fact that the Iron Fleet may be waiting for them. That same Iron Fleet that wiped out half of her forces in Season seven? And how the hell she failed to see over a hundred boats ranged up beneath them from twenty miles away until one of them shot a round of bolts into Rhaegal and killed him stone dead I just don’t know. Sudden catastrophic memory loss? And such an excellent shot was Euron that they then failed to hit Drogon on any other attempt even when he was heading right for them! So, they gave up on the dangerous flying thing and attacked the other boats instead! The boats that didn’t pose any threat, whereas bloody great fire breathing dragon did - but of course, spoiler, they needed to keep Drogon alive to torch King’s Landing and use as a plot device to turn my mother mad!” He paused for a second, taking a deep breath before he continued. “Apparently, according to the Dumb and Dumber, she forgot. Forgot about the Iron Fleet. Do we think Cersei forgot anything? Mind you she may well have done as all we saw her do was stare out of the window in an alcoholic stupor!”
“Are you some sort of fucking nerd?” Growled Tormund, his hands on his hips, now clearly irritated by the constant tirade. Yet, Torrhen was not to be stopped. His words came thick and fast now, flowing out of his mouth in an – er – Torrhent…
“No, wait! Hear me out, I have waited years for this! So we have Cersei, Qyburn and the Mountain all standing at a convenient dragon height near an open window – but not one of them gets as much as a blister! Cos its far better to have the madwoman kill thousands of CGI men, women and children than confront the main villains.” He gestured to Drogon, frowning. “Look at him! He wouldn’t harm a fly!” Drogon simpered on cue, tilting his head from one way to another like an attentive puppy. “So instead, we have the Hound, Arya and Jamie (somehow) inside the city all looking to wreak their individual revenges. Or possibly not. Well, at least the Hound did. Every dog has its day, as they say. Jamie, who had blood pouring out of more holes than a colander, and should have been dead, is miraculously directed to Cersei in the map room (no pun intended) and they both are romantically reunited and suffer the ultimate fate. Death by masonry. Arya is easily – too easily – convinced to give up on the last name on her list and after running around forever saving innocents from being crushed to death by leading them off to be burned to a crisp, she meets up with a random horse and rides off. Where? Why? Was this some subliminal reference to ‘Arya Horseface?’ Was the budget constraint soo bad that they meant to send Nymeria in to meet her, but could only afford a pantomime horse? Did they think we wouldn’t notice?” Jon wondered just how long they had been standing there and looked at his wrist pointedly, before remembering he had not worn a watch in twenty odd years and so just sighed heavily. Dany had always liked talking. And later, yelling.
“And then, and then…after all of that and King’s Landing stands in ruins, covered in snow, or ash, or the remnants of the fans disappointment, Mum gives a rousing speech. In two very different languages. Neither of them English but you all understood every single word! Bloody amazing!” He pointed angrily at Jon who was all but squirming. “You didn’t need to fuck your aunt! All three of you got right royally screwed! Mum got killed, you got banished and you…” he grinned at Tormund, “you let the Kingslayer fuck your date and then dump her for his sister. And you say my mother was the mad one...!”
Jon had had enough. It was cold, his furs were heavy and he needed a drink. He crossed his arms across his chest belligerently.
“We couldn’t help it. They offered us free Starbucks…”
“And bacon toasties,” Tormund interjected, “don’t forget them!”
“God yes,” Jon grinned, suddenly heartened, “the catering was top notch!”
“Never mind the bloody food!” Torrhen shouted, furious now. “What are we going to do about it? We can’t let this be how such a legendary tale is left to fester in the annals of history! Think about your careers!” Jon scrunched up his face. Maybe it was about time, he pouted, thoughtfully. And, he did rather fancy breaking out the man-bun once more.
“Ok, Ok, you’ve made your point and stuck us with it,” he reasoned, “admittedly at some length.” He twisted about, looking around, considering, his cloak flapping around him like dark wings. Took a deep breath or two before looking back at Torrhen. “You got an army?”
Torrhen shook his head regretfully leaving them all to look all at each other, perplexed. Even Drogon let out a sympathetic snuffle.
“What happened to the Dothraki left behind at Kings Landing?”
“No idea,” said Tormund. “I don’t suppose we can ask the Unsullied?” Jon pulled a horrified face.
“Surely they will all be dead?” His tone was hopeful. Torrhen shrugged.
“Well, we can forget about The Golden Company…”There was a brief silence before all of them burst out laughing.
“You have to admit,” chuckled Jon, “that scene was bloody hilarious!”
“It was! That guy’s face!” Torrhen snickered, turning to Drogon. “Great fire-breathing there mate! To do you credit, you probably had the best scenes in the whole of the last series! But then you had the advantage of not having a script!” Everyone nodded in considered agreement as Drogon preened. Tormund scowled suddenly. He could be slow at times, unlike the pace of the last series, but something bothered him.
“Hang on a bloody minute! You weren’t there! Neither was I? How come we both know what went on?” Torrhen looked suitably thoughtful for a moment, the sunlight peeping out from behind a cloud and painting the surrounding mountain tops with golden rays. Iceland…sorry…beyond the Wall had never quite looked so stunning.
“Perhaps we saw it in the flames? A message from the Lord of Light?”
“What?” Jon snorted. “Like the ‘Prince that was Promised’”.
“Don’t mock,” Torrhen said sombrely. “Look where we are now! Perhaps this is the ‘Plot that was Promised’!” Jon was thinking hard. It had been a long time since he had had to think hard. It still suited him.
“Ok, let’s think this through. So we have you. Me. Tormund…” there was an accompanying snort and Jon nodded in acknowledgement. “Drogon.” His lips pressed into a thin line as the dragon shook his head in appreciation. Smiling. He was. The bastard was smiling. But Jon shook his head, sadly, his hair falling around him in waves, looking suddenly much darker than it had been at the beginning of this tale. “Gonna be a tough one mate!”
It seemed their mission was doomed before it began and they all stood reflecting in ponderous, if splendidly located, silence. Then, as if on cue, there was a strange rumbling sound, one Jon had heard before. It grew closer. And closer. Now punctuated by faint cries. Yells. Were they whoops?
“Maybe not …” Torrhen grinned slyly, his eyes glinting mischievously.
With that, Drogon raised his head and let out a terrifying roar. One which was answered within seconds. Distantly, by something which echoed his cry. Before Jon could turn, another dragon, one he knew all too well if he hadn’t been told it was dead, swooped around with a further throaty scream, landing on the ground with a crash beside Drogon, who turned somewhat clumsily to greet his brother. In the distance, the rolling thunder became the roar of an oncoming tide and within minutes the figures standing alone in the snow were surrounded by a screaming, jeering Dothraki hoard. Much, much bigger than the one last seen at Winterfell.
“Oh come on!” Jon gasped in utter disbelief, wondering if this was something to do with his wife and part of the best April Fool’s day trick revenge ever, but then he had no idea of the date. “This is bloody ridiculous!”
“You gotta be shitting me in my pants!” cried Tormund at the same time. The air became eerily quiet, apart from the snorting of horses and the various chirrups and growls of Drogon and Rhaegal catching up on news.
“Is it?” Someone said. “As ridiculous as that last episode?” A female voice he knew far too well (see – by this stage he knows an awful lot does Jon Snow – that’s called character development) caused him to turn quickly, so quickly he almost fell over his voluminous cloak. Righting himself, he came face to face with his queen. His love. His aunt. His…woman he murdered amidst a passionate snog.
“No!” One word, incredulous.
“Yes!” One word. Clearly pissed. Jon and Dany stared at each other. She was wearing the same leather effect, warlike costume which she had suddenly pitched up in on the day he had – er – killed her. But there was no sign of the mark of his dagger. Still amazed at what a good special effects team could achieve, he could not think of anything else to say, so he played for time, nodding at the green, amber eyed beast from which she had just dismounted.
“Is that really Rhaegal?”
“Uhuh! Surely you know that, if you know nothing else.” He frowned, sulkily.
“I do. But how?” Dany thought for a minute, biting her lower lip seductively.
“Er – what if we say…he wasn’t as badly hurt as it appeared when he got shot through the neck by that scorpion bolt. It looked bad, but it was only a flesh wound. So he managed to swim to the beach at Dragonstone…on the far side of the island opposite where everyone else swam to, except Missandei of course, and where he has been convalescing for many years.” She rolled her eyes upwards as if assessing the quality of her words before giving a satisfied nod. “Then he flew home.”
“That bastard said you were dead!” Tormund snapped, pointing accusingly at Torrhen who raised an eyebrow archly.
“Plot twist?’ After a second, Jon nodded, turning to Tormund.
“I’ll buy it!” Tormund raised his arms outwards in submission.
“Oh, what the fuck!”
“Good!” Dany held out her hand to Torrhen, who muttered under his breath before meekly unfastening the dragon clasp and handing it over.
“Sorry! I only borrowed it!”
“Hmnn,” Dany murmured. “Like you just borrowed Drogon! Next time, ask!” She pinned the clasp back onto her fur coat in a business like fashion, patting it with glee, her dark brows meeting together in an arrowhead as she frowned. “Well then, are we agreed?”
Jon still looked uneasy. Almost out of his comfort zone. He looked around hesitantly.
“Aren’t you supposed to say ‘Shall we begin?’”
Dany grinned. “Like you are supposed to say “You’re my queen?” That did it. He returned her smile ruefully. “I think we can forget all that crap!” They all looked at each other in agreement. “So, men of the north, are our ambitions aligned?”
“Well, that’s a lot more words than ‘shall we begin’, but its worth a try.” Jon admitted grudgingly. “It can’t be any worse than the last attempt surely?”
“Where we all got right royally shit on?” Dany smiled enigmatically. “No. It’s time to put that right. And just as an aside, I do have a stab vest on under this coat! But enough of the past - we will need to re-establish our loyal following. Some have stayed true and were justifiably outraged about what unfolded before their disbelieving eyes…”
“And ears…” Jon’s words were greeted with a mumble of assent.
“But we need something,” she continued thoughtfully, “something to appeal to the disaffected. To put us back where we were around season six.”
They muttered amongst themselves for a while as the amassed Dothraki, getting bored, or getting ready, however you will, took it in turns to try and light their swords.
“What about…Cersei turns up as a Night Queen so she can be killed all over again but this time in a fight to the death with you?” suggested Jon to Dany helpfully.
“That would work. As long as I don’t get killed – again!” she answered pointedly. “Needs to be a long drawn out struggle though, over a couple of seasons?”
“And those White Walker symbols!” Tormund growled. “Perhaps we ought to make something up about that?”
“Good idea. It was some form of ancient cryptic language – warning that those that are dead, again, may not be quite as dead as they thought? Especially if those who are responsible for killing them try to take the throne for themselves.” Drogon snorted suddenly, and Dany turned listening. “Aww, no baby, it doesn’t matter that you melted it! We can make a new one with all the Kingsguard’s armour.” Jon giggled. He had not giggled for a long time. If ever at all.
“Or those they have pissed off and banished might be more pissed off and not so banished as they thought?”
“I’m sure we can think of something.” Torrhen interjected. “Jesus, the original end was so excruciatingly bad, the bar really isn’t set all that high!”
“And this time I get the big woman!” shouted Tormund, “or I’m out!”
“Fine by me.” said Jon, looking over at Torrhen thoughtfully. “Just one thing. Three dragons you said, and discounting those two actual dragons! So, how’s that going to work when we win this thing?” There was a moments silence punctured only by two disgruntled draggony chirrups.
“I’ll take King’s Landing – because I already did!” said Dany firmly. “Torrhen, you can have Dragonstone and Jon…the north?” That seemed to trouble him. After all, he was known for his loyalty to his family, for being as good as his word. For being a true Stark. More Stark than any other Stark ever. Starkly Stark. Which he considered may be a good name for a rapper if all of this failed, again. Maybe Chris Martin had connections he could exploit?
“What about Sansa?” he asked doubtfully.
“What about her?” Dany asked, in a tone of voice that made a certain part of his body freeze.
“Ok!” he shrugged lightly. “It’s her fault I’m here. Done!”
“Finally!” groaned Tormund. “Then I suggest we all celebrate with a meal back at our camp. We don’t have much, some bread, ale and I hope you all like fowl.”
With that, a huge figure dressed all in black pushed his way between the Dothraki horses. A tall, ugly man, his face terribly scarred, his shadow a scar on the pristine snow.
“Did someone mention chicken?” growled the Hound. “I’m in!"
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My story
I started out drawing when I was very little, my parents would take us out to dinner to this local Italian place that had paper table cloths and my brother and I would draw all over them, that’s one of my earliest and fondest memories.
Another one of my earliest memories was sneaking through my sisters drawing books and journals trying to copy the girls she drew, she is the most incredible illustrator and all I ever wanted to do was draw like her, I figured if my style wasn’t exactly the same as hers I didn’t want to draw. Ofcourse, I couldn’t draw like her, and I’m happy my style is different now but try telling that to a 6 year old stubborn little shit.
All through high school I always wanted to be a tattoo artist - every time I mentioned I wanted to be an artist I had students and teachers alike laugh at me with the mind set of “good luck” because to them that meant being broke and unsuccessful.
My dad was an animator, Mum a designer, and older siblings went on to NIDA to work in film, and succeeded. To no fault but my own I always felt like I was in the shadows, I didn’t think I could draw as good as the rest of my family, I had no interest in going to NIDA, I just liked drinking with my friends.
I had zero interest in UNI, I failed everything in high school because I was busy socialising so I assumed UNI would be even worse for me.
I had a billion jobs out of school; I worked at bakers delight (I got fired for eating too many cinnamon scrolls), I worked in an Indian restaurant, I worked in a law firm *cue laughter*, I was a receptionist in a couple of recruitment agencies, I worked in 5 - 6 retail stores, I worked in cafes, bars etc. and I hated all of them, I just thought people hated there jobs and that was that for the rest of my life.
I moved to Sydney when I was 23 to work at a Sailor Jerry themed bar in the Cross, the Brand ambassador from Sailor Jerry met me at a house party in Adelaide and offered to fly me up for the 6 week pop up bar. I went into work the following Monday and quit my boring receptionist job and packed my bag.
The bar was only a 6 week pop up and I had every intention of coming home after that, in hind sight that job gave me the kick up the ass I needed to leave Adelaide, I love Adelaide but I don’t think I could have started the business I have from there, I would have just kept getting drunk at the pub with my mates and never done anything.
When the pop up bar came to an end I had fallen in love with Sydney, MANNNN there was so much more to do here! I never went home. I lived in a boarding house in Surry Hills and I was putting my $250 a week rent on credit (bad move) but I had no choice, I had to stay. I floated around Sydney working in bars, cafes etc. I was working in this one place and hating it even more than the hated jobs before.. I was going home crying every day and then someone I knew mentioned that I could do sign writing at JBHiFIi, I didn’t even know this was a role.. a real job.. where I could just draw all day!? Seriously!? SIGN ME THE FUCK UP.
I went in for an interview, they didn’t even make me draw anything and hired me on the spot! I went home basically skipping, totally over-joyed.
For me working at Jbhifi was the major turning point in my life, I know that sounds a bit crazy but for the first time in my adult life I felt like I fit in (in a career sense). I would wake up in the morning actually excited to get to work, I would draw up all the tickets, lay out massive plastic banners on the floor and paint gigantic promotional signs, most of the time they would just let me draw cartoons and funny puns and stick them around the store. I remember thinking “why didn’t I know this was a job before?!”
So while I was at Jb my confidence grew, I honestly hated all my drawings but day by day more and more people would start complimenting them, I thought people were just being nice to begin with but then I had other stores requesting me, strangers complimenting my work, Jb would have these competitions for the best signs in the country and I won a few phones from winning those. Finally I started uploading my work to IG and it got a great response… it really grew from there.
I started an art page and week by week it just kept growing with followers.
From IG I had people asking me to come into their venues and paint their signs. So I did! I added drawings into them and then people saw I could draw and not just do typography so it evolved into murals. between IG and word of mouth I was getting more jobs than I could handle. I replaced going to the pub and smoking a hundred ciggies and drinking too many beers with sitting at home and painting, and it was the BEST.
And then slowly but surely I dropped a day from my full time job at Jb, I had too much work to do with my side business!
Then another day, then another day, then another day…Soon enough I had too much work to be at JB anymore, so I quit! I did it. I showed all those people in highschool who would laugh at me when I said I wanted to be an artist when I grew up.. I went FREELANCE. BOOM.
I’ve been a freelance visual artist for almost 3 years now and BOY does it still feel good. It’s been years and I’m still pinching myself. Sometimes when I’m on a job I have to remind myself I get PAID to colour-in and do what I love. crazy.
I’ve worked for Google, Lily Allen, YouTube, Jaime Oliver, Westfield, Tanya Henessy, Harley Davidson, Deus, Sailor Jerry, Young Henrys, VB, VANS and many more.
It’s not all peaches and cream all the time, don’t get me wrong... Working from home is a blessing and a curse, invoices need chasing, tax scares the shit out of me, sometimes clients can really fuck you over, theres no annual leave and you have to get insurance incase my hands fall off and you can’t draw anymore. But all of that is learning how to build a better business and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
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VLD AU - That’s Not Pidge!
@a-haunted-sock thank you very much for inspiring this next one.
I got it done sooner than I expected.
Writing and illustrations alike! Here’s another addition to the giant mermaid!Pidge AU. Word count: 2,720 words. I’ll put it in the “keep reading” section below.
As a note, later we see “<speech like this>”, that means they’re in another language. Rather than fussing with translations or coming up with another language, I like to use that form to show different languages, especially of fantasy languages.
Enjoy!
There were hardly any times where Lance feared the ocean. The first time was after playing video games. He learned from one specific game that the ocean was indeed a frightening place with the high probability of so many different creatures wanting to kill you. But he also understood that it was in their nature and they just hunted prey. Once he got over that, he respected the ocean more deeply, no pun intended on his part, and loved how natural and mysterious it was. Far into the depths rested a great mystery, one humans could only daydream and ponder about. It was strange, really, that people knew more about other planets and stars than they did their own oceans.
The second time he felt fear about the ocean was when he met Pidge. Yes, she startled him at first, but that was reasonable. She was much larger than he was, the boy able to comfortably fit in the palm of her hand; using both hands, she could safely encase him in webbed prison. He felt very thankful that day that she had no intention of eating him, but rather she was curious. A strange creature that didn’t look like it belonged to the ocean, a creature she had seen come and gone… and many who never returned to the shore. At least not breathing. But what scared him more was her comment. She had a family, as well as he hoped she did so that she would not be lonely, but that wasn’t the scary part. What was was that from what he understood, she was a runt. Smaller than average.
At the same age Pidge was, however young or old that was, Pidge’s older brother was larger. Much larger from what Lance could ascertain. THAT was what frightened the poor boy. Not that anyone could blame him. Lance had spent plenty of time studying creatures of the ocean, at least the known ones. He made comparisons and he knew that Pidge was of a carnivorous race, or at least mostly carnivorous. Her teeth sharp, meant for tearing into flesh. Thinking of that, the mysteries of behemoths of the sea washing up with massive bites bitten out of them was less mysterious and almost terrifying. But that was nature.
And nature was something Lance loved and respected.
Fear. Respect. Love.
And knowing Pidge always helped to draw him back out, whether he was joined by Hunk and Keith, his best friends and the only people he talked about Pidge with, even going as far as to introduce them, or he went out on his own; he just had to be careful of mother nature deciding what days were perfect days for storms despite what meteorologists thought they knew.
Or at least he thought that was really all he had to be careful of as he went out to the middle of the ocean, nearing what he mentally called Pidge’s territory.
Setting his electromagnetic anchor so his boat wouldn’t drift away, Lance dove into the water, eager to swim with Pidge. Perhaps this was a day she would take him deeper. His suit and gear may have seemed minimal compared to what divers used to use, but it was definitely more advanced and allowed safer, deeper dives. He hoped to sneak out his uncle’s prototypes one day to test with Pidge, trusting that she would protect him and safely get him back to the surface if something went wrong.
Lance kept swimming downward, easily getting down to the dysphotic zone. He spent so much time in that level under the surface, it was in such an area that Pidge and he originally met. He went further, reaching about six hundred meters. Now that wasn’t the deepest part of the ocean, that was know, but it was far enough for Lance.
Okay, Pidge, now… where are you? He thought to himself, the voice in his head taking on a playful tone. It was sometimes like playing hide and seek with the massive mermaid; she had a way of remaining hidden. Perhaps it was the fact that people couldn’t see clearly in the ocean water naturally? Or maybe it really was magic? Science was also a plausible thing, she could be able to adjust her colour as needed like a cuttlefish. Hunk would love that idea; as bright as the mechanic was, he’d probably giggle and say it sounded like cuddle and made them sound pleasant. That thought made the diver chuckle to himself.
Lance saw movement in the distance. He recognized the wavy motion and figure. Pidge! He thought, his mental voice sounding a bit too excited than he expected. Oh thank goodness Allura wasn’t there to hear his thoughts, she would tease him about having a crush, as any good relative did. Annoying, but he knew she loved him and teasing was a good sign of that. He just wished she didn’t hit close to home when she would joke that the only girlfriend he’d probably get would be a fish. In reality, Pidge technically was a fish, right?
He really wasn’t sure. She could breathe air like a mammal but she also breathed through her gills like a fish. And he wasn’t about to get too personal and awkward and ask her about mating or anything like that. Nope! Too soon! Maybe never.
Shaking his head, Lance pushed those thoughts away. He then looked. Wait. Pidge wasn’t there. Okay. She may have been playing. Smirking behind his mask, he looked around. Behind him? Above him? Below him? He checked every bit, trying to locate Pidge. Can’t sneak up on me, Pidge. He playfully thought. He heard a sound, even through the water. Behind him. Spinning around, he could see the figure again as it neared.
Huh? He thought. Wait a moment… that… that isn’t Pidge… that one is… bigger?! His eyes widened. Oh quiznak! And worse yet, it was speeding toward him. Before it could reach, a set of hands came up from under him, startling him as he was suddenly cupped and pulled into a familiar surface. Wait… this is Pidge who has me! He thought in alarm. But… who was that? A family member?
Pidge pulled Lance in close, protecting him between her hands and chest. She made a sound, something akin to a snarl as a larger creature swam around her, sniffing at her and checking her over. From inside his safe zone, Lance couldn’t understand what was said when the other spoke. Not that he couldn’t hear them, but rather they spoke a different language.
“<Pidge! What is the meaning of this? Is this why you’ve refused to come home?>” the larger creature, a merman, inquired, settling his movements. He sniffed again. “<What even is that thing? It doesn’t belong out here.>” He grabbed for Pidge’s wrist, making a move to pry her hand away from its protective position. Pidge didn’t budge, she refused to let anything or anyone hurt Lance, especially while he was in the ocean and she was near enough to protect him. “<Pidge, show me.>” That wasn’t curiosity in his voice; he was being protective of the much smaller mermaid.
“<No, you’ll try to hurt him. Or worse, eat him. He’s not food.>” Pidge snarled, using her tail to smack away his hand. She tried to swim off, but the other got around her again. Curse being the runt. “<Leave us alone, Matt.>”
“<Pidge, whatever it is you’re doing, it’s dangerous. Being so close to the surface...>” the other started to say, concern now softening, showing a gentler side of his protectiveness.
“<I keep hidden… they aren’t able to detect me, Matt.>” Pidge spoke softly.
“<Aren’t able… this one was in your zone, near your cave!>” the other, Matt, reminded. “<And how can you be so sure they aren’t able to detect you? Pidge...>”
Pidge turned, showing Matt her back. She then pulled her hands out a bit to check on Lance. Still there. Still alive. Still fine. But he did seem rather scared. Before Matt could check, she pulled her hands back, keeping him hidden.
“<Pidge, this is a being of the surface, isn’t it? By the depths… you know what Dad always told us!>” Matt raised his voice. He then moved in closer, nuzzling his sister. “<Please… please stop this… come home. I don’t want you hurt…>”
Pidge sighed, her shoulders relaxing and the ridge along her back, which she didn’t realize had gone stiff, softened, swaying again with the movement of the water around them. “<I know… but I like it up here. It’s been fun and I’ve been safe. I’ve also been able to help others.>” She looked to Matt. “<A sky-ship went down. They call them planes. Its captain was still alive; because I freed him and got him back to the surface, he’s still alive. People are happy.>” She looked down to her hands again. “<He told me so. I trust him. He’s done nothing but been kind and trust me… And I trust him.>”
Matt sighed. He knew his sister better than he knew his own fins. She was as stubborn as she was curious. But she also knew how to see the good in others. She wasn’t naïve, she didn’t openly trust others. But she could tell when someone truly meant no harm to her.
“<I promise, I won’t eat this… thing. Whatever it is you have.>” Matt assured. “<So… will you at least show me?>”
Pidge grumbled before looking down. She pulled her hands away, but further cupped them, keeping Lance safe. She brought them up and whispered into them, this time speaking in a way Lance would understand her. “My brother wishes to meet you; he promised he won’t eat you and I’ll make sure he doesn’t do anything to bring you any harm.” she spoke so softly, but Lance could understand her easily. “Do you wish to meet him?”
Meet her brother!? Lance’s eyes widened. This thing that probably originally intended to eat him? He relaxed, though. Pidge said she wouldn’t let her brother hurt him and he trusted her. He then gently placed his hand on her lip that he had access to with her hands slightly parted. Soft. Hiding dangerously sharp teeth. But he wasn’t scared. He then tapped her lip a bit, talking in his own way to her.
Okay, let’s meet big brother. He thought. He heard Pidge sigh; he could tell she was worried about him, but he trusted her to help keep him safe.
Pidge pulled her hands down and opened them up, showing Lance there, sitting on both of them. Matt went in closer to see him, but the older, larger merman pulled back when Pidge snarled at him; the sound startled Lance.
Wow! She can sound aggressive! The human thought, both unnerved and amazed. But she’s definitely making sure he does nothing, huh?
“Well,” Pidge mumbled, “Lance, this is Matt. Matt, this is Lance.”
Matt eyed Lance, seeming to evaluate him. This thing was something Pidge wanted to protect? It may have been tiny, but he heard stories and knew this sort of creature could be a potential threat. What if he blabbed to the others of his species about Pidge? What if they decide to capture her? Experiment on her? Keep her in a little cage?
Kill her?
“<How can you trust this thing? Pidge...>” Matt muttered. “<Surface beings are dangerous creatures...>”
Lance blinked. Matt definitely wasn’t speaking a language he knew. Odds were, it wasn’t even a language any human knew; hearing it, he really questioned when, where, and how Pidge learned to speak his language and completely bypassed the awkward moments of the language barrier.
Pidge grumbled under her breath. “They aren’t all the same, Matt.” she said, speaking so Lance could understand her. “I’ve met a few.”
“<A few? And why aren’t you using the ocean’s language?>” Matt gave a quizzical look, trying to comprehend his sister and her actions.
“Because Lance doesn’t understand it, and yes! A few!” Pidge huffed, blowing bubbles from her mouth. “Lance’s friends; they’re my friends, too. Keith and Hunk are very nice. Even...” She giggled a bit. “Hunk passed out when we first met. He was scared. And Keith got so excited, he spooked me.” She looked happy at that memory. Hearing her, even Lance was amused. That was an interesting day. “Look, Matt, you don’t know them like I do. And it’s not like I’m out there for everyone to find me, befriending every human I meet. I’m careful.” She gently scooted Lance over to just one hand and used the other to gently poke him. Lance seemed to chuckle, a few extra bubbles going off from breathing mask.
Matt raised an eyebrow before carefully grabbing Pidge’s wrist. He leaned in to get a better look at Lance, examining him more closely. “He makes himself too comfortable here...”
“Because he’s my friend and knows I won’t hurt him.” Pidge deadpanned, pulling her tail up and swatting Matt’s face with it, getting him to let go. “And if you must know,” she moved her hand to her head, letting Lance go there to hold onto her hair, “yes, I allow him in my cave to see my collection.” She swam off a bit, but Matt decided to follow. “What can I tell you to convince you?”
“Hmm...” Matt grumbled. “Look, if I find a scratch on you that isn’t from some other predator of the oceans...”
“Don’t go threatening him, Matt.” Pidge stated. She looked up. “We’re clear. Lance, I’m going to return you to your boat, okay? I’ll make sure Matt doesn’t sink it.” Lance pressed on Pidge’s head, silently acknowledging what she said. “And Matt, you better behave yourself.” she snarled at her brother. She went up and broke the water’s surface near Lance’s boat. She went over and put her head near, letting Lance get on board and remove his mask. “Sorry about Matt.” She looked back, seeing him surface just enough to show his eyes. “He’s a bit protective of me; our parents have told us old stories. But those stories didn’t come from this era. And they never met you, Hunk, or Keith.”
“It’s fine and understandable.” Lance assured.
“I hope… this doesn’t scare you off.” Pidge’s ears twitched downward.
“It doesn’t.” Lance shook his head. “See you next week? I’m spending the week helping out at AARC. And helping Keith with his blog… Man, how’d I rope myself into that one.” He shook his head. “Anyway, we can meet in a week, right? Maybe any other days when I have time off?”
“I’d like that!” Pidge exclaimed, looking excited.
“Maybe I can convince the others I’ll be out on a camping trip, then we can watch the stars together.” Lance suggested. He grinned when Pidge’s ears twitched happily. “I’ll see you next week then. Or sooner.” He then looked to Matt. “Nice meeting you, Matt. Hopefully we can get along one day.” He yelped when Matt’s tail came up and splashed water at him, his boat, and Pidge; thankfully it wasn’t enough to sink the boat. Matt huffed before diving back down.
“I’m sure he’ll behave.” Pidge assured.
“But he doesn’t like me.” Lance chuckled.
“He doesn’t like you, yeah.” Pidge confirmed.
“Eh, family. Should’ve seen Marco and Veronica when Luis brought home his then-girlfriend for the first time. They got protective.” Lance shrugged. “But they warmed up to Lisa. I’m sure Matt will warm up to me, too. Just gotta give it time and be patient.”
“Yeah.” Pidge nodded. “Anyway, safe sailing. See you another time.” She nodded before diving down to join her brother, most likely give him a stern talking too.
Lance smiled, watching as Pidge disappeared into the waters. He then deactivated the anchor and sailed back to the AARC base, his mind dwelling on what he told Pidge as a blush came to his cheeks. “I just compared me meeting Matt to the family meeting Lisa, didn’t I?” he sighed. “Oh boy… but..” He shook his head. “Meeting Matt was a bit scary. I think I’d be terrified to meet their parents if Matt was THAT MUCH BIGGER than Pidge. Wow...” He then nodded, focusing his mind on getting back home.
Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this one.
As an added note, I knew Matt was bigger than his sister, but even I was impressed with what my mind came up with when I doodled Matt looking around Pidge. Whew!
#Pidge#Pidge Gunderson#Katie Holt#Matt Holt#Lance#mermaid pidge#mermaid katie holt#merman matt holt#mer!matt holt#mer!Pidge#mer pidge#giant mermaid#giant mermaid pidge#giant merman matt#matt is massive#VLD#Voltron legendary defender#alternate universe#i love when people inspire me
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