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patheticbatman · 13 days ago

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Part Two of Chantha Rasphone! (Part One if you are confused but curious). This one will pick up directly where the last one left off.

When Ldreth awoke at midnight, Amalai was jumping on his stomach, his connection to her was gone, his magic was already spent, and there was a sword above his head, pointed away from his child.

And he was tied up with his own belts.

“Oh good, you’re awake,” said the assassin. He looked haggard, like he had just weathered a toddler on a rampage.

“Oof,” said Ldreth.

Judging from the state of disarray in his room, perhaps the assassin had.

“We’ve been trying to wake you up for ages,” the assassin said casually. “You and I have some bargaining to do.”

Ldreth’s mind raced wildly. He was tied up, but his daughter was fined his magic was used up - likely in dealing with the poison that had knocked him out - and would not replenish enough to deal with the human until dawn. There was no way he would be able to communicate from here with anyone downstairs, not even he yelled at the top of his lungs at the bottom of stairs. He certainly could not get there without the ability to open the door. His bell for calling servants was hung on the wall, far out of reach. Even the pixie he hired as a nanny was out cold – maybe the poison had some sort of time aspect.

His stomach hit the floor as he looked up at the assassin. No, not assassin, he admitted, resigned. A knight.

A knight with no armor, an awkward hold on the sword, and I so dark and inviting that Ldreth thought he could get lost within them. But a knight nonetheless.

“What is it you wish, conqueror,” he growled, teeth bared.

The knight’s ducked his face for a moment and cleared his throat. He squeaked, “Three-”. The werman coughed, bringing his right arm to cover his mouth in embarrassment. “Three oaths I ask of thee, kidnapper.” He paused dramatically. “First, that you release the one you call Amalai from your attentions and grasp until she reaches the age of majority. From there on, she may decide to contact you as she wishes.”

Ldreth kept his face still, but sobbed and relief inwardly. Childe had much harsher terms for his siblings’ return - he never saw Burd Ellen again. Even if they had been in the same room, he would not have been able to sense her. He could wait for Amalai. It was his own fault that the knight had reached Amalai before he had returned her himself. “Agreed.”

The knight smiled brightly. “Wise choice, your Majesty.”

Mesmerized, Ldreth’s eyes stayed on the knight’s lips a moment too long.

The knight smiled wider. “Secondly, you or yours may not set foot or keep your portal within the lands of my genus loci, the Asha Manitou Turtle Person. I have beaten you in combat, and it does not take kindly to thieves of children.”

Hot shame and anger bubbled up in the king’s gut. Something must have shown on his face, because the night removed Amalai from atop Ldreth’s stomach. The knight stepped over his body, and held the swordpoint over his throat. “Agreed?”

The king swallowed again, and felt the hairs of his neck brush against the blade. “You do not know with whom you deal, knight.” Now more than ever, Ldreth wished his magic was not spent. In that moment, he would have rent the knight limb from limb, if he could, never mind how much Ldreth wanted to run his fingers through that hair.

“Perhaps I do not,” acknowledged the knight, “But neither do you. Do you agree to the second oath?”

Giving up access to part of the human world was a terrible loss for all of his people - but especially Ldreth himself. That area of the world was densely populated, especially with people of the Rowland line. But if it meant not feeling the cold bite of iron in his throat, sapping away at his powers for a year and a day? In this contentious time? He would do it. Even now, his wing stung - and that had merely been a nick. Ldreth could not afford to be out of commission for the coming calamity. “Agreed,” he spat.

The sword moved away.

“Third: you give up your claim on the Rowland line - forever.”

Eyes wide, Ldreth snarled, “So you would ask me to voluntarily end my line – my peoples independence – forever?” Hot tears sprung into his eyes, and Ldreth could not hold them back. “My Realm is small, but proud. I have not been able to produce an heir, and the Suhma Court breathes down our necks even now. You cannot ask me to rid myself of the only way I am to have a child.”

Ldreth cast his eyes to his daughter. He had been so close - and now he would have another child ripped away, to die a quick mortal death at the relentless choking grip of Elli herself.

As if the knight had read Ldreth’s thoughts, the knight coldly asked, “But has your method been successful? Both times, hundreds of years apart, I must add, the children you took were returned to their families.” His voiced softened. “But I have an idea - one that might give you a better chance.”

Ldreth looked up at the knight. “What could you possibly offer me that is of equal worth?”

The knight smirked, and Ldreth could no longer deny his attraction. “The ability to give birth to your own.”

Ldreth stared.

“Adoption is of course a valid and wonderful way to have children.” The knight continued. “But from what I have heard of Faerie’s laws, that it makes the claiming of such children difficult - somehow theft or curse is a more valid acquisition. So, I will give you the ability to bypass such issues.”

Ldreth nodded, mouth agape. “But how could I get such an ability? I am a faeman! A man!”

The knight shrugged. “So am I. But if we traded abilities, I think both of us could benefit quite nicely.

Mind racing, Ldreth did the math. Human men were generally more willing to pursue short relationships. If he himself could bear the (wonderful, cherished) consequences, then becoming a father could become a lot less difficult. But -

“I cannot perform such a transferral without preparation,” lamented Ldreth, unwilling to admit he had no magic available.

“No worries,” the knight said. “Just come to me before the next new moon. I need another Baci Su Khwan anyway.”

“I will visit you as soon as you are out of this … Turtle Person’s lands.”

“Ag-” the knight stopped himself. “And you must agree to never visit revenge upon me or mine.”

Ldreth had not planned on it anyway - this was a deal he could live with. “Agreed.”

“Do we have an accord?” The human smiled, giddy, as if he had always wanted to say that.

“We have an accord,” confirmed the king.

Both hissed as the Bargain-mark pricked and burned into the skin of their left-ring fingers, an odd spot, the ambient magic of Ixrun binding them together.

“What is this?” asked the knight, marveling at the intricate marking on his finger.

“A sign that we are bound to each other.”

Ek must have been satisfied, for he unbuckled the belts on his legs, wings, and finally the king’s hands.

Seizing his chance to bind the man further - for humans were slippery curs - Ldreth grabbed the knight by the head and kissed him.

The soft lips did not yield, but Ldreth got what he wanted, the werman accidentally getting a bit of spit into his mouth, making him a citizen of Ixrun, and giving the king his name. He licked his lips, to try and cover up his surprise at already missing the sensation. “I will always know you now, Chantha Rasphone,” Ldreth bared his teeth. “There will be nowhere I cannot find you.” Despite the king’s position on the floor, vulnerable, he saw the fear enter the knight’s eyes.

But then the werman cleared his throat, and a wicked glint enter his eyes. “Call me Ek, Calyute Ldreth Tynch u’Ixrun.”

Ldreth’s throat went dry. He had thought that iota of magic he had gained in the last few minutes had been enough to shield his name from being taken too.

He nodded, defeated.

The knight - no, Chantha - no, Ek - offered Ldreth a hand. “I would suggest firing the pixie,” he said casually. “Look at the switch on the bed. Enough babies die of SIDS every year, you don’t need another thing keeping them silent.” Then he turned away. Ldreth was no longer important. Ek held his hand out to Amalai.

Ldreth drank in the sight - he would not see her until she came of age, and he intended to remember everything, even if he had more children.

She wrapped her small hand around two of Ek’s fingers.

“Ready to go?”

Ldreth was not ready for her to go.

She nodded solemnly.

Ek walked her out to the balcony. “Turtle Person?” He called to the open air. “We are ready to go home.” He picked Amalai up, and she clung to him like a koala-spider.

A great rending sound, like metal torn asunder, groaned and echoed through the land. A crack in the sky appeared. Ek lifted his sword, and a swirling mass of riverwater touched down and swallowed the two up.

The water retreated up, up, up, and the crack in the sky scabbed over. The sound played backwards.

They were gone.

“Good show, old chap!” Merlin said as Ek and Sunya flew out of the hole in the ground, Ek barely landing on his feet. He patted Ek’s shoulder. “Especially with that last bit.” He winked. “Very clever indeed.”

“Uhhh, thanks.” Ek did not really know what to say to that.

“With that matter done, I must away! Other young heroes to meddle- I mean advise. Until we meet again!” He popped back out of sight.

Turtle Person snorted, then pointed a still-healing claw at Ek’s dha. “I suggest you learn how to use that properly, young man.” It said. “This is not the end.”

Ek’s heart sped up. Was it bad that he was both disappointed and glad to hear that? Regardless, he nodded. “I will, Turtle Person. Thank you.”

Turtle Person nodded back and shimmered out of sight.

Ek looked at Phi Thooey.

She colored and went behind him to see Sunya, whose cub was resting on his shoulder. “Hello, Nyai,” she waved.

When the little girl saw the phi, she buried her face into Ek’s shirt.

His heart lurched. “Phi Thooey, I think she’s tired.”

The phi looked a little sad, but withdrew. “I understand. Ek,” she grabbed hold of his free hand. “You did well, and entered at a lucky time. Only a few minutes have passed here. Your break is nearly over - I have placed a fresh bowl of chicken and fries at your table, and made it invisible to all others. I do not want you to be punished for eating on the clock.” She pointed down the way, where a pair of frantic parents were trailing a guard. “There are Nyai’s parents. I will see you at the wat.”

Ek blinked, and she was gone. “Thank you!” He called to the empty air.

Shrugging, the ache of his arms and chest scars overwhelmed by satisfaction, Ek put Sunya on the ground - park policy made it clear that these circumstances did not merit any more than holding her hand - and brought her over to her parents. After he hid the dha in some bushes, of course.

Then he used the last few minutes of his break to wash up, arrange his clothes to hide the stains and rips (he was not successful), and went back to work.

He still had hours left of his shift. He pulled the guide out of his pocket and touched his lips.

THE END

Chantha Rasphone Explanation

Okay originally I thought this would have to be split up a lot more, but I had to 'split' the story so late in the narrative, the rest of this should fit. So read on!

This is the longest story I’ve ever written. Not counting the section dividers, glossary, pictures or this explanation, it’s over 40 printer pages - over 21k words long. It’s no Lord of the Rings, but it’s a new high for me and I’m pleased with myself. I started writing it in June of 2023, after I finished up writing the Napoleon adaptation. I was out of time, interest and eventually journal pages (I used that journal for other things too) during the months following that summer, so I did not finish until June 2024, writing several other, shorter stories along the way. But I made it to page 93 - the very last page for the story!

Then I typed it up, changed word choices, pacing, and occasionally small scenes, until I was at last satisfied. I set out to write the beginning to a queer, problematic and slightly bloody relationship, set in a similar story to the film Labyrinth (1986) (that’s going to come up a lot lol) and I believe I reached that goal.

In terms of inspiration, Ek is a bit of me (job, to whom I’m attracted, interest in helping kids) and a bit of a friend N (transman, does not want to be the birthing parent but wants kids, impulsive). When I started the story, N was struggling with his mental health and so I created a version of him who doesn’t have to face such things. But I can be slightly unimaginative, so the character ended up being like myself as well. Then Ek ended up being Laotian (leading to a lot of edits, they were worth it but dang) because of one very interesting twelve year old I looked after while working the Lost Parents position. He had recently come out and felt kind of alone, because a lot of queer representation is still very white and/or very Americanized, divorced from any heritage, and he wished it was not so. So Ek grew from being a queer copy+paste version of Childe Rowland to a guy with his own title.

Chantha Rasphone was chosen as the name of my hero for two reasons - syllables and sort-of alliteration. Childe (Chial-dey) as a name used to mean a noble boy who had yet to become a knight. It briefly became a first name after the original poem became popular, before eventually shortening and meaning a gender neutral term for a young human. So overall the name is four syllables. I searched long and hard for a male Laotian name that both started with the same sounds (ch- and r-) and had the same syllables. I finally settled on Chantha Rasphone. Chantha also means moon, a literary symbol for change, which is a nod to how his body will be changed on a new moon after the story ends. Ek was chosen because it sounds nothing like Chantha and means hero, and I enjoy being on the nose!

Ldreth is based on the villain from the film Labyrinth (1986), to whom N and I both find attractive. We both like men, but we both like very different men. I think Jareth is the sole character we both feel strongly about. I ended up giving him more muscles, wings, and facial features as if he was from the area of Australia that inspired many of my animals. Plus he has fantasy vitiligo (a skin condition that causes loss of melanin, dark colored skin cells, in often-symmetrical patches)! But he was still very inspired by Jareth, even though he’s a milder in terms of casual cruelty and a bit more physical than magical. Only once did I finish drawing him did I realize I was inspired mustache- and physique-wise by Tom Selleck in ‘3 Men and a Baby’ and King Bradley from ‘Full Metal Alchemist’.

But his final homage to Jareth is his name. Sure, his private name is Calyute, the same as a defending Pindjarup (the people on whom Ldreth is facially and locationally based) warrior who successfully rattled Australian colonizers, but his most common one that we see used throughout the story is Ldreth. Literally I was just coming up with placeholder names because calling the guy ‘the king’ and thought about names that would not BE Jareth but certainly sound like Jareth. The ‘d’ sound and the ‘j’ sound are similar, so I did ‘Dreth’ for a while. Then I wanted it to be two syllables and be unlike any other name I have ever heard (that’s how I came up with Tynch and Ixrun as well). So I stuck an ‘L’ in front. The next summer I tried to think of something better, but by then the name stuck. Names are dangerous when left unattended, lol.

By the way the wings were a last minute addition to make the choking seem more forceful . And they were originally going to be butterfly wings. But it turns out I suck at drawing butterfly wings, and I did not feel like practicing, so I switched it to Western Spinebill wings. This especially worked because Ldreth’s vitiligo gives him white markings about his eyes and near his mouth. It literally took me hours to find a bird that was definitely from southwest Australia that has brown wings. But when I found this one I cheered! It even eats nectar, which I think is very fae-like.

Also I both like and find boring fae who don’t look that different from humans. So I wanted to give him something.

Another note before I get into the drawings: glossaries are useful dictionaries at the end of books to help readers (often young but I don’t think you stop needing such things as adults) define new and foreign words. Even if I don’t notice the book having a glossary until I reach the end (because they’re often at the end) I still like to read through it.

This story has an oversized glossary. That size was not really needed, but as I was creating it (mostly for the Laotian terms and the made up Faerie words) I ran across a post about Alice Te Punga Somerville’s poignant poem, ‘Kupu rere kē’. It was not the first time had seen it, but it was right after I had compiled the extensive-but-only-by-necessity glossary for West of the Sun, East of the Moon, and it got me thinking. Here is the poem in its original form.

Kupu rere kē - by Alice Te Punga Somerville

My friend was advised to italicise all the foreign words in her poems. This advice came from a well-meaning woman with NZ poetry on her business card and an English accent in her mouth. I have been thinking about this advice. The convention of italicising words from other languages clarifies that some words are imported: it ensures readers can tell the difference between a foreign language and the language of home. I have been thinking about this advice. Marking the foreign words is also a kindness: every potential reader is reassured that although you're expected to understand the rest of the text, it's fine to consult a dictionary or native speaker for help with the italics. I have been thinking about this advice. Because I am a contrary person, at first I was outraged — but after a while I could see she had a point: when the foreign words are camouflaged in plain type you can forget how they came to be there, out of place, in the first place. I have been thinking about this advice and I have decided to follow it. Now all of my readers will be able to remember which words truly belong in Aotearoa and which do not.

English is not the Indigenous language of the USA, nor is Laotian. But this poem made me think about how I can so easily use English as a crutch to explain Laotian terms, perhaps to an oversimplified extent, and expect every reader to comprehend it.

So before writing this, I ended up writing a ridiculous amount of definitions for an entire evening. You don’t have to read the entire thing, but think of it as a statement piece - neither language, English or Laotian, should be anything but foreign here. And while I can only truly write extensively in English, the point is now out there.

(Also I very rarely italicize words, because I often change mediums and document programs, so it gets lost in translation. And to save myself a headache, once I finished that glossary that night, I made a strict rule to not add to it anymore. That was the kind of side quest that would take over your brain forever if you let it.)

Okay, on a less serious note, let’s get to the drawings!

As stated above, this story grew out of control and the title even changed. And as I tend to draw titles before anything else, that meant I had to make a new title drawing. The original, which says Childe Rowland (see below, before the glossary) was my attempt at artistic triangles. I had fun making it, but it was definitely less relevant than my new one. It says Chantha Rasphone, and even has his dha and phial! His name is lowercase because I felt it matched the vibe. The final title picture was drawn nearly seven months before the other pictures.

The second picture was the second to last I drew for this. I wanted to space out the story-specific drawings evenly throughout the book, and as I was drawing to a close I realized I did it have enough drawings with Ldreth, and had zero of Sunya. So I eventually drew this one. I think the perspective came out decently. By this point I had decided on Ldreth’s hair length, but the original version of this specific illustration has a longer mustache. Sometimes you have to get the final step to realize what would complete your vision. Sunya is probably one of the most accurate children I’ve ever drawn, and I drew her too tall for her age. Such is life. She’s wearing a swim shirt and shorts, because I think toddlers look cute in those and it helps them avoid sunburn. Ldreth is wearing an outfit inspired by Jareth (high collar, frilly necktie), a little bit of a wrestler’s outfit (high boots, bare shoulders) and slightly Garnet from Steven Universe (gloves which only have a middle finger).

The third picture was the first one I drew outside of the title, because I knew I wanted it to have the most people and I was excited to draw Phi Thooey.

Of course, that’s when I realized I had lost the image of a temple statue that I planned to use as her model. So I had to do some digging, found a cool goddess named Phra Mae Thorani, who is often recognized across Southeast Asia. I found a very detailed statue, simplified the decorations on the cloth a little, and drew Phi Thooey! I also shortened her hair style to just a bun on top, because she does not ever squeeze the waters of detachment symbolically out of her hair (like Phra Mae Thorani, to help people ignore temptation) - she is not a detached spirit by any means. I have her presenting the phial in that way because I just think presenting objects like that is visually cool. And in that moment, I was artistically charged and ready to take on hands.

Next came Turtle Person, whose design is based on both male and female Nanticoke-Lenape attire, and which (hopefully) strikes a balance between traditional and modern Lenape design. It is not stuck in the past - it even bears their modern symbol, a turtle overlaid by a drawn bow, as the embroidered patch on the end of their braid. Plus, it has scales, stripes, a back turtle shell, and though you can’t see it, claws. That’s why it’s holding its hands like that - one finger is within the other fist, to staunch the bleeding. Its skirt probably has the best ruffles I have drawn to date.

Then I drew Ek. I hate how his hairstyle looks in the back but it’s one of those things that looks better with shading. Otherwise, I’m satisfied with how it turned out. His uniform was based upon mine, minus the clear fanny pack because I did not feel like drawing it. Note the bracelet on his wrist - both he and Sunya have one.

I drew Merlin last. By this point, I was artistically fatigued. I really like drawings Merlin being old and thin and having an incredibly long white beard and such, but I decided to go another route. Merlin was likely inspired by an ancient British chief, so I based his face off a reconstruction of a British man from that time period. People’s faces in general were widened because they had to chew tougher food, which expands the jaw. His robe is vaguely inspired by generic wizard robes, though I tried to hearken back to the inspiration of those robes, which were scholar robes, and added some leaves to reference Merlin’s ultimate fate. He shot moon, asterisk and star symbols at Ek because that was the best way my artist fatigue could imagine magic.

The fourth picture (and the first to not be story-specific) is a kangaroo-dolphin. I first invented it for the charity coloring book, Li’s Friends: Horrible Pets to Protect You From the Horrible World. As I had only planned (and had time) for 8 drawings in this story, which meant they were few and far between in such a long fairy tale, I wanted to include extra pictures. So it was not much trouble to include this little guy! My work for that coloring book project inspired all the animals that appeared in Chantha Rasphone.

The fifth was the thylacine-emu catching her young and Ek. Drawing this made me realize two things. One, since my farm now had emus, and they actually had wings, as opposed to moas, which had no upper limbs at all, it would make more sense reference and story wise to change the birds I had originally written (thylacine-moas, because that was another Li’s Friends chimera invention, see the drawing) to thylacine-emus. Thank god for the word replacement tool. Two, I needed to standardize Ek’s face.

One of my biggest struggles throughout this project was keeping a face consistent. Even if you use one model, one photo consistently, if you take time to consider what lines and face angles you want to consistently depict, you’re going to get varying faces. So this time around, I bit the bullet and drew a little Ek. I ultimately changed the hairstyle, but the Laotian model I used had the haircut as seen in the face model. I think my face consistency has a long way to go, but improved significantly.

The sixth was one I tried drawing all year, in between when I stopped writing Chantha Rasphone in August 2023 and started again in June 2024. I had just finished that section, and I knew I wanted to include a picture from this scene. Initial plans included Frondrum hanging from Ek. Eventually, to combat artist fatigue, I made it a smaller drawing with only a partial view of the taipan-purinina and Ek. This made me happy, and I was able to move onto the next drawing. I did give Ek top-surgery scar stains before I finished, just to be extra.

The seventh picture is the last non-story-specific one included for Chantha Rasphone. In Li’s Book of Friends, the crocodile-bees are not sapient, but are otherwise the same. This picture is meant to be the one found in Ek’s survival guide. Which to be honest, is also partially inspired by Li’s Book of Friends.

The eighth illustration was originally going to be Ek hopping out through Spejo the Mirror, it being tilted and transparent enough that you could see both his backside and his front going through. But the only using line-art restriction plus my desire to depict my magical mirror design one last time٭ lead to me drawing this instead. I’m not as pleased with the perspective - foreshortening limbs is hard - but regardless it is over and I am glad.

٭ I drew a single magic mirror like this throughout many of my stories, including my very first, Snow White. While the Acacia Tree has an evil stepmother who looks into a mirror with vanity and malice in her heart, this was the very last last depiction of my version of the Magic Mirror.

The ninth was the last drawing I drew on August 4th - it was an uncharacteristically slow day at work, and the following day more than made up for its oddness. But I was happy to utilize the time for my projects. I created the Ldreth facial reference right before illustrating this. I did mess around with longer haired versions of Ldreth, but after receiving input from my buddy answeringmysister on Tumblr, I shortened it. This was also the picture that made me give up upon butterfly wings and go with wings. Again, artistic fatigue is real, and I already knew how to draw foreshortened bird wings.

For clarity’s sake, Ek’s left arm (he’s left handed) is striking Ldreth’s right wing with the dha, cutting in and poisoning (potioning?) him. Ldreth is wearing a different outfit than the diving picture. He still has bare shoulders, but he has full gloves and a tail coat now. This situation will definitely lead to some awkwardness down the road, when the two start seriously feeling attraction for one another, but the choking and poisoning felt necessary to both in the moment. Narrative tension is fun :).

The absolute last picture (for a reason ^_^) is Ek and Ldreth kissing. I just wanted to be evil. One of these days I’ll draw a kissing picture where both parties look natural, even if one is resisting. Still, it’s an improvement from none looking natural!

Thank you for reading!

Chantha Rasphone Glossary - had to be split up because tumblr was scared of all my bullet points. Start here for the Laotian terms, and for the links to the next bunch.

#wac #chantha rasphone #this one is shorter lmao #if you saw this before late december #no you didny #i am just tryig to get all the linking done early #I wish yu could link drafts or queued posts ugh #anywyas see it in december :)

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