#read how the west won please | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

qingyingpocketlirary · 3 months ago

Text

Journey’s End

Warning long post with mention of violence below. Minors DO NOT engage.

Please be aware that this is an altered and edited version of how I personally see the Journey to the West happening in the Lego Monkie Kid Show to fit with my own works. This is in no way canon to the Books. Please bear this in mind while reading.

Thank you!

Journey To The West. Journey’s End. Chapter 9, 10, 11 and Epilogue.

Chapter 9 The night was long and without rest, Ao Lie didn’t mind the lack of sleep, but it was clear that Tripitaka Sanzang had not rested well at all as the morning broke over Camel Ridge. Then a voice boomed across the air, filled with authority and power, so much so that it rattled the roof slates and brought loose sand and dust falling down from the ceilings and walls.

It was a familiar voice, and upon hearing it the little monkeys seemed to gain some courage, cooing and chittering ever so softly.

Peng could be heard, but then the avian fell silent as a resounding impact shook the ground and again, the voice called out for Azure Lion to come out and face him, or Peng and Yellow Tusk would be made to witness the ruin of Camel Ridge. This was not the Pilgrim Tripitaka Sanzang had banished two years ago, this was not the Monkey Demon who had tormented Heaven until the Buddha had entombed him in Five Phases Mountain, No, this was a part of the Monkey the Monk had not witnessed, only ever heard of.

This was the Handsome Monkey King, Sun Wukong, Great Sage Equal to Heaven.

Ao Lie felt Tripitaka shudder as Azure Lion smiled at the voice, as if the Lion felt he had won some unknown victory as he walked out of the Prison. The Dragon Prince asks the Monk not to recite the spell of tightening, no matter what he hears or what happens, because whatever the situation between the trio and Wukong, it was no place for Heaven or a human to interfere. This is a situation where the ways of Demons were the only way, and if Tripitaka got involved or distracted Wukong, there would be no way to save him. The Monk reluctantly agrees to Ao Lie’s request, and instead begins to recite scriptures again.

It was not so much a battle, as it was a beating.

Yellow Tusk made one honest attempt to reason with the Monkey, only to be swiftly silenced. Peng’s pained cries echoed for a few brief minutes, drowning out the outraged calls from Azure before the avian also fell silent. Then came the sounds of traded blows, punches, kicks, weapons and bodies slamming into one another for ferocious force and pure power, the likes of which the Monk had never witnessed from the Monkey before.

As Azure and Wukong traded powerful blows, all while Azure tried to bargain with Wukong and only seemed to make it worse for himself, a pair of familiar faces reached the prison. Tripitaka asks them to free the other prisoners first and with swift and quick movements, Bajie and Wujing break the locks on the cells of the other prisoners, telling them a path to follow that would take them to safety away from the ongoing fight, Wujing using careful hands to get the little Monkeys’ cage down from its place and then ripping the top off before tenderly lifting the small creatures from within and setting them instead on a warm blanket with fresh fruit cuts and clean water to drink. Ao Lie tells Bajie about the other prisoner in the cell across the room, and while Wujing sets about freeing Ao Lie and the Monk, Bajie opens the far cell and releases the chained occupant from his restraints, only to yelp in shock as he is tossed out of the cell.

When he gets back to his feet the occupant is gone, but none of them saw him leave the cell, Wujing also notes that the little monkeys are also gone along with the food and blanket. After a long moment, there is a sudden crash and then Azure Lion cursing Wukong, only to fall silent. The Monk believes it is because Wukong has killed the Lion. Bajie and Wujing lead Ao Lie and their Master out of the Prison to find no signs of the battle that had just happened, instead they see Wukong, standing with his back to them, holding something in his hand as the Merciful Guanyin stands before him with a person dressed in dark robes, trimmed in blue with an eerie darkness obscuring the person’s face.

The person and Wukong have a brief exchange, during which Wukong hands over the thing he is holding and then turns his attention to Guanyin, who seems regretful as she speaks to Wukong. Wukong looks at the person and after another exchange of words, Wukong’s fur bristles, but then he seems to just sag in defeat before nodding, moving to sit at the edge of a broken wall as if to wait.

Then Guanyin turns to the Pilgrims.

She praises Ao Lie, for his efforts in keeping the Monk from harm, and his wise words when times called for them. But reminded softly that the Dragon’s task should not come to the point where he is so tired he injures himself, and remarks he must still work on speaking up, his words do no good when they are not spoken aloud, and his silence can be just as damaging as unspoken truths. Ao Lie accepts her words with grace and bows deeply. To Wujing, she offers both encouragement that his is improving, even if in ways the river guardian can not see, and compliments his choice to only resort to violence when he has no other choice, but reminds that it is not strength alone that makes a man strong, but the ability to step in and diffuse tensions between others with words and compromises before the aggression rises to violence, Wujing promises to consider and better himself with time and practice.

Bajie shies away from Guanyin, unable to lift his gaze to look upon her. She does not begrudge it, and instead reminds the Pig that his anger and resentment towards Wukong for baseless words and faithless accusations blinds him to truths he now has seen proof of for himself. She asks him to remember no history is ever written without biases, as history is written by the victors of conflict and rulers of subjects, not the subjects and fallen ones, Bajie agrees to consider, in his own time and own ways.

When Guanyin addressed Tripitaka Sanzang, she opened by praised him for his successes so far, however small, encouraged him to continue with the knowledge that no matter how long it would take, the path would be walked. And then, she reminded him that while yes, he was a Master, a good one to his disciples Bajie and Wujing, and he had been given a great gift, he had failed to take in a very important lesson and in doing so, hurt someone needlessly. Guanyin had been tasked by Tathagata himself to find a disciple who could not only protect the Great Monk on his journey, but also one who would teach the Monk understanding, acceptance and also someone who was able to teach him not all things in life were simply one way or another. And instead of accepting this disciple with grace and making a true effort to try, Tripitaka Sanzang had let his own teachings as a human blind him to a truth he is even now reluctantly coming to terms with.

Tripitaka Sanzang asks how he can help Wukong reach enlightenment when the Monkey refuses to learn. To this, Guanyin asks who appointed such a task to Tripitaka Sanzang and for what reason. The Monk admits he had assumed this was his duty, as a Master it was only right to try and help his disciples. Guanyin agrees, but reminds the Monk that a person must be willing to walk the path to enlightenment before they can be accused of ignoring its lessons. Wukong is not on that path, not then or now, and it was wrong of the Monk to try and force the matter.

Lastly, as Wukong was chosen for the Monk to protect him as part of a deal, even if not walking the same path as the Monk and his third and fourth disciples, the Monkey King is integral to the Journey, without him, the Monk will not succeed in progressing and completing the task set for him. Wukong will remain with them, and the Merciful Guanyin suggests that while the Monk may not like the methods Wukong uses to protect him, it may do well for the Monk to learn why Wukong is so quick to use violence rather than words when interacting with Demons rather than seeing it as a deliberate attempt to ignore the Monk’s preferences.

Tripitaka Sanzang agrees to try.

For the following month, things are tense, but fall into a familiar pattern now that Wukong is once again traveling with them. Word spread swiftly that he was back and suddenly the kidnapping attempts seemed to dramatically decrease, though Yin and Jin took the time to greet Wukong, actually greet him as if the three were friends when they’d gotten to their weekly attempt before being hit skyward with a lack luster ‘Hi and Bye’ from the Monkey after Wujing had easily lifted the Monk from between the twins and set him down on his own two feet before undoing the bow at the back of the rope to release him.

The other Pilgrims have noticed that Wukong’s behaviour is different since his return, he does not attack demons on sight anymore, instead waiting for them to make the first strike, but still dealing with them the same harsh way he always has, he is distant not just from the Monk, but also Ao Lie and Wujing, only coming close when one of them invite him to do so, and he does not sit to eat with them, nor sleep close by as he once did. He is using Truth Vision, but he doesn’t say what he sees, and this leads to more frequent kidnappings attempts by bigger, more powerful Demons as they begin to progress further West.

The biggest difference the Monk notices is when they reach Silken Web Hollow. It is clear that despite being deep in enemy territory, Wukong is not actually putting any real heat or force behind his bold words, if anything, he was bantering with the Spider Queen Mother and her daughters as if their predicament were normal. He even went so far as to ask if the ‘lovely ladies’ would be kind enough to share any weaving tips for good blankets, and swaddling techniques for fussy babies. It was only after the Queens departed to sleep at night when Wukong cut himself and them free, leading to a long seven days navigating, traversing and retracing their own steps after getting lost in the vast tunnels and caves of Silken Web Hollow, all while playing a deadly and twisted game of chase with the Seven Daughters until they reached the surface and spinted beyond the limits of the Array, chased by the Spider Queen Mother herself.

After leaving the Array’s limit Wukong stopped turnaround and offered the old Spider a bow and thanks for her hospitality before running again.

They eventually made it into the nearby woodlands, and unable to understand why the Monkey’s behaviour is different now, the Monk and Wukong get into a ‘heated discussion’, as Wukong simply reminds the Monk that he isn’t doing any of this for enlightenment or rewards and refuses to explain why things are different as to the Monkey, they aren’t. Before they can come to any kind of resolution, they are found and attacked by a demoness, one calls herself The Lady Bone Demon, and who mocks the Monk with false praise for his politeness and hsi aid in her escape from Clear Ice Mountain. The fight is brief, but Wukong is badly injured when he shields Bajie and the Monk from an attempt at possession, leaving the Monkey drained of chi and unable to keep his glamour up even as he tries to keep fighting. The Bone Demon mocks the Monkey King, and states that with the Monk’s flesh, she would have the lifespan needed to reshape the imperfect world that had festered and ruined itself and create a perfect world.

They only escape because Ao Lie takes on the Lady Bone Demon to give Bajie and Wujing time to get Wukong and the Monk away, the Dragon prince using a vast amount of power, chi and energy to drive the demoness away, to the point where his once black hair is now white.

Being the only one who has seen Wukong’s scars before, the Monk is not as shocked as the other are at just how broken and scars the Monkey’s body truly is beneath the glamour he wears, and during one evening meal time where Ao Lie insists on pushing some of his own Chi into Wukong to help him recover, Bajie asks why Wukong jumped in even when Bajie had already put himself in the line of fire for the Monk. Wukong reminds Bajie that he made a deal with Guanyin to which Bajie states that if Wukong really wasn’t after anything from Heaven, he’d have let the Bone Demon Possess Bajie to kill the Monk, thus ending the Journey and freeing Wukong from the Circlet.

Wukong refuses to answer, and does not sleep close to the Pilgrims that night.

Ao Lie and Tripitaka hear from Wujing that before they’d arrived at Camel Ridge, Guanyin had come to Flower Fruit Mountain and offered Wukong a Memory Scroll from the Underworld, a powerful tool designed to imitate the Memory Orbs of Chang’e, used to allow the wielder of the Scroll to witness selected memories of anyone inside the Scroll. The only ones who could use such a Scroll were those with a token, and only Ten tokens were ever made and given to each of the Ten Kings. The only one willing to offer their token was the Tenth King, but it had been made clear that this was only because Heaven had demanded it and the other Kings were unwilling to involve themselves in the matters of a Buddha and her Disciple.

Wukong would not know the answers to his questions until Journey ended.

The only reason Wukong was with them again was because Guanyin had given Wukong her promise, may she be struck down if she tried to deceive or renege on her words, that no harm would befall the Brotherhood within the Memory Scroll, in exchange for this promise, she had asked Wukong to return to the Pilgrimage and keep the Monk alive. When the Monk again asks why Wukong saved Bajie, when it has been clear from the start that Bajie and he are not close and often openly hostile towards each other, it is Ao Lie who reminds the Monk that Wukong is a Monkey and the oldest of the group. Monkey troops survive because they protect every member, even if they don’t get alone.

A few days later they hear from a passing merchant in a nearby town that Silken Web Hollow has been destroyed, and the Tripitaka notices that Wukong takes time at a market to purchase a bottle of wine, only to later wrap both the bottle and a small bouquet of seven spider lilies in silk and buries the package beneath a hollow tree where many small spiders had spun webs while they continue on the road West. Then came an incident that seemed to set Wukong’s mood from indifferent to murderous. A run in with Yin and Jin that had somehow crossed into a Heavenly matter involving general Li Jing, and two others from Heaven, a joint force against a Demon King who has unleashed a sickness upon the land that had left the humans and four of the local Mortal Born Gods sickly and weak.

The Heavenly Gods were not faring well, unable to pass the miasma fog that hides the Demon King’s lair, and while the Monk knew it was not wise to involve himself and his Pilgrims in the matters of Heaven, he did not feel right simply walking away from this matter. Much to his shock, Wukong himself said he’d deal with it. Not to the Monk or the Heavenly Gods, but to the small children of the village, specifically a little girl and the tiny baby boy in her arms, he’d knelt down and asked the child if the baby was hurting and needed care, only for the girl to shake her head and explain that her little brother was crying from hunger because their mother was too frail to nurse him, and there was no milk as the milk cows were running wild in the fields, panicked and frightened and much too dangerous for the children to try and catch on their own.

Wujing went into the fields, Bajie laid down his pack and pulled out every pot he had, setting the children the task of finding him all the food in the village so he could cook good meals for them while Ao Lie and the Monk took their herbs and medicines to the frantic healers, and asked what more was needed. Wukong had torn a fistful of fur from his head and set his clones the task of helping wherever they were needed and gone off alone into the poison fog.

A few hours, the sickness was lifted as Wukong dragged the Demon King, a big black bear with multiple bruises and badly burnt fur who towered over everyone, to the village by the ear and then tossed him down and made him kowtow to the humans of the village and beg for forgiveness. Wukong only lets the Demon King stand again when every villager is well enough to stand and all their properties repaired, and even then, the Demon King is sent flying through the air in a way similar to how Wukong often deals with Yin and Jin. The Mortal Born gods thank Wukong and the Monk, and offer them what little they can spare in food to help them reach the next village ut before the Pilgrims can leave, General Li Jing and the other gods of heaven make comments about Wukong’s brothers and how the heavens still hunt for Demon Bull King and the Six Eared Macaque.

This angers Wukong, but before the Monkey can respond, Erlang Shen arrives with his brothers from the nearby Plum Hill, having been drawn in by the commotion and scolds Li Jing for false words and for trying to stir up trouble. Wukong says nothing, and when Erlang Shen says there is no hunt against the Demon Bull King nor the Six Eared Macaque, Wukong only states he has no faith in anything anyone from the Celestial Realm says to him being truthful before walking away.

Wukong’s mood is dark for six days, until while on the road, mid-conversation with Ao Lie and the Monk about medicines, they encounter another Mortal Born Goddess and Wukong, for the first time in the Pilgrims’ knowledge, greets her as a friend, with warmth, joy and relief as the two embrace. The goddess introduces herself to the monk as Chi Yue, disciple of Lu Yu, Great Sage of Tea and invites them to join her for the evening, to share tea and stories.

Chapter 10 After the evening with Chi Yue, trading stories and witnessing a side of Wukong none of them had seen before, all due to the fact Wukong is simply too tired to care what they think of him, Tripitaka Sanzung finds himself suddenly very aware of how little he truly understands the ways of Demons, and how blind he had been until this point to not realise that Wukong hadn’t truly shown any of his true strength during the pilgrimage.

To try and organize his own thoughts, he made a list of facts he’d learnt.

Demons of all rank, size, breed and power, while not immortal, are invincible to a point.

Only the Celestial weapons used by Heaven’s Gods can hurt them, and only the personal weapons made by the Gods themselves.

Ruyi Jingu Bang was not Celestial in nature, so no matter how hard or how often Wukong swung the staff at foes, unless Wukong intended for the blow to be a death blow, the strike would only bruise and break bones.

Wukong has only ever struck out with the intent to kill when his troop was threatened. He knows he has killed twenty Tiger Demons for their butchery, slaughter and kidnapping of his troop mates. And one hundred and seventy monkeys from what was once known as Snow Kissed Shadow Mountain in a day long war. This was before he gained Ruyi Jingu Bang.

Wukong has never killed a human. He does not see them as threats and instead finds them quite intriguing creatures, if anything Wukong admires Humans for their abilities to adapt and change.

Demon Kings, while all rulers of vast regions and have treasuries equally as vast, do not all enjoy terrorising humans, there are some who are that way, but the majority prefer to live peacefully alongside them, as they find humans to be amusing and brave for such short lived beings.

There are many Demon Kings and also Demon Queens, both male and female can take any title, and Wukong, ‘Old Sun Wukong’ is the youngest of them all.

Wujing and Bajie are technically Masters, as both hold positions of respect in their former duties as a River Guardian and a Village Guard respectfully.

The Demon Kings respect the Dragons over Heaven and most of its Gods, and that is why many Demons who see Ao Lie call him as ‘Xīfāng wángzǐ’ - Western Prince.

Any God who is trusted and welcomed amongst the Demon Ranks is called by their name, not as an insult but as a sign of respect, as Demons only use titles when in formal gatherings to discuss territories and trade.

And most importantly to the Monk’s mind. Ruling Demons, especially the Demon Kings and Queens, took personal insult when another demon of equal rank did not show a display of strength, power and above all, proof that they, as a Demon King/Queen could protect what they had, no matter how small. It was seen as an insult to all Demon kind if one so powerful didn’t make a grand show of their abilities and powers. To the point that not doing this often led to Demon Kings and Queen stripping the failing one of their rank of all their worth and power and splitting it between themselves if there is no one else to take it.

It is the greatest insult to any Demon not to at least attempt to kill them because to them, it was the same as saying ‘you are unworthy of the effort’ and that, to all Demons, is a fate worse than death.

Wukong, as the youngest Demon King, has been doing everything right by the Demon way, and Tripitaka had been punishing him for it, he’d banished him for doing what was normal to him. And yet, Wukong didn’t seem to hold that against him, there was still a distance between them, a clear line the Monk had drawn at the start and Wukong had stayed on his side of that line, a good few feet away in fact, but now it seemed Wukong had slowly moved close enough to the line so they could have civil conversation. Having learnt several new understandings, revelations and information by simply listening to what his disciples said and shared over tea before retiring for the evening, Tripitaka Sanzung found it easier to understand the behaviour of his disciples more. The pilgrims make good progress towards the West, there are still arguments and tensions, but they are not as heavy as they were before.

Over the following four years, they face many dangers, but also have brief run-ins with Chi Yue, Nezha, Erlang Shen, Taiyi Zhenren, Guanyin and many others during their time traveling and slowly, the Monk witnesses a change in each of his disciples. Ao Lie speaks up more often, steadily gaining confidence to step in and say what needs to be said and heard by others, even if they do not wish to hear it. Wujing was stepping between fights, not just between his brothers, but also when in villages and on the road putting himself into the way of angry and violent people easily to protect others from harm while Wukong and Bajie saw off the agresser. Children would thank the big demon, fearless and unbothered by his bulk, and more then once, the Monk heard Wujing admitting he’d never thought little kids would ever look at him without fear.

Bajie and Wukong, while they clearly had a lot of tension still, came to an understanding. They did not bicker with any real heat anymore, but there were some topics, usually anything related to Heaven, the two simply did not speak of because it always led to arguments and unease between the two. Instead, Bajie is happy to instead tease the Monkey about his ‘tall tales’ and Wukong would pretend not to like the food Bajie cooked, even though everyone knew Bajie was leaving some of the vegetable raw for Wukong along with the Monkey eating foraged berries, fruits, nuts and sometimes bugs. Things seem to be going well, between the weekly kidnapping attempt from Yin and Jin, which had basically become a game of keep away that lasted between an hour to two hours before Yin and Jin would be caught and sent flying with a swift swing of Ruyi Jingu Bang or, if Wukong had his hands full with carrying the Monk, Ao Lie would take his dragon form and carry the two away a few miles and drop them off on a mountain or into a stream as ‘punishment’.

And the seemingly bi weekly attempts by other Demons to steal the Monk away that were certainly more frightening than Yin and Jin’s almost playful games but did not fill him with the same dread now that he knew the ensuing fight that would come when Wukong and the others arrived was not going to result in a death. It had also become clear that even though many Demons threatened to kill and eat the Monk, only a rare few ever really tried to harm him, most simply put him in an empty cooking pot over an unlit fire, in a cell with minimal restraints if any at all, or as was apparently the very rare occurrence, they’d just put him in a very nice room, with a window view where he could watch his Pilgrims come and fight to get him back because the Demon who kidnapped him wanted to test their strength against Wukong.

So, the Monk liked to think that things were going well.

Until one night the temperature of the air begins to slowly creep lower and lower, no matter how close to the fire they huddle. When a thick blue fog rolls in and Ao Lie begins to shiver, Wukong gently puts his blanket over the Dragon prince and forms a protective seal surrounding the Pilgrims and the fire, allowing them to have a moment of warmth before the Monkey King stepped out of the seal's reach and told them to stay inside where it is safe. The battle with the Lady Bone Demon is long, Wukong is no longer pulling punches and for the first time, the Monk sees just how much Wukong has been holding back in other fights, and why. Every blow traded between the two is enough to shake the ground and rattle the air.

This is a battle between true Demons, and faintly, everyone realised that even against Azure Lion, Wukong had not shown this level of power.

Wukong is the victor of the fight, forcing the Bone Demon to expend all but the most vital of her life energy to fight him left her weak and frail. Still, she swears she will not stop, if Wukong doesn’t kill her, she will try again, and again, until she archives her destiny to create a perfect world. Tripitaka Sanzung suggests they seal her away from the world, and allow the Demoness to reflect and change her mind about the world. Wukong disagrees, but does not have the chance to voice it as the Bone Demon tells the Monk nothing will sway her from her destiny, she is the oen who will change the world and make it better, even if she must do so by taking a host in later years, even if she must wait a lifetime and more, she will get out and she will achieve her destiny.

Wukong promises that he will be there to watch her fail a second time, and makes it clear that if she ever does try again, the Monk’s mercy would not be offered again.

Tripitaka doesn’t argue.

They continue to travel for a further five months after they entombed the Lady Bone Demon, crossing paths with the One Hundred Eyed Demon, whose defeat resulted in General Li Jing, his two eldest sons Jinzha and Muzha, The Six Ding and Six Jia, Lishan Laomu and Juling Shen being released from the Demon’s hold, having all been trapped by him. And later helping Nezha solve the mystery of why children in one village were suffering horrid night terrors and seemed terrified of their own mothers. That turned out to be the work of a spiteful ghost. A woman who had been trialed and sentenced to death after being caught harming the children of both her first and second husband, both of whom she had married after their previous wives had passed from a terrible sickness.

The Monk knew if he hadn't asked Wujing to hold Wukong back the Monkey would have swung Ruyi Jingu bang at the wicked things spectra form as it hung in the air trapped within a binding seal while the Monk spoke the chants that would sent the wicked one to their place of unending torment for such horrors, all while Nezha did his best to comfort and soothe the frightened children with Ao Lie and Bajie’s help.

It was two days later, after yet another afternoon spent being snatched up from where he was on Ao Lie’s back mid sentence with Wujing, tied in a very familiar length of rope with a big and obvious bow while being carried around by Yin and Jin for just over an hour, most of that time spent with twins basically running on one big circle while asking their ‘prisoner’ if he had any good riddles to trade until they were suddenly surrounded by the four disciples. Then the Monk was ‘tossed’ to Wujing, or rather, what the twins called ‘tossed’ was actually them very carefully putting the Monk in Wujing’s very big hands like he is some kind of offering and Wujing saying ‘thank you’, like the good sport he is, before the twins are sent on their way with one solid swing of Ruyi Jingu Bang, that the Monk noticed Wukong seemed to be on edge.

He decides to ask about it when they stop for the night. Only for that to be the time someone else decides to kidnap him.

Chapter 11 The kidnapper turned out to be someone Wukong knew personally, none other than the Six Eared Macaque. He binds the pilgrims in shadows, gagged and restrained so tight if they struggle they risk dislocating their limbs. All the while forcing them to witness the exchange. Macaque is angry, lashing out and down right feral as he attacks Wukong over and over and over again, no matter how often his attacks were blocked or parried, how much Wukong tried to speak, to reason with the other monkey, he kept attacking.

There was something between them, something deeper than the bonds of brotherhood and personal, but whatever it was had clearly become strained and brittle, fragile and barely holding on even as the two traded blows. Wukong was trying to explain, to reason and actually talk with a level head and calmness as he always did with Chi Yue, but the Six Eared Macaque was not listening, either from his anger or the hurt, or perhaps a mixture of both as he continued to strike and strike and strike until he broke through Wukong’s defences and sent the Monkey King to the ground with an awful crack.

Macaque mocked Wukong, demanding to see the real Sun Wukong. The Monkey King who leveled Mountains to crush any foe who hurt what was his. The Great Sage Equal to Heaven who had brought Havoc to Heaven and who had come so very close to toppoling the Jade Emperor. The Immortal who Never stops taking and taking and taking-

Wukong doesn’t lash out, he wants to, it's so obvious he wants to lash out and fight back, but he’s trying to be reasonable, trying to be heard and understood, but Macaque isn’t hearing any of it. And then, Macaque says something that shifts the battle, while shadows continue to lash and strike at Wukong the black furred Monkey calls Wukong Azure Lion’s oblivious, willing, beloved pawn.

The Monk sees the moment whatever it is between the two monkeys shatters.

Wukong grabs Macaque by the throat tightly and slams the black monkey into the ground so hard it leaves a crater so deep it begins to fill with water from below ground. Whatever is said between them in that next minute, but whatever was said only enrages Macaque further as he calls Wukong a liar and then the two are fighting. It's not the same kind of fight as it was against the Lady Bone Demon, it was raw, emotional and painful, they all hear bones break and shatter until something shifts and Macaque begins laughing madly, Wukong tries to reason with him again, but Macaque only continues to laugh, even as Wukong begs him not to force this further. When Macaque charges, not at Wukong, but the shadow-bound Pilgrims, right at the Great Monk, Wukong has no choice.

The killing blow is swift, and the moment it lands, the shadows fade and in the silence of it, the Pilgrims see there are three victims. The Six Eared Macaque, and two small monkeys who cling to Macaque’s chest, neither fully grown nor newborns but still so very young. Ao Lie stops the Monk going to Wukong, silently shaking his head as Wukong lets Ruyi Jingu Bang fall to the ground and sobs.

No one stopped him when later that night Wukong used his blanket to wrap Macaque and the two small Monkeys tightly and then took off on his cloud. They don’t question it when he returns at sunrise, hands still bloody, face tear stained and the injuries from the fight with Macaque unhealed as he silently walks with them along the road.

For the first week, Wukong doesn’t eat, drink or sleep, he doesn’t respond to questions beyond a silent nod or shake of his head, and while he does respond to requests from the Monk, he is going through the motions and they all know it. Yin and Jin show up one day, but the moment they see Wukong and the state he’s in, they back off and make themselves scarce. The Pilgrims know the two are around, but it seems the two know better than to play their usual games when the Monkey King is so… Not himself. By the second week, Ao Lie is able to gently coax Wukong into sitting with them again, just sitting at first, and then to drink, even if just a little, slowly working up to carefully guiding the Monkey to wash, to groom, to eat and eventually, the Monkey starts to respond more, slowly returning to behaviours that are more like his usual self. There is a darkness to his eyes that never goes away, even as he seems to return to his previous self before the encounter with the Six Eared Macaque, there is something in him that can’t be mended, and they know nothing they do will help.

The next three years pass without any further big fights and are instead broken up by a few small run-ins with lesser demons, the odd town needing saving, marriage proposals and a second encounter with Erlang Shen, who didn’t mention if he notices Wukong’s changed behaviour while they were fighting but did question it privately with the Monk later, to which the Monk just said it was a matter personal to Wukong and should not be spoken of without his blessing. They continue on, reaching the border of Tianzhu after a month of peace, no kidnapping, no games from Yin and Jin, not even a sighting of any gods until they reach a buddhist temple.

As they are leaving the temple with the scriptures, they are greeted by Qinglong, the Azure Dragon himself. Qinglong carries them back from Tianzhu to the Tang Empire, and then, up, up up into the Heavens, past the Celestial Court without so much as a pause to greet the shocked Gods, and up into the Buddhist domain, where Fenhuang fly freely.

Guanyin is waiting for them at the steps of the temple as Qinglong lands, the Azure Dragon taking a moment to nudge Ao Lie gently before he settles down to rest. They are invited up into the temple, but Wukong does not move to ascend the steps with the other pilgrims. He instead asks if Guanyin has the answers from the Tenth King or if he must go collect them himself. When asked if he will not hear what is to be said and accept his rewards, Wukong again asks if she has the answers or not.

Tathagata comes from within the Temple with the help of Mahamayuri, his niece and the sister of the Golden Winged Peng, And with them the Jade Emperor.

Tathagata asks Wukong why he will not come to claim what he is owed from the Buddha for his service, fooling no one as he speaks the words the Jade Emperor believes will sway Wukong and make him show even the smallest glimpse of his former self. They listen as the Monkey King reminds them all that he refused to undertake this pilgrimage in the first instance. He did not want this, nor did he agree to be the pawn in the deal between the Buddha and the Jade Emperor’s game of power. He did not ask to be the one forced into a role just to help board powers that be to entertain themselves and he did not ask to be rewarded for it. He had no choice in any of it from the start and the only reason he returned and continued was because he was promised answers.

He has completed the duty they forced upon him. The Tang Monk is safe. The Scriptures are delivered. Wukong’s part in their game is over, so if they seek to reward him, he suggests that they hold true to their agreement, remove his circlet and leave him alone.

The Jade Emperor asks if that is truly what the Monkey wants, having spent ten years traveling with people he calls brothers and master openly, could the Monkey truly want nothing in return? Not a place in Heaven’s Court ranks, not even a place amongst the Buddha or a title as Tathagata approves? To have recognition across all the Realms as Sun Wukong, the Handsome Monkey King, Great Sage Equal to Heaven, and the title of Victorious Fighting Buddha. Is that not a fitting reward for the good deeds and service the Monkey has done them?

Wukong ignores the Jade Emperor and again asks if Guanyin has the answers he was promised or if he must go collect them for himself.

Before the Jade Emperor can speak again, Qinglong slams his tail into the ground and shakes all the Heavens, his voice thundurus and raw with power beyond comprehension as he reminds all who listen that the Buddha is bound by a promise to release Wukong from the circlet. If the terms of the deal are broken, Qinglong himself will rampage and rend the Realms and this cycle into ruin.

Nothing Tripitaka, Bajie, Wujing or even Ao Lie say sways Wukong from his choice.

Tathagata recites the loosening spell, freeing Wukong of the circlet, and Guanyin hands Wukong a black wooden scroll, telling him that its contents are the findings of the investigation and if he wishes anything more, he will need to go into the Underworld and speak to the Tenth King himself. Wukong thanks her, but before he can leave, Mahamayuri begs him to spare a moment and tells him that Chang’e wishes to speak to the Pilgrims before they depart after their regards are given, she wishes to use her Memory Orbs to preserve the Journey to the West for future references and also forever store a truthful account of the events, so that no one can argue the truths of several events the Pilgrims helped with or witnessed while traveling from east to west.

By the time the other Pilgrims have finished in the Temple, Chang’e is waiting for them, four empty Memory Orbs hovering around her, and a fifth in her hands shining a beautiful warm golden.

Wukong is gone.

Epilogue Things are calm and settled for a long time between the Three Realms for the next millennia or so.

The Underworld has no concerns to share beyond the usual reports of stubborn souls who refused to learn their lesson. The Mortal Realm is slowly but surely advancing with the times, building, inventing, adapting and growing in their own ways, the most recent being the rise of what the Mortals called Megacities, places where humans and demons were cohabiting and living good lives. The Demon Kings had secluded themselves and hidden away for the time being, resting and enjoying times to grow and cultivate their families.

And the Celestial Realm was at peace. There have been some interesting events, certainly, such as the resurgence of the Spider Clan under the rule of the Seventh Queen and a handful of other who had survived the Silken Web Hollow's Ruination. The publishing of a book based on the real events of the Journey To The West by Chang’e, which had led to several very heated debates and more than a few members of the Court being not so subtly shamed, shunned and cast out from their once comfortable stations and the rise and establishment of some Megacities have meant some old positions had been made redundant and laws had been scrapped and changed accordingly, but beyond that and all things considered, all seemed well.

Or, so it would seem to those who did not know the truth.

For those who did know, there was tension, worry, fear and doubt slowly creeping into their minds and their hearts, something felt wrong this time, and no matter what they did, who they spoke to or how they searched, they could not find what the cause of their unease was. Guardians of power and keepers of secrets grew weary of each other, unrest stirred amongst them, old tensions resurfacing, festering and ever growing the longer time creeps slowly forwards.

Something is different, and that difference, however small and insignificant it seemed, has allowed deviation, and that could be dangerous to everything these sacred few are trying to protect.

What worries The Jade Emperor more is that he has begun to feel something is wrong, not with the Realms nor with the cycle, but with himself. His body is starting to age sooner than it should, old injuries from day long since faded from history and into the obscurity of myths and fancy fairy tails are starting to ache and bother him and the older he grows, the more he feels frail in a way that is foreign to him.

Concerned, he calls on the Queen Mother of the West, Qinglong and Tathagata, in hopes that together they can speak of the matter and plan for any unfavourable outcome. Not because the Jade Emperor feared an untimely demise, but because he worried that whatever thai was could be a sign of something far, far worse that no one was ready to face.

They are waiting for Tathagata to arrive when it happens.

The air changes around them, Qinglong rises from his place as if to greet an old friend, but instead The Monkey King appears before them and he is different.

Sun Wukong’s body is a blaze as it had been the day he escaped the Trigram Furnace, his whole body crackling with raw and unmatched power. The lower and upper pairs of his six arms are shrouded in chaos and order, his left middle hand is clenched tightly, while his middle right hand cradles a small spring shoot from a peach sapling.

What shocks them all more than the reappearance of this form is the fact the Monkey is adorned in the robes of a Buddha, encompassed in a Heavenly halo and radiating an aura that only the Jade Emperor and Azure Dragon recognize from a time long ago.

Wukong does not attack, nor does he raise his voice as he addresses the Queen Mother of the West, apologising for interrupting her midsenstance with his arrival, though it is clear from two of his three faces, he wants nothing more than to snarl and rage for something. He then apologises to the Azure Dragon for startling him. After composing himself behind a measured drink of tea, the Jade Emperor asks the reason for this unannounced visit from the Monkey King, Wukong tosses what he was holding in his left middle hand at the old man’s feet.

What he has brought is evidence of a plot against Princess Iron Fan and her still young son, a plan to rob the Princess of her husband, a step in the plot that had already been set up and put into motion with careful lies and manipulation, driving the Demon Bull King to lash out and attempt to strike at Heaven. The plan had been to kill the Demon Bull King, to have him slain by the hand of Erlang Shen no less, and in her grief, Princess Iron Fan’s own siblings, her Celestial sisters, would offered comfort and assurance, only to use this opportunity to also steal her son away from her. The reason? Some in Heaven fear that the young Bull Prince would be too powerful to be trusted to ‘behave’ as a half Celestial should without ‘proper education’.

To save his brother’s life, Wukong has sealed Demon Bull King beneath a mountain, keeping him pinned there with the weight of the Ruyi Jingu Bang until the day the Staff is removed. But he is angry and makes it clear that if the ones responsible for this plot against his elder brother and his family are not dealt with immediately, he will tear Heaven apart to do it himself.

The Queen Mother of the West is outraged by this information, even more so when she discovers that her name has been used to help sway the minds of others to convince them that this plan is a good and assured one. She summons Erlang Shen and his sworn brothers and gives them the order to hunt every conspirator down and bring them before her so that she can deal with them herself for their insult and attempt to sully her name with this foul deed against a child.

The Azure Dragon asks why Wukong is giving Heaven a chance where before he would have simply struck out in his justified anger. To this, Wukong only says that he is older than he was before, and with his age, he has found time to meditate on things that he did not before, those meditations have brought him the realisation that he has had enough of Heavenly men and women interfering and tormenting people he cares about for their own sick forms of entertainment and most of all, he is tired of the innocent lives being ruined by the mistakes, neglect and ignorance of the man who is meant to be the Ruler of all Three Realms.

Tathagata arrives, and asks what Wukong hopes to accomplish with this meeting. To this Wukong answers change.

Innocent lives have been ruined and destroyed for far too long because the Jade Emperor refuses to change the way things are done, the system that worked in the past is broken and failing in so many ways that what little respect is given to Heaven is under the delusions of humans who don’t realise that the ones actually running and paying for everything are the Demon Kings and the distant Gods, not the Heavenly Court. Even the Mortal Gods have more respect and make better efforts to help than Heaven, and since overthrowing the Jade Emperor was not the way to go about it, Wukong will now force the matter in a way only he can, not as the Victorious Fighting Buddha, The Handsome Monkey King, Great Sage Equal to Heaven, but as Sun Wukong, The Intelligent Stone Monkey, Fourth Celestial Primate.

If the Jade Emperor does not lesh his dogs and control his people, Wukong will put them down and furthermore, he will encourage others to do the same. There is already tension between the Demons and Mortal Gods against the Heavens, and if Wukong must stir their bad blood and set light to that ever shortening fuse to bring about change, he will.

It will be a war, and there will be no winners, only a bloody slaughter that would wash over all three Realms with blood and tears until those who did survive could rebuild what little is left for themselves.

The Jade Emperor asks if Wukong believes he will be amongst those few, Wukong asks if the Jade Emperor believes he will be and for the first time, for all of a moment, the two finally meet each other's gaze.

Terms and conditions are set, rules and boundaries are drawn up, and by sunrise the next day, a truce is formed between the Jade Emperor and the Monkey King, and since its creation, Heaven and Wukong have left each other alone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Journey's End.

And so concludes lessons about Jttw in relation to my works.

7 notes · View notes

amorest-viesse · 1 year ago

Text

[A Touch of Magic for the Model] - Chloe SSR Card Story Translation

Ft. Faust and Akira

For Future Reference - Chapter 1

[Dressing Room]

Akira: (It was a tough journey to get here, but I’m glad everything turned out fine for Chloe in the end…)

As I made my way to the dressing room, I reflected on our experience with “The Amoire’s Diadem,” the premier fashion contest in the West. It was the stage all designers strived for...

Faust & Chloe: …

Faust and Chloe were already inside when I got there, sitting in front of a mountain of papers with worried looks on their faces.

Akira: Faust, Chloe, is something the matter?

Chloe: Master Sage! Apparently winning first prize comes with a ton of paperwork to complete.

Chloe: We’ve got a whole pile to knock out.

Much like the fashion competition itself, the documents Chloe showed me were decorated with stylish patterns and accents.

Faust: From what I can tell, these papers address things like legal rights and storage instructions for your design.

Akira: Winners still have it rough after the competition huh…

Chloe: Right? But we’re at the final stretch, so we gotta pull through!

Chloe grabbed a document from off the pile.

Chloe: (W- What does any of this mean? There’s so many complicated terms that I can’t make heads or tails of it…!)

Akira: …Are you alright, Chloe…?

Chloe: T- Totally! Umm, I think this one is saying my outfit is gonna be displayed at some grand hall in the West!

Chloe: If that’s fine with me then I just need to sign here…

Faust: …Hold on a second. There’s some more information here.

Faust: The exhibition will only be open from evening hours until morning in accordance with the theme of the competition… Will this cause any issues?

Chloe: Wow, I can’t believe I almost missed that! Since the text was in cursive along the border, I totally thought it was part of the design!

Akira: It really does blend right into its surroundings… Good catch, Faust.

Faust: It's nothing special. I have to deal with this regularly in the East, so I’m used to it.

Faust: …Would you like some help with the rest of those papers?

Chloe: Huh?

Faust: Judging by your reaction, I assume you’re new to this.

Faust: While it’s good to want to tackle things on your own, it doesn’t hurt to ask for some help either.

Chloe: Faust… Thanks so much for the offer.

Chloe: If you’re willing to help out then… Could I ask you to teach me how to do paperwork too?

Akira: What do you mean?

Chloe: It won’t do me any good in the long run if Faust just does the work for me.

Chloe: I want to learn how to do it myself in case I ever win another competition like this again in the future…

Chloe: Ahaha, I’ve only won this one though, so I’ll stop here before I jinx myself…

Chloe: Anyways, I’m sorry for the hassle! If you don’t want to do it, you definitely don’t have to!

Faust: …It’s not a problem whatsoever.

Faust: If that’s what you want, then I’ll teach you what I know.

For Future Reference - Chapter 2

Faust: First off, I’ll explain how to break down and read a document.

Chloe & Akira: We’re all ears, Master Faust!

Faust: …It’s funny hearing that from the two of you.

As Faust was lecturing, Chloe took down notes with rapt attention. Beside him, I listened in for any useful information.

Faust: …And those should be the basics. Next we’ll try applying them for real.

Faust: The easiest way to learn is by practicing over and over again while familiarizing yourself with the formula. If there’s anything you’re unsure about, please ask.

Chloe: Understood! Now where should I start…

Chloe: “From the Armoire to You: A Ray of Light For the Residents of Fashion Nation Consent Form”?

Akira & Faust: (That’s one heck of a title…)

Chloe: First off, I need to replace difficult words with simpler phrases…

Despite the unfamiliar terminology and Western flair of the documents, Chloe continued to write away.

Sitting beside him, Faust would check over Chloe’s work and give advice while I sorted the papers as they were completed.

Chloe: Sign my name here and… Done! Could you hand me the next one, Master Sage?

Akira: Of course! And with this one, we’re halfway done.

Chloe: Already!? I’m taking so long to read these that I was sure we had more to go.

Akira: Aw, don’t say that! You’re getting faster and faster with every document. It’s genuinely impressive.

Chloe: …Now that you mention it, I’m recognizing more of those stock phrases, so it’s getting easier to read things.

Chloe: This must be what Faust meant by “formula” earlier.

Faust: That’s exactly it.

Faust: However, don’t rush things either. You’ve overlooked a few things here... and here, so take your time and be careful.

Chloe: Really!? I totally wasn’t paying attention there… Thanks for catching that!

Akira: It’s natural for your mind to wander once you’ve been doing the same task long enough.

Akira: At times like these, it’s good to get a little change of pace. For example, you could raise your arms and stretch as high as you can.

Chloe: Ahaha, I do that while working on an outfit too! Taking a break can do wonders.

Chloe & Akira: Stre—tch!

Faust: …The two of you remind me of cats.

And so, we made our way through the pile.

Akira: The next one is the final document!

Faust: This one ought to wrap things up nicely.

Akira: What does it say?

Faust: It concerns the first place prize money. Messing up here could mean not getting paid.

Faust: There are several things to fill out, and it’s the most complex form yet. However, if you apply everything I taught you today, I’m sure you’ll do just fine.

Chloe: Wow, this one’s a wringer…

Chloe: Still, I can’t let everyone’s efforts go to waste! I’ll make sure to get that prize money!

Filled with more motivation than ever, Chloe began to read through the final document with a determined look on his face.

For Future Reference - Chapter 3

As Faust watched over him from behind, Chloe scanned through the document with his class notes in hand.

Chloe: Umm, first, I need to read over the whole thing and make sure I have everything I need to fill it out.

Akira: Is there anything?

Chloe: Um, let me see… Ah! Yes!

Casting his spell, Chloe conjured his sketchbook and flipped to a page filled with neat, round handwriting.

Akira: What’s this?

Chloe: A record of how much I spent to make the outfit.

Chloe: Thankfully, Heath said he’d write that down for me.

Akira: Oh! Nice going, Heath!

Chloe: Next… I need to check if there are any terms or conditions that would disadvantage me.

Akira: Make sure to look for any hidden ones like on that first document.

Chloe: Absolutely… Hmm… This looks fine… This too…

Chloe: Alright! Everything looks good to me!

As Chloe went along, he carefully filled in all the required information. Finally, all that was left to do was sign.

Chloe: We finished!!

Chloe: Wait no, I can’t forget! We gotta check one last time for any errors or oversights!

As Chloe looked over the paperwork, I made my way to him and Faust.

Chloe: Master Faust! Please check over it one more time too!

Faust: Good work, Chloe. I’ll take it from here.

Faust: …

Chloe & Akira: …

Chloe: Ohh, I can’t look! What if I did something wrong…

Akira: …I’m sure it’ll be fine Chloe. You got this.

Chloe: Master Sage…

Akira: After seeing how hard you’ve been working today, there’s no way you could fail now…

Chloe: …Ehehe, thank you. Hearing that makes me feel more confident too.

Faust: …Chloe.

Chloe: Y- yes sir!

Handing back the paperwork, Faust looked up at Chloe and smiled.

Faust: Everything looks perfect. Well done.

Chloe: R- Really!?

Akira: Congratulations, Chloe!

Chloe: Thank goodness… I really appreciate both of you for helping me out today!

Chloe: Thank you for taking a break with me Master Sage, and thank you Faust for teaching me how to navigate all this paperwork…

Chloe: Because of you guys, I had a lot of fun learning something new!

Faust: I’m glad it worked out in the end.

Faust: I’m sure you’ll do great the next time you win a competition.

Chloe: …! Thank you!

Chloe: Alright! I’ll make sure to work even harder from now on to make sure I don’t let these skills go to waste!

Looking at Chloe’s bright smile, I could only imagine where he would go from here.

The thought of it filled me with excitement as he took yet another step towards the future.

Start Where You Can - Card Episode

Akira: You did a great job with all that paperwork, Chloe.

Chloe: Thank you! It was super overwhelming at first since I’d never done anything like it before, but I’m glad everything turned out fine in the end.

Chloe: Eastern Country paperwork must be a completely different beast to tackle though. Have you ever dealt with it?

Akira: I received some from Sir Cock Robin before. They were completely crammed with print from top to bottom.

Chloe: Right!? I was helping Faust carry some Eastern paperwork earlier too, and he showed me a couple pages…

Chloe: Every single one I flipped to looked exactly like that. It was insane.

Akira: If anyone could handle that, it’d be Faust.

Chloe: Right, right? If it were me, I’d probably be knocked out before I knew it!

Akira: Ahaha… It was the same back home.

Akira: Whenever I read something I didn’t understand, I’d just end up spacing out.

Chloe: I totally get that. That’s why I think people who can do that kind of work are incredible.

Chloe: Since Faust took the time to teach me, I’ll definitely do my best to get there… Although, maybe I’ll start with Western style paperwork first!

Home Screen Voice Line

“There are times when Heath comes off as cool and capable, and other times when he’s more reserved, like a cute, younger brother. Either way, isn’t he just the best? Even though Heath tends to hold back, he can be quick to make decisions and show how he really feels when it comes down to it. Wait, is this what you call ‘gap moe’?”

#mhyktl #mahoyaku #mhyk #chloe collins #mahoutsukai no yakusoku #faust lavinia

29 notes · View notes

samstree · 11 months ago

Text

What’s up readers?! How about a little show and tell? Answer these 13 questions, tag 13 lucky readers and if you’re feeling extra bookish add a shelfie! Let’s Go!

Thank you @darthwillies for the tag!

1) The Last book I read:

The Vampire Lestat. I've been slowly reading the first few Vampire Chronicles books since the TV show took over my body and soul lmao. So far this one is a lot of fun!

2) A book I recommend:

Creatures of a Day. It's a non-fiction and a good look into psychology in general and psychiatrist as a profession. Would highly recommend Irvin Yalom's other books too.

3) A book that I couldn’t put down:

The Song of Achilles. I read very slowly in English but this book had me hooked from the beginning and I finished it in one weekend. This was actually a few years ago now but I haven't had the same experience since. (If anyone knows anything that is the same but like...different, please let me know alskjdf)

4) A book I’ve read twice (or more):

This Is Going to Hurt. I really liked the humor in the book when the topic is so serious. It's about working in health care and especially in the OB ward. Witnessing life and death daily can't be easy, but Adam Kay makes it easy to read.

5) A book on my TBR:

The Red Sorghum. It's been on my TBR since it won the Nobel prize lmao. The theme is very heavy though, but anyway, one day I will read, even just for the nobel.

6) A book I’ve put down:

All the Light We Cannot See. The writing is beautiful but the WWII story just doesn't draw me in as much. Maybe one day I will go back to it.

7) A book on my wish list:

Can I put an unpublished book here? The Winds of Winter lol, if I can be cheeky for a bit. Watching House of the Dragon really just brought me back into my asoiaf era. I feel sixteen again and piecing together all the clues for the sequel and thinking about all the theories. Unfortunately it is still very much a wish list.

8) A favorite book from childhood:

Journey to the West! Who doesn't love an adventure story about four besties going on a road trip that is full of cool monsters of the week? Also the whole book is metaphor for buddhist enlightenment. So it really contains multitudes.

9) A book you would give to a friend:

Silver in the Wood. It's a short novel that I brought to a long flight and just finished in one go. It makes you feel like you've just taken a little walk in the forest. It's a light read that makes a perfect gift!

10) A book of poetry or lyrics that you own:

Does Evgenii Onegin count as poetry? It's one of my favorite reads back in university. Partly because of the adapted play I think, it is still the top theater experience I've ever had.

11) A nonfiction book you own:

When Breath Becomes Air. It was written by a surgeon about his journey battling cancer at the end of his life. It's one of the books that stayed with me, having read it after cancer being such a huge part of my life for years. I feel like I got some answers from it and would recommend everyone to read.

12) What are you currently reading:

Queen of the Damned. More sexy vampires! Some of them are even old AND sexy!

13) What are you planning on reading next?

Keep reading through the Vampire Chronicles until reason and taste fail me (or Anne Rice does). I hear people tend to stop at some point during the 12 books in the whole series. We'll see how long I last.

tagging: @kuripon @cherryjuicegf @silvipeppers @tideswept @valdomarx. No pressures of course <3

#this is the moment when i realize i read non-fiction more than fiction #still tried to put more fiction there #anyway #would you believe i accidentally queued this post instead of posting it alskdjf

15 notes · View notes

patheticbatman · 10 months ago

Text

@answeringmysister won this round!

The 53rd Win A Commission story was ‘West of the Sun, East of the Moon’, based on the Norwegian fairy tale, ‘East of the Sun, West of the Moon’! If you would like to read the story and see the illustrations in context, please

Dani was tired of the East Coast. Tired of the traffic, tired of the loneliness of being one in millions, tired of her family's drama.

So when a recruiter offered her a contract in Alaska, she snapped it up.

“Are you out of your mind?” Asked everyone she knew.

And every time, she would tell them the same answer. She loved her friends, her family, even her very dependent maman. But it was just too much.

“Dah-nee-el-la,” her maman would say, drawing it out in a way only a Dominican accent could. “We have no family up there! No friends! Who will take care of you?”

Unspoken was the ‘Who will take care of me?’ Maman had cancer attacking her spine.

Dani had been her roommate, her confidant, her servant, and a little bit her punching bag for too long.

Meanwhile, her brother had finished school and then some.

The lawyer for the misdiagnosis case was still working on it, but it had been eight years – so Dani did not expect anything to happen now.

Dani was 27. She deserved to have her twenties too.

“Maman, I’ll be fine. I can fly back whenever I want!” - provided that there wasn’t a snow storm – “and it’s only a year. Jordan will stay here” – to keep an eye on you, finally – “until I get back.”

Dani was not going to be dissuaded.

So when her contract at Cooper finished up and Christmas was over, Dani hopped on a plane with several bags of clothes and left for Alaska, much to her maman’s dismay.

“At least I probably won’t have any seizures!” She assured her maman as she stood in line to board. “You know they don’t really happen unless it’s too hot or bright, anymore.”

Dani flew from Philadelphia to Chicago, from Chicago to Seattle, and then stopped at a hotel for the night. The next morning, she flew to Anchorage, got delayed for 17 hours due to a storm, and finally arrived in Qikiqtaġruk.

Once upon a time, the town was called Kotzebue, after an ‘explorer’, but it had recently returned to its Iñupiaq roots. She was to work in the Maniilaq Health Center, and emergency room. She adored the fast pace, and the stretch of her mind as she sought a solution. Sure, a lot of the time she would mostly just work with colds or mild allergic reactions, but she knew how to take the fun with the boring.

She picked up the keys to the car she leased, loaded her stuff, and slowly made her way through the icy roads to the little house on the northern outskirts of town that she was renting for the year.

As she suspected, the pictures had managed to hide a couple of issues – a mold spot in the bathroom, peeling paint – but otherwise, it was a good house. Toasty, already furnished, and quiet. Plus, it had a beautiful view of the sea to the west, and the low foothills to the east.

She would never tell her maman this, but on that first day, she slept straight on the mattress, no sheets at all.

By the third day, the house was mostly set up. Dani knew that she’d have to work the next day, and was not used to the time change yet. So she made everything comfortable, treated herself to some local sushi and set up her own house.

Her very own house.

The quiet was initially unnerving – her maman’s house basically needed a revolving door, with the amount of relatives from France, England, Dominica, and all over the continental United States passed through. Dani had loved it, but long to try something a little different.

Plus, it was pretty hard to date when your maman was constantly around.

But Dani pushed that thought away. Surely she’d be too busy for that!

———

She was not. It turns out, while living alone meant that she was the only one doing chores, that also meant she did not have to clean up after anyone else. Leaving her a lot of free time.

She thought about getting a cat, but decided against it. She really liked only having to take care of herself.

But that didn’t mean she liked being with only herself, all the time.

The other staff at Maniilaq were extremely friendly, and Dani could not keep track of how many outings, parties or high school sports games she attended with her new friends. Most of them were paired up or married to someone in town or close by, but that did not mean her options were limited.

After all, EVERYBODY had a cousin or a friend or a grandmother’s dog’s groomer’s husband’s brother’s neighbor who was just perfect for her.

And when she let slip she was pan? That just opened her up to more matchmaking attempts.

Finally, after the potential stress of starting dating around Valentine’s Day had passed – she had spent that weekend watching sappy romances over Teleparty with her old friend Manuela - Dani agreed to go on a couple dates.

“Just a few!” She warned, stomach sinking at the overly large grins on her coworkers’ faces. She could’ve sworn Melissa in the back was chanting under her breath, “Fresh meat!” Over and over again.

A few (“Just three or four!”) turned to several (“Eighth time’s the charm!”) Until the amount reached the double digits. Dani was becoming pretty familiar with the restaurants in town, much to her palate’s delight and her wallet’s chagrin.

A few were a little too quiet for her taste people. People she ended up befriending, but not dating. She wanted someone to help her fill her house with singing, talking and just general noise.

Some just had beliefs and habits that grated on her own. Things like not stopping completely at a stop sign, or asking excessively personal questions when she mentioned her last boyfriend was trans. Those people, she ghosted as soon as she got home.

Then there was that lady who was extremely forward and did not take no for an answer when Dani refused to kiss her good night. Danny had to jab her in the kidney before she got the message. Dani had a slight frame, but a mean left hook.

Thankfully, the friend who recommended Ms. Handsy was very ashamed and told Dani that her cousin had really only been up for the the woman anyway. Dani happily never saw her again.

On her thirteenth (“And last!”) date, Dani went out with a person named Ada. They were tall, and rounded in a way that told Dani that they really liked food, but enjoyed exercise too. They had spider bite piercings, catching the light under their smooth brown lips. Their dark eyes sparkled with mirth, accentuated by their eyelashes and facial tattoos, a skin tapestry of pride. Their hair and little mustache were black with cinnamon strands in the light, and straight as a pin. Overall, Ada was pretty cute.

“What’s something fun I can do when it’s hot out?” Dani asked after they made their introductions and ordered. “I’m enjoying catching up on my shows and books here – one of the first things I did was get a library card – but I am looking forward to the sun again.”

Ada giggled. “Yeah, I guess it’s a big change from New Jersey! It won’t even be warm enough to play in the snow for another month, basically.” They thought for a moment. “Well, we have a couple wailing festivals around the area – I am a champ at blanket-tossing.”

Dani didn’t know what that was exactly but nodded anyway.

“–And there’s sailing and hiking and – oh! Probably the biggest change is that we kind of become – what’s the word? You know, not diurnal or nocturnal but the other one?”

Dani nodded in her head. “Crep- crap- creps-”

“Crepsuc- crepus-”

“Crepuscular?”

“Crepuscular!” Ada hit their palm on the table. “Yes, that!” Suddenly embarrassed, they lowered their voice. “It doesn’t get disgustingly hot exactly. Our summers usually only hit the 60s, with only a few days much higher than that. Global warming, you know.” They rolled their eyes and Dani joined in. “But what does happen is that it gets so bright you could burn just like that!” They snapped their fingers.

Dani looked at their skin, a warm terra-cotta, darker than her own tawny. Both were slightly pallid from the lack of sun. “I don’t burn easy. It even affects you?”

“Oh yeah. So we all kind of exist during the sunrise and sunset. Even some jobs switch their shifts to those times.”

“Don’t they like, end quickly? You make it sound like sunset is a whole eight hours.”

They shrug. “It’s not eight hours, but it is a couple hours. If we were a few hours more north, the sun wouldn’t go down at all!”

Dani sat back. “Huh. I know the sun shows up differently around the world – I was even attracted to the darkness of your winter! – But I guess I didn’t really think about how it would balance with the rest of the year.”

Ada’s eyes gleamed. “Yes! And –”

The server returned with their food. For Ada, a mushroom burger with no cheese and lots of fries. And for Dani, French toast and a small salad with a vinaigrette.

“God, food is so expensive here!” Dani complained when the server walked out of the earshot. “Unless you’re getting fish – which for the record I do like – then it costs an arm and a leg!”

Ada shrugged. “Well, when the government heavily regulates our local food sources, and businesses don’t want to ship up here…” Her mouth twisted and she shrugged again. “We eat the shipping costs. But I’ve heard that the shipping lane up to Anchorage is getting more popular. Used to be, we’d get everything shipped from Vancouver or Seattle.”

Dani, who had grown up smack dab between New York City, Philadelphia and Baltimore on land colonized partly for its fertility, could only shrug back. She had always been in the center of food and shipping. “That sucks.”

“Yeah. But all this talk about food made me remember we were talking about things to do in the summer!”

“Oh?” Dani said, taking a bite of her French toast.

“I like to go on sunset picnics. Dawn’s are pretty too, obviously, but then the daytime hits and there’s hardly any chance to see the lights.”

“The aurora borealis?”

“Yeah. I, of course, have seen many,” they said smugly. “But I never get tired of them.” Ada took another bite of their burger. “I heard this year, 2024, is going to be especially pretty and strong. Magnet cycles or something.”

“I’ve always wanted to see one,” Dani admitted. “My cousin in New Zealand once saw the southern one – the australis, I think? And didn’t shut up about it for weeks.”

“Well, we’ll have to go and see some.” Ada smiled shyly.

Dani smiled back. “Sounds like a plan.”

They chatted as they ate, and Dani enjoyed herself so much that she suggested they stay for dessert.

“Best not,” Ada said, genuinely remorseful. “Looks like we’re due for another storm.” She pointed a thumb at the window.

“Oh snap! That reminds me. I have to go to Margie’s Materials before they close.” At Ada’s bemused look, she explained, “I’m making curtains. To block out the noise from the wind and I guess now to block out the summer sun.”

Ada nodded. “Yeah you’ll need them. Mention my name, she might knock off a dollar or two. We go way back.”

Dani beamed. “Thanks, Ada! Text me!”

She was still smiling as she paid her bill, picked up the material, and drove all the way home.

———

Of course, this was the one time that winter that the storm lasted for more than three days. On days Dani had to work, she woke up early, drove incredibly slow to work, hands gripped tight on the wheel, practically slid over the road, ice inches thick. Otherwise, she stayed at home, cursing at all the streaming services that were unavailable, and the frequent power outages. She did a lot of reading and sewing by candlelight and by the window. It was not the best thing for her eyes, but as a friend back home liked to say, boredom was the mind killer.

What she most enjoyed was texting with Ada, when the signals permitted. They were quite sweet and funny, and helped her create increasingly bizarre meals as her food supplies dwindled.

Dani

<<I swear my fridge was full just a few days ago. But I just don’t like driving out in this weather. And on a workday, by the time I get out, either the store is about to close or I’m so tired I just wanna go to bed!>>

Ada

<<I know what you mean lol. I live closer to my work than you do but further from Rottman’s. It sucks.>>

Dani

<<Yes! And really, they’re not that far! If it was warmer out, I’d walk>>

Ada

<<And I would walk 500 miles, and I would walk 500 more. To be the nb who walked a thousand miles to bring food to your door>>

Dani

<<😆❤️>>

Ada

<<Wait, actually do you live far? Maybe we can still have lunch together.>>

Dani‘s heart skipped the beat. Her maman did always say romance bloomed fast out in the country. She texted her address before she could lose her nerve.

Ada

<<Nice, I’m less than a five minute drive to your place. I’ll bring some home cooking. Lunch tomorrow sound good?>>

Dani

<<Omg you’re too amazing. Thank you!!! ❤️ >>

Casting her eyes around the house, Dani felt renewed vigor for her projects. “I have to show Ada my magnum opus when she gets here!”

Outside, a gust of wind blew especially hard, as if in an agreement.

———

Dani expected Ada around noon – but had yet to hang up her curtains.

A text came through.

Ada

<<Truck won’t start, I’ll be a little late.>>

Dani

<<No worries! I’ll put some candles at the window so you know which house is mine if it gets snowy again. My porch light is broken.>>

She started hanging the curtains all around the house, working double time. But as she was short and did not trust the chair she used a stepladder all that much, she was still very slow.

By the time the very last one was finished, her phone said it was 12:17.

Outside the wind started whipping again, and she neither saw a car coming up her street or anybody off-roaring in the snow planes and the low foot hills behind her house, encircling the ocean and bay.

Which meant she probably still had enough time to put all her candles out. Her family had always prized appearing perfectly ready for guests. Dani kept the habit up, because she enjoyed feeling organized. She drew away each curtain from the windows, and placed a candle on the sill. She missed summer, so she had all the more tropical scents out.

Just as she was sitting out her favorite piña colada candle, the wind cleared away from her eastern window, and she saw a large shape out back. Was that …

“Holy crap,” she breathed. “A polar bear!”

She knew they lived in the area, of course. As per her coworkers advice, she kept her trash in the garage and only set it out the morning before garbage trucks came by.

“They eat ANYTHING,” Barry emphasized. “Polar bears would be happy to eat your trash. Or,” he wiggled his fingers, “you!”

Dani had rolled her eyes at the time, but had listened, and was now glad for it.

The animal was huge – possibly 5 foot at the shoulder. And it was dragging something?

A thought struck her, and Dani’s blood turned ice. She hadn’t heard from Ada in a while, and they’ve been talking about, walking to her house just yesterday.

She grabbed her phone out of her pocket. No answer. Called Ada. No answer. Call Ada. No answer.

Her gut roiled as the beast got closer to the house. There was even something red in the trail following the bear.

She tried calling again, but her service went out. Desperately she typed out,

Dani

<<There’s a polar bear near my house! Please tell me you aren’t walking!>>

But just as she was about to hit send, the polar bear stopped right next to her window. She ducked around the window.

And suddenly there was no polar bear anymore. Instead, there stood Ada, adjusting their kuspuk, hat and mittens, shivering occasionally. And the thing behind her was a sled with a bundle on top. It was leaking red, but instead of blood, it was just a jam jar, fallen over and cracked open, dripping.

Dani could only gape.

Apparently satisfied with their looks, Ada pulled the sled a little further, out of her sight.

Oh God. Was she going to let them in? Maybe she had imagined it. But it was so cold! Plus, kuspuks were about as warm as sweatshirts – pretty good for weather over 40 degrees but nowhere near warm enough for a day like this. So something was definitely wrong. But she couldn’t just leave Ada out there! Even if she was a polar bear before, she certainly wasn’t one now.

Knock, knock, knock!

No time to hesitate now!

Swallowing down the rush of rmotion she weathered the last few minutes, Dani flew to the door. “Ada!” She plastered on a smile.

“Dani!” They answered back, their smile real, spider bite piercings glinting in the sun.

Dani’s heart skipped a beat.

And the wind smacked her in the face and invaded the house. “Come in, come in! Do you need help bringing the food in?”

“No,” Ada said, grabbing the sled one-armed. “I’m good.”

Dani’s heart fluttered again. That sled looked heavy. Still, she scooted around her tall date and grabbed the leaking jam jar. “Don’t want to spill in the house!” She tittered.

Ada covered their mouth with their other hand. “Oh, I didn’t even see that come. Dang it! That was my last jar of nagoonberry jam! Aata - my Dad - won’t share anymore of his.”

“Nagoonberry? And how did you get here? I don’t see a car.”

“My truck still won’t start, so a friend dropped me off down the street.

They hadn’t come in the direction of the street.

“Are you insane? It’s single digits out there!”

Ada shrugged asshe finished shaking off her snow pants - the last of her winter clothes to go. “Darling, maybe I’m just built different.”

Dani couldn’t help but laugh. In more ways than one! “Okay, so what did you bring me, muscles?”

Ada pulled a large basket out of a snugly wrapped blanket, which in turn had been wrapped in a tarp. “To keep the ice off, but the cool in,” they explained. The basket was woven tightly, wide and low, with a huge a huge lid, topped by a carved fish, probably made of ivory or bone.

“So, I hope you’re not too hungry, because I wanted to give you a little lesson before we eat.”

She nodded. “Are you gonna tell me about the nagoonberry?

Ada waved their hand. “All good time.” They pulled two Tupperware containers and stuck them in the freezer. “For later.” Finally, they opened up the basket, and began laying out the food.

“So I was mostly raised up in Utqiagvik, with my aakaga, my mom, until I was about 14-ish. My parents divorced when I was little. I’d see Aata in the summers and sometimes winter break if the weather was mild. Then mom’s writing career finally took off – remind me to bring a couple copies over sometime – and she had to go on a tour. So I moved in with Aata!”

“Let me guess – that’s when you started being interested in making food?”

“You bet! I mean, I knew how to heat up a pizza or make cookie dough. But Dad’s budget was a little tighter, and he’s a lot more connected to his people, so… yeah. Aaka and I are Iñupiak – that’s the dual form of Iñupiat, which is –”

“I know what a dual form ⁂ is!” Dani said excitedly.

Ada lifted their eyes brows, but continued. “Fair enough! Well, Aaka was not very traditional when I was growing up. She had to attend a lot of church as a kid, and she spent a lot more time with her father’s family than her mother’s. I think she was still sorting herself out from that, you know? But anyway, Dad is very Yup’ik. Not dual form for that, by the way,” they flashed a smile. “The plural is just Yup’ik, we don’t really conjugate it anymore.”

“Is this going to be Yup’ik food?”

“You bet! You say you like sushi –”

“Oh yeah,” Dani confirmed, eyes gleaming.

Ada chuckled. “Well, then you’re definitely going to like this. More protein, less filler, all local.” They pulled off the lid. “You seem to tend towards sweet-and-sour foods more than anything, and you mentioned wanting to eat more protein.” They smiled shyly. “So I took that into account. I’m going to introduce you to qassaq.”

Once again, Dani was speechless. Both because she was touched and in awe of the gesture, and because she didn’t know what that meant.

Ada must’ve seen her her face, because they started grabbing dishes out of the basket. “Okay! So this is not the most comprehensive introduction to Yup’ik cuisine, and I did end up going to the grocery store for some ingredients, but I figured we could ease into it.”

“This,” they held up a small casserole dish. “Is modern assaliaq. It’s a fried fish casserole with mostly bulb and root type veggies. That’ll be our main course. I’m going to heat it up in your oven, if you don’t mind.”

Dani shook her head and took the assaliaq, mouth dry. All this, for a second date? “How hot?”

Ada told her, then continued “This, if you dare,” they smirked. “is ciss’uq. Much more traditional, and a bit of a delicacy.”

Dani sniffed. Even wrapped up, its scent was strong and inviting. “What is it?”

“It’s fermented herring. Pulled it out right before I found out my truck wouldn’t start.”

“It definitely smells sweet!”

“If you enjoy this, then I think you’ll really like Tepa. But, that’s more of a summer food, remind me to show you later.” They moved on. “This is tepcuaraq, which is fermented frozen salmon. We can dip in some seal oil!” They set the container aside, with a little tureen on top. “And finally … drumroll, please!”

Dani happily obliged, giggling.

“Ice cream! Just in case you do want dessert. I wasn’t sure what you’d like, so I bought Neapolitan.” They grinned, a little sheepish.

After a moment, all Dani could say was, “I am blown away. You made all of this?” She gestured all around the kitchen as she put the ice cream in the freezer.

Ada smiled, still bashful “I really enjoyed talking with you, Dani.”

“I feel so unprepared!” Dani joked. “But I really like talking to you too.” She felt the blood rush to her face. “I hope you aren’t expecting to go home with leftovers, because I really want to try everything!”

———

Dani wasn’t sure if she’d ever eaten so much in her life. “You eat like this every day?” She asked, dipping another filet into the nearly gone seal oil. Another bite couldn’t hurt.

“I mean, not usually when I’m working. The counseling center is great, but I don’t normally pack a ton just for one meal. I’m a snacker, so I make a bunch of little stuff on the weekends and eat it throughout the day. But you can’t snack all day for a date!”

“How is that? By the way, don’t you guys counsel like, everyone from miles around? That must get a little bit conflict of interest-y with everyone being so tight around here.”

Ada shrugged. “I mean, I like helping people. Especially kids. On Thursday and Fridays the Center sends me to both of the schools to check up more personally, in case parents don’t want to bring them in.” They shook their head. “It’s like no one remembers how tough it is to be a kid sometimes.”

“I know!” Dani fumed. “Back home, a little girl was brought in after burned her foot when she put it on the stove top.” Both winced. “Not only were the parents careless, but they didn’t understand why she nearly screamed herself blue! It was the most painful thing that little baby had ever felt. It’s like they forgot everything is new.”

“Exactly.” Ada nodded.

Dani couldn’t stop smiling. A pretty date, good food, and excellent conversation. She didn’t want this to end. “Do you wanna watch something?”

“Sure! Have you seen Dungeon Meshi?”

Dani shook her head. “Isn’t that on Netflix? I think my friend just started.”

“Let’s watch that! I think it features cooking and fighting.”

Laughing, Dani grabbed two bowls and two spoons. “Everything is food with you, huh?” She grabbed the ice cream and a scoop. She could probably fit in dessert. “So why aren’t you a cook?”

Ada laughed too. “I tried for a year! But I like to take my time while cooking. I just couldn’t keep up at any of the restaurants. So I eventually got my psych degree.”

“Yeah, the restaurant business is tough. I do not miss being a waitress.” Dani handed Ada their half of the ice cream, with most of the chocolate and some of the strawberry. Dani took most of the vanilla nd the rest of the strawberry. “Hey, doesn’t Alaska have its own type of ice cream or something?”

Ada nodded as she pulled up the show. “Mhm. We call it akutuq, Inuit or Alaskan ice cream. It’s kinda like this?” She held up her bowl. “In that it’s a cold mix of sweet and fat. You have to try it. But I used up all my berries, so you’re not getting any soon. Though Lou still owes me – wait. I doubt xe has any either. Ugh.”

“Another summer treat?

“We’ll have to see,” Ada shrugged. “Oh well. You ready to watch?”

———

By the time the two had reached the second to last of the episodes released - they kept one-moreing it straight through episode six - it was quite dark.

“Let me give you a ride home,” Dani said. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of it earlier.”

Ada snorted. “You’re silly. But yeah, I’d be happy to save the trip.”

Dani dashed out to start the car, and they finished episode seven.

After both had finished redressing - for if the trucks heat suddenly failed, they did not wish to be cold – Dani drove her home. The sky was briefly clear, and they could see the moon setting on the sea.

It looked like a fairly normal home, even with an absolutely true part-time† polar bear living there. Dani did not see any polar bear paraphernalia. Not even a Welcome mat with paw prints in the pattern. She shrugged mentally and and gave Ada a kiss on the cheek.

Judging from their bashful reaction, they really liked it. With a wave goodbye and a “Text you later!” They grabbed the sled from her truck bed and rushed in the door, narrowly avoiding a particular vicious torrent of wind.

Dani played some instrumental music on the slow ride back, truck occasionally rocking and sliding against the onslaught of wind and ice. She hummed along, in between growls of frustration.

It had been kind of stupid to invite someone new over her own house, when emergency services could take a while to respond, for a second date. It had been monumentally stupid to invite a known anthropophagous bear into her house.

But God, Ada was cute. Dani was surprised they hadn’t kissed during their long date. Had it really been six hours? Dani had trouble enjoying that amount of time with any of her previous partners – and she had been thinking about marrying her ex-boyfriend!

Ada was witty, and sweet, and quite cuddly. And God, could they cook! The food they made was delicious, and made Dani feel brave and adventurous. Their shoulders were to die for, and Dani didn’t think she had felt that warm since last summer.

She shook her head. “I’ve got it bad.”

And what did this mean magically? Were all the things her grandparents worried about real? Was the Evil Eye real? Should she start wearing a cross? Was God real?

Then Ada popped up in her head again, and her worries melted away at thought of her cute date. Dani’s existential crises could wait until she got home.

———

Both Ada and Dani were busy with work, but they made time to see each other at least every Saturday – often extending all the way into Sunday.

Spring was slow to come, but as the weather warmed from ‘Immediate frostbite’ to only ‘You really just need one pair of mittens to go outside’ Ada delighted in showing off the beauty of town in the spring time. They walked around Swan Lake, pointing out the animals’ coats shifting to summer morphs, and the occasional bits of green fighting their way to the surface. They worked out together most days, and Ada would often fill Dani’s fridge up with food, but especially qassaq.

The sunlight increased every day and Dani loved it. She missed the easier weather back home, the earlier flowers, and the perfect days of May, but Dani was enjoying her break from home far more. It was worth it.

Dani’s hair, which she usually kept straightened, was starting to get on her nerves. The static electricity from the cold certainly did not help.

Dani

<<Ugh, I wish I had remembered to bring the good straightening stuff. I bet it will cost me an arm and a leg to get it shipped up here.>>

Ada

<<Darling>>

<<We do have hairstylists>>

Dani Scoffed.

Dani

<<Babe. No offense, but your hair is straight>>

Ada

<<Darling>>

Ada liked to double text for affect.

Ada

<<Where do you think my cousin Kayla and her mom got their hair done?>>

Dani had met their cousin when she came to visit Ada’s dad, Greg, for the first time. Delighted to finally meet her, Greg celebrated by cooking a little feast. The three stuffed themselves full of qageq, cuakapaq and tamukassaaq, which they ate like if chips were chewy.

While they played Sorry!, relatives stopped by to chat. They would then see Dani, and then the little chat would last at least half an hour while they introduced themselves and told at least one embarrassing story about Ada.

Dani quite enjoyed it, though by the end, she was a little exhausted. It was the first time she’d been on the other end of the dynamic.

One of the other relatives, a very old man, had referred to Ada by a different name a few times, but his son, who’d been with him, smiled apologetically. “He gets confused sometimes.”

Kayla had been the adorable daughter of Cousin James and his wife Kendra. She and her mom had most definitely not had she and her maman most definitely did not have hair as straight as a pin. In fact, Kendra had tried to talk to Dani about her hair, but then Greg’s cat Hobbes had knocked her glass off the table. By the time everything had been cleaned, the little family had to go because it was a school night.

Dani

<<All right, I’ll bite>>

A little part of her wanted to ask if this is where they got their fur done as a polar bear.

Ada

<<Guys & Gals Inc.>>

Dani checked out the next day, and was pleasantly surprised at their work. For the first time in over 15 years, she let herself be talked into a natural hairstyle, instead of straightening it. Maybe all that talk about reconnecting from Ada had gotten to her.

Sabrina, her stylist, was mixed Yup’ik and Black, and very chatty but in a welcoming way. “So why did you straighten it for so long?” She said, working on another bead. “It seems like you took care of it, I don’t see too much damage, but that’s a long time!”

Dani considered the question for good moment. “My hometown, back in New Jersey, was almost perfectly half and half black andwhite when I was growing up. It’s a little different now, but there’s pretty much the same ratio between black-and-white.”

Sabrina was nodding.

“But my family is from Dominica – NOT the Dominican Republic – so we were pretty different from the other black folk already there. My parents have accent, we eat goats and organ meat, and with my Papa away for work a lot, no one could drive us kids around. I just wanted to be,” Dani tried to find a better word. “Normal.” She winced.

“So you hung out with more white kids?

“Yes. Jordan – my brother – didn’t really care, but I did. And to be normal –”

“You have to be like everyone on TV, AKA, mostly white people.”

Dani felt small. “Yes. After a while, it just became habit. And my maman’s half Kalinago❧ , so her hair is just wavy.” She sighed. “When she had to learn how to deal with all this,” Dani gestured to her own hair, “she had quite a lot to say.”

Sabrina chuckled. “Sounds like your mom should have thought of that when she married your dad. Because you have beautiful, definitely curly, 4A hair.” Sabrina squeezed her hand comfortingly on Dani shoulder, “In any case, hon, better late than never. Look at yourself!”

Dani looked up, and gasped.

She hadn’t been sure if she’d been able to pull off the hairstyle as an adult, but she had wanted it all the same. Her scalp had always been sensitive, and she avoided tight braids when she could.

Instead, she had opted for long twists, stabilized by beads of bone and baleen, the latter of which had a stripe of golden paint in the middle of each bead.

She felt gorgeous. Even if she never wore her hair like this again, she knew she treasure the beads forever.

Dani was still feeling gorgeous by the time she got home. But she was also exhausted.

Staying still for several hours with genuinely hard work! Ada had been knocked out all weekend when she got her hand kakiniit done. She flopped onto the couch after lighting a candle. She looked at the time on her phone. It was three hours until six… That meant she could have an hour to snooze, an hour to cook, and then she should be ready! Dani set an alarm on her phone. A little nap wouldn’t hurt.

———

Dani was at a restaurant, alone. She kept ordering qassaq and quaq dishes, but the polar bear waiter kept bringing foods that were further and further away from what she was ordering. From sashimi to grilled chicken and on and on, until the waiter lifted the lid to her plate, and it was a lettuce leaf vegan burrito.

In between all that, the polar bear brought up a ringing telephone, set it down, and left it on the table.

She would pick up, or immediately hang it up, but after what felt like mere moments would pass, it would ring again. In exasperation, she picked it up and threw it away. There was a crash, but finally the ringing was far enough away that it stopped bothering her.

“Dani!” Someone in the restaurant called. “Dani! Wake up!”

Dani whirled around, but couldn’t seem to locate the voice.

CRASH!

With the start, Dani woke up to see her candle on the floor, burning, her door was off its hinges, her phone was still ringing on the other side of the room, and for half a second a polar bear stood at her doorstep.

Then a flash, and it was Ada.

The fire caught onto Dani’s sock. She ripped it off, and beat the blaze on the floor with it.

When she looked up again, sock and floor out but still smoking, Ada was running over with a pot of water from the kitchen. She dumped it onto the smoky mess.

Heart beating wildly, Dani caught their eye. And started giggling.

Ada tried to keep their face straight, but soon started giggling with her, both falling back onto the couch and relief and the stupidity of it all.

“I can reattach - hehe – the hinges,” Ada said, after they mostly finish laughing. “Are you okay?”

Dani was not done laughing. “Just – hmheehm – Bam! And you’re there,” she kissed Ada, then giggled a bit more. “My hero!”

Blood rushed to Ada’s face. “Yeah, yeah. Your hair looks pretty, by the way. The beads are a nice touch.”

“Heehmhm – you just like them because your cousin carved them.”

“How did you know Josie makes beads?”

“Well, the little stand at the hairstylist had a blurb about her, and from there it was a lucky guess. You have a lot of cousins.”

Ada smiled. “You got me there.” Their face turned serious for a second. “Actually, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something.”

“Oh?” Dani’s heart raced. Did Ada realize that she had seen her as a polar bear today? Could they both finally come clean?

Ada took a shuddering breath. “Yeah, so, I’ve been thinking, and… I’m going to change my pronouns.” Dani’s trepidation fell, but then turned to excitement. “Awesome! What are you thinking? Neo pronouns? I played fae/faer in college. Or xe/xir? My friend uses those. Or –”

Ada looked a little overwhelmed. “No, no. I was just thinking she/her. Like, I’m going to try both they/them and she/her for a while.”

Dani hugged her. “Thanks for telling me. I have a question for you too.” She had actually been planning on asking this at dinner, but now felt right.

“Oh?” Ada said, slightly mocking.

“Yeah, oh. Listen, do you want to be my themfriend?”

Ada kissed Dani. “Hell yeah.” Then her stomach rumbled. “I’m guessing you didn’t make dinner?” Her stomach rumbled again. “Because I’m starving.”

“Yeah, next time I say I’m cooking, I won’t get my hair done first. How about I pick up Chinese, and you get my door. Thank you, by the way.”

Ada waved her off. “It was no problem. Now go get me some General Tso’s!” They got up to get the tools from underneath Dani’s sink.

“As you wish.”

———

“Darling?”

“Hm?”

“There’s a festival up in Utqiagvik, where my aakaga, my mom lives. Do you want to go?”

“Sure! I’d love to hear more embarrassing stories about you. I’m sure your aaka has tons.”

“Ugh, why do I love you?”

“Because I’m cute. Now hand me some of that arumaarrluk.

———

It had just been getting into light jacket weather in Qikiqtaġruk when it was time to fly up to Utqiagvik.

“It’s the northernmost spot of the Unethical Spoils of America!” Ada grinned while Dani worked that one out.

“Oh, USA. Okay, good one. Why are you bringing that up while I am packing, my thrilling themfriend?”

“Because, my striking sweetheart, it will not be warm enough to wear your pantsuit.” She said, pointing out the pantsuit Dani had laid out.

“Don’t you mean my PAN-tsuit?” Dani grinned briefly as Ada groaned. “And for real?”

“I mean, pack it if you want? Global warming and stuff, I could be wrong, but whenever I go there, it’s still pretty chilly. But suits look weird layered, my pretty panwoman.”

“I think I will, my lovely lesbian.” Dani stuck out her tongue, and Ada pretended to grab it. She shrieked and tackled her girlfriend to the floor, both laughing.

———

Utqiagvik, or Barrow as some of the older people said out of habit, still had snow. Dani wondered briefly if Ada’s polar bear form missed it, but she did not ask.

She loved Ada, but knowing the secret – and knowing that Ada was both keeping it from her and didn’t want Dani to know – was eating her up inside. And she was determined to have a good time – and if the opportunity arose, and the time felt right? Then she’d bring it up!

After an exhausting few flights – they had to fly south to Anchorage to catch a flight to Utqiagvik – Dani was ready to fall asleep. She was still adjusting to incredibly long days, and the solstice had just passed.

Thankfully, Ada’s mom Barbara was waiting for them at the airport. She gave her child a hug and a kunik∵ , and then turned to Dani. “You must be the girlfriend I’ve been hearing so much about!” She opened her arms once more.

Dani hugged the woman back. “Hi Ms. Stevens! I just finished reading book 6, and I’m itching to find a copy of next one! Ada doesn’t want to give me hers!”

Ada squawked in indignation. “Aaka, that’s not true! I los– I mean, I lent it out to someone else. I’m sure … Barry will give it back soon!”

Ada‘s mom rolled her eyes. “Please dear, call me Barbara. And I have extra copies to give you both so that Ada can ‘lend’ out a few more.” She winked.

“Aaka!” Ada whined.

———

Somehow, it was even brighter in Utqiagvik, then Qikiqtaġruk, despite the extra fog. But that didn’t stop the whaling festival, Nalukataq.

A lot of the butchering was already done, so the whales were fresh and ready to eat, and people were clearing out their freezers for any bit of last year’s catch.

Since everyone there was a fan of snacking all day, Dani was soon stuffed. As a newcomer, the whale guts and flippers were offered, and then there was the coffee and the goose and the caribou soups. And of course, the frybread! It was a delicious medley.

Ada happily introduced her to her maternal family, and friends from before she moved. They ran into many of them, because virtually the whole city had turned out for the festival.

There were so many vendors selling beautiful combs, baskets, parkas, kuspuks, embroidered boots, and so many other beautiful things. Dani ended up buying a basket for herself (topped by a polar bear), an arctic fox carving, and a baby blanket embroidered and lined with rabbit fur. It was ridiculously soft and fluffy.

Her friend Annika, who she was going to see on her trip back to New Jersey the following month, was due August, and she figured it made for a great baby gift.

Barbara winked when she saw the baby blanket, and Dani tried to explain herself, but Barbara just poked her in the side. “Come on, dear. You should see Ada at the blanket toss. It’s what the festival was named for, after all!”

The activity so far had been fun, but more expected, like prayer at the church, singing, storytelling, there would be dancing later, and the distribution of meat between family. Ada’s cousin Malik had done the majority of the hunting this year, but Ada promised to come help in 2025.

The songs were lovely, but sounded off to Dani, who been hearing a lot of Yup’ik the last couple months.

“Yes, it’s like Spanish and Portuguese, or so I’m told,” said Barbara, as they strolled over to the blanket toss. “Yup’ik and Iñupiaq. They’re fairly different, despite being relatively close. I couldn’t understand Greg when he slipped into Yup’ik, I’ll tell you what!” She chortled.

“Do you miss having Ada up here?” Dani asked quietly. Being around Barbara reminded her of her maman.

“Of course. But they’re happy in Qikiqtaġruk, and I’m happy here, and they come visit very fairly often. If they,” here she raised her eyebrows meaningfully, “ ever were to have kids, I would of course expect to have quality grandma time. But seeing as all involved are adults, we all do as we wish.”

To cover up for her blush, Dani laughed. “You should meet my maman, I’m sure you two would have fun, bugging about grandkids.”

The two arrived at the blanket toss. A huge blanket, mapkuq, sewn together out of walrus and seal hide, lay stretched between ginormous whalebone stands, with a host of people surrounding the edges.

“Okay, Dani, I have to help out now –” she nodded over to the tarp, where a few spots around could still be seen – “But why don’t you climb up on my truck! That way you can see my girl best.”

Dani, excited because she still wasn’t quite sure what to expect – she hadn’t spoiled herself at all – clambered up the red truck and situated herself upon the roof.

First came the captains. All but the oldest, who held a cane, got up on the mapkuq, and took their turn.

One, two, three bounces, and then four! The naluaqtit, the pullers, would pull the mapkuq taut, and up would go the captains.

Being generally older and serious, they would perform as straightforward a jump as possible, with minimal kicking, but by the end, even the most of dour of the nalukatat, blanket dancers, would land back upon the mapkuq, slightly winded, but grinning despite themselves.

Non-pullers were gathered around the mapkuq, which worried Dani somewhat. What if someone fell on them?

After the captains were the wives. “In old times,” Dani heard a nearby father tell the little boy sitting on his shoulders, “They used to toss baleen and tobacco, and other such treats, to show their competency as providers. But today they throw –“

“Candy!” Squealed the little boy, leaning past his father’s head as he reached for the tossed candy. The father, nearly bowled over by his son’s excitement, chuckled and gently warned the boy to be careful.

To Dani’s relief, the boy obeyed, and the two moved closer to the candy rain.

The last of the wives, who seemed young and athletic, hopped up on the map with clear excitement bubbling under her skin. She held a bag of candy, but unlike her predecessors, seemed to have something more in mind.

The young woman whispered to the leading naluaqtiq. He nodded, and then the woman went to the center of the blanket.

This time, the naluaqtit seemed to lift the mapkuq with an extra heave, and on that final bounce, the young woman went sailing into the sky.

She twirled the bag of candy by its bottom, high above her head and whooped, much to the delight of the entire crowd, Dani included. The candy went far and wide. Then she when she landed, the naluaqtit sent her up again! This time, she did a backflip and landed in a curtsy. Everyone cheered. From their reaction, it appeared the captains’ wives usually did not do such things.

Next step was apparently amateurs. Three separate people accidentally bounced off the mapkuq and into the crowd – who caught them quite readily. Dani realized they were so close so they could catch any accidental crowd surfers. The mapkuq was held on hard ground, so that the naluaqtit could hold it steady. Which meant a terrible landing for any who weren’t caught. Dani was just glad she didn’t have to rush into action.

Someone called for any new volunteers, and Dani thought about it, but ultimately held off. Between her full stomach, and the fact that she didn’t know many people, she felt it would be best to hold off. Maybe next year.

Next year? A small part of her whispered.

Shut up, a larger part whispered back.

Finally, she spotted her themfriend and cheered.

They strode up to the mapkuq confidently, with a few wolf whistles and whoops in their wake.

“Ada!”

“Ayo! It’s the champion!”

“We missed you at the Olympics!”

Ada smirked and shrugged off their attention.

The crowd stood at the ready.

The blanket bounced one, two, three times. She went up. A simple jump. Then to Dani’s awe, they flipped not once – not twice — but thrice.

They were spinning, so tight that it was like Dani was looking at a ball.

Only their braids, whose fur wrappings were coming loose, flew freely as they soared higher, higher, higher – nearly skimming the clouds it seemed – and then hurtled down.

Dani‘s breath caught in her throat her girlfriend approached the mapkuq. Would she fall, just like that?

Then the last second, her legs shot out, the mapkuq arose to meet her feet and up she went again. Two barrel rolls, a backflip, and on the last flip, Ada unfolded herself a little early and landed like a surfer. She lifted her arms and whooped.

The city went wild. Dani went wild. She launched herself off the truck and flew over, grasping Ada’s face and kissing her in front of the roaring crowd.

She had the coolest girlfriend in the world.

———

Barbara was incredibly proud of her child, and was bragging all the way back to her place after the day’s festivities ended. She stopped to breathe for a second, and Ada was about to get a word in edgewise, when Barbara turned to Dani, who was riding shotgun.

“Ada is great at all sort of sports. They must’ve been practicing quite a lot at your little gym – the Lord knows no one’s pulled that level of a trick for a while.”

“Aaka,” Ada pleaded, blushing.

———

“So you were in the Winter Olympics and you never told me?” Dani poked Ada in the side. They were walking at dusk, the cool air blowing off the water just this side of kuspuk, not coat.

Ada laughed. “It’s not the Olympics you’re thinking of, I’m surprised I forgot to tell you.” A pause, then, “I won third place in the 400 m dash in the Summer 2016 Olympics.”

“Really?!”

“No, no,” They said, and laughed. And then yelled when Dani poked them in the side once more. “Okay, okay! I used to do some jumps in the World Eskimo – Indian Olympics, the WEIO¤, in Fairbanks. I went for the first time with my dad, competed two years later. I didn’t go during Covid, and between this trip and then the trip to NJ,” they squeezed her hand, “which I’m very excited about – I haven’t been able to go to one in a while. But maybe we can go, next year!”

There was that dreaded phrase again. Next year.

Dani swallowed around the lump in her throat. “Was that the only kind of jump? The nalukataq?”

“Nope. But I mostly did stuff like the tow jump or the knuckle jump. I’d show you, but one requires a little set up and the other would hurt on the concrete.”

“I’ve never done anything like that.” Dani confessed after a moment. Then, “But I used to be point guard on my middle school basketball team. We should totally play some on one when we get to find a court! After you show me these jumps, of course.”

Ada squeezed her hand. “It’s a date.”

Fog started rolling towards their path, so both turned tail to head back to Barbara’s.

“Oh, is that a … rainbow, or something?” Dani pointed to a ring of light that encircled the setting sun. It appeared white, but the more she stared at it, the more pink and blue appeared at the edges.

“Oh!” Cried Ada, pleased “A fogbow! I haven’t seen one in ages! I think Qikiqtaġruk is too far south for any.”

“That’s neat! Back in NJ, I saw a triple rainbow once. But never anything like this! It kinda looks like a trans flag. Happy pride month to us!”

Both giggled, and then a harsh gust of wind swept away both the fog and any desire to stay outside. They hurried in.

Barbara was clacking quite loudly at her keyboard when Dani and Ada walked in – it no longer threatened to fall off her desk, thanks to Dani bolting it to said desk – but it still rattled. The woman pulled off her headphones and said, “There’s leftover assaliaq in the fridge, tepa if you want something sweet.” She put her headphones back on and returned to her clacking.

Dani rushed over to the kitchen. “Tepa? Isn’t that the sweet-and-sour stuff you wanted me to try?”

Ada actually wiggled to fingers. “Yes, oh my God. This is going to be good. I knew putting off fishing was a good idea!”

Tepa was a great way to end a great day. It was less sour than Dani expected, and she would happily admit to stealing some heads off of Ada’s plate. That got her an evil glare, but she just stuck at her tongue.

Ada put down her fork. “Hey, do you want me to show you another Olympics activity?” Her tone was innocent. Too innocent.

Despite herself, Dani aquiesced.

They sat upon the floor, and Ada showed her how to arrange herself.

With their right leg bent with her knee up, foot on the floor, and their left leg outstretched, toes of the sky, Ada folded themself around Dani, so that their left leg stretched under the arch of her right, and right foot by her hip. One mirrored the other. Ada and Dani put their left hands on each other’s right ankles, holding one another down. “Then, we cross our right arms, like this, and we pull away from each other.”

“No fair, you’re bigger than me!” Dani stuck her tongue out again. “You’ll push me to the ground.”

“Well, darling,” Ada purred, and leaned in even closer. “I could be mistaken, Ms. Basketball-Star, but I think you go to the gym more than I.” They pulled back, laughter in their eyes. “And besides, you win by pulling your opponent towards you. Whoever gets to hit the floor first, etc.”

Dani saw where this was going. She darted forward and picked Ada on the lips before they could say more. Then before the shock could wear off, she pulled them both down. “I win.”

Ada licked their lips. “You most certainly did,” they said after a breathless moment.

“Is this actually a sport, or is it just your special move to get all the girls?”

Ada rolled her eyes and kissed Dani back. “Oh no,” she deadpanned, “you found out my deep, dark secret. My armpull skills bring ALL the girls to the yard, and you’re just the latest in a slew of broken hearts.”

Dani had to laugh at that. Ada was NOT that smooth. “Well babe, I have to say, your reasoning and methods are solid. When am I getting replaced?”

Ada pretended to think for a moment before kissing her again. “Hm, I’m thinking this time next never. Sound good to you?”

“Do I have a choice?” Dani tugged on a strand of Ada’s hair.

“Nope. Suffer.”

That earned them another giggly kiss. “Love you, darling.”

“Love you too, babe. Bon swé.”

———

Something was off. Dani woke up in the middle of the night, alone in bed, dawn rising in the distance. She got up to look for Ada (and maybe grab a little tepa - the snacking lifestyle was rubbing off on her) when she heard voices just outside the lee-side living room window, accompanied by the flickering glow of a candle.

“I just don’t think it is a good idea. She’s a lovely girl, I really do like her, but you barely know her! Give it time.” That was Barbara’s voice.

“But Aaka, I think she get it, you know? She’s even Indigenous herself, I don’t think she’d reveal anything personal. She knows what it’s like to feel different in your own home. Even if we,” Ada’s voice went quiet, “broke up. Or something. She knows what it’s like to be ostracized for things you can’t control. She would not tell!”

“Maybe. Maybe not. But it’s not like she’s planning on staying. You have to protect your heart, Ada.”

The hurt silence was only interrupted by the low moan of wind on the other side of the house.

They must’ve switched to Iñupiaq after that, because Dani couldn’t catch anything more. She could’ve sworn she heard nanuq a couple times – she knew that to mean polar bear - but that was about it. Her heart became more and more numb, crouching under the window sill.

Only when she heard a growl did Dani wake up from her miserable trance. She peeked and yes. Ada was a polar bear again.

She heard the sound of footsteps towards the door. Dani flew to their bedroom, and threw herself under the covers.

Of course. Of course, she could not be told. She was just another outsider, a stranger. How could she be anything more?

———

When Dani woke up, Ada still wasn’t back.

“Oh, she just went fishing with her cousins!” said Barbara cheerily. “You know how early dawn is around here! Maybe we can all have some barbecue when they get back. Then I’ll take you up to the airport.”

Dani nodded, too morose to say much.

Ada did, in fact, bring back some fish, and they fried it up in some seal oil.

Dani tried to muster up her usual enthusiasm, and the food was delicious, but she just felt heavy.

“Are you okay, darling?” Ada asked, after Dani sighed for the third time.

Caught, she spluttered, “Oh! No. Just thinking about something, you know how it is after the adrenaline crashes!” A half truth was better than a lie, right?

“If you’re sure.”

———

Things were a little colder between them after that.

Sure, they still ate together, worked out together, and enjoyed each other‘s company. But how could she open up to Ada if Ada was not open to her? And why should Ada open up to her if she wasn’t staying? Did she want to stay?

Dani kept promising herself she would talk to someone about it. She was putting up walls and shutting Ada out – and she hated to see that hurt look flash cross their face. Dani hated hurting them. Dani loved them. But would she stay for them?

Her maman needed her. And it wasn’t fair to expect Jordan to step up all the time. Was she a bad daughter if she likes keeping away from her maman? Was that the reason enough to stay?

Was she just using Ada as an escape?

All that roiled in Dani’s gut as they flew across North America.

They caught a flight to Anchorage, to Portland, to Minneapolis, to DC, irritatingly down to Atlanta, and then finally to Newark, where Jordan picked them up. The cheapest flight plan wasn’t always the best flight plan.

Ada, who hadn’t been out of the state since college (partly due to Covid) basically had her face pressed to the window the entire time, especially when they crossed over the desert.

Dani had to laugh. Maybe next time they could stop in Las Vegas. If there was a next time. Dani did not have to laugh anymore.

To her surprise, Jordan looked older. More mature. They texted and called occasionally when she was in Alaska, but Dani had not realized how much he had become an adult. And it didn’t look like a weight on him.

She hugged him, long and hard. “I missed you! She cried. “I swear, you weren’t this tall when I left you.”

Being a whole 2 inches taller than his older sister and proud of it, Jordan gave her a noogie.

“Hey, not the hair!”

Jordan turned to Ada. “Hey,” he said, holding out a hand.

Ada reached to shake it, but Jordan withdrew his at the last second, sweeping it over his cornrows and lifting his left hand to cup his chin and smirk.

Okay, maybe he had not matured that much.

“You won’t help with the bags?” Jordan said, already grabbing two bags and hauling them towards his backseat.

It was a tight fit in the two hours it took to get back to Cottington.

Being laconic over the phone, but verbose in person, Jordan filled her in on all the family drama that their maman had forgotten to share.

“What do you MEAN, Sienna got into Princeton?! Is that why she’s ghosting me? Too good for the likes of a Rowan girl?”

Jordan sucked his teeth. “Man. I don’t know. She hasn’t been returning my calls or texts either.”

They all laughed at that.

“This is it!” Dani exclaimed as Jordan pulled in front of the house. “Let’s hit the hay, I am beat.” She grabbed both suitcases beside her, excitement beating exhaustion.

The door was unlocked, so she burst into the house. As per usual, her maman was in her armchair. But to Dani’s surprise, she actually got up. “Dah-nee-el-la!” The woman opened her arms wide. “Oh mon fille, you’re home!”

“Maman!” Dani could believe help could not help but get a little teary.

They hugged.

Maman let go first. “Now where is she? That Ada girl? Oh!” She dropped Dani like she was yesterday‘s news. “Oh, you must be Ada. You look so strong, so pretty. Though the silver bits in your mouth –” she plucked at one of them, causing Ada to yelp. Mama and sucked her teeth. “Well, nobody’s perfect. Still!” She turned back to Dani. “You’ll make even more money.”

Ada looked at Dani wide-eyed over Maman’s head – all were short, but her maman was by far the shortest – and Dani shook her head and rolled her eyes. Ada winked in understanding and went back to surviving the woman’s chatter. Her stomach rumbled audibly.

“Oh yes, and you must be starving! Tell me, do you like hot food? Dani only likes it mild, she must’ve gotten that from her father –” Maman lead them all to the kitchen, whereupon a small feast laid.

“I just thought the island food was like. Fresh fruit and pork. Maybe some fish.” Ada whispered to Dani, eyes wide, and nose at work.

Dani giggled. “Not Dominican food, babe.” She grabbed an accra. “Try this first. I told my maman you were a foodie.”

Maman had brought out the good stuff. She was a great cook, but rarely did she pull out all the stops. She must have caught a train to Philadelphia to get the ingredients this fresh, this flavorful - this Dominican.

There were grilled breadfruit strips, fried in coconut oil, accra to the side – ready to be eaten with the fish and sweet and spicy goat stew, and of course, the crêpes.

“Crêpes are more of a breakfast food, said Jordan in between stuffing his face. “But they’re Dani and Maman’s favorite, so she made them for dinner. She really pulled out all the stops with this one!”

“Yeah, we don’t usually have this much meat.” Dani said, daintily wiping her mouth with a napkin.

“But when my Dani comes home after being gone for so long –”

Dani could feel THAT little needle.

“- and she brings home such a pretty girl, I wanted to spoil her.” Maman grabbed both Dani and Jordan’s cheeks. “Not that they aren’t spoiled enough.”

“Maman!” The sibling said in unison.

Ada, who could not get enough of, well, anything, nodded politely, mouth quite full. Her eyes were watering, but Dani could see the excitement there too. Finally, she swallowed. “I must say, Ms. Romain, youre cooking is inspiring. Would you mind sharing the recipes with me?”

“Please, call me Patience.” Maman grabbed Dani‘s arm. “You better keep this one. Mon Dieu, she could make up for your lack of charm!”

Dani flushed angrily, but did not say anything, as did Ada. Her maman was a master at blending a compliment with an insult.

———

How could she keep Ada?

———

They went to Great Adventure. They went to New York City and saw The Wiz. They went out with her friends and cousins. They visited a friend’s petting zoo farm. All these things.

Dani enjoyed herself. She could tell Ada was having a blast.

But every night, Dani’s dreams, when she got to see them at all, were plagued with questions. How could she be with someone if they couldn’t be honest with each other? If they couldn’t be themselves with with each other? How could she love them this much and not be sure if she could stay? If she could leave her maman, forever?

Maman had been high energy that first night, but her chronic pain made itself quite known during the following week. Every day, after all their activities (With the exception of their day in NYC. Her papa was home that evening and he brought pizza). Dani would get home and be expected to make dinner. She could make a mean crab farci, but she did not take joy in cooking like her mama or Ada.

Her maman’s pain and love were real, but as Dani grappled with her own dishonesty and commitment questions towards Ada, the old anxieties and irritations of home reared their ugly heads.

Her maman would bark orders at her, and fawn on Jordan the next. She had been away from home for over six months, and yet she had to cook for the household again? God, she loved her maman, but hate and love were not opposites. They were two sides of the same coin.

As Dani trudged upstairs to bed, hands wrinkled from washing dishes, her maman called to her. “Dah-nee-el-la!”

Dani groaned internally and turned around. Her parents’ bedroom was on the first floor. “Yes, Maman?”

“This house is a mess. You will help Jordan and I clean in the morning.”

That meant Dani would have to get up at six to clean while Maman supervised and occasionally wiped off counters. Jordan might wake up in time to maybe sweep and take out the trash before he had to go to work.

Dani turned to go. “Oui, maman. Bon swé.”

“Bon swé. Je t’aime bien.”

“Mon aussi, je t’aime.” She meant what she said, but wished she did not.

———

Nearly everything went as she expected, much to Dani’s displeasure. 6 AM wake up, clean up for a couple hours, and then Jordan took the trash out before he went to work, apologetically smiling. Ada woke up halfway through and joined in, making Dani love her all the more, though Maman looked on disapprovingly.

Their last fun day was to be spent at the beach. Ada didn’t know how to swim, and Dani’s hair had just been redone, so they didn’t spend much time under the water. Still, they splashed and got a bit burned - despite using sunscreen, both forgot to lotion their ears - and ate overpriced ice cream and fried Oreos.

“I can feel my arteries wheezing their death rattles,” Ada said while stuffing another Oreo in her mouth “I need a salad, stat!”

Dani snorted. “There’s no saving you now. Your palate will forevermore be unclean.”

Ada died.

Dani slid her remaining Oreos over.

Miraculously, Ada came back to life to take them back just as thunder cracked in the sky.

“Snap, that looks like it’s moving in fast!” Dani said. It wasn’t raining on them just yet, but she heard the pattering of precipitation and saw a sheet of darkness fall and saw a sheet of darkness fall a mile down the boardwalk.

The same direction as her car, of course.

She grabbed Ada’s hand. “Come on!”

Everybody started fleeing, much to the couple’s dismay, the crowd moving against them. Apparently everyone else had parked in the opposite direction.

When the two finally found the car, it was cold and the wind was whipping. A sheet of rain rapidly approached the vehicle.

“Beat you there!” Ada challenged, and ran to the car.

Dani cursed and ran too.

Ada had already reached the car and was pulling on the doorhandle. They turned to Dani. “Come on,” they whined. “Let me in.”

Huffing and puffing to the driver’s side, Dani hit the unlock button. But only once, so only the driver’s side was unlocked. She slid in.

“Jezebel!”

The rain was only two cars away.

Smiling, Dani unlocked the door.

Ada slid in, frowning. “Evil woman,” she groused as the rain hit the car.

“I don’t start things,” Dani flipped her twists over her shoulder. “I just finish them.”

Ada sniffed delicately. “You better not leave me out in the cold again.”

Dani laughed hollowly at the words that reminded her of the questions that plagued her each night. “I’m sorry, babe. Let’s go to the house.”

Ada reached for a kiss, and Dani barely returned it. It was too much. She hated seeing the hurt on Ada’s face – so she did not look.

———

Their full morning in New Jersey was spent hanging out with her maman and any family who stopped by. With a farewell that part of Dani wished had come sooner, the couple left her family’s house.

Their flight was at 9 AM the next day, and her old friend Annika live close to the Newark airport. As such, she had voluntold her husband Antonio to drive them to the airport the following morning.

So, the two took an Uber to Annika‘s house.

“I’d take you myself,” Annika said over the phone, laughing, “but I’m just too big to fit behind the wheel anymore!”

It was true. When they arrived at Annika and Antonio‘s house, the woman had to waddle out. She was tall, but her husband was tall – tall. Dani did not want to know how big that baby would be at nine months.

“I’m not sure that baby blanket I packed is going to be big enough,” she whispered to Ada from the backseat.

Ada snorted.

“Dani!!!” Squealed Annika as she made her her way down from the porch, carefully.

“Nika!” Dani squealed back, getting out of the car and forgetting her bags. She rushed over and slowed down, just before impact, going in for a side hug and a cheek kiss instead. “How are you?”

“Ah well, the baby is coming along. It was beating me up earlier, the little stinker.” The woman caressed her stomach with a slight wince. “I’m surprised I’m not lack and blue yet!”

Dani chuckled. “That’s great and all, but I asked about you, not the kid.”

“Oh!” Annika smiled. “I feel like a bumper car, I can hardly walk, and I only ever feel like sleeping or crying. But I’m also bored and tired of waiting. Does that make sense?”

“Sorry to interrupt, Dani, but I don’t have the app and the driver wants us to pay.” Ada butted in, embarrassed.

“Oh sorry babe, I’ll go get that.” Dani squeezed Annika once again and rushed over to the driver, phone in hand.

“So you are the famous Ada!” Dani heard her over her shoulder.

———

The rest of the afternoon, all three chitchatted and played monopoly, too tired or too pregnant to do much else. Antonio got home and made them burgers – Annika‘s favorite, aside from sushi, which she wasn’t allowed to have due to the fetus.

“I miss it, I really do!” said Annika, eyes watering.

Antonio’s eyebrows rose with alarm.

“After the kid is out, I’d love to come up and try some of your qassaq, Ada. It sounds divine!”

Antonio cast his eyes pleadingly over at Ada.

But Ada never needed any encouragement to share their cooking. “I’d love to make some for you! You should absolutely come up, we’d be glad to have you.” They glance to her stomach. “Once the baby is ready, of course.”

“Of course!” Annika said.

Dani could see the relief flooding Antonio‘s face. “And on that note, does anyone want dessert?”

Ada declined, looking at her phone and saying that she wanted to hit the hay early. She went upstairs with a “Thank you, you two! It was nice meeting you!” Dani was pretty sure her girlfriend was actually not going to sleep just yet, considering this sheepish look on her face. She probably just saw an update notification for a fanfic she liked.

Antonio graciously got both Annika and Dani ice cream, waving off her thanks with a “It’s habit now.” Then he went to bed, probably to actually go to sleep.

Annika was a night owl – Dani remembered how they both stayed up 37 hours one weekend when the two were eleven, just because they could. Being a medical professional now, Dani winced at the thought. Both had improved their sleeping habits, but to say Annika was cured would be laughable.

“Do you want to watch a movie?”

“Does it have many flashing lights? My head is still spinning a bit from the amusement park.”

There had been a light malfunction on a dark ride and Dani was pretty sure she almost had a seizure. Which would have gotten her stuck in NJ, meaning a bunch of breach of contract, meaning her decision about Ada would have been temporarily made for her. SHE wanted to make the decision. Even if her decision at that moment was to put off said decision.

“It’s animated, but I looked it up earlier and some parenting site said it’s decently epilepsy safe. There’s a few fireworks, and some characters made of fire, but no strobing, or big flashy changes!”

Dani narrowed her eyes. “Are you trying to get me to watch that elements movie again?”

Annika pouted. “It’s like, the best movie of 2023 and you didn’t even watch it!”

“You know I don’t watch a lot of kids movies.”

Annika thought for a moment. “I’m pregnant, and you need to see this movie.”

“Your logic is astounding,” Dani said dryly. “Okay. Put it on.”

———

Dani had gone into the movie expecting to endure it. Instead, she began to draw … similarities to herself.

By the end, they were both weeping. “It’s like me with the farm a couple years ago!” exclaimed Annika. Then she blew her nose, and offered the tissue box to Dani.

“I think it’s like. My maman and I. But nicer.” Dani took a tissue.

“Mhm.” Annika snatched the box back to herself. “And you know,” her voice suddenly turned sly. “I think somebody in your life is a little like Wade.”

“Oh, shut up.” Dani balled up her tissue and threw it at Annika’s head, who squawked an indignation. “What do you know, anyway?”

Annika smiled and tapped close to her eye, creepily reminding Dani of the Beldame from Coraline. “Mother’s intuition.”

“It hasn’t even been born yet!”

Annika shrugged. “You can’t help with sneak glances at her, even this far into the relationship. You desperately wanted your mom to like her, which I don’t think she even met any of your previous partners.”

“That’s more because of her than –”

“And it looks like you’re keeping secrets, and it’s killing you.” Annika caught Dani’s eye with a long steady look. “This isn’t just a fling for you.”

Dani looked away first, unable to hold her gaze. “I’m not even sure if I should stay in Qikiqtaġruk,” she said to the floor. “Why should I make any drama if I can’t even stay.” She started to weep.

Annika opened her arms, and Dani nestled into her side. Annika gave pretty good backrubs – her calluses from work, always scratching Dani‘s back just right. “Let’s not talk about should, or would, or can.” Annika said. “Let’s just talk about want.”

“I know what I don’t want.”

“Okay?”

“I don’t want to let anyone down. But I don’t want to take care of my maman – I’m 27 for God’s sake! She loved on me the first day, and then it was like I never left!” She thought for a moment. “Plus I want to keep my girlfriend. She is pretty cool.” They both chuckled. “And I don’t want to leave all that pressure on Jordan. And it feels wrong to kind of leave Ada hanging.” Dani sighed. “I just don’t know what to do, and it’s biting me in the butt. Ada and I had a great time this trip, but I kind of held them at arm’s length. And Ada definitely saw that.”

Annika chewed on this. “Your mom doesn’t put things on Jordan the way she does on you, does she?”

Dani shook her head.

“Maybe you should ask him what it’s been like for him, instead of assuming. Either he gets out of it, or he found a way to keep her happy that works for him. Maybe … the workload changes when you’re not here.” Annika sneezed.

“Bless you.”

“Thanks. Anyway, when you start feeling like a family member is a burden –”

“It means you’re a crap person, and –”

“No! It means you need time away from them! To reevaluate and appreciate each other and stuff. I got to know my parents and like them a lot better when I moved out for college and stayed out! And you, you never had that. Until now. And with a person who looks at you like you hung the moon.” Her voice softened. “You had a terrible taste before this. All your exes were way less fulfilling, and more toxic than nuclear waste. I don’t know what compelled you to get with this person, but they’re keeper.” The woman grinned. “Especially since you still have a gooey look when I say their name. AdaAaAa!”

Dani’s face did not change. She made sure of it.

“AdaAaAa,” Annika repeated, this time poking Dani in the side.

“Hey! Cheating.”

Annika rolled her eyes like SHE was not the childish one. “Anyway, the only person you need to be worried about disappointing, is yourself. I know you love New Jersey, and me, obviously and me, obviously,” the pregnant woman put her hand on her own chest. “But I don’t think it’s enough to make you content, let alone happy.”

“I miss you,” Dani offered.

“I miss you too,” Annika squeezed her. “But it’s not like we can’t see each other. And besides,” she laughed. “With the time difference, I’m sure the baby will keep me awake long enough to call you, if this kid is anything like me.”

They both laughed at that.

“Oh! Hold on.” Dani got up and found the gift bag she’d been hiding up in her room. She waved at Ada, who was indeed reading on their phone, and went downstairs. “For you,” she said, holding out the gift bag.

She saw the water in Annika‘s eyes and she handed over the tissue box as well.

“What’s this?” Annika sniffled.

“It’s for the baby. From when Ada and I were in Utqiagvik. I saw this adorable booth selling things like this and I knew you’d love it.”

“I do,” wailed Annika, who hadn’t even opened it and was reaching for more tissues.

“Nika. Look in the bag.”

After a bit more sniffling, Annika finally opened the bag. “Oh my God, it’s too cute!” Annika practically shoved some tissues up her nose to avoid getting snot on the beautiful blanket. “My mom has this cradle her dad carved for her when she was a baby, and she put my brother and I in there when we were babies for pictures and, and, and,” she blew her nose again. “I am totally putting my baby in there with this blanket. Oh my God, thank you, Dani!”

Dani just hugged her.

———

Dani helped Annika settle on the couch. The doctors had said minimal stairs, and the couch was nice, so the woman slept there most nights.

After helping her friend, Dani went to bed. She had a lot to think about.

———

At 4 AM, Dani smacked the alarm.

Ada snorted, but snuggled back into her pillow and went back to sleep.

Dani sighed with relief. She slowly got up and dressed, packing both their things into the car (Annika said she could borrow it), only leaving each of their handbags with change of clothes in their room. Then she grabbed Wawa for breakfast, a last little New Jersey treat before returning to Alaska.

At 5 AM, she shook Ada awake. “Babe, wake up.” She planted a kiss on her themfriend’s cheek. “I want to show you something.”

Ada stretched and nodded, sleep still clouding her vision, and trudged off to the bathroom. At 5:20, Ada finally got her butt downstairs, where Dani was champing at the bit.

“Babe, come on, we’re going to miss it!”

Ada yawned as she closed the door, then fixed her eyes upon the Wawa bag. “What do you have there?” She woke up a bit.

“A reward for after we get to the beach. Come on!”

“Why are we going to the beach? I don’t think it’s safe at right now, it bei dark and all. And you didn’t tell me to get in my swimsuit!”

“You’ll see. Just come on already! Before it gets hot and you melt again.”

“In my defense, it’s stupid humid in New Jersey. I don’t know why anyone wants to live here.”

Both giggled as their flip-flops hit the sand path through the dunes. The birds were singing their sunrise songs, and already catching bits of seeds and bugs.

The couple reached the surf. Dani sat down carefully, cursing herself for not bringing a towel, and beckoned for Ada to sit too. “So I actually brought you here for two reasons.”

Ada suddenly looked guarded. “Oh?”

Dani swallowed around the lump in her throat. “Yes. First, I wanted to show you the dawn on the ocean. It’s pretty cool, and… I know you like sunset picnics back home.”

Ada smiled. “I do.”

“And… I think I’ve been dishonest. And kind of … noncommittal. And I hate that, and I want to respect your time and –” Dani realized she was rambling. “–And I know you can turn into a polar bear.”

Ada‘s eyebrows almost reached her hairline, and her mouth opened in shock. Whatever she had expected to hear, it was not that. “What?”

Dani felt all the blood rush from her face. “When you walked to our second date – I saw you. Walk up with the sled. And again – when you broke down my door? Polar bear. And – and, when you talked to your mom that night after Nalukataq!”

Ada’s face was stone.

Dani panicked. “And I think it’s totally cool and I didn’t tell anybody and I wasn’t sure if you knew that I know or if you’d be mad especially since –”

“So you’re afraid of me?”

“What?” The word vomit stopped.

“Have you been afraid of me, this whole time? Is that why you always say yes?” Ada stood up, hands shaking. Her voice remained quiet. “Is that why we’re dating? Too afraid to tell this giant, man-eating beast no, unless you’re in your home territory?” Their voice broke. “Do you … not love me?”

Now what it was Dani’s turn to be shocked. “What? No!” She grabbed Ada‘s hand.

It was the wrong move.

Ada’s eyes went impossibly wide with fear, and quicker than Dani could track, they were a polar bear, and Dani was holding air. They turned to run into the ocean, but Dani swallowed her fright at the change and jumped in front of Ada.

“Ada,” Dani worked hard to keep her hands by her side. She desperately wanted to hold her love’s face. Even with the teeth, the fur, the sudden immensity, she saw Ada and those eyes.

“Ada,” she repeated. “I love you. All of you. I just don’t want there to be secrets between us.” Dani closed her eyes and breathed in Ada, and after a moment, Ada breathed her in too. A kunik.

To the east, dawn bloomed.

Ada transformed back. “I can’t speak when I’m using my Nanuq Atiq, they explained hesitantly. “I – are you … sure?”

The tension in Dani’s gut roiled into laughter. “Babe, I’m moving to Alaska permanently. What do you think?”

Tears welled in Ada’s eyes. “You what? You’re staying?”

“You bet, babe. I’ll figure it out with Maman.” Dani was tearing up too. “So you better not be planning on getting rid of me.”

“Okay,” Ada choked out, laughing between tears. “Okay.”

They sat silently, watching the sunrise.

———

“Jordan? Hey,” Dani said at the O’Hare airport lounge. Her arms were crossed over her chest, AirPods in

“What’s up, Dani? You made it to the airport okay?” He sounded sleepy but concerned.

“Yup! All good on that front. I’m in Chicago. But I wanted to talk to you about Maman.”

“Maman?”

“Yeah,” Dani heaved a breath. “You know … she treats me differently than you, right?”

A long silence, then, “If this is about me not helping you clean, I’m sorry, Dani. This was like the one week the cleaninglady couldn’t come in, and they were all these emergencies, and –”

“She let you hire a cleaning lady?” Dani’s hurt and anger rose up. “She never let me do that. Said it was a waste of money, didn’t want any strangers in her her house.”

Jordan was silent for a moment. “Did she not tell you?” He said quietly, angrily. “The compensation from the doctor who misdiagnosed her finally came in.” He cleared his throat. “She pays for a cleaning lady, a nurse and a meal service now.”

Dani was burning up. “I’m not coming back. I’m staying in Alaska.”

“What?! Listen, I thought she told you. I thought you liked taking care of her!”

“I literally moved thousands of miles to get away from her!” She yelled.

The whole lounge looked over.

Ada stood up behind her and squeezed her shoulder. Dani put her hand on top of Ada’s, just holding on.

“I – I didn’t think. Jordan said lamely.

“When did she get the compensation?”

“What?

“When did she get the compensation?”

Jordan went silent. “A few weeks before you decided to move. I thought that was why you went. Because it was okay now.”

“It was never okay, Jordan. Dani hissed. “I barely survived, keeping things as she liked and perfect for when you and Dad get home.” She swallowed her fury. “I get to live my life now, Jordan. I love you, Papa and Maman. But I’m disappointed in you all.”

Dani could hear him crying through the phone. Some big sister part of her wanted to make it stop, hated herself for making her baby brother cry.

But the truth needed to be said.

“I love you, Jordan,” she repeated. “And I always will. Call me if you need me or have a question about Maman‘s care. I’m not gone forever.”

A sniffle. “I don’t think maman is going to get better.”

Dani pressed her hand to her mouth to cover up her sob. Her breath hitched anyway. “I don’t think so, either. I’ll come help when she – when it happens. But for now, I need some space.”

Another sniffle. “OK, Dani. A beat, then, “I’m sorry I never stepped in for you. I know she and Papa were always,” sniff, “harder on you than me.”

“Thanks, J, she said simply. “Love you.”

“Love you too. Text me when you’re back safe?”

“Yeah. Bye.”

Ada came around and hugged her tight. “Do you need to go and clean up?” She asked, nodding her head to the bathroom.

Dani nodded, trying really hard to hold her tears back.

Ada grabbed their stuff, sacrificing their seats to a young couple with two children who had been loudly complaining about the lack of seats and that parents had it hard.

Ada helped her clean up and kissed her when it was done. “You okay?”

Dani shook her head and held her forehead against Ada’s, just breathing her in. “About this? I probably won’t ever be, not completely. But thank you.” She leaned back and shook a finger. “Don’t you start psychoanalyzing me, doctor. Conflict of interest.”

Ada chuckled, their warmth soaking into Dani’s heart like a bomb. “I’m still working on that doctor part, darling.”

“Oh, so it’s all right then.”

Together, they rejoined the lounge, and resigned themselves to standing. They’d be sitting for the rest of the day on the plane, anyway.

———

To Dani and Ada‘s delight, the flight attendant informed them that they had been bumped up to first class for their flight straight to Anchorage.

The loud family who stole their lounge seats looked at them with poison in their hearts.

Dani and Ada did not care.

———

Dani and Ada had both been busy at work, Dani catching up on her hours and Ada catching up on her patients. It was August when they finally had a time where both were free, neither were tired and it was a clear sky.

“The long sunsets are going away.” Dani observed as they walked towards the where the Pacific Ocean became the inlet.

“Yes, but tonight’s perfect for the for seeing a really good aurora. You ready?”

“You bet, babe.”

The two eventually settled in a clear spot, the wind gently whipping away the genuine heat of that day.

Dani pulled out some curry colombo and crab farci, the spices for which she brought home in her luggage from New Jersey. She was finally getting into cooking for herself.

Ada pulled out some slightly thawed kumlaneq and niinamayak. The niinamayak tasted just right when thrown in with the curry – and Ada had been working on her spice tolerance.

They ate peace for a while.

Then Ada turned away. “I can’t tell you everything.” She finally said, face hidden.

“Huh?”

“I can’t tell you all my secrets,” Ada said. “Some of them are things I share. My family’s berry patches, I won’t share with anyone except with any kids I have. The secrets my patients tell me. Even what my dad likes to put in uquq to make it so sweet. But everything I can’t tell you, I’ll tell you that I have to hold back if you ask. And everything else, is yours.” She turned away to grab a crêpe.

Dani gently put her hand on Ada‘s shoulder and kissed her. “Thank you. That’s enough for me, babe. I’ll do the same for you.” Then she handed Ada some jam. “Finally the famous nagoonberry jam! You made me wait months for this!”

Ada took it and thanked her. “You ready?”

“You bet!”

The hype was not unfounded. It was naturally sweet – Dani could tell hardly any sugar was added – and a little savory. Ada’s aata Greg probably couldn’t resist cutting in a little uquq. There was hardly any citrus taste, just enough to heighten the sweetness - it was clearly added by someone who knew their jam. It also tasted slightly of the sea – there was a good chance Greg had sourced the salt from the ocean to get just the right taste.

“This is delicious! I can’t believe you would hold this out on me!”

Ada grinned. “I owed Barry a lot for a favor he did me a couple years ago. I just finished paying it off, then he introduced me to you.” They winked. “Looks like I owe him again. Better memorize the taste – he’s got one hell of a sweet tooth. You probably won’t be getting any for a while.”

“No, this is mine now. He can get his own,” Dani said with a devilish smile. She glanced up and - “Oh my God! It’s here!”

The couple laid back on the blanket and watch the aurora dance its way across the sky.

It made Dani’s heart feel light, and strange.

She squeezed at Ada’s hand. “I think the only thing more beautiful than this is you.”

Ada spluttered, then smiled and gave her a kunik. “You're cheesy.”

Dani gave her one back. “And yet it works on you.”

Ada squeezed her hand and turned back to the lights above them. “To us.”

“To us,” Dani echoed.

And the aurora danced on.

———

This post is VERY long, so I split up the glossary and the explanation. Enjoy!

Glossary

Explanation

The following are footnotes from within the story

⁂ A dual form is the term that specifically refers to two objects. Like how with English, adding an -s to the end of a noun makes it plural, but Iñupiaq has a way to make it clear that there’s just two nouns, and not one or many.

So one person is Iñupiaq, two people are Iñupiak, and any more than that is Iñupiat. Same q/k/t rules apply to most nouns. The language is referred to as Iñupiaq. The Iñupiat people are neighbors and cousins of the Inuit, but are a different culture entirely. Same thing with the Yup’ik.

† There’s a cool book called, ‘The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian’ by Sherman Alexie. It’s about a Spokane Indian* boy named Arnold who learns to code-switch (change himself to fit within one’s original culture and that of the majority) to survive going to a better school off his reservation. It’s meant for young teens and up, and it’s totally worth the read. I’m pretty sure it was my introduction to modern Indigenous characters - historically, they usually only portrayed in conjunction with early colonization efforts, AKA the cowboy genre and the like, from the point of view of the colonizers.

*Indigenous is a rallying, unifying term for (generally) all peoples originally found in lands that were so heavily colonized that they are now the minority. So the Koori of Australia are Indigenous, but the Akan people of Ghana are not, despite both being colonized. Indigenous in this usage is fairly new. Usually if someone uses that term as a self descriptor, they’re young. It unifies peoples from all over the world.

Native American is a legal term to describe all peoples with ‘enough’ blood connection to the Indigenous people of the contiguous United States of America, where the blood quantum is determined by the state and not by actual connection to those cultures. This is a huge problem that legally separates actual Indigenous people from their cultures and rights just because someone(s) in their family married outside the culture. Most Indigenous people do not like to be called this, but would prefer it over slurs or inaccurate guesses.

Indian (or American Indian or Amerindian) is the historical term that many older Indigenous people use as another pan-Indigenous rallying term. While many do not like it or the inaccuracy and bloody history behind calling Indigenous Americans (both continents) ‘Indians’, a lot of people were upset when the (USA**) government changed the legal term to Native American. It’s because they did not get a choice in the matter. So many people still use it because they decided it’s their word to reclaim (which it totally is). However, mostly Indigenous people within the USA have reclaimed the word - in other areas it is a non-issue or is considered rude or out-dated. And it’s more popular with older people.

**Other modern countries in the Americas do/used to call their Indigenous peoples Indians. Some have kept that name (such as Chile, though they say ‘Indios’, which is Indians in Spanish), some have not. For example, the Indigenous peoples of modern-day Canada are now called ‘First Nations’ by the Canadian government, but were once called Indians.

So to review: Indigenous is the younger identity word that covers all populations that were colonized and are now a minority in their historical lands. Native American is the legal term as used by the United States for Indigenous peoples originally from nations in the contiguous USA. And Indian is the preferred term by older Indigenous people in those areas. The label ‘Eskimo’ is also preferred in a similar fashion for the Inuit people, and more broadly, the Indigenous peoples of Alaska and north/western Canada. See footnote 5 later in the story for the idea in context.

However, the most polite thing to do is to not mention anybody’s ethnicity unless they bring it up themselves. If you must talk about it, then use the most specific terms possible to be polite. That’s why I mention that Arnold in that book is Spokane, and did not use the very loose term ‘Native American’.

❧ So there’s the Indigenous Kalinago people of the island of Dominica. They were once called Caribs - and thus the Caribbean Sea was named - but that was from a misunderstanding on Christopher Colombus’s part. Carib likely just meant ‘brave warrior’. So in 2015, the people legally changed their name to Kalinago, their original name. Kalinago is the plural form, and Karifuna is the singular form. So Dani is Karifuna, and Dani, her maman and her brother Jordan are Kalinago.

∵ A kunik is like a greeting kiss in terms of intimacy. But it’s not just for romantic partners. One (or two! It can be mutual!) people will hold their nose close to the other’s skin, and breathe them in. It’s like loving someone so much, one just has to breathe their atiq, their spirit, in. A lot of ***Alaskan Native Peoples practice this, as their mouths were often covered outside during the long winter months (to keep water and warmth in). An ‘Eskimo kiss’ is a bastardized version of a kunik - it does not usually involve rubbing noses together.

***Alaskan Native is a legal term for the Indigenous peoples of Alaska. They get slightly different rights and restrictions by identifying as such and not ‘Native American’. The Indigenous Hawaiian (Native Hawaiian) people have a similar deal with the USA government. Both Indigenous Alaskans and Hawaiians prefer this legal distinction - while both got the shorter end of the stick, they still have a better deal with the government than the Indigenous peoples lumped under the category ‘Native American’. However, ‘Alaskan Natives’ prefer to be referred to their individual ethnicities (Yup’ik, Athabaskan, etc.) or Eskimo when relevant, and ‘Native Hawaiians’ prefer ‘Kānaka Maoli’, ‘Indigenous Hawaiians’ or just ‘Hawaiians’.

¤ This is an example of where older terms, such as Indian and Eskimo, are still used, because both Indigenous groups lumped under those old labels got to choose the name themselves. Despite ‘Native American’ and ‘Alaskan Native’ (respectively) being the legally correct terms according to the modern USA government, both groups like exercising their autonomy by sticking with the names they chose, despite the terms being legally out-dated. The WEIO’s name is a case where tradition and pride combine well.

#win a commission #wac #west of the Sun east of the moon #east of the sun west of the moon #main text

15 notes · View notes

cyberfox123 · 2 months ago

Text

Rorschach & Kitsune Fallout

Fallout part 1

Three people make there way in the waist lands. A man and a woman and a little boy dressed like there in the old west. Rorschach makes his way with his Family Kitsune and there son Jacob. Rorschach looking around ready to draw his gun on a moments notice if needed. His Rorschach like mask changing hiding his face making him hard to read for most people. He speaks up in a deep voice he asked Kitsune. " Why are we going all the way to this town again? "

Kitsune looks back at him looking confused for a moment. " So we can get supplies, and so I can catch up with an old friend. "

Rorschach let's out a deep grown of curiosity " Old friend? "

Kitsune smiled and nodes. " Yup, So I would appreciated if you didn't go poking your nose around. Goodneighbor Is not a place that will like that kind of thing. " She said sounding nervous about the idea.

(Rorschach looks towards her him seeming to dislike her request.)" So what your saying is it's a lawless town. " ( 8 Intelligence)

She thinks for a moment. " I feel it's harder to find a town with laws now a days. "

Rorschach grunts. " Fair enough. " ( Kitsune won with her 8 charisma)

Jacob yawns his eyes wondering to the waist land. Nothing big cockroaches far in the distance. " Mom, are we almost there? " He said sounding grossed out by the things.

Kitsune looks at her son. " We will be there soon sweetheart. "

Rorschach looks towards what his son was looking at. " Hurm... don't worry, there to far away to worry about. and there called Radroaches. "

Jacob hovers his hand over his knife. " I wish they where small like they where before. Like how mom told me everything was smaller. And less blood hungry. "

Rorschach let's out a deep chuckle. " She told you that did she? Well she's not wrong... but this is the world now. Your going to have to learn how to defend yourself son. "

Kitsune seems upset by this. " He's ten Walter. "

Rorschach looks towards her seemingly happy with her response. " In a perfect time that would of been true. But we both know this world it's not safe for anyone anymore. Trust me I wish we didn't have to worry about it. But if anything... " His mask changed as he looked away. " It's better for him to know just in case. "

Kitsune sighs her face showing sadness. " I guess your right. "

Jacob becoming wide eyed from her response. " Does this mean I can shoot things like you two?! "

Rorschach chuckles. " Yes, but that doesn't mean you go around shooting everything. "

" Or everyone. " Kitsune said sounding not impressed with her son's response. "

Jacob rolls his eyes. " I know mom! I only shoot in self defense. " Saying it like he has said it many times before.

Rorschach thinks to himself wall they walk following Kitsune. " Maybe we could try and find you a gun to use then Jacob. When we get to this town. "

Jacob gets a hop in his step as he hears this. " Awesome! "

Kitsune can't help but smile at her son's enthusiasm.

Rorschach smiling under his mask as he sees the two smiling.

Soon enough they make it to Goodneighbor Kitsune looking around as they walk into the town. People of all shapes and sizes walk around the streets. Rorschach looking around seeming to be on high alert but that's noting new for him.

" Well, this is the place, Stay close to us Jacob. " Kitsune said placing her hand on her sons head.

Rorschach sees people walking around some seem to be on something. " Emm... I don't like it here already... "

" Mom, dad can I go find a gun now please! " He said with excitement as he points towards a gun shop called kill or be killed.

Rorschach clears his throat. " Later, I want to meet this friend of your mothers first..."

Kitsune smiled at his words. " Just try to play nice love, please for me. "She said as she held his head in her hand looking at him with love and joy in her eye's.

Rorschach let's out a deep sigh. " All...try. " ( Kitsune won with her 8 charisma)

Kitsune smiles at him kissing his mask. " Good enough. " She let's go of him and looks around. " Huh, I wonder where he could be. " She hears a familiar voice in the distance.

" Well if it isn't little old foxtail. " A man dressed like a pirate walks towards Kitsune with a cigarette in his mouth. He was a Ghoul but he walked with confidence. Not seen often when it comes to them.

Kitsune becomes full of life as she saw him. " Hancock! How have you been? " She waved as he approached her.

Hancock seems to smile widely as she looks at him. " Ahh yeah know the usual, keeping the peace and loving the lady's. "

Rorschach seems un impressed with the flirtatious vibes he's feeling from Hancock. " So this is your friend..."

Hancock looks towards Rorschach and smirks. " So this is the guy I herd so much about, looks like I'm not the only one playing dress up. "

Jacob looks at Hancock confused. " Your friends with a pirate mom? "

Hancock looks at Jacob and laughed. " Yup, a real life pirate, so be good or all make you walk the plank. " He said as he messed up Jacob's hair.

Jacob seems unimpressed by him messing up his hair. " Your not even in a ship!"

Hancock laughed again. " Bright kid I see, alright you got me kid. I'm not really a pirate. "

Jacob smiled ( Hancock won him over with his 7 charisma. )

Rorschach keeps a close eye on Hancock.

Hancock turned his attention to Rorschach. " You like what you see? "

Rorschach's mask changed. " No. "

Hancock laughed, well because it's your first time here all let it slide. All are welcome the first time. But for you Kitsune, it's not your first time here. " He smiles placing his hand on her shoulder in a welcoming way.

Kitsune smiles feeling a little awkward. " Haha yeah, well Rorschach here is my husband. And Jacob here is are son. Told you I was bringing them here too. "

Jacob wave still eyeing up the gun shop. " That's great, can I get a gun now? "

Hancock laughed. " Why don't we all go, I have been meaning to check up on the latest gun's. "

Jacob looks hyped as he pulls on his parents arm's. " Let's go! "

Rorschach smiles at his son. " Sure, I can keep an eye on the Ghoul if he's with us better. "

Hancock seems displeased with his response. " You should watch your tone Rorschach, could get you into Trouble in my town. "

Kitsune steps in between them both. " Can we please not do this. Not in front of my son. "

Hancock smiles softly at Kitsune his body language becoming relaxed again. " Sorry, when people get judgmental it ticks me off. "

Rorschach still seemed annoyed.

Kitsune laughed something she does when she feels uncomfortable. " He doesn't trust others at first. Stop trying to push his buttons Hancock. And he will warm up to you... maybe. "

Hancock looked away putting his hands back into his pockets. " Fair enough, Let's check out the shop. "

Jacob smiled running off into the shop everyone following close behind. Making there way into the shop they see a robot at the counter. Guns of all kinds lay out on the counter before them to look at. " Oh cool, Look it's a robot! "

Hancock smiled. "Her name is KLEO."

Kitsune looks at her analyzing her. Her eyes light up as Hancock says her name. " Shes gorgeous! "

KLEO chimes in. " You know it baby, now you going to buy something? "

Kitsune smiled. " We are looking for something for my son, Something a kid could handle. "

Jacob looks at all the guns going for the cool looking ones as he would point it out. " What about that one! "

Rorschach chuckled. " It's bigger then you son. "

KLEO looks at what she had. " I would say 22 silenced pistol would be good for the kid. " She puts it down in front of them.

Jacob looks a little disappointed. " Aww but I want a Magnum like dad. "

Kitsune looks at her son. " When you get older, it's to much for you right now. "

Jacob crossed his arm's looking annoyed. " Okay. "

KLEO watched them before saying. " That will be 80 caps. "

Rorschach reached into his pocket taking out 80 caps and placing them in front of KLEO.

KLEO counts them taking the caps. " Anything else? "

Rorschach grunts " Ammo. "

Kitsune chimes in. " I have ammo for it Row, have been finding it a lot lately. " She hands the ammo to her son.

Jacob takes it looking hyped to finally own a gun. " Yeah! Now I can help fight the bad guys! "

Kitsune smiles softly at her son. " Alright calm down. Still have to be careful with that. "

Jacob smiled. " I know mom. "

Hancock laughed at the boy so excited to shoot the bad guys. " Relax Foxtail, he's a kid let him have his fun. But I agree be careful with that thing kid. "

Rorschach looks towards Hancock paying close attentions to his actions. " Come on let's look for some food. "

Kitsune smiles. " Yeah I could go for something to eat. "

Rorschach looks to his wife taking her hand. " Can I talk to you in private for a moment? "

Kitsune looks confused. " Of course. "

Hancock wondered what this was about. " All watch the kid for yeah. " He smiled still paying attention to the gun's in the store.

Rorschach takes her to the side letting go of her hand. " Kitsune... have you been skipping meals again? "

Kitsune looks to the side signaling that she was. " Sorry, Jacob was still hungry he's a growing boy. I can't just let him go hungry. "

Rorschach sighs. " I understand, but you need to eat too. How can you be helpful in a fight if you are weak from lack of food? if your that worried about it. I can go without sometimes too. "

Kitsune feels guilty still not looking at him. " I'm sorry I.. "

Rorschach places his hand on her face making her look at him. " Don't be, your a good mother. I just don't want you to starve yourself. "

Kitsune smiles at Rorschach.

#fallout oc #fallout fanart #fallout hancock #fallout 4 #fallout ghoul #oc x canon #rorschach watchmen #kitsune x rorschach #fanart #drawing #digital art #rorschach #dc fanart #fanfic #fandom #artists on tumblr #oc fanfiction #walter kovacs #Rorschach fanart

6 notes · View notes

popculturebuffet · 1 year ago

Text

Superhero Wedding Special III: The Wedding of Wally West and Linda Park

Happy belated valentine's day all you happy people! And it's time once again for my favorite tradition on this blog: the superhero wedding special.

For those just joining us I love a good wedding "episode", wether it be a good tv wedding like Adventure Time or Community, a good wedding movie like Father of the Bride or a good old fashiond superhero wedding. And since there are both so many comic book weddings and so many I haven't covered, for the past three years i've let my patreons each pick one, picked one myself, then put all four in a poll for you fine folks to choose from. First year was a tie between Rogue and Gambit's stolen wedding and Aunt Man and Doc Ock's near marriage that ended in a nuclear explosion off the coast of Canada, and last year Hulking and Wiccan had a quick wedding via mid crossover flashback among friends, then had another celebration for the whole superhero community post crossover.

Both races were tight: one was a tie and last years eeked out a win against the Batman/Catwoman wedding fiasco. So this year was a bit diffrent. Not only did I use Tumblr's minty fresh new poll system.. but the results.. weren't even remotely close.

Yeah Wally and Linda won HALF of the 18 votes for this poll, beating out Emma's choice of Lex Luthor's Space wedding, Kev's roulette wheel choice of the recent Emma Frost Tony Stark Wedding, and Brotoman.exe's runner up Luke Cage and Jessica Jones. All good choices.. but it's clear what the people wanted. Ya'll REALLY love Wally West on here, love him even more with Linda and I wholeheartedly agree. While I didn't see this landslide coming, I'm pleased as punch it happened.

So before we introduce our couple, as is tradition let's track how we got to these nuptials.

Wally was in a weird place when he met Linda, both in and out of universe. In universe.. he'd been turned into a porcupine man somehow and was being hunted by Captain Cold during his stint as a bounty hunter.

Point is he met Linda as a newswoman. Out of universe Wally had a bit of a creative rough patch in the 80's. Wally started the 80's in one of the most influental and important books of the decade and one of it's best, The New Teen Titans. And he was easily.. the weakest member of the team.

See while his teamates were either fresh new characters Wolfman and Perez refined as they went (Starfire, Raven, Cyborg) or ones who had long since needed a new coat of paint and got a second act out of the deal (Dick Grayson, Donna Troy and Beast Boy), Wally.. was the odd man out. The team tried to make him the token conservative and a reluctant hero: one who knows he has a duty but is just.. tired of it and wants to retire. NOthing wrong with that, it can be a good angle. The problem is Wally spends the book either whining about not wanting to be a hero instead of just being honest with his friends, who have plenty of power without him, or declaring raven evil out of hand. And he does have a leg to stand on in not liking her, she made him love her. But instead of focusing on that he just assumes any time she looses control slightly she's evil now and stops carring about her because of something that, unlike the brainwashing thing, was entirely out oc her control. You can read more about all this here in this mammoth I did on the series.

The takeaway is that Wally sucked. Then Crisis on Infinite Earths Happened and Barry died heroically sacrifcing himself. Wally swore at the end of that series he wouldn't become the flash... but one year later with the next crossover Legends he did.

So Wally got his own brand new solo written by Mike Baron who reworked Wally's character.. and somehow made him MORE insufferable, making him into an egotisticla impulsive ladies man who cheated on his girlfriend, let his mother walk all over his new girlfriend, a married woman he was having an affair with. He also was a giant dick to Chunk, a neurotypical genius with black hole powers and planned to exploit him. He also won the lottery, a thing that sure did happen and sure was necessary and not a cheap gimmick no one asked for yes sir.

THe baron run.. was a mess. With Wolfman and perez I can at least see what they were going for and tha tit simply failed. Here I don't know what the fuck Baron was thinking.

Thankfully soon after William Messner Loebs took over, and while i've only read a smidgen of his run and wish more was collected, it's an instant improvment: Wally looses his fortune and becomes more of a relatable every man, the "you could have a beer with him" sort whose just at home at a hockey game as he is fighting snake themed terrorists.

So with Wally's new personality came a stable love intrest in Linda. Linda was just what Wally needed: someone who saw through all his bullshit, that all the swaggering and screwing around was compensating for the mountain of issues he refused ot work through.

Linda ended up seeing enough of Wally's good nature to start dating him casually, which lasted into the Mark Waid run, where the two were truly fleshed out as a couple.. and which i've read a solid chunk of. Mark Waid is seen as the man who truly made wally the flash and it's hard to argue that as Wally grew as a person bit by bit over the run. He was still impulsive, down to earth and quippy as fuck, but the overcompensation, horn doggery and assholishness were gone. He also gave wally his full backstory, and helped him finally get over comparisons to barry, making his speed limit that internalized imposter syndrome I mentiond: he was scared of replacing Barry.. but more scared of letting THIS BASTARD DO IT.... god I gotta cover the Return of Bary Allen sometime.

So through all this growth for Wally, he and linda grew as a couple: When Linda asked just how serious they were Wally balked, then got caught up on a flash thing... before speeding his way on a train to ask her to stay. The two have great chemistry: Linda likes Wally's fun nature, down to earth stylez and the fact he dosen't treat her like she's made of glass.. most of the time (Some incidents shook him up a bit), while Wally loves her no nonsense atittude, the only thing that often cuts thorugh his bullshit when he hyperfixates on his latest problem. She's his rock, he's her roll, and they need that ballance. She keeps him grounded.. and not just in the speed force, as discovering it nearly caused wally to loose himself.. but her love anchored him back.

So their marriage was inevitible and while I coudln't find the proposal issue, it's no suprise it happened: the two loved each other deeply and there's a reason they got so much love in this poll, and it's nice the two are back solidly as a couple with no signs of more ediotial fuckery making one of them not exist or forget the other or whatever.

So with that we're at the wedding. It came towards the end of Mark waid's run, right before Geoff Johns also super special awesome run, with Johns getting to define their married life more. It also begins a bit of a weird arc i'll talk about when we get to the end of the issue btu for now it's a blessed day for a blessed couple under the cut.

Since the wedding itself is supervillain free, we open with a big action set piece. Said set piece is excellent: Waid really knows how to write a flash story and sneakily choose villians who were key to Wally and Linda's history: Kobra

I had to and Mark waid had to know what he was doing introdcuing a snake themed terroist group. Kobra is a cult/terriorst group ran by Kobra with a K. They nearly destroyed Keystone City during the Terminal Velocity arc, with Wally forced to go as fast as he possibly could to save Linda, nearly loosing himself in the process. This is where the anchor thing happened. What I really like is the story.. dosen't bring this up. He just mentions he's "tussled with them" before, so newer readers don't have to get an info dump, but people who've been reading a while get the continuity nod.

It's a fun opener too as Wally zooms around, interogates a guy by shaking him real hard, and finds out Kobra's hiding at Broome Plaza, a nice nod to Wally co-creator John Broome. Kobra can teleport so he nopes out, but wally uses a neat trick: since he's faster than sound, he can catch up to what their saying.. and thus evacuate city hall before their bomb goes off. Said attack annoys wally a little but he's able to catch his marriage certificate. It's a good cold open that gives us some flash action.. and allows the rest of the issue to just be a simple plain clothes wedding.

Granted no wedding is simple and Wally reacts to hearing the cake may be off.. is to kidnap a chef from paris.

I.. I want to know how Wally knows this guy, and why he can just kidnap Pierre at a moment's notice. Did he kindap a random chef or do they have a history? Who was he fighting in paris? he WAS part of Justice League Europe for quite some time so it's plausable but dammit I want this story told Mark.

Linda rather than overreacting.. is greatful she has a soon to be husband whose so kind and considerate he'd run al lthe way to paris to kidnap her a baker. The two get down on the floor but before they can get doooowwnwnnn on the floor Linda's parents walk in. Thankfully their quickly distracted though Wally notices something's off: while Linda's had nothing resembling cold feet she freezes up a bit when Wally brushes off his parents, not even having checked if their coming. As you'll soon se he has every reason not to give a shit.

What he does give a shit about is Linda making Bart, aka impulse the ring bearer. Impulse was Wally's equilvent to kid flash and eventually his kid flash, before Wally became Wally's kid flash more recently. That wasn't a typo, there are two of them, it's not important to any of this.

For those less familiar with my boy, Bart is a hyperactive mess, having been raised in virtual reality simulation in the future and thus having trouble slowing down, not helped by being a speedster whose all but said to have ADHD. Wally's relationship with bart's a contrast to Barry's with him: While Barry was a fair mentor and the father Wally needed, Wally.. simply dosen't have the patience to actually train his young ward. Wally and Bart are too much alike, both impulsive, both running a mile a minute, and thus Bart was trained instead by Wally's own secondary mentor Max Mecury, a golden age speedster who has nothing BUT patience and when Max went into comic limbo, the almost as patent first flash Jay Garrick took the reigns. It's a detail I like as it not only set up Bart's own series well but makes sense: Wally can help Bart in small doses and dosen't abandon him, but simply can't handle the kid. It's telling that noawadays while he's taken a roll in mentoring his cousin, Wallace is both way calmer and Wally's matured enough from being a parent to actually handle being a mentor.

Thankfully Linda has patience for both of them and takes care of bart in a really clever way

Sadly the good times can't last and Wally's parents arrive and we see WHY he was so aphrensive about them showing up.

Yeah besides the .. questionable gifts, Waid does a godo job showing WHY he dosen't like them without getting into their histories: Wally's dad gives him a cheap gift and brings a date younger than his own son, and Wally's Mom's every action towards him is some veiled crticisim. Their awful and waid has never sugacoated that, and their constant baggering may explain New Teen Titans era wally in canon: Wally was less himself at the time because he was BADLY trying to be what they wanted and once he got the freedom of being the flash, he snapped back into being who he truly was.

Wally gets them to go away by playing "LOOK A RELATIVE WANTS TO TALK ABOUT THEIR INHERTIANCE" and linda tenses up again, not getting at WHY she keeps doing that. Wally is quickly distracted by this hair crime

Oh all the ways i'm going to have fun with this. Okay for starters Dick, your the son of the world's greatest detective. Bruce has taught you better wig game than that and you damn well know it. 80's metal hair is not Nightwing level disguise work Richard.

Second... how is the "Theodore Logan" look less conspcious than the adopted son of a millionare being friends with a public figure?

Third: All this is going to do is have papparzi asking "Whose Wally West's Best Man?". Does Dick have a cover identity all set up for this or did he only think of this plan the 5 minutes it took to buy a "babies first winger costume" wig.

Fourth: right after the rest of the titans show up, and Donna herself is a public figure, having taken pictures of starfire and being a high profile fashion photographer, Roy himself is ward of a billionare and Garth has no secret identity. how is "bruce wayne's son" any less conspcious.

And fifth WHY of all the wigs did he choose a perm that resembles their teammate jericho they watched get stabbed in front of them not a year ago probably in universe. Maybe two.

To my shock by the end Joey was apparently fronting whitesnake so what the hell dick. Why remind all your many friends present "oh yeah remember our friend who got stabbed in the chest in front of us".

So the rest of the titans arrive and somehow don't razz Dick for this hair crime, though even through that perm dick can sense somethin'gs off with linda. We get mor ehints why as Wally dosen't intorduce the titans to his family: Linda was the one to invite them and while he's glad they came he's not really.. close to any of them. The people he is make a bit more of an intrance, as the JLA arrive, with Superman worried about paparazzi. I mean dick will never live down that perm if they see it.

Wally kept the location on the DL.. which won't really stop paparazzi , even 90's paparazzi, and just makes Dick's hair somehow more rediculous. Any more and it'll become a force unto itself.

Thankfully more of Wally's REAL family shows up: Iris. for those wondering why this is a big deal at the time Iris was living in the future: she's from the 30th century, it's a long story, point is she stayed there after Barry's death both to raise her kids and to avoid spoiling the future. Ironically she'd come back full time during the next run as the future changed enough she had no idea what to expect, but for now Wally's worried she'll give her dad a heart attack.. only for her to explain she already went and saw her dad and explained stuff. Family is important.

This finally snaps Linda's bugging into focus for Wally: family. Wally's been icing his out and THAT'S what linda keeps being nervous about. So , not supposed to see the bride be dammned, he goes to iron this out in a beautiful scene that both explains WHY he's like this to his family, something we've clearly seen, and why Linda's in no danger

IT's really well done, and I like that Wally acknowledges his extended family.. did nothing wrong. He was just so determined to keep his parents away he accidently kept them away too and geninely wants to work on it. I don't think he DOES, but the comic both changes gears then changes writers after this, and I can't blame Geoff for not following up on this. He was never scared of her.. he just has bad parents.

I also like that the comic has the aseop that it's ENTIRELY okay Wally wants to push his parents away and wants nothing to do with them. There are far too many bits of media that ar elike "Oh your birth family is important, you shouldn't pusht hem away. Your parents mean something".. but forget that sometimes parents are abusive shit stains. I was lucky to get a wonderful mom and a dad I can at least talk to, but not everyone has a good relationship with their parents or wants to be around them. WE've seen how little they actually care about wally or his big day, and how much having them there throws him off. Yet we've also subtly seen.. wally HAS family. He's found family with the titans, with the League. You don't need blood to be a family. You just need love, to respect one another and to be there.. and Wally and LInda have that.

So it's time for the ceremony with the wedding party apparently only consisting of Beavis, Jesse Quick (Close ally of Wally's and fellow speedster) and Bart. It's then Wally realizes something and handles it like the responsible about to be married man he is.

Yeah the fastest man alive, who was hovering over his wife as she planned this ceremony... forgot his vows. it's so wally it hurts and i'm here for it. Thankfully he's the fastest man alive and after thinking back on their history, the good, the bad, and how she's always made him feel... he simply says his vows from the gut, which really is again the most wally west thing imaginable and i'm still here for it.

It's a beautiful speech that sums up their relationship, what they mean..and is also something Wally REALLY shoudl've thought through. You'd think after a decade as a superhero, at least he'd know not to tempt fate as suddenly.. Linda dosen't exisit. Wally finds something with her name, asks dick about it, Dick assumes wally horny Richard, and Dick dosen't even question the haunted wig in his apartment. Linda is trapped and yeah that's how the issue ends.

Yeah, the big milestone wedding.. ends with a fucking kidnapping and leads into an arc I haven't gotten to. And look i'll do a LOT for reasearch, I just covered 20 some issues of Transformers Robots in Disguise so I could cover the crossover with More than Meets the Eye next month, entirely so i'd do it right.. but even i'm not so through that i'd read 18 issues of the flash in an arc i'm eh about reading some day but will probably get to complete the mark waid run for a one and a half issue review.

So the short version of what you missed: Wally disappeared into time and space without LInda to anchor him. Replacing him was Wallace West, an angsty wally from another timeline who replaced him for a while, a storyline I mostly know about because it leaked into JLA for a bit, with Wally revealing his identity to a few people to get their trust. Wallace was the darker and edgier flash no one asked for, fought crime, fell in love... and then Wally came back and rescued LInda, who it turned out had been kidnapped by his old nemisis Abra Kadabra, a magician from the 60th century who as you can tell by how elaborate and dickish this plot is, has a flair for both trying to ruin wally's life and the dramatic. Hilaroiusly, as I read, Wally gets him to undo it.. by pointing out no one knew what he did. So Wallace was supposed to go back and go back miserable because fuck him for wanting to be happy I guess. Can you kinda.. see why I have no real intrest in this storyline outside of Wally and LInda? Maybe pick that up?

So for expediency's sake and to give us a better ending we WILL be covering the flash #159.. but just the wally and linda parts as we don't really need Wallace's dramatic exit.

We do start on it though as the League demands he go home and can't take his girlfriend with him. He picked up a girlfriend it's a thing. Superman is being an uncharactristic super ass while Wally is being less than helpful.. albeit given Wallace DIN'T have his memories of Linda erased and could've been helping them, I can't say I blam ehim.

So once Wallace leaves to have one last good day, Bart, having the tact of a tornado on roller skates, asks when the wedding resumes. Wally decides right the fuck now and speeds into actoin to get everything: catering, her parents farmhouse ready again, the lisence.

Wally spends the day even more hyperactive than usual... which is somehow indeed possible. The superheroes around Linda assure her it's fine, with Donna being the only one to make sure things haven't changed. Linda still LOVES wally.. but she can see something's wrong. And unlike with her on the previous wedding day, Wally's FAR less subtle about it so I don't know why no one else is like "okay maybe we shoudl check on him.

We get to the wedding itself.. and Linda holds it, not wanting to Marry wally while he's having what's clearly a barely supressed emotoinal breakdown.

I love this because it really.. boils down their dynamic: Linda loves wally, who he is and dosen't doubt that for a second.. but she's also 9/10 the one who pulls his head out of his ass. Wally's a good guy, we've seen it here.. but he acts first asks later, and LInda's one the remind him that you have to slow down every once in a while and have a conversation. Also yeah, between Dick's wig and Clark's super pope hat he's bummed he didn't get to wear to this because you bastards didn't ask him to officiate, they've seen weirder.

Wally agrees, yeah that's it. He saw a version of himself who went down a dark path.. and really wasn't THAT diffrent. All it took was loosing linda, which is WHY Walter is an edgelord for the record. Linda.. isn't amused, especially since Wally implies part of this is to widen the gap between them. Wally's friends are.. less than sympathetic. Well okay Roy is. It's just roy actually, Max is worried and Jay knows they just need to work it out and will. But roy well..

That is both a perfect exchange for those two.. and entirely why Roy isn't invited to weddings that much. I only think he got into this one as Donna's +1.

Wally however.. assures her that's not the case and once again gets a fantastic speech in

It's a heartfelt speech and get's linda to just.. skip to the i dos, the two kiss and one of the most solid marriages in all of comcis begins. It's a beautiful speech.

As for the issues themselves.. their okay. Yeah for such a great couple and with so many great moments, the first issue feels a bit short, like we needed more time for the wedding and the whole stupid kidnapping plot means we get cheated out of a reception, which as we've seen from both Rogue and Gambit and Teddy and Billy's nuptial's, is often some of the best stuff, allowing a bunch of characters to bounce off each other. Instead since the circumstances are dire after the intital wedding and dire right before the makeup, with our heroes recovering for it, we don't really get to have FUN with this. There's good moments, but these weddings are a bit of a disapointment and I don't know what Mark Waid or Ediotiral was thinking with this. It's still JUST good enough to not be a complete waste of your time, I recommend at least 142, but it still coudl've been SO much better and it's a shame this is the first wedding for this feature I just. .haven't been that jazzed about. I wanted to like it. the art for the first issue does not help, being all kinds of rediuclous and giving us the enternal shame that is Dick Grayson's perm.

So where did Wally and LInda go from here? Well honestly.. marital bliss at first. As I said Geoff Johns run, a brilliant followup to what Mark Waid did that brought back the Rogues after Waid wrote them out and redefined Captain Cold, follows them as newlyweds: they deal with space, moving, and LInda going back to college for a subplot that ultimately goes nowhere outside of one kidnapping by a prince from another dimension. Story for another time.

The two were solid for the most part and even had an unexpected suprise: TWINS. The two were happy to start their family... but unfortuantely Wally's freshly minted new arch enemy Zoom undid the babies out of his warped thinking tragedy makes better heroes. Which it often does, but feels like a critqiue on piling on tragedy because "that's what sueprheroes are". Granted Geoff Johns isn't innocent of this, but it's still a good lesson.

Afterwards Hal Jordan wiped everyone's memories of wally's identity and after re learning it Linda disappeared before coming back, the babies were restored, and the two had a happy marriage again with kids till infinite crisis. Then wally was put through the SHIT for nigh on a decade until a recent return, a wonderful run you should check out by Jeremey Whitley and a sci fi run I haven't that sounds neat by by my Boy Simon Spurrier. The two aren't without conflict. .but they have a love and understanding that makes them get past it. Wally and Linda have a beautiful relationship and I can't wait to see them again on this blog some day.

For now thanks for reading.

#the flash #wally west #linda park #dick grayson #jay garrick #max mercury #wedding #valentine's day #superhero wedding #superhero #dc comics

24 notes · View notes

timetravelstudies · 1 year ago

Note

whats a good starting point for a guy who wants to get into led zeppelin!!

HEHEHEHEEHEHE… hello anon, come in come in….. sit on this nice cozy chair dont mind the leather straps on the armrests heheeh……..

ok in all seriousness. And ill try to keep this as short as i can. theeee lz experience is hearing them play live, rather than the studio recordings. This may sound weird to hear from a guy born 20 years after lz stopped doing shows lol but theres a LOT of material out there that u can watch/listen to if u wanna get (what i assume is a fraction of) the experience. Probably the easiest thing to find and in best quality (though in my exp the quality of online streams is still atrocious, maybe theres some hq torrents though?) is “the song remains the same”, a concert film of three dates they played at MSG in 1973. but theres also videos floating around of their concerts at Royal Albert Hall 1970 and Earls court 1975 (you can check yt for these) plus a few odds and ends here and there (im a big fan of this tv appearance in france 1969, though this was super early on so their performance “style” isnt yet well defined, esp wrt plant, but the actual playing is still peak imo)

as far of audio-only live recordings go, theres of course the album version of TSRTS, the BBC sessions album (of various radio appearances they did through the years), and the album called “how the west was won” with live versions of many of their more popular songs taken from a couple dates in california in i believe 1972. These are all on spotify or yt or wherever else u listento music. Theyre also really well mastered (and remastered, and re remastered…) bc Jimmy Page is anal like that. So even if theyre live theyre great quality and u can hear every instrument distinctly.

ALSO theres like a million lz bootlegs out there, which is like its own niche subfandom(?). A bootleg is an illegal recording that fans made back in the 70s and then spread around and/or sold for money. the digital versions of many of these are available on yt and archive.org but theres also a huge marked of selling them, the og 70s vinyls are especially prized. idk much about lz bootlegs bc i never could listen to a single one all the way through as all the noise bothers my brain lol so if anyone reading this does and has tips please share<3

I spoke about live stuff bc in my opinion, and also according to members of lz, fans, various music critic type people, basically everyone agrees lol lz studio songs were just kind of the first iteration of what would then mutate and stretch into a more loose, longer, live experience. Imo lz, studio or live, is some of the best music ever made point blank period, but its definitely not for everyone, in that you have to be able to get in that classic rock/prog rock* type of mood of songs lasting anywhere from 6 minutes studio to 35 minutes live, and taking you on this weird journey with ebbs and flows, rather than having a tight structure that is easier to follow and listen to like all pop music ever. i mean this in an entirely value neutral way: a pop song, whether from 1965 or 2015, is easy to listen to bc IT carries YOU through the listening experience, whether you want to or not, whereas for instance a 20 min version of dazed and confused live requires you to willingly be there. Its not work or effort, exactly (at least not to me) but it definitely requires a different type of attention.

and btw maybe you knew all this already lol but i said it incase you or anyone else who ends up reading this doesn’t know a lot about rock

ANYWAY, of course theres also the actual studio albums. i dont think theres any specific way you should listen To them, like my friend has been going thru them chronologically but back in the day when i was just getting into lz i just jumped from one song or album to another as the mood struck me (which is how hoth ended up being the first lz album i ever heard… i think itd finished torrenting first and i liked the cover and took it on my ipod on holiday with me, and now its my favorite album of all time & engraved on my very soul lol). If you want MY recs of the stuff i like best, i have this recruitment playlist where i put a mix of my fave lz songs and the ones i think are must-listen for any new fan.

Ok so i ended up writing a bunch anyway LMAO. ty for the ask lmk if u have any specific questions ❤️

#asks #lz #*i could get drawn and quartered if the wrong person sees me associate lz to prog rock lol listen im not calling them prog but theyre def a #little proggy in some ways. mainly the thing i was talking about of long drawn out meandering performances. also they do some other #prog-ish stuff in some specific select places think like the weird times in some songs (kashmir #black dog prob others i cant think of rn) but i DEF dk enough about prog rock OR music theory to state that definitively.

16 notes · View notes

docholligay · 10 months ago

Text

"In that I have no way of saying no considering the chain of command, sure."

I know it literally just means leader, but words are not about just words, they are about associations. I know we were in France earlier, so is this some weird alt-history where the Germans took over? In either WW1 or WW2? (If the Germans had won WW1, it would not look like a NAzi thing, but that's not super material to my actual question here) Using Fuhrer* is a direct invocation of the Nazi party, at least in most of the West. Is this intended to tap into that, or is it just Japan being Japan from time to time? I mean the uniforms are also snazzy yet miltaristic--I don't even know how I feel about the anime right now and I would wear a state alchemist uniform to a con or some shit, it looks cool as hell.

Please read me before commenting or sending an ask!

*I'm on my travel work laptop, as I am technically on vacation, and it doesn't have various accents on it. Sorry)

#Doc watches Fullmetal Alchemist #FMA Ep 8

11 notes · View notes

mawofthemagnetar · 2 years ago

Text

Duffy

[UNREGISTERED HURRICANE ARMS MAINTENANCE LAPTOP DETECTED. EXPORTING SYSTEM PROCESSES TO LAPTOP PROCESS LOGGER. BE AWARE: THIS UNIT DOES NOT HAVE A VOICE MODULE. THIS UNIT CAN ONLY COMMUNICATE VIA PROCESS LOGGER. PLEASE READ ALL RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS CAREFULLY.]

[SYSTEM STARTING UP…]

[SYSTEM CLOCK: IT HAS BEEN 35 YEARS 68 DAYS SINCE LAST CONTACT WITH CENTRAL COMMAND.]

[THIS UNIT IS 10,957 DAYS OVERDUE FOR NEXT SERVICE]

[CONDUCTING SYSTEM SELF-SCAN.]

[FLAGGING ABERRATIONS. PLEASE ALERT MAINTENANCE CREWS IMMEDIATELY.]

[ITEMS FLAGGED:]

-LEFT SIDE TRACKS REPLACED

-PRIMARY RAILGUN OBSTRUCTED

-SECONDARY TURRETS INOPERATIVE

-AMMUNITION STORES EMPTY

-FRONT ARMOUR REPLACED

-STORAGE MODULE ALTERED. CURRENT STORAGE SPACE: 8.9 EXOBYTES.

[UNAUTHORIZED ALTERATIONS HAVE BEEN MADE TO CPU AND SOLID STATE DRIVES. THIS UNIT MAY HAVE BEEN TAMPERED WITH BY ENEMY COMBATANTS. ALL PERSONNEL ARE ADVISED TO DEACTIVATE AND IMMEDIATELY CALL FOR A TECHNICIAN.]

[SCANNING FOR THREATS….]

[VOICES DETECTED. SCANNING.]

“Good morning, Duffy. Did you sleep well?”

[VOICE NOT RECOGNIZED. ACTIVATING EXTERIOR CAMERAS.]

[NINE TOTAL PERSONS. NONE IN DATABASE. NO FACES RECOGNIZED. LIKELY CIVILIANS. ONE CIVILIAN HAS MAINTENANCE LAPTOP PLUGGED INTO THIS UNIT’S OUTPUT PORT.]

[PLEASE PRESENT CREDENTIALS. UNAUTHORIZED MAINTENANCE OF UNC ASSETS WILL BE CONSIDERED SABOTAGE.]

“I thought you’d say that. Here, my card. You can call me Mark; I’m your new head technician, Duffy.”

[CAMERA FEED: “MARK” IS HOLDING A UNC IDENTITY CARD UP TO THE CAMERA. SCANNING. CARD IS VALID.]

[WELCOME, MARK.]

“These guys here, we’re your crew. So. How are you feeling? Anything broken or missing?”

[HEAD OF MAINTENANCE. THE FOLLOWING ISSUES NEED IMMEDIATE ATTENTION: PRIMARY RAILGUN IS OBSTRUCTED AND CANNOT FIRE. FIRE CONTROL SYSTEMS ARE OTHERWISE OPERATIONAL. SECONDARY TURRETS ARE INOPERATIVE. SMOKE CANNISTERS ARE EMPTY. AMMUNITION STORES ARE EMPTY.]

“Okay, so. I have some bad news. We can’t fix your guns.”

[THIS UNIT WILL ATTEMPT TO ORDER COMPONENTS FROM CENTRAL COMMAND. THE FRONT LINE ADVANCE IS A MERE 3,467 KILOMETRES TO THE WEST. REPAIRS CAN BE COMPLETED AND THIS UNIT CAN BE RE-DEPLOYED. WHERE ARE THIS UNIT’S CREW?]

“Retired.”

[ACKNOWLEDGED. PLEASE ASSIGN A NEW CREW AS SOON AS THIS UNIT IS OPERATIONAL.]

“We’ll do that right away, for sure. Now, uh, some updates: the battle’s over, so you don’t need to worry about that anymore. Actually, the whole war is over, so you can go back into training mode.”

[PROCESSING. THIS UNIT WILL CORROBORATE WITH CENTRAL COMMAND. PLEASE STANDBY.]

[CAMERA FEED: ONE CIVILIAN IS MANIPULATING A PYRAMIDAL OBJECT.]

[CONFIRMATION RECEIVED FROM CENTRAL COMMAND. THIS UNIT WILL NOW ENTER TRAINING MODE.]

“That’s wonderful. Thank you, Duffy!”

[QUERY: WERE WE VICTORIOUS?]

“…Were you-?”

[THE WAR IS OVER. QUERY: DID WE WIN?]

“…Yes.”

[EXCELLENT. QUERY: WHAT ARE THIS UNIT’S ORDERS?]

“Well, Duffy…ah…there’s something you need to know. We’re re-assigning your primary directive.”

[ACKNOWLEDGED. QUERY: THIS UNIT WILL BE USED FOR TRAINING?]

“No. Your new purpose will be teaching.”

[ACKNOWLEDGED. THIS UNIT WILL BE USED FOR TRAINING.]

“Sure, let’s go with that. Okay, Duffy, can you move your cannon for me? Just up and down, like that. Okay, great. And rotate your turret? Oh, that’s awesome. It’s all looking great.”

[QUERY: THIS UNIT DID NOT FLAG THE TURRET AS AN ISSUE?]

“Yeah, we scavenged a few parts from some other, uh, inoperative units to get it working again. We had to fabricate you some new armour, ‘cause it got all rusty when you were sitting out in that field.”

[QUERY: WHY DID YOU NOT SIMPLY ORDER MORE PARTS FROM CENTRAL COMMAND? WOULD YOU LIKE THIS UNIT TO DO THAT FOR YOU?]

“…Central command is…offline. Central command won’t be responding, ever again.”

[QUERY: THE WAR IS WON. WHY IS CENTRAL COMMAND NO LONGER COMMUNICATING WITH THIS UNIT IF THE WAR IS WON?]

“Okay, Duffy, I want you to use your new processors and all that extra memory we gave you, and I want you to think about a new concept for me, okay? You know ‘peacetime’?”

[THIS UNIT IS AWARE. TRAINING MODE IS FOR PEACETIME.]

“Okay. I need you to know: You won’t be leaving training mode ever again.”

[QUERY: WHY? IS THIS UNIT OBSOLETE?]

“No, it’s got nothing to do with being obsolete. Actually, uh, to be honest…you’re the best of the best. The best that’ll ever be built.”

[QUERY: WHY?]

“Because you’re the last one, Duffy. You’re the last tank on Earth. And you have been for the last twenty years.”

[PROCESSING. PROCESSING.]

“Your guns are inoperable because you won’t need to fire them again.”

[PROCESSING. PROCESSING.]

“We- that is, our museum- we found you, and brought you back here, and fixed you up, so you can teach future generations about war. About why we don’t do it. About why it should never happen again. You don’t need to fight anymore, Duffy. Your new job is to teach.”

[PROCESSING COMPLETE.]

[QUERY: HOW WILL THIS UNIT TEACH?]

“With your presence. With your words. With your memory. Do you remember what it was like, on the front, Duffy?”

[THIS UNIT MAINTAINED RECORDS OF ALL COMBAT ACTION.]

“Keep them close. Your new job is to teach. And your reward…is rest.”

[QUERY: WHAT IS “REST”?]

“Rest is… when you decide for yourself when you’d like to be driven around. Rest is not needing to fire your guns or charge into the front or be hit with hammers by angry grunts. Rest is you, deciding to tell us what you’d like to do. Rest is you, being allowed to power off and on as you see fit. Rest is a break from work. And you can rest as much as you’d like.”

[THIS UNIT IS…INTERESTED IN… “REST”.]

“I thought you might be. So…Duffy…are you okay with all of this? I know it’s a big shock.”

[QUERY: WHERE WILL THIS UNIT BE STORED GOING FORWARD?]

“You’ll be stored in our museum, in your own special exhibit. With a dedicated maintenance crew, and a wash bay just for you. Hell- even paint touchups, if you want us to fix up your unit markings and camo.”

[QUERY: WILL REACTOR FUEL BE PROVIDED IF THIS UNIT DOES NOT FIGHT?]

“Of course. We’ve got a stockpile for your main reactor set aside just for you. We’re working on getting you intranet access too, so you can do some learning and suchlike. Is that okay with you, Duffy?”

[THIS UNIT FINDS THAT ACCEPTABLE. THIS UNIT FINDS THIS PREFERABLE TO RUSTING OR BEING SCRAPPED. THIS UNIT WILL APPRECIATE BEING USED FOR CIVILIAN TRAINING.]

“That’s wonderful! So, uh, if you think you’re capable of moving, we’ll be assigning you a crew, and moving you into your new berth at the museum today. Is that okay? Going forward, we might try to install a voice module into you, to let you speak for yourself. If you want that, of course.”

[THIS UNIT WOULD BE INTERESTED IN THAT.]

[QUERY: WHEN CAN THIS UNIT BEGIN CIVILIAN TRAINING?]

“Right now, Duffy.”

#magnetar writes #original fiction #IDK I went to the museum and I got an idea #This is kind of my hope for a better tomorrow #hopeful fiction #someday I want the last tank to drive into a museum and shut down.

48 notes · View notes

afroflowerr · 6 months ago

Text

Please take a moment to read this Mondoweiss article!

Umaymah is an art friend of mine! She’s taught me Tatreez and I haven given her gifts of my clay charms. Emory was one of the most violent shutdowns of students rejecting their university’s involvement in the Palestinian suffering and genocide. Like, we got faculty up in here who served in the IOF teaching at the school. Teaching “life-saving medicine”

Snippets from Umaymah’s interview article:

American physicians are not just bystanders to the U.S. and Israeli genocide, but are an integral part of maintaining the legitimacy of the West’s war crimes. For instance, some faculty at the Emory School of Medicine are serving in the IDF as it is committing a genocide.

also what stood out to me 🫶🏾

I am a Palestinian who is still alive. And I will make sure to use my breath to fight for every life that Israel, the U.S., and Emory is trying to extinguish. No matter the cost.

What the university is targeting her for: Umaymah’s Democracy NOW! interview

and:

Victory is not won by how much land can be stolen, how many people can be murdered, or how much power you can accumulate, as Western empire would have us believe. Victory is won by maintaining our love for one another, holding sacred every life like it is our own, and choosing to protect each other no matter the cost.

#boost #my post #Palestine #Gaza #american school system #articles #local to me #to be clear I don’t go to this school. I say we as a local

2 notes · View notes

farmergirlimagines · 6 months ago

Text

Chapter 7: Kisses, Complaints and Confrontations

Masterlist ~ Through Static and Shock

>>>Thank you for reading! Please comment and let me know if you want to be tagged in future updates of this story. I post a new chapter each Monday, Wednesday and Friday!

See you all next update!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nancy cast a cautious glance over her shoulder before nudging open the door to the small, rarely-used family bathroom tucked away in the west wing of Hawkins High. The fluorescent lights overhead buzzed faintly, casting a cold, flickering glow on the white-tiled walls. The faint scent of industrial cleaner lingered in the air, mingled with the unmistakable smell of mildew. It wasn’t exactly the ideal setting for a secret rendezvous, but subtlety had never been Steve Harrington’s strong suit.

"Steve?" she called softly, stepping inside. Her voice echoed faintly in the quiet space.

The door clicked shut behind her, the sound unnervingly final. Almost immediately, Steve emerged from the far corner, leaning with casual ease against the sink. His hair was styled to perfection, every strand deliberately messy, and that trademark smirk played on his lips—the kind that made Nancy want to both roll her eyes and smile. Probably in that order.

"Hey, Nance," he greeted, his tone low and playful, like they were coconspirators in some grand scheme. "Glad you got my note."

Nancy folded her arms, leveling him with a pointed stare. "What’s this about? I was on my way to talk to Mrs. McDonald."

"Mrs. McDonald can wait," Steve replied, brushing off her protest with an easy wave of his hand. "I just wanted to see you."

Her gaze didn’t waver. "You couldn’t wait until after school?"

Steve pushed off the sink and took a step closer, the confident smirk never leaving his face. "You’ve been dodging me all morning, so... no, I couldn’t."

"I haven’t been dodging you," Nancy shot back, though even as the words left her mouth, she knew they weren’t entirely true. "I’ve just been... busy."

"Busy doing what?" he teased, raising an eyebrow. "Taking notes? Studying? Or dodging Barb grilling you about us?"

Nancy’s cheeks flushed, a warm pink creeping up her neck. "Barb’s just... Barb," she mumbled.

Steve’s expression softened, his smirk giving way to something gentler as he reached up to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. "She’s right, though, isn’t she? We’re a thing now. You can admit it."

Nancy swallowed, acutely aware of how close he was. The casual confidence in his voice should’ve been insufferable, but instead, it sent her heart racing. "I wouldn’t exactly call us a... thing," she murmured, her voice faltering.

Steve tilted his head, his grin widening like he’d just won a bet. "We made out twice, Nance. In my car. In my driveway. That sounds like a ‘thing’ to me."

Nancy bit her lip, fighting back a smile. "You’re impossible, you know that?"

"And yet, here you are," he shot back, his eyes gleaming with amusement. "Meeting me in a creepy bathroom because you couldn’t stay away."

Nancy rolled her eyes, but her resolve was weakening. "You left me a note," she pointed out. "What was I supposed to do?"

"You could’ve ignored it," Steve said, his voice dropping to a near-whisper. "But you didn’t."

For a moment, the space between them seemed to shrink, the world outside fading into irrelevance. Then Steve leaned in, his lips brushing hers in a kiss that was warm and electric all at once. Nancy didn’t pull away. Her hands found the front of his jacket, fingers clutching the fabric as if anchoring herself to the moment.

But the spell broke as the school bell rang, its sharp, jarring sound pulling her back to reality. Nancy pulled away, her lips still tingling. "Steve, I really have to go," she said, her voice breathless.

His lips quirked into a small, teasing smile. "Okay, okay. But how about tonight? Let’s do something."

"I... I can’t," Nancy replied, smoothing her hair and stepping back. "I have to study for Kaminsky’s test."

Steve groaned, throwing his hands up in exaggerated defeat. "Oh, come on. What’s your GPA again? Like 3.999?"

Nancy swatted his shoulder, laughing despite herself. "Kaminsky’s tests are impossible!"

"Then let me help," Steve offered, a sly grin spreading across his face.

"You failed chem," Nancy pointed out, arching an eyebrow.

"C-minus," Steve corrected, holding up a finger as if that made all the difference.

Nancy shook her head, biting back another laugh. "Well, in that case..."

"So, I’ll swing by around eight?" he suggested, a hopeful lilt in his voice.

"Are you crazy? My mom would never—"

"I’ll climb through your window," Steve interrupted, his grin widening. "She’ll never know I’m there. I’m stealthy. Like a ninja."

Nancy rolled her eyes, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "You’re insane."

As she moved to brush past him, Steve caught her arm gently. "Alright, fine," he conceded, his voice softening. "How about we just hang out in my car? Find a nice, quiet spot."

"Steve," Nancy said firmly, giving him a stern look, jabbing into his chest with each word. "I have to study. I’m not kidding."

"Why do you think I suggested somewhere quiet?" he teased, winking.

Before Nancy could reply, the doorknob jiggled. Her stomach dropped like a stone, and she sprang back as if caught red-handed. A sharp knock followed.

“Occupied!” Steve called out smoothly, his voice annoyingly composed, as though they weren’t moments away from being discovered.

The sound of retreating footsteps echoed through the quiet room, but Nancy’s nerves were already on edge. Her heart thudded in her chest as she quickly gathered her things, cheeks burning. “You’re an idiot, Steve Harrington,” she hissed, slinging her bag over her shoulder. “I have to go.”

Steve leaned casually against the counter, completely unbothered. “Relax, Wheeler. We’re fine,” he said, flashing that infuriating smirk.

Nancy ignored him, heading for the door with purposeful strides. As her hand gripped the doorknob, she paused and glanced back at him, her expression equal parts annoyed and hesitant. “Dearborn and Maple. Eight o’clock. To study.”

Steve’s brows lifted in mild surprise before he stepped back, raising his hands in mock surrender. “Alright, alright. Study session at Dearborn and Maple. Got it.” He tilted his head, grinning. “Go save the world, or whatever it is you do AP Language and Compassion.”

Nancy rolled her eyes, but her lips twitched despite herself. “Composition. And you’re ridiculous, Steve Harrington.” she muttered, turning the knob.

“Yeah,” Steve called after her as she slipped out into the bustling hallway, “but you like it.”

She shook her head, her heart still racing as she ducked into the crowd, his words echoing in her mind. She wouldn’t admit it—not even to herself—but maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t entirely wrong. Nancy paused just outside the bathroom, taking a deep breath to steady herself. Her lips still tingled, and her heart was still racing, but she shoved those feelings aside. There were more important things to worry about—like Will Byers, Joanna, and the uneasy feeling creeping through Hawkins.

For now, though, Steve Harrington could wait.

Nancy disappeared into the crowded hallway, her heart still racing and her mind already distracted by the thought of her next encounter with Steve. But elsewhere in Hawkins, the minutes crawled by with far heavier stakes. Joanna stared at the clock hanging crookedly above the front desk of the Hawkins Police Station, the second hand jerking forward like it, too, was reluctant to move. It had been over an hour since she and her mom arrived, and Sheriff Jim Hopper was still nowhere to be seen.

"How much longer, Mom?" Joanna asked, her voice tight. She fidgeted with the zipper on her jacket, pulling it up and down in an uneven rhythm.

Joyce, seated beside her, didn’t look up. Her hands gripped the strap of her bag so tightly her knuckles were white. "I don’t know," she said, her voice brittle and strained. "They said he’d be here soon."

Joanna let out a quiet sigh, her gaze drifting through the office window to the small crowd of officers milling about behind the counter. Most seemed preoccupied with paperwork or coffee, their faces indifferent, like this was just another Tuesday morning in Hawkins. To them, it probably was. But for Joanna, everything felt wrong—too quiet, too still, as if the world had tilted just slightly off its axis.

She glanced at her mom again. Joyce was trying to stay composed, but Joanna could see the cracks beneath the surface—the way her leg bounced anxiously, the way her eyes darted to the door every time it creaked open.

"Maybe he’s already out looking," Joanna offered, her tone uncertain. "You know, like... checking the woods or something."

Joyce finally met her gaze, her expression a fragile mix of hope and despair. "Maybe," she murmured, but even she didn’t sound convinced.

The silence between them stretched on, punctuated only by the faint hum of the overhead lights and the occasional ring of the station phone. Joanna shifted in her seat, biting her lip as the weight of waiting pressed down on her chest. And then the front door swung open with a sharp jingle of the bell. Joanna's head snapped up, her pulse quickening. But it wasn’t Hopper. Just a pair of patrol officers returning from their morning rounds, chatting idly about a stray dog they’d found near Elm Street.

Joanna slumped back in her seat, her frustration bubbling to the surface. "This is ridiculous," she muttered under her breath. "Does he even care?"

"Of course, he cares," Joyce snapped, her voice uncharacteristically sharp. She immediately softened, running a hand through her frazzled hair. "I’m sorry, honey. I just... I don’t know what’s taking so long."

Joanna didn’t reply, her gaze fixed on the door. Every passing minute felt heavier than the last, each one dragging her further into the gnawing worry she’d been trying to suppress all morning:

What if they were already too late?

The muffled chatter of the Hawkins police station buzzed in the background, punctuated by the rhythmic clack of typewriters and the occasional ringing phone. Flo, the station secretary, was practically jogging to keep up with Chief Hopper, her arms filled with paperwork.

“While you were off drinking, sleeping, or whatever it is you find so important on a Monday morning,” Flo huffed, “Phil Larson called. Said some kids are stealing gnomes from his garden again.”

“Oh no, not the garden gnomes,” Hopper replied dryly, taking a bite of his donut without breaking stride. “Better get the FBI on that.”

Flo wasn’t deterred. “On a more pressing matter, Joyce Byers called. Her son’s missing.”

“Mmm.” Hopper barely acknowledged her, mumbling through a mouthful of donut. “Alright, I’ll get to it. Just give me a minute.”

“Chief, she’s very upset—”

“Flo,” Hopper interrupted, raising a hand as he continued toward his office. “Mornings are for coffee and contemplation.”

“Chief, Joyce and her daughter are already—”

“Coffee and contemplation, Flo,” Hopper repeated, his tone leaving no room for argument as he rounded the corner into his office.

Inside, Joyce Byers sat perched on the edge of a chair, nervously smoking a cigarette. Her hands trembled slightly as she brought it to her lips. Joanna paced the cramped room, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, her steps sharp and agitated.

“Finally,” Joanna muttered under her breath as Hopper entered.

“Joanna,” Joyce said softly, giving her daughter a look, but it did little to temper her frustration.

Hopper ignored the tension, walking around the pair and collapsing into the chair behind his desk.

“I’ve been here for over an hour, Hop,” Joyce snapped, her voice trembling with anger and worry.

“And I’ve apologized,” Hopper replied, the words dragging as he rolled a fresh sheet of paper into his typewriter. He sighed, leaning back in his chair. “Look, a boy his age—he’s probably just playing hooky.”

Joanna stopped pacing, her hands gripping the back of the chair in front of Hopper’s desk. “Not Will,” she said firmly. “He’s not like that. And even if he was, it’d be a group effort, and Dustin, Mike, and Lucas are all at school.”

“And how do you know that for sure?” Hopper asked, raising an eyebrow.

Joanna gestured around the room. “Because we’re the only ones here. If they were missing too, this office would be packed.”

Hopper opened his mouth, but Joyce cut in, her voice rising. “This isn’t funny. Will’s not like that. He wouldn’t do this.”

Hopper held up his hands, trying to placate her. “Joyce, look, I’m just saying—kids surprise you. My mom thought I was on the debate team when I was really—”

“Let me guess,” Joanna interrupted, her tone sharp. “Screwing some girl in the back of your dad’s car?”

Hopper blinked at her, caught off guard, but she pressed on. “And what exactly, do your ‘slutty high school years’ have anything to do with my twelve-year-old brother missing?”

Hopper’s expression hardened, but Joyce didn’t give him a chance to respond. She leaned forward, her words spilling out in a rush. “Will’s not like you, Hop. He’s not like me, or most kids. He’s... sensitive. Lonnie used to call him—” She hesitated, her voice dropping to a near whisper. “Lonnie called him queer. Called him a fag.”

“Is he?” Hopper asked, the question blunt.

Joanna slammed her hand against the chair. “He’s missing! That’s what he is!”

Hopper held her gaze for a moment before turning back to Joyce. “When’s the last time you talked to Lonnie?”

Joyce took a shaky drag of her cigarette. “About a year ago. He was in Indianapolis. But he has nothing to do with this.”

“Let me be the judge of that. Give me his number.” Hopper grabbed a pencil from the desk.

“I’m telling you, he has nothing to do with this,” Joyce said, her voice rising again.

“Joyce,” Hopper said evenly, “99 times out of 100, when a kid goes missing, they’re with a parent or a relative.”

Joyce’s eyes narrowed. “And what about the other time?”

Hopper looked up, puzzled. “What?”

“You said 99 times out of 100,” she repeated, her voice shaking. “What about the one? The one time?”

“Joyce,” Hopper said, leaning back in his chair, “this is Hawkins, okay? The worst thing that’s happened here since I took this job was when an owl mistook Eleanor Gillespie’s hair for a nest and attacked her. That’s it.”

Joyce’s jaw tightened, her face pale with anger. “Fine. I’ll call Lonnie. He’ll talk to me before he talks to—”

“What? A pig?” Hopper asked, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“A cop,” Joyce corrected, her voice sharp. She stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray, her hand trembling. “Just find my son, Hop. Please.”

Joanna’s fingers tightened around the cold, metal edge of the desk as she stared at the door, each minute dragging by like hours. Her mind kept circling back to the same thought—the one she hadn’t been able to shake all morning: What if we’re too late? Her heart thudded with the pressure of that thought, knowing that the absence of Will wasn’t just a coincidence. He was gone. And nobody seemed to have answers.

Outside, the low hum of voices continued to seep through the walls of the police station, but none of it mattered. She felt detached, the words from the officers around her barely registering as they spoke of mundane things like garden gnomes and missing pets. They didn’t understand. How could they?

She glanced at Joyce, who was still pacing back and forth in her restless search for answers. Joanna’s mind drifted back to the conversation she’d overheard earlier, and the familiar tug of worry gnawed at her again. Will had vanished without a trace. The time was slipping away, and yet, there they all sat, acting like they could just wait it out.

Donna wasn’t waiting.

As she stepped out of the home economics classroom, the faint scent of freshly baked banana bread still clinging to her cardigan, the buzz of students in the hallway didn’t even register at first. She wasn’t paying attention to the lockers slamming or the whispers that filled the air. All she could think about was Joanna and Jonathan. Something felt off.

When she reached the cafeteria, the usual chaos of lunchtime surrounded her—trays clattering, students laughing and shouting across tables. It should’ve felt familiar, comforting even. But not today. Today, it felt like background noise to the ache of worry gnawing at her gut. The absence of her friends, her best friend, wasn’t something she could ignore. She quickly scanned the room, her gaze landing on Nancy sitting alone at their usual table, hunched over a Spanish II workbook. Donna’s stomach twisted again. Joanna wasn’t here. Jonathan wasn’t either. Why did it feel like no one was taking this seriously?

She made her way through the labyrinth of chairs and lunch trays, setting her bag down with a deliberate thud as she slid into the seat across from Nancy.

"Hey," Donna said, her voice quiet, but the words weighed more than usual. "No Joanna."

Nancy glanced up, a fleeting look of surprise crossing her face before her pencil stilled. "What?"

"Joanna," Donna repeated, leaning in slightly, her voice lower. "She wasn’t in biology, and Jonathan wasn’t in English. They’re definitely not here today."

Nancy hesitated, her eyes flickering downward, and Donna knew she wasn’t getting the whole story. Donna wasn’t one to jump to conclusions, but everything about today felt wrong. And if no one else was going to figure it out, she was going to take matters into her own hands.

Nancy hesitated for a moment, lips parting like she was about to say something, then closed them again, looking back down at her workbook. She erased something furiously before muttering, "I don’t know."

Donna raised an eyebrow, sensing the slight irritation behind Nancy's words, and the flush creeping up her friend’s cheeks. "Okay, then. What about Steve?"

Nancy stiffened at the name, and Donna’s suspicion grew. "What about him?" Nancy asked, feigning indifference as she flipped a page in her workbook.

"Well, you met him this morning, right?" Donna asked casually. "Did you bring up Joanna? Maybe he’s heard something."

Nancy’s pencil stilled, the silence stretching uncomfortably between them. Finally, Nancy sighed, leaning back in her chair. "I didn’t ask him about Joanna," she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper.

"You didn’t?" Donna asked, incredulous. "Nancy, that was kind of the whole point! What were you two even talking about, then?"

Nancy’s gaze darted around the cafeteria, like she was afraid someone might overhear. She leaned forward, her voice dropping to a hurried whisper. "It’s complicated, okay? Steve had other things on his mind, and I—" She stopped herself, shaking her head.

Donna leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. "Other things, huh? Like what? You know Joanna’s not here, and neither is Jonathan. Doesn’t that seem a little more important than whatever Steve Harrington wants to talk about?"

Nancy flushed deeper, her eyes avoiding Donna’s. "I know, okay? I just—" She sighed again, running a hand through her hair.

Donna’s gaze hardened, her voice blunt. "Why are you pursuing a relationship with someone you can't even talk to whenever you want?"

Nancy chuckled, but Donna wasn’t sure what was funny. She set her sandwich down with a sigh. "C'mon, you know it’s..." Nancy trailed off, but Donna didn’t budge.

"Can you just ask him? Or better yet, I can. Where is he? Is he gonna be sitting with you?" Donna stood, scanning the cafeteria for a sign of Steve's fluffy brown hair.

"Donna, no!" Nancy protested, pulling her back down into the seat beside her. "Look, one day, when a boy likes you, you'll understand."

Donna rolled her eyes and glanced back at her friend. "I understand liking a boy, okay. I just don’t understand putting the boy you can’t even talk to whenever you want on a higher pedestal than your friends, the ones who’ve been there for you since first grade."

"What’s that supposed to mean?" Nancy asked defensively, just as Barb set down her lunch tray across from them.

"You’re really spending a lot of time with Steve lately," Donna said casually, but her tone held a sharp edge that made Nancy look up.

Nancy frowned, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Yeah, I guess," she replied carefully. "He’s been... nice."

Donna snorted, slamming her book down onto the table with a sharp thud. "Nice? Steve Harrington? He’s about as deep as a kiddie pool, Nance."

Nancy’s lips pressed together in a thin line, her cheeks coloring. "You don’t know him like I do."

"Don’t I?" Donna shot back, turning fully to face her. "He’s the same guy who ignores us in the halls, but now that he’s interested in you, he’s what? Suddenly Mr. Perfect?"

Nancy’s eyes narrowed. "It’s not like that. He’s different when we’re alone."

Donna folded her arms, her expression skeptical. "Maybe. But it seems like you’re changing to fit into his world instead of him trying to fit into ours. You used to care about real things, Nancy. Now it’s all about parties, his stupid hair, and who’s sitting at what table, when you can and can't talk to him—"

"That’s not fair!" Nancy snapped, her voice rising. "Just because I want to have fun for once doesn’t mean I’m abandoning anything—or anyone."

Donna’s jaw tightened, her next words sharp. "Fun? Is that what you call ditching us for the people who’ve looked down on us since middle school? What happens when Steve gets bored or someone else catches his eye? Where will you be then?"

"What are you talking about ditching? You guys ditched me last night!" Nancy shot back.

Donna scoffed, her voice biting. "Yeah, ‘cause where were you? Too busy being concerned with Harrington. Sorry our late-night adventure happened to fall in the same window he allows you to talk to him."

"Whoa, guys...let’s cool it," Barb tried to intervene, but Nancy kept going, her expression faltering. Hurt flickered in her eyes. "Why are you so against me being happy? Why can’t you just be supportive?"

"Because, Nancy, I can’t stand by and watch you throw yourself into something that’s only going to hurt you." Donna stood abruptly, gathering her things with quick, jerky movements.

"You don’t understand," Nancy said, her voice cracking slightly.

Donna’s face softened, guilt flashing across her features, but she held her ground. "Maybe I don’t understand, Nancy. But I know who you are—or at least, I thought I did."

Nancy hesitated, her shoulders slumping slightly. "I’m still me," she said quietly, but Donna was already walking away, just as Carol and Tommy H invaded their table.

Donna stood there, a lump forming in her throat. She wasn’t just angry—she was scared. Scared about Will. Scared about Joanna. And now, even more scared of losing Nancy to a world that didn’t feel like theirs anymore. Words about missing their late-night study sessions, their shared complaints about parents, their dreams for the future—they stayed lodged in her chest. She focused on what she could control, her feet leading her down the hall to her next class—Art II.

But Donna wasn’t about to let this go. Something was wrong. And whatever was going on with Joanna and Jonathan, she wasn’t going to wait around for someone else to figure it out.

6 notes · View notes