#THEY GOT A RABBIT TO PLAY A HARES ROLE
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Squire - Part 5
👑 Part 1 👑 Part 2 👑 Part 3 👑 Part 4 👑
"Are you awake? Tell me you didn't fall asleep like that!"
The squeaking soprano of Mouse's voice pierces the fog of your dreamless daze. A soft, almost delicate snore escapes your nose, betraying any notion that you had managed to stay fully conscious. You inhale sharply in an effort to recover your senses, and are rewarded with a foul and shocking odor. A chorus of crinkles greets you as you wiggle your head against some manner of restraint, trying and failing to get a glimpse of your surroundings in the dark. Your startled "oh!" is muffled by a mouthful of cotton, which you now realize is the source of the lingering stench in your nostrils. The hot breath on your inner thighs and the odd weight on your torso pull your memory back into your squirming body: you are bound to Mouse, tops and tails. Your face is buried in their fat, soiled diaper, and theirs in yours.
"Whhhnnhh...whhhnnhh nnnggh eeeeeennnh?" You gurgle your question pathetically into Mouse's diaper, and are forced to breathe deeply the smell of their mess to recover from the useless effort. Though unpleasant, you're surprised to find how little it affects you. There was a time when even the thought of a used diaper made you gag. Now, the sickly, earthy scents are simply a tapestry sewn into the fabric of your life as a squire, so familiar as to be barely visible.
"What? Be still a moment. I've got myself loose."
You gasp as you feel Mouse wriggle against your own mushy padding, clearly straining against the bonds of rope that hold you together so tightly. After a few more minutes of thrashing about, you feel the weight on your body lifted, but are suffocated as Mouse rises into a sitting position on your head. The pressure against your face is so great that scarcely any air can filter through their filthy diaper, and you are left sobbing and moaning in the miasma of their waste.
"Sorry, I just need to undo this...oh, it's no use!"
You gulp down a merciful breath of stinking oxygen as Mouse collapses on top of you once again, easing the sagging weight of their diaper off your nose and mouth. You hear them panting in frustration before collecting themselves.
"Pig is the only person I have ever met who could simply fall sleep with their face buried in a diaper," they say with disgust.
"Whnnngh fffnghgggrrr..." You gargle in protest, the fumes from Mouse's padding tickling the back of your throat. It's not as though you're enjoying this! And yet, you blush hotly with shame as you recall how you brought this situation upon yourself.
Ever since your first appearance at court, Madame Matilda had been training you to adopt a dramatis persona: a character you could play to distinguish yourself as a squire. The deepest wish of every squire, she had explained, was to be named. And names are more readily given to squires who can inhabit a role. You appeared at court several times barking like a hound, whistling like a songbird, purring like a kitten and bleating like a lamb. The Queen had never taken the slightest notice -- at least, that's what you assume.
Nothing had convinced you more of this country's madness than the discovery that these lords and servants believe their monarch to be a rabbit. As the weeks passed, you had watched carefully for a hesitating smirk or quiet giggle as palace visitors paid respects to the giant hare and the pretty young woman alleged to be its interpreter. None showed the slightest insincerity. You simply could not believe it to be true!
Worst of all, you had found yourself crying in the small hours of the morning. Some months ago, you would shed tears for the noble life that had been stolen from you. But you realized, of late, you were becoming even more distraught about your lack of a name. How could you be expected to win the affection of a dumb beast -- or rather, the imposter who claims to speak for it? How could you at last earn a squire's title like Mouse or Pig? And why, in the name of the heavens and the earth, did you seem to want such a humiliating mark so badly?
Someone must have overheard you confiding in Mouse when the two of you had been scrubbing out the larder. You were angry, and had muttered a curse about the damnable rabbit everyone insisted was your owner, but who paid you no heed. A scuffle with Blackwood, some useless pleas for mercy...and in no time at all, you and Mouse were imprisoned in this bizarre predicament.
"Mmmhhhhnnn..." You whimper into Mouse's diaper, a pang of guilt churning through your stomach. This was your fault. You have to do something to help.
With a deep, toxic breath and a heavy grunt, you tense your shoulders and pull against the thick ropes. Mouse, who seems to have found more purchase, shifts their weight to favor your efforts. After several minutes of straining, you feel the rope at one of your wrists give some slack.
"Yes! I felt it, too!" Mouse cries victoriously, fighting their own bonds with renewed vigor. Clawing at the restraint under your neck, you are at last able to liberate your face from its foul pillow and taste fresh air. With eyes and hands at your disposal, you and Mouse somehow manage to free yourselves and stand with some difficulty.
"They will not pardon us for refusing to endure our punishment," Mouse says hurriedly. "I believe I know where we are in the palace. Are you ready to escape at last? Are you with me?"
Mouse kicks off their high-heeled leather shoes and reaches under the hem of their gray dress. The sound of soft ripping is followed by a heavy plop as their filthy diaper falls open on the stone floor. A look of rapture passes over your fellow squire's face as they stretch their bare hips.
"Now you must do the same!" Mouse squeaks.
You look down at your feathered skirts and feel a chill of fear running up your spine. You had long wanted nothing more than to tear away the revolting garment and be free of the ridiculous trappings of squirehood. And yet you hesitate. Mouse notices your indecision.
"We must both be bound to the same fate if we fail. Take off your diaper and I swear I will free us!"
You tentatively run your hand along the strange, crinkling material and slide a lacquered nail under one of the sap-treated strips that holds the diaper snugly to your bottom. You're shaking as you pull it away, knowing you've already broken one of the cardinal rules of your strange caste. A squire must never touch its diaper.
You feel the cold air on your hips before your diaper is even fully removed. It's not entirely foreign -- you are bathed and changed at least once a day by Madame Matilda's handmaidens. But this is different. You thought there would be relief, but you just feel...naked.
"Come on, then! If the portcullis is raised, we can get out of the Squirey and find some new clothes!"
Your bare feet are freezing against the stone as you follow Mouse through the mystifying corridors of the palace. You are so accustomed to walking in tall heels with thick padding between your legs...you practically feel off-balance without the leather shoes you left behind with your diaper. You're sure the thundering in your heart will wake half the palace; you're trembling even worse than when you presented yourself to the Queen with your first tribute song. Everything feels wrong. A squire must love its captivity.
"Damnation!" Mouse hisses.
As you and Mouse round a corner, you see that the gate sealing off the Squirey from the rest of the palace is shut fast.
"Perhaps we should turn back..." You whisper.
"No! We can find another way! We won't get another -- "
"Mouse? Little sparrow?"
You feel the sensation of a stone sinking from your throat to your belly. You should have known when you weren't in bed that Pig would come looking for you. You turn slowly to see the squire's pink hair glittering in the light of a nearby torch. They have a look of anguish on their face.
"Mouse, what have you done?" Pig asks, though their gaze is locked squarely on you.
"Pig! Get out of here!" Mouse sneers, uselessly grabbing at the bars of the portcullis. "Just tell Blackwood you saw nothing! I am not asking for your help, only your silence!"
Pig sighs with obvious disappointment and takes a few steps closer. You're frozen in place, unable to speak or move.
"You're not wearing your shoes," Pig says to you forlornly. "Does that mean..." Their eyes flutter down to your skirts, and you reflexively place a hand over your groin.
"I see." Pig sounds distant, as though some great tragedy has transpired. "When the guards find you without a diaper, there will be no second chances. Her Majesty will have you cast out, and you will be forced to become a mindless m... -- "
"Her Majesty does not exist!" Mouse spits, interrupting. "There is no Queen! There is only a clever girl who has played you all for fools, forcing you to bow and simper before a rabbit! And you, Pig, are the biggest fool of all!"
You hear the sound of running water. Instinctively you turn your head, trying to find the source of the unexpected noise. Only when the soles of your feet are tickled by dampness do you realize what's happened: in all the anxiety and excitement, you've begun to piss uncontrollably, with no diaper to soak up your shame. A squire has no control.
"Oh! Ohhhh noooooooooo!" You clasp your hands around your mouth, your loud exclamation echoing through the halls of the palace. A few seconds later, you hear a clank of metal, and the sound of approaching footsteps.
"You've doomed us!" Mouse cries, pulling ever more desperately at the iron gate before turning and running down a corridor.
With a swift motion, Pig grabs you by the collar and and pushes you to the moist ground. You're too startled to protest as they lift your skirts to expose your groin, then reach under their own dress. With a squelch, Pig's yellowed diaper falls to the floor at their knees, and they lift your legs to slide it underneath your bottom. You shiver to feel warm mush shift and ooze around your loins as Pig hurriedly straps the used garment to your waist and gives your newly padded rear a hard slap.
"They won't think to check me," Pig hushes your plaintive moans as the heavy footsteps draw ever nearer. "Mouse will be taken away, but I fear that is for the best. You -- I don't think I could stand to lose you quite yet, squire. There's still so much fun for you and I to have."
You open your mouth to reply, but Pig wraps their mouth around yours in a deep, passionate kiss. You struggle momentarily, then lie still and accept the invasion. Pig has chosen to save you from whatever odious fate awaits poor Mouse. You're not sure whether the diaper around your hips is your prison or your salvation.
In this moment, perhaps it is both.
A squire is a squire forever.
👑 Part 6 👑
#ab dl diaper#ab dl lifestyle#ab dl mommy#diaper pee#diaper sissy#diaper training#diaper gal#diapered247
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DRAGON QUEST'S LOCALIZATION SUCKS, ACTUALLY. PART 1
There's a thread blowing up on Japanese twitter right now about the poor quality of localization. It's the first time I've ever actually seen a japanese perspective on the topic, and it's been extremely gratifying to see a ton people from over there talk about specific translation issues they've seen or learn for the first time that japanese media is often given the short end of the stick here in the USA.
Most of the time over here in the US, criticism of localization gets shouted down as whiny fans who think they know better than the translators. It's been heartening to see that people from japan are also annoyed by it, and its inspired me to write up a whole long-ass rant I've had simmering in the back of my mind for years, so buckle up, long post(s) incoming:
Let's start at the beginning with the first thing that ever caused me to start thinking about localization. This little guy:
If you've played Dragon Quest in the past 2 decades, you probably know this guy by the name "Spiked Hare." Not me though! I got into DQ on the game boy, in the brief window of time where DQ's localization was handled by Nob Ogasawara, the same guy responsible for translating every pokemon game up until Platinum. In the DQ games Nob worked on, he chose to translate this guy's name as "Almiraj." Why the huge difference in translation? I'll get to that in a minute.
The almiraj is an extremely minor enemy in Dragon Quest 3. It's pretty weak, and it's only real defining feature is that it can occasionally cast sleep spells on your party members. It's just one of hundreds of monsters in that game, and aside from it's cute design, it's pretty forgettable. As a weird kid overly obsessed with linguistics though, its name always seemed odd to me. You don't really see words that end with a "J" in english. It stuck out enough that one night, when I was bored, I decided to google "almiraj" to figure out what the name meant. It sent me down a rabbit hole (almiraj hole?) that taught me all sorts of cool shit, and permanently altered the way I looked at localization. The path I tumbled down that night went something like this:
The Dragon Quest almiraj is named after the almiraj, a "real" mythical creature described as a hare with a large horn on its head.
The original inspiration for accounts of the almiraj (as well as the jackalope, wolpertinger, etc.) is likely the Shope papiloma Virus, which causes rabbits to grow weird, horn-like growths on their face and head.
It was described by Zakariya al-Qazwini, an Iranian lawyer, author, and all around knowledgeable guy who lived in the 13th century.
al-Qazwini described it in the Aja'ib al-Makhluqat, a massive cosmographical treatise that attempted to describe basically everything in the known universe at the time. It was so popular in the Islamic world that it was copied and translated into dozens of languages, which meant plenty of copies have survived intact to modern times.
The almiraj was brought into the limelight in modern fantasy when it was introduced in the first edition of Dungeons and Dragons, as a relatively weak and unassuming monster as part of a campaign to expand the game with monster suggestions from fans of the series.
Dungeons and Dragons-style role playing games were brought into the digital world with the release of the first Wizardry game in 1981.
Yuji Horii was a massive fan of Wizardry, which he first discovered as part of a developer exchange program when he visited America in 1983. Three years later, he decided to try and recreate the things he loved from the series for console gamers in Japan, and the the original Dragon Quest was born.
One little name was all it took to open up this entire through-line of history that I had no idea even existed before that night. It's a tapestry of human experiences over 800 years in the making, spanning continents, cultures, languages, and medium. It's probably because I'm the type of person who sits around thinking about stuff too much, but I honestly get a little emotional wondering what al-Qazwini would think if he could see the mythical creatures he described all those years ago as little dudes hopping around inside a computer.
And the thing is the tapestry doesn't end there! Dragon Quest is still pretty niche in the west, but in Japan it's fucking titanic. There's an urban legend that the Japanese government banned Square Enix from releasing Dragon Quest games on a weekday, because so many people would skip work or school that it would impact the economy. (It's not true by the way, but the fact that the rumor exists at all is a testament to how huge the series' influence is over there.) I don't think it would be an overstatement to say that what Lord of the Rings did to modern western fantasy, Dragon Quest did to modern Japanese fantasy. Almost every JRPG, manga, or anime with a fantasy setting has the fingerprints of Dragon Quest on it. Countless other works have been inspired by DQ, and those works will go on to inspire others. A million different threads weaving tapestries back and forth across time and borders, all over the globe. And the almiraj is a part of that! It might just be a single, tiny, white and purple thread, but it's still in there helping to tie things together.
So back to the question I asked earlier: Why is it "Almiraj" in Mr. Ogasawara's translation but "Spiked hare" in the current one? Simple: Nob actually translated the name.
You can see on the DQ wiki that the original japanese name of the monster is "アルミラージ" which is literally just "almiraj" written in katakana:
The current DQ team has instead decided that all monster names should be puns. I'm not against puns or anything. "Spiked hare" for a rabbit with a horn is great! I might even raise my eyebrows and exhale slightly if I read it for the first time. Dragon Quest in general tends to have a lot of goofiness in it, so it's not like puns are out of place or anything. My problem is that, by deciding to replace monster names arbitrarily like this, all the little threads start to come unraveled. You lose the ability to look back down the line and discover all these different connections to history and nature and art that you might not ever learn otherwise. The almiraj isn't the only monster to get this treatment. A huge portion of the monsters in Dragon Quest are taken from mythologies around the world, and many of their names are literally already in English, just written with katakana.
The almiraj sticks out in my mind as a particularly egregious example because of just how much I learned because of the foreign-sounding name, but there's plenty of other name changes that have resulted in straight up confusing, ambiguous, or otherwise stupid outcomes in the current localization.
CONTINUED IN PART 2
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Do you think Crowley has a dominion type of UM?
With the last post of it from @prince-kallisto it really got me thinking about it.
If he is maintaining wonderland, and probably encapsulating it or maintaining the bubble it is in. Then is he capable of sending Yuu back on his own or does he still need those variables (seeing as your theory is that he is the Twst mad hatter, just raven flavored. Mickey the dorm mouse, Silver was the mad hare if I remember correctly)
Then did he just open up a part of wonderland through the mirror and send the black carriage to bring Yuu. Accidentally killed them, and they just reanimated them but without their soul, and that’s why the mirror says that Yuu is empty….
Does that mean Yuu could die if they go back? Because Crowley is keeping them “alive” by their own magic, because he said “Nah, they ain’t dead here” and because magic is shaped by imagination and it’s Crowley twisted wonderland or he is maintaining it….
And when Yuu’s purpose in this play is over they just die or something worse.
Am I just going too much on the edges about this or?
Hello! Sorry for a long reply. Since you seems like having so much questions in one ask, let's break it down:
"Do you think Crowley has dominion type of UM?"
Though that post does mention about Crowley maintaining Twisted Wonderland, I still have a different opinion about it. If it's me (who usually based my analysis on Alice in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass), that Realm Dominance magic isn't his magic but rather, the real Maleficent's blessing from the real Maleficent herself which her image was reflected in the mirror when the very first time we played the game. So when he said "flower of evil", it's to summon Maleficent herself because she is "Mistress of All Evil". He was simply "borrowing" her magic and used it on Yuu.
But how can he "borrow" it? This is where his real UM comes to play. Since he is a Hatter from Through The Looking Glass, his UM is called "Perspective" which is actually based on Mad Hatter from live action Disney game.
This "Perspective" with mirror as its medium can do two things:
1. Visualize pictures/images into reality (he did it to make the magic coming from Maleficent's reflection in the dark mirror into reality)
2. Wrap Yuu through the Dark Mirror onto the other side of Yuu's world
About the second one, what he warped wasn't Yuu's body but rather, their soul. But how it can be like that and how "exactly" did he do it? This will have something to do with Dormouse (the sleeping mouse) riddle and the rabbit hole riddle from Alice in Wonderland (which I'll going to explain another time)
You can read more explanation about this "perspective" UM here
"Is he capable of sending Yuu back on his own or does he still need help?"
For this it will entirely depend on Yana how she will create the story. But based on my analysis there are 3 possibilities:
1. Crowley would still need the variables, with someone representing as "time" to break the loop (in this case it's Yuu themselves because in Mad Tea Party, Mad Hatter can finally measure mathematicaly when Alice comes using her age which is 7). This is if she follows the Alice in Wonderland one
2. Crowley doesn't need help, but he will not do anything either. Because eventually they will go back to their own world once they defeat Grim. This one is based on Through The Looking Glass where Alice defeated Red Queen to go back to her own world, which later this Red Queen turns out to be her own black cat named Kitty. Personally this second possibility is what I think twst is close to, with Grim has the role of both Red Queen and Red King. Though this does raise another question what is Crowley's intention for doing this (which admittedly I still don't know up to this point)
3. Ace and Deuce will help Yuu to "break that world triggered by Crowley's magic"
This is due to the fact that both Ace and Deuce are trump cards from their respective decks of French deck and German deck which technically can overthrow the structure that maintains wonderland.
"Did Crowley accidentally killed Yuu and reanimated them but without their soul?"
Based on my own analysis, Crowley didn't kill Yuu but more like it's really their time to go and he is more like just doing his task as the personification of time. (this again refers to the Mad Hatter from mythological perspective). The hint is there in his bio about his favorite food, but I will explain that some other time.
The reason why Dark Mirror can't identify Yuu's soul is because it's already their soul that's coming to Twisted Wonderland. Because their real body is in their own world.
So when Yuu's role in Twisted Wonderland is over, they will go back to their own world and wake up from their dream, much like how Alice is going back to her own world in both Alice in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass.
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does anyone have that wonka 'they got a rabbit to play a hares role' post its been haunting me for weeks and i cant find it
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Rate your muses from most to least possessive.
OH FUCK LMAO KEJRNHM. I would say all of them are at least a little possessive if only because of the dynamic between “Alice” and the Wonderlandians, but that being said some of them certainly are way more NORMAL about it than others KJENRMHKJN.
From MOST to least possessive:
Bandersnatch / Amadeu. They’re the blog yandere. 🥴 Speaks for itself. Although I made a conscious effort to make them less ... icky than the traditional yandere, they do still retain some of those traits and if someone touches their partner with a fingertip, they’ll break that someone’s whole arm. Yada yada, as yanderes do.
Red Queen / Beatrice. She’s the more traditional yandere but she doesn’t actually love Alice at all since her whole route is a betrayal so she doesn’t count lmfao.
White Rabbit / Darcy. Gestures to the entire story of this blog. He was also ORIGINALLY supposed to be a yandere archetype but his role got taken by Amadeu instead, fun facts. Ur welcome. That said, he does end up letting Alice go to be happy with someone else if they’re on a different character’s route & get the good ending so. Small claps.
March Hare / Briar. Gestures to his trauma and fear of having his heart broken.
Mock Turtle / Yvette. Prob falls into the trap of being dependent on her partner because her mental health isn’t exactly great, but she IS capable of improvement if given time.
Jabberwock / Aleister. Actually p healthy about it, though, makes an effort not to be overbearing and gives space when needed.
Nobody / Freyr. That happens when only one bitch in this world can see u KJERNHM.
Pigeon / Vaeril. HIS BACKSTORY MAKES THINGS ROUGH.
Tweedle-Dee / Cecil. As a tsundere often is.
King of Hearts / Valentin. To a p normal degree of wanting to show off his relationship but still letting his partner have their own life.
White King / Ekailde. ^ Similar.
Humpty-Dumpty / Yurii, !!NOT ROMANTIC!!, he’s desperate for parental attention, so he’s clingy.
Dormouse / Doremi. His shoddy memory makes him extra clingy, sometimes, but he’s not problematic about it.
Dodo / Ambrose. He’s very regal and understands the importance of having a large social circle, but much like the other royals, still enjoys a very publicly known relationship.
Caterpillar / Adelaide. Needs time to herself and thus affords the same respect to her partner when it’s needed. Trusts them not to betray her.
Mad Hatter / Idris. ^ Similar.
Cheshire Cat / Asher. Man’s is just vibing. Go make friends other than him or you’re a lame ass bitch and he’ll make fun of you for it.
Duchess / Lacrima. Dude she’s just happy she can be around someone without melting them. She EXPECTS sb to leave her for someone else KENJRHM. No faith, already given up.
Tweedle-Dum / Cecille. So chill. So, so very chill. No reason to cause problems unless there actually is one.
Gryphon / Faelen. ^ Even chiller. Has all the trust in his partner and then some.
Raven / Magnus. ^ These three make up the trinity of normal people who simply trust their partners and feel no need to throw hands with the people around them.
Knave of Diamonds / Saevil. Literally does not care who his partner is around, feels absolutely no need to flaunt a relationship. Just wants to be comfortable and assumes trust is there, both ways.
Doll Maker / Feyrithe. As the Queen of all the Fae, not only does he need to have trust in his partner, he also is expecting his partner to return that trust in him, although he doesn’t mind a little mischievous jealousy here & there. It’s for fun with him.
Gnat / Dinah. He’s actually p brutal despite being the least possessive of all the muses. While he seems easygoing / lax, he IS one of the least forgiving lmao. If someone betrays him it’s their fault, not the third party’s, and he drops them like dirt under his heel no matter how in love with them he is. Dinah doesn’t play. No need to be possessive if you hold your partner as the one accountable for their own actions. ☠️
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it’s been on my mind but i want to talk about, or rather just gush about one of the doujin i physically own (edit after the fact: I sorta end up talking about two) .It’s a book I enjoy a lot! ...even though I can’t read a word of it.
it’s zounose from circle Yakumi Sarai (which as far as I know is a one person circle so basically its zounose’s ‘business name’)’s kamikamikami (< click for store page). I bought this sometime last year. It was in fact sometime last year where I really started going hard in on the impulse purchases, but when it comes to physical stuff like this, I don’t think I have any regrets?
It’s a comic featuring a simple but cool story. Probably. I’m pretty sure! I can’t read a word of japanese but... I feel like for this this story, i happened to be enough of a touhou nerd and enough of a mythology-related-to-touhou nerd that I got the grand gist of everything?
Said very general gist is that tewi is in trouble, she’s bedridden at the moriya shrine, and the eighty brothers from the the story of the hare of inaba are coming to get her. 💀(x80)
But even though tewi was apparently resigned to her fate, eirin is dedicated to helping her, and she gets help from the moriya crew, mostly kanako! And there’s a big action scene where they fight off the army and save the day. Perfect premise for a self-contained touhou summer movie 💥
zounose is one of my fav doujin artists though I’ll admit that’s not much coming from me because not only do I have a lot of ‘favs’, but all it really takes to be granted that title is that they had to have made more than one thing I’ve really liked! On top of me really wanting to own at least one book of theirs in my hand, I also was really drawn to this one in particular because honestly, off the top of my head I really can’t think of many stories that centers on Eirin, that wasn’t just her playing straightman or giving tough love to Kaguya and/or Reisen.
Plus its also rare to see Tewi in a role that’s not just being a prankster.
Though here’s tewi almost killing suwako for singing about frogs instead of rabbits.
Actually i do have a bit more understanding of some select scenes that I otherwise would have, because scans of this book were uploaded onto a p*rn site which were translated into chinese!
...i’m still too illiterate in my own mother tongue to have been able to read the chinese translations properly 😰 But it helped... It’s admittedly a kind of a little, or a Lot embarrassing for me to be so fond of something I can’t read.
I really really really like this scene of Eirin telling Tewi about how much of a debt she and Kaguya owe her for housing them, and pleading for Tewi to let Eirin help her with the whole eighty guys want to kill her problem, before Tewi refuses... 😢 But like, i’m only grasping the broad strokes of this and every other scene in the book! Right now, I can’t possibly appreciate the writing and passion put into this book as much as someone who actually knows the language is meant to. 😑
This is a barely related tangent at this point but now that it’s on my mind, there’s another book I own, hisona’s ‘drowning in nostalgia’ (< again, click for store page) or something to that effect that is really special to me...
it’s full of very evocative imagery and sorrowful expressions that really spoke to me (admittedly just slightly dampened because this artist has always had a bit of a sameface problem >_> ) and this whole doujin and its portrayal of Kutaka has become quite near to my heart over time... (u_u🐤i want be piyo the little chick who watches over her...)
...And I have no idea what a single word in it says!! I mean I have enough knowledge again of touhou and the related myths invoked in this story that i was able to infer, but if I tried going into detail,I’m sure I’d just greatly embarrass myself, acting so moved by a story i can’t possibly grasp the complete context of, and sounding like some weeb like from that troll comic who is only moved by images because they come from japan!! 💩💩 💩 (it’s actually because its touhou)
The truth is this whole train of thought with wanting to talk about kamikamikami was because i saw a lot of jpn twitter artists preparing doujins for reitaisai tomorrow, and wondering to myself if there’s really any point if me having these in my hands, ordering them when they’d definitely be more appreciated in the hands of people who can like, actually read the language. 🤔 ...well i mean, im happy to own them, and i’m supporting the creators with my purchases, so its probably still a net positive in the end. Just every now and then I feel a little silly as I look over them and start feeling emotional over dialogue that I’m just... assuming is heartfelt and wonderfully evocative n_n;;;;
#touhou#doujin#spider bread crumbs#im once again thinking of tagging all my posts for arbitrary organisation purpose.#im sure i will give up again within a week and change my mind many more times in the future
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The Young Lord's Dream
The R E: 8 DLC sure made me feel things, but the most coherent one was "wow that first section would be an incredibly thematic nightmare for my S/I" so I wrote a thing.
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I wake up in the deep dungeons, the cold smells of mould and old blood filling the air. After spending so many months of so many years in the place, I thought I knew every inch of Castle Dimitrescu, but these mazes of cells are alien to me.
Pulsating viscous black fluid crawls across the walls and I have sense enough to keep my distance, but what scares me is what I see in in the next darkened corridor.
The lady of the house is well known to collect beautiful young women and keep them long after they have been drained of humanity and blood. The black clad women in the cells are not amongst those maidens.
I recognise every pale, frightened face. I see it every day in the mirror.
They aren’t me, but they’re what I could have been. If I’d had the good manners to starve myself. If I hadn’t cut off my lovely blonde hair. If I hadn’t been so rude as to call myself a man and had accepted life as a beloved doll.
My lovers say they don’t mind that I can’t take the role of a man even as I refuse to be a woman. But everyone knows men aren’t welcome in House Dimitrescu. Alcina calls our dear Duke and myself exceptions. Her daughters call us their fathers. The whispering worm of doubt calls them all polite lies.
And here is proof that it was right, staring right back at me...
Screams pull me back to the present.
I don’t know when the cell doors opened, but now the girls are all around me, running in a panicked herd. Following slowly yet inexorably are ghouls born from the black tar-like pools. They are white as death and drink the very life from those they catch.
It takes several seconds before I realise I should run. There is no direction, no reason, no thought. A screaming face, water running across grey stone, barrels, grasping hands, a rusted lock which shatters with a kick. Everything is fleeting glimpses of sense in chaos.
It’s only by luck that I find the stairs. I hare into the kitchen and a new fear settles like lead in my stomach.
It was only yesterday that the girls dragged me in here to help them bake. The memory is bright and fragile, lying over the dark, dust covered room that can’t have seen human footfall in years.
I start running through the castle, shouting for anyone I can think of, from my beloved Alcina to poor Sofia who had to tidy up our mess after the fire got put out.
No one, just more empty room of dust and rubble and the hideous black slime.
And then I hear it. That laugh. I know it as well as my own heartbeat.
Not wasting any more of my breath shouting, I run up the staircase as fast as my aching legs and lungs will take me.
There’s light coming from under one of the doors. I throw it open and run towards the Duke, arms already outstretched.
I’m halfway across the room before I realise something is wrong. Beneath the porcelain mask his mouth is cruel. I can’t see his eyes, but his gaze still pins me to the spot.
“What’s this? A little rabbit delivering herself to me? My, what a surprise this is.”
This man is not my husband. He may wear the Duke’s face and voice, but that is all there is of him.
Here, I am no one’s husband. I am loved by no one. I’m just another girl to be played with and tossed away.
When the ghouls reach for me, I don’t even bother to fight.
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Daydream I had about Evan but the setting is Wonderland. But more like ‘Tim Burton’s’ version (I don’t like him as a person but I love his movies) anyways. Evan’s American Horror Story characters are the characters, Mr. Gallant maybe being the white rabbit going on about how late he is for his job as a hair stylist lol. Like he’s got these white rabbit ears and tail so cute, with his lil victorian outfit and pocket watch. I think Tate Langdon would be the Cheshire Cat. I kinda like Evan himself being the Mad Hatter top hat and all. Minus the goofy makeup Johnny Depp wore but same outfit maybe something a bit more AHS x AIW. I think him for Mad Hatter because he likes to laugh and have fun yknow? His hair was I believe closer to Rory’s ‘red’ (?) hair from AHS 6 but with his sweet natural curls 🥰🥰 Anyways it’s cute and Evan is definitely enjoying himself and the Hare being Austin Sommers the vampire dude from ‘Double Feature’ Evan was cracking jokes and just all smiles at the tea party with the long table and all. I was dressed as ‘Alice’ same pretty corset dress as Tim’s movie version. But mixed with Disney’s animated version the black headband, we all ate a bunch of sweets and other goodies. Evan got pretty playful too at one point I was sitting next to him and I got some frosting on my cheek and he licked it off lol. Not in a weird way but in a cute harmless way we even danced together and he’s such a good dancer it was very fun Ev was so gentle with me. He called me his ‘Silly petal’ because when I laughed flower petals would fall onto my hair from the blossom tress. We had some cute soft moments too like he told me “You seem a lot happier here I can see it in your eyes. I like it here too it’s perfect.” We’d nap and cuddle in giant flowers and he’d sing to me and rub my stomach if I had a tummy ache from too many sweets 🥹 it was so cute and silly. So magical I loved when he’d get sleepy when we cuddled because he’d rub his nose against mine to try and keep awake until I assured him to rest. Then I’d rest with him it was so 🥺🥺❤️🩹❤️🩹 not gonna lie I kinda would love to see Evan playing a version of the Mad Hatter in something. A cute, fun role just silly and sweet 🥰🥰
thank you anon <3 you described it very cutely! it would be fun to see evan in a whimsical role like that.
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First, love this blog, and I love Batfamily Emerald a lot more than I thought I would, second what dose Emerald's think with some other batman characters, like Kate Kane, Duke Thomas, Catwomen, Harely Quinn, Taila Al Ghul (The one who's like The batman animated show Taila, not the one who doesn't ask for cosent, yes I'm bitter at the writers), and Alfread? (Sorry if this was worded bad or something)
Well thank you very much for the compliment! I have a lot of fun working on it, and I like these ideas for further expansion on the mythos. Unfortunately my knowledge on some of these characters is a touch limited so you may not get quite the characterizations you expected...
Batwoman: Seeing as the world of Remnant seems to show no real signs of homophobia, let's take a slight liberty and say the Waynes and Kanes have some bat Faunus heritage on Martha's side of the family. (Yes, that means I'm agreeing with the JL/RWBY comic) Kate was kicked out of the Atlas military when her traits were outed, but she holds no shame in who she is. We'll get into Emerald's icons in her old life, but a badass like Batwoman is certainly someone she aspires to be like as a part of the Batfamily. She may be Bruce's kid now, but Kate is the one to give her pointers on how to play the rich girl act for hoity toity social events. Emerald once offered to try and depict Kate's deceased sister with her semblance, to give Kate a chance to say goodbye and get some closure, but Kate said she's "not ready to dive down that rabbit hole just yet..." Likewise, Kate offered to put Em in touch with a good wig maker for her cowl, but Em thought it might look tacky on her.
Signal: Emerald would definitely feel some amount of relief seeing another hero of color is part of the Batfamily, and she and Duke would bond over their street-wise lifestyles before meeting Bruce. Much like Barbara's story of the world's worst knock knock joke, hearing what happened to Duke's parents made Em all the more terrified of having to ever face the Joker. She has teased him for his powers, which in this world may as well just be his Semblance, basically being "a psychic lightbulb", but over time she's learned just impressive his powers really are.
Catwoman: If she had stayed a thief on the streets, Selina would have been her idol and role model. As a Batgirl, Emerald instead delights in every chance she gets to cross paths with the feline felon who feels like she could be the mom she never had. She sees the way Selina flirts with Batman, and she is absolutely here for it. She can also tell Bruce likes Selina too, and will not hesitate to rib him about it and say they should get together. He gives the same standard response about the mission coming before relationships, and the trust required being beyond what he can allow, but she still ships it. The two ladies have interacted solo as well, and get along pretty well, comparing weapons and pickpocketing feats. When Selina finds out what kind of Semblance Em has she is all the more curious, but Em has to stick to her principles and say the thieving days are behind her. She's only half honest about that, but it would feel like a betrayal of Bruce's trust to take Catwoman up on a partnership.
Harley: Harley definitely has wine aunt energy. She doesn't encounter Emerald much, but when she does her personality makes it like hanging out with another teenager. She brings gifts or surprises sometimes, but usually it's something unusual or useless she swiped at random. Emerald was initially really worried when she heard this was the Joker's girlfriend, but it's a great relief to hear that they're "Splitsville, sweetie~" Harley encourages Batman for bringing more girl power onto his team, and compliments her on her outfit. Hearing first hand experiences of what a dumb bastard clown Joker is definitely helps soothe Em's fears of him. Harleen has at one point tried to psychoanalyze this new bat-brat, and gotten pretty damn close, even pointing out some insecurities and problems Em didn't even realize she had.
Talia al Ghul: Emerald first heard her name in passing, in the context of being Damian's mother. Digging deeper into that story leaves her with a whole heap of questions. The idea of Bruce getting so caught up in a relationship with a woman, short lived as the honeymoon phase may have been, that he sired a child was already a hard pill to swallow. The fact that the woman was the next in line for leadership of an ancient assassin group was even crazier. Still, she could see why Bats had taken a liking to her, and where Damian got some of his quirks. Em doesn't fully trust her, especially with Damian himself a bit wary of his mother's behaviors, but she at least gets a kick out of her mysterious attitude.
Alfred: It took Em a while to get used to having someone around who would attend on her and take care of her in such a way. His wry wit did a lot to help her warm up to him, as did his uncanny ability to know when she needed a nice drink or a warm meal. She likes coming to him to ask about Bruce's childhood, and any funny stories he might have about the Robins, but it is from him she also learns the tragedy of the Waynes. the Graysons, and those dark days after the loss of Jason. Em tries not to leave her bedroom too much of a mess in order to make Alfred's work that much easier, but he assures her he will not mind the collateral of her living her life at ease. Because he has known Wayne Manor and its inhabitants for so long, he's another person Em can never fool with her illusions.
#batgirl emerald au#emerald sustrai#kate kane#batwoman#duke thomas#the signal#selina kyle#catwoman#harley quinn#talia al ghul#alfred pennyworth#mod yellow
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Two of Coins. Art by Celeste Pille, from The American Renaissance Tarot.
“The Two of Coins for The American Renaissance Tarot. Here we’ve used the pain on William Wells Brown’s face to dramatic contrast with the happy-go-lucky role he was made to play as a slave. The hare represents the Yoruba trickster character that got translated to “Brer Rabbit” in the United States.” — Thea Wirsching
“The Two of Coins depicts a particularly painful section of Brown’s story, where he talks about how, as a slave, he was ordered to assist a slave-trader in setting the slaves to dancing and music-making so that they would sell for more on the auction block. I think our artist has captured the bitter poignancy of the scene - Brown, dressed in the offensive Jim Crow minstrel costume, shows his turmoil in his face. The gray background and menacing hare, symbol of the African trickster figure, contribute to the ominous feel. This card is our ode to the idea of 'double consciousness' coined by W.E.B. DuBois.“ — Thea Wirsching
#Celeste Pille#The American Renaissance Tarot#Two of Coins#Two#Coins#Minor Arcana#Tarot#Literature#William Wells Brown#Brer Rabbit#Jim Crow#African American#Racial Diversity
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NRC!AU Allen Liddel Headcanons:
A 2nd year in Heartslabyul and there’s not much difference from his actual personality.
The only thing that’s different is that Riddle has a migraine now that Allen is stuck with him for the rest of his school life.
Although he’s a pain in Riddle’s neck, he has an odd talent for brewing tea and making cake sculptures. He and trey are often seen in the kitchen.
Also does a lot of BiG BrAiN sh*t, once tried to paint the roses red by using a hose attached to a large tank of paint. Where he got the tank from nobody knows but thankfully Cater managed to talk him out of it before he literally paints the dorm red. Riddle meant red roses NOT red everything.
He has Tock wander around the dorm and whenever they hold a tea party, that sneaky hare is always sitting next to him with a cookie jar in his paws.
Meeting the first years:
This was after the overblot incident because Allen is always roaming about but for some reason they can’t seem to find him when they want to find him.
Meeting Ace and Deuce was interesting to say the least, when Yuu was chasing Grimm because Grimm was chasing a white hare obviously Ace and Deuce unintentionally blocked it’s path.
They wondered why a hare would be here, noticing a name tag on it’s collar they assume it’s from one of their upperclassmen from Heartslabyul so they go there to try and return it.
Cater: If it isn’t the first years again~! Hmm? Isn’t that Allen’s pet? Why do you have it?
Deuce: So, you know this ‘Allen’ guy? We came to return this to him...
Grimm: Darn animal stole my biscuit!
Ace: Aren’t you an animal tho?
Grimm: Fnyaa! shut up!
Allen was right around the corner and the hare thrashes about making Deuce lose his grip and it runs off. They run after it only to bump into Allen.
At first, they think he’s just an ordinary student but after overhearing that Riddle has a bit of a problem with Allen they obviously want to know more about this upperclassmen of theirs.
Ace and Allen become prank buddies, always getting into trouble and being a general nuisance. Ace even tags along when Allen uses his unique magic to make a shortcut to the school.
Deuce would tag along too if he wasn’t so slow in getting dressed sometimes.
Allen in Chapter 1:
He plays on the role of the white rabbit who lures “Alice”, in this case, Yuu and the A-Deuce duo.
He’s just out of the corner of their eye and whenever they follow him, they always bump into someone else.
Ace and Deuce plan on asking Allen about how to get the collar off when they are lead to Cater who explains about a rule to “return what you stole”. Cater recommends either Trey or Allen since both are good at culinary, though he recommends they talk to Allen first since Trey is the vice-dorm leader and might be too busy.
They spot Allen again and following Cater’s advice they try their best to follow him but bump into Trey who sent them on a fetch quest for chestnuts to make an apology tart.
They follow Allen again but only to encounter Chen’ya instead.
Chen’ya: You want to know if I saw a student walking by? Purrhaps I have but you can only find him when you stop looking, fufufufu~
Everyone: *Confused af*
They don’t get to talk at all until during the Heartslabyul tea party where Riddle goes off on Ace for bringing a tart. Before they got kicked out, Grimm managed to at least get a hold of a biscuit before Cater and Trey threw them out.
He was about to eat it until a shadow snatched it. Grimm is frustrated and swears revenge on the fiend who took his biscuit! The others didn’t see Tock since they were busy talking amongst themselves.
It was in the afternoon that Grimm recognizes the hare who stole his treat and he makes a dash for him threatening to burn his hide for stealing his precious biscuit! Yuu chases him afterwards and that’s where they will finally meet and be introduced to Allen.
Allen doesn’t do much in the story except to lead them to the other characters.
#phnx#dca#diamond crown academy#twst#twisted wonderland#twst oc#twisted wonderland oc#dca headcanon#headcanons#allison liddel#NRC!AU#riddle rosehearts#ace trappola#chen'ya#deuce spade#trey clover#cater diamond
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Camp AG, day 10: Caring for Wildlife
Yesterday at Camp American Girl, the campers were thrilled to know that they’d be visiting the office of a local veterinarian who specializes in care for wild animals. The girls get to watch and help the vet handle sick and injured wildlife--mammals, birds, and even the occasional reptile! Getting to know the local animals is an important part of planning and building a national park, as the girls are doing here at summer camp.
When humans develop land, they inevitably have to displace or disturb some animal life. It may only be small rodents or birds, but there’s no way to have zero impact on animals. But the damage can be minimized by understanding the ways that wildlife occupy a space, and how to make sure that the delicate balance between all living things is not severely harmed.
The best way for the girls to get to know the animals and understand their needs, is to get up close to them and understand the biggest challenges they face when humans move in close by.
Sierra listens to this little jackrabbit’s heart and lungs with a stethoscope. Jackrabbits are not rabbits but are hares, who differ from rabbits in several ways. This rabbit may have gotten sick from eating plants sprayed by pesticides, but with the right care he’ll recover and will be ready to be released into the wild.
Hana gets to syringe-feed an antibiotic to a sweet little fawn. Her mother was shot by poachers, who were quickly caught and arrested.
Hunting is legal in some months and in some places, and does keep the deer population from getting too big and eating too much of the forest. Overpopulation of deer is a consequence of killing off all the native wolves in this area. Wolves were killed to protect cattle and sheep herds who were brought in by settlers to graze on the lands. As we often realize, everything is connected. Remove one piece and the whole circle begins to collapse.
Antonia tries her hand at wrapping a bandage around the back paw of a black bear cub. The cub was hit by a car and left at the side of the road. The person that found the cub never saw a mama bear around, so this cub is likely orphaned.
This is another reminder to the girls that it’s important not to let bears gain access to human food. Not only can the food make them sick, but the bears learn to associate humans with food, and they will become bold enough to seek out human habitats. Bears in search of human foods will more often live near human settlements, and thus cross roads more frequently, giving them more opportunities to be hit by cars.
Black bears, like this cub, are usually quite shy and aren’t very dangerous to humans, unless they’re defending their babies. A loud confrontation is often sufficient to chase them away. Grizzly bears, on the other hand, are much more dangerous to humans and will aggressively defend themselves if they feel threatened.
The bear got an x-ray of her paw, which shows a small fracture that will heal quickly.
After the vet, the girls all gathered at the local fish hatchery to meet some more animals!
Fish hatcheries exist for the purpose of raising fish. Some of the fish go to lakes and rivers for recreational fishing. Others play a crucial role in bringing back native species to the waters where they used to thrive in abundance. Many of them went extinct in their native habitats after being over-fished by humans or by being poisoned by water pollution or killed by acid rain. And when a member of an ecosystem disappears suddenly, it can have disastrous results, as the girls learned when tending to the baby deer. Carefully restoring those species back to their habitats is one way to begin helping the land and water to heal.
Hatcheries can be operated on the local level by the state, or by the US Fish & Wildlife Service. A lot of them are open to visitors, and a few sometimes have ponds specially set aside for visitors to buy pellets and feed the fish!
Visiting a fish hatchery is a fun way to see the process and life cycle of the fish there. They are born, raised, and fed in these large tanks. Then once they’re grown, they’ll be ready to move on to local waterways.
Lots of different species of fish are raised in hatcheries. Around here, trout is the most common species for stocking lakes and rivers.
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So Tuesday I got to be a player this time and we started to try out the Humblewood Campaign, which for those of you who don’t know is a super adorable campaign setting with 10 new races based on woodland creatures.
Anyway, I played as a Jerbeen, which are traditionally Jerboas, but it’s stated in the book that Rabbits and Hares are also suited to this race. So I made him a bunny. Jerbeen have high Dexterity so naturally I picked Rogue as my class. (for those who don’t know, Rogues are essentially sneaky thievey types) My boyfriend suggested the perfect name to annoy our DM with. So we lay in wait.
We sit at the table ready, the campaign begins, my character’s a hermit who’s only just heard commotion in his small village, so he follows the party when the adventure is decided. Up until this point I haven’t said my characters name yet. Then the role playing side came, and I proudly announced;
“My name’s Mugz. Mugz Bunny.”
.....
I left the session with 2Hp remaining.
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GWCFT Part 3
Get ready to run some errands! Hatter and Hare get their steps in on this update as they run around Wonderland getting ready for June to arrive. Hare continues to have a nervous breakdown and Hatter can’t help but be an adorable pain in the ass.
xposted on ao3 and FF.net
Part 3:
A few hours later, Hatter pushed the bedroom door open with his elbow, a tray in his hands. Hare stirred, groaning as he flopped around in bed, tangled up in his sheets.
The tall man entered the room and crept to Hare's side of the bed, placing the tray on the bedside table as he took a seat. Reaching a gloved hand out, he touched Hare's shoulder and shook it softly. "Hare… Hare, it's time to get up." Hatter's palms itched as he sat there, forcing himself to remain calm. His instincts were making him want to body slam down on the bed and squeeze Hare till he woke up.
Feeling the touch on his shoulder, Hare opened his brown eyes slowly, looking around with blurry vision. "What time is it?" he muttered, voice dry from sleeping with his mouth open. He flipped over onto his back and sat up, reaching out for his glasses. His hand clanked against a teapot, two cups with saucers and a plate of reheated breakfast rolls.
"Might be a little past breakfast, but it isn't too late for lunch," Hatter said with a smile, reaching out and nabbing the glasses from the table, handing them to Hare.
"How long have I been asleep?" Hare yawned, pushing his glasses up onto his nose. His hair was frazzed out (more than usual) and he still looked tired, but he was at least coherent. It seemed the caffeine had worked through his system too.
"Only a couple hours, nothing to worry about," Hatter soothed him, filling one of the cups with hot tea and passing it to his friend after adding some sugar and lemon.
Hare gave him an uneasy glance and took the cup, sniffing it before taking a sip. "Camomile…" he smiled, taking a larger swig.
Hatter waited till the cup was mostly empty before speaking again. "I put everything away out there and did one final check of the house, it's all in order. You don't have to worry about cleaning anything else today."
Hare moved to protest, but Hatter gave him a 'you'd-better-not' look, so he sat still, finishing up the tea before helping himself to more.
"I also took the liberty of airing the place out and watering your garden," Hatter beamed, very proud of himself in taking charge. He had omitted the fact that he had found an old diary of Hare's and read it while laying the wrong way on his sofa.
"Thank you," Hare replied, stirring more sugar into his cup. "You've been a busy Hatter this morning."
"Anything for you, old buddy," Hatter shrugged, brushing some imaginary lint off his sleeve before also helping himself to some tea. "Now all we need to do is get you showered and packed and we'll go back to the Hat house for a day of relaxation."
Hare snorted and choked on his tea, trying not to spill any of it as he placed his cup back on the tray. "Go to the Hat house? But I've still got things to do here! I haven't cleaned out the fridge or the basement and-"
Hatter shook his head and put a finger to the Hare's lips to shush him, giving him a stern look. "Your mother won't look in the fridge and we'll lock the basement door so she won't go into it."
"But-" Hare started, Hatter's finger still against his front teeth as he tried to speak.
"Hare, your house is clean and, to be frank, I don't trust you on your own anymore after that stunt you pulled last night."
Hare crossed his arms in an imitation of Rabbit and leaned back against his headboard. "I hate it when you try to be Frank… I prefer when you act like John if you can't be the Hatter."
Hatter rolled his eyes and scooted closer to the Hare, offering him a breakfast roll as a peace offering. "Yes, well, I can't be John all the time."
Hare took the roll and nibbled at it, only realizing how hungry he was after he gobbled it down.
"Anyway," Hatter waved a hand. "We'll get you showered and pack you a bag and you'll stay at my place till your Mother shows up. That way I can keep an eye on you and we can finish all the party planning. And you can figure out what you'd like to do for the magic act."
"Oh, right… that," Hare said, losing his appetite again as he placed his third roll back on the plate, half eaten. In the hustle and bustle of last night, he had forgotten that he'd agreed to the talent show and a magic act for his mother.
"I've already asked everyone and they've all agreed to perform," Hatter announced. "Well, I've spoken to everybody but Alice, but I don't think she should be a problem. She always likes to have fun with us no matter what we're doing."
"Too late to back out now, huh?" Hare said aloud, more to himself than anybody else.
"Now don't be a killjoy," Hatter said, patting Hare on the knee before getting to his feet. "I'll start getting these dishes done, why don't you go take a shower? You smell like dish soap and Pine-sol."
Hatter left Hare to himself, who pouted a little and sat alone in his room for a few minutes, listening to him the kitchen. He sat there till he heard a crash and then a soft "damn" from a husky voice, making him shake his head.
"Oh gawwwwd…" Hare rubbed his eyes and caught a whiff of himself, deciding that he did need a shower after all.
--
"Don't forget your magic trunk too!" Hatter said, laying across the bed with his feet up in the air, a Rubik's cube in his hands as Hare packed his duffel bag.
"Already got it," Hare said absently, folding up another yellow shirt and placing it neatly in his bag. He only needed a couple days worth of clothes, but he was packing more than he needed because he never knew when he'd need to change at the Hat house. They usually got up to some mischief that ended in someone getting filthy and the idea of having to do laundry wasn't overly appealing. "Maybe I should just do my juggling act… or play my tuba. I don't know if magic is such a good idea."
"Naw, your Mom has seen you do those things," Hatter said, tossing the Rubik's cube onto the floor in frustration. He'd managed to get three sides done, but the last three were proving to be more difficult. "Or fit those into your magic act."
The Hatter seemed stuck on seeing some magic performed by the Amazing Hair-raising Hare, so he supposed that's what he'd have to do. Scrunching up his face, he opened his magic trunk and threw his bowling pins, juggling balls and tuba inside.
"Where'd those doves go?" Hatter asked, leaning over and peeking into the trunk. He reached an arm in and swatted around blindly, fingers brushing against objects in the darkness. Hare shook his head and was about to say how there weren't any birds inside when four more flew out. "Aw, nuts… sorry."
"It's okay, I'll get more…" Hare muttered in astonishment, taking another look deep into the trunk.
"Well…" Hatter said loudly, pushing himself up off the bed and onto his feet, planting the landing like a gold medal gymnast. "Anything else or are we ready to go?"
"Uh, I don't think so. I'm ready."
"Righty roo," Hatter said, linking his arm with the Hare and leading him through the house and out the front door.
--
The rest of the day was one of forced relaxation. Hatter took Hare back to the Hat house and insisted that they do nothing the entire rest of the day. They'd bring in dinner and watch television or read comics and just laze around. They had spent the past few days doing nothing but cleaning, they deserved a little time to not do anything. There were a few times when Hatter caught Hare straightening up and whatever he was doing was taken out of his mits and he was forced to return to the sofa and watch another television show. By the 4th episode of Dodo's Do The Strangest Things, he thought he'd go crazy.
Of course, they did have their usual tea party at 4 o'clock, that was non negotiable. Alice and the Tweedles decided to join them and after the tea party they threw a softball around the tea table and spoke about nothing in particular, which was nice.
June's visit was specifically not mentioned, for fear that it would aggravate Hare. Therefore, Hatter made a special effort to squash any mention of her, in the most exaggerated fashion, of course. Hare thought he was overreacting, but also secretly appreciated it. Truth was, he was really tired from the past few days of hard labor. He had overdone it and did need a break. So, while he pouted and huffed and puffed about everything, he was hiding how much he enjoyed being doted on.
They brought in Chinese food for dinner (with oolong tea and miso soup) and ate it with chopsticks. They fought over who would get which fortune cookie and made fun of what the paper slips said inside. More tea was brewed, they watched Some Like it Hot and argued over who would make a more attractive woman if they were in the starring roles of the film.
"No, I would," Hatter argued, pulling his pajama pants leg up and resting his bare limb onto the low coffee table. "Look at these gams! They go on for miles!"
"No no no no," Hare shook his head and wagged his finger a little. "You may have the legs, but I have much more vavoom in the rear end department."
"How true that is," Hatter said, wiggling his eyebrows provocatively after craning his neck back and taking a look, causing Hare to laugh out loud and throw popcorn at him.
When they finally made their way to bed late into the evening, Hare couldn't wipe the smile from his face. After all the work and trouble he had put Hatter through, this was the day he didn't know they'd needed. He had almost completely forgotten about his mother coming and the talent show that he still had to plan for. Everything felt like it had returned to normal.
He cuddled into the Hatter and smiled very contentedly as they fell asleep wrapped up in one another.
--
The next morning Hare decided it would be a good idea for him to go for a jog to clear his head and get his focus back. He was honestly thinking of signing up for the Wonderland 5K and he thought that maybe going for a bit of a run would do him some good. It would be good to dust off his running shoes and see if he still had it in him.
He raided the attic, making sure to leave the room just as clean as when he had found it. Honestly, he was surprised that the Hatter had avoided the room as well as he had been. The place was still pretty spick and span, even a few days after cleaning. After a little bit of digging, he found one of his yellow sweatsuits and a pair of running shoes in a trunk.
Hatter was in the kitchen rummaging around for a clean kettle to start brewing the morning tea when Hare appeared in his jogging suit.
"Oh…" Hatter gave him a once over with some interest. "Going for a run, huh?"
"Yeah, I thought it'd be a good idea. Help me clear my head." Hare said in the most nonchalant way he knew how, taking a seat at the kitchen table to lace up his sneakers.
"You want me to come with?" The lack of enthusiasm was noted in Hatter's voice, it sounded like he'd almost rather wash all the dishes he had in his house than go for a run.
"No, you don't have to," he replied, wiping a scuff off his sneaker before leaning back into his chair a little. "It'll just be quick, only a couple miles. I'll be back in fifteen minutes, tops."
"Okay…" Hatter drawled, filling up the kettle and setting it on the stove, clicking the burner on underneath it. "I'll have breakfast ready for you when you get back. Anything sound scrummy to you? I think I have some eggs in the ice box."
"Eggs would be nice," he agreed, getting to his feet and lifting onto his toes to give Hatter a smooch on the cheek. "Time me?"
"I'll, uh... count the seconds," Hatter said, altering his voice and trying to sound as gushy as possible.
Hare rolled his eyes and made his way through the OUT door. He paused at the stone gate, using it to prop his leg up as he stretched a bit, planning his route for the morning. He'd start around the Hat house, through the forest to the Palace, maybe see if Caterpillar was around…
After stretching, he bounced on his feet a little, trying to warm up some before taking off at a smooth pace.
He tried to keep his head as clear as possible as he ran, attempting to take in the scenery. It was too early for him to really run into anybody, but he could sense the signs of life within the various dwellings he passed. He could hear the music coming from the Tweedles house, knowing they were probably up and doing their morning dance routines. He could smell breakfast being cooked when he passed the palace, the scent of bacon and waffles making him want to stop and reach his hand in through the kitchen window to grab some.
"Wouldn't Rabbit be surprised?" he thought to himself with a laugh.
He made sure to weave his way through the Caterpillar's mushroom forest, hoping that he wasn't too early to catch him awake. He was lucky today. The large insect was already up, packing books into a fabric bag to be returned to the library. It seemed he was on his way out.
"Good morning, Caterpillar!" Hare huffed as he jogged up, slowing down a little upon approach.
"Ah, Mr Hare. Good morning. Out for a morning run, I see." The Caterpillar was only marginally interested, which was usual.
Hare nodded and bounced around in place to keep his heart rate up, having worked up a sweat from his trek through the forest. The Caterpillar glanced at him silently, just the look of this bounding bunny making his bulky form feel tired.
"Can I help you?" Caterpillar finally asked, after a long awkward pause.
"Oh, right," Hare stopped hopping around, taking a seat on a large mushroom. "I was wondering if I could talk to you about something if you aren't busy. I need your help."
"I'm always busy, I have many things that I do that get no attention whatsoever," the six armed insect said, waving all of his right hands at the wrist at once. "But let's see what I can do for you. What's on your mind?"
"Well, as you know my Mother is coming to visit and I'm worried about impressing her. She expects me to be perfect and I just don't think I can deliver. I'm afraid she won't like my lifestyle choices."
"Well, you do live an… alternative lifestyle," Caterpillar droned, emphasizing the word alternative. "But everything you've said in the past about your mother has always been quite positive. What makes you think she won't approve of what you do?"
"Well, she expects me to be perfect all the time," he replied with a shrug. "I don't want to disappoint her."
"Do you think that maybe your mother doesn't expect you to be perfect, but believes that you are in fact perfect as you are?"
Hare paused and laughed at this notion, shaking his head. "If only that were the case!" he explained from his spot upon the mushroom. "She's always pushing me to do more, not to back down… and I'm afraid that I'll mess up and she won't be proud of me."
"Hmm. I see…" the Caterpillar put a gloved finger to his lips, nodding. "This does seem to be a tricky situation for you."
"You wouldn't happen to have a story to tell me, would you?" Hare asked reaching out and peeking into the bag of books the second pair of hands were holding, only to be slapped away.
"No, I'm afraid I don't…" he replied. "But I do have some words of wisdom that may help you."
Hare sat up at attention, listening eagerly.
"A wise man once said, 'A mother's love endures through all'," the Caterpillar said, waiving a finger around in the air as he spoke to punctuate his point. "I think you should be yourself, let your mother see the real you and let her love you for it. Because, after all, you are the only person who can be you."
Hare's shoulders drooped in disappointment, though he tried to hide it. He had wanted a different answer. "So, you're saying that I'm worrying for nothing."
"Precisely," Caterpillar said with a smile.
Hare huffed a little and stood up, brushing himself off as he thought to himself. "Thanks for the help, Caterpillar. I'll have to think about it some more."
Caterpillar watched Hare jog off through the mushroom forest, disappearing behind a tall purple fungi before speaking aloud to himself. "I pray for that woman and what she might experience in that house."
--
"25:40!" said a voice as Hare stumbled into the Hat house, sweaty and a little out of breath.
"What?" Hare asked, his glasses a little foggy as he looked around the room, trying to find the source of the voice.
"You're time," Hatter said, checking his pocket watch again with a nod. "Yup… 25:40."
"Man, I'm out of shape…"
"I think you're the perfect shape," Hatter said aloud with a smile.
Hare chortled and waved a hand at the Hatter, stumbling his way to the kitchen table and taking a seat. Hatter might have seen a blush on his partner's cheeks, if he wasn't already flushed from running. "I stopped and spoke to the Caterpillar for a little," Hare explained, wiping his glasses on his sweater before replacing them.
"Did he tell you a story? Please share," he said with a smile, dishing up an egg and tomato omelet, bacon and hash browns onto a plate for the Hare and sliding it his way.
"No, not a story. Just some crummy advice."
"Well, that's no fun," Hatter pouted. "What's the fun of visiting the Caterpillar if you don't get a good story out of it?"
Hare shrugged and tucked into his meal, partaking in some toast and strawberry jam with it. He'd asked for some coffee, but was firmly denied any, and settled on Raspberry tea with sugar.
--
Later that day, the pair were outside at the tea table enjoying the nice spring weather. Hatter had his guitar on his knee and was tuning it, strumming the strings and adjusting the tuning keys as he worked. Hare had his magic trunk out and open, its contents spilling onto the table. He had his EZ Magic Tricks book open and was reading through it, trying to find just the right illusions to add to his act. His nerves were getting frayed again and he was starting to feel overwhelmed.
Hatter noticed this and rested his hand on the guitar, watching Hare flip through the same five pages of the magic book. "You know…" he started, making him jump a little at the sudden sound of his voice. "I can help you choose, if you want help."
Hare wanted to resist the help, but accepted it. Hatter laid the guitar down on the table and scooted over, pushing cups and plates to the floor to make room for himself. He laid on his side so he could look through the book from the same direction as the Hare.
They flipped through the pages, looking at all the Ez detailed images. "Rings would be a nice touch…" Hatter pointed out.
Hare nodded. "And I've practiced the cuff trick. I can try that one again."
"Your mother hasn't seen that one, I guess it'll be alright… you need a big finisher," Hatter said, rotating the book a little more toward him and scanning through the pages quickly. Hare sat back a little, watching Hatter zoom through the book before stopping. "Eureka!"
"My what?" Hare asked in surprise, gazing down at the book.
"This is the one, Hare! Your big finisher." Hatter pointed a finger into the book and tilted it toward him, giving him a good look.
"Oh, Hatter…" he grimaced. "I, uh… I mean…"
"Come on, Hare! It'll be amazing! Can you imagine the look on your mother's face when she sees you pull that trick off!?"
Hare took the book in his hands and looked down at the instructions, scratching his head a little as he read. The trick seemed complicated… and they'd need to build some things in order to do it.
"You sure this belongs in the Ez book?" he muttered to himself.
Gazing up, he saw the excitement in Hatter's eyes and couldn't find it in his heart to disappoint him.
"Okay…" Hare breathed. "What have I got to lose?"
"That's the ticket!" Hatter celebrated, kicking his feet out a little and sending dishware to the ground with a smash.
"The book says we'll need a plant…" Hare rubbed his chin in contemplation. "You think I should pick one from my garden? I have a beautiful bluebell plant that is just about to bloom that might work."
Hatter pursed his lips and leaned back over, looking down at the book again with a furrowed brow. "No, not a plant like a flower! A plant like a helper. Someone in the audience who can help you who knows how the trick works. See?" He pointed to an illustration in the book with a gloved finger.
"Oh, right, I knew that," Hare chuckled nervously, reading the specifications of the type of 'volunteer' he'd need. "I bet I could get Alice to do it."
"She'll probably be around for tonight's tea party. You can talk to her about it then!"
Hare felt a little better about it, he knew he could trust Alice to be able to perform. He'd just have to worry about all the things he needed to do to get the trick to work out right. Flipping to the appendix, he started pulling diagrams and plans out of a hidden compartment in the back of the book, laying them out on the table to read over them. The strumming of the guitar started up again as Hatter began to play.
--
"We need to pick up the dry cleaning," Hare said as they got off the Wonderland bus the next day. "I dropped some things off for us earlier this week and I'm sure they're ready by now."
"Oh, well that's nice…" Hatter smiled, holding onto Hare's hand as they walked. "Where else are we going on our little trip into the city?"
"Just the Market. Alice said she'd be by early today to help with practice so we don't really have time to mess around." Hare was looking down at his grocery list in his free hand, making mental notes as they walked.
Hatter pouted, glancing around at all the shops he'd have liked to wander through. He stopped to peer in the window of some thrift shop and looked into it longingly, holding Hare back a little. "But I love messing around…"
Hare laughed and shook his head, pulling Hatter along to the Market. They walked in through the automatic doors and grabbed a shopping cart, pausing a moment by the self-serve Olive bar as Hare flipped through his grocery list.
"Don't forget, we need to get the usual stuff too," Hatter said, leaning on the cart with his feet up on the bar of the bottom basket. He watched Hare start to walk away before calling out. "Hare! Pull me!"
Hare looked up at him, a little annoyed already, but rolled his eyes and returned. "Fine, but only if you pull me later…" he griped, grabbing the front of the shopping cart and tugging it along behind him.
They made their way down the various aisles, grabbing the things they needed and tossing them into the bin. Hatter got caught up in the jam isle, trying to decide if he wanted to get more lemon marmalade or orange rhubarb jam for the table.
"Hare, you should learn to make jams and jellies and things…" Hatter said aloud, taking the orange rhubarb and placing it in the cart. "I bet you'd be good at it."
"I used to make wild berry jam with my Mom from the berries we had in our garden when I was young," Hare shrugged from inside the shopping cart, checking off items from his list. He was laying in the big basket and had his legs scrunched up, his feet hanging over the side as Hatter pushed him. "I can teach you sometime."
Hatter agreed. "That sounds pretty fun! Let's schedule that for three weeks from Wednesday."
"Noted!" Hare said, jotting it down in his calendar.
They continued to shop, making their way to the produce section when a tall white bunny came into view. Hatter and Hare stopped, glanced at each other with wicked grins on their faces, and made their way to him. They snuck up behind him as he was sniffing some carrots, looking very hungry.
"Nice day, Rabbit," Hatter said loudly from Rabbit's right, causing him to jump a little, almost losing his balance on his skates. He had dropped all the veggies he had in his hands though, sending them scattering on the floor. His brow was furrowed as he looked to the source of his freight, his shoulders dropping a little.
"What are you two doing here?" Rabbit said, flustered. He looked like he had already had a very long day and the last thing he wanted to deal with were these two dingle-berries
"Why, shopping of course!" Hare chuckled from the basket of the cart, struggling to pull his body out of it. He flopped around a little, cans and groceries falling in on him and keeping him in place. He eventually gave up and reached his arms out to Hatter, giving a small whimper.
"The Queen busting your balls today, Rabbit?" Hatter asked as he lifted the Hare out of the cart, helping him to his feet.
"No more than usual-" Rabbit started, but stopped himself and shook his head a little. "Why are you two bothering me? Don't you have things to be doing right now? Hare, isn't your mother coming tomorrow?"
"Oh, Rabbit, can't we come say hello to you when we run into you in public?" Hare asked, a goofy smile on his face as he put one hand on his hip, the other on Rabbit's shoulder. Rabbit grimaced and lifted the yellow hand from his body, looking at it like he didn't want to know where it had been.
'It's almost like you're ashamed to know us…" Hatter remarked, shaking his head.
"I'm on a time crunch and I don't have time to mess around. The Queen is expecting a full spread for dinner tonight and she wants me to give her a mani pedi while she watches The Bachelor tonight. And that's on top of everything else I have going on." Rabbit had stooped down and picked up the produce he dropped on the ground, placing them in a hand basket as he spoke. He was picking up an onion and placing it in his basket when Hatter pounced on him.
"What a coincidence! We're on a time crunch too!" He had a bright smile on his face as he wrapped an arm around Rabbit's shoulder, pulling him in close and almost off the ground. "How about we shop together and help each other out? It'll save time and be much more efficient."
"I can help you pick out some produce!" Hare offered, reaching out to the apples with an eager hand. "I'm good at picking out the fresh ones."
Rabbit's face puckered and he shook his head, remembering the last time he'd taken them with him to the grocery store. "No… I believe I can manage. Thank you~."
"Well, don't say we never tried to do anything for ya," Hatter said indignantly, a fake pout on his face.
Rabbit dusted himself off and shook a little, maybe to vent some frustration. "Now, if you don't mind-" he started, only to be stopped by Hatter again.
"So, did you think about the talent show at all? What are you going to do for your act?"
Rabbit put a hand to his temples, just wanting to get along with his day and away from this duo's shenanigans. "I told you already, I am far too busy to participate in something as trivial as a talent show. Unlike the two of you, I must work for a living. And the Queen is a very demanding woman."
"Oh, come on Rabbit! Don't be a spoiled sport." Hatter said, scrunching up his lips in mock disappointment. "Everyone else will be doing an act. You'll be left out if you don't do something."
"Yeah, and my Mom will be there," Hare added. "Wouldn't you like to show off a little for her? Maybe you'll get lucky. She's single..." he jabbed Rabbit in the ribs jokingly, giving him a playful wink.
The Rabbit grimaced and glanced at the Hare with what would almost be described as a look of complete disgust. The last thing he would ever want to do, would be to 'get' with anyone that this thing came out of.
"Even the Caterpillar is participating," Hatter added, looking in the Rabbit's basket and removing the carrots and some other vegetables, putting them back on the shelf unnoticed. "You'll be sorry…"
The Rabbit just wanted to be out of this duo's company "Alright!" he snapped, causing both Hatter and Hare to look at him with alarm. "I'll think about it, are you happy!? My carrots! All…" he looked down into his basket, noticing that it was half empty. "My carrots? Where are my carrots? And my celery? And the jicama?" His attention had been taken away from the pair and he was now looking around the produce department for his lost veggies.
"Oh, and now we're being ignored! Real mature, Rabbit! We can take a hint!" Hatter said, waving his hands in the air. "Come on, Hare. We have more shopping to do anyway." He then took hold of the handle of the shopping cart and stood on the bottom basket bar, Hare gripping the front of the cart and pulling him out of the produce department.
It took them five minutes to realize they hadn't gathered any fruits or vegetables and returned to the department, but dashed around to try to stay out of sight of Rabbit. He, of course, knew what they were doing and tried his best to ignore them. It was hard when he passed them with their heads lined up among the pineapples, trying not to be noticed.
When they were done squeezing oranges and sniffing cantaloupes, they made their way to the checkout line. Hare took out his envelope of coupons and had them at the ready when they got to the cashier. Hatter peeked into Hare's wallet and saw that it was mostly filled with photos of the two of them (and one of his mother), a barber shop punch card and his Movie Land Video membership card, as well as a blood donor card that said his blood type was O+. After adding a last minute purchase of two candy bars to their order, they loaded their arms up with their bags and set out on their way to the dry cleaners.
"Were you really insinuating that Rabbit should try to impress your mother while we were talking to him in the store just now?" Hatter asked, munching on his chocolate bar. At the time he hadn't thought it strange, he was in doofus mode and was mostly trying to give Rabbit a hard time, but thinking about it now it left a weird taste in his mouth. And it wasn't the chocolate he was nibbling.
"I was just yanking his chain," Hare shrugged his shoulders, brushing it off. "I mean, it's not like my Mother would be interested anyway. This is Rabbit we're talking about. He isn't really her type."
Hatter considered this and bobbed his head a little in agreement before scarfing down the rest of his candy bar.
--
Hare laid in bed later that night, staring at the yellow walls, the Hatter snuggled up against his side as he slept. He knew he'd be up half the night because of his nerves. The past couple days had been relaxing and smooth enough to take the edge off, but he still had that pit in his stomach. Something would go wrong, he knew it. It always did.
He ran through all the plans in his head, calculating what he could do to minimize mistakes. In all honesty, he wasn't worried about the tea party. They had prepared all the tarts and they were in the deep freezer in the basement, waiting to be baked up fresh tomorrow. All the makings of the sandwiches were in the fridge and they'd pick up their order from Just Add Sugar tomorrow on the way to the train station. It was the magic act he was more worried about. He'd only managed to do half the tricks correctly when he and Alice had practiced them and got so nervous that he handcuffed his wrist to his ankle somehow. And the big showstopper he never managed to get right! Oh, why had he agreed with the Hatter to do this?
Shaking the thoughts out of his head, he looked at the round alarm clock next to him on the bedside table, squinting his eyes to read the time. It was late he really needed to sleep.
Wiggling down a little, he burrowed into the covers, causing Hatter to stir a little beside him.
"It's okay, Hare," he mumbled, half asleep as he gave the bunny a squeeze. "We have another jar of pickles in the fridge."
--
"Hare, you need to take a seat and try to relax," Hatter remarked, watching his friend pace around the tea table once again. "You look like you dug into the caffeine again."
"My Mother will be here in," Hare paused and looked at his watch, nose twitching. "Two hours, fifteen minutes and 12 seconds. How can I not panic?!"
Hatter rolled his eyes and stirred his morning tea lazily, adding another cube of sugar to it. "Just calm down and breathe, it'll be okay." He was focusing on the tea so much he didn't notice when the Hare took a harmonica out of his pocket and started to breath in and out of it, filling the air with the shrill sound. Hatter watched him silently, a brow cocked, sipping from his teacup.
The Dormouse peeped out of his teapot, tiny hands gripping the rim and head swirling around. "What is that noise?"
"The Hare is having a breakdown," Hatter mentioned casually. "Give him a couple minutes and he'll calm down."
Dormouse blinked and glanced at the Hare, who was still wheezing into the harmonica. "If this is going to be a regular thing, I might have to look for another teapot. If the hills are alive with this sound of music, I don't think I'll be able to stand it."
Hatter nodded. "How true that is," he said as he got to his feet, striding up behind his friend and reaching around to pluck the harmonica out of his hands, tossing it over his shoulder into the bushes. "Don't worry so much. The house is clean, your place is all prepared, and this afternoon's tea party will be a success. Everyone already told us they were going to be here early, so all you have to do is bring your Mom." Leaning forward, he gave his Hare a peck on the cheek.
The Hare sighed, his shoulders dropping a little as he scrunched his face up. He knew he was overreacting but he couldn't help it. "My Mother expects a lot out of me, only the best. I just want to make her proud. And I want her to approve of us."
"And she will," the Hatter patted him on the shoulders, giving them a squeeze before letting them go. "I think you need some camomile tea and a little sit down. Maybe if you're good, I'll let you help me set the table with your cups and saucers for tonight."
"I do love camomile…" Hare managed, taking a seat and grabbing a scone, not fully intending to eat any of it. He had too many butterflies in his stomach and none of them were hungry either.
After managing to get some calming tea in his system, Hatter decided he'd let the Hare help with setting the table. All the gifted tea sets had been washed the night before and were gleaming in their boxes as they were brought out.
"Now to just clear the table," Hatter announced, lifting his arms up to swipe the current settings onto the ground.
"Hatter, no!" Hare threw himself over the tea table, covering the cups and saucers in the process, hearing a few of them crack under his weight.
Hatter dropped his arms at his sides, brow furrowed. "What's the problem now?"
"What would my mother think if she saw you being careless with your things? She'd find it unnecessarily unruly!"
"How true that is," Hatter said, putting a finger to his chin as he considered it. "So, no throwing things. Anything else?"
"Just…" Hare heaved, getting up from the table and dusting himself off. "Try to keep in control. Don't get too crazy. My Mother likes order and discipline. If she sees you acting wild, she might get the wrong idea."
"So, you don't like me acting crazy now?"
Hare stopped suddenly, his eyes growing wide as he realized what it sounded like. "No no no, I love you being crazy! You're my Mad Hatter and I don't want you any other way. I just don't think my Mother will appreciate it as much as I do."
The Hatter tried to look offended but he simply couldn't. He knew the Hare meant well and just wanted to impress. Plus he looked so cute when he was wound up tight as a drum.
"I'll try my best, but I make no promises," he joked, giving his Hare a peck on the lips. "Were you like this when your mother met all your other partners, or am I just lucky?"
"Oh…" Hare's face went red as a nervous laugh slipped from his lips. "She didn't exactly meet too many of them. Not that I've had many."
Hatter smirked and shook his head, not surprised in the slightest about his answer.
--
Hare stood on the train station platform, his shoes shined and his suit pressed, holding a bouquet of pansies from his own garden, tied together with a yellow ribbon. He kept bouncing on his toes, a bundle of nerves. Hatter felt that it was a good thing he had decided to come with him to the station, he was pretty sure his pal was going to take off like a rocket if there wasn't someone there holding him down. He was seated on a bench on the platform, a couple pink boxes from Just Add Sugar next to him as well as a box of handmade chocolates. "Hare, why don't you take a seat? The train is only a few minutes late."
"I can't sit, I'm just too nervous!" he squeaked, biting at his thumb as he looked up and down the track. "Remind me again why we're doing this?"
"Because if we're going to take our relationship to the next level I'm going to have to eventually meet your mother. And now is as good a time as any." Hatter reached his long arm and grasped Hare's hand, holding it to try to calm him down a little. It didn't seem to work. "Come and sit."
"I think maybe a year from next July would be a better day," Hare wheezed and moved to dash off the platform when a loud whistle made the pair jump. They turned to see the train pull up to the station, steam streaming from the smokestack. The train pulled in to a stop, pausing and then jolting forward once before the doors flung open. Hare stood there, fidgeting, waiting to see his mother come out of the double doors. When she didn't, he looked at the Hatter with a worried expression and dashed in to search for her.
It didn't take long before they appeared on the landing, June holding the bouquet of flowers in her gloved hands and the Hare dragging her obscenely large amount of luggage behind them.
"How was your trip?" The Hare asked his mother, attempting to lift her bags up onto his shoulder.
"It was marvelous, very relaxing," she crooned in her squeaky voice. June was fussing over him as they walked, adjusting his bow tie and pushing his bangs away from his eyes. "Although the guard kept harassing me for my ticket every stop. He was very rude."
The two approached Hatter and paused, looking up at him expectantly. He had gotten to his feet and met them halfway down the landing, holding the boxes of sugary goodies in his arms.
"Mom, this is the Mad Hatter."
Hatter could definitely see the family resemblance. She looked exactly like the Hare, only with a grey hairdo and lipstick. It was almost off putting.
"June!" Hatter beamed, thrusting a box of chocolate covered carrots in her direction. "So nice to finally meet you!"
June Hare smiled at the Hatter. "Oh, Hatter. Yes, it's lovely to finally meet you too. I've only ever spoken to you over the telephone." She seemed to give him a quick once over, her eyes scanning him for any imperfections in his dress or demeanor. She didn't give any indication that something was wrong, so the Hatter figured he was in the clear. "And thank you for these, I'm sure they're delicious."
"Hare and I made them ourselves," Hatter beamed, looking at his buddy. "From your family recipe, I believe."
The Hare looked like he was on the verge of a breakdown, but he was keeping it together. He kept balling his little hands up, fidgeting with his fingers behind his back. Hatter thought he looked adorable.
"That's very sweet of you," June mused, tucking the box under her arm as the group left the station and walked their way to Hare's house. About halfway there, Hatter took some of June's luggage from his boyfriend to give his arms a break.
June seemed charmed by Hare's little home. She thought the garden was impressive and oohed and awed as they entered the tiny abode. They settled her in Hare's guest room, leaving her bags there as they gave her a tour. Hare thought he'd faint when he saw her do a glove test on the top of some of his bookshelves, but it seemed he had passed her test because she didn't say anything.
About halfway through the tour, Hatter took out his golden pocket watch to check the time. "I should probably get home and get the tea brewing," he whispered to Hare as his mother stepped out of the room.
"Okay…" Hare whined, not wanting to be left alone. He was still a bundle of nerves, constantly afraid his mother would find something out of place for him to fix.
Hatter smiled and gave his hare a kiss on the cheek to calm him a little. "She got here safe, she seems happy with everything… try to relax."
"I'll try," he huffed, managing a weak smile. "I'll bring her over in about an hour."
"I'll see you then," he replied with a wink before speaking out loud. "I'm going to head home and get the tea started, June. I'll see you there in a bit."
"That will be nice," June replied from the next room. They found her in the kitchen standing on a chair, rotating all the cans in the pantry so their labels faced forward.
"Oh no…" Hare moaned. "Mom, stop. Leave those…"
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“Do a barrel roll!”
Day 21! Ah yes, everyone's favorite meme grandpa rabbit. Even if you're like me and never played a single Star Fox game, you at least know of his...iconic tutorials. Hehehe X3
In memory of Rick May, the voice actor behind Peppy and also known for his other iconic role of TF2's Soldier. I'm not sure if I would've included Peppy in this series if I'd known ahead of time that he would pass or if he had passed before I got to this, but when I finished this pic he was still alive and to throw it away at this point would just feel rude. I don't know if I believe in an afterlife so I will not speak on anything in regards to that. Regardless of your beliefs, one thing that's for certain is that no matter what, his legacy will live on in the memories and works of his fans.
Commissions ~ Redbubble ~ Patreon
~If you like, please reblog to show your friends! Likes are appreciated, but reblogs let more people see my content! If you have something to say, feel free to give feedback in tags/comments/replies as well!~
Peppy Hare © Nintendo
Artwork © PuppyLuver Studios
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