Other [FanFic] Stages (Ch.26/26 - Jul. 9 - epilogue soon)

Discussion in 'Fan Works' started by Kid Absurdity, Jul 18, 2016.

  1. Risukage

    Risukage Giant Laser Beams

    Okay, this? This is the kind of stuff I want to be able to write. That intellectual discussion over obscure writers and genre deconstruction? Aww yeah, that's good reading. *Hugs chapter, rolls on floor like a cat with a catnip toy.*
     
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    • Kid Absurdity

      Kid Absurdity Big Damn Hero

      I'm glad you enjoyed it! I was worried about losing people's interest/it being poor pacing, tbh.

      I made it easier for myself to do this kind of segment relative to you doing it in Rose and Sunflower in two ways:

      1) Archie is foremost an intellectual. This hasn't come up that much but you can see it in how he obsesses over things he doesn't fully understand, like the story behind him inheriting the farm, or agriculture, or minutiae of social (and later, romantic) relationships. Lysander, by my reckoning, knows a ton of stuff, but his attitude/motivations seem more sensualistic than intellectual.
      2) Elliott (the natural character to have those conversations with) serves very different narrative purposes in our respective fics, and what I have in mind for his arc might benefit more from that kind of discussion (which is why it's there) and is probably more conducive to that kind of discussion in the first place.

      That said, nothing about your writing so far suggests that you can't do it if you wanted, just that you haven't yet.
       
      • Risukage

        Risukage Giant Laser Beams

        That's true, and something that occurred to me shortly after posting; Lysander and Archie/Elliott are equal opposites, the actor and the author. Even though Lys provided useful writing insight to Elliott back in chapter 20 of R&S, it was still from a performer's perspective, not one schooled in literary technique. He knows how stories work but not how to construct one. And yeah, he's very much the emotional extrovert, who relies on instinct and intuition rather than logic and understanding.

        So fair enough, I likely could construct that sort of narrative if I had the proper setting and characters. For now, though, I will gleefully live vicariously through you and your story. :)
         
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        • Gabaw

          Gabaw Spaceman Spiff

          You wrote dialogue talking about dialogue in a story that's talking about a story. Mind = blown :rofl:
           
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          • Kid Absurdity

            Kid Absurdity Big Damn Hero

            Such postmodernism, many self-referentiality, much wow.
             
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            • Kid Absurdity

              Kid Absurdity Big Damn Hero

              Chapter 5 is here, with family drama, saloon night, and a lot more dialogue than I usually write!

              Also, a new episode of Goth Abigail's Goth Adventures of Gothiness as bonus material!



              The rest of the week was sunny, and the respite of the fishing day gave Archie’s arms some opportunity to recover from the beating he put them through. He continued clearing his land, the first sprouts of green on his parsnip field inspiring him to grandiose visions of what the restored farm could be as his first harvest slowly approached. He kept to himself for most of the time, less out of a specific desire for isolation but rather because he thought that investing the time and effort early would yield returns later. He continued exploring the town a little bit, meeting more of its residents, greeting people in ways that turned out more perfunctory than earlier in the week. The politeness of the greeting visits was appreciated, but that the rest of the town had stuff to do during the week as well.

              Most of his forays off his land were purposeful. There were two major events of those days; opening his account at the Pelican Town branch of the Stardew Valley Regional Library and taking out as many books on agriculture as he could carry, and the reaction from his sister when she called him on the Thursday evening:

              “Bro!” Maeve greeted him in her usual way. “How are you?”

              Archie set the phone on speaker mode and placed it on the table. “Even more exhausted than that time I stayed up from sunrise through the all-night cast party.”

              “You? Exhausted? It’s not your health again, is it? Joja don’t exactly work you to the bone.”

              “I’m healthy, and who knows, I might even be in a semblance of shape soon. I have the appointment for the blood tests in a couple of weeks too.”

              “So what is tiring you out? New girlfriend?”

              “I wish. I quit my job at Joja.” There was an awkward silence before Archie continued. “It’s OK. I had a new job in hand.”

              “Archie, you clown! Why didn’t you tell me? Congratulations! Come over tomorrow, we’ll celebrate and you can tell me all about it!”

              “No can do, sis. The job’s in a whole other province and so am I for the foreseeable future.”

              “To think I’d be all alone in Gallibrand, my brothers off globetrotting… Make it to Zuzu City after all?”

              “Not Zuzu, no. I’m in Pelican Town.”

              “What!?” Maeve’s incredulity was off the charts. “That Pelican Town?”

              “Yes, that one.”

              “You can’t be serious.”

              “I’m on Granddad’s farm, Maeve. That’s the job. My first harvest is tomorrow.”

              “…That isn’t funny, Archie.”

              Archie raised his voice as he answered; “If you don’t believe me I’ll dump a chunk of my savings into taking a bus into Hub Town just to send you an organic parsnip by courier.”

              There was another long pause.

              That’s what was in your envelope?” Maeve asked, indignantly.

              “Yes.”

              “I don’t believe this…”

              “Maeve…”

              She hung up abruptly and even though she believed him as far as being on the farm, Archie contemplated sending her the parsnip by courier anyway, just to include a note telling her where to shove it when it arrived. He sighed deeply. He unconditionally loved his sister, but he didn’t always like her. He thought she was as materialistic as she thought he was a lazy underachiever. He stared at the phone on the table, expecting the whirlwind of text messages between the siblings and their parents that usually accompanied family arguments to begin soon, but was interrupted by a timid knock on the door.

              “It’s unlocked,” Archie said to whoever it was, not caring to ask in that moment and feeling suddenly drained. “You can come in.”

              It was Leah, who took in the farmhouse with her artist’s eye. “I’d never actually been in here before,” she said, awkwardness apparent. “It’s, uh, quaint.”

              “That’s one way to put it. How much of that did you hear?” Archie asked, wearily.

              “Everything from your health,” she admitted.

              “I’m not sure if I’m more bothered that you overheard the family argument or that you overheard my sister implying I’m so lazy that the only thing that would tire me out is a woman. I love her, but she makes it bloody hard to like her sometimes.”

              “Family, can’t live with them, can’t live without them, right?” she joked, in a conciliatory way.

              “It feels like it sometimes. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

              “I wanted to invite you to the saloon tomorrow night,” she explained. “A lot of the town will be there for you to meet them, and we can continue our conversation from the other day.”

              “I’ll be there. Maru and Abigail told me about Friday nights, and it’s nice to have another invitation. It’s very considerate of you to come by for that, Leah.”

              “Think nothing of it. We were all new here once.” They talked a few more minutes before Leah took her leave.

              By Friday afternoon, Archie had cleared up another small patch of land and harvested and sold his first parsnip crop. It would be a decent boon to him and a small one to Pierre, who would need all the good circumstances he could get with Joja breathing down his store’s proverbial neck. He opted not to take the trip to Hub Town to mail his sister a passive-aggressive parsnip, choosing instead to somewhat hastily replant the field with potato and kale seeds he had bought from Pierre. They were more expensive seeds, but more people were likely to like those than parsnips, the worst vegetable, and the profit margins would be higher. Everyone loved potatoes and hipster demand would drive up the prices of kale for years to come, Archie hoped.

              He sat at the living room table to read one of the agricultural manuals he took out from the library, waiting for 6 o’clock to head over to the saloon to meet more of the town, including Abigail’s friends. He was learning about the relative merits about different kinds of fertilizers and the ways you could and couldn’t combine some of them when he was struck by how boring, if practical it all was.

              The evening rolled around not too long after, and Archie started his walk into town just as the sun was about to set. The canopy of the treeline leading toward the bus stop darkened the reds and purples of dusk in the valley further, but in a way Archie found soothing. The scattered streetlamps in the town square hadn’t lit up yet, and the town was cast in a fading orange-gold light that gave it the brief illusion of being a City of Gold. Archie’s aesthetic reflections were cut short as the music coming from the vintage jukebox in the corner of the saloon grew louder and louder. Of course it was country music. While Archie enjoyed the city’s nightlife, he had a sense Friday night at the Stardrop Saloon might be more of an experience than the city nightclubs, maybe even the goth ones that typically were an experience if nothing else.

              While Archie had stopped into the saloon, and even taken a meal there during the week, he was excited about spending some of the remaining profits of his parsnip harvest on a decent meal and the beer he’d been bribing himself with the prospect of for the previous few days. When he pushed open the double-doors and surveyed the main room, he was surprised at the number and variety of people, because he had never seen more than a handful of townsfolk in the same place at once.

              Gus was working the kitchen, leaving Emily, who he hadn’t met yet but who Gus had told him about, taking care of the bar. She was dressed in a red smock that seemed well suited to the risk of having drinks spilled on it, and she had a messy hairstyle, dyed electric blue. The bar was where he went first as he looked about.

              Of the people he recognized, Leah was seated alone at a table on the far wall, very slowly eating a salad and sipping a glass of wine. Willy, and Clint, the blacksmith, were having beers, with Willy seemingly trying to cheer the forlorn metalworker up. Robin, and at Archie’s best guess, Demetrius, were dancing awkwardly, but good-spiritedly, to the music from the jukebox. Even Pierre was there, drinking a beer of his own and shooting furtive glances in the direction of the arcade, where Abigail probably was hanging out with people Pierre didn’t like in part because Pierre didn’t like them. A couple of lone people, an older woman and a stubbly man in a Joja jacket, were nursing what looked like their several-th beer.

              Archie greeted Emily and introduced himself, which set her delightedly chattering at a mile a minute.

              “Archie, welcome to Pelican Town! You’re just in time for the spring festivals too!”

              “Festivals?” he asked, tentatively.

              “The Egg Festival is this Sunday, and the Flower Dance is a couple of weeks after that!”

              “Sounds like… fun?” The titles of the festivals were self-evident enough, but not completely descriptive.

              “Any excuse to get the whole town together to party is fun by me! The Egg Festival has a hidden egg hunt, and we eat all sorts of egg-related food. The Flower Dance is a formal dance in the forest. They’re great fun!” Her enthusiasm was palpable and a bit contagious, as Archie considered how he might enjoy either.

              “You’ve gone a long way toward convincing me. I’ll be going, and it’ll be a good way to meet anyone else I haven’t.”

              “Great! Since they’re already at the bar, have you met Shane and Pam?” She asked, gesturing widely to indicate the two loners several beers deep.

              “Neither.”

              “I’ll introduce you quick!” She walked over to Shane first, along the inside of the bar, and Archie followed til he was standing at the stool next to him. “Shane, meet Archie, the new farmer.”

              Shane languidly glanced up at him and mumbled a hello before returning his attention to his pint-glass. He didn’t seem that drunk yet, just anti-social. Archie said it was good to meet him and moved on to meet Pam, who was much more verbose while drunk, especially after the initial pleasantries, which Archie surmised she glossed over quickly because she didn’t especially enjoy being pleasant.

              “Grandpa, shmandpa, I don’t see why any young’un with a future would throw it away on this dump of a town!”

              “Your opinion has been noted,” he replied coldly, deciding against mentioning that he didn’t have a future at the time. Who would really look worse for him saying it? Probably him, he thought.

              While she saw that she offended him, or so Archie believed, she didn’t apologize so much as mumble something under her breath and get back to drinking. Back at the centre of the bar, at least out of whispering earshot, Archie hushedly told Emily “thanks for that, I didn’t know there were people to avoid in this town. Now I do.”

              “They’re not awful people,” Emily replied, “but they can be very prickly. What can I get you?”

              “I’ll take a pizza and a pale ale, please. Gus can choose the toppings, just no seafood and not plain cheese.”

              “Sure thing, grab a seat and I’ll bring the pizza over, want to take the beer now?”

              “More than almost anything,” he said, smiling almost wistfully.

              Emily chuckled and pulled the pint, handing it to him with a coaster. “Enjoy your first Friday here, nice meeting you!”

              Archie looked around the room again. Leah was still slowly picking away at her salad and glass of wine. There were voices coming from the arcade. He figured he’d check in with Leah first and then head in. He walked over to the table Leah was sitting at.

              “Mind if I join you?” he asked.

              “Please, go ahead. It can get a bit lonely even in a crowd sometimes.”

              “I’m surprised to hear that coming from you in particular,” Archie told her. This was true, because of how sociable she had struck him as being when he met her for the first time. He said as much.

              “Well, I know people who are here, it’s just the same groups of people having the same conversations that I don’t fit into a lot of the time. I could talk about fishing with Willy, for example, but he’s commiserating with Clint most of the time.”

              “What about the people around our age, in the arcade?”

              “I like them well enough, but we don’t really relate to each other,” She replied matter-of-factly. “The only close friend I’ve made here so far is Elliott, and he rarely comes to the saloon anymore. He’s always writing.”

              “But you prefer going out on Fridays to working on your own art.”

              “Of course, Archie, I have to live a little!”

              “I agree, and speaking of, can you tell me a bit more about the Flower Dance? Emily said it’s coming up but not very much about what it is.”

              “Oh, goodness, it is coming up. It starts off as a casual enough party, but the main event is a formal, ritual dance. Emily makes dresses for all the women and the guys all dress formally too.”

              “I don’t even think I packed a suit.”

              “I wouldn’t worry too much about that. Everyone will be glad to see you and you’ll get to see what it’s like.”

              “It sounds like fun. How’s the art coming?”

              “Oh, you know, slowly. I might take you up on adding a tree to that painting, just trying to figure out what kind. A maple, maybe.”

              “I was thinking a birch, personally.”

              “Ugh, artistic decisions are hard.”

              “You’re not wrong. I’m going to head to the arcade to meet Sam and Sebastian. Want to join us?”

              “I might trail in later, going to finish this first,” she said, gesturing at her still rather full salad bowl and looking a bit disappointed. Seeing as Archie wasn’t completely sure whether Leah was making a career out of the salad rather than a meal of it, he wasn’t counting on her further company that night. Since she’d been keen to continue talking about art, he wondered what was up, but opted not to prod her about it.

              “Enjoy!” he suggested as he walked across the saloon toward the arcade, the beeps and boops of 8-bit audio growing louder as he approached, along with Abigail’s very creative cursing, which left Pierre looking even more askance at the arcade than he was earlier.

              Sidling through the entrance he saw Abigail mashing away at the Journey of the Prairie King cabinet and her two friends half-engaged in a game of pool and half-engaged in watching the spectacle of Abigail’s unladylike behaviour with detached amusement and familiarity.

              Abigail had just gotten game-overed as Archie walked in and hadn’t yet noticed him when she continued shouting, if using some milder words than moments ago. “Seriously!? Who in the hell is the sadistic 8-bit assclown who designed this brutal piece of shit that I cannot seem to stop playing!?” She turned to her friends, who were stifling laughter of their own, looking toward the door, then turned around to see Archie had witnessed the outburst. She blushed. “Hi Archie,” she added quietly.

              “Evenin’, misfits!” he greeted the group who, thanks to asking around earlier in the week, he was able to differentiate. Sam was about as tall as Archie, just shy of six feet, and wiry, with a mess of spiky blond hair and a thousand-watt smile. He was wearing a ragged jean jacket full of patches of punk band logos. Sebastian was a few inches shorter, and quite thin, with a side-parted fringe of black hair. He was wearing dark purple jeans and a black hoodie. “Leah said she may join us after finishing her salad, so maybe in like 3 hours,” he joked.

              Abigail and Sam laughed, and Sebastian softly chuckled, all of them having had prior experience of Leah pacing her eating at extremes. Abigail explained that she’d either devour things as fast as Archie inhaled the carrot muffin earlier in the week, or eat like she was shooting a time-lapse video of herself eating.

              Sam was quick to break the ice. “It is so exciting to have someone new in town, bro, you would not believe. Breaks up the routine! Isn’t that right, Seb?”

              “I guess,” the shorter man replied with a slight smirk. “Archie’s the third person to arrive in the last year, but it’s still the three of us in here every Friday night, playing the same games.”

              Sam sighed, still smiling as he turned to face Sebastian. “Why’ve you got to always harsh my buzz with your factually correct statements and your practicality there, Buzz Killington?” Turning back to face Archie, he added, “at least now I can rotate off the pool table. You play him.”

              Archie gathered up the balls as Sebastian, who signaled to Archie to break, racked them. “So what do you do to pass the time the other days of the week?” he asked no one in particular.

              Abigail was the first to answer. “I help mom and dad at the store and take online classes in Archaeology through one of the city colleges. I’m hoping to save up and go on one of the digs in the next year or two.”

              Sam spoke up next. “I work at Joja Mart and help look after the fam while my dad’s on deployment. I play a bunch of music, and Seb and I sometimes play tabletop games.”

              “Like what?” Archie cut in before Sebastian’s turn to answer.

              Solarion Chronicles, mainly,” Sam started, before getting cut off by Abigail’s opinion on the matter.

              “Nerrrrrrrds.”

              “I haven’t tried that one,” Archie said, "my friends were all about Swashbucklers of the Seven Seas.”

              “Another nerrrrrrrd,” Abigail continued.

              “Abigail tried it once, it might surprise you to hear that she didn’t care much for it and would rather watch her nerdy Sunrise Archipelago import cartoons.” Sam added, as Sebastian finished setting up the pool table. Archie took his shot, a decent enough break, but didn’t sink anything. Sebastian carefully maneuvered around the table before pocketing a string of 3 solids.

              “They’re not cartoons, they’re animés, you toxic shitheap,” she replied defensively, setting Sam laughing even more, after which even Abigail laughed at herself.

              “I work as a freelance programmer,” Sebastian said, matter-of-factly, when it was Archie’s turn to shoot.

              “I’m not saying Seb’s lying,” Sam cut in, “but he’s gotten uncannily better at videogames ever since his recent career change.” Sebastian flushed and glared at him.

              “Sam, you’re crossing the line,” Sebastian replied, while Archie sunk two stripes before accidentally scratching. He fished the cue ball out of the pocket and lined up his shot.

              The room hushed as Sebastian took the opportunity Archie’s misplay afforded him and ran the table from that point. Archie offered him a handshake with a “well played.”

              Sebastian didn’t seem thrilled about it, and gave Archie a fairly limp shake. “You too, at least relative to Sam.”

              “Cold!” Sam replied, as Abigail and Archie laughed and the mood was slightly restored to the room.

              “So why are you two the town misfits?” Archie asked the guys.

              Sebastian answered first, in the same quiet and measured tone he’d so far said anything in. “I don’t really try to fit in at all, plus, working in the tech sector is a bit out of place here.”

              Sam quickly followed him up. “And you don’t get out much. Me, it’s just that Lewis and a lot of the adults have it in for me,” launching into a surprisingly accurate imitation of Pierre, he continued, “Sam, Joja Mart is the devil and stay away from my daughter.” Abigail’s peals of laughter were audible throughout most of the saloon as Pierre was probably the picture of consternation in the other room. Sam continued on to his Lewis impersonation. “Sam, stop doing sick skateboard tricks off of Emily’s cilantro planters. Sam, stop trying to amend the town’s constitution to ‘PURE ANARCHY’ at every town hall meeting. Adults, man, I just don’t get ‘em.”

              They all laughed at the ridiculousness of Sam’s purported antics, Archie especially because it was all new to him. “Amazing.”

              “It’s stupid, is what it is,” Sebastian chimed in, smiling. “You don’t use the democratic process to kick-start anarchy.”

              “He wasn’t being serious about it, though, was he?” Archie asked.

              Sebastian and Abigail looked to Archie, then Sam, then back to Archie.

              “Was he?” Archie asked again. They all laughed. Archie never got a clearer answer but eventually stopped caring in the crossfire of the banter. They played games, they talked, and as the night went on Archie continued enjoying their company and the lack of judgment they seemed to have of him. Sure, Sebastian was quiet, Sam was a clown, and Abigail was still Abigail, but they were fun to be around.

              Hours later, Leah never having finished the salad, poked her head into the arcade quickly to wish everyone goodbye before she left. Sebastian waved as Abigail, Sam, and Archie vocally wished her a good night. They idly speculated about what was going on with her.

              “Romance problem,” Sam suggested.

              “Nah, art, obviously,” Abigail countered. The two of them continued arguing at an increasingly fevered pitch and tone while Archie walked over to Sebastian.

              “What do you think, and are they always like this?”

              “I think it’s none of my business, and no, just most of the time.”

              “Opposites attract, eh?”

              “They’re hardly opposites.”

              “I meant to you.”

              “Oh. Huh. I guess…” Sebastian conceded, considering the whole idea as if for the first time. Not long after the argument broke off, without a clear victor, and leaving Archie with the impression he ought to follow it up with Leah, they decided to call it a night and return to their homes. It was the start of a pleasant weekend, though the concept didn’t exist for Archie anymore as such. The fields demanded constant attention, and though less of a job, maybe his friends would too.



              I'm not gonna leave you guys on a cliffhanger, so: at first, Gus was sad that Leah didn't finish the salad, but he gave it to Linus after closing and the two of them were both a bit happier for it.




              (ABIGAIL, SAM, and SEBASTIAN are at band practice.)

              SAM: But what kind of music should we play that really represents us, Pelican Town and Stardew Valley?
              ABIGAIL: Industrial!

              *laugh track*

              (Sam and Sebastian look at each other.)

              *laugh track*

              SEBASTIAN: Abigail, I'm not sure that repr-
              SAM: Bazinga!

              *laugh track*
               
                Last edited: Aug 12, 2016
              • MagicallyClueless

                MagicallyClueless Master Astronaut

                i know i chat my head off to you about what i thought already, but it just feels nice n' special to have a comment on the forums so here we go (✿◠‿◠)

                i legitimately cannot get over how beautiful this writing is. i love the descriptions, the interactions and dialogue, the flow of the story. it's all been really lovely and put together really well! thank you for sharing your fic on the forums for us and i really look forward to where you'll take it next!
                 
                • Risukage

                  Risukage Giant Laser Beams

                  I want to party with your Sam, allll night. Whether or not we'll remember it or not is suspect, so we'll have to drag Sebastian and Abby along to document our shenanigans. SHENANIGANS.
                   
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                  • Gabaw

                    Gabaw Spaceman Spiff

                    So much to say! First off curse you for that post note. I usually read those first and the one I don't is hilarious. Between passive aggressive parsnips, toxic s**theaps, and Buzz Killington (good reference) i'm rolling here :rofl: will say tho missed opportunity at "kick start anarchy" as Sam would be more likely to kick flip it :p eyyyyyy lmao
                     
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                    • Kid Absurdity

                      Kid Absurdity Big Damn Hero

                      I don't usually even do post-writing notes, but let it be known that I am not above mildly trolling my audience a bit.
                       
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                      • Kid Absurdity

                        Kid Absurdity Big Damn Hero

                        Good news, everyone!

                        Chapter 6 (which is massive) and Chapter 7 (which is relatively short) are drafted, which means I'll be making my next releases on schedule and am building up a bit of a buffer again so that when I get slammed with the busy work week in my 3-week rotation, I should hopefully be able to stay afloat.

                        Bonus content may slow down a bit, though!
                         
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                        • Kid Absurdity

                          Kid Absurdity Big Damn Hero

                          Arguments! Rejection most savage! Dancing and Romance! Backstory and Plot! Sam being Sam! Shocking twists! All this and more in Chapter 6.

                          Bonus material may come in over the weekend, but isn't ready yet.



                          The subsequent weeks brought a semblance of stable routine to Archie’s life, but unlike the one he felt in his city-bound employment at Joja Corporate Headquarters, this routine felt like one he wanted to participate in because he was invested. The bitter torrent of text messages he was expecting from family members never came, and he assumed his sister had largely gotten over not inheriting a farm she would never have wanted to put to use anyway. Eventually he’d call her. The big news in the town was that one of the abandoned mine shafts, damaged by Joja’s construction surveys, was back to spelunkable condition, which Archie was considering, but not all that much because he wasn’t generally a fan of tightly enclosed spaces, his farmhouse notwithstanding.

                          The Egg Festival came and went with few notable incidents. Shane was more talkative, bordering on enthusiastic, because the work he had put in on Marnie’s ranch to help set the Festival up was being recognized in a way his work at Joja Mart wasn’t. Abigail won the egg hunt, beating Archie and Vincent out by a single egg, winning a straw hat that was so completely out of step with her fashion sensibilities that Archie figured she’d probably burn it or something. He ate a larger number of eggs than he had in recent memory. Lewis was pleased to see him and he managed to meet the rest of the townsfolk, except for Morris. Morris managed the local Joja Mart store, though he commuted from Hub Town. He closed the store as no one was expected to go there, but didn’t show up to the festival. Neither Archie nor Morris was put off by his absence from the festival in the slightest.

                          Over the couple of weeks following, his mornings were filled with expanding and managing his fields, his afternoons with fishing and nature walks, and his evenings with reading agriculture manuals unless something else presented itself. Given that his farmhouse was out of the way for everyone save Marnie, Shane, and Leah, he didn’t expect many visits, and neither did he receive any. The following Fridays at the saloon were a bit more balanced; he spent some time discussing art and valley life with Leah, hanging with the misfits in the arcade, and talking with Emily a fair bit as well. She was friendly and excitable, but perhaps one of the most down-to-earth, and eccentric, people he’d ever met.

                          The day of the Flower Dance had finally arrived, and it was a beautiful and sunny spring day. Archie had decided that he would maintain the farm, but take advantage of the festival to justify a day off of clearing the land and working on expanding it, even though it was only a half-day festival. After watering his crops and installing a new scarecrow, he showered, and was considering which clothes to change into. Given the request to dress formally and his lack of a suit, he had two options. There was the grey work pants and blazer he would wear to job interviews and his previous work at Joja, or, there was the kilt and vest ensemble he (and his father, and brother), wore to Maeve’s wedding, which was a somewhat surreal experience. Archie enjoyed the wedding quite a lot, but found it pretty strange that the couple, and their parents, opted for a surprisingly traditional Emerald Isle wedding given that it was four to five generations ago that the families emigrated to Ferngill in search of a better future than the famine-stricken island was liable to provide, just before the Kingdom became the Republic it now was. As it turned out, in addition to a surprising degree of Yoba-praising zeal, and more interminable speechifying than the average wedding, and rowdier drinking and dancing afterward, it also meant wearing kilts in his family tartan pattern, which he never knew the Emerald Islanders had a concept of, much less his own family having one. Archie had few doubts his sister would marry another Emeralder given her enthusiastic participation in folk-dancing and other cultural activities that brought, and kept her, in contact with others in the immigrant-descended community. His brother was studying there at that very moment. For his part, while Archie had learned to play folk instruments, and his family had visited the ancestral homeland with him a couple of times, he felt he had more of an intellectual connection to the place than a nationalistic one. He read the literary luminaries of that migrant generation, and thought their dialogue, prose, and verse encapsulated the modern condition he lived in as well as the famine times, from its majestic highs to its squalid lows. Consequently, he felt like a bit of a fraud wearing the kilt, but it seemed far more appealing to him in that moment than wearing the job interview clothes that still had the miasma of failure on them. He decided that since he had come to the valley to escape his failures and re-create himself, today he’d embrace his inner Emeralder and see what might come of it.

                          About ten minutes, and a couple of attempts at binding the kilt properly, later, he completed the ensemble with a sporran that he stuffed the ubiquitous pennywhistle into. The fiddle was too bulky to carry, and while he didn’t anticipate playing any music at the festival itself, he thought he might want to later in the day as a means to continue to unwind. He hastened his way out to the clearing in the Cindersnap Forest where Lewis told him the festival would take place. Wooden fencing bedecked with coloured paper banners cordoned off the festival area, and a shop booth, manned by Pierre, who looked askance at Archie as usual as he arrived, was the first thing he saw. Archie waved.

                          “Farmer.” Pierre flatly greeted him.

                          “Shopkeeper.” Archie returned, in a similar tone, hinting with no subtlety that this was a first-name basis town, and that he would not take any condescension from Pierre. Nearby, Robin, who was standing with Demetrius, started snickering. Before any argument got launched into, Archie greeted the two of them and moved away from the booth without so much as looking at what Pierre was selling. If Archie had looked back, he would have seen Pierre’s sudden look of dejection.

                          “What an interesting fashion specimen,” Demetrius said, as Robin continued laughing.

                          “I was told to dress formally,” Archie replied, smiling, “and this should be comfortable to dance in, at least. Your children around?”

                          Demetrius gestured toward further into the festival enclosure. “They’re both somewhere in there. You go have fun.”

                          “And you,” Archie wished them, pressing on into the festival grounds, where the bulk of the town had assembled, mostly in the small groups he’d already become familiar with.

                          Nearing the parquetry dance floor, which Vincent and Jas, the children of Pelican town, were running about on, he spotted different groups of his friends and people around their age. Maru and Harvey were discussing something while Harvey was looking on nervously. Abigail, Sebastian, Sam and Penny, were some distance away and locked deeply in a conversation of their own. Alex, the jockish gridball phenom, was talking with his grandparents while Emily’s younger sister Haley, a fashionable young adult who was the centre of her own universe and expected to be the centre of everyone else’s, was on the floor, practicing dance moves while dodging the children underfoot. Leah and Elliott were just a few steps further into the grounds than Archie was, so he greeted them. Both were surprised at his appearance, with Leah inspecting the pattern up close, scrutinizing it like a piece of artwork. They were still exchanging pleasantries when Archie felt a sudden breeze on his backside, where Sam had snuck up behind him and flipped the back of the kilt up.

                          “I guess it isn’t true what they say about what people wear under those,” he said, laughing, while Leah and Elliott looked aghast.

                          “Sam!” Leah started to admonish him sharply, before being cut off by Archie, who put a hand on Sam’s shoulder amicably. Sam squirmed as Archie suddenly clamped firmly down on it.

                          “Don’t worry about it, Leah, he’s just interested in my native culture, isn’t that right, Sam?”

                          Sam, looking increasingly uncomfortable stammered out, “Uh… yeah, that’s exactly it.”

                          “Soldiers don’t wear anything under, they even call that going regimental,” Archie started to explain, “dancers always wear something under, and this is a dance.”

                          Sam began to blush forcefully as Archie held him in place, which Leah and Elliott had started to notice. “Fascinating,” he said, weakly.

                          “There aren’t really rules about it, but it’s considered good manners, especially if you dance energetically,” Archie continued, staring at Sam, and tapping him lightly on the cheek with the back of his other hand. “And, culturally, you flip up a man’s kilt and you can expect to get dropped on the spot. So consider this a warning,” he informed him. Right as Sam began to relax thinking that that was the end of it, Archie abruptly released Sam’s shoulder and swung the back of his other hand toward Sam’s jaw, missing his face but loudly clapping the hand he was holding Sam’s shoulder with a moment before, drawing the attention of most of the assembled crowd. “Now run along.” Archie gently shoved Sam toward where Abigail, Sebastian, and Penny were watching with mixed expressions. Penny looked embarrassed, which was not out of character for her in general, whereas Abigail, and especially Sebastian, looked incredibly smug. Sam scrambled back to his friends with his tail between his legs.

                          “Sorry you had to witness that,” Archie told Elliott and Leah, “but after my talk with Pierre earlier I am not in the mood for that kind of disrespect today. At least he didn’t pull up the kilt from the front.”

                          Leah looked at him with some consternation. “You probably scared the living daylights out of him, don’t you think you went a bit far?”

                          “Not really,” Archie replied, “I think I had to be forceful about it, or I’d be dealing with his pranks for the rest of my life.”

                          “I also think your reaction was a bit strong,” Elliott added, “but it did have panache.”

                          “Flatterer,” Archie replied, before asking how they both were, out of both interest and wanting to change the subject.

                          Elliott groused a bit about continuing writing struggles, but indicated he had made good progress with his dialogue, while Leah had started on a new sculpture. Archie told them about his successful potato and kale harvest before asking to speak with Leah privately for a moment.

                          After Elliott excused himself and stepped out of earshot, Archie asked Leah if she’d have a dance with him. She was probably as close to a friend as he’d made here.

                          Looking a bit like a deer trapped in the headlights of an oncoming 18-wheel truck, Leah declined. “I have to be honest, I don’t want to dance with you.” Archie wasn’t thrilled about that development but appreciated the honesty and wished her goodbye as he wandered off further toward the dance area, where he was met by Emily, who started scrutinizing his clothes in a much more thorough way than Leah had.

                          “This workmanship is amazing!” She blurted. “I’d hate to think of how many sheep worth of wool I’d go through trying to make something like this!” Archie had momentarily forgotten that Emily was the one who made the white dresses that Leah, Emily, Haley, Maru, and even Abigail were wearing.

                          “I guess my father found a very good tailor for these,” Archie replied, briefly pondering something. “Emily, is there only one dance today?”

                          “Not exactly,” she answered. “There are a few group dances, but only one partnered one, and that’s not for everyone – that’s what the white dresses are for.”

                          “Oh,” Archie replied, “not blaming you, but I wish someone had mentioned that when I was asking about the festival.”

                          “Sorry!” Emily said with a slightly guilty smile. “It really didn’t occur to me at the time. No partner?”

                          “Not yet, anyway.” He shrugged, though he was getting a bit more annoyed about the whole situation. “I’ll ask Abigail.”

                          “By all means, though, I think Sebastian beat you to it.”

                          “Well, I’ll ask anyway, the worst she can say is no.”

                          “When I used to dance at these people said the same, but added that the second worst thing I could say was yes. Don’t worry too much about it, Archie, I have a plan.”

                          Archie smiled. “Does that plan, perchance, involve dancing with me?”

                          Emily laughed. “Absolutely not!” Archie flushed, as she continued “I haven’t danced at one of these since Haley started to. Don’t worry about it, it’ll be fine.”

                          Archie did not have the utmost confidence that it would, in fact, be fine. Struggling to hold on to his cheer and manners alike, he wished Emily a good Flower Dance and moved on to walk toward the misfits plus Penny, when he was interrupted yet again by Jodi and Lewis, who had rushed up to apologize for Sam’s behaviour. Archie appreciated the apology, and told them as much, but added that the two of them had already sorted it out like adults and that he considered the matter over and done with.

                          Eventually, he made it over to them. Sam’s “prank” notwithstanding, he enjoyed the company of that group, though he still didn’t know the first thing about Penny besides the facts that she was Pam’s daughter and that she taught the local children in lieu of them commuting to a school in Hub Town.

                          Sam groaned as Archie approached. “What did mom and Lewis want?”

                          “To drop the hammer on you,” Archie said with a dramatic pause as Sam groaned again, even more loudly. “I told them it was unnecessary,” he added, after letting Sam stew in it for a few seconds.

                          Sam became flustered but eventually started laughing at the situation and himself. “You’re a jerk sometimes, Archie, but thanks for calling the dogs off.”

                          “Call your mom a dog again and I’ll change my mind,” Archie added as Sam blushed with great force.

                          “Damnit! That’s not what I meant…”

                          “Anyway, how are the rest of you?” Archie asked as Sam continued to flounder.

                          “I’m ok.” Penny replied. Sebastian looked like he didn’t especially want to be there and said as much, while Abigail said she’d have to ask Emily to make the dresses black next year, but seemed all smiles.

                          “Why do you have that outfit, anyway?” Abigail asked.

                          “My sister had a traditional Emerald Isles wedding,” Archie told her. “And that meant family pattern kilts and the like. I never actually thought I’d wear it again.”

                          “Until your own wedding, right?” Penny asked with more enthusiasm than he’d ever seen her display. So far, she’d always been a shrinking violet around Archie.

                          “I didn’t think that far ahead,” he admitted, “and I’m not as hung up on the idea of marrying another Emeralder as my sister was.”

                          They talked another few minutes about the wedding and the Emerald Isles and the Flower Dance before Archie asked Abigail for a moment of her time to ask her to dance. The response was pretty similar to Leah’s, though a gentler let-down as Abigail let Archie know that she found the request flattering even if she wasn’t going to take him up on it, whereas Leah seemed to find it terrifying.

                          The whole Flower Dance was starting to aggravate him, since amid the pair of rejections it was starting to feel like the town, the people of which unequivocally wanted him to be there, was having a laugh at his expense while he couldn’t properly participate in the main event. He had a brief chat with Linus to exchange pleasantries and let him know that he wanted to discuss his grandfather with him, before setting himself up at a picnic table in a far corner of the festival grounds. Aside from taking in the floral displays that elderly Evelyn Mullner put together, which showed some fantastic craftswomanship, Archie was resigned to spending the day seething and practicing his music. The festival symbolizing the rebirth of Spring seemed to him to highlight his own incomplete integration to the town, and incomplete rebirth.

                          A while later Lewis announced that the proper dance would soon begin, and for the townsfolk to gather around the dancefloor. Archie stayed at the picnic table, knowing that it was petulant but feeling like he didn’t owe anyone his prickly presence at that moment. Lewis was about to signal to Gus, himself a violinist, to start playing the music, when a distant screech of braking tires coming from the road near the bus stop interrupted the proceedings. Everyone was thankful that no sound of impact followed it. The townsfolk milled around aimlessly and speculated about who could possibly have been screaming along the rural road while Lewis tried to regain control of the event. For his part, Archie had no idea, but he noticed Emily move her way from near the dancefloor over to the entrance to the festival, where a couple of minutes later, she was joined by another, very winded, woman. From the distance, he couldn’t make out the fact that she was apologizing for arriving late, or too many details of her appearance, but she was wearing a blue dress and had long, unnaturally crimson hair. The newcomer and Emily exchanged a hug and some very rapid pleasantries before making their way back over toward the dance floor.

                          Most of the townsfolk gawked at the newcomer, presumably not all that familiar with her, which surprised Archie a bit. There weren’t exactly a parade of visitors, but in a town this small, being acquainted with people’s friends as well as the townsfolk themselves didn’t seem that farfetched. Archie was still considering that from his vantage point at the picnic table, where he put the whistle away out of musician’s courtesy to Gus. Gus started playing a slow waltz on his violin, and the townsfolk, the men in their suits and the women in their white flower dance dresses with petal-trim, began their ritual steps. Archie didn’t have time to even begin to process the steps when he noticed that the late arrival had walked up toward the picnic table.

                          “You’d rather be dancing,” she said with an airy glee.

                          “I would,” he replied, his mind starting to swim against the contradictory currents of his previously foul mood and the fact that the woman who had just shown up to the festival before looking for his attention in particular (and probably a dance) was gorgeous. In fact, Archie wasn’t sure what was in the water in Valley that caused everybody of his generation to be attractive, whether conventionally or regardless. At closer distance, though, this woman was a head-turning knockout who could easily be a metropolitan model, and she was done up like one. Her hair was an array of curls, accented by a pony tail tied off with a blue bow at the back.

                          “Hurry up and dance with me while there’s still a song,” she told him.

                          Archie did not need to be asked twice, and rather than crash the carefully orchestrated ceremony of the dance floor, they danced by the picnic table, Archie a bit rigidly, still in disbelief, and her as airily has her laugh but occasionally misstepping. Archie was sure that they looked a bit ridiculous, but only Emily was watching them and that was with divided attention anyway.

                          “I’d have arrived earlier, but Emily only reminded me this morning and I hardly had enough time to get ready and get here,” she told him apologetically, though Archie hardly thought she had anything to apologize to him about. They hadn’t even met, Archie wasn’t expecting her in the first place, and she had, and at least for the moment, saved him from having an outright miserable festival.

                          “What’s your name?” Archie asked.

                          “A…- Call me Sandy. Emily told me your name but she was talking so fast telling me to dance with you I could hardly hear it,” she said with a laugh.

                          “Archie. It’s nice to meet you, and thanks for the dance. You don’t live in the town, what brings you here?” He was curious about that. For the weeks he’d been here, no one visited the town, or to his knowledge left it to go visit anywhere else. Visitors seemed a rarity.

                          “I live in the Calico Desert. The only flowers you get are on cacti, nothing like the valley flowers, which I love!” Archie could not help but think he was receiving a very blatant hint. “Emily told me about Pelican Town and the Flower Dance when she road-tripped in the desert last summer.”

                          “Is it what you were expecting?” He asked.

                          “I was expecting to catch up with my friend and go home with a trunk full of tulips and daffodils, and I will.” They twirled, and Archie saw the couples on the dancefloor continuing their synchronized spectacle, which he felt that he and Sandy were making a bit of a mockery of, enjoyable though their own dance was. “The only surprise was Emily springing you on me at the last second.”

                          “It sounded more like the reverse to me, not that I’m complaining. Pleasant surprise, I hope.”

                          “Very,” she said with a bright smile. “You’re a good dancer, if a little tense, and a little inquisitive, but so far so good!”

                          “The questions are only out of interest,” he told her, relaxing gradually. “Now that I’ve met the whole town, there aren’t often new people to meet, and in a town this small, strangers arriving is one the most interesting things that happens.”

                          “Emily says the same thing, and she’s the bartender! She’s got the most social job in town, she gets to hear everyone’s secrets, and it’s not enough! That’s why she travels a lot, like her parents.”

                          “I was wondering about them, actually.”

                          “Oh, I’ve never met them, but they’re off continents away, living out of backpacks and a camper van. Not bad for middle age, is it?”

                          “I dreamed of that kind of adult life on the road and on tour, and now I’m doing the exact opposite, living as a farmer!”

                          “It’s the same for me!” She replied with some enthusiasm. “I own the Oasis, in the Desert.”

                          “You own an oasis?” Archie asked, quizzically.

                          “Not an oasis, The Oasis, it’s a shop, it’s named after an oasis, there’s one right near it, but Cactus Town owns that.”

                          Gus started to wind down the waltz.

                          “Wouldn’t happen to sell crop seeds, would you?”

                          Sandy took a hand off his shoulder and lightly duffed him atop his cap, smiling and feigning greater irritation than she actually felt before putting her hand back. “It’s a festival and we’re dancing! Don’t think about farming and don’t make me rattle off inventory, for Yoba’s sake!”

                          The “Dance” part of the Flower Dance wound to a close with Gus finishing the waltz. The couples on the dance floor pulled apart and took two steps back from eachother. The men bowed and the women curtsied in synch. The rest of the town applauded. Sandy didn’t notice the music had stopped, and Archie was more than willing to keep the pretense alive, humming an extension to the tune just loud enough for the two of them to hear for a while longer, before pulling her into a tango dip, to wrap up their own dance, oblivious to attention they had started to draw from a visibly annoyed Lewis and a crowd of murmuring, surprised townsfolk, who were all watching the Flower Dance moments prior. It only dawned on Archie that even Robin and Demetrius, who would dance a good chunk of their Friday nights away at the saloon, weren’t dancing throughout, and how odd that seemed to him.

                          After they finished dancing, Sandy added, “Rhubarb, Starfruit and Beets. Come by and visit. My part of the desert doesn’t get that many visitors either,” and then they detached themselves from each other without the formality of a bow and curtsy.

                          Lewis, who had previously been all too concerned about Archie, stormed over to the corner of the grounds that Archie and Sandy staked out for themselves, the rest of the town keeping at a distance, but still within earshot of what they expected to overshadow the Flower Dance itself in terms of things they’d talk about for weeks to come. “Archie!” Lewis exclaimed with a mixture of anger and disappointment, loudly enough for the gathered town to hear, “what did you think you were doing?”

                          “Dancing.” Archie replied matter-of-factly, confused about what could possibly have elicited Lewis’ reaction. “We’re at a dance. That’s what you do at them. What’s the problem?”

                          Lewis, still angry, became flustered in addition at Archie’s response. “It’s a ritual dance that the whole town is meant to be a part of. It’s critically important that it includes the whole community!”

                          Sandy began to look extremely uncomfortable at the whole scene unfolding in front of her, as Emily rushed over toward them. Archie’s prior irritation returned in force, and his temper got the better of him. He snapped at Lewis: “It included five couples. That’s it! If you’ve got a problem with me making another outsider feel way more welcome than I do, or salvaging some enjoyment out of this inside joke of a day, don’t bullshit me about community and don’t expect me next year.”

                          Something Archie said seemed to strike a collective nerve, as the townsfolk, especially the older ones, began to murmur amongst themselves with an air of panic. Even Lewis, in spite of the anger at having his event ruined and his authority challenged in a very public way, took pause at it.

                          “No one told you about the ritual and why we do it?” Lewis asked him.

                          “They just said to come and dance and enjoy myself.”

                          “I should have explained it myself,” Lewis told him in a much more subdued way than he had just been talking. “We all may have just shot the town in the foot,” he added. Turning to the assembled crowd, he yelled, “I hereby end this year’s Flower Dance!” The murmuring crowd didn’t move, until Lewis added, forcefully. “Everyone except Linus, go home!” Turning back to Archie, he told him to wait, and that they’d explain it all to him.

                          Archie asked him to wait a minute while the townsfolk left and Linus walked over. Emily and Sandy were standing behind the picnic table, both looking a bit embarrassed. “In spite of the reaction, thank you both,” he told them. “Where can I catch up with you after I finish with them?”

                          “Saloon’s closed for the rest of the day, so we’re going back to mine,” Emily told him. “You’re more than welcome.”

                          “I’ll get changed and head over right afterward.”

                          Sandy gave him a hug and a quick peck on the cheek. “Thanks for making an outsider feel welcome. And don’t get changed, that outfit is simply adorable.”

                          Archie, in his surprise at the sudden display of affection, blushed. “You got it,” There were a lot of its that she had in addition to his assent to keep wearing the kilt at that moment. “Be seeing you.”



                          Thanks are in order to MagicallyClueless and Risukage for some feedback on an earlier draft and a couple of suggestions for tidying up the flow of the chapter.

                          Ever get rejected by EVERYONE in your first Flower Dance and wished your farmer wasn't a mute protagonist? Well, that's the basis of this chapter, pretty much.

                          In ways that I'll later explain, I also wanted to delve into the festivals and my imagining of the wider setting of Pelican Town a bit more. It's a country town with its own rituals and traditions, but why are they there?

                          To my knowledge, this is the first SDV fanfic to date that has even included Sandy as a character, and while she's not as fleshed out as the Pelican Townsfolk, I think there is room for some interesting development there.

                          Finally, I've been not-so-subtly hinting at Archie's family being from [DEFINITELY NOT IRELAND BUT ACTUALLY PRETTY MUCH TOTES IRELAND] and that sees some play in this chapter. For the curious, here is the tartan pattern I was referring to. IMO it looks pretty darn sweet. Fun fact, family tartans are much more of a Scottish thing, according to ACTUAL RESEARCH I ACTUALLY DID TO WRITE THIS. Then I realized it's a piece of fiction and the [Irish-equivalents] can have 'em to.

                          As a final point, Gabaw, since you said Leah was totes the waifu, get swerved on, son.
                           
                            Last edited: Aug 19, 2016
                            Minimanta, Gabaw, Alkanthe and 2 others like this.
                          • Gabaw

                            Gabaw Spaceman Spiff

                            Here lies Gabaw, swerved to death :rip: holy s**t. well. great choice gotta say. Sandy does need more love tho :p she's pretty striking. So if nothing else now you got me wanting a fic with her. I also like the big f**k you to the festival :rofl: Nobody ever says yes the first year!
                             
                              Risukage likes this.
                            • Kid Absurdity

                              Kid Absurdity Big Damn Hero

                              This fanfic was not representative of the save where I force-fed Leah 2 salads a week from Day 1 to get the Year 1 Flower Dance.
                               
                                Gabaw, Risukage and Alkanthe like this.
                              • Kid Absurdity

                                Kid Absurdity Big Damn Hero

                                A slightly shorter chapter this time around. It's funny, Chapters 6 & 7 took me around 6 days to write, the forthcoming Chapter 8 over 2 weeks. Glad I arbitrarily cut a chapter short to cheat on the buffer, because dang, yo. Trying my hand at some ADVANCED NARRATIVE TECHNIQUES in this one. Flashbacks. This guy's out of control!


                                Emily and Sandy were the last of the townsfolk, and the most reluctant of them, to leave the Flower Dance. Neither was keen to leave Archie, Lewis, and to everyone’s surprise, Linus, alone to discuss exactly how Archie and Sandy, due to the string of miscommunications, had screwed up the festival and, apparently by extension, the town as a whole. They lingered by the entrance a short time, glancing back toward the picnic table, before making their way back toward Emily’s house.

                                The three men sat at the picnic table at Lewis’ urging. The bit of intervening time gave Archie a chance to cool his jets, especially as he picked up on Lewis’ sincere worry. Something bigger did seem to have gone wrong at the Flower Dance, but he couldn’t imagine what. Haley being angry about the whole town talking about someone other than her was a given, but not enough to evoke the kind of reaction that had occurred. Archie resolved to at least hear his grandfather’s friends out. He put his hands behind his head and leaned back, rubbing the fine wool of his cap unwittingly while waiting.

                                Lewis sighed deeply, and was the first to speak, while Linus, seated next to Archie, loomed more than anything. “Do you remember the Junimos?” he asked him.

                                “The what?”

                                “The Forest spirits,” Linus cut in and answered.

                                Archie looked back and forth from Lewis to Linus. They seemed serious.

                                “I might have read about them once or something…” Archie started, before being interrupted by Lewis.

                                “It sounds superstitious, but there’s something to the stories of them looking after the forest and the town while things are in harmony between them. Every year, we have the Flower Dance the same way, to renew their blessing on the town.”

                                “It does sound that way.” Archie said.

                                “It went wrong the year your grandfather moved here too.” Lewis continued, unperturbed about Archie not being on board with the whole idea of forest spirits.

                                Though Archie had only known his grandfather as a farmer, which was now a family occupation, Lachlan Finegan had, like his grandfather before him, who was the first of the family to move to the then Ferngill Kingdom, worked in construction. He mostly paved roads in Zuzu City, where the family settled after emigrating from the Emerald Isle. Being descended of a migrant minority in those less enlightened times, confrontation followed him wherever he went, and he would fight with his co-workers, with native Ferngillers haranguing him in the streets, and with his own parents. Strong from years of manual labour, and having developed his skill at boxing in his youth, he won the vast majority of those fights, but he and his parents eventually decided that neither the city nor construction work was for him. After some deliberation, they agreed that it would be best for Lachlan to go and work on his uncle’s farm in the Valley.

                                The uncle was pleased at the idea, as his sons, who were freshly adults, had decided to become miners rather than continue working on the farm, given the mining boom times the town was having. Lachlan, however, wanted nothing more to do with irritants in the air and swinging a hammer or a pick. While his cousins saw Lachlan as a threat to their inheritance, Lachlan was so sincerely dismissive of the whole idea that his uncle would ever leave him the farm that they got on alright, at least in the early going.

                                That year’s Flower Dance, Lachlan was introducing himself to the townsfolk, who were much more numerous at the time, when the younger of his cousins, Connor, arrived at the festival drunk past tipsy. Connor sought out his dance partner for the year, the same Evelyn who made this year’s flower arrangements, and insisted, forcefully, that they practice their dancing together. Evelyn was helping some of the elders of the town with flower arrangements, and didn’t want to be pulled away, when Connor started dragging her toward the dance floor in spite of her protests to the contrary. It was a shocking scene, with the town stunned into inaction in their shock at the novice miner’s appalling behaviour, save for Lachlan, who planted himself right in their path.

                                “You know that’s no way to treat a lady, cousin. Best to leave her be and collect yourself.”

                                Both of Lachlan’s cousins were large, strong men, growing up with farm chores and labours, and recently adding mining to that list. They were notorious in the town for their drunkenness, their tempers, and their occasional violence, though Lachlan hadn’t seen the latter firsthand yet.

                                Connor wouldn’t be deterred. His words slightly slurred, his violent intention to put both Evelyn and his cousin into their places was clear; “Best you leave us be, or you’ll be collecting your teeth!”

                                Lachlan didn’t hesitate to wrench the arm Connor was gripping onto Evelyn with free of her, and to take the fight to his cousin. Lachlan was about as strong as Connor, but unlike him, he had an adolescence filled with fighting and learning pugilistic technique. Connor landed a few swings, staggering him, but Lachlan won the fight decisively, knocking his cousin out cold with a wicked uppercut.

                                The town, and Lachlan’s more kindly uncle, had no idea what to do about the whole situation. One of the Flower Dancers would only wake up in the doctor’s clinic a while later. They couldn’t very well condemn Lachlan too much for what he did, but neither could they condone it, especially since the whole festival, which, then, as now, the older generation better knew the stakes of, was in jeopardy.

                                A pall of ill fortune came over the town that year. Many of the farm’s crops withered before the summer harvest, and the mountain river flooded, both near its source and into the mines, slowing down the operations and putting the town’s economy into a pinch, and damaging the roads and some of the homes near its bank. It was a lean year for everyone – from the miners to the blacksmith to the farmers to the ranchers to the shopkeepers to the woodcutters and so on until Lachlan, learning about the Junimos from the friends he would make, Lewis and Linus, decided to go seek them out and make amends.

                                The story got hazy from that point, because Lachlan never told Lewis or Linus exactly the same thing about what happened then. They each explained some of the things Archie’s grandfather had told them, some of them clearly contradictory to others. They were, however, able to piece together was that he had agreed to bring them a set of offerings, and to mend the community of the town, which struck them as a tall order since influencing others was by no means a guaranteed proposition.

                                Archie was neither sold on the whole idea nor sure he liked the implication that he’d be about to be asked to do the same, but Linus changed the course of the conversation. “Lachlan said you saw them as a child. Do you remember that?”

                                “No…” Archie started, before feeling the tug of something in his memory and stopping himself cold mid-thought.

                                He was on the farm one summer as a small child, no more than four or five, before his grandfather had taken ill. He was playing with his sister in the orchard, the two of them chasing each other around trees and throwing acorns at each other until Maeve had gotten the idea that she wanted to knock an orange out of one of the trees. His grandfather was low-tech about his tree-fruit harvesting, either letting them fall to the ground, or deftly knocking the out of the trees with a two-by-four with a nail in it.

                                Maeve had found the old board, and lined it up for a swipe at the orange without realizing the struggle she’d have holding the board in check. Unluckily for Archie, who was standing in decidedly the wrong place, when Maeve lost control of it, it clipped his head, leaving him woozy and with a couple of gashes, including one where the rusty nail had skidded through part of his scalp. Archie fell to the ground, wanting to cry but feeling so disoriented from the impact that it didn’t even occur to him to, while Maeve shrieked and went running off to get the doctor.

                                Alone and in a daze Archie thought he was hearing strange birds in the orchard, making trilling combinations of honks and squawks and chirps, before opening his eyes to see what looked like an animate fruit with concerned eyes staring at him, hopping up and down near his head on spindly legs. Though it hurt him to do it, he turned his head toward the sounds to see several more of them surrounding him, making their high-pitched squonk noises. When Maeve, the doctor, and his grandfather arrived to the orchard, the little creatures were still there, and Archie asked if they saw them. Maeve shook her head, and the doctor fretted about Archie hallucinating from the impact before his grandfather simply told him, “they’re the Junimos.” The doctor, still fretting, also looked unimpressed at the old man humouring his grandson on that score as he disinfected the wound. The peroxide stung to high heaven, starting Archie properly crying. Against that backdrop of a pain on his head, he hardly noticed the tetanus shot that was to follow.

                                Later his grandfather explained the Junimos to him but what they were, and their story, remained faded from his memory.

                                “Wait. Yes, sort of,” he finally continued, explaining what little he recollected.

                                “That’s exactly the story he told us.” Lewis said.

                                “So he actually saw them too?” Archie asked.

                                “Who knows? He could have been humouring you.” Lewis suggested.

                                “I very much doubt that was the case,” Linus told Lewis. “He always said that one of his grandchildren had a soul for the Valley.” Turning to address Archie directly, he told him “I think you’re him and I suspected that that’s the reason why.”

                                “That sounds a bit naïve to me,” Lewis replied gently, “but stranger things have happened than people saying they’ve seen Junimos.”

                                “And if they look after our town, what does it matter if we see them or not?” Linus added.

                                “Should I be worried that I haven’t seen them since?” Archie asked.

                                Linus shrugged. “I don’t know, but what I think Lewis was driving at with the whole Flower Dance reaction is that you might be justified in being worried if you don’t see them soon.”

                                Lewis nodded. “Meet me at my house at sunrise tomorrow, Archie. We’ll see if we can’t placate them after our disharmonious Flower Dance. And, for starters, I’m sorry for berating you.”

                                Archie chose to forgo the handshake Lewis offered and pulled him in for a hug. “Apology accepted, and I you.”

                                “I’m glad you’ve made some friends here, Archie, go run along and enjoy the rest of the festival day with them.”

                                “Will do. Cheers, gents.” He offered in return, as he jogged off toward Emily’s. This was going to be a story, if he could figure out how he’d even begin to tell it.



                                This chapter, I wanted to try to expand on the Junimos and what them A ) existing and B ) being part of the local folklore means, as well as give a bit more insight into what Archie's grandfather was like and the 'mystery' of why he got the farm aside from pure plot contrivance.

                                Risukage helped with some of the brainstorming around the specifics of the Flower Dance. Thanks!
                                 
                                  Last edited: Aug 26, 2016
                                • Risukage

                                  Risukage Giant Laser Beams

                                  Getting a kick out of the backstory and family lineage here. Archie has a lot more connecting him to this place than it initially appeared, and I'm keen to see how strong this link is. Also, get rekt, bro! Lachlan the hero!
                                   
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                                  • Kid Absurdity

                                    Kid Absurdity Big Damn Hero

                                    Archie gets his short temper from that side of the family, but sucks considerably more in punch-ups than Gramps.
                                     
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                                    • Gabaw

                                      Gabaw Spaceman Spiff

                                      One day Archie will hit like a truck and make Gramps proud! For now he may have to suspend his disbelief and start looking for bouncy little skittle things in the forest that may or may not exist :rofl:
                                       
                                      • Risukage

                                        Risukage Giant Laser Beams

                                        "Hey, tell me, you've seen them, too, right? Junimos? The little apple-looking dudes?"

                                        "...I didn't know you were distilling moonshine out there. Does Lewis know about this?..."
                                         
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                                        • Kid Absurdity

                                          Kid Absurdity Big Damn Hero

                                          The point where I will diverge from ConcernedApe is that my farmer will be capable of acquiring a still. There's whiskey to be made!
                                           
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