[Swan household on the Redfeather commune. Flannery sits on her bed in her room, darkened by sunblocking curtains as a storm rages outside, playing on her lute.]
Flannery: 🎵 A pox on Zeus, for canceling mine LARP this day — 🎵
[Lightning strikes close by, making her jump from the loud boom of the thunder. Outside, she hears Gilda]
Gilda: “WOAH! What the fu — I better get inside!”
Flannery: “Heheh, loser.” [feels heartbeat] “That was scary.” [beat] “Pox on Zeus!” [goes back to playing]
[Meanwhile, in the kitchen, the rest of the Swan family are storing herbs. The elder sister Whitney and younger brother Kelsey sort them into trays, the patriarch Morgan fills jars with water and puts the herbs in them, and the matriarch Parker puts the jars in the freezer. They react to the lightning]
Morgan: “Yikes, that was a close one!” [to elder daughter Whitney and son Kelsey] “See, kids? That’s why you don’t play in the rain. You never know how close that lightning’ll be.”
Whitney, Kelsey: “Yes, dad.”
Morgan: “Actually, Whit, can you go check on your sister? Just make sure the curtains didn’t fail.”
Whitney: “On it.” [leaves to check on Flannery]
Kelsey: “Dad?”
Morgan: “Yes, Kel?”
Kelsey: “Why do we grow these plant things? Why not carrots or potatoes, why these things?” [Morgan pauses] “And why do you say that Flannery needs them?”
Morgan: “I… haven’t told you before?”
[Morgan looks over at his wife, Parker, as she closes the fridge door]
Parker: “They’re not just plants, Kelsey. They’re called ‘herbs’.” [picks up a tray of an herb bearing white flowers] “This one specifically is what we use to treat your sister.”
Kelsey: “Oh, so that’s why you’re always talking about fall-rain.”
Parker: “Valerian.” [beats] “It’s what’s called a sedative, it relaxes the ner –” [doorbell rings] “Come in!”
[the door opens, and into the house walks Flannery’s macropodine friend, Melba Fremantle. She smiles as she walks in. Then again, she’s a quokka. So she rarely doesn’t smile]
Melba: “G’day, Swans! That was a frightnin’ bit of lightnin’, wasn’t it?” [shakes off the rain]
Parker: “Oh, hi, Melba. Always nice to have you around.”
Melba: “I take it Flan’s feelin’ a bit sour ’bout our LARPin’ session gettin’ canned by the rain. Figured I’d come over and cheer ‘er up.”
Parker: “Oh. Well, she’s in her room right now. Enter quickly before –” [lightning strikes again] “You let any of the light from the lightning in.” [the thunder rumbles outside] “That was more ominous than I intended.”
[Melba goes over to Flannery’s bedroom door and knocks]
Melba: “Flan? It’s Melba, I’m comin’ in.” [Whitney opens the door] “Whitney.”
[Whitney quickly rushes off. Melba closes the door just in time to avoid the light of the lightning to enter Flannery’s room. Flannery stops playing her lute as she looks at Melba]
Flannery: “Greetings, Melba of Fremantle House.”
Melba: “And, uh, greetin’s to you too! Flannery of… Swan House.”
Flannery: “You actually came through the rain?”
Melba: “But of course! I figured if we can’t LARP today, you’d at least want company from me.”
Flannery: [beat] “Well, I would, since you ask.” [sets lute on a hook on the wall as Melba jumps onto the bed with her] “You’re one of the few ines in this world I actually enjoy being around. Let alone tolerate.” [points in the direction of the Grime/Griswold household]
Melba: [ruffles Flannery’s hair] “So, uh, what would you like to do to pass the time? Tarot, palm readin’, 8-ball?”
Flannery: “Tarot. Celtic style.”
Melba: “Crikey, we’re goin’ hardcore, I see!” [pulls out tarot card deck and shuffles it around]
Flannery: “You’ve got both major and minor arcana there, right?”
Melba: “Well, of course! What good’s a Celtic tarot readin’ if you don’t do it right? Plus I thought we could play go fish. More fun with an extra book to go after.” [beat] “So, before I lay the cards down, what would you like answered?”
[Flannery fantasizes about serenading Wendy with a song on her lute, and Gilda watching in dismay as Wendy kisses Flannery, and they walk off hand-in-hand. We then focus back on reality]
Melba: “Well? What would you like answered?”
Flannery: “Will I win over, the ine of my dreams?”
Melba: “Ooh, romantic!”
[Melba sets ten of the cards down in the Celtic cross orientation. Flannery watches in anticipation as the first card is flipped over]
Melba: “In the present, we have the star. Which means you hope for something, possibly feelin’ discouraged ’cause you think it’s unobtainable. Which leads us to your problem.” [flips over second card, the problem] “The king of wands. Perhaps you feel that your pursuit to win over this ine is overbearin’.”
Flannery: “I do. There is… somebody in the way.” [under breath] “Gilda.”
Melba: [flips over the third card, the past] “Wheel! Of! Fortune! This could mean your bad luck in the past. Perhaps you bein’ born the… way you were. Or maybe, in terms of this ine you’re after, they didn’t realize you loved ’em when you tried to tell ’em.”
Flannery: “Could it be both?”
Melba: “Very well could be. Card number four, the future.” [flips it over] “Three of swords. Your pursuit will likely end in heartbreak.”
Flannery: [scowling] <You better mean heartbreak for Gilda.>
Melba: [flips over card number five, conscious] “Nine of cups. Likely, you are dissatisfied. Either with this ine not noticing your feelings, or even with the results of this readin’ so far. Or with the obstacle in your way, the ‘somebody’ you described a second ago.”
Flannery: “Could it be all of the above?”
Melba: “Could very well be. Let’s see the unconscious.” [flips over the sixth card] “Eight of pentacles. You must have high standards. Perhaps this ine meets ’em for you. Your influence is described by…” [flips over card number seven] “The five of wands. You must have some rivalry goin’ on.”
Flannery: [goes big-eyed] “Yes, actually. Yes, I do have a rivalry going on.”
Melba: “Mm-hmm. My cards are workin’, alright. The card that describes your external influence is…” [flips over the eighth card] “The hierophant. You’re probably seen as a conformist, or you live under a lot of rules.”
Flannery: “Strict enough rules that…” [gestures to her entire room] “…I can’t even leave my room during a storm. Of course, it’s for my health, but it’s rules nonetheless. And my rival sees me as a prude. Because of the rules I have to follow.”
Melba: [flips over ninth card] “King of pentacles. You seek security, possibly emotional, financial, or both.”
Flannery: “Don’t we all?”
Melba: “Well, the card also means you could be greedy. Or seeking to avoid feeling greedy. Let’s see what the outcome is.”
[Melba slowly reaches over to flip over the final card. Flannery takes a deep breath as she watches Melba flip the card over]
Melba: [flatly, ominously] “Ten of swords.”
Flannery: “What does that mean?”
Melba: “It means it ain’t gonna end well and you oughta stop this pursuit. Either for your sake or your rival’s.”
Flannery: [long pause. Her face slowly forms a frown] “Huh.”
Melba: [shuffles the cards back into the deck] “Take it or leave it, Flan. In my experience, the cards know what they’re talkin’ about.”
[Flannery fantasizes once again about Gilda. This time, she imagines her crying like a cartoon character, complete with tears launching out of her eyes like a fountain. Her tears quickly flood the entire scene, and she is forced to tread water. Gilda eventually grabs hold of a golden wall and looks out. We pull out to reveal a scene resembling the Page of Cups card, with a giant Flannery, dressed in her bard outfit, holding the goblet Gilda is revealed to be swimming in. Flannery drinks out of said goblet, swallowing Gilda whole, and burps. Focus back on reality]
Flannery: [smirks deviously] “Right.” [looks at Melba] “Well, thanks for that reading.”
Melba: “Thanks for choosin’ it!” [hugs Flannery. Flannery’s smile turns more sincere as she hugs back] “If you like, I can teach you to do your own readin’ sometime.”
Flannery: “Nah. No way I’d be as good as you at that stuff.”
Hey, look at that! I managed to carry my New Year’s resolution all the way into the fourth quarter of the year. I’m in the home stretch now! This month, I decided to make an artwork and write a ficlet, inspired by National Grouch Day, featuring Gilda’s grouchy rival, Flannery Swan.
Even grouches deserve to be happy, though. Happy in their own way. Which is why I decided now was a good time to give Flannery a friend of her own! Well, friends. Plural. I have a plan for her to have five friends. But the closest of the five, is this macropodine character, Melba Fremantle.
Melba is a quokka, a marsupial whose wild counterpart is known for having a perpetual smile. Fittingly, Melba has a bubbly personality, contrasting with Flannery’s grouchiness. Her RPG character is a healer, I imagine specifically a shajill. You know, like a shaman. But a jill. Because female marsupials are called jills. Sha-jill. In terms of Final Fantasy classes, Melba’s would be most like the white mage. Outside of RPGs, Melba likes fortune-telling, as described in the ficlet above. She’s always open to reading fortunes upon request from others, and often reads her own when she feels like it. Some say she’s crazy, but it works for her, and seems to work for her friends as well.
Also, I don’t know how well I communicated it in the ficlet, but yes, Melba is supposed to speak with an Australian/Ausnailian accent. That’s another contrast between Flannery and Melba; whereas Flannery is a Virginia opossum (one of few marsupial species found outside Australia), quokkas such as Melba, are one of the more obscure species, and of course found only in Australia. So I figured it’d make sense that Melba have the accent to go with her species.
Sorry I’ve not had much to say in these descriptions lately. Video production takes up a lot of my creative energy. You’ve no idea unless you get into editing yourself. But anyways, time for me to fly off. Until next time, take care, stay safe, be good to each other, support an Asimovian amendment for AI, and have a good one.
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Grunvale/OTOG is owned by me. You’re free to draw fanart or write fanfics of it, as long as you credit me as the creator of the series.
This artwork was made at a resolution of 5076×2160 (aspect ratio 2.35:1).
The Gallery of Stormy Adler 