Clarisse McClellan's Daughter

The seasonsofdrabbles signup always intimidates me, and I'm not kidding when I say it often takes me longer to fill out the signup than it does to write the eventually-associated drabble(s)! It's that 3 to 10 fandoms on either side of the metaphorical scale thing.

Did anybody else spot spring_renewal going live? Yay! I'd almost forgotten about that.

I haven't managed to write too much over at 3SF yet this year, mainly because I'm afraid people will get sick of my turning color prompts into Xanadu scribbling, but here are a couple ficlets.

First, decolonizing the heck out of Harry Potter, because JKR's take on, especially, the magical school, singular, in Africa (seriously, one, for the whole entire continent, excuse me?!) really got up my nose. The prompt was other magical schools.

These Hallowed Halls (450 words) by Chanter
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Additional Tags: Worldbuilding, historical references everywhere, decolonizing the wizarding world, referenced colonialism, 3 Sentence Fiction
Summary:

There are other magical schools than those commonly talked or written about in wizarding Britain or France. Not one of them, shockingly enough, is an anemic imitation of Hogwarts or Beaubatons.

And second, some wholesome cuteness. The prompt was dog statues turned gold from being pet so much. I took a magical tack, and yes, I have absolutely pet a statue's ears before. Pardon my crummy title; I was riffing off my imagined response to people who might say petting statues is strange.

More Common Than One Might Think (212 words) by Chanter
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Original Work
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Additional Tags: Magic, benevolent spellwork, cuteness, friendly dogs are friendly, 3 Sentence Fiction
Summary:

The spell is reasonably subtle as far as it goes, but that does not mean invisible.

This might qualify as part of the longer post I still need to write? ... Anyway. :P In the absence of that longer post, these are a few of the best quotes from the recent trip south of the border, context included.

"¿Como se gira¿" Translation: How do you turn this thing?! Our shuttle driver, in exasperated reference to getting a van pulling a large bicycle trailer around a hairpin bend in a Puerto Morelos road. I understood him, my mother did not. We did eventually make the turn, after several minutes futzing, with guidance from someone outside. Whew!

"Necesito cafe en la mañana. ¡Sin cafe, estoy un zombie¡" Me, with feeling, to a kind member of waitstaff on the last morning out, after thanking her for the cup of coffee she'd just handed me. She got a chuckle out of it.

"¡Mierda¡ And that happens!" Me, after putting a foot through the gap between two boards of a wooden pier in Puerto Morelos and, fortunately, avoiding worse folly by sitting down hard. There were a few spaces between planks, and my feet were just small enough to find them if I was stepping sideways, which I then avoided doing, once I'd extracted my foot/ankle from the gap and stood back up. The entire sentence didn't come out in Spanish, just the reflexive swear word. Whoops.

"We're on a Madison flight, folks!" A masculine-voiced fellow passenger on the last leg of the trip home, drawlingly amused, after approximately a third of the plane (including me) started cheering at a Packers score vs San Francisco. Alas, by the time we were a little ways in the air, that worm had turned. Dammit.

( Cut for Covid talk, all of it good news. )

I'm not leaving quarantine until at least Sunday, but I am definitely on the slow but steady mend here. :)

I really, really wish there were still a list kept of unfilled threesentenceficathon prompts. I know conuly curated it for a long time, but I don't believe that's the case anymore, and I can't randomly go over to her journal and ask her to take it up again or something, yeesh.

This wish brought to you by tripping over a prompt that felt like an electrical shock. Ow! :( And then a second, which added to the ow. Ow!

Edited to add: Day brightened by conuly in comments.

This time tomorrow, I'll be out of the country (!!!) on vacation. I'm heading for Cancún, México with a few family members. There's going to be cycling, cultural exploration (I refuse to be the typical American tourist with this, truly) and at least one visit to an actual ocean. That last will be a first.

¿Buena suerte para mi, por favor¿ Mi español es muy malo ahora, pero no estoy visitando una país diferente y pensando todos las personas necesitan hablar inglés.

Yes, I'm bringing a radio. There's so very going to be a bandscan or two while I have the chance, AM, FM, shortwave, the lot.

Watch, I come home with souvenirs, but they're a piece of loose coral I find while swimming in the ocean, a tropical bird feather, and a handful of albums from a tiny record shop I stumble across in Puerto Morelos. :) I'd say a seed packet or two as well, but nothing from that hardiness zone could possibly grow here in the land of snow and frozen iron ground.

Eeeee! :D

If my sister has her baby while we're there, I am going to a) laugh my tail off, and b) squee.

This year's threesentenceficathon does! :D

It just so happens we're going to be walloped by a snowstorm tonight and tomorrow, and work closes at 1 on Fridays. Guess who'll have all afternoon and evening to write up a storm? This long-haired lass right here. :)