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Post by Seek on Aug 13, 2017 5:07:46 GMT 10
Series: Mountains and Rivers Title: Mountains and Rivers Rating: G Event: Sharp Shooting Words: 200 words Summary: Neal and Kel are studying together. Neal is curious about Yamani art. Note: This takes place in a reversal AU where: A) Kel disguises herself as a boy to win her shield, and B) deals with the events of Alanna's day, e.g. the Tusaine War and Duke Roger's scheming. Alanna and co. have not yet been born.
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Kel finished the last of their mathematics homework, only to discover that Neal had not made any progress at all. Instead, he was staring at a silk painting hanging on the far wall.
“Why all the rivers and mountains?” Neal asked, abruptly. He swept out a hand, indicating all the silk-and-scroll paintings Kel had hung all over, and narrowly missed knocking over his ink bottle. “They’re in practically every painting.”
Kel reached over and rescued his ink bottle before it could ruin hours of study. “Most of the Islands are mountains and rivers,” she said, quietly. “And to the Yamani, mountains and rivers signify divine harmony.”
Neal frowned. “How?”
“The mountain,” Kel recited, “Stands for Hoki, the goddess of protection and of duty. The river is the symbol of Haku, the god of success and prosperity and joy. Hoki and Haku are the Divine Twins. It’s considered lucky to paint them together.”
Neal nodded, wisely. “Good thing you’ve got so many of them,” he commented. “Judging from the amount of trouble you attract, you need all the luck you can get.”
“Finish your homework,” came Kel’s reply. “Otherwise, all the paintings in the Islands won’t save you from Master Bevil.”
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Post by mistrali on Aug 13, 2017 18:19:52 GMT 10
I enjoyed this. Liked the mountain-and-river contrast/theme - two logical things for Kel, of all people (with her water-and-stone meditations throughout canon) to be fixated upon. I especially liked the idea of the mountain being a goddess. And Neal as a force of... shall we say, disruption. Neal, naturally, is more curious about things he's not meant to be bothering with. Nit, but I wonder how Kel affords (or is allowed) all these silk paintings. Perhaps they're heirlooms, or presents, or not very expensive?
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Post by Seek on Aug 13, 2017 21:23:11 GMT 10
Thanks, mistrali! Good point! I had actually imagined just one or two silk paintings in her collection and the rest of them being paper scrolls (Hence the reference to silk-and-scroll paintings.) When I went through POTS briefly, I noticed reference to Yamani silk paintings (Kel has one of two Yamanis dueling with glaives), so I tried to assume that given the vague Japan motif, they probably also did work on scrolls/rice-paper? (TBH, I'm not really sure how she gets art in the first place since that has to be pretty expensive, but for this AU, I previously wrote a scene where Cricket drags Kel down to all those bargain flea-markets on an expedition/adventure, and that's where Kel picks up a number of decidedly-strange acquisitions!)
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Post by mistrali on Aug 13, 2017 22:09:14 GMT 10
Seek Ah, okay, I missed that on first read. Hah, I'd like to read that, please, if you're willing to post it.
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Post by Seek on Aug 13, 2017 23:56:44 GMT 10
Seek Ah, okay, I missed that on first read. Hah, I'd like to read that, please, if you're willing to post it. Will do eventually! I'm trying to put the entire AU in the form of a longfic, but if it doesn't work out, I'll probably find a way to work that segment into a MPP!
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Post by mistrali on Aug 14, 2017 7:08:19 GMT 10
Seek Ah, okay, I missed that on first read. Hah, I'd like to read that, please, if you're willing to post it. Will do eventually! I'm trying to put the entire AU in the form of a longfic, but if it doesn't work out, I'll probably find a way to work that segment into a MPP! Cheers!
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Post by Rosie on Aug 15, 2017 1:33:38 GMT 10
Series: Mountains and Rivers Neal nodded, wisely. “Good thing you’ve got so many of them,” he commented. “Judging from the amount of trouble you attract, you need all the luck you can get.” “Finish your homework,” came Kel’s reply. “Otherwise, all the paintings in the Islands won’t save you from Master Bevil.” Hahaha!! I love that Kel's Yamani influences still shine through, and I really like how much you packed into the drabble - it actually feels like a fully-fledged scene.
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Post by Lisa on Aug 17, 2017 8:01:00 GMT 10
Oooh, I recognize the Haku/river god reference. Does Hoki have a real life parallel, as well? I love this because it has the flavor of both PotS and SotL at once, which I think is the ultimate challenge of a crossover like this!
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Post by Seek on Aug 30, 2017 6:47:35 GMT 10
Oooh, I recognize the Haku/river god reference. Does Hoki have a real life parallel, as well? I love this because it has the flavor of both PotS and SotL at once, which I think is the ultimate challenge of a crossover like this! Studio Ghibli for the win! Hoki, no, I just wanted something that sounded similar since it was the Divine Twins, so I ran down a list of Japanese female names until I found Hoki. Thanks!
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