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Post by devilinthedetails on Jul 30, 2020 7:00:10 GMT 10
Series: Free Spirit
Title: Shaking Laughter
Rating: PG for reference to violence.
Event: Fun in the Sun-Making a Splash
Words: 200
Summary: Lianne and Alan make a splash over a hapless guard.
Shaking Laughter
The sun blazed in the late July sky as Lianne and Alan stood on the ramparts of Pirate’s Swoop castle. Faces to the Emerald Ocean, their hair—Alan’s a gleaming copper-gold and Lianne’s a burning coal black— flapped and nostrils twitched in the briny breeze scented with salt and seaweed.
“That guard looks hot.” Alan pointed at a sentry pacing the courtyard below.
“It must be very hot with the sun shining off that stuffy armor,” agreed Lianne, the very portrait of innocent concern.
“We could cool him down.” Alan tossed an overflowing bucket of water over the battlements, drenching the guard with a satisfying splash.
Ducking behind the stone wall with Alan, Lianne giggled into her dress sleeve as the soaked soldier waved a fist, bellowing an oath to box the ears of whoever had made it rain on him.
Despite this shouted threat, Lianne wasn’t rattled, shaking only with amusement, not fear. A common solider would never dare to lay a hand on a princess of royal blood. She’d tell him so—sticking out her pink tongue as she offered this brave, unflinching proclamation—if he dared to track her by the muffled sound of her laughter.
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Post by Tamari on Jul 30, 2020 13:07:07 GMT 10
This is fun! I love the mischievous side you've given Lianne and her relationship with Alan. I can't wait to see more of this!
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Post by mistrali on Jul 30, 2020 16:02:27 GMT 10
The poor soldier! A nice lighthearted ficlet for these two. Alan, especially, seems to like pranks as much as his sister, and I like the relationship between him and Lianne.
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Post by Rosie on Jul 30, 2020 20:56:09 GMT 10
I can really feel the arrogance of Jon in her here, with the "never dare" line - a nice touch because I think the inclination is to have Lianne be as sweet-natured as her namesake. I like that it doesn't quite seem to be the case here. Her camaraderie with Alan is also really enjoyable to read about, I like the idea that they are good friends.
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Post by devilinthedetails on Jul 31, 2020 6:27:23 GMT 10
Tamari , thank you so much for commenting! This piece was truly a joy for me to write since it was just so light-hearted and filled with that childish sense of pranking, so I'm happy you found it fun to read. I really enjoyed exploring this mischievous side to Lianne and her childhood friendship with Alan. More of Lianne's mischievous side will probably show in future stories as I continue to focus on her, and Alan should also make some more appearances as her relationship with him continues to evolve, which should be interesting to write and hopefully to read. mistrali , thank you so much for commenting! I did also find myself feeling sorry for the poor drenched soldier as I wrote this, and I can't blame him at all for getting mad at whoever soaked him, ha ha. It was nice to be able to write this sort of light-hearted little ficlet and to show Alan as a young troublemaker. The relationship between him and Lianne was really cute for me to write so I'm so glad you enjoyed it. Rosie, thank you so much for commenting! Yes, I think Lianne did inherit some of the arrogance of a young Jon with her "never dare" line which sort of made me smile to myself as I wrote it. I admit that I often make Lianne just a purely sweet creature, and while I like the idea of a sweet Lianne, I decided that I'd also like to explore other aspects and angles of her in these series about her so I'm trying to show some of her mischief and arrogance with maybe some hints of sweetness as well. I just want to embrace these stories as a chance to flesh her out more completely and in more detail than I ever have before. The Conte kids who aren't Kally or Roald are pretty much blank slates as far as the book canon is concerned, so I figure I should take advantage of the opportunity to get really creative and original here. So hopefully that creativity and originality goes well...
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Post by Rosie on Jul 31, 2020 19:05:12 GMT 10
Oh, I am more than guilty of making Lianne sweet-natured myself, I just appreciate the diversion, and I think it's great you're exploring that here!
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