#chasing gold zine

[laurasimonsdaughter]

A wild (mother) goose chase for a lost fairy tale

In august 2020 Forbes published an article about how writer and illustrator Pete Jordi Wood had uncovered a “charming gay fairytale” that “has been lost for 200 years”. In particular a story where a sailor wins the hand in marriage of a handsome prince. Wood is quoted as calling it an “unbelievably and fabulously gay” plot, and: “an ancient tale with a positive portrayal, of a guy who can be read as gay or asexual, but certainly queer”.

Obviously I was wild to read it, but sadly Wood’s adaptation of the fairy tale had been published as a limited edition children’s book and virtual exhibition that I could not access. Even more disheartening, the folklore sources were not named on his website, and his research was only available in a limited edition essay collection and zine that I would have to buy.

To make matters worse, the Forbes article said that Wood had translated variations of the story from Danish, German and Frisian. That was absolutely too close to home for me not to go looking for it! Except I had very little to go on, because again, Forbes didn’t give sources.

The article said only this:

Wood called the story “The Dog And The Sailor”

The protagonist is an adventurous sailor with an overprotective mother who defeats a beautiful evil witch and wins the hand in marriage of a handsome prince.

Wood found it in the Stith Thompson’s six-volume Motif-Index of Folk-Literature under a tale type called “The Dog and the Sea” which existed in multiple languages (Danish, German, Frisian and others), but not in English.

It was first written down in the 1800’s.

I could find only one mention online with more information, on the Simmons University website:

“Originally a Danish folktale documented by the folklorists Nikolaj Christensen and Jens Kamp, this story has been translated into English for the first time by Pete Jordi Wood.”

The consequence of all this is that I have been hunting for this fairy tale for a very long time and with the help of two amazing Danish followers and a lot of frantic internet searches, I’m finally convinced that I have! So, if you want to follow me into my obsession, you can find it all under the readmore.

Of course the first thing I did was try to find this tale type “The Dog and the Sea” in the Stith Thompson Motif-Index, but it was a dead end. I couldn’t find any fairy tale called “The Dog and the Sea” or “The Dog and the Sailor” anywhere. What I was able to find was a podcast called “There’s a Story for That” that gave a recap and review of Wood’s “The Dog and the Sailor”. So now at least I knew the full outline of the story:

A beautiful, evil witch curses a faraway tropical kingdom, charming everyone into submission, transforming them into animals and sinking the kingdom to the bottom of the ocean.

An English boy called Ruan wants to become a sailor and his protective mother eventually lets him go after he fails at being a tailor.

She gives him her life savings, a medical balm and a dagger.

Ruan joins a sailing crew, shipwrecks in a storm and washes up on the shores of France.

When his money runs out he gets so desperate that he contemplates walking into the sea, but at that moment a curly haired dog emerges from the waves and offers to help him. He fills Ruan’s purse with money and instructs him to pay double for everything he buys.

When he has spent all the money Ruan returns to the dog, gets a thousand gold pieces and is instructed to get a ship and a crew.

They sail off, but the sea witch sends a storm dragon to sink them. The dog defeats the dragon while the crew hides below deck.

They find the dog grievously wounded, but Ruan heals him with his mother’s balm.

The dog tells Ruan to go out in a row boat and jump into the sea, much to the terror of the crew.

Ruan sinks to the sunken kingdom unharmed and the dog leads Ruan to the town, where a beautiful woman (the witch) comes to meet him.

She promises him half of her kingdom if he’ll be her spouse. Ruan refuses and stabs her to death with the dagger. She explodes into dust, leaving behind only a belt with silver keys.

Ruan enters the castle and the dog is already inside to lead him to the dungeon, where they find a caged lion.

The dog instructs Ruan to cut off his head and tail and swap their places. This turns the lion into an old man, the king.

The king praises Ruan for being the only person who managed to resist the witch. All the animals in the castle turn human, including the dog, who is the king’s son.

The king suggests Ruan and his son rule the kingdom together. Ruan wants to accept, but feels he has to return to his mother. So the king gives him a ship full of gold instead. By then the kingdom has risen to the surface again.

Ruan sails back to his mother, who praises him, but tells him to go back to marry his prince.

He returns and marries the handsome prince.

The next step was looking at the mentioned authors, I was lucky enough to come across a book by Stephen Badman, who had translated a large selection of the fairy tales Jens Kamp published in 1879 and 1891 and published them in 2016 under the title “Folk and Fairy Tales from Denmark – Stories collected by Jens Kamp”. I couldn’t be sure that the right story was in there, but it was! The book included a story called David Cotterson (David Husmandssøn), which was clearly Wood’s source, but did have notable differences:

The witch and the kingdom are never mentioned in the beginning.

The hero is called David, his nationality is not given, he has two parents and no parting gifts are mentioned.

He shipwrecks and washes up on the coast of England.

The helpful dog is described as “large, black and shaggy”.

The dog gives David first five hundred ducats, then a thousand ducats, and the third time two thousand ducats and the assignment to have a ship built.

Again the crew hides from a storm and the dog gets injured, but the dog gives David a flask of healing oil to cure him with. It is never said that the witch causes the storm.

The dog warns David explicitly that he will meet a beautiful woman near a golden castle, who would attempt to seduce him, but that if he gives her as much as a kiss all will be lost.

He gives David a sword an instructs him to cut her down, take her keys, and go to the castle where he will be waiting for him.

As soon as he kills the woman he hears his crew shout, because suddenly the land has risen to the surface again.

Only now it is revealed that the woman was an evil witch who had sent the land to the bottom of the sea.

Once transformed back into humans, the dog and lion explain that the evil witch had been the king’s second wife.

The king offers David half the kingdom as a reward, but David wants to go home, so they fill his ship with treasure instead.

David says goodbye to the prince and the king, sails home to England, sells his ship, shares the riches with his crew, returns to his overjoyed parents and settles down with them to live a long, happy life.

I personally really enjoy this folktale. It’s fun and quite unusual. I’ve posted a more complete summary here for extra context. Also, Badman’s translations are very pleasant to read, I really recommend buying this book. Now I’ve read his source, I’m inclined to agree with one part of Wood’s claims, that you could read it as asexual. It’s pretty rare to find a fairy tale like this that doesn’t end in a wedding. But the fact that this Danish tale doesn’t end in a marriage, unlike Wood’s adaptation, does rather dampen the “lost gay fairy tale” claim.

But there are other versions of this story! I thought it might possible that one of the stories might have ended with “rule side by side with my son”, which really would be very easy to read as a “gay marriage without calling it a marriage”. So, I wanted to see if Nikolaj Christensen had also collected a variant. Sadly, Christensen’s work is even more obscure than Kamp’s outside Scandinavia. Again, Stephen Badman has translated some of them, but I had no idea what the folktale would be called and I couldn’t exactly justify buying several books just in the hope that it would be in there.

As far as I could tell, there had been only one complete collection of Christensen’s work: Folkeeventyr fra Kær herred (Folk tales from Kær Herred), by Nikolaj Christensen, published by Laurits Bødker with Akademisk forlag; København (1963-67). The index is available online and it seemed to me that “Matrosen og kongen” (The sailor and the king) or “Et sømandsæventyr” (A sailor tale) had definite potential to be the story I was looking for.

So, I decided to ask my Tumblr dash for Danish help. And let me tell you, the Danes delivered. @violetdesolation messaged me that they had found the book in their university library and kindly offered to send me some scans. They found both “Matrosen og kongen” and “Et sømandsæventyr” for me, but noticed that the book they got didn’t include all the folktales in the index I found. We both looked for a dog that turned into a prince, but found nothing.

But by then a second helpful Dane had gotten their hands on the book and this time it was the complete version! They kindly offered to skim the whole thing for me and just to be sure I gave a whole list of story elements to look out for. And that is how we uncovered that “Et sømandsæventyr” (A sailor tale) was actually the story I was looking for! Only it was just different enough from “David Husmandssøn” that I hadn’t noticed! In this version the protagonist was Dutch instead of English and in the end it never even clearly says that the dog turns into a prince! But it was definitely a variant of the same story. It has many similarities with Kemp’s version, but a few key differences:

The protagonist is called Johan, only his father is mentioned, and they are said to be Dutch.

He shipwrecks and washes up in France, not England.

Johan actually tries to drown himself.

The talking dog is specifically said to be a poodle.

There are a lot of details missing, like the description of the storm that injures the dog or the specific method to transform the lion back into a human.

The witch is described merely as “beautiful” and while she does suggest marriage to Johan it is never said that no one else could resist her or that many have tried.

While the dog does say he is a transformed prince, the story never states that he becomes human again (hence why Violetdesolation and I didn’t find the story on first glance).

This king does not speak and this witch is not revealed to be his second wife.

As a reward Johan may choose between becoming a minister in the saved kingdom’s government or to leave with as much gold as he can carry, he chooses the gold and goes home, but his father is not mentioned again.

If you want to read the full story, you can! You can find the scans of the Danish text that the kind @violetdesolation provided here, and a full English translation can be found here, courtesy of the second Danish folklore sleuth, who preferred to stay anonymous. I also want to give a big shout-out to @ymfingsteadilyon who also offered to get the book from their library.

So now I had confirmation that this was indeed a Danish fairy tale first recorded in the 1800’s, that, while sadly lacking a gay wedding, did definitely invite being read through a queer lens. However, the article had claimed there was also a German and a Frisian version. Which probably meant there was also a Dutch version and I was determined to find it (and see if it ended in marriage).

It was at this point that I finally finally found the tale type with both “dog” and “sea” in it. The correct name wasn’t  “The Dog and the Sea”, it was “The Dog in the Sea”, ATU type 540. To my intense frustration the most complete online ATU index had no examples in that category whatsoever, but at least I knew it existed.

And now I knew the correct name for the tale type, I found this. A German fairy tale encyclopedia from 1990 (the online version was behind a paywall, but I managed to find the book: Enzyklopädie des Märchens, Walter de Gruyter & Co, 1988/1990, ISBN 978-3-11-011763-9) that had a whole entry on this tale type including sources. My German was just good enough to understand these things:

This really was the correct tale type for both Christensen’s and Kamp’s stories and a summary was indeed given in Aarne and Thomson’s folklore classifications.

They presumed that Christensen’s version from 1855 was the oldest.

There were also Swedish and Finnish versions, but these deviated rather a lot from the Danish ones.

There was possibly also a Russian version that might fit this type.

There was also a Dutch version from a publication from 1900/1901.

So, what was this Dutch version they wrote of? The source given was “Huizenga-Onnekes, E. J.: Groninger volksvertellingen 1. Groningen 21958, 60-64; Vk. Tijdschrift voor nederlandsche folklore 13 (1900/1901) 200-202;”, but luckily I didn’t need to go looking for it. Because with the correct tale type I could find it in the Dutch folktale database.

And while it is correct that this story was first published in Dutch the 1900’s, the written source it was based on is from 1804. Which makes the Dutch version the oldest traceable source of this piece of oral folklore! Possibly explaining why Christensen’s version has a Dutch protagonist and why Kamp’s version is the most elaborate, being the most recent one. Because the Dutch version is far shorter and far less interesting:

The protagonist is a skipper who wrecks his ship and washes ashore in great misery.

A black dog comes up to him and offers help, which the skipper accepts despite fearing the dog is the devil.

When the ship is built the dog stays with the skipper so he can pay for everything, including a crew and provisions.

As they sail the dog keeps warning when there is to be a storm. First one that lasts half a day, then three days, then a week.

At last they reach a shore (not underwater) with a golden castle and the dog says it is his father’s castle.

The dog instructs the skipper to spend three nights in the castle and to be silent no matter how bad it gets.

The castle turns out to be haunted and the skipper is horribly tormented, but after the three nights the dog takes the skipper to a room with a large sword and instructs him to behead him.

Doing so turns the dog into a human, who explains that his father had cursed him to become a spectre of a dog.

He rewards the skipper with enough money to last him a lifetime and the skipper leaves with his riches.

This version was written down by 11 year-old Gerrit Arend Arends, who kept a journal around 1804 in which he recorded the stories that seamstress Trijntje “Soldaats” Wijbrands told him. The journal was discovered by his great-great-granddaughter E.J.Huizenga-Onnekes, who eventually published all 17 folktales in: Groninger Volksvertellingen I: Het Boek van Trijntje Soldaats (1928).

The story about the sailor and the enchanted dog is the 15th story in the collection and while it has no name there, I have seen later versions of it called “De dankbare hond” (The grateful dog) and “De hond die geen hond was” (The dog that wasn’t a dog).

So there we are! With a lot of kind help from unexpected places, my honour as a Dutch hobby folklorist is restored. Sadly we were not rewarded with a canon gay wedding from 19th century folklore, but a very good story nonetheless, that is indeed very inviting to read through a queer lens, and a rather triumphant end to a what started as a very wild goose chase.

EDIT: Since writing this, this tale type was added to Wikipedia, with additional interesting references! I wish I had looked for it there again between the beginning and the end of my search, because this took me so long it was published in between.

[bluemoose86]

Piper x Annabeth Snippet

Pairing: Piper McLean/Annabeth Chase

Summary: A fic based off of velinxi’s Young Gods AU. Annabeth meets Nico when Percy and Jason bring him to Olympus for the first time.

I was really inspired by velinxi’s Young Gods/Hades AU when it was coming out. It still has her old designs for Nico and Annabeth, but I’ll change them if I decide to finish this. Also, some things about the characters and their relationships might not fit with the “canon” of the AU since this was written before the zine was released. Check out @velinxi‘s account, and the specific drawing that I referenced in this fic can be found here

Warnings: slight angst? it’s very light, secret(ish) relationship, hurt/comfort? also very light on the hurt, lmk if there’s more

Word Count: 1,929

DISCLAIMER: This is an unfinished fic. I may continue it in the future if the urge hits me, but as of now, I have no plans to do that. Anything written in brackets [like this] is not part of the story itself, but necessary context.

✨Read Below!✨

[Annabeth’s POV. She’s walking and feels a strange, chilling aura when she walks by the garden where this fic starts. She stops and hears Percy and Jason along with an unfamiliar third voice, so she decides to investigate. She finds Percy and Jason in the garden with Nico, who is visiting Olympus for the first time.]

With a start, Annabeth realized the strange presence she had felt belonged to the small boy between them, who was gazing at his surroundings with wide, dark eyes. He was a head shorter than both Jason and Perseus, and his bone-white skin hugged his gaunt frame until it bled into ink from the middle of his calves down to his bare feet. A blood-red cape draped over his left shoulder, pinned to his black chiton by a skull, and a wreath of red and gold laurel leaves adorned his curly black hair—a symbol of godhood, though the aura of death and power emanating from him had told Annabeth that much. “Perseus? Jason?” she called across the courtyard.

All three heads jerked up to look at her. The small boy turned, and Annabeth caught sight of a jagged sword hanging from a chain at his hip: black as the depths of Tartarus and glowing an eerie purple. Just as the boy sucked the life from the grass where he stood, his blade sucked the light from the surrounding air. It was unlike any weapon Annabeth had seen before, and it did little to calm her nerves. 

The boy tilted his head. “Percy?” he asked. “Who is that?”

A familiar laugh lilted through the courtyard before Perseus could answer, and Annabeth’s heart fluttered at the sound. “Don’t you know, little godling?”

Piper’s heady rose perfume enveloped them both as she looped an arm around Annabeth’s waist, drawing her closer until her back pressed against Piper’s front. “Her name is Annabeth!” Piper proclaimed. “Favored daughter of Athena! Warrior-architect of Olympus!” She jabbed a finger at the trio. “And she has never known defeat!”

Annabeth gripped the beak of her mask and tugged it lower on her face. “Gods damn it, Piper,” she muttered through clenched teeth. Her cheeks burned—partly from the grandiose introduction, but mainly because Piper’s hand on her thigh was dangerously close to … well, all of Piper was dangerously close to her. It was best to leave it at that.

From the corner of her eye, Annabeth saw Jason’s face light up. “Pipes!”

Piper lifted her hand from Annabeth’s thigh to wave, mercifully allowing her to breathe again. “Hi, Jason! Hello, Percy!” Piper called. “Who’s your friend?”

The boy raised his hand, a shy half-smile on his lips. “Hello, I’m—“

Perseus slung an arm around the boy’s shoulders and squashed him in a hug, cutting him off. “This is Nico!” Perseus answered as Nico flailed against him. “Me and Jason brought him to visit Olympus for the day.”

Annabeth frowned. Nico was clearly the son of a god—and one who had attained godhood in his own right, it seemed—so he should be living on Olympus just like the rest of them. If that wasn’t the case, where was he from?

Piper didn’t seem bothered by this as she disentangled herself from Annabeth to greet Nico properly, since he had finally managed to free himself from Perseus’s grip. Annabeth’s breath caught in her throat as Piper stepped into the sun. She was always gorgeous, but looking at her now, Annabeth swore she was even more beautiful than her mother (though she knew Lady Aphrodite would curse her if she ever dared to say that out loud). Her russet, reddish-brown skin practically glowed next to Nico’s ghostly pale complexion, and the rose pin in her chestnut hair perfectly complemented her light pink chiton. Her embellished bronze arm cuffs and vambraces glinted when she raised her arms. “Nice to meet you, Nico!” she exclaimed, grasping his hand. The heart-shaped curls at the ends of her hair—a trait she had inherited from her mother—seemed even springier than usual.

Nico shook her hand gingerly. “Nice to meet you too,” he said in a voice as small as his stature. “Piper, right? Percy and Jason told me a lot about you.”

“Likewise,” Piper said, and the sour taste returned to Annabeth’s mouth. If Piper knew about him, why hadn’t she said anything?

She didn’t have time to dwell on it before Piper grabbed her arm and dragged her closer to the group, ignoring her hushed protests. “And as I said before,” Piper continued, “the antisocial one here is Annabeth. She’s practically a genius, but we’re still working on her manners.”

Annabeth threw a glare at her, getting a playful grin in return. She still couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling in her stomach, but she didn’t have much choice now except to try to be friendly. “I apologize, Nico,” she said, extending her hand. “Your visit caught me by surprise. I hope you’re enjoying Olympus so far.”

Nico’s smile was much more confident as he shook Annabeth’s hand. Despite his icy touch and pallid appearance, his dark eyes were surprisingly lively, bright with the curious innocence of a small child. “I am,” he replied eagerly. “It’s beautiful here. I’ve never seen buildings quite so grand.”

Piper chuckled. “You have our resident architect to thank for that,” she said, slipping her arm out of Annabeth’s to set her hand on her waist—thankfully much higher than it had been before. “Annabeth here designed many parts of Olympus, including this very garden.”

“Hey, I didn’t know that!” Perseus exclaimed, whirling around with an apple in his hand. The branch he had plucked it from snapped back into place, scattering leaves into his messy black hair.

“Come on, how could you not know?” Jason asked. “Annabeth modeled it after Lady Aphrodite herself. She walked around Olympus raving about it for about a month.”

“It’s true,” Piper told Nico. “Mom still likes to tell me how impressed she is by Annabeth’s generous gift.”

Piper winked at her, and Annabeth hoped her mask would cover the blush spreading across her face. Back when they’d only been friends, Annabeth had complained to Piper about not having inspiration, and Piper had replied that she should design something after her. She’d been joking, but Annabeth had taken the idea and ran with it. Unfortunately, Lady Aphrodite had been the first to stumble on the completed garden, and she immediately assumed it was an homage to her. Annabeth felt too guilty and valued her life too much to tell her the truth.

Perseus shrugged. “Guess I just forgot.” He opened his mouth to take a bite of the apple, but a sudden gust blew it into Jason’s outstretched hand instead. “Hey!” 

“You snooze, you lose!” Jason crowed, grinning as he held the apple aloft in one hand and pushed Perseus away with the other.

“I wasn’t snoozing, you ass! I was just about to eat it!” Perseus lunged again, but Jason dodged out of the way.

“Then go get another one.”

“You get another one!”

“Why would I do that when I already have this one?”

“Because that one is mine!”

Nico turned to watch them, laughing, but he winced as soon as he faced the back of the garden. He shielded his eyes with his hand even though the sun was hidden behind the clouds.

Annabeth frowned. “Are you all right?”

Nico’s shy smile was back, tinged with embarrassment. “Yes, sorry. I’m not quite used to how bright it is yet. We don’t get a lot of sunlight where I live.”

Jason scoffed, popping up from his scuffle with Perseus. “That’s an understatement.”

Even Piper seemed intrigued now. “What does that mean?” 

Jason frowned, dodging out of the way as Perseus pounced again. “We didn’t tell you?” he asked. “Nico’s lived in the Underworld most of his life. He’s Lord Hades’s son.”

[Bit of a skip here. Annabeth and Piper process this news. Annabeth isn’t sure whether Nico is trustworthy since he’s from the Underworld, and it’s well known that Lord Hades isn’t exactly a fan of Olympus. Eventually, Percy proposes a sparring match between him and Annabeth so they can show off their skills to Nico. Annabeth is hesitant about it until Piper says it’s a good idea; then she agrees because she’s a simp.]

Annabeth strode towards the arena with Piper at her side. The other three lagged behind, laughing and talking about whatever detail Perseus and Jason pointed out to Nico. She would have much preferred for them to be in front so she could keep Nico in her sights, but she also knew that if those three set the pace, the Titans would reawaken before they reached their destination.

Piper poked her arm. “What’s wrong with you?” she asked.

“Nothing.”

“You’re making that face.”

“What face?”

“The ‘I'm-thinking-too-much-again’ face.”

“I’m not making a face, Piper.”

[Small skip again.]

“Piper, when was the last time anyone from Olympus visited the Underworld? Besides Lord Hermes,” she added when Piper opened her mouth. “And until now, when was the last time someone from the Underworld visited Olympus?”

[Percy, Jason, and Nico are busy looking at something, so they’ve stopped walking for now.]

“Why didn’t you tell me about him?” Annabeth asked. She tried to keep her voice from sounding too accusatory, but an edge still slipped past her lips and into her words. 

Piper didn’t seem bothered by it. “Now you just sound jealous,” she teased, a mischievous grin on her lips. “Worried Percy and Jason have replaced you as my favorite?”

Annabeth tried to stay serious even as a hot blush spread across her face. “Piper,” she warned. “Please.” It wasn’t like she was obligated to tell Annabeth everything, but to keep something like this … it stung more than she would like to admit.

Piper’s perfect lips creased into a frown, her ever-changing eyes shifting from hazel to olive green. “All right, all right. Sorry.” She glanced back at where the three boys had stopped, as if checking to see if they were watching, but Annabeth knew they would be too engrossed by their own antics to pay the two of them any attention. “Look, I didn’t know he was Lord Hades’s son,” she continued. “All Percy and Jason told me was that they had found another god who had been born a demigod like us, and they wanted to bring him to visit Olympus. I knew you would be skeptical, so I was going to tell you the day before Nico was supposed to be here. Then, of course, they brought him early.”

Annabeth crossed her arms. “Why wait so long?”

“Because you would have worried, Annabeth. If I’d told you when I first found out, it’s all you would have thought about until he finally got here. Then you probably would have broken his arm as soon as he tried to give you a handshake.” She said the last part with a slight smile, but her eyes were still filled with concern. “I didn’t want to put you through that.”

“That’s not your decision to make, Piper.”

“I know.” Piper gazed into Annabeth’s eyes, grabbing both of her hands and twining their fingers together. “And I’m sorry.”

Annabeth studied her. The earnestness in Piper’s eyes helped ease the barb of pain in her chest, and she knew that Piper only had her best interests at heart. “I know. And I’m sorry, too. For making you think you had to keep this from me. Just ... tell me next time, okay? Please. And I’ll try not to worry as much.”

Piper beamed. “Deal.” She bit her lip shyly, her eyes glowing dusky pink in the light. “Can I kiss you?”

Annabeth’s heart jumped to her throat. She glanced back at the boys, who were still staring at some statue down the hall. In fact, they’d probably forgotten she and Piper were even there. With a small eye roll (though she was grateful for their obliviousness in this particular instance), she nodded to Piper, who pressed their lips together. It was little more than a peck, but it still left Annabeth’s head swimming.

Piper’s cheeks were flushed, and her smile seemed even brighter now. “You’re beautiful,” she murmured, tucking a stray hair behind Annabeth’s ear.

Annabeth was sure her face had to be the same color as Piper’s chiton. “Trying to flatter me into forgiving you?”

“Seems like it’s working,” Piper said with a laugh.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! I really want to finish this at some point, and if I ever do I’ll update it here and post it to AO3 (hopefully). 

[tiggymalvern]

Eight shows to get to know me, tagged by @dreamerinsilico. Only the first couple are in any sort of rational order. 1. Blake's 7. The original disaster crew, in which Blake the idealist wants to take down the fascist dictatorship. Unfortunately he's stuck on a spaceship with a bunch of accidental randos, only some of whom are idealists. The rest of them just want enough money to go and live somewhere the government won't bug them. I was a few weeks short of seven when I started watching it (yes, that was too young) and eleven when it ended. It was the first TV I saw where bad things happened to the protagonists, where they died and it made one hell of an impression. (Also, Servalan gave me the first inklings I was bi.) Since the BBC didn't broadcast a repeat, I didn't see it again until I was nineteen and it got a release on video tape. And it was SO MUCH BETTER even than I'd remembered. All the nuances, all the moral quandries had completely passed me by as a kid. What might you have to do to take down a fascist dictatorship? Where do you draw the line on justifying collateral damage? Then I discovered that there was a fandom for this show, that people wrote fanfics and published them in zines, and the university intranet (there was no internet) had message boards where people TALKED about it. It's not an overstatement to say that it changed the course of my entire life. This show is also probably responsible for my lifelong love of morally grey protagonists who snark at each other. So, that one got long, it always does. Shorter from now on, I promise! (Okay, maybe not that much shorter. How everyone else managed to do this meme without going off about their obsessions, I have no idea.) 2. Due South. My first slash fandom, illustrating my other recurrent fannish addiction, besides the snarky disaster crew - the two people who are odd, who are loners (or who socialise, but have acquaintances, not friends) and then they meet each other and they just fit 💗💗💗 And let's be honest, those two people were usually two men, because of the misogynistic writing for TV shows. 3. Burn Notice. My current snarky disaster crew obsession :-))) 4. Hannibal. Trope number two, the loners who fit, put together in one of the best, most complex TV shows ever written. It doesn't just happen to push my buttons, it's also objectively, amazingly good. The first time you watch it, you love Will Graham and want to squish him and protect him, and then slowly you find out more and more. And then you go back for the first rewatch and you realise that it was there, all the time, so many hints, but it was so carefully done that you just didn't see it. (I have stated before and will again that season two of Hannibal is probably the best single season of any TV show I have ever seen.) 5. Black Sails. Another snarky disaster crew, in which practically everyone is queer (SO many bisexuals, yay!). The first season is not what it became, because the writers started carefully with an action show about pirates chasing gold. And with that success, from season two, they were free to write the show they wanted. A show about idealism and love and rage at the world, in which every character is so well written that each time alliances shift and enemies become friends or friends betray each other, it's justified and it makes sense in terms of their motivations and who they are. 6. Deep Space Nine. The Trek series that changed the franchise. Arc plot! Morally grey characters, hello Garak! A Federation captain who says to hell with the rules, I'm doing what seems right at the time :-) 7. Trigun. I wondered whether to put this one in because I prefer the manga to the anime (the manga's longer, with more complexity, especially in Vash). But it's weird loners who instantly click perfection, with the added twist that one of them was put there to betray the other from the start, and then he can't and the angst is off the scale. 8. Farscape. A snarky disaster crew with the amazing bonus of Aeryn Sun, one of those rare at the time female characters who was as amazing and well written as any of the males. (I haven't watched Farscape in many years. I probably should, I wonder how it's held up?)

As usual, tag yourself if you wish to play :-)

[transformers-mosaic]

Transformers: Mosaic #26 - "Chasing The Cards"

Originally posted on October 28th, 2007

Story, Art - Matt Marshall Colours, Letters - Mark Kuggeleijn

deviantART | Seibertron | TFW2005 | BotTalk

wada sez: This strip is written in verse, in keeping with Wheelie’s iconic speech quirk, though obviously it applies an edgy twist to the character. Daytonus is based on the 2001 Robots on Disguise character, but Mark Kuggeleijn has swapped the toy’s orange for gold—likely as a result of a washed-out photograph of the toy from the old days of the wiki, which can still be seen on the FANDOM wiki! Wheelie snidely notes that “Throttlebots have no feet”, in reference to the original toys’ gimmick-compromised articulation. The playing cards cast Optimus Prime as the King of Diamonds, and Hot Shot as a Jack. This strip, and his later strip “Duel”, were the only strips written by Marshall to be omitted from his later zine collection, Tales From The Matrix Keeper; my assumption is that Marshall was dissatisfied with his own artwork, as that’s the only thing they have in common. See below for Marshall’s original lineart.

[bzedan]

A fun distraction, a fancy bind

A current fun thing:

[ID: Two pamphlet-bound zines, one with a burgundy gradient cover on top, and a teal gradient cover below. There are half-circle cutouts in the covers to show a black and white illustration on the first page, which is of a fuzzy little gremlin thing reading a book. A colour-matching tassel dangles from the bottom of the cutout, and a gold wire scrollwork charm hangs from embroidery floss attached to the top of the book. The cover letters are gold foiled and read: "Helen's Costume x Chase Allgood, 2020-2023." End ID.]

While I was finishing up wrangling together my FFF 2024 faves into a zine, I also laid out the prose (?) Chase had written for Helen's Costume over the past few years. It's dreamy stuff, to fit a dreamy gallery, and it's the primary part of their press releases, which I love. 

[ID: A zine opened to show the first page of a section, headed "Buttercup" in a fat-ended goofy typeface. A gold wire scrollwork charm hanging from embroidery floss rests against the page.  A squiggly seperator brackets smaller text below the header: "March 26th - April 30th, Ralph Pugay, Kristan Kennedy, Annie Costello Brown, Andy Heck Boyd, Dan Attoe." Double-spaced lines of text follow: and if she comes / with her head in her hands / just stay hidden / she offers only one gift / A leap to grab the dog’s collar succeeded only in leaving a perfect flour hand print in his dark fur. / "Buttercup?" his mother asks into the air. With no response, she / continued baking, and the dog continued barking. "Buttercup can you come here and give me a hand?!" She stops her work to pull some stray dog hair from her wrists. "BC where've you gone?" End ID.]

There was a binding technique I wanted to try and three years is enough to make a nice fat little pamphlet, so I bullied them into getting me files to lay out. It's called Button Hole Stitch and the cover cutout is just fun stuff. The little Helen's mascot was a perfect image for the application, I think. Also I got to use some of the foil I have from a few holiday cards ago.

[ID: The spine of a single-signature zine shown with the booklet opened so that the circular cutout in the cover can be easily seen. Falling onto both sides of the exposed first page, centred in the cutout, is a fuzzy little gremlin with a squiggly tail, holding a book in their lap titled "Helen's Costume." End ID.]

My life lately has really just been wrangling together FFF 2024, making this zine, getting very into the biography of a clown, and learning how to play Stardew. Not bad for the start of spring.

First posted on Comradery and Patreon.

[sportsharumaki]

Anyone else misses the World Cup? This is the full piece I did for @yoichasinggoldzine 

You can also read a short comic for this football!AU here. Thank you!

—

Twitter  //  Art tag  //  Ko-fi

[tinikois]

Hey everyone! Here’s all the art I made for the Chasing Gold zine (@yoichasinggoldzine)! The first one is the zine’s cover, second is one of the prints, and the last is art for one of the inside pages. Everyone did an amazing job, and I’m so glad that I was able to be a part of this amazing project!

[crimson-chains]

A preview for my piece in the @yoichasinggoldzine ^w^ ARCHERY YURI! Check out the zine for other great works~ <3

[n3rdlif343va]

Pre-orders are closing soon for the @yoichasinggoldzine!! In order to get your physical zine and merch, you need to hurry!! PDF orders will open tomorrow, but merch and physical zine orders close TONIGHT!! 

To catch up on my Paralympic AU, please check out the series on Ao3: Nerd's Chasing Gold Zine Story

Thank you to the amazing @bichiiart for this beautiful art of parathletes Minami and Yuri!! 

And in honor of the pre-orders closing, here is a preview of my zine piece!! 

Everything went white. Yuri had seen Minami begin to slow down, and he had taken the opportunity to speed up. His leg had protested the increased speed, but Yuri had forced the resistance away. He could recover once he held the gold. The pain was instantaneous, stealing the breath from his lungs and knocking him forward toward the ground, his vision blanking as all his hard work vanished into nothingness.

GET YOUR ZINE TODAY!!

[elle-chat]

@yoichasinggoldzine Just Arrived! Looks to be in good condition, looking forward to everything!!🎉

[genuine-firefly]

Zine: “Chasing Gold” @yoichasinggoldzine Swag: Gold bundle (1 zine, 3 double sided charms, 4 postcards, 3 sticker sheets, 2 double sided posters) Date: July 5, 2018 My zine actually got lost at my parent’s house for the past month and a half (a lot of people live there. Things get buried). It’s a good thing it came in a very shiny gold package. 😂 So excited to finally get this zine in! It’s huge! Love all the items that came in this bundle. 💕

[sweetnessnarose]

Here a preview for my drawing for @yoichasinggoldzine ! I am so excited for everyone to be able to see this zine, everyone is so talented and it is going to be so good.

[rainyteawrites]

Chasing Gold preview

Here’s a preview for my @yoichasinggoldzine piece, “Starting With Your Heart, Bright Heart”:

Victor grips the flag in his hands a little tighter, lifts it a little higher. The cheers echoing around the stadium are loud, so loud. He’s proud to represent his country, proud to carry the flag of Russia. Still, he wishes he could be with Yuuri instead.

This will be his last competition. He’d made the decision months ago to not participate in Worlds this year. He still loves skating, but he knows his body won’t hold up much longer. He’d been sure that the games four years ago were his last; maybe win a few more Worlds and Grand Prix gold medals after that and then leave his empty life as a skater behind for an even emptier retirement.

But then Yuuri had come into his life and changed everything. Yuuri is the reason he’s here. Yuuri has given him life and love, re-ignited the joy in competition he once had.

Victor smiles for the camera, a smile full of love and happiness because he knows Yuuri is watching.

Preorders start on February 9th! You can check out the bundles available here.

[yoichasinggoldzine]

CHASING GOLD zine proof is here! 

while we want to provide your goods as soon as we can we also want to ensure the quality, so we are going to carefully comb through each page before we send our approval to the printer! 

it looks and feels really really good though!

[yoyoplisetsky]

a small preview for my fic for @yoichasinggoldzine. the zine has so many amazing pieces in it, please please check it out <33 pre-orders are open here!! i am incredibly hype for this zine, guys!!

[lnc2]

this time next year

Summary: Marinette is worried about the future. Adrien wants to know where he fits into it.

A/N: This piece was written for the @mlwriterzine and I’m so excited to finally share this with you!  I hope you enjoy it and also go check out the zine because there are so many amazing stories/art pieces collected there.

AO3

The party was well underway by the time Adrien knocked on Nino’s door. Alya was the one who answered, half of her face obscured by gold tin foil pinned to a green beret.

“Speak of the devil,” she grinned, leaning heavily on the door frame.

Adrien bussed her cheek and passed over the bottle of rosé he’d swiped from his father’s wine cellar. “Sorry, Alya. The show ran late. You know how those things go.”

She waved him in, whistling at the bottle in her hands, and shook her head. “Thankfully I don’t. Everyone’s in the living room.”

Adrien followed her into the kitchen instead, eyes straying over the tipsy, crowded apartment. Back against the wall, where Nino’s faded and cracked leather couch usually sat, was a long table covered in gold plastic sheeting. Green and gold hats of various styles were littered across, as well as glitter, rhinestones, netting, feathers, and any other number of crafting materials.

He smiled. “I see you’ve all started without me.”

“Naturally,” Alya said, putting his gift in the fridge to chill. “You’re several drinks behind us now, Agreste. Pick your poison.” She gestured to the half-empty bottles of liquor scattered across the bar.

“No tequila?”

She snorted. “You’ll have to track down Marinette for that one. She ran off with the bottle half an hour ago.”

Something warm filled his chest. “A cup of ice and a lime then.”

“Good luck with that,” Alya said, bumping his shoulder as she passed him the glass. Adrien laughed as he followed her into the living room, his smile widening as he spotted Kagami fussing with the green flowers on her gold newspaper hat.

“I’m not sure how I feel about this.”

Alya batted her hand away. “It’s tradition!”

She pressed her lips together. “It’s archaic.”

“Boo,” a familiar voice called from behind him. Adrien’s heart stuttered as a familiar pair of arms slipped around his waist. “It’s just for fun. No one takes it seriously.”

Adrien thought back to earlier in the evening and Gabriel’s annual Saint Catherine’s Day gala and couldn’t agree. There was a stark difference between the frivolousness and whimsy of Nino’s house party and the staid sobriety of his father’s fashion show.

As if reading his thoughts, Marinette’s eyes sparkled up at him beneath gold netting. “At least no one here.”

“Speak for yourself,” Alya said. She adjusted her hat and threw an accusatory look towards Nino. “Tick tock, babe.”

“You won’t let me propose until you’re out of grad school,” he whined.

Adrien hid his grin as the familiar argument ensued. Instead, he tipped his cup of ice towards the half-empty bottle in Marinette’s hand.

“You’re one of the few people I’d share with,” she said, filling his glass. Adrien leaned down to whisper his gratitude only to be pushed from the other side, causing them to knock heads.

Marinette laughed waving off his apologies with a squeeze to his waist even as their assaulter continued to elbow into the group.

“I’m never getting married,” Alix announced from her position on the back of one of Alya’s coworkers. There was a crown on her head but no decorations. She gestured wildly with her free hand. “Just call me Queen Catherinette.”

“All hail,” Alya said, clinking her wine glass against a reluctant Kagami’s. Her glassy eyes strayed towards Marinette. “What about you, girl? It’s been a while since I’ve heard about Emma, Louis, and Hugo.”

Adrien tried not to sound too interested when he asked, “Who?”

Marinette laughed, her flushed cheeks flushing further. “I’m afraid that future is on hold, Al. I need to find a boyfriend first.”

She removed her arm from around his waist then and Adrien had to restrain himself from pulling her back to his side. Instead, he took a healthy swallow of tequila and let the conversation drift into less turbulent waters.

Now was hardly the time to volunteer his name to the top of her list. 

Adrien could think of two, maybe three very important conversations they needed to have before he could even approach that topic. The most pressing of which weighed heavy on his right hand and sparkled like precious gems on his lady’s ears.

He watched over the rim of his glass as Marinette giggled with the other women in their silly hats. One of them—Alix’s roommate, he thought—burst out with a jubilant, “For pity’s sake, give us a husband!” only for the others to raise their glasses with various tipsy rounds of, “Hear, hear!”

He smiled as Marinette wrestled Kagami’s fidgeting hands away from her hat. It had only been a few weeks since their reveal but Adrien was struggling to see how he could have missed the woman he’d loved for a decade in his dear and wonderful friend.

“Some party, huh?”

Adrien coughed as Nino slapped him on the back just as he was swallowing. Nino laughed at his accusing glare. 

“Sorry man,” he said, grinning. “I thought you heard me coming but I guess you were distracted.”

Adrien ignored the teasing lilt in his friend’s voice.“It’s a good crowd,” he said instead. “I’m sorry I was so late.”

“No worries. Although if everything goes well hopefully this will be the last Saint Catherine’s party we’ll be hosting.”

Adrien laughed. “You think you’ll have worn Alya down by then?”

Nino shrugged. “Fingers crossed. I’ve had this ring burning a hole in my pocket for two months now.”

“Maybe you should be the one wearing the hat.” He grinned, only to receive a rough shove to his shoulder.

“You’re one to talk.”

Adrien pretended not to understand.

“Seriously, dude?” Nino shook his head. “You’re not that slick. If you like her you should just ask her out. I know for a fact she used to have a thing for you.”

And even though Adrien already knew that, even though Marinette told him so several years earlier when her crush was a thing of the past as she’d laughingly put it, hearing his heart’s desire put into words so matter-of-factly did things to him.

Things like make him want to punch a hole in the nearest wall or tear out his hair in frustration.

Because really, how was it fair that the one woman he’d spent years chasing had actually spent several years of her own chasing him right back?

It wasn’t.

Not when Adrien still found himself in the chase and she had apparently just … stopped.

“That was a long time ago, Nino.”

“I don’t know if I’d say that.”

“... Why?” Adrien stared, stomach clenching. “Did she say something? Did Alya say something?” 

His heart raced like hummingbirds wings in his throat as he tried to catch his friend’s gaze. 

Adrien grabbed his shoulder and shook. “Nino.”

“I can neither confirm nor deny anything.” He laughed, before hiding his smile behind his glass as they caught Alya’s attention across the room. Adrien met her suspicious frown with a wave even as his other hand tightened on Nino’s shoulder. 

“But …?”

“But … I wouldn’t count myself out just yet.”

Adrien’s hand fell to his side as all of his breath rushed out of him. “Oh.”

“Although, that may change if you don’t do something about it. Sooner rather than later if Kim’s roommate is anything to go by.”

Nino nodded towards the corner of the room where Marinette was chatting with a tall brunette. He was leaning towards her, his fingers playing at the edge of the netting on her hat as he whispered something in her ear that made her laugh. Adrien was already halfway across the room when Nino shouted, “Good luck!”

He wasn’t exactly sure what he was going to do to break up their little tete-a-tete but he needn’t have worried. As soon as he was in her line of sight Marinette’s smile lit up like the Eiffel tower and there was little left for him to do other than introduce himself before the interloper tried his luck elsewhere.

“Come outside with me,” she said, tugging his arm. “I haven’t seen you all week.”

“Your fault,” Adrien said, happy to follow her anywhere. “You canceled patrol.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “You know I had to finish up those pieces for your father’s show.”

“At least you weren’t forced to go.”

She laughed and leaned back against the balcony railing. It was cooler than usual tonight as fall slowly gave way to winter and they had the little patio all to themselves. “Perks of being a lowly intern.”

“Please,” he said, bumping her shoulder. “You’ll be a junior designer by next year.”

She hummed, taking a swig of tequila from the bottle only to cough as it hit the back of her throat.

“You can mix that with something you know?”

His lady winced and took another sip, smaller this time. “Who has time for that?”

“You if you’d just slow down.”

It was only half a joke. Lately, even before their Big Reveal, Adrien noticed something changing in Marinette. She was a little less scattered, a little more single-minded. There was almost a frenzied focus about her, like some great fear was nipping at her heels, spurring her forward.

It wasn’t until her timer ran out during an akuma attack that he began to understand why.

“It was ten years this September,” she murmured, turning out to face the cobbled streets below.

Adrien hesitated before wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her into his side.

“We’ll get him, bug. I promise.”

“But when, Chat?” She started to lean her head against his shoulder only for her hat to get in the way. Frustrated, she ripped the little masterpiece off her head and crushed it in her hands.

“Stupid holidays aside, I do want a life, Adrien.” She ripped lightly at the netting. “You said I’ll make junior designer by next year? I don’t see how that’s possible when I’m running out of work every other day because someone couldn’t control their emotions.”

Her voice caught on the last word and he was horrified to realize she was crying. “I want to run my own business someday. I want –– I want to fall in love and get married and have babies.” She looked up, teary gaze meeting his. “How can I do anything when I always have one foot out the window waiting for the next catastrophe? Who could put up with that?”

“You’re not someone a person has to put up with, my lady.”

“Yeah.” She sighed. “Right. Tell that to my exes.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, because really that’s all he could do.

“Don’t be.” She sniffed, giving him a sad, sad smile. “You can’t do anything about it any more than I can.”

That wasn’t entirely true though.

Adrien turned his attention towards the scrunched up hat in her hands. Marinette followed his gaze and gave a watery laugh.

“I want it all, Adrien,” she whispered.

“I know,” he whispered.

“Do you?” she asked, eyes wide and blue and wet and angry. “Do you really?”

Adrien pulled her to him then, giving her the hug her fears deserved. Marinette clutched at his back, her arms sliding beneath his coat to wrap around his waist, giving as good as she got.

“I don’t want to wait anymore.” 

Tears stung his eyes and words, the right words, stuck in the back of his throat as she gave voice to desires he’d never been brave enough to even dream. Not when Ladybug said no and not when Marinette said not anymore and not when they merged and became everything he’d ever wanted but feared he’d never have.

She wanted it all. 

Adrien closed his eyes and breathed in his lady’s perfume. Freesia and jasmine and something he’d never been able to name. Marinette’s arms loosened around his waist when it seemed like he would pull away, but Adrien only held her tighter.

“I––” He stopped. “You said you don’t want to slow down?”

Marinette nodded.

“Well … how—how would you feel about a chaser?”

She pulled away so she could see his face. “A chaser?” she repeated, frowning.

Adrien bit his lip, feeling heat rushing up his neck and ears. “Ah, yeah,” he said, doing his best to hold her gaze. “Like—like a partner. To your tequila, I mean.”

Adrien watched as confusion gave way to understanding in the form of a perfect little open-mouthed oh. His heart was pounding hard enough he was starting to suspect she could hear it when her eyes glistened up at him beneath the dim porch lights.

God help him but he couldn’t trust himself. He couldn’t trust the gentleness in her gaze or the way her body went soft against his or the purse of her lips as she watched him with that pleased little half-smile as realization gave way to something and that something could only be called wonderful as she ducked her head beneath his chin, pressed her lips against the open collar skin of his neck and finally, finally whispered in that small, hopeful impatient way of hers,

“Are you volunteering?”

And even though he knew she knew and even though the question really didn’t require an answer, Adrien tightened his hold on her until they were swaying together chest to chest and repeated the only thing he’d ever wanted to give her.

Yes.