snowflake_challenge Days 9, 10, and 11!

[tsukino_akume]

snowflake_challenge!

Day Nine

In your own space, create a fanwork. A drabble, a ficlet, a podfic, or an icon, art or meta or a rec list. A picspam. Something. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

So ... I kind of suck at 'drabbles'? This is about as short as I get. x.x

~ "I feel like I'm gonna puke," Mike groaned.

"Don't say the p-word," Antonio mumbled.

Jayden made a murmur of agreement. Kevin sort of whimpered from where he'd curled up against the wall. Mia didn't respond at all, still sitting with her eyes closed. If you looked closely enough, there was a pained grimace on her face, and she was breathing very carefully.

Emily smiled sympathetically at them all. "We did try to stop you," she pointed out.

The doorbell rang.

There was a long silence as no one moved. Ji finally got up with a resigned sigh, muttering "I'll get it."

Antonio watched Jayden from his slumped position at the table, absently reaching across to poke his friend in the arm. Jayden swatted at him weakly. He took it as an invitation to do it again, and was finally rewarded with a sleepy-eyed glare.

Ji reappeared in the doorway, clearing his throat with a confused expression. "Antonio? There's someone at the door for you."

Antonio chose to contemplate the table for a moment.

"Antonio?" Ji repeated, disapproval slipping into his tone.

He hmmed. "I heard. I'm trying to decide who it is."

"Why don't you go see?" Emily asked, trying not to smile.

He shrugged a shoulder. "If it's someone I know, they'll wait. If it's not, then it's probably not important."

Kevin finally managed to give him a suspicious look. "Just how many people have you told where this house is?"

"No one." He sat up, stretching lazily. "But that doesn't mean they still don't already know."

"Who knows?" Mia asked with a frown.

He shrugged. "Lots of people. You don't form a Ranger team without getting noticed these days."

Moving was incredibly uncomfortable when his stomach was still so full, and he made no effort to do it quickly. He wasn't kidding when he said anyone important would wait. He also wasn't kidding when he told Mike not to say the p-word.

Not that it mattered when he saw who was waiting for him at the door.

"Papa! Dad!" he yelped, flinging himself forward. He was caught, just as he knew he would be, and trapped between them in a tight hug. He sighed contentedly as Rocky nuzzled his hair and Adam surreptitiously checked him over. "What are you guys doing here?"

Rocky chuckled, and he felt a light kiss to his hair. "Adam asked me what I wanted for my birthday," he explained. "And I said you. So, here we are."

He pulled back to pout at him. "But I just sent off your presents so you'd get them today!"

Rocky shook his head with a smile, pulling him close again. "You're the only present I need, kiddo."

He huffed a little, but he couldn't help leaning into the hug.

"So we figured we'd stop by and take you out to dinner," Adam finished, ruffling his hair as they finally let him go.

He flinched slightly. "Uh ... we just ate," he said sheepishly, reaching up to rub the back of his hand. "A really big meal, too - I'm completely stuffed. But we can go to the carnival, or out to a movie!" he suggested brightly.

He'd always been a terrible liar.

"Sounds like a plan," Rocky agreed. There was a look in his eyes that said he wanted details later, but at least he was willing to wait until they no longer had an audience. "You can lead the way. We bringing your friends?"

There was a quiet scuffling behind him that suggested the others hadn't realized they'd been noticed. He was torn between pointing out that they weren't exactly subtle and telling them that his parents were ninjas just to see who believed him. "Uh - "

"Can't. We've gotta clean up the kitchen - major food fight," Mike said quickly, giving a cheerful grin.

"But thank you for inviting us!" Emily added brightly.

Adam nodded with a polite smile. "Maybe some other time."

Rocky threw an arm around Antonio's shoulders. "Let's get going, kiddo. I've still got eight hours of birthday left. We're wasting daylight!"

Antonio laughed and let himself be dragged along. He could hear the guys behind them, Emily telling them to have fun and wishing 'Mr. Garcia' a happy birthday.

And then Adam looked at him with a suspicious frown once they were out of earshot. "The guy in red ... Jayden? He isn't one of *those* Reds, is he?" ~

Day 10

In your own space, talk about a creator. Show us why you think they are amazing. It can be a detailed, thoughtful analysis, or a squeeful, joyful post. Or maybe a combination of the two. Make a recs list, link to their archives or master lists or websites, maybe create a Fanlore page for them. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

There's a lot of different people I could mention here who have influenced a lot of my stories and theories: starandrea, cmar, The Fink, Jeremy Ray Logsdon, Ellen Brand ...

But I think I'm actually going to mention Ibonekoen. Her Ninjetti Twins saga was what really got me into Rocky/Adam and the idea of Soul Mated Rangers. I didn't love everything about it, but there was still a lot of things that kept me hooked. I was very sad that it was never finished.

Day 11

In your own space, share a favorite piece of original canon (a TV episode, a song, a favourite interview, a book) and explain why you love it so much. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Going off on a random non-PR note (for once), the first thing that comes to mind is actually Detective Conan - or Case Closed, as the dub was named.

Case Closed had me hooked from the first episode for several reasons. Jimmy Kudo was incredibly arrogant, but he had a *reason* to be: he was freakishly smart and athletic. But at the same time, he was a total mystery nut and fanboyed Sherlock Holmes. He wasn't perfect, but the show capitalized on his flaws, both in his teenage form Jimmy, and when he's shrunk to child size as Conan.

But one of the other things that sold me on this series was Rachel. I find in a lot of animes that the female lead is often stereotypical, frequently useless at any important moments, or pretty much exists to give the male lead a girlfriend. Rachel is none of these things. Her first seen with Jimmy involved her punching a phone pole to threaten Jimmy without actually hurting him. (The pole bent in half, his eyes bugged out, and immediately she got her way.) She shows a gentle, caring side when she adopts Conan as her surrogate little brother, and yet the first time he gets kidnapped, *she* saves him - by beating the crap out of the kidnapper. She is in love with Jimmy, she has ridiculously sappy moments, and she's not my *favorite* character - that honor goes to Jimmy, and possibly Kaito Kid once I get to see more than two episodes of him - but she's a strong, sweet girl with a strong personality.

Case Closed has its flaws in that 90% of it is mini-murder mysteries, which can get tiring after awhile. But at the same time it has fantastic characters and a twisted subplot that doesn't get solved along with the daily mysteries. In its own way, it always keeps me guessing.

Plus there's the angst - canon angst no less - that comes with being a seventeen-year-old boy trapped in the body of a child and forced to keep it a secret from the best friend/crush you're living with.

And now I'm off to re-watch Samurai in hopes of working on more Antonio/Jayden. ^_^V


*ETA: Oh, I almost forgot! I don't know if anyone cares, but I updated the Birthdays List on my website to include the Samurai Rangers.