At long last, le Bain Fusônais is operational!

Once Remilia was over the initial shock, she surprised herself slightly with how quickly she got used to the whole business. It wasn't really that different from bathing alone with Benjamin—the same sense of benign intimacy, pleasant and lacking subtext. Even since they had become a couple, bath time had stayed like that, and so it still did, even with the addition of another couple and the wild card that was Flan. It was certainly a festive occasion, but it was all, in the most literal sense, good clean fun.

What were you expecting? she wondered wryly to herself. A bacchanalium? We're not a pack of drunken Romans. We're rational adults. She paused in her thoughts for a moment to observe as Meiling and Flandre, laughing like a pair of hyenas, attempted a shampoo rinse method that involved bailing freshly pumped buckets of hot water at each other like they were trying to put out a fire.

Mostly rational adults, she amended. She caught Sakuya's eye and saw from her answering little grin and eyeroll that she'd been having the same thought.

--G.
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LAST EDITED ON Oct-05-20 AT 11:14 AM (EDT)
 
> It was certainly a festive occasion, but it was all,
> in the most literal sense, good clean fun.
>

This being text based communication, you can't see the facial expression this caused, picture the facial equivalent of a rimshot. It still got a chuckle, I just wasn't proud of myself for it.

> What were you expecting? she wondered wryly to herself.
> A bacchanalium?

This made me think of the sub-genre of fanart that involves characters jumping the 4th wall and Googling themselves, then reacting to what they find. I'd very much want to be on the other side of the planet from where ever Remilia is if she were to ever do this.

	-={(Astynax)}=- "This Space For Rent."

>This made me think of the sub-genre of fanart that involves characters
>jumping the 4th wall and Googling themselves, then reacting to what
>they find. I'd very much want to be on the other side of the planet
>from where ever Remilia is if she were to ever do this.

Indeed. Even money whether she'd be more offended by the portrayals where she's a petulant, childish idiot, or the ones where she's overpoweringly arrogant and cruel. And that's before we even get to the goggles-do-nothing stuff...

--G.
"I've never said 'Uu~☆' in my life! How do you even pronounce that?"
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I remember we narrowly avoided seeing that happen with Gryph in Manhunt 4.

>I remember we narrowly avoided seeing that happen with Gryph in
>Manhunt 4.

Fortunately, he had people to do that part for him.

--G.
poor Vanessa.
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I'm just hoping the tacit fandom ban on Utena H-doujinshi applies in the UF universe as well. Probably for different reasons, like people not wanting a sword in the face.

>I'm just hoping the
>tacit fandom ban on Utena H-doujinshi applies in the UF universe as well.
>Probably for different reasons, like people not wanting a sword in the
>face.

Well, there's a reason Utena Loves Corwin is the second-tamest* entry in the series.

--G.
* after Kaname Loves Corwin, I mean, after all they are only six in that one
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I'm pretty sure a more detailed examination of the numbers does not support any such ban, but there is a stigma attached to RPF that would probably apply... ... Er, but the "$NAME Loves Corwin" series exists, so maybe that's already gone out the window. (No joking, that's probably the single most "wait, seriously, that's a thing that happened?" event for me out of the entire Symphony, and probably top three for non-Core UF as a whole, because the RPF thing does weird me out. Although somehow this does not apply to "Tales of the Lensmen" et al.)

But geez, that post tars things with such a broad brush that I'm not sure UF itself would pass muster.

-IA.

(Any discussion of further issues with it would be really OT.)

>...somehow this does not apply to "Tales of the Lensmen" et
>al.)
>

I'm under the impression that Tales of the Lensmen is a licensed product, and that they work from actual after-action reports and interviews with the Lensmen, rather than making everything up from whole cloth.

If I'm right, there's probably a bit of fiction on the order of, "Well, that's not what I said, but I have to admit, that's what I would have said if I had a week to think of a snappy retort," but otherwise, TotL sticks to the truth, thus avoiding the RPF problem.

Peter Eng
--
Insert humorous comment here.

>If I'm right, there's probably a bit of fiction on the order of,
>"Well, that's not what I said, but I have to admit, that's what I
>would have said if I had a week to think of a snappy retort," but
>otherwise, TotL sticks to the truth, thus avoiding the RPF problem.

I believe the customary phrase in the industry is "based on a true story".

--G.
... and where does the Replica Prop Forum come into it?
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"Real Person Fiction", the practice and result of writing fanfic about musicians, sports stars, or other real-world Public Figures. Operation Unfinished Business would technically count as Space Exploration RPF.

>I'm under the impression that Tales of the Lensmen is a licensed
>product, and that they work from actual after-action reports and
>interviews with the Lensmen, rather than making everything up from
>whole cloth.

Well, I've always assumed that $NAME Loves Corwin stories were generally based on a core of truth as well, some with more liberties taken than others. (In my headcanon, for instance, the incident inspiring Clarissa Loves Corwin involved a different person entirely.)

I don't know, vague feelings of unease are vague.

-IA.

(received information not interpretable)

I read "le Bain Fusônais" as "the fusion bath" rather than "the Fusonese bath" at first. But Gryph's fusion bath is the koi pond back home in New Avalon.

Second one! I just completed the draft of this ep, it'll go out after a finish pass and whatnot sometime tomorrow PM.

/* Scott Joplin
"Maple Leaf Rag"
(1899) */

"What a remarkable musical style," Remilia mused, listening. "Something from Benjamin's homeland, you think? That must be him playing now."

"Oh, sure, that's ragtime," Meiling said, nodding. "Totally Amer—uh, Liberion."

Remilia sighed. "The things I missed, hiding from the world for all those decades." Tilting her head thoughtfully, she nodded toward the sketch pad and asked, "What are you drawing, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Trying to come up with a plan for a greenhouse," Meiling replied, turning the pad around. Sure enough, there on the page was a half-formed sketch of a metal-framed glasshouse, extending from what Remilia took only a moment to recognize as an elevation of the north end of the house.

"It looks like there was one there before," Meiling went on, "but it's a total loss now. I'm guessing it burned down?"

Remilia nodded sadly. "Another casualty of the 10th of Floréal, I'm afraid," she said. "Maman grew plants for her alchemy projects there, as well as a few more mundane things just for enjoyment."

Meiling winced. "Ah, jeez. I'm sorry. I should have figured... I didn't mean to drag that up again," she said, but Remilia shook her head.

"It's all right. It's not as if we can ignore the fact that it happened. I assume Sakuya told you about it at some point in your travels?"

Meiling nodded. "We—well, it's a long story, but the short version is, we were sort of trapped one time by a psychic entity that got its kicks making people relive their worst memories over and over."

"How vile," said Remilia, her face screwing up in disgust.

"Yeah," Meiling agreed. "At least we were together. We could help each other through it." She shivered slightly. "Still not something I ever want to go through again."

"What became of the... entity?" Remilia wondered. "I mean, you obviously escaped."

"We killed it," said Meiling matter-of-factly.

"Good."

"No argument from me. The Doctor wasn't super-happy with us about that, but..." She chuckled, a little darkly, but also fondly. "You don't do something like that to Sakuya and walk away. You just... don't. She doesn't start things—but she always finishes them."

Remilia smiled. "My father taught her that."

"I know," said Meiling. "She's told me a lot about him, too. Sounds like he was my kind of guy. 'Let he who desires peace be prepared for war.' Or, as Avatar Yangchen put it, 'Don't get in my face and you'll get to keep yours.'" She grinned wryly. "That might not be a direct quotation."

--G.
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I know I've heard of a number of such entities, but was this one anything specific?

>I know I've heard of a number of such entities, but was this one
>anything specific?

No specific reference intended, it just seemed like the sort of thing one would encounter while hanging with the Doctor.

--G.
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>Meiling nodded. "We—well, it's a long story, but the short version
>is, we were sort of trapped one time by a psychic entity that got its
>kicks making people relive their worst memories over and over."
>

I thought the Lens would protect against this sort of thing? Or am I piecing together the rough timeline wrong, and Sakuya was issued her Lens after this (which I hadn't expected because while Sakuya is obviously familiar with G, Meiling was not, so I had tentatively slotted 'visits New Avalon and gets Lens' before 'meets the Doctor and Meiling' in Sakuya's itinerary.)

>Or, as Avatar Yangchen put it, 'Don't get in my face and you'll
>get to keep yours.'" She grinned wryly. "That might not be a
>direct quotation."
>

See also: Avatar Kyoshi

	-={(Astynax)}=- "This Space For Rent."

>>Meiling nodded. "We—well, it's a long story, but the short version
>>is, we were sort of trapped one time by a psychic entity that got its
>>kicks making people relive their worst memories over and over."
>
>I thought the Lens would protect against this sort of thing? Or am I
>piecing together the rough timeline wrong, and Sakuya was issued her
>Lens after this (which I hadn't expected because while Sakuya is
>obviously familiar with G, Meiling was not, so I had tentatively
>slotted 'visits New Avalon and gets Lens' before 'meets the Doctor and
>Meiling' in Sakuya's itinerary.)

Sakuya's timeline is pretty tangled, to the extent that her tenure as the Doctor's the TARDIS's maid wasn't a single bloc. Sometimes by chance and sometimes by choice, there were periods when she was on her own, and she received her Lens during one of those.

--G.
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