[rnirai]

mark

[messenger]

username: messenger
name: fritzerald (goes by fritz)
gender: soft boi
story:
Waves. Waves as tall full grown cedar trees. The boat would be torn into pieces at this rate.
The captain, a young handsome man, stood at the bow, daring close to the edge. He called
out to God... or anyone who would listen. Little did he know, there was someone listening, but
not who you'd expect. With a flash of scales the watcher vanished underneath the waves.

And so, the pirate captain did make it to land. Many of the crew members asked how but he did
not spare any secrets. Some rumoured he followed a strange light that appeared beneath the waves.
Some say they saw a young woman swimming beneath the ship, and he followed her. Both were true
in their own way.

Upon coming to the land, many of the ship's crew left to look for food and shelter, but the
captain stayed at the shoreline, waiting. And soon his waited ending, for the same young
woman breached the water's surface. They talked and talked and talked. It seemed love
was obvious between them, however, the pirate captain was already engaged. He said his
heart was betrothed to someone else. "And besides, it would not work, I am of land, you
are of sea." he said. Angry and bitter, the mermaid did the one thing she was never allowed to
do. She came unto the land. However, as soon as the tip of her tail left the water, she bubbled
into sea-foam right before the pirate captain. Upset and confused, he buried the foam beneath
the sand.

(Ends kind of gruesome I know haha, but I always like it as a kid anyways.)

[SilhouetteStation]

username: SilhouetteStation
name: Thomas
gender: Male

extra:
(hope you don't mind me putting this here first; I wanted to use the extra to give a bit of backstory)

It has come to my attention that some people have not read - or even heard of - Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy by our very own Dame Lynley Dodd. And let me tell you, this book is incredibly loved over here in New Zealand. Even after 35 years it was still voted as being the best seller because people love reading about her canine characters.

I've always had these books in my life, right from when I was young. I have a big collection of the stories in one book which now, being older, I treasure dearly.

First of all, big appeal to animal lovers, whether dogs or cats*. The diversity in breeds is great, and there's something timeless about the way they've been drawn. The stories themselves are great reading, great fun, and of course it's always an exciting challenge to say all of the dogs names as quickly as possible (I still do it now).

Heck, they all got so popular that they were turned into an animation and sold for the VCR machines (yes I know, that's going back a few years). I still have those old tapes, if nothing more than for the memories. I watched them so many times growing up, I couldn't even begin to guess how many times.

(here's the first book animation, but there's plenty more to watch if you want to hear the others)

Overall, I really am just passionate about these books because they're childhood. Not just my childhood, but so many childhoods. When that conversation is brought up about those childhood favorites, you can bet one of the first things said will be "Hey, did you guys read Hairy Maclary growing up?" and you're gonna get a whole lot of responses meaning yes, yes we did.

*quick shoutout to the cats not mentioned in the original story; Greywackle Jones, Butterball Brown, Pimpernel Pugh, Slinky Malinki (who did get their own book), and Mushroom Magee.

• • •

story:
(taken from the first book)

Out of the gate
and off for a walk
went Hairy Maclary
from Donaldson's Dairy.

and Hercules Morse
as big as a horse

with Hairy Maclary
from Donaldson's Dairy.

Bottomley Potts
covered in spots,
Hercules Morse
as big as a horse

and Hairy Maclary
from Donaldson's Dairy.

Muffin McLay
like a bundle of hay,
Bottomley Potts
covered in spots,
Hercules Morse
as big as a horse

and Hairy Maclary
from Donaldson's Dairy.

Bitzer Maloney
all skinny and bony,
Muffin McLay
like a bundle of hay,
Bottomley Potts
covered in spots,
Hercules Morse
as big as a horse

and Hairy Maclary
from Donaldson's Dairy.

Schnitzel von Krumm
with a very low tum,
Bitzer Maloney
all skinny and bony,
Muffin McLay
like a bundle of hay,
Bottomley Potts
covered in spots,
Hercules Morse
as big as a horse

and Hairy Maclary
from Donaldson's Dairy.

With tails in the air
they trotted on down
past the shops and the park
to the far end of town.
They sniffed at the smells
and they snooped at each door,
when suddenly,
out of the shadows
they
saw...

SCARFACE CLAW,
the toughest Tom in town.

"EEEEEOWWWFFTZ!"
said Scarface Claw.

Off with a yowl
a wail and a howl,
a scatter of paws
and a clatter of claws,
went Schnitzel von Krumm
with a very low tum,
Bitzer Maloney
all skinny and bony,
Muffin McLay
like a bundle of hay,
Bottomley Potts
covered in spots,
Hercules Morse
as big as a horse

and Hairy Maclary
from Donaldson's Dairy,

straight back home to bed.

[EpicratesPictus]

username: Irrylath
name: Skyler Naga Starling
gender: Female
story: My favorite story when I was younger was the story of how one of ancestors went on a raid into Indian Territory and “stole” himself a bride. We know from pictures that his bride was definitely darker-skinned than the average American at that time, and more heavily muscled than others would be likely to take anywhere her without wanting to.

[ufoparty]

username: rantipole
name: artemis
gender: female
story: as a child I love love, loved the very hungry caterpillar.
I’m not quite sure why it appealed to me so much, but it’s
practically ingrained in my brain. The book itself would play
off of cut-outs in the pages, the story building, and the
caterpillar moving as the book went on.

[wangji]

username: ginga.
name: Starbrite
gender: nonbinary
story: Elmer and the Lost Teddy

[recherché.]

username: recherché.
name: abini.
gender: male.
story:

[Twilight Prince]

username: TreeFrogHero
name: Lune
gender: Androgynous
story: The Colony of Cats

[lumilys]

good luck to everybody!! pretty mad at myself because i forgot- such a cutie!

[KokichiOma]

res