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Thread: Poseidon Ships Out

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    Senior Member Clayton_n has a reputation beyond repute Clayton_n has a reputation beyond repute Clayton_n has a reputation beyond repute Clayton_n has a reputation beyond repute Clayton_n has a reputation beyond repute Clayton_n has a reputation beyond repute Clayton_n has a reputation beyond repute Clayton_n has a reputation beyond repute Clayton_n has a reputation beyond repute Clayton_n has a reputation beyond repute Clayton_n has a reputation beyond repute Clayton_n's Avatar
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    Default Poseidon Ships Out

    This is a brief scene from a book I'm writing called Cosplay of the Gods. In this scene the Olympian Gods have been taken to their first anime convention and have briefly split up to explore.


    Poseidon

    He was just wandering around when he saw a short line forming outside a door. The paper sign next to the door listed the next panel in that room to be Shipping: Navigating the Rough Seas in Your Favorite Ship. He looked at the others in line. “They are speaking about shipping?”
    A girl in a blue suit with a bow tie holding a strange wand that glowed at the tip and made weird sounds said, “Absolutely. I went to this panel last year and it was epic. They brought in charts and graphs and explained why this or why that happens. We got so into it we overstayed our time. My favorite ships are Justine and Violet, out of Love Harbor. Oh and Samson and Gail from West Desert. They’re just so awesome you know?”
    Poseidon had not heard of Love Harbor or West Desert. But then the mortals changed the names of places all the time. “I don’t know those particular ships.”
    “Do you have any favorite ships?”
    “Too many to name.”
    “Nice. Here get in line before everyone else shows up.” Shrugging Poseidon did so. “Shipping is so hard, you know? Not everyone agrees with you, things don’t always go the way you want, and it can be so heartbreaking. I mean you put your heart and soul into a ship and then it crashes and burns and it’s like part of you dies with it, you know?”
    Surprised Poseidon said, “You seem awfully young to have had that kind of experience.”
    She looked up at him, her eyes shining intensely. “Hey, just because you’re young doesn’t mean you can’t experience real intense love. Like Naira and Hisako you know?” He looked at her blankly. “I mean do you remember your first ship? How did you feel about it?”
    He remembered his first boat. Not that they were that great back then. Anchors had not been invented yet. “Yes. I remember.” He let out a sigh. “It was kind of uncomplicated and simple and nothing compared to how they are today, but I put everything into it.”
    “And that first time you realize you actually care. I mean they’re not like real people or anything. But you put yourself into it and even though they’re just paint and paper before you know it you get emotional every time you see them. You wonder where they’re going, what they’ll bring to the table, and how it all ends. And when it finally ends either it’s the best or worst moment ever. I can’t tell you how many times canon has torpedoed one of my favorite ships.
    “I remember in Ice Land Zero when they blew up Christine. She was part of my first ship and they just killed her. She was so beautiful and then she burned. Kyle was crying and the whole crew were just devastated.”
    “In my day we didn’t have cannons or torpedoes. We mostly used hooks and flames.”
    “I remember seeing a few from long ago. No canon back in the day huh? Hooks? I get what you mean. Back then ships were just obvious and simple and never really went anywhere because they were all younger. They had a lot of rules about that sort of thing back then. We still have flame wars.”
    “Indeed. It was a much smaller world back then. This Christine. She was some sort of figurehead?”
    “Yeah, but we didn’t know that at the time. She was such a big part of things and went on so many adventures. And then she’s just gone and they replaced her with that awful Sally Cross. I mean seriously, how were we supposed to just switch over? I can’t believe Kyle liked her. I could not ship with that and I was so out of there. I mean I tried but it just wasn’t the same.”
    Poseidon’s eyes clouded with memory. “I know the feeling. When my first ship sank it was a loss. I had traveled to amazing new lands and seen so much. There were others, but… it was never the same.” Hephaestus had tried talking him into trying some new boats. Different ways of moving the sails and the like. “I couldn’t move onto another until it was over and it really hurt to see it destroyed like that. I’ve had a lot of newer ones, some a lot better, but you never forget your first. Especially when it ends so tragically.” He felt a tear come to his eye.
    “Happens every time. I mean sometimes they get a good ending, but heroes and villains, the way the world is, just as often they never go out the way we’d want and the whole thing goes down in flames. How did yours meet its end?”
    “Eaten by an angry sea serpent. It was not pretty and I didn’t even see it coming. I was devastated and there was nothing I could do. By the time it was all over there were barely any pieces of her left. Even after the monster was dead there was no getting her back.”
    She hissed through her teeth. “Sound rough and bloody. They like to break your heart sometimes don’t they? And even if you could bring her back from the dead, that would just ruin the sacrifice, you know? Erasing a tragedy like that… that’s the sort of thing you see in a kid’s cartoon. Frankly the idea is kind of disgusting.”
    He nodded. “You’re right. It’s been a long time since I have felt anything like this. I have to deal with my family and all kinds of problems. I haven’t seen my wife in a very long time and we don’t always get along. I haven’t had anything I really connected with like this in a long time. I’m so damn old. I’d forgotten how amazing it feels to care about something.”
    She reached out and patted him on the arm. “Hey that’s why everyone is here. You find something you love and care for. It may not seem important to anyone else and it’s only for a little while, but look around you. People here blew off work, spent tons of money, sewed costumes… you can’t get these things at the store you know… and just threw away days of their lives just to be here for a weekend. If you’re that dedicated to something it shows your heart still works right? And years later you still have it in your heart even if it only lasts a few hours in your real life.”
    “I suppose so.”
    “Don’t worry, stick with me and you’ll have a great time in here. I know things about shipping you never dreamed of. What’s your preference?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Well do you like boys and girls, boys, or just girls?”
    She must mean naming the ships. “Well I know a lot of people insist on all women.” He shrugged. “Personally I’m okay with traditional but occasionally I don’t mind changing things up. The names are important, but a ship is a ship. You have to remember it is really about who is on board and how you feel about them and the things you do along the way. Ships may come and go and you can care about them whether they are real or not but whatever happens it’s the men and women you went on the journey with who’ll remember it and the great times you had.”
    She sniffed and looked up at him with pure worship. “You are so right. A ship is a ship. It doesn’t matter if you’ve got men and women or just one gender or hell if you can tell the difference.”
    “What?”
    “Oh I was thinking of Hanta from The Legend of Fire. I never could tell if that character was a guy or a girl and never got around to checking.”
    “Dionysus is like that. Frankly my whole family stopped caring about that sort of thing a long time ago. Sex is just sex and love is love no matter who it is with. I mean on a ship obviously you have to keep a tight reign on things or it gets out of hand. Getting pregnant can cause all kinds of problems not to mention all the other ways it can go wrong.”
    “You’re right. Sometimes the drama is just way too much, especially when other people get involved. Even one on one it’s always a roller coaster, at least with the good ones. But your family is really okay with it? The first time I told my mom I’d been shipping with Anna Maria and Rachel Caruso from The Lost Dragon she totally freaked out. I mean it’s not like it was a big deal. So they’re both girls. They were in love with each other, not me. I was just along for the ride really.” She smiled playfully. “Though there were some pretty steamy moments in that ship and if they did love me I can’t say I’d be against it. I wrote a poem about it.”
    Poseidon said, “Just so long as you don’t end up going overboard. It sounds like you enjoyed it but managed to keep from getting too drawn in. A good thing. Getting in too deep with a bond like that can cause all sorts or problems. Shipping is serious business. Lives can depend on it and if it ends badly it can drag everyone down like Charybdis and Scylla.”
    “I hear that. I once saw this one series— oops, there goes the line.”
    Poseidon saw that the line had grown. It stretched back and around the hallway. Meanwhile the door had opened to let people out who had been at another panel before. Something about hand crafting hats with cat ears. They were sort of cute, he thought as they filed past. Then a staff member began waving them inside and the whole line began to shuffle forward.
    Inside a man was setting up stands holding charts, graphs, pictures of cartoon characters and a white board. There were rows of chairs at tables. He followed the girl to her seat and she said, “If you’re confused just give it a minute. I know they’re all different but in a lot of ways all ships are kind of the same. Once you get the hang of it, it’s really fun.”
    He nodded. “I am willing to learn.”
    The man at the front smiled and turned to face them once it was all set up. He had a microphone. “Welcome everybody. Who here has their favorite ship?” The people around Poseidon cheered. “And isn’t shipping great?” Louder yells. “Then let’s get started. Now if you’re familiar with The Lost Dragon then you know that Christopher and Charlotte were the main focus…”
    Last edited by Clayton_n; 06-19-2019 at 06:05 PM.
    Anime is a lot like sex. Done right it's a beautiful act of creation that brings a little more light into the world. If it's sick and wrong... it's even better.

    Author of "Slasher School Days", "How to Be an Anime Character", and "The Complete Lesbian Storybook" available from Amazon.com

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