It's good to see Vizh and Hallie taking safeguards for their family with the knowledge that Camellia is back. I really liked the logic used for bringing Joan Henry on-board as part of the cast.

I've alwayed like Sjelknuser, so it makes sense to add it to the bodyguard circuit. Here's hoping that Asgardian magic trumps Faerie magic.

Also an interesting revelation that Visionary takes on mystical boarders in the Lighthouse...are there more we haven't heard about yet?

~Hat~

Well, originally Joan was going to be Vizh's bodyguard for his ambassadorial missions, but that whole spin on Vizh was pushed off a bit. Once things settle, then I may take it up again, but in the meantime this gives Joan something to do without forcing her into other stories.




I'm afraid he didn't much faze Camellia on their last encounter, after she originally snatched Naari in the assault when the Willow was destroyed. I figure he's got something to prove now.



We've heard mention of the Gabbo before. His origins, like many such things, can be traced back to a chartroom session. In that one Al was waxing on about something called "cricket". It seemed to be mostly gibberish, but I think I got the gist...




"Ugh... men and baseball statistics" the holographic woman moaned, ruffling her son's already mussed up hair. "Honey, I'm made out of numbers, and even I find baseball stats boring."

"Oh. Well, I also know some cricket ones" he offered. "The Great Wooly Gabbo is teaching me the game."

"Um..." she blinked. "The great what now?"

"He's the bunyip who lives in the linen closet on the second floor." Griffin explained.

Hallie raised an eyebrow. "There's a bunyip in our second floor linen closet?"

"Sometimes" the boy confirmed. "Ms. Ebony says his lair is only there on the 12th weekend of every Derleth lunar month, according to the Pamaelian calendar. Dad was going to complain, but apparently he has a lease."

"There's a cricket-playing bunyip who timeshares the Lighthouse's second floor linen closet?"

"It's okay" Griffin ensured her. "Ms. Ebony says he's a fine sort, provided you don't lend him money on account of his gambling problem."

"I... That's..." She paused then sighed. "Right. I wasn't planning on it anyway. Did this bunyip have anything else to say?"

"He says we shouldn't use fabric softener on the towels" Griffin advised. "It makes them less absorbent."

She closed her eyes and shook her head. "The man couldn't just hire a real-estate agent to get him a new condo, oh no..." she sighed to herself.

Anna might *try* to protect the kids, but against Camelia and her minions she'd probably only be a very persistent annoyance since she's made of high-tech composites and not iron.

I had actually intended a line about them converting the lighthouse's detached garage into a living quarters for Joan. It just didn't make it into the story.





It's also possible that the way her mind works makes her more susceptible to falling prey to faerie magics meant to charm and mislead humans.

However, the most obvious reason is that Anna has her own bullseye painted on her right now. She could use her own bodyguard until the furor over her citizenship dies down.

I didn't know it had a garage.








That's one of many reasons I thought she wouldn't be terribly affective, unless she managed to trick the fae by appearing human but moving much more quickly and blasting them with lasers before they figure it out. Of course that only works once, and only if they don't know what she is.





Anna is trying to stay in hiding, but Visionary's lighthouse is hardly a public place. Well, most of the time, anyway.

I imagine Joan and MacHarridan could have quite the dialogue.

Who knows? I work under the assumption that the worst of the Doom Gerbils have been cleared out or Ebony, the Shoggoth, Cleone, Urthula and (maybe, depending on the larger plot) Xander wouldn't have encouraged Vizh to make it his home and raise a family there.

So I figure the lighthouse is baseline safe or safer than any other house he might have chosen, but it is exponentially weirder. It coexists in Willingham and Lair Island at the same time, or shifting between the two sometimes, and quite possibly existing elsewhere across the multiverse as well. With the dials restored to the great room in the basement, the house can be moved practically anywhere in the Parodyverse temporarily. Im not particularly sure how set in time the place may be either.

Ultimately, I would not be surprised to open their refrigerator and find the temple of Zuul inside. With all of the colorful residents the place has housed over time, who knows what agreements have been made or what exactly might be visiting at any particular moment. I imagine the Gabbo might be the simplest of the oddities that reside there.

Well, next to Visionary.

It would have to be over some sturdy furniture.

I wanted to set Joan up in a way that has her easily available if someone wants to use her, but keeps her out of the way if someone doesn't. She has no business defending the mansion or any Legionnaires unless the children are directly in the line of fire. That said, she does like a good fight, so if people want to drop her into action that's fine too. Either way, Island/mansion security is MacHarridan's beat, and he's got to sign off on any security arrangements made on the island.

How much they step on each other's toes (and how often they want to) is up to you.

...but it wasn't something that was overly important to the larger narrative HH is telling, so that made it good for tie-in material instead.

I think you're actually the one who first mentioned it, in a story where Visionary gets his Pinto "pimped". Even if it never has appeared before, no reason not to give it one. The Necromancer General must have needed somewhere to store his creepy carriage, and the other previous lighthouse keepers likely had stuff to store if not vehicles to park.





I have no idea how many times you need to shoot a fairy with a laser. Once just may do it. It's the kind of thing that likely hasn't been tested much outside of Desmond Djinn's labs.





True, even though it gets around, it's usually tucked away in some out of the way corner. Still, I would think that if she's afraid she might draw fire, she certainly wouldn't want to draw it towards children.

More specifically I didn't know it had a *detached* garage. I thought it was part of the building.





Someone had to have tested it. Anna's not going to volunteer.





Right now most of the press and public think she's hiding in the Lair Mansion - fortunately she's relatively safe there anyhow. If she's at the Lighthouse, she'll be where nobody knows she is.

Gotta love those two kids eh? And it's always nice to see things through kids eyes. Like their worrying about Mr E and Glory.

Nice new role for Joan too.

All this story lacked was a picture.

Al B.

Mr. Epitome was graciously serving as Maggie's personal trainer to help her compensate for the damage to her arm and leg. The kids both tended to quote his opinions on a variety of subjects, so he obviously made an impression.

And I really did love writing Glory scenes with the kids... she had just the right mix of adult and child in her to provide a very unique voice.





I don't know if it will really change much about her appearances, but it made a certain logical sense and explains where she's at these days.





I should do an updated picture of the kids sometime, I suppose...

I've always enjoyed joke characters that are referenced but never seen. Not to say that the Gabbo should never make an appearance, but considering how elusive a solid description of a bunyip actually is, he might not be the easiest to drop into a story.

I think the Caphans were inspired by a chat, although it's possible they came from a simple on-board reply as well. Regardless, the list of concepts that started as chartroom in-jokes would be pretty impressive.

Well, considering the fuel and oil kept there for the car and lawnmower and such, and the fact that Kerry lived in the lighthouse for years, making the garage detached was likely a safety modification... assuming the connection to the house didn't just explode one day.





I would think the faerie side of the equation would be the harder one to recruit volunteers for.





There's always Lemuria if she really wants to take a vacation from things. Nice beaches there.

Who really keeps that much fuel in the garage anyway?





Anna might like to go there, but there are 2 reasons she doesn't: a) She's afraid to ask, because she's been enough trouble for the LL and friends already; and b) she's not sure it's right to run away from the problem and leave Hallie to deal with it.