Saga - OT [DDC 2017] Doaba Ke'demii - The Diary of a Young Comradette (OCs | ANH/TESB) - COMPLETE, e-book soon

Ewok Poet, I am so sorry that I got so behind her (hee hee I said Behind – Doria would approve). But seriously, I do regret not keeping up with your diary. I will try to catch up some now.

8. That Aunt Lumia is something else. She is so self-centered! Poor Doria, having to drag this old bag around the town in the rain. Like Findswoman, I am glad that Maris finally gives her a piece of her mind. Every now and then Maris redeems herself.
This part made me laugh out loud:

9. JAX IS SO DREAMY! How exciting to be there for the filming and meeting Jax! He seems like a nice person, not a stuck-up celebrity. I take it that the censors have conveniently neglected to tell Sacorria about what happened to Alderaan, but they do like to take advantage of the Alderaanian teams that are now missing from the tournaments.

10. Hey wait a minute – Jax is sponsored by ANGRY MACE! Products? How did he get so lucky? And I like how Tendra is following a diet that prescribes that for dinner, you skip dinner. Makes sense in a progressive kind of way.

That sounds strangely familiar….

Doria, you’ve just taken the first step into a larger world. She’s starting to put things together. That could be enlightening or dangerous or terrifying.

11. First off, I am very glad that the classwork Doria has turned in has FINALLY been acknowledged and praised. It’s about time. And yay for Jax! His number one fan was excited about that race.
But the most important part was Gredda, showing Doria how to access the true galaxy. Doria has been living in the shadows for so long she just assumes the entire universe is gray. She’s such a smart girl. Soon, I’m afraid she won’t be able to play along with the low expectations that her society has set up for her. She can start by dumping that loser Porky. He will undoubtedly seem more and more useless to her as her perception expands.

12. Ok, Porky is another word for a REAR. He interrupts Doria’s visit to her father’s grave with what seems to be a prom invitation, which is okay I guess except that he expects Doria to be essentially just arm candy. He’s gonna look dashing in his new military uniform so she’d better get cracking at finding an outfit that would complement his attire appropriately. Blech. I love how she eventually managed to go, nearly smelling of fish, with a comb barely missing being caught in her hair, no make up, and sensible shoes. That’s my girl. Be your own kind of progressive.

 

Porky ... seems almost sadistic, at least from how Doria notes he seems to have enjoyed her scream.

(Then again, from what we've seen of him, and the Triad's complicity with the Empire, Porky might profit from his worse traits. )

And Aunt Sarlaac actually seems to have done something right ... sort of.

 

Oh, Porky Pork Butts strikes again... Wow, sensitivity and empathy are foreign concepts to him, aren't they? He follows up his badly timed prom-posal with an admonition for her not to embarrass him and then the pervert enjoys her scream. On top of that, Maris hushes Doria when she tries to call Porky on his insensitivity. Not cool, mom...though from bits and pieces we have heard of her courtship with Elisandre, she probably accepts this as normal male behavior.

Doria's conversation with her dad is heartfelt; it seems that this is the only way she can express herself about things like her difficult friendship with Tendra...her deceased father is the only one who will listen. And this:

is particularly sad. However she expresses herself is wrong.

The dress that Aunt Larax designed sounds interesting, if not precisely Doria's style. Two points stood out to me. One, even dresses must be progressively colored by tier, and two, suits for girls aren't practical, though tight, slitted dresses apparently are And once again, Dak is a creep, Tendra is...showy, and Jak is uninterested in Zana or maybe any girls? Something tells me that would not be progressive

I hope that Doria's Winter Dance will be pleasant...but with Porky involved it's more likely to be...memorable.

Once again, Awaiting more progressive entries.

 

Thank you all, for your wonderful, wonderful comments!

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Yeah, don't fall behind again. Huh-huh, behind *snort*

It was far worse IRL. My aunt S. named her birds Dudù and Dodi, I asked why the earlier of the names and she said that it's because of the black people, who always say dudududududududududu. Neeedless to say I was baffled.

Jax is good, at least at this time in his life. And definitely not a fan of the Empire.

Of course, it's better than all those diets where you eat stuff and things.

Accidents happen...or do they...?

...or all of those.

Porky on his way out? Sign me up for it, he's annoying as hell.

He doesn't interrupt the visit, they were about to go. Now, interrupting the visit would've been too much even for him. And yup, Doria has some taste, or at least I like to sink so.

No, no, no...Larax is not the same person as Lumia. She's the aunt from Vagran and she's good.

Porky is not sadistic, he's a negging-charged moron. No better way to say it - or nicer, for that matter.

Elesandre was probably not THAT weird, but he must have been at least a little bit similar.

And I love the word prom-posal. So cool.

Maris doesn't want to be seen as weak and she comes across as a robot. Not a good idea.

I bet that most girls were dressed like those two. Google "Bulgarian prom" and you'll get the idea of where I got my inspiration. Of course, not the worst of those, but some of them could fit.

As for Jan...

He's the classiest class there is, isn't he? And he's sure got tact. You guessed every single word of this.

But wait...it's...progressive! That way they don't only think about the world of the dead, but also the world of the living!

Something to do with unnecessary, stupid rules. And the others probably think of her as a prude and a tart at the same time. You can see her LEGS, from the knees down. Isn't that scary?

But yeah, I hope Porky is pleased.

Close...close...

 

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The Winter Dance was meant to be held at Hotel Sacor, but the principal and the parents’ board of FAIS have deemed it too inappropriate for the young and the progressive, so we ended up at Old Berrsia. That would have made sense had we not been instructed to dress up. Old Berrsia might not be a seedy cantina, but it’s closer to a place where freighter pilots come to eat until they can no longer open their mouths, than, say, the Emperor’s Palace. It’s kinda funny how everybody looked like they had been invited to one of those Imperial Balls. I could not even recognise some of the Human girls. And Cavernus was not there, once again. She seems to be disappearing every six weeks or so.

That said, Tendra talked about how we’re going to be played great, classical music, but instead of that, we got this droid band covering Pretty Dadanna songs. Zana immediately climbed on the nearest table and began to dance. It took me ten minutes to notice that she ripped off the lower part of that notorious figure-hugging yellow dress, so she could dance. Jax Antilles – not the one from our group, but the other one, from Besh-10, climbed up and joined her. I am not sure how they call this style of dancing, but it was certainly NOT circle-dance. AND GIRLS FROM THE OTHER CLASS AND OTHER THREE SCHOOLS WERE JOINING IN. OH.MY.TRIAD.

It took Tendra about twenty minutes of fidgeting with her fork to shrug and join them on the table. She extended her arms towards me, quickly implied that my dress was good for dancing, I just pretended not to understand her from all the noise.

Jan, Porky and I spent most of the time eating our food. As usual, Porky was not even looking at whatever he was about to chomp, he’s always been a true rancor when it comes to food. And, truth to be told, the food was not in the range of what Old Berrsia usually offers to its customers. Most of the meat was cold, there was too much red nebula onion served and the sunlettuce leaves looked as if they had been perforated by bugs. Is this what the Otherwise Arable Land tax and other similar taxes are used for? Or would somebody simply tell me that these are hard times and that we need to feed the Empire, if I was to complain?

Porky initially looked like he was enjoying his view of the girls on the tables a bit too much. At the same time, I am not sure if he was impressed or confused that I was not interested in taking part. He did not ask, but I responded anyway – mourning, dislike of dancing, dislike of this particular genre of music and unwillingness for everybody to see my orange underwear. Okay, I did not say that last thing, but the way the night went…I am pretty sure that he figured it out himself.

And that was when this blond girl with long tresses from whichever other lyceum, perhaps SAIS, came around and pointed at me.

“Look at you! ‘Dettes, that’s the wermo I saw talking to a grave up on Sarcophagus! I could recognise that face a lightyear away!”

She invited a bunch of them to come along, and one even stopped dancing with a waiter, because, apparently, I was that interesting to them. They were laughing in my face and the leader of the group grabbed me by my tie and asked whoever was into wearing such things anyway. I tried to raise the hand with a black band on it, to wave it in front of her face and show her that I was mourning the loss of my father, but she thought that I wanted to hit her and went ahead to punch me.

“This is my friend and she’s progressive!” Jan stood up to my defence.

Meanwhile, Porky was looking at the blonde, all enchanted. Then she asked him if he was with us and if he knew me. To my surprise, and Jan’s as well, he shook his head and the blonde added that she was delighted, ‘cause she wanted to dance with him, either way. And they went to the podium, to dance next to the band.

I was not sure what had just happened. Jan looked at my face and said that I wasn’t bleeding, but I sneezed so much that I am sure that I wiped my nose against the tablecloth at some point. Glad nobody else saw that. We were not sure why that girl had it with me. Jan asked me if I spoke to my dad’s grave, I nodded and he didn’t think there was anything funny about it. I said that I didn’t like the idea of being so memorable, as I always wanted to blend in with the crowd. He sighed and shook his head, then he said that he totally knows what I’m talking about. That was…odd, to say the least. But we have been friends for a decade now and I know that he didn’t mean anything bad. Sure, I get angry with him, but still.

Another thing where he absolutely confused me was his comment about Porky having gone to dance with the girl who hit me. He said that he befriended Porky and Dak just like the rest of us did, but that he doesn’t like him when drunk. I referenced an Empress! article about how boys sometimes like to make their girlfriends jealous and assumed that, maybe, Porky, wanted to propose to me – he did mention marriage once, right? Jan disagreed on this and said that he can comm his mom to pick us up and take us home after the dessert has been served.

Me? I went to the ‘fresher to think about it and ended up spewing all this. It appears that five drunk Selonian girls are waiting in line to get in, so I’d better go back to our table.

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Footnotes

Spoiler

Hotel Sacor is obviously another location in Saccorata. Fanon.

Sunlettuce would be something like our lettuce. Fanon.

 

Oh, poor Doria Her Winter Dance just gets worse and worse. Seedy hotel, bad food, bad music...all shared with a bunch of strangers from other schools. Her friends, table dancing (and Zana ripping up her dress to do so ) Lovely, just lovely. It all sounds like a bad dream to me, even before Miss Blonde Tresses sticks her nose into things.

And we see that Doria doesn't know Porky Pork Butts as well as she think she does. He is just lovely, too. Jan's comment about him being drunk explains a few things --though Doria is still in denial. No, he is not going to propose to you, and even if he should the kriffing barve just watched another girl punch you in the face and disavowed knowledge of you. This is not someone you should be planning a future with. This is not someone you should trust to water your house plants.

At least Jan proves himself to be a true friend, standing up for Doria, comforting her, even offering to take her home. Good for him. Nice to know that she has someone on her side through all the poodoo her other friends--and her crap-tastic "boyfriend "--put her through. I think I know why he says what he did about blending in, too hopefully Doria will be there for him if and when that comes to light

Somehow, I have a feeling that Doria's horrible night is not over yet. Her comment about orange underpants makes me fear that Drunken Pork Butts may try something...

 

Yikes, I wonder what geniuses were in charge of planning this bash? Sure seems to be a lovely environment. Though of course, a lot of that is the disposition of the teenagers involved. Horrible Punching Girl seems like a perfect soulmate for Porky; those two deserve each other! Jan is a really good friend to Doria here, and it's nice that there's someone in their group who cares enough to notice that she's not having a great time. I notice the same as others in what he says about wanting to blend in; that could be for a variety of reasons but I suspect it's the one that the Sacorrian government would not approve. Hope he doesn't get in trouble; Lil's incarceration on such vague associations makes that seem a real concern. Tyria isn't awful, but she's way too busy being the party girl to look out for anybody.

 

Oh, ugh. I can't really say I'm surprised at Porky's behavior (or lack thereof), but oh, I hope Doria will be safe ...

And Jan ... yeah, keep your head down, pal.

(Ironically, I've been reading Agents of Chaos: Jedi Eclipse, so this is sort of a bookend to that .. )

 

Oh, poor Doria. Why do these things have to happen to her? Those clique-y girls are so unnecessarily mean to her, as if doing it to impress Porky. Then he of course goes off with the pretty, shallow, superficial blonde.

At least she has an ally on her side. Jan is a wonderful friend who doesn't seem to find anything odd at all about talking to your father's spirit at his grave. He defends her against the cruel girls and against Porky's insensitivity, then offers to get her safely home.

Oh sweetie. This sort of garbage that the magazine feeds their readers makes me sick. If a guy is abusive to you, then he must like you! Doria, no! You are worth so much more.

 

Thank you so much for your comments! I apologise that my comments are brief, I'm going through some ups and downs, health-wise and I cannot always concentrate properly. Luckily I finished this DDC last month, so I can just keep on postin'...

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As I have said, Bulgarian prom.

Of course all of this is true. But Doria is still in denial. However, not for much longer!

You (and others) are right and yes, she will be there for him. But not many people will know...

Somehow, I have a feeling you're right.

Just a huge "yes", to all this. And no worries, the Lil situation is for political prisoners and similar, those that need to be rid of.

It's art how a decent place can become a hole for the students.

Read what I said to Raissa Baiard - explains it all. Briefly, but yeah.

He will be safe. And he can be awesome when he wants to!

Do I want to know what happened in that book?

Lack of experience and believing in girly mags can be a horrible thing...

And Porky sucks pork b... but we all know that by now!

 

TW: Attempted sexual assault

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Those Selonian girls were way too drunk. They didn’t even realise that I was Human, they were singing these nasty songs in Mandaba. I went back to our table and it turned out that Jan had to replace one of the droids in the band – the bloody can broke and they asked if anybody could play mandoviol, so he volunteered. I caught his eye and he kept on blinking to me. Had no idea what he wanted.

There was no sign of Tendra, Dak and Zana, whatsoever. I saw a couple of Drall girls chase Rende and yell “Your ta’devsh is ours!” and I don’t think I want to know what that meant. Quacha was sleeping in her chair and drooling on the tablecloth. At least I hoped it was just drool. Our Jax Antilless and the other Jax Antilless were having a heated convo about Star Destroyers. Tasya and Agro were singing out of tune to what I think might have been Dadanna’s “Hagaa Wagaa Dance” and...let’s just say that this was the first time I saw Tasya smile. She’s always so, so stuck up.

Then somebody put a pair of hands over my eyes. It was Porky. I moved away from him and asked him why he danced with the girl who had previously hit me. He said that it had been his plan all along and then he gave me an exceptionally slobbery kiss. His breath didn’t smell nice this time, either, but it was alcohol, not Wookiee ethnic food. I asked him if he had something to drink, he showed me a whole bottle of Commenor brandy. Asked me if I wanted some, said that I never liked the taste of alcohol. He shrugged and drank the last shot he had intended for me to drink as well. The next thing I knew, he was mixing it with our local whiskey. I sat down next to him and asked him if something had happened since he had to drink so much. Great uncle Geo once said that some beings like to drown their sorrows in alcohol.

He said that it was me and that we needed to talk. I wasn’t sure what it was all about, but I said that I couldn’t hear him well from all that music. At this point, I was sure that he wanted to make me jealous, so I comforted him and asked him to stop drinking. I said that he had enough for the night.

When we got out, it was snowing. He put his new army jacket on my back and we walked to the landcar park. The hired Saygo Sublata was not there, but his dad’s Saygo Triad was. We went in.

He started to ramble on and on about how he is a couple of weeks close from losing a bet he’d made with Dak about a year ago. I told him that bets were not a progressive thing and he started crying. He said that all of the other prospecting army cadets found out about this bet during his Estainia holiday as well. I asked him if any Imperial credits were an issue, he denied that money was involved. My next question was if I could help him win the bet or whatever.

He nodded.

The next thing I knew, his cold right hand was on my rear, but he was too drunk to figure out how to get through the tights. I wanted to ask him what on Sacor did he think he was doing, but I couldn’t – he had me pinned against the passenger seat and he was breathing his Commenor brandy fumes straight into my throat. I could feel him drool into my mouth. What was that supposed to mean?

I pushed him away seconds before his hand got into my underwear – was he really that drunk at all? He then said that I looked awful in a dress and that, if other beings didn’t know that I was Sacorrian, they would not have believed me, because – as he had pointed some weeks ago – I am very tartish, almost as if my insides were those forbidden angleberries. Then he licked his lips and asked me if he could taste the forbidden fruit. The next thing I knew, he was on top of me. I thought “Kriff” and kicked him in the head. He screamed like a nerfling and then I walked over him, ran out and hid in the nearby field. A little late, I could hear him scream that he was going to lose his bet and that it was going to be my fault. He kept on yelling at me to come out of “wherever I had been hiding”, but I did not want to. Not even when he called me unprogressive.

I was not sure what happened there. Did he want…sex? I am not into the necessary evil in which there is nothing for a woman, at least not before we’re legally tied to each other, before Their Leaderships’ messenger, in the name of Progress and Unity. Women don’t like sex, anyway, so why go for that chore before we have to?! And was that what he meant by “stripping me off the orange shirt” some months ago. My father had just been laid to rest and all Porky wanted to do was kriff me. BEFORE MARRIAGE.

I realised that I was in some junkyard. I kept on crawling on my knees, lucky that I had a pair of tights on and that was how I came face to face with Rende. His shirt was torn and he had lipstick marks all over his face. His spectacles were broken, to the point where he wasn’t sure where he was. I told him that he’s safe and that we were going to get help.

I commed mom. No response. I commend Comradette Nola. No response. I even commed Comradette…I mean, Comrade Roko to complain about his son, but he was “out of reach”, so very likely in hyperspace. I did leave him a voice-comm that he could read whenever he’s in realspace again. Now, it probably didn’t sound progressive, BUT I DON’T CARE. HE SHOULD KNOW WHAT HIS SON IS UP TO.

My last resort was Gredda. She was at work, in the night shift, but she picked up immediately, got our coordinates and picked us up. She got us straight to my place and asked Rende’s mother, her co-worker to come around as well. Apparently, my mom was very confused about letting a “stranger” in, as if she could not remember Comradette Gahla from parents’ meetings.

Once Rende had a spare pair of spectacles on, he said that a dozen of Drall girls from Besh-10 and SAIS chased him and Agroproprius all around the restaurant and the landcar park. Comradette Gahla cocked her head and Gredda said that the “get the boys” dare was popular when she was in her last year as well, but that she did not take part. Rende wasn’t sure what happened to Agroproprius, other than he had left him behind, together with the rest of his shirt and his overcoat.

I said that I had experienced something similar with Porky and that he was either very drunk or painting a convincing picture of a desperate drunk. Comradette Gahla seemed to have more compassion for me than her own son, my mom smashed her fist against the table and said that she was going to have a word or two with Roko and Gladiola Porkley and Gredda made that “told you so” face.

And just then, I got a comm-text from the nerf himself. YOU’LL BE V V SORRY, written exactly that way. It was quickly followed by another, just saying TART. I asked the three comradettes present how come that I was a tart for stopping his aggressive advances. They replied at the same time, each saying something different, and then Rende asserted that we should all be able to stop such advances. His mother just gave him a cold look. I am…not sure what’s happening here.

But one thing that I am sure of is that I want to kill Porky now. I don’t care if that’s progressive. I don’t care at all. He couldn’t comfort me about my dad’s death, he never wanted to discuss podracing with me and then he turned out to be sickeningly jealous of Jax, he danced with a girl who hit me and then he attempted to…well, this is where it ends. Whatever bet he’s lost, those other cadets can kill him, as far as I am concerned.

Wait. What if what he did not achieve tonight WAS the bet?

Oh.My.Triad. No.

No. No. No. No. No. He cannot be that horrible, can he?

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Footnotes

Spoiler

“Hagaa Wagaa Dance” was inspired by the Hugga Wugga sketch from Muppet Show and Lepa Brena’s song Tamba Lamba. I wanted to make it twice as WTK.

Commenor brandy is canon.

Saygo Triad is another model of Saygo speeders.

 

Thanks for reading and commenting! I still experience strange cognitive issues and I am basically just posting what I wrote earlier. Please, don't let my lack of comments on other stories push you away from this story. I still like you all a lot, I just have major problems with writing and reading.

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Doria had a ridiculous idea on her mind - that he cannot do this because they're not married, but that idea and her odd beliefs saved her from what would have most certainly been an assault. And yes, it's clear that it was the bet at this point.

Dralls on Sacorria are pretty strange creatures, much like their ancestors. Some of the things acceptable in their culture would be considered assault in all other modern societies. Therefore, it's hard to grasp if these girls were crossing the line or not, but according to Maris, they definitely were and she is ready to call anybody on that.

He deserves some major public shaming, which is precisely what the cadets have in store for him. And he's been dropped like he's hot, though that's one thing he's not.

Nobody said that all of that won't surface later in life. Nobody. But at this moment, she's as strong as can be. And a smart cookie, too.

 

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// My New Friend, blasetreegoatAU
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I woke up to twenty more strange messages from Porky and a strange one that just read “Please, Doria! I beg you!” I was this close to smashing the comm against the wall. I looked through the window and the snow has fallen all over the ground lanes and trees. Such nice weather, and here I was, angry and sad, and definitely not willing to go out.

Of course, whenever I say that, something else happens.

This time, it was making a snow-droid with Ebe on the roof. And a snowball fight, of course. He said that Gredda left a message that she would drop by as soon as she could and Duchess Branna was coming over later for lunch. Mom wasn’t particularly happy about the latter, as we already had Aunt Iris for lunch, but Ebe and I offered to go to and pick more supplies, if necessary. She refused and had them delivered instead. This time, the delivery droid broke two out of ten ibbot eggs. Could’ve been worse.

We had a great lunch. Branna and mom were wise enough not to discuss the events with Aunt Iris, as she just couldn’t grasp the extent of it. Gredda didn’t come in the end. She had to work some extra hours. Aunt Iris asked me about the Winter Dance, giggled and said that she was sure that I was cute, that my dress was cute and that I had a good time. I stepped on mom’s foot under the table, grinned and said yes. Branna just rolled her eyes and mom became nicer than normal – what she is like when lying.

Once everybody was gone, I thought I’d treat myself to some HoloNet again.

I found this incredible platform called HyperYak, which allows beings to talk to others – regardless of where in the Galaxy they are. One day you could be yakking to an up-and-coming romdram starlet from the CoCo Town on Coruscant and not know it, the next day it could be a smuggler from Socorro on the run from a crime lord on Nal Hutta. How exciting! Of course that I had to try it…but it was nowhere like I thought it would be.

My first random yak session was with some rather horny Twi’lek man who asked to see my lekku. Once I said I had none, he said that he hopes I’d be thrown to a rancor. What? The next creature I spoke to was funny, I am pretty sure it was a droid. Why would an organic offer me to buy a fork that was supposedly bent by Force back in the days of the Jedi? What would an organic like me do with a fork? And who the kriff would name their youngling Flheesooslheesoo Poloomaantee, anyway? The amount of time baby talk popped up in that conversation…I am even more convinced that it’s a droid!

Maybe it was my yakhandle. I decided to go by SeaMadeOfGlass, because it sounded like…I don’t know…ice. Perhaps some sentients really like ice? Anyway, in one of the yak topical departments, I saw a handle that got me intrigued – blasetreegoatAU. Said it was a she, so I didn’t think there was a problem. I clicked on the handle and began a yak session.

What got me confused at first is the kind of slang she used – v instead of “very”, for example. I assumed that Gredda was right and that us Sacorrians had no idea what was popular these days, so, after a couple of sentences, I figured out how to type the same way. And then she asked me if something was wrong. Just…just how did she know?

I told her that I just broke up with my boyfriend and I told her how it happened. She was shocked and said that no boyfriend should behave that way, ever. Of course, she added that her own boyfriend is “complicated, but a nice guy” – whatever that was supposed to mean.

I also told her that I was from Sacorria – which surprised her – and that my name was Maris, which it most certainly isn’t, hoping that I could fool her into telling me her name. She said that her name was Cho Reamnos. Nice try. That’s the scientific name of blasé tree goats in Olys Corellisi. I know that much! Now, what was with the “AU” part? I guess she could be from Aurea.

She told me that, one day, I will find the right kind of a boyfriend for me. I am pretty sure that we are not talking about Jax Novo here, since she mentioned that the best boyfriends don’t even have to be heroes. Maybe her boyfriend, because I am sure that she has one, is a complete loser. Of course that every comradette needs a hero! Then again, Jan’s dad is not really one, he just works in his garden and stuff. And Tendra works with him. By Sacor, how she annoys me sometimes. So does Zana. Just…just where they had been last night?

Anyway, blasetreegoatAU added me to her Yak-mates and allowed me to see her log! I guess I have a friend now, sort of. A friend other than Gredda. I don’t see her face, I don’t know her name, but I think I have the courage to call her that. A friend. My first friend on the HoloNet!

But BOYFRIENDS? I am so done with that. Forever. Unless Jax Novo comes around again and the schutta is gone, or something. But sex is eww, and wrong! If it always looks the way Porky wanted it, I don’t think I would do it for any reason other than procreation. Just no, no, no.

Speaking of Jax, the season ended with the Trrrchs Frontier Trax on Chandrilla. He finished last, ninth out of nine. That’s good, I guess? After all, he has four points from that podium finish on Naboo and a total of…three finished races out of 16. Let’s hope the next season will be much better.

My head is a mess. Where is that Perigen when you need it? Oh, yes, mom and Comradette Gahla had three each last night, because THEY were so nervous. THEY. How about Rende and me?

That said, I sent Rende a comm-text to ask him if he was OK. I received no response. There were ten more strange comm-texts from Porky and one from Jan, asking me where I had been when Comradette Nola came to pick us up after dessert…

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Footnotes

Spoiler

Flheesooslheesoo Poloomaantee is obviously a Squib. I got the name by messing with a cult favourite generator here in ex-Yugoslavia, the one and only polumenta generator at http://polumenta.zardina.org.

Trrrchs Frontier Trax on Chandrilla was inspired by the Jerez de La Frontiera motor racing track in Spain, sometimes used for Formula One races. Actually, make that sometimes into “long ago”.

 

Catching up....

Oh. My. Triad. Poor, poor Doria! This truly was the dance from hell. Porky turns out to be a real pork butt (emphasis on the butt). I just can't even come up with adequate words to express the depth of disgust he inspires. Perhaps if he'd shown any kind of tenderness, he might have...er, achieved his objective, crass as that sounds, but all of his actions show how very little Porky has ever cared for Doria. Drunken, sobbing, slobbery groping, followed by yelling, shaming, threatening...wow, what a piece of work. Doria's never been a person to him, just a "tart," a body, an objective. He deserves to have Gredda call his parents and rip them a couple new ones, but I somehow doubt the "good" Comrade Porkley will care.

And likewise, poor Rende. Interesting, though no less tragic, gender inversion with the Dralls here. I feel for Rende that his own mother doesn't even seem to care that he was assaulted (and it's still assault, no matter who's doing it). As Findswoman notes, even Maris, who is not always the most expressive of mothers, gets it better here. Good for her for taking Doria's part.

Doria's final realization about Porky and his sick little bet is painful. The only good thing that comes out of this whole catastrophe is that she finally sees him for the pig he really is. It's too bad that this is what it took, but now she can move on to better things. At least she gets some much needed fun time with Ebe, and even horrible Aunt Iris is less horrible than usual. And then she discovers chat rooms and meets all the usual suspects. Horny guy? Check! Shady huckster? Check! (Though I love the squib's name! And Doria's reaction: "who the kriff would name their youngling that?" )

And finally, she finds what she really needs: a good friend to talk to. Blasétreegoat is wise; someday Doria will find the right sort of boyfriend, and then those "ew" and wrong things will not be ew. Boyfriends don't have to be heroes...but sometimes heroes are the ones who are there for you no matter what. In that respect, Doria is right, every comradette needs a hero, but it's got nothing to with the kind of hyper-masculine heroes touted by Empress

I,too, hope Rende is okay, but Porky can be sucked into the giant back hole or eaten by an intergalactic space goat and I will cheer.

Hang in there, Doria. Here's hoping things will continue to improve!

 

I'm sorry for being so slow. I find it hard to read and write and I may need to have my meds adjusted to change that. But I am not giving up on this just yet, since it's finished and all...

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And I'm equally proud that you read what I have written of that one so far!

I hope I managed to show a typical 'net experience of the days past, just ported to the Galaxy Far, Far Away...glad it worked.

She's absolutely clueless.

I can only nod my head to all this.

That would've been one hell of a race, don't you think?

Perigen is a cure-it-all of the GFFA.

On the serious side, yes, I agree. But sadly, he probably accepted that what happened to him is "normal" in Drall culture.

You're still being too nice. I think.

I marked the important part. The most important part, that is.

The Squib should meet the horny guy. I think it would be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Absolutely right. And heroes don't have to be especially heroic-looking or saving the worlds, when they can be a hero to somebody special. <3

I love those options. Porque no los dos?

She says thanks.

 

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// My New Year Fete – Doria Strikes Back?!
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The last couple of days at the lyceum before the winter holidays were bearable. Just bearable. For some strange reason, almost everybody in the class avoided me, Comradette Malokio made a strange comment about how some of us make unwise decisions, but she actually gave me a 5 on the end-of-term essay. And that was strange, because I had gone with Ebe’s wild suggestion and inserted a mean comment about her on page 17. I think he will turn out to be right – when it comes to me, she doesn’t even look at what I’m writing, she rates me based on the weather, how much dust corn has been stored on our artificial satellite silos or some odd factors like that. Agroproprius was not in the school at all, but Cavernus was around and she seemed very, very tired.

I tried to talk to Rende a couple of times, but he avoided me. And, of course, I avoided Porky. He attempted to come close to me a couple of times, but I would stand next to the lect-aide droid or one of the other comrades. I even bothered Jax Antilless about his Star Destroyer obsession and he went on and on about Darth Vader’s Executor. Luckily, we had lots of classes with Kutuya, because of our end-of-standard-year tests, and she was doing what she could to keep Porky away from me. Oddly enough, she did not take care of how Rende was feeling, though I’m sure that Gredda and Branna told her what happened to him and Agroproprius.

When I got home, a surprise was waiting for me. Gredda went to Sublata on a quick business trip and she had somebody turn that cursed orange dress I wore at the Winter Dance into a perfect pair of curtains for my room’s transparisteel door. I am not sure if mom liked the idea of having to actually open the door and get inside of my room to check on me, but she said that the curtains looked quite stylish.

That said, mom and Gredda both said that I should change my comm code. I agreed and I had that done.

And then, when I did, Comrade Roko called mom at work on the last day before the New Year Fete and asked her why I was running away. He said that I was very “grabby” around his son while he was drunk. My mom assured him that it had been the other way around, but he said that he, Comradette Gladiola and their friends, the Gaurees, are horrified with just how much trouble a single misguided orange shirt can make.

What mess? Apparently, Porky was caught naked in a dust corn field near Dorthus Tal, filmed by his future dormitory mates at the Sacorrian Naval Academy. His father had no idea why, but he blamed me for it. He said that whatever I had done to his “precious gem Glaunder” must have been awful. Mom asked if the hazing among cadets was typical, and Roko got pretty defensive. It…wasn’t pretty.

Once the comm was over, my mom laughed for about ten minutes, she laughed until she was crying. Then she gave me a hug and said that sometimes, she wishes dad had known better. She went on and on about how beautiful Abatore is and how there was an option for us to go to Vagran and stay there, eventually get the denizenship and everything else. But dad did not want to. And it was not because of his parents or Aunt Iris. It was because fishing on Vagran was restricted to habitable areas and, on Sacorria, he could just fish wherever he wanted to. Not to mention that his shifts at AARIS had been quite flexible. He just wanted to keep all the non-Sacorrian things about Sacorria, though he was eager to get rid of the rest.

Ohwell. We are stuck here. I guess it’s up to us to make the best out of it.

Mom said that she was sure that Porky’s bet revolved around bedding me because I was “the prettiest girl”. I asked her if she had ever seen a pretty girl and then she repeated that story about how she and dad were the most beautiful couple in the city. I said that the times have changed and that it’s not about pretty girls – it’s about getting everything out of those you want to hurt. She…seems to be having trouble with that point of view, she cannot seem to be able to grasp that. But that is what I think it is. Porky was hazed by his future Academy mates and they gave him a little more than a year to get to the girl they evaluated as the very Grotlo Cap of the available females in Saccorata. OK, not the whole city, just FAIS proper. And that was the only reason. He didn’t like me, he saw me as desperate enough to accept any man. I don’t think he wanted to marry me, either, regardless of what he might have told his parents.

Before New Year fete, we had a long holocomm with Great Aunt Larax. Aunt Lumia was trying to reach us, too, but we declined. I think that was a good decision. A very good decision. And Larax said that I should make a decision to “strike back at like”. Then she stood in this funny pose and said “Doria strikes back!” She asked me to repeat what she had done. I did, but it was so, so silly!
After the midnight fire-display, the Katisvers knocked on our balcony window. They came around with a couple of little presents. Tendra was not with them, she had decided to spend the holidays in DoTal, with her family. Jan asked me if we could talk. I nodded and we went to my room with a plate full of Nola’s nerf rind buns.

We sat at the conversation circle and he said that he heard Porky’s version of the story and that he was more or less sure that it looked different from my point of view. I told him what happened, in a couple of sentences and he said that, in case I ever need to know it, he has a proof that…oh my Triad…

…Comrade Roko is involved with Comradete Gordi Gauree…DAK’S MOM.

He insisted that he never told me about this and that I should use this bit of information only if absolutely necessary. And then, to my surprise, he added that he will continue to spend time with Porky and Dak, and that Tendra was going to do the same.

This got me angry. Very angry. That is not how I was supposed to start my “strike back” year. I asked him how he could continue to be friends with somebody who brought me pain and lied to me all along, and how could Tendra force herself to spend her time around Dak. He gave me this unconvincing monologue about how there is this rivalry between the Ministry of Defence and the Government Offices and that the red shirts and their families have no choice, but to put up with the others of the same class.

I am not buying this. There has got to be more to it.

Plus, Dak’s yellow.

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Footnotes

Spoiler

Grotlo Cap would be the southernmost high mountain on Sacorria. It's in a cold place. Therefore, the girl who is compared to it could be considered unreachable and cold, not interested in a man's advances.

 

EP - Sorry I've not kept up with this as I'd wanted to ...

But - finally! Yay for Doria drawing a line (it's awful how it happened, of course, and Porky's father is a jerk - like father, like son, none of which surprises me). Her newfound strength is definitely to be commended.

Plus - yay to Maris for standing up for her daughter. I'm glad I misjudged her (not that they don't still have issues with each other, but Maris clearly does care).

 

What a kriffed up family the Pork Butt has. It does not surprise me at all that Comrade Roko blames Doria for everything. His precious Glaunder (Glaunder? Really? No wonder he goes by Porky) is such a delicate snowflake, there's no way he could have been a drunk, horny, grabby guy! Except that he sounds like he's daddy's little boy; someday he too will be having affairs with friends' wives and won't Daddy be proud then! It's like those old PSA's on drug use from the 80's: "I learned it from watching you!"

Saccorian men do seem to be a...special breed, don't they? Doria's dad didn't want to move because of the fishing? Then you've got the flip side with the Drall, where the boys who were assaulted are basically ignored because...it's their custom or tradition to assault the males? Sometimes customs aren't a good thing. It breaks my heart that Rende gets no comfort and avoids Doria out of shame. I guess that if he were a "real male" he would have taken it? Or feels he brought it upon himself? Either way, truly sad, and sadder still that no one is talking about Agropropius's disappearance

I don't blame Doria for being hurt that Jan and Tendra are still friends with Porky, though I have no doubt there's more going on there than it seems. Hopefully, turning that orange dress into curtains is just the beginning of Doria striking back--kick the new year in the shebs, girl!

Looking forward to more!

 

And so the prom night ended in a complete and utter tree goat rodeo. Not unexpected but unexpectedly horrible even so. Not only were a lot of those present way too inebriated, but apparently many of them already expected it to be open season on the others. Which seems all too grimly predictable given the already established attitudes about relationships and sex in Sacorrian society... but it still manages to be worse than expected.

Those Drall girls... truly awful, and I'm glad that Rende found Doria instead of them! Though I worry about what's going on with him, and with the vanishing of Agroproprius in the most recent installment. I really worry about how their parents may have reacted at home given how utterly lacking in empathy Rende's mom was.

Speaking of parental reactions, I'm glad that Maris was at least on Doria's side. Sure, she fails to get some things in her typical fashion. Interpreting Porky's behavior as some kind of backhanded compliment on Doria's appearance -- urk! Nope Maris, doesn't work like that. But still, she does obviously care for her daughter here and that's good to see, given all else that has gone wrong.

And as for Porky, like others I half expected this sort of thing from him... but he still manages to limbo under the low bar of my very low opinion. Just... what. Attempted rape is awful enough, but for a bet? What an absolute sack of poodoo. His dad's reaction is just as ridiculous as one might expect. Way to encourage the kid to be a narcissist with no concept of other beings as, you know, people. Yuck.

It's good to see that Doria is getting support from at least some of the people she knows. Fancy orange dress curtains... Larax is never short on ideas! I have to wonder if there actually is more going on than she thinks with the others who insist on continuing to hang around with Porky, though maybe they're just acting for personal convenience. Hard to say at the moment.

 

Thank you so much for your comments and likes.

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It's OK. I have not kept up with it myself.

Of course. Like father, like son. Porky had a wonderful example to learn from, which is not to say that he wouldn't have been like that, either way!

She does.

I think you commented on his first name before. But I'm not blaming you for doing it again, because it's just horrible in so many ways...not that his nickname isn't. And now I'm curious about those PSAs.

That one is a true story of why my own father didn't want to move to Germany, so I used it here. There are such people in this world, definitely, and they don't make much sense.

As far as the Dralls go, yes, you're right - they're being ignored, because it's "how it works" in the Sacorrian society. It's disturbing. Gredda might be the only Drall who is somewhat sympathetic for him, but she isn't showing much of it, either,

She will kick it as much as she can, no doubt. And Jan and Tendra will have to explain themselves at some point - especially Jan.

"Goat tree rodeo"

I liked that. Despite all the seriousness of the comment, I actually had to chuckle, a bit.

Same goes for the "open season" comment. It reminds me of cartoons.

All jokes put aside, Sacorrian society is deeply, deeply flawed.

Perhaps they did not react at all. Which is...horrible.

Nothing to add - this is perfect.

Under the low bar seems to be pretty down below, given how much you "liked" him before this. Zoinks! He deserves every single word of what you said. Attempted rapes for a bet are just too much and removed from any kind of morality and reality.

Larax is a bit out there, but she's a genius in her own little way.


There might be more, there might not be more. You'll see.

 

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// My Non-Eventful Winter Holiday
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The winter holiday is precisely what I had expected it to be - a classic case of sitting at home and occasionally playing with Ebe on the rooftop, while everybody else has gone somewhere more progressive. I can't remember the last time we took a winter vacation, must have been before the Lyceum years. Dad thought that vacationing in a cold place did not make sense, because you get cold and then you eat more and you blast up the heating. Then again, he was also not big on summer vacations, because it's too warm and then you need to drink more water. The body eventually asks for other refreshments and they are too expensive and therefore stupid.

And that is why we have not gone anywhere in ages. That is why I never tried boardski or any kind of water sports. I learned to swim and I had not swum since. And it makes no sense, because Sublata is two hours away by the repulsortrain and there are boardski slopes on the other side of the Triad Mountain.

If nothing else, I can read the books that we need to go through for the last semestre's literature classes. There is one that I love more than anything else - Midday Darkness by Roula of Pelayn. It reads like fiction and it's a bit too ornate for my taste, but the story it tells is fascinating. It's about one of our greatest artists, Dyeke. He was a Drall from a Saygo factory circle in Curheg and he created some thought-provoking, timeless works of art such as Curheg Sunset and Nolerian Wilderness. And he had a tough childhood until he discovered art. Then he became a household name. Like, every single being in the Sector has heard of him by now! And his work was so beautiful.

He started off as a graffiti artist in Curheg, which is mentioned in the prologue, but then the author does not give significance to that later on. Now, that part bugs me.

The prologue states the following…

“When I first met Dyeke, he was a first year student. He left his home and an exciting future of making Saygos in the glorious city of Curheg on the scholarship provided by the University itself. A graffiti artist, he was picked off the street and placed in the class of Professor Agoste Lylek, a descendent of the Triad Mountain stoneweaver Davoreen Lylek.”

And then, chapter 04, Integrated and Integrating, seems to be slightly different:

From this era of his life, we have numerous paintings of Curheg. I was not aware that they existed, until Dyeke’s then-mentor comrade Saride, now the vice-dean of the SUPAS, brought them to my office after we had heard the tragic news of Dyeke’s passing. They appeared to have been taken at night, which impressed me more than I am capable of expressing in words, because it would have certainly meant that the young Drall was painting when he was supposed to be sleeping and then, still ending up efficient at school despite not having slept as much as his class comrades.

And this was indeed what prompted Saride to send Dyeke’s work to SUPAS for evaluation, without his knowledge. The then-dean, comradette Progressina Trench, was, reportedly, so excited that she accidentally hit her hand against a hard surface and broke a couple of bones in it. That was the kind of a talent that she had not seen in a long time and the Board of Advisors, as well as the other professors at SUPAS, shared her opinion. They were more than delighted to grant young Dyeke a place at this elite institution, without an entrance exam – which is itself a practice unheard of – as long as his parents and Shvaya, the Prime Comrade of the Nar’cees Clan would agree that he could relocate to Sublata, together with his faithful childhood friend, Garko Garelbi.

So, was he a graffiti artist or not? Perhaps they thought that it would appeal to us younger folk or whatever. But this Saride is just too, too progressive for having presented a young, working class comrade with such an opportunity. SUPAS! All the art in the world is there.

I told my mother about how great this Saride must have been and she didn’t want to talk about it. I then went on and on to Branna about the greatness of both him as Dyeke’s first mentor and Dyeke as a progressive artist and the hero of the early Galactic Empire and, she was…well, let’s say that I have never seen her like this before. She outright told me to shut up and go do something else. And then she recommended me a book that had nothing to do with this – Karihn’s poetry. I remembered that from the list of books banned by CESA on the grounds of indoctrination of the progressive youth, but poetry is beautiful, so I thought I’d give it a go, anyway.

And Karihn’s poems feel…feel like flying. I don’t see why somebody thought they needed to be banned. There’s that “Freedom” one everybody goes on about, but I like one or two others more.

I have been sketching some ideas of my own, too. I am not good at drawing, so my little beings look like something from a nightmare, but I have come to the point where I don't want to show the stories that go along with those pictures to Comradette Malokio anymore. She will say that they are not good, I will be annoyed for no reason and I will feel threatened by Rende. So, perhaps she shouldn't know that I am writing anything other than class assignments. Without her criticism, I can spread my wings. She is just...not progressive enough, yet she thinks she is this...this personification of Progress and Unity.

One thing that confuses me is how Gredda didn’t say anything about this, yet; and she is the only being who has seen the drawings. I have not even told mom, let alone anybody else. Then again, if I told mom, she would say that I’m into things that are not going to bring me money. Wrong things. I just wish I could share my work with her, given her background in art and all.

Jan dropped by one more time before his trip to Varalena Ice Caves. He promised to bring back a lot of holos. I always wanted to see that place.

A belated parcel arrived from Xyquine II. Aunt LumiaSarlacc sent me a pack of discount chocolate candies and an oven mitt for mom. When I opened the candies, they were in shapes of starfighters. Now, what was weird is that I found one in the shape of an X-Wing. Isn’t that a Rebel one? Am I supposed to report this to CESA or some other authority? Is it a violation of…well, anything?

I told blasetreegoatAU about it. She asked me to check the packaging for the planetary code. It turned out that these candies were not made on Xyquine II, but on some random Mid Rim world. For kriff’s sake, Lumia! Are you really, really that cheap? There was a note about supporting the slaves in the labor camp on that planet by buying the candies. Since when are you a missionary, SARLACC? I didn’t want candies made “according to the genuine Xyquine II recipes”, I wanted candies MADE on Xyquine II.

And blasetreegoatAU is so great, but she cared more about the details of this packaging than my great dilemma. In the end, I reminded her of it and she told me to keep it. Then she added that “it obviously worked”.

Now, whatever it is, I am not sure if I get it.

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Footnotes

Spoiler

Doria is reading one of the versions of this story.

Boardski is canon, I just spell it differently.

Varalena Ice Caves are fanon.