Afterword - Book 5 - Chapter 12 (Patreon)

Chapter 12: Embracing the Arts II

Settling into a foreign society is a process, and while I really, really don't want to belabor it, there are a ton of possible cute moments I can show as Ranthia tries to do that and bond with a bunny.

This chapter is about those moments.

She's still a bit out of her depth when it comes to interacting with Clover, but she isn't an idiot—sometimes the best path forward is to meet something's needs and then enjoy some sun and play together. Not that she joins in on the play; she can't even really imagine how she could play with Clover. At least not yet.

Give them time, they'll get there.

Then all Ranthia wanted to do was let a cute elf doodle on her skin for a while, yet she ends up facing her first contest in the art of dance! Ranthia isn't a prude and would find our modern sensibilities about nudity extremely off-putting, yet she isn't quite as comfortably free as the elves are, at least in the City of Arts. It's a weird balance to try to show that it's surprise and culture shock more so than prudish sensibility, and I hope that comes through, at least a little.

And yes, Seven Nights was absolutely another Macross 7/Fire Bomber reference. I tweaked the name slightly (1-2-3-4-5-6-7 Nights is a touch unwieldly), but it's absolutely a homage.

I had fun writing the scene. I just kind of went with my whims as I wrote, including letting the final song be a chaotic jumble that probably... wouldn't be very popular to listen to, honestly. It was probably hilarious to watch most people try to dance to it, but Ranthia legitimately enjoyed it!

At last, Ranthia is ranked. But where will she go from there?