Easter is here! I wonder where I’ll spend it, the living room or the back room…
As a welcome distraction, Heather at Just Geeking By has a holiday themed prompt hot off the press! Check out the links in Further Reading.
Who is your favourite bunny? 🐰
Mr. Herriman from Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends!
Spring is a time of rebirth so thinking about fictional worlds and characters; what does rebirth mean to you?
My mind immediately went to the myth of Hades and Persephone, as I wrapped up reading Stephen Fry’s Mythos. Every year spring “dies” when Persephone goes to the underworld for six months. It’s reborn when she reemerges for the other six months. It feels longer for me, courtesy of my region’s climate; winter doesn’t end until June it seems.
Another story I considered was The Velveteen Rabbit. If you haven’t read it, click its link in Further Reading and skim the summary, it’s a short children’s story. I’m not going anywhere. Back? No doubt you guessed why I picked it, as the story features a literal rebirth into a new form.
To sum up, I interpret rebirth as a transformation. You let go of the old and look to new things to come. Otherwise, there’s no growth, no character development, and that would be boring.
Easter wouldn’t be the same without Easter Eggs; if you could have anything hatch from an egg what would it be?
Oo, twelve year old me would say a winged unicorn. With golden hooves and a bedazzled riding kit. And I could take care of it in my backyard please oh please Mom and Dad can I keep it? 🦄
Today, I’d be more than satisfied with a descendant of Shadowfax.
What fictional location reminds you of spring?
Wow, I had to chew on this one. I say any nature scenery in Studio Ghibli. The scene that stuck out most was the flower garden sequence in Spirited Away. Fun fact I learned while searching for images: did you know that it’s a symbol for paradise? The four types of blooming flowers shown represent the four seasons.
An Easter egg isn’t just a chocolate treat it’s also a hidden item for fans to spot. What’s your favourite Easter egg?
This is dumb, but I’m proud of this one because I didn’t have to look it up after the fact.
I have a game in my Steam library called Black Ice. I got it because it checked all my boxes: neon, cyberpunk theme, mindless fun. There are tons of nods to cyberpunk authors. The Easter egg I spotted was the devs named one of the weapons Reason (or at the very least described it as such).
Me in a nutshell.
It’s a direct reference to a weapon in Neal Stephenson’s book Snow Crash. It’s a rail-gun that fires uranium ammo, and its inscription reads “the last argument of kings.” If you like cyberpunk lit, it’s a romping good read; I devoured it.
Bonus, the devs are still actively developing Black Ice. I should get back into it…
Plan a themed Easter egg hunt for your favourite characters.
My favorite trio in Animal Crossing is The Museum Crew™: Blathers, Brewster, and Celeste.
Blather’s eggs would be fossils, and if I’m feeling cheeky, an insect or two. I would only use butterflies and beetles over creepy crawlies like spiders. Then again, if I use fossils, the hunt would take more than a day, since he geeks out over dinosaurs hardcore. 🤓
Brewster, naturally, would get coffee beans. Most of the eggs would have run of the mill coffee beans, but a few might have harder to find varieties. He strikes me as someone who would get excited over brewing with exotic beans.
For Celeste I would use star fragments and/or telescope parts. She admits in game she doesn’t have time to craft, so I’ll make it easier and put the required bits in the hunt. I see her getting excited over DIY kits modeled after famous historical telescopes.
That’s it for me this week! I’m looking forward to reading others’ answers to this prompt!
Further Reading
Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends
“10 Things that few people know in Spirited Away”