restless child

BASICS:

skeleton: aquamarine

character name: isla marin

age & birthdate: 108 & october 4

gender & pronouns: cisgender woman & she/her

birthplace: the south atlantic ocean

length of time in port vale: recently arrived

occupation: none

fc: lily james

  Why did everyone keep looking at them like that?  Like she was a shark popping out of nowhere.  No, that wasn’t really it.  Some of it was fear, but the rest was…pity maybe.  It made their skin crawl even more.  They didn’t need to be pitied let alone by humans.  Humans who still had no idea what was going on in the water, the wars that continued to be waged.   Silver makes a sort of hiss spit noise.  Bandages were for still bleeding injuries.  Her throat was long healed.  It had taken a while, constantly stinging in salt water, but it had still healed eventually.  Not the prettiest thing in the world, but sirens weren’t supposed to be pretty.  They were supposed to be dangerous.  Threatening.  She likes to think the scars only make her more worthy of being a captain.   They drag a hand across their neck in rejection of the offer.  The scarred skin is still rough under fingers.  “Hiding-” they cough and glare.  “Stupid.”  Weak.  Human.  Those on land seemed to not want to be reminded of how dangerous life could be.  It was foolish.  “Bracelet…only.”  That was what mattered right now.

-

Isla blinked a little in confusion when the mysterious stranger said something “hiding” and “stupid.” She didn’t know if they meant they were hiding, but she wasn’t sure if Port Vale was the best place for that. The small town was bustling with mer-folk and it seemed like some of the humans that were higher up were suspicious of them. 

She liked to mess around with the humans to see how far she could push them until they figured out the truth, but that seemed to be almost too risky in Port Vale. Like they already knew the truth. Isla never experienced that before, and she wasn’t sure what to do about it. She was never good at blending in anywhere. She stood out. After spending all that time sick, she wasn’t about to hide herself away again.

.

“Some of the phones must be really underpriced or really overpriced because they vary in price a lot, but they all kinda look the same except for the ones that act like a plastic clamshell.” She made her hand open and closed like a little clamshell. “I know some of the phones say they’re waterproof, but I’m not sure if they can take the pressure… Maybe there are other devices we can take back down there that could work.” It would probably be as easy as trying to send text messages on a microwave (Stella had already tried), but could be worth it.

The idea of a word called ‘groovy’ made Stella sniff a little as she fought not to laugh. It was such a funny sounding word, and she could just say it over and over as if that would extract any more meaning out of those two little syllables. There wasn’t a good way of testing that theory without dropping the word excessively into conversation, though, so Stella had to settle on saving that fun little thought for later. Oh, and maybe she would be looking that up on Urban Dictionary too, since Isla didn’t define that immediately. “It’s so weird because I can understand almost everything except for these new words, but they’re like a secret that didn’t get spread around perfectly. Maybe you can make other people say it if you say it a lot.”

-

Isla nodded alone like she understood even though she really didn’t. Money was always a confusing concept for her since they didn’t use it in Assyria, and now there was this new technology she had to try and make sense of too. She was always willing to learn though. She loved how different land was from the ocean and how innovative humans were. It just took her a minute to catch up sometimes. “Hmm. What about a walkie talkie? Have you seen one of those before? You can still talk to people, and they’re really heavy.

Humans definitely had new slang since she was last on land. She heard things like “bet” and “bestie,” and while they weren’t so obscure that she couldn’t figure out the meanings, she wasn’t sure how to use them naturally in a conversation. “I could bring back ‘groovy,’” Isla said confidently. Maybe she wasn’t good at being a princess, but she was good at leaving an impression. “This town is so small that it’d be easy to start a new/old trend.” 

Status: open to all  Location: beach

Her skin has been feeling like it’s too tight for days now.  A strange burning, a deep desire to get back to the water.  Even if it was dangerous.  Silver’s been standing with their feet in the waves for a good five minutes now, arms across their chest, hand spinning bracelet and it’s wearing clasp.  She’d probably need to get it fixed somewhere soon so it wasn’t lost.  But the tattoo shop was still training her and her so called ‘bad’ customer service.  As if sirens were supposed to respect humans.  Like they weren’t the ones responsible for everything along with the mermaids.   Feet dig into compact wet sand, water up to her ankles.  It soothes the ache a bit, but not enough.  She spins the bracelet again, rattles it to see if it would last in the water.  To it’s credit, it’s not the clasp that breaks but one of the tiny rings connecting the clasp to the bracelet.  Silver hisses, quickly snatching it from the ground before it was washed away.  Damn it.  Did Port Vale even have a jewelry shop?  They hadn’t seen one except for that antique store.   To worsen her mood, she’d been so focused on the bracelet she hadn’t heard someone coming.  Sand muffled the noise, air not carrying the sound as well as water did.  The siren jumps and glares at the offending party.  At least the person is looking at her so she doesn’t have to throw something to get their attention as her voice shuts down.  There’s no scarf this time to hide the marks over her throat.  It forces her to write in the sand ‘do you know some place I can get this fixed?’ while holding the even more broken bracelet.  Whatever decoration it had years ago had been dug out by salt water.  She really needed to get a phone to make communicating easier.

-

By now, the only symptoms Isla still had from her illness was the occasional cough and bizarre dream. Considering she had worried she was going to die at her worst, it amazed her she could make a full recovery like this. Did all humans feel that way too or was it just her because she didn’t experience sickness in the ocean? Regardless, it wasn’t something she wanted to experience again, so she would have to be more careful and continue to stay out of the water.

Now that she could finally be on her feet again and go outside, Isla went on a lot of long walks between shifts at the Inn. It was still colder outside than she was used to, but she still appreciated feeling the sun on her skin. Port Vale was so much smaller and quieter than any place Isla had been to before, but she was beginning to appreciate that the more she met the people living here. It was nice to know so many people in town.

She was walking along the beach when she spotted someone she never saw before reaching for something in the sand. When they straightened up, Isla’s eyes widened slightly when she noticed the marks on their neck. Clearly injured at some point. They could be a human, but all signs pointed to yet another newcomer from the sea.

｡･:*:･ﾟ⎈ ｡･:*:･ﾟ

Steph was unaware of the inside turmoil and desire for any kind of parental figure in Isla - it wasn’t something she intentionally thought about, or even considered. It was quite natural for her to just mention her mother in the most random ways. “Yeah, she’s pretty cool and smart,” she said with a soft smile.

“Yeah, Gabi is great, she’s– she’s really badass,” Steph said. It was strange, with the way it all went down, even though Gabi still danced with her, still claimed she wanted to check on her. Steph still felt conflicted about it all, but she could not deny that Gabi was cool. She wanted to hang out with her more, it was just tricky, now, on how it was possible.

“It’s all ruins and some of it is grown in by nature and just in general pretty cool, so if you’re interested, we should check it out,” Steph suggested. “Next couple of days will be most likely raining and cold, but I heard it’s going to be sunny and nice next weekend? Would that work for you? It’s a couple of miles out of here, so we’d have to hike there, but that could be fun too, if you’re into it.”

-

Isla would also describe Gabi as a badass. She even gave off that impression without the fins. Sirens were tough by default, Isla certainly never met a weak one before, but Gabi was special in the way she could be imposing but still diplomatic. She was a leader in so many ways Isla wasn’t. “Definitely badass,” she laughed with a nod, “but also very kind. She brought me a bunch of supplies while I was sick.”

She was still feeling the lasting symptoms of her illness, but she liked the sound of getting outside and walking around in the sun. She had been cooped up so long in her room that she was desperate for fresh air. Tonight was a nice opportunity to get out, but she had a lot of time to make up for when it came to exploring the town.

“Next weekend works for me,” she said eagerly. “We should definitely do that. There’s still so much I have to see. I could also use some sun after being inside for so long. We can text each other to figure out a time?”

.

“I’d like that for you too,” Gabi said softly. It bothered her too, but she was too emotionally compromised right now to complain about it. “You don’t have to let me know if you don’t feel like it. But you can if you want to. I don’t control what you do. But… you can always reach out if you need anything further from me.” A distant look was in Gabi’s eyes as she walked away. She was a little stiff and uncomfortable on a good day, so that wasn’t much of anything new- just a different shade of it, perhaps. There weren’t that many other people currently on land that Gabi cared about more, so this was all she could exert her desire to protect what mattered to her.

.

Stella nodded in enthusiastic agreement. The phone was a beautiful and very strange device that she could not hope to understand without taking it apart. Whoever had made the phone had not made that very easy (she had already tried and came to the conclusion that perhaps she was not supposed to). “I wish that we could take these back underwater with us. How nice would it be to have one of these anywhere?” She wasn’t sure what she was going to do with her new beloved cell phone when she went back in the water. Perhaps it was best not to mourn something that hadn’t happened yet.

Oh, now she had to remember where she had gotten the thing. Stella tapped at her lip thoughtfully. “Uhm, I went to an electronics store. They had all sorts of exciting devices, and I thought that they would be able to help me the most with the phone. I got a prepaid phone plan, and the phone itself was on sale. I didn’t have a ton of money or anything, but I know humans are very phone-focused, so I wanted to be prepared. You should definitely get one soon! I’ve already learned so much about humans. There’s this website called the Urban Dictionary that helps you look up phrases used in regular speech that aren’t in the regular dictionary.”

-

Isla always wished she could bring the things she found on land back home with her, but they rarely faired well in the salt water. Even if she didn’t need a phone to function under the water, it would still rust and no longer look at as cool as it did before. She still needed one first before she could even consider bring it with her. “Humans are so advanced with communication,” Isla agreed. “It still takes us ages to get messages to each other. I wish we could have something remotely similar to a phone.”

She was surprised to hear that Stella knew so much about technology. Isla thought she was more of an expert when it came to land, but maybe that wasn’t the case. She never heard of Urban Dictionary before, and she didn’t think to get a phone her first day of land. “Maybe I’ll ask Mike to take me there,” Isla nodded. “He’s good with land stuff, and I can usually convince him to give me some money when I don’t have enough.” It took almost no effort on her part to get him to buy her clothes from the thrift store, at least. “I’ll have to remember that dictionary. Language changes over time. I haven’t heard anyone say ‘groovy’ yet, and they used to say it all the time.”

Astoria smiled a little, nodding. “Cold.” She echoed. “I’ve gathered not many up here like the cold, they find it odd that I sit out here without a jacket but honestly, it’s warmer than I’m used to.” Their oceans weren’t that far from each other but Astoria hadn’t often had the need to leave. “A month or so.” She said, glancing out over the water before turning back to Isla. “It wasn’t safe to stay much longer, I’m hoping it’ll be safe to go back sooner rather than later…”

-

Isla definitely fell into the category of those who find Port Vale cold. She was shivering as soon as she left the ocean and had to buy a few jackets from the thrift store. She preferred when the sun was strong enough to warm her skin, but obviously she would have to wait several months for that. “I’m not used to snow,” she admitted with a laugh. “I thought my toes were going to freeze off when I first got here.” She nodded in understanding when Astoria stories seemed similar to her own. She was waiting for an excuse to leave though, and this seemed like the prefect one. “I don’t really understand what’s happening, but I’m sure we’ll be able to go back soon. Assyria has survived a lot over the years.”

.

Gabi looked down, and wondered how Isla really saw her. “It’s not why I was chosen, but it means something to me to hear you say that.” Prying into other people’s thoughts was not one of her skills, though, so she would just have to be contented by the assumption that at least the mermaid seemed to think well of Gabi. Glancing up for a moment, she added, “I like to hope that you’ll get better soon, and we won’t have to be here for too much longer, though. I don’t remember the last time I stayed in one place for this long.” Even though her territory and those within it meant everything to her, she couldn’t help but take frequent trips away from her borders. Staying in one annoying little human town for months and months was something akin to torture. At least Gabi always prided herself on having uncanny personal discipline. “I.. should go.”

-

Isla gave Gabi a reassuring smile and nodded, grateful her words resonated with her at least. “I don’t mind staying on land for a while,” she admitted with a small shrug. “I just don’t like that it feels like we have no choice. I’d rather be here on my own volition.” Isla did choose to follow her mermaids here, and she was excited for an excuse to return to land, but she also valued her free will. She usually chose when she traveled and returned home, which distressed her advisors, but she never prioritized their comfort. She blinked in surprise when Gabi suddenly announced she needed to go before nodding in understanding. She was sure the siren had other things to do than take care of her all day. “Of course,” she said. “Thank you for bringing me all of this. I’ll let you know what works?”

It was clear that his lack of answers hadn’t exactly been what Isla had been hoping to hear, which was fair. He wished he had more in the way of answers to give her - but honestly, all of this was just as much of a mystery to him as it was to everyone else. The spots on her gemstone were particularly worrying, and it was frustrating that he didn’t have the faintest clue what to do to help with that. “I mean, your gemstone is where you come from, right? So it makes sense that if you’re sick, it’d have symptoms too,” he reasoned. That was true, but it also seemed to suggest that the illness cut deeper than just Isla’s physical form and was impacting her essence in some way. Still though, the symptoms he did recognize amounted to something akin to a common cold. “It’ll be alright - try not to worry too much, yeah? Your job’s just to rest up so ya can get better.” Even if there was legitimate reason to worry, he didn’t necessarily think worrying would help her get better - if anything, the stress might only make things worse. 

-

Mike had a good point, and Isla had never been sick like this before to have a reason to doubt him. It would make sense if her gemstone reflected her health. She let out a deep breath and gave Mike a reluctant nod, trying her best to let his reassurances soothe her. She wasn’t usually this weak or emotional or...bedridden. It took a lot to scare her, and this admittedly shook her up. “You’re right,” she finally sighed as she laid back against the pillows and reached for her soup again. There wasn’t anything else she could do but eat hot liquids and try to rest. Every time she slept, she was plagued with nightmares, but she could at least lay down. “Thanks for taking care of me. I guess I actually needed your babysitting this time,” she joked with a hoarse laugh. 

｡･:*:･ﾟ⎈ ｡･:*:･ﾟ

“That is definitely something,” Steph nodded in agreement. “Probably helped in getting better too. My mama always said that rest in itself is half the battle when it comes to getting better. And hopefully whatever lingers isn’t too bad anymore.” Isla never really explained what kind of nightmares she was having, but whatever it was, it was better off not happening anymore. Or at least Isla not remembering them anymore.

And when Isla mentioned the dojo and fighting, Steph couldn’t help but let out a little chuckle. “Believe it or not, I am trying to get some lessons for myself on self-defense too. I had one lesson with Gabi a little bit ago. The end of it was a bit tough so I don’t know if there will be a lesson two anytime soon, but I’ve been looking into the dojo and some classes too. We could check one out once together. Learn to kick some butts.

“And if you’r looking for some adventures too,” she added, “have you ever been to the castle ruins outside of the town? That could be a fun adventure too.”

-

Isla never got sick like that in the ocean before, and she didn’t have any kind of parental figure that would’ve taken care of her if she did. She had her advisors, but there wasn’t anything nurturing about them. There was Mike too, but she didn’t want to put him in a “parent” category, and he wasn’t always around. It was nice that humans had that--someone to care for them when they were sick. It could be so lonely being born from a gemstone. “Your mom sounds wise,” Isla observed with a smile. “Rest definitely helped me, at least.”

When Steph mentioned that she was learning self-defense, and from Gabi of all people, Isla brightened at yet another shared connection. She didn’t realize the siren was teaching humans how to protect themselves, that sounded very generous of her. “Really? I love Gabi,” she gushed without really thinking her words over. She didn’t know what Steph meant when she said it didn’t end well, but hopefully nothing too bad. 

“A castle?” Isla asked with a raised brow. She would definitely be interested in seeing that. Humans had such interesting architecture, and sometimes they had building no one lived in for years, but hadn’t been knocked down for some reason. “I would love to see that. I love old things.”

.

Stella couldn’t exactly figure out how big a waterpark was supposed to be based on this description- or whether she had any concept of what this was already and was forgetting something. It could all merit additional research if she took the time for it. “Uhm, a dojo sounds kind of scary, but maybe they’ll like you there.” Stella didn’t really think that anybody would want to teach her how to fight. It had never happened in the past, so why now?

“Uh huh, a lot like the news channel, but with less people speaking, and you can get information basically instantly. Apps are amazing.” She pulled out her phone, and opened the wallpaper application. She touched every clickable thing within the app in turn in an attempt to demonstrate, but did not make it clear which button was which. “Oh! Yes, of course. So… thel phone comes with wallpapers already. And you can make one wallpaper your, uh- Well, they call it a lockscreen. I guess it’s whatever your phone is when you lock it up. And then you can make a second wallpaper for when it’s not locked up. And either or both of those can be your own picture or the wallpaper app pictures. I think you might be able to do something like this with the funny ringtone on the phone too, but I don’t remember which app that was. We can go through it on your phone?” She was just tapping random buttons on the app at this point because it was difficult to explain and show things off at the same time. Hopefully Isla would understand or ask questions.

-

Isla looked over Stella’s shoulder with amazement as she started showing off her phone. It was so different from the kind that hooked into the wall. She had already seen human’s using them since coming to Port Vale, but it was still shocking that they were small enough to fit in her palm and had a screen that responded to touch. She watched as Stella clicked a lot of things she didn’t understand until she reached the wallpaper thing they were talking about. She had a feeling she would never remember any of this if she had to do it herself, but it was still fascinating to see. “Wow,” she breathed. “They’re so...decorative now,” she observed. “They didn’t even have a screen before and now you can make them look pretty and give them fun sounds. Humans are brilliant.” 

When Stella asked for her phone, she frowned at the reminder that she still didn’t have one. She was still working on it...kind of. As in--she kept realizing she still needed a phone, but didn’t know how to get one, so then she just let it go, and repeat. “I don’t have one yet,” she confessed. “I’m not sure how you get one. Where’d you get yours?”

It came as a surprise to Gemma that Isla had visited land enough times in the past to have an established pattern of what she ‘usually’ did. Most mermaids shied away from the danger as far as she was aware, and she couldn’t help but wonder whether Isla bucking that trend was a decision made out of bravery or stupidity. Judging by how poorly the woman was fitting in here despite having been to land before, her bet was again on the latter. 

“Yes, Renzie was very helpful in procuring furniture - at least for me, anyway. He had some in storage. He had some in storage from the last time the inn renovated, and may still,” she explained. Gemma was pleased to hear that Isla had discovered the thrift shop, but the description of what she had purchased was admittedly startling. Did Isla really care so little about the seafoam curse? She supposed the mermaid could be making an attempt at reverse psychology with her choice of wardrobe, but it seemed just as likely that she simply had no regard for her own life or the consequences for her own people or even the others in town if she were to turn to sea foam. “People make the strangest items, don’t they?” she mused, forcing herself not to rattle off the reasons why Isla owning such a shirt was a terrible idea. She wasn’t likely to change the woman’s mind, and this wasn’t a hill she was prepared to die on, as humans liked to say. “The thrift shop is helpful, though - there is a lot to sift through, but a lot that is of use as well. And it is nice to see that people do make an attempt to ensure that at least some of their discarded items are reused.” 

-

Isla almost expected Gemma to berate her for her choice in wardrobe, she certainly wouldn’t be the first, but the siren simply humored her. She knew she pushed the limits between having fun and exposing herself, but it was the risk that made it exciting for her. Humans generally didn’t believe in mermaids, and in her experience, she could drop as many hints as she would like, and no one would be brave enough of accusing her of being a mythical creature. Maybe it was a little riskier in Port Vale, a place where the people worshipped mermaids, so she would tread a little more carefully than usual. “Oh yeah, and it’s interesting because the “old” items in there were current the last time I was on land, like an electric knife,” she mused with a shake of her head. She paused to take a look at the watch on her wrist that she also acquired from the thrift store, since she didn’t have one of those little phones yet, and realized she was already 15 minutes late to work. She wasn’t making a very good first impression. “Ugh, I’m late for work,” she groaned. “I hate how humans schedule things. I’ll see you around the inn? And uhm--if you need help, just let me know how I can help.” She still wasn’t sure how she was meant to help, but she at least wanted to make herself available.

Astoria reached up to touch her own gemstone, bringing it out from hiding under the fabric of her shirt as she looked back at Isla. “The Antarctic.” She said, glancing up but she couldn’t see anybody close enough to be listening in on them - hopefully. “How long ago exactly did you get here?”

-

“Oh wow cold,” Isla said needlessly. It wasn’t too far from her, but it was still very different from the areas surrounding the South Atlantic Ocean. She couldn’t say for certain if Astoria was the princess of the Antarctic, but she had heard a few things about the mermaid before from her advisors. “Only a few days ago,” she said. “My kingdom has mostly fled, so I decided I might as well follow them to land. What about you?”

☆.。.:*・°☆🖌

Grinning at her answer, Emilia could work with a little bit of Spanish, if Isla was ever interested in practicing from time to time. “Maybe a little more.” She replied modestly. “I’m originally from Cuba, I only lived there for a few years before my family moved. We still spoke Spanish all the time though so I’m pretty fluent. Though maybe not as much as I used to be.” There were quite a few people in town who spoke the language so she would get the chance to practice with having friendly conversations but her Spanish definitely took a backseat. 

Emilia couldn’t help but listen carefully and look at Isla in awe. The feeling of adventure just radiated off of her, and when she said something was exciting, in a way, it felt as though her version of exciting was far beyond Emilia’s wildest dreams. While Port Vale was a place that she loved, a place she could so naturally settle down in, it felt like this was just one small stop for Isla who would surely go on to bigger and better places. “Well, I hope that you like it so far. I’d say a place like this is probably the best small town you could have ended up in. There’s no place like it so even if you end up somewhere bigger and better in the future, I hope you see something mermaid related and think of this little place.”

Once they were in the bar and Isla mentioned of shots, Emilia felt like she would have to brace herself. She didn’t normally do shots but she was here with her for an experience and whatever she had in store for her she was sure would be quite the experience. “Yeah, shots sounds like a good start, let’s go with shots.” She agreed, walking over to the bar and resting her elbows on the counter to give the bartender a friendly smile as she requested a few rounds of shots for her and Isla. When the drinks arrived, Emilia held one up to Isla for a cheers. “Let’s see how your version of fun works out for me. Here’s to potentially forgetting how the rest of this day goes.”

-

Isla remembered how surprised she was when she first visited land and discovered that humans spoke about a million different languages. For some reason, she kind of expected everyone on land to speak the same one. Her first language wasn’t recognizable to any human, so she was a little intimidated when she realized she would potentially have to learn multiple land languages in order to communicate. Like most things on land, language was fascinating to her, and she actually learned fairly fast. She wouldn’t mind learning more. “That’s amazing. I’ve never been to Cuba,” Isla grinned. “I would love to practice Spanish again in case I ever end up going back to South America.”

She had to agree there was no place like Port Vale. It was small, but that didn’t make it any less unique. She never visited a place that was so fascinated by mermaids before. Within her first hour here, she acquired a shirt that said “I’m really a mermaid” on it. Many of the locals lived here their entire lives, which was very different from the big cities she visited that were full of travelers like her. She bit back a laugh when Emilia told her she hoped mermaids would remind her of Port Vale and had to resist the urge to tell her that she would think about it every time she saw her own tail. “I don’t see how I couldn’t,” she laughed. “I think I’m going to start my own little mermaid collection and bring it around with me.”

ISLA.

[text]: thank you that’d be amazing!

[text]: as long as you’re there, it’ll make my day better.

[text]: i’ll stop by in a bit and do my best :)

｡･:*:･ﾟ⎈ ｡･:*:･ﾟ

Steph gave a small smile. Isla looked a lot better now and some people might say that was just make up or some bullshit, but when she came to visit Isla and the two of them watched some movies, the other looked in really bad shape, compared to that she was much better.

“You look better, too. Not that you didn’t look good sick and all, but– well, you really did not look healthy. Very sweaty and a lot of sniffling. This looks much better on you.” Not the smoothest or even the best line but oh well, it was out now. “How are the nightmares? Still coming back?” she couldn’t help but ask. Not the best topic for a ball, but Isla could just change the topic if she wanted to.

“Of course, anytime you need a movie buddy, just hit me up. Or if you don’t need a movie buddy and just wanna hang out, I am also cool with that. This is a small town, but lot of ways to have some fun. Fun and adventures.”

-

Isla nodded along as Steph pointed out she looked healthier, because she noticed the difference herself. The frequent fevers were mostly gone, but the dark spots on her gemstone weren’t. She couldn’t exactly bring that to Steph’s attention though. “I think so too,” Isla said with a slightly hoarse laugh.  “They’re...” she trailed off for a second as she thought about the nightmares. They weren’t as intense as the early days of her illness, but they were still there. She still didn’t know what it meant. “Lingering, but they don’t keep me up all night anymore, so that’s something, right?”

She grinned at Steph’s offer, very much on board with the idea of doing more with her than just sickly laying around. “I would love fun and adventures,” she said. “There’s still a lot I haven’t tried. I got a little derailed by getting sick. Like the dojo. I’ve never been to one of those before, and it might be cool...or hilarious to learn how to fight.”