Moving Forward
feat. Mai Suzume and her master, Mr. Salzedo

Mai is a handler by trade: she installs handles onto things and makes them better. Weapons, doors, cups, people, you name it. BAM! Handle. Better.

Mr. Salzedo is a small old man. He is Mai's master and father figure, having taken her in from the streets and teaching her the fine art of handling.

Bermuda is their fish. He was born in bucket by the sea to a mermaid/walrus couple. For years he thrived under their loving care, until a violent tide separated him from his family.

Bermuda wandered the coastline for months until he was captured by a hungry beach bear. Almost died, then and there. Fortunately, he was saved by a passing ranger who had been looking to settle a score with the sandy ursine. At the duel's conclusion, the ranger took Bermuda back home with him to surprise his wife - and surprise her he did!

She was deathly afraid of fish, and threw him out the window within the moment. Mr. Salzedo had been overseeing Mai's work on the ranger's carpet, and took notice of the flying fish. The old master leapt out the window and caught the fish within his wrinkled maw before the gulls could have their fill.

When their work was good and done, the handler and his apprentice returned to their lodging and housed Bermuda in a bowl they had fashioned from a hat and a jug. There Bermuda enjoyed the rich long life of a handler's fish until old age and hedonism claimed his life.

Moving forward, Mai and Salzedo take their beloved Bermuda out to sea to bury him where he was born (which would arguably be a bucket, but they don't know that).

Oh yeah, also they live in a kingdom built on the back of a giant golem. That's that thing you see in the back.

The experiment here was in using a bright, psychedelic palette (inspired by Egoraptor's "pinks and yellows"). It was fun, although very unnatural for the me who likes dusty browns and cool greys. It was a good stretch, though, and I would like to try more of this stuff in the future.

The other experiment was to try shoujo eyes. Aria taught me that shoujo eyes can look pretty nice, too.

Epilogue here: [link]

Made in Flash