Transcript
Page 1: 1 small quiet somewhere - "dragon king's daughter" by Maiji/Mary Huang. Five fish of varying sizes and shapes swim alongside a sea turtle; only the large flipper of the latter can be seen.
Page 2: A glowing sphere surrounded by five smaller glowing spheres emerges. Closeup of a feminine face with plump, smiling lips as the person sees a small temple (the small quiet somewhere retreat) just a short walk away. The temple is nestled in trees, just past the swaying leafy branches of willows.
?: AhāThere it is! It's just as I remember it!
Page 3: Leafs falling from a tree as Kanthaka strides by with Little YƬ on his shoulder. They look up as a voice calls out to them.
?: Kanthaka! Little YƬ!
*They look over to see a cute little girl wearing a crown, with with bows on the sides of her head and dressed in long Tang Dynasty style hanfu, waving enthusiastically. She has a halo, is radiating sparkling light, and is surrounded by five fish swimming in the air*
Kanthaka: Princess RuƬzhÅ«! If it isn't the daughter of the Dragon King and her brave attendants!
Little YƬ: *leaping off Kanthaka's shoulder and into Princess RuƬzhÅ«'s open arms*Welcome! Welcome welcome welcome welcome welcome! (whee~)
Princess RuƬzhÅ«: *cuddling Little YƬ in a cheek-pressing embrace* Aww big hug!!
Little YƬ: Big hug!!
*They chat as they walk, the fish floating along.*
Kanthaka: Thank you for these wonderful kelp snacks! How is your family? Is everyone in good health?
Page 4: They continue the conversation at a table full of diverse cups of steaming tea and small dishes and trays of snacks. The fish hover over everything, eyeing them.
Kanthaka: And how is your good friend Emmie from the red dust world?
Princess RuƬzhÅ«: They're very well! Always so full of energy and cheer! It's too bad they can't come to visitā¦
Kanthaka: It can't be helped, not everyone can travel the way you and your attendants canā¦
Little YƬ: What happened with those princes who came seeking your hand in marriage?
Princess RuƬzhÅ«: Oh, that was all just a misunderstanding! They got some confusing advice. But it's sorted out now! And one of them is staying with us. He makes wonderful pancakes! *An image of plates of fancy berry and sauce-drizzled souffle pancakes can be seen, with stacks of flatter crepe-style pancakes in the background.*
Page 5: They decide to play a game of cards.
Princess RuƬzhÅ«: How about a game of Connect Dragon?
Kanthaka: Oh, yes. We haven't had enough people to play in a long time!
Little YƬ: Yay! I want to make dragons!!
*Kanthaja shuffles the cards and deals them.*
WĒyĆ¹n: I have the seven of swords.
Princess RuƬzhÅ«: *pouting* WĒyĆ¹n, you're so lucky! Well, you do have the aggregate luck of all five of my attendantsā¦
WĒyĆ¹n: *five fishes combined* (Hahaha)
Little YƬ: *sweating as it looks over its hand* (No sevensā¦)
Page 6: They assist each other as they play.
Kanthaka: Little YƬ, do you have six or flowers?
Little YƬ: Eight flowersā¦
Kanthaka: Here you go. *puts down a 7 of flowers
Little YƬ: *full of hearts* Yaaay! *puts down an 8 of flowers*
Kanthaka: I have one more card I can play and then I might be stuckā¦
Little YƬ: I'll save you next time!!
Someone else: Do you have anything here or hereā¦?
Princess RuƬzhÅ«: Oooh, I'm stuck! I'm gonna be stuck!!
WĒyĆ¹n: Don't worry, Princess. I'll save you.
Princess RuƬzhÅ«: Ohh you saved me!! Thank you!!
Page 7: All four of them gaze down at four columns of cards.
Princess RuƬzhÅ«: Whoohoo!!
WĒyĆ¹n: We did it!
Little YƬ: Hooray!!
Kanthaka: We made all four dragons without losing any pieces!
*Princess RuƬzhÅ« claps her hands. The cards begin to move, each column with the cards connected like vertebrae on a spine, rising and spiralling into the air.*
Page 8: The four columns of cards manifest dragon heads and legs and rear up, facing each other. Then they take to the skies, circling above the players, before separating into individual cards again, and forming a neat pile in Princess RuƬzhÅ«'s hands.*
Page 9: Princess RuƬzhÅ« lovingly clasps the deck of cards. The scene changes to a view of everyone strolling along a lush riverbank with grasses, flowers and weeping willows.
Princess RuƬzhÅ«: Ahā¦ that was so much fun!
WĒyĆ¹n: *standing next to a smiling Princess RuƬzhÅ« and bowing deeply* Thank you for hosting us. *Princess RuƬzhÅ«, still smiling, looks over at him as he vanishes and five fish manifest in his place*
Princess RuƬzhÅ«: *waving cheerily* See you soon!
*A loud sploosh and splash into the water, surrounded by five smaller splashes. Shot from below looking up at Kanthaka smiling and gazing out over the river with Little YƬ on his shoulder.*
End.
Page 10: Kanthaka, WĒyĆ¹n, Princess RuƬzhÅ« and Little YƬ all holding fans of cards while a dragon made of cards swirls around the page, chuckling.
How to play Connect Dragon! A classic card game in my family. You can play cooperatively, or adversarially. You need at least 4 players or the distribution of cards can get skewed.
1) Shuffle and deal all cards. The person with 7 of spades goes first.
2) After that, each player puts down either another 7, or a card that connects with the cards in play:
The 7s are like the centre of each dragon. Connect cards to build out the head and tail!
Four columns of cards are in play. Spades: 6, 7, 8. Hearts 5, 6, 7. Diamonds: 6, 7. Clubs: 7, 8, 9.
Little YƬ looking out at the cards in play and checking its hand: Do I have 5 or 9 of spades? 4 or 8 of heartsā¦? 5 or 8 of diamondsā¦? 6 or 10 of clubsā¦?
3) When it's your turn, if you don't have 7s or connecting cards, discard a card. Do not reveal what you discard to anyone. It will, of course, mean that any unplayed cards connected to that card will no longer be playable, which potentially affects other players.
4) At the end, count up all the cards that were discarded based on their face value. (Jack = 11, Queen = 12, King = 13).
5) The person with the lowest score winsā¦ unless there is a player who managed to discard every single card in their hand . Then that person wins.
As you can see, you can try to play very evilly, holding back 7s and cards other people need, or even discarding cards that affect yourself to increase your chances of being able to achieve a full-hand discard.
You can also play collaboratively, putting down all your 7s, and playing cards where you don't have any of the connecting cards knowing that this will allow other people to connect. This is how they are playing here, trying to successfully build out all four dragons without losing a card/piece of a dragon.
Have fun!
Authorās notes
If you know Now Recharging, you may find the princess and her comments a little familiar... Yes, this is Miss Princess Turtle! She's inspired by a number of famous East Asian figures, in particular: Nagakanya (literally "Naga daughter"), also known as Longnu (literally "Dragon Woman/Girl") from Chapter 12 of the Lotus Sutra. She's the daugher of Sagara, the Dragon King of the East Sea, and an enlightened being. Her sea turtle association is inspired by Otohime, the daugher of the dragon king who manifests as a turtle in the legend of Urashimataro. The name I have given her here, ēē RuƬzhÅ«, is "fortuitous jewel".
The name of her attendant, äŗč WĒyĆ¹n, is based on the five skandhas (aggregates): form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness.