Li An's Adventure

Chapter Two

"They could be non-binary," a voice interjected from the hallway. "Like 'Pat' from SNL."

Wei Li An pretended to suddenly by struck by an itchy forehead then pressed the back of her palm into her eye socket. Rain, less concerned with hiding her exasperation pressed two fingers into the twitching brow of her left eye. The telepathic exchange had them both shaking their heads.

Wei Li An turned slightly towards the voice in the hall. Rain cut her eyes at the jovial pixie trying to shimmy past her unyielding frame. The little waif of a thing appeared uncharacteristically small, but had a personality three-times its size.

Their round face scrunched-up in a feigned look of disappointment at the living barricade but made it past and bounded toward the pillow-laden papasan in the corner. Their unruly curls bounced chaotically at the impact as they plopped down.

"Bex...," Wei Li An starts.

"Bex, you need to stop saying that." Rain quipped.

"Why?"

Behind the oversized set of Harry Potter style spectacles, a pair of striking blue eyes glanced expectantly between the two. A shoulder-length ebony mane with golden highlights, contrasted deeply with a 'pale as snow' complexion. So much so that, if this troublesome person were to ever set foot in a forest, bluebirds and baby deer would mistake them as a live-action Snow White.

Rain kept her eyes lowered but kissed her teeth. The sound of air being pulled through her teeth was slow, low, and ominous. It was a habit she had picked up from her twin brother who lived in Xaymaca with his wife. But it reminded Wei Li An of the low pitched growl cats usually gave as warning. So, she tried to quell the exchange.

"Because ... well first of all, Dr. Frank-N-Furter was a transvestite, self-identified, and therefore, identified as male."

On the other hand, with the curls cut short, as they often were in the summer months, gave Bex an androgynous look that not only suited their non-binary identity but allowed them to emulate their comedic hero, 'Pat' from a 90's comedy skit. Recently re-booted to a niche audience.

"Nope, no proof. And given the timeframe, do you think they had a choice?"

Rain kissed her teeth again. This time leveling her gaze at the bubbly distraction.

A heart-shaped mouth pouted under billowy cheeks. Bex loved to inject themselves into most conversations. And like any good comedian, had a knack for reading a room, and knowing when to give the screw one more turn.

"You two, are too uptight. Pat is iconic and the writers were ahead of their time. Besides, as a 90's kid trying to break into the business, who am I supposed to look up to?"

Wei Li An just shook her head in resignation, "I can't help you any further you—"

"Firstly..."

'Velvet...' Wei Li An thought, ' ...and ice.'

"... being born in 1999, does not make you a '90's Kid.' Secondly, you do realize that Pat was not a comedian, right? Pat didn't deliver the jokes... Pat was the joke."

"And Hattie's was the face that launched a thousand careers—," Wei Li An coughed and Bex quickly tried to dial it back. "...Pat did comeback on their own terms and addressed the issue you keep talking about." Bex's jab at the Academy Award winner, hit its mark and Rain lost what little patience she had been holding on to.

In college, Rain had spent a considerable amount of time in the theatre. She hoped to make a hobby of it. But as a Black woman, of considerable size, she had been through her share of auditions and had rejected numerous roles because of typecasting and industry racism. Unlike the aforementioned award winner, Hattie, Rain felt there was more honour in actually being a maid, then playing one repeatedly because people chose to see you as nothing more.

Li An learned early that this was a much debated topic between the two. And had been so repeatedly over the years. Rain and Bex were as close as siblings and fought as such. Pushing every emotional button or hovering, tauntingly, over highly sensitive areas with the proverbial 'I'm not touching you' taunts. Unsuspecting do-gooders have mistakenly interjected into their heated debates, also something that rarely ended well.

Wei Li An knew to stay in her lane. She sometimes felt sorry for folks, but it was still amusing when those helpful victims would offer their unsolicited opinions. Only to find themselves on the receiving end of a viscous, and surprisingly well coordinated, pincer attach. The message loud and clear, 'nobody picks on my friends but me.'

The lack of representation on screen, stemmed from the lack of diversity in the written material and that stemmed from the lack of diverse writers being given equitable opportunity to present relevant works. The pool of writers, although richly diverse here, were being mostly overlooked because they didn't fit a certain aesthetic. Some were even guilty of writing to the support of common stereotypes. Wei Li An was working to change that.

Consequently, some points were valid, especially when it came to their small writing circle. They were writers from all over the world, who had found each other in fandom. Everyone's style was different because their lived experiences were different, even when they shared some cultural commonalities. Sometimes, they had to remind each other:

Not all witches were green. AND not all green witches were evil. Or in their case, not all fanfic was written by hormonal tweens... and not only hormonal teens fangirl screamed in dolphin language when meeting their bias.

At least that's what Li An hoped. She was going to find out one way or another in about two hours. She just had to figure out how to get out of there before Rain continued with the third degree or they both decided to tag along.

How do you distract two sweet but overly protective friends?

"Hey, so I am thinking about writing a short reincarnation and I am drawing a blank. I am also re-reading 'Dusk and Dawn' for inspiration... do you guys have any stories that are in the same multi-verse?"