This may seem like a filler, but there are quite a few important hints in here, if you squint. Also, Starclops has no censor whatsoever and should stay away Violet until the latter's in her teens. You'll understand once you read this.


Chapter Ten: Am I Right, or Am I Write?

Dear Papa's Journal,

Hello, there! My name is Violet. I don't understand why my name has that O in it. You don't pronounce it, but Papa says that's how it's spelled. It's a name from his home-dimension, so he would kno (or, is it no?).

Anyway, today was my first day of school, and what a day it was! Papa asked me to write about this dimension's school for him. I'll do my best, Papa!

So, school! It's kind of interesting. Mom was really, really nervous about me going. Something about mutants like us getting bullied or something? But, it turns out she had nothing to worry about. Papa seemed pretty upset about me getting older (I think he was close to crying), but… Well, yeah, I'm older. Sorry, Papa!

Whoopsy! I'm supposed to be writing about school! I even ramble when I right! Or, is it write? I always get those mixed up.

Oh, yeah! School! There were good things, and there were bad things. I'll start with the good things.

I got to meet a bunch of different species! My favorite is my new friend, Cleo! She's a banshee. I don't know if Papa wrote about those yet, so I'll tell you some stuff Cleo told me about them. Banshees are only born girls. You no (kno?), cause girls are awesome! No offense, Tad and Papa. Anyway, banshees can sense when someone nearby - I think it's within five miles of them or something - is gonna die. When someone is gonna die, the banshee has a vision of the death and starts screaming really loud. Cleo hasn't done that yet, but she said her mom did it once, and apparently it was scary. My own future visions sometimes scare me, but I certainly don't envy poor Cleo!

The school building itself was nice. It seemed clean and happy-looking. Lots of decorations on my teacher's walls! Mine and Cleo's teacher is named Mr. Raptorem. He's super nice! He didn't say what he is, but maybe if I write (right?) down what he looks like, Papa will be able to tell me! He looks like a human, but he has two black horns his head and black wings that are always folded behind him. How does he sleep? Are his wings soft to lay on? Does he sleep on his side? Maybe, he's like a bat and sleeps hanging upside-down. Guess that doesn't matter, because he seemed to really like me! Which is good because I really like him!

But, I think it's time to talk about the bad thing about school. I didn't learn anything about anything! The other kids were super confused about the stuff Mr. Raptorem was teaching, but I understood everything. Adding and subtracting? Easy. Reading? Been there. Writing (righting?) our NAMES? Come on! Sure, I get my homophones mixed up, but I'm righting (writing?) a whole flipping journal entry here! Why was I the only one who knew (new?) anything? Didn't the other kids' parents teach them stuff like my parents and Tad did? After class, I asked Mr. Raptorem when we would learn stuff like multiplication and demonology and Shakespeare (cause Papa and I really don't understand Shakespeare). He didn't even know what I was talking about! WTF? Starclops told me that means, "What the fuck?" Not sure what fuck is though. After you read this, Papa, can you please tell me what fuck means?


Ford reread that...last part in horror, right before picking up his pen and scratching out everything related to it. Starclops truly didn't have a censor. Even when it came to five-year-olds. God bless her children if she ever has them. He searched for his daughter and found her in her room, taking pictures of anything and everything with the camera Nadia had given her for her fifth birthday.

Violet lowered her camera when she spotted. "Hi, Papa! Did you read what I wrote in your journal?"

Boy, did he. "Uh, most of it. I...I'm hear to tell about...a word you were confused by."

Violet raised an eyebrow, then her face it up. "Oh! Fuck!"

Ford flinched. "Yes. That word. Uh, sit down, honey." Violet sat her camera on her nightstand and crawled up on to her pale pink bedspread, and Ford sat down beside her. " You say Starclops taught you that word?" Violet nodded. Ford made a mental note to speak to Starclops later. "Well, as you may be aware, she doesn't exactly have a censor."

"I know." Violet scowled and shivered. "Because of her, I know exactly what the different between boys and girls is."

When Ford realized what she was implying, he decided that talking to Starclops would become a bit more violent. "Um, ignoring what that implies… That, uh, word is what's known as a curse word or swear word. Or, bad word, if you put it in children's terms."

Violet tilted her head in confusion. "What's bad about fu-"

"Ah, ah, ah." Ford wagged his index finger. "Bad words are words that you should never, ever say in public. If wanna say them when you know that no one can hear you, go nuts. That's what I do, and that's what Starclops fails to do."

"Oh." Violet blushed and looked away shamefully. "I-I didn't know."

Ford smiled softly and gently put a hand on her small shoulder. "It's okay, Violet. What's important is that now you do know. And, you won't say that word around people, right?"

Violet smiled at him and nodded. Then, she frowned. "Are there any other bad words I should know about?"

Ford frowned. "Well...yes." He wanted to tell her them, but would it send mixed messages to do so? "I can't actually say them, but maybe I could write them down?"

"Okay. That way, you're not breaking any rules. And, I'll know what not to say to people."


Despite the learning (or lack of it, in my case) I had fun meeting people my age, answering the teacher's questions (until he told me to give the other students a shot at answering), and learning about other species. Hey, I really did learn something! I learned about other species! So, anyway, I give school a Violet-rating of four-out-of-five ice cream scoops.

This is Violet Maude Pines, signing off!

PS. Papa says that Maude was his mom's name, so he and my mom made it my middle name. He was close to his mom. Just like how I'm close to my mom! Girl power! I love too, Papa, but girl power trumps everything else. Sorry!

"IZKGLIVN" NVZMH HLNVGSRMT RM ZMLGSVI OZMTFZTV. NZPV LU GSZG DSZG BLF DROO.


Did you catch any of the hidden clues? Besides the thing in the code? Review if you did! Review even if you didn't. I just want some reviews.