Conspiracy-1263 Publicly Accuses the Gang of the Green Gorillas (short story)
Conspiracy-1263 Publicly Accuses the Gang of the Green Gorillas was a Crew of the Copper-Colored Cupids short story written by Lupan Evezan and illustrated by Aristide Twain. It was the first to take the form of a facsimile of an issue of the Cupid Courier.
Contents
Plot
Issue 1034 of the Crew of the Copper-Colored Cupids' newspaper, The Cupid Courier, has as its headline feature a report on Conspiracy-1263's latest shenanigans. Travelling to the Prime Earth, he sought out the Gang of the Green Gorilla and confronted them about their supposedly being “a bunch of fakes in gorilla suits”. Conspiracy would later be found, tied up and being offered as a carnival prize by the Gorillas in retaliation. His conclusion that the Gorillas were “rather displeased by the entire situation” is quoted by the article as a rare example of Conspiracy being right about something.
Also reported on the front page is the surprise hit that Madame Tarsa's ‘Lord Thymon’ Plush Toys have proven to be. Interviewed about the large shipments which keep arriving in the Cupid Homeworld, Philatel-426 of the Department of Postal Services confesses that he doesn't actually know who's been ordering them, nor how they get to the Homeworld at all, speculating that Lord Thymon himself is responsible. Dandy-432, on the other hand, suspects that Larrikin-1029 may be the one placing the order, as he's been quite vocal about how proud he is of having come up with the concept and suggested it to Tarsa. The Courier journalists are unable to reach either for comment, as Thymon was busy with his stamp collection at the time and Larrikin ran when he saw journalists coming his way, shouting that he wasn't confessing to anything. Other events of note in the Homeworld include another backwards-looking vision from Nostradamus-066 (appearing to “foretell” the creation of the Cupids themselves) and a new Parliament ruling approving vacation days for “non-Cupid entities” in the Homeworld, as originally suggested by Pessimist's Fog Ship. The Fog Ship is happy with the “one vacation day per month” compromise despite it being a downgrade from its initial suggestion of alternating weeks of work and leisure; Lord Thymon is also pleased, noting that he'll be able to visit his family such as his sister Lady Spatium. The journalists note that they also attempted to interview CS-NA, but were unable to interpret “the whirrs and buzzes with which it communicates”.
The paper's second page is given over to advertisements, which include a somewhat half-hearted recruitment drive for the Blue Feather, an invitation to watch the Department of Cinematography's new feature Green Gorilla Follies! (starring Barnstormer-1009 as a Green Gorilla and Enactor-769 as “the hero who romanticises him”), and two mirroring classified ads echoing the ongoing rivalry between Philatel-426 and Foreman-964: a request from the former for Cupids to send any unwanted stamps to the Department of Postal Services in exchange for shipping rate discounts which is invalid if one happens to be Foreman, and a recruitment drive for the Department of Construction from the latter which disallows stamp collectors from applying.
Worldbuilding
Universes
- This story takes place in the Cupid Homeworld.
- Conspiracy-1263 travelled to the Prime Universe.
Other
- The headline article is credited to Journalist-649. No writing credits are given for the three shorter articles.
- The Courier's tagline credits the Department of Journalism with its creation.
- Conspiracy-1263 is the Prefect of the Department of Conspiracy Theories.
- His past conspiracy theories include espousing the belief that “the Parliament may in fact be a bunch of literal sock-puppets controlled by an enormous caterpillar”.
- Green Gorillas Follies! is to be screened at the Department of Cinematography Main Theater on the Mainland Cloud.
- The Department of Postal Services only delivers to addresses within the Homeworld.
Continuity
- This is the second facsimile Courier after PROSE: New Warehouse To Be Constructed In The Homeworld.
- Pessimist's Fog Ship's suggestion to introduce day offs for non-Cupid residents of the Cupid Homeworld was depicted in PROSE: The Cupid Suggestion Box, where the Copper-Colored Council of Elders agreed to put it to vote in Parliament. This story follows up the thread, showing that the Parliament did indeed approve the suggestion, with some modifications.
- The Thymon Plushies were suggested to Madame Tarsa as a product by Larrikin-1029 at the end of PROSE: The Toymaker's Labyrinth, as acknowledged here.
Behind the scenes
Read online
The story can be read for free on the Crew of the Copper-Colored Cupids website.
