PlankTown ~ Shadow's Saloon, Where It All Began

Like any small town under the sea PlankTown

has a charm all its own. There are always fun things to do like hanging out at the reef and watching the world swim by. Keep an eye out for Tommy Turtles and some of my shrimp buddies if you’re hanging out there. My minnowmama never seems to mind me spending time exploring, and some days I totally lose track of the tides and she’s still pretty cool about stuff. She’ll just text me on my shellfone if she’s worried.

There’s just so much to do! We have an old sunken pirate ship not far from PlankTown that is just amazing for hanging out and exploring. There’s just so much to tell you about PlankTown and all the amazing creatures I know there! It would probably take me a thousand moons at least to show you everything!

One of the places I love to hang out is Shadow’s Saloon.

They often have live entertainment, and my band, Plankie and the Dollfinns, has played there quite a bit. Sometimes we tour a little to other towns but Shadow’s Saloon is still our favourite regular gig. Shadow’s Saloon has been around as long as I can remember. It’s the place to hear stories about what’s going on out in the great big sea all around PlankTown. I think Shadow’s Saloon has been around since the great flag wars.

There have been quite a few big flag wars, some little ones too. Everytime we think that things have quieted down we hear there’s another flag war going on somewhere else. Sometimes some of our vets go to help out, but if it’s just a little skirmish they usually just stay home. If it’s a choice between them staying or going, staying gets my upvote.

My GrandPlank worked like a dogfish on the BlockChain Gang

before he ever fought in any of the flag wars. He’s way more of an upvoter than a flagger but he’s sure not afraid to do the right thing! He’s my hero! Long before he fought in one of the old flag wars he was totally in love with a wonderful PlankGal. But, he got a DearPlank letter from her while he was away fighting, and that PlankTart broke his heart. She had taken up with a guy named ADollFin.

By then I had started my band, Plankie and the DollFins, and I wrote a sad old country song for my GrandPlank called Planks A Lot. Maybe you’ll hear it sometime! But you know, after that my GrandPlank didn’t really worry about dating other Plankton. He just wanted something special, and in a small twist of irony he fell in love with a DollFinn, and they haven’t spent a single low tide apart since they met. Pretty much been attached at the fins ever since. And of course my PlankPapa married my MinnowMama, so love is a free for all it seems!

So I grew up with that example and I realized there are awesome PlankGals, Krill gals, DollFins and more, so I don’t really worry about that anymore.

We have a lot of travellers visit PlankTown

too who are just passing through. It’s in a great location and weary swimmers on long trips through the ocean often stop in at Shadow’s Saloon for a WhaleAle, some entertainment and a room for the night, and is often full up. Usually it’s mostly plankton, shrimp and minnows that stop in PlankTown but we often have orcas and even some whales stop in once in a while. PlankTown has an autosizer gate for bigger creatures to make them small enough to stay in PlankTown during their stay and it resizes them when they leave. I have no idea who invented that but it’s almost as cool as the StarFish Gate that leads out to the PlankVerse and all of the other amazing worlds that are out there!

I asked my GrandPlank

if he would like to go for a WhaleAle at Shadow’s Saloon but he was busy. He just got back from a small flag war and just wanted to stow his gear, lock his flags away and chill out. Who knows, maybe he’ll join me later! Sometimes after a good flagging war he’s full of beans and wants to blow off some steem.

But for today, I want to take you back to the very beginning. The night I met BlueBerry Krill...

I thought that night would be like any other night

in PlankTown. I tied up my seahorse outside the saloon, flipped the stable PlankBoy a Krill Koin to feed and water my sweet mare. I call her Night and she’s as black as the deepest part of the ocean. But her eyes glitter like jewels and she’s mischievous. I love her to bits!!

What do I like about Shadow’s Saloon? Nothing.

I LOVE Shadow’s Saloon. The place is always swimmin'! Shadows is an Octopus from over near Memphis originally. That’s where she met my Uncle Harry, a massive electric eel who used to power a lot of grids in Memphis. He told Shadows about PlankTown and she just sauntered in real early one chilly winter morning. She bought the Saloon outright and had it newly renovated and ready to go in a month. That Octo knows how to get plankstuff done. Her catfish hangs out on its favourite stool sleeping the nights away while the place is bustling with voices, lights, laughter, music and Shadows slinging WhaleAles.

The jukebox is totally modern but a little odd. There is a huge red button on top in a glass case. Everyone asks Shadows what it’s for but she always pretends like she doesn’t hear the question. Maybe one day we’ll find out! For now I just have to wonder ‘cause she ain’t sayin’ nothin’.

But.

The most amazing thing happened tonight

when I swam and bobbed my way into the Saloon and settled into my favourite chair at my favourite table. As soon as my WhaleAle hit the table and Shadows tugged my tentacle to say hello, the electric eel powering the Saloon dropped his power output and the lights dimmed. Then a single spotlight lit up the stage. It was like I had been struck by a hardfork by AquaPlank himself. There she was. On stage. The most beautiful creature I had ever seen in my life. The Krill of my dreams. BlueBerry Krill. My WhaleAle could wait. All I could do is sit there with my mouth open so wide Shadows finally said, “Plankie!! Close your mouth before a clownfish swims in there!” Her words had zero effect on me. My mouth just would. not. close.

I was thorax over exoskeleton from the moment I saw her! BlueBerry Krill, the unbelievably gorgeous red headed Krill from over near Scotland. Here in PlankTown, singing on a stage I’ve played a million gigs on. Just her and a guitar and one spotlight. As she played and sang I became lost in her big brown eyes and I began to imagine her as my one and only Krill. She sang so beautifully, she was strumming my pain with her finngrrs, it was almost like she was krilling me softly.

I’m not just lookin’ for friends with benefish.

I want her to be forever my Krill and I hope she’ll be my one and only organism. It’s not just that thorax or her exoskeleton, it’s everything. Her voice, her eyes, her flaming red hair.

Without hardly thinking I took a napkin and started jotting down a song, and before I tell you the rest of the story from that night I will tell you that I went into the studio and layed down this track with my band, Plankie and the Dollfinns. I hope you like it, it’s called Brown Eyed Krill. I sure hope BlueBerry Krill hears it one day soon and we get the chance to be together! I can’t wait to take her to see the sunken pirate ship! See you around the sea!

Love,
Plankie

Special Thanks to @derosnec and @globocop for helping bring these stories to life! What a terrific team to work with!

PlankTown™
©All characters, images, text, video are the sole property of @thebugiq & @globocop and may only be used with express written permission.
©Brown Eyed Girl track used by permission of Orchard Music on behalf of Maroela Musiek