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There’s something beautiful about the Renaissance Faire, Connor has to admit a few months into his second season. Something about it seems to bring out the best in his family or in Mia’s case provides an outlet for one of her more annoying hobbies, but he’ll take it- family bonding or something. Ollie’s rubbing off on him.
Roy wanders the thoroughfares of the grounds, instrument in hand serenading pretty patrons and mocking the nobility as they pass- the faire is a sort of reset for him. He says it’s a way to reconnect with his love of performing, to figure out the flourishes he should add to Great Frog- and a great way to ignore Mia’s claims that he’s not going anywhere with his band because the patrons love him enough he has his own hashtag for selfies with guests. Usually at that point in the argument Emiko reminds him that he’s already had one Ren Faire baby and that he should probably stop while he’s ahead, it’s the little things that keep this family interesting.
Mia, naturally, is a heckler- she stalks jousts and tournaments and family alike to “keep things interesting.” Privately, Connor thinks that the only one worth being heckled is Roy, but maybe that’s just because he’s still getting the hang of putting on a show during his role rather than merely fighting effectively in his performances. In any event, Mia has taken to her role like a fish to water, bringing laughter to the audience. He thinks she likes to bring joy to people, even if it means she’s acting like one of those gay old man muppets.
Emi has always been too much like him, and the fact that they’re now playing the same role really makes that stand out. Emi’s much better at putting on a show though, had once told him and Roy in hushed tones that this was a healthier way of managing the performance that Simon made her do for him, of practicing the same moves over and over again until he was satisfied with how similar her actions were to her mothers. She’d told him once, half asleep that just here, in this place, she found comfort in losing. The script alleviating the pressure that Simon had placed on her to secure victory in everything. He’s glad that it’s a good outlet for her, likes seeing her smile more freely.
As for himself? Connor’s a knight, and when speaking to guests always emphasizes that as a knight he is sworn to be a gentleman, and that he strives to be one who is gentle - that he prizes the artists and poets that surround the court and enjoys to hear the bards sing stories of old and to learn from their message. And if he always tries to seek out one artist in particular to praise well that’s no one’s business but his own, Ollie had always said that knights in this period were supposed to be romantics anyway.
And Ollie, his dad- well he takes to the Renaissance Faire like a fish to water, or a Queen to an island. If any of them love the faire, he lives it. His SCA membership might be the strongest indication that this is his element, but he’s pretty sure that Ollie was made for this role. He’s a noble, in the close circle of the king, but despised by the sheriff and he partakes in archery competitions. In short, his father is living his lifelong dream of being Robin of Locksley- and the crowds eat it up . All inaccuracies about medieval vs renaissance europe aside, Connor thinks he stays pretty true to the narrative, even if he doesn’t have his merry men when they’re all filling different roles.
But then, the vast majority of the cast members for the archery demonstration come down with the flu and suddenly- Connor and the rest of the family find themselves filling in for the archery demonstration, which begins to raise some questions among his and Emi’s fellow knights.
“Where did you even learn to shoot good enough to do that? You’re knights not archers!”
Emi shrugs. “Both of my parents are pretty world class archers, I was trained to shoot like them.”
Connor nods. “Yeah Dad’s a pretty great archer, but I learned to shoot when I lived at a Buddhist monastery.”
Their fellow knights stare at them incredulously. “So did you two teach Mia and Roy how to shoot then? We see you guys hang out a lot.”
Emi laughs. “Oh no, Roy’s been shooting longer than I’ve been alive, wouldn’t surprise me if he was born with a bow in his hand.”
“Yeah, Mia and I practice together a lot, but I definitely didn’t teach her, that was all Dad.”
“Why do you say ‘dad’ like you’re related?”
“Cause Mia’s my little sister.” Connor says simply. “Her dad is my dad.”
Emi nods. “Yeah and Mia, Connor, and Roy are my older siblings, so their dad is also my dad.”
The knights stare back at them. “Right, right yeah…..I don’t see it.”
Connor rolls his eyes. “If you’d ever seen Mia, Ollie, and Roy in the same place you wouldn’t doubt it.”
Emi knocks her elbow into his arm. “And they’re the adopted ones! We’re even worse.”
“Emi-”
Emi rolls her eyes. “Do I need to remind you about the bingo cards? We’re a lot like him, stop wallowing in your self doubt that says otherwise just because Roy is like him in different ways, you’re making a fool of yourself. Now come on, it’s almost showtime.”
The audience for this shoot seems to made of almost as many cast members as patrons- their coworkers almost hoping to see them fail, or in some cases, hoping to see their similarities.
Ollie, ever the eternal theatre-kid, makes a big show about how he made his own bow, how he fletched his own arrows, and talks about how hard it is to shoot properly. And then comes the fun part- making a show of explaining how heavy his bow’s draw weight is, and then having each member of the family draw it back and loose an arrow. The crowd gasps when Mia and Emiko are able to do it, and the whole family grumbles about sexist assumptions (even if Ollie is beaming with pride at his daughters’ strength). Roy and Emi are of course able to split their arrows down the middle in true Robin Hood fashion, with Roy even being cheeky and intentionally splitting some of Ollie’s just to one-up his old man. Mia and Connor are engaged in a little battle of their own, each trying to shoot better than the other despite neither of them truly caring about the outcome.
It feels right somehow, as though his family’s “laugh, love, live” approach to the Renaissance Faire is finally rubbing off on him, much like it did on Emiko last year when she declared this to be “some of Ollie’s more valid nonsense.” All he knows is that he kinda likes being one of the merry men, even if he’s Little John and Roy gets to stay as Will Scarlet.