#FlatRichie Is Safe and Sound – and Ennobled

/ February 10, 2019

We interrupt our current RDC-centric schedule for an important update. Flat Richie! He is still well and happy, and he has just arrived safe and sound at his 7th stop! It was merely a short journey, and he is still in his homeland…

But rather than me talking, let Tiny Clanger speak. She is currently hosting Sir Guy and the flat Richie… and this is how it transpired:

I arrived home yesterday morning on a typical grey and wet February day after a string of night shifts, with nothing on my mind except an imminent dental appointment and the need for SLEEP!
Instead, I got to my door to find a large parcel and a glowering leather-clad (but entirely hot) individual leaning casually in my porch, poking at my potted daffodils with a wicked-looking sword.
Sir Guy seemed unimpressed by the accommodations offered by my rather tiny house, sneered at the offer of salad for lunch and was outraged by the idea that there was no wine available.
He questioned me closely about whether I was up to date with my taxes and seemed very disappointed when I was able to produce a receipt from HM Customs and Excise stating they had my latest contribution in full and on time. He then remembered that he was escorting Flat Ritchie on his progress and muttered dire warnings about sticking to the rules of the enterprise.I reassured him that I was fully aware of what I could and should be doing and informed him of his next destination. He said that he was glad it wasn’t another trip to the “bloody Holy land” as he was “tired of getting sand in my boots”.
For the time being, I have appeased him with a promise of a trip to the local Royal Palace (Hampton Court), so I think he is hoping for an opportunity for some Royal preferment, and I am confident of winning  him round in order to send him on his way in a slightly better temper. This is likely to happen on Thursday as I have some more (day) shifts coming up which may render it difficult to find him a good horse and map before then.
Sounds as if Sir Guy is in best of temper – well, the kind of snarly, demanding, surly temper characteristic for him. Maybe he is a tiny bit jealous? Because Flat Richie – aka the log book – is going to have the recipients sigh with delight from now on, I suspect. I actually held Flat Richie in my hand last weekend. Yep, kind of unplanned, but what happened was that fellow fan and Flat Richie participant armidreamer was at Red Dragon Con. And she brought Flat Richie along. And now guess who also held Flat Richie?
*drumroll*… *suspense* Got it?
A clue.
Yes, the master himself has seen Flat Richie and signed him off *hehe*. I will leave it to armidreamer to enlighten you in the comments (or on her own blog?) what transpired at *that* autograph session…
Edit 11/02/2019: Have decided to rescue armidreamer’s own words from the comment section below for easier access. Here is how she describes her request to RA:
 I wish I could recount an articulate and fascinating conversation that I had with RA. The truth is that, flustered as usual, I garbled something incoherent like “This is Flat Ritchie he’s travelling round the world in a box. He’s been to the States twice and round Europe and we’re putting gifts in and taking them out’. He said “Ah, impressive” and he asked if he should address it to an individual or in general and I stammered, “An individual, no, in general”. I wish I had been collected enough to suggest a message. He was poker- faced, looking down, but when I said “It would mean the world to us if you signed it”. ( which he was doing anyway!) he looked up and my heart stopped!
Isn’t it an odd signature though? Not his usual one It looks like an ice cream at the end.
I wish I had been there to see his reaction. Mind you, he was a bit of a poker face all weekend, so we’ll never know the thoughts behind that handsome mien… In any case, now further ennobled, our Flat Richie log has become virtually priceless. I can only thank armidreamer for sacrificing the autograph opportunity that was included in her con ticket price for our cool little fandom project.
PS: Round-up probably coming tomorrow or so. Have to bake now for a family event later.

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77 thoughts on “#FlatRichie Is Safe and Sound – and Ennobled”

  2. Haha,I had a feeling from your tweets that he might have been at RDC5. Very cool he’s been signed! Like that Guy is being as demanding as usual too! And happy to hear he’s in good hands!

    Liked by 3 people

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    • Hehe, yep, I was conspicuously inconspicuous about the whole thing… Just because I actually didn’t want to rain on anyone’s parade – or spoil the surprise for Tiny. But now that the parcel has arrived, I just couldn’t keep it in anymore…

      Liked by 1 person

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    • I’m telling you – armidreamer was so clever. It never even occurred to me that that could be done – even though I of course knew that Flat Richie was in England at the time of the con… Dreamer asked me what I thought about the idea prior to attending the con – and I whole-heartedly endorsed it.

      Liked by 1 person

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    • Absolutely! You’ll definitely see it – and know that the log has been (more or less lovingly) held by Mr A himself. Armidreamer is going to tell you all more about it :-). (Or maybe she has included a little post-it or something like that on the signature to explain what happened…)

      Liked by 2 people

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    • 🙂 Quelle opportunité sera la votre et celle de tous les personnes suivantes de cette chaîne, surtout que j’en fais également partie! Je choisis pour l’occasion de citer la réplique de Gollum désignant l’anneau: ” Mon précieux” (n’en déplaise à ceux qui ne veulent plus entendre parler du “Hobbit”).
      J’aimerais connaître les dimensions de “Flat Richie”. N’ayant pas beaucoup de temps, je pourrai ainsi, avec plus de sérénité, concevoir à l’avance ma future réalisation.

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  6. I was lucky enough to inspect FlatRichie for myself at the con, albeit before he was made even more magical and priceless than before. However, I pride myself on having been part of the panel of experts who discussed the where and how of the signing process.

    Recipients later down the line will now have an added bonus when viewing the log book. I would like to quote Dana Ivey‘s character Mack from the 1995 remake of Sabrina. The sentiments all of you will have when laying your hot little hands on this priceless artifact will probably run along these lines:

    We were up to our elbows in your underwear drawer. It was like touching the Shroud of Turin.

    Liked by 2 people

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  8. That’s incredibe, the odds on Flat Richie being in England and staying with a RDA 5 attendee must have been very small.
    It’s a lovely clear signature, did he know what he was signing? lol

    Liked by 1 person

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  9. Move over Red Dragon, Armidreamer is the one we owe awe! What a lovely and brilliant idea and execution. Reading this made me giddy with happiness…it’s like Flat Richie went to RDC5 on a lark and ended up being knighted by the King.
    I had to lol at Tiny’s encounter with Sir Guy. No wonder he’s so grumpy…he has to escort “Sir” Flat Richie from now on 😂

    Liked by 3 people

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    • Yep, absolutely awesome, I agree. Such a brilliant idea. I am so glad she thought of it.
      LOL and yes, Flat Richie at the same event – is kind of funny.
      Oh-oh, Sir Flat Richie – I am sure Guy is not happy about someone else getting all that attention…

      Liked by 1 person

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  10. OMG OMG OMG, I go offline for a few hours and THIS happens. How exciting and how delightful for everyone. YAAAAAAAY!!!!

    Tiny’s encounter with Sir Grumpy was keenly observed and hilarious. Now someone will have to do something to cheer him up. Maybe his sword will need polishing after all that digging around in the daffodils. Any volunteers?

    Liked by 1 person

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  11. I’m so pleased Flat Ritchie has arrived safely and with Grumpy Guy in attendance – seduce him with wine Tiny Clanger! Sorry about the box wrapping. It looked a bit leather-clad too, as it was wrapped securely in yards of black shiny duct tape. Serves me right because it was wrapped like this when I had the idea of taking FR to the con ( typical me) so I had to unwrap it all again, battling with the tape. I wish I could recount an articulate and fascinating conversation that I had with RA. The truth is that, flustered as usual, I garbled something incoherant like “This is Flat Ritchie he’s travelling round the world in a box. He’s been to the States twice and round Europe and we’re putting gifts in and taking them out’. He said “Ah, impressive” and he asked if he should address it to an individual or in general and I stammered, “An individual, no, in general”. I wish I had been collected enough to suggest a message. He was poker- faced, looking down, but when I said “It would
    mean the world to us if you signed it”. ( which he was doing anyway!) he looked up and my heart stopped! Isn’t an odd signature though? Not his usual one It looks like an ice cream at the end.

    Liked by 5 people

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  12. I’m sitting here in our hotel room with an utterly stupid grin on my face, what an awesome way to start my day 😍😍😍😍
    🎖🏅🏆 all the prizes and applause for Armidreamer, thank you, you’re awesome!! (I’m one of those lucky Sir Flat Richie recipients yet to receive him 😄😄

    Liked by 1 person

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  13. OMG, this is brilliant! What a super idea Armidreamer, what a chance!
    I hope Flat Richie doesn’t get arrogant because of his new given honour. Could be difficult to be the host of two knights now…but Tinyclanger you have handled well,lol, Q/ A of payed taxes, great

    Liked by 1 person

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  14. Thanks for all the kind comments, btw, I’m very embarrassed and don’t know what to say. I’m just glad it worked out. And sorry not to have answered earlier, I’ve been sleeping a lot because of a cold/ flu virus since the con. Apparently quite a few people came back with a nasty virus. Hope one of us didn’t give it to RA. Mind you, he was blowing his nose at one point, so maybe he passed it on. That’s a thought, his germs coursing through one’s body …

    Liked by 1 person

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  15. 🙂 To all the people who attended the RDC5, here is one professional graduate’s advice (mine).
    Before running to your doctor’s office, please take the time to read this article thoroughly: “Ask Your Doctor, Much Good It Will Do You”.
    Your special attention is required to understand how flu desease and vaccination work. For me, it’s one of the best popular-scientific article, including religion and art history in it.
    http://www.lastwordonnothing.com/2018/10/18/redux-ask-your-doctor-much-good-it-will-do-you/
    (article dédicacé à Servetus, Esther, Guylty, Michele, SueB, Jholland, … and Armidreamer)

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  17. Armidreamer, that was a beautiful idea! 🙂 Flat Richie is becoming so great day after day! I’m so curious to see how the log will look like at the end of its travel! 🙂

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  18. Pingback: RA Pocket Shrine 182/? – Super Strong Manly | Guylty Pleasure

  19. Ihr habt eine Flat Richie World Tour um den ganzen Globus gemacht! Ihr seid unglaublich. Aww, und ihr habt davon Richard erzählt. Ich bin sprachlos.

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    • 🤣 Ja, hehe, haben wir. Das war ein Spaß – aber hat ja eeeeewig gedauert. Der gute Flat Richie liegt übrigens immer noch bei mir im Winterschlaf.
      Richard hat Flat Richie bei RDC5 getroffen – und sein Autogramm reingesetzt 😆

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