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sonoftatooine · 3 years

Note

ooh can I ask about any "Sith Anakin" of your choice and Winter Soldier AU for the ask game?

Hi, thanks for the ask! :D

SITH ANAKIN

My Raised as a Sith Anakin AU is pretty much what the name suggests - instead of becoming a Jedi at the end of TPM, Yoda senses too much danger in Anakin's training and refuses to admit him into the order, and because of this he's sent back to Tatooine and snatched up by Palpatine. The AU itself is made up of a series of fics which - very loosely - follow along the lines of various events of TCW. This particular extract is from 'The Clone Trooper', which is one of the very early fics in the series, and is one of the first things I wrote for SW:

The planet was nothing but dust and storms and death, and would have been noted as little more than an uninteresting blip on a starpilot's navigation computer if not for the raging battle that had just been waged on its surface several standard hours ago. Now, all was quiet—or it would have been, if not for the frequent winds that roared endlessly across the plains, and the crackling of bright, hungry flames in the distance. But beneath it, there was no shouting of soldiers, no screams of civilians—not even the inexorable clanking march of a battalion of droids carried through the air. All was silent. All was still.

Into this silence came two figures, one organic, one droid. The first was tall, cloaked in black with a deep hood pulled low over his head and his face covered up to the eyes. The second was a B1 series battle droid, painted with stark black stripes and clutching a blaster in one hand, and a hand-held scanner in the other. Despite one's expression being hidden, and the other incapable of forming an expression in the first place, neither seemed happy to be there.

With a sigh, Vader adjusted the cloth he had tied over his nose and mouth back on board the Twilight, his airways raw and his eyes stinging. It was a rather feeble barrier against the conditions of the planet, but the best he had had on hand. Really, it had been just his luck to arrive on this Force-damned little backwater just as a ferocious dust storm was kicking up. The stuff was whirling in the air so thick it was as if a muddy shroud had settled about them, absolute and impenetrable—he could barely have seen his own hand stretched out before him even if his eyes weren't being relentlessly assaulted with grit. It wouldn't have surprised him if he completed his mission only to find his ship half-buried under it once he returned. And that was to say nothing of Bee-One and himself in the long trek across the plain ahead of them. And that, that would not do.

The wind was howling all around him like the wailing of the dead, but Vader did not need an overactive imagination to hear the echoes of the battle reverberating in the Force. So little time had passed since the desolate plain had been full of living beings, bleeding out their suffering into the atmosphere around them, saturated thick with their fear, their anger and pain and hatred. It rushed in on him like the tides at Kamino as he opened himself up to the Force, so sudden and intense that it might have bowled him over had it not been for his years of training. He winced at the sensation—the Force was always so very loud, too loud and too bright, and now it burnt as if he were filled from crown to toe with too-hot lava—and his first instinct, as always, was to recoil. He forced himself to endure, pulling and pulling at each sensation until they lit the furnace of his own fury, and he felt his power uncoil like a dragon in his chest. The dust halted in its tracks.

“Thanks!,” came Bee-One's chipper voice over the roar of the wind. His attention was no longer on the scanner, but on the dust around them. The storm raged around them as fiercely as ever, but before the dust could reach them, it was pushed away, like filings repelled from a magnet. “That's a pretty handy trick!”

“My master has taught me a great deal,” Vader replied, his voice muffled by the cloth covering his face. He tried not to think about the one time he had seen Sidious do this, on another planet, with the sands that should have kept the Outlanders at bay parting before his new owner and closing about him like a cage, the blazing wreck of Watto's shop a faint orange glow in the distance, and his mother's screams drowned out by the shrieking of the winds— “Come on, we had better get moving.”

“Roger, roger!” It was the way Bee-One always said it—ever so slightly wry for all his chirpiness—and Vader clung to the familiarity of it, pushing the memories away. This was not Tatooine. No matter how much it may remind him— This was not Tatooine.

WINTER SOLDIER AU

So, I've managed to end up with two separate Winter Soldier AUs, so hopefully this is the one you wanted! This one is based on the premise that Anakin didn't turn to the Dark Side during ROTS and manages to escape Order 66 with a pregnant Padme. Later, the whole Skywalker family is captured by the Empire and Anakin has his memory wiped by Palpatine. It features sort of ghost Padme communicating with her family through dreams and Luke and Leia as Palpatine's adopted wards. This is a little snippet of a scene between Anakin and Leia that I'm writing (just for context, Leia knows that he's her father at this point but he doesn't remember):

"Lord Vader!" she exclaimed eyes wide as her bright little Force presence flared up in surprise. He raised his eyebrows at her expectantly, refusing to show any sign of being abashed at being caught unmasked and wandering through the halls of his master's private collection in the middle of the night. The little princess may be one of his master's heirs, but she was still a child - one who should have been asleep and safely tucked away in bed hours ago.

"Your Highness," he said. "What are you doing up at this hour?"

Leia, unsurprisingly, did not have the grace to look even remotely sheepish at having been caught so flagrantly flouting her father's rules and escaping both her nanny and her guards to boot. Instead, small arms crossed in a mimicry of his own pose, she simply stared up at him, unblinking and defiant, bestowing upon him the fiercest pout she could muster.

"I couldn't sleep," she said ever so slightly petulant. "What are you doing up?"

Vader frowned down at her, unimpressed.

"Thinking."

"About what?"

"About things not for the ears of princesses who should be in bed" he retorted sternly. Apparently, the girl was no more impressed by his evasiveness as he was by her antics, but that didn't mean she was going to get the answers she wanted. The gaze he levelled her with would have been enough to make one of his officers quake in their boots had they known to recognise him without his mask, but the unruly child did not so much as twitch under his firm stare. She glared right back at him, unrepentant.

"I don't want to go to bed," she snapped. "I'm not sleepy!"

Vader sighed. Clearly the hard line was not the right approach, but really, he should have expected that. Little Princess Leia had never been one to be cowed by disapproving words.

"You will be in the morning," he explained, with a patience that he suspected would earn him a few raised eyebrows from his men had they been here. "And then your father will be cross with you for wandering about the Palace on your own."

Mentioning his master was the wrong thing to say. All of a sudden, Leia's eyes filled with tears.

"He's not my father!," she cried stamping her foot on the ground with all the force she could muster. "He's horrible and I hate him! He punishes me no matter what I do so I might as well do something to get in trouble for."

ASK ME ABOUT MY WIPS

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sinner-as-saint · 5 years

Text

Call An Avenger

requested! I couldn’t tell if anon wanted fluff or smut so I wrote a bit of both.

Run-through: Y/N is a new member of the Avengers cast. And while doing a fun, playful interview promoting the new movie, things get saucy.

Themes: language, fluff, slight smut

“Alright Y/n, you’ve been set with Sebastian and Chris for the next one, starting in 10 minutes. They need to set up your mike so, hurry up a little bit would you, darling?” Linda said, typing furiously on the screen of her phone.

Linda was your assistant, and also one of your best friends.

You were currently the most talked about person in Hollywood. You were a successful singer, who also acted in some hit movies. And soon, another one would be added to your list because you were the newest addition to the Marvel family, quite a significant one actually.

Your recent movie was an Avengers one, and acting alongside some of the biggest actors in the industry, caused a lot of pressure but you were somewhat handling it like a pro.

You and the Avengers cast were travelling around the world, attending conventions, meet and greets, doing interviews and talk shows – promoting the movie. And so far you were having fun, and you actually grew close to quite a lot of them.

The closest friends you had so far were Scarlett, RDJ himself, Tom and Chadwick. However, you couldn’t help but feel a sort of tension whenever you were around Sebastian or Chris Evans. Of course, you were fan of them way before you guys did a movie together but there was definitely something wonderful in the air whenever one of them was around.

One of the traits of your character in the movie is that, she can be quite flirty and seductive to get to her enemies or to lure them into her traps, so you had to be physically close to both the actors during shooting and you couldn’t help but feel certain sparks in certain places whenever one of them touched you, or looked you in the eyes.

The feeling was weird to you, you had never been one to imagine yourself with more than one partner. Yet here you were, dreaming and crushing on two very good looking guys who were good friends to each other and to you, and who were way out of your league.

“Y/N! Seriously honey, hurry up!” Linda yelled, pushing you into in front of the camera, into a chair. Right in between probably two of the most gorgeous beings you had ever seen.

“Hello guys!” you chirped, setting down so one of the people working could set up you mike at the back of your dress.

“Hey y/n!” Sebastian said, giving you a slight wave, a gorgeous smile and a mini heart attack.

“Oh hey there y/n!” Chris said, giving you a warm smile, and another mini heart attack.

As you sat down, you realized that the chairs were placed really close to each other, to a point where when you sat down, your arms were each touching a muscular bicep of each men.

And there is was again, the sparks, the wonderful feeling in the air along with their addicting cologne mixed together.

A couple of minutes later of you guys just catching up and having a casual conversation, your interviewer walked in, smiling at all of you.

You thought he was rather cute, a little bit nervous but cute nonetheless.

“Hi guys! My name’s Joe. Okay, I know we don’t have much time because of your crazy busy schedule, but I have just a few questions and a fun game for you guys. So, you ready?” he asked, a very charming smile on his face.

“Yeah! Let’s go!” said Chris, sipping his coffee.

“Sure, bud!” Sebastian said, adjusting himself in his seat.

“Yeah, let’s do it!” you cheered.

“Okay, first question goes to the lovely Y/N who is making my heart race by how gorgeous she looks right now, right so, being so young and a new member of the Marvel family, how excited were you when you found out that RDJ himself wanted you to play this character?” Joe asked.

You smiled at him before answering.

“I mean, being a hardcore Marvel fan for so long now, I have to say I thought I was losing my mind when RDJ’s people called my team to talk about it. I was absolutely thrilled and nervous at the same time. I mean, I had just wrapped up a world tour and instead of taking a break and working on new music, I had to shoot for a least five months which was no joke, but I got to meet the people I had idolized for so long now, plus, I made some great friends so, yeah I wouldn’t change it for the world,” you smiled, trying your best at answering carefully.

“Well, I’m sure all the fangirls and fanboys will absolutely love you in this! Now, Chris, it is said that you, Sebastian and Y/N are quite the pranksters on set. What would you say was your best prank till now, as a trio?” Joe asked, and while Chris answered the question, you and Sebastian just looked at each other and absolutely died laughing as you remembered clearly which one it was.

“Oh my god! So, once Ruffalo mentioned that he has this weird phobia of someone chasing him with poo on a stick, right? And we all thought it was all bluff so, we decided to test it out…” he trailed off laughing out loud, slapping his left boob. Classic Chris.

“And he legitimately freaked out! We all thought he was acting but turns out, Ruffalo really does have a phobia of people chasing him with shit on a stick!” Sebastian told the remaining story, laughing as well while Chris recovered from his laughter fit.

“Plus, it wasn’t poo at all, it was, I believe something we stole from one of the makeup trailers, oh Mark,” you added, shaking your head at the memory.

Joe asked a couple of more questions before moving on to the game he had planned.

“Alright, so this is an easy, fun game called “Call an Avenger”, and I’m gonna give you guys certain everyday life scenarios and you have to tell me which Avenger you’ll call to help you out in that situation, okay?” Joe explained, and the three of you nodded.

“Right, you’re stuck on a deserted island,” he asked.

“Iron Man,” the lot of you answered, at the same time and then looked at each other and smiled.

“That’s true, Tony Stark would get you the hell out of there, safe and sound. He might even adopt you later to be honest,” you added and the two men agreed.

“Okay, what if you’re trapped in an elevator,” Joe said.

“Oh,” you all said and went into deep thought.

“I mean, I’ll go with Iron Man again, he’ll definitely know what to do,” Chris said, sipping his coffee again.

“Uh, think I’ll go with Ant Man, I mean, he could shrink down and do his thing, right? I’ll say Ant Man,” Sebastian replied.

“Oh I’ll go with Winter Soldier, Bucky it is for me. I mean, c’mon, that metal arm and those muscles could get me out of there rather quickly,” you answered and Sebastian looked at you with a shine in his eyes and a big smile on his face. And if you didn’t have a crush on the man, you wouldn’t notice how he slowly, but certainly, inched closer to you.

“That’s fair, okay next, you need to make an ex jealous,” Joe wiggled his eyebrows, smirking.

“Y/C/N,” the two men said, simultaneously.

“Chris, I mean, Cap,” you corrected yourself quickly, then you realized that they both had chosen your character.

“Ooh, drama!” Joe added, as the three of you started playfully bickering.

“Wait, what? Why not me?” Sebastian complained.

“Wow! I mean I can’t say that I didn’t like that, and why Seb can’t say Black Widow or something, man c’mon, why can’t I have Y/C/N all to myself?” Chris said, laughing. A warm feeling took over you when he said the last part and you tried your best not to show it.

“And I can’t say I’m not offended! What, now Bucky isn’t good enough for you babygirl?” Sebastian teased, smiling. But his smile soon faded as he slowly realized what he had just said. And you tried your best not to smile like a crazy person while he tried his best to cover up.

You noticed Joe’s head shot up as soon as Sebastian referred to you as ‘babygirl’.

“He is Seb, it’s just that, I believe Cap is more cut out for that job,” you explained, placing a hand on his knee gently and smiling up at him.

Your team would most definitely review the interview before it airs so you were sure that Linda would force them to cut that part out or else she’d have their heads.

“Okay okay, don’t argue Avengers, we still need you. Alright next, you badly need a date for an event,” Joe asked again.

“Thor,” you replied, with a smirk.

“Wow, that was quick,” Chris pointed out.

“Yeah, like you didn’t even give us a second thought,” Seb argued further.

You laughed.

“I mean, I had to go with my favorite Chris so, yeah,” you replied, sarcasm dripping from your words.

Chris dramatically placed a hand on his heart, faking that he was actually hurt by your words while Sebastian said something along the lines of ‘at least there’s no other Sebastian in the cast’.

“Ooh, shots fired, I mean you’re out here breaking hearts y/n!” Joe said, laughing along with you.

“Yeah, I thought I was your favorite Chris, what the hell?” Chris placed a hand on your shoulder and shook his head in disbelief.

“And I thought you loved me! We kiss in the trailer Y/N! What about that?” Sebastian added.

It was true. You did share a kiss, briefly, in the trailer. And your fans went crazy. There was all these ship names going around, edits and fan accounts based on people who hoped that you and him end up together. Then there were those you preferred you and Chris together after a video of you both goofing around on set got out.

“Oh my God, Joe! What have you started?” you pleaded.

After a few more rounds, Joe said goodbye and the three of you walked away.

“Y/N c’mon, you need to change for the next one,” Linda yelled from across the room and you rushed into the changing room, leaving behind the two men. Or so you thought.

The changing room was quite spacious, with full length mirrors, a set of clothes hanging on the side, a dresser table with a bunch of makeup laid in front of it.

You closed the door and wasted no time in getting out of the navy blue bodycon dress you initially wore, leaving you in just your lacy, black matching set of underwear. Leaving your dress on the floor, you walked over to the clothes that were hanging, and tried selecting one to wear for your next interview. But that was until you noticed something in the mirror. Two people standing behind you, unmoving.

Your eyes widened as you turned around, your hands trying to hide as much of your body as they could, but the two men smirked at the sight of you.

“Aww c’mon now, nothing we haven’t seen, doll. We’ve worked out together before, haven’t we?” Chris cooed, walking towards you slowly.

“What the hell? If anyone finds us here, we w-,”

“They won’t, doll. We made sure of that, now where were we?” Sebastian answered, walking towards you as well.

By then, you were blushing. Hard. And your heart was pounding inside your chest.

They moved towards you to the point where your back hit the wall and they stood right in front of you. Through the wall, you could hear Linda barking orders at other people.

“Seriously, is this because of something I said earlier, and do you always do this? Together?” you asked, surprised at your own question.

They smirked.

“No, but it’s worth a try though isn’t it? I mean, we feel the sparks too,” Chris said, leaning closer to you, “but you’ll have to be quiet, yeah, baby?” his hands reached around you and worked on unhooking your bra, his lips leaving light kisses along your jaw and his beard tickling your skin.

Meanwhile, Sebastian knelt down and managed to get you out of your underwear, his lips kissing your inner thighs as you tried your best to hold back a loud moan just by looking at him in between your legs.

“Remember babygirl, be quiet. We don’t wanna get caught now, do we?” Seb said as his mouth left deep red marks up along your inner thighs.

Well, you thought, this was a one-time thing right? So, it was totally worth the try.

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ayakashiramblings · 4 years

Text

WTFried Episode 3: KFC Otome Game

Bold: Gaku’s commentary Italics: Futaba’s commentary Normal: Official documentary narration (usually in a bad British accent) Bold and Italicized: Answers/Questions to the… game.

In 1910, the Capital, one man had a dream that he made another man work for. That dream would result in the exclusive Milk Hall. A chic cafe that would serve all manner of dairy-based treats… and making only one exception today. A day where we will reach deep into this bucket of…

Oh, Aoi! This logo is such a cute design!

How did you know it was by him?

Did… did you seriously think it was anybody else?

Point taken... Ms Futaba-rt…

Hush, Gaku. I’m just going to leave the drawing to the actual student.

Since everyone is craving for some turkey this winter, the employee has made the employer fetch some slices of this fine poultry. Everyone at Raccord is getting ready for the tender meat AND the festive season as we ring in the new year of 1911! Featuring buckets with the restaurant’s symbol… an old man!

And speaking of the devil, here he comes without… the turkey but some other manner of bird? Thus, Aoi has prepared to strike, dumping the bucket on the counter with a resounding thud.

“Erm… so remember how I said it was ok if I arrived at the turkey place slightly later than usual…?” A sheepish Oji's question can only be met by Aoi's deadpan conclusive remark,

“They ran out, didn’t they?”

Apparently, that was super insensitive because Oji-san has scrunched up his nose and eyes (the more normal ones) and…

Wait, how did you speak in parentheses?

"Nevermind that, somehow the narration was more offensive than Aoi's accusation." Oji’s fake-sniffling is thankfully interrupted by Aoi shaking the contents of the… replacement.

"I don't think it was harsh enough considering your blunder."

“No… it's just that the turkey place somehow became a chicken place! So the party pack is full of chicken!”

And just like that, the bells at the entrance have stopped ringing just as fast as the front door has been shut. And two hearts are now shattered into a million pieces. Why wouldn’t there be shattered souls after witnessing all hopes of savouring a Western classic slipping down the grease tracks of the fried chicken? The sound of the fat fizzing and splattering was supposed to be a welcomed one, not this… this… tinier bird. In particular, Ginnojo knows that he knows too much. See the look of imagining death and actually experiencing it? And Kuro! He’s pouting in slow motion, head down, shoulders slumped, and with an expression that clearly indicates he’s responding but barely able to because of the sheer despair consuming him… AKA, exactly like a puppy.

...Gaku, don’t zoom in on their faces. I’m already describing it, no need to rub it in.

Fine.

“Man, I’m sorry you two. I know you guys were looking forward to the turkey.”

“Old Man Oji, it’s ok! I’m just glad everyone is here to feast at least!”

Of course, the most ferocious growl has to refute that statement and it certainly has to come from an even more ferocious beast… Ginnojo’s disappointed stomach. Does he manage to hide the betrayal well with his stoic face though as the two neighbours/besties/??? eye the substitute meats?

Ok, really, there is no way you can tell me you spoke in question marks.

“I apologize too. Honestly, I should have checked beforehand.” Aoi concedes and offers a temporary white flag in the form of a kitchen towel to see the numerous chunks of fried chicken.

Could it be? The magic of fried chicken is soothing wounds of the past? Can the crispy chicken skin really fully resolve the dwindling festive spirit? Will it be just as great as its twin…

… Sorry Yura and Gaku.

“Be at rest, my Lady. I am sure a dollop of sugar or two is enough to fully restore the chicken to a turkey’s high status.”

I’m glad to see that the sugar dispenser I made is being put to such use, brother.

As Yura makes the sugar cookies even more… sugary, Aoi shakes his head,

“What now? We work with fried chicken? I’ve never really experimented with it before.”

“We… do need to finish this supply eventually. Might as well start now.” was all Oji can offer in this dire situation. Just as everyone is heaving a sigh, two majestic heroes arrive with…

A tengu as a sacrifice for the turkey my brother can never savour now. Crows are closer than chicken to turkey.

“Mhmm?”

“Nevermind, ignore him Kuya. Hiya Koga! Sorry you two, but we’ve only got fried chicken...”

And with that, Futaba witnesses the magnificent wingspan of the tengu… as he flies away at the mention of devouring a fellow bird. At least, he tried to but an oni ogre foils his meticulous plan by… grabbing his ear.

“Sorry about him. And even more sorry for Ginnojo and Kuro. I know you two were looking forward to the turkey.”

Nice job, Gaku! :D

What even is... you know what, nevermind. Thanks, I guess, and the mic’s back to you now.

“Really, don’t worry you guys. It’s more like Gin-Gin and I like the story surrounding the turkey in the festivals. The fried chicken just doesn’t have such an interesting story.”

The gramophone acts up at this precise moment Kuro tries to break the tension. As a wonderful person holds this strangely bulky camera while Gaku rushes to fix the audio camera, he finds that the cause is none other than his own customer… Oji-san with a record-breaking moment. Literally.

“Ok, wait, I’ve lived long enough to tell you that isn’t true. Why, I used to tell this story to Aoi when he was a little lad…”

And Oji-san whips out… a shopping list dated 5 years ago. Additionally, the crayon doodles are really adorable alongside the cursive handwriting.

“Yup, you told me a shopping list that I wrote down and YOU forgot.”

… Edit out my earlier statement.

… I’ll try.

“You know what? We have all this fried chicken for me and Aoi to do something AND tell you more about the tale of the fried chicken this time of year.”

And this folks, is what happened before we come up with the most amazing play…

Before we continue this documentary, we would like to thank our sponsors. Koga Kitamikado. This Oni Ogre is tough as nails and nothing ever gets him down! You can always turn to him when you're in a bind. A… tender bind.

… Why is Koga sponsoring this?

Guess he saw something… like how we are going to see two ayakashi experiencing the world’s greatest interactive play!

Tonight, Ginnojo and Kuro react to ‘I Love You, Colonel Sanders! A Finger-Lickin’ Good Dating Simulator!’. An interactive play scripted by Oji, you, yes you the audience, gets to play as a budding chef…

“Ooh, Gin-Gin is a good one… when you know, he doesn’t go bonkers on the ingredients.” Kuro’s chirp is nearly drowned out by the action at the back where we will be observing how our thespians are preparing.

Aoi and Oji have outdone themselves for this. We don’t have every single thing that you can purchase by queuing up but the menu prepared within 4 seconds is well-represented on this table. Sometimes, it is in a 3-piece meal, a few are in the buckets, and you get the overall picture! No double-dipping needed here, the act is too sacrilegious for such a holy beginning. A beginning… that will melt the frost around here.

Warm yourself from the inside. You’re about to embark on a journey that will end with you sleeping with this warm milk and pot pie….

Thus, these two can’t drink milk. Only eating the pot pie. We… we need them to actually play this.

“This is confusing, our journey begins with the ending?” Kuro asks a question that no one knows the answer to except for Ginnojo,

“Aye, a lot of the greatest heroes stumble upon their best stories after the ending of another. I suppose this is what we are trying to get here with… the pot pie?”

Scepticism is evident even on the usually trusting Kuro’s face. Nevertheless, they put their faith in Aoi’s culinary skills as they see the smoke still wafting from behind the stage curtains that are really just Kuya’s blankets.

AKA: Koga’s blankets.

Sure, the decor is a bit too… reminiscent of a chicken barn. And yet, observe the first bite taken by the Mizuki and the… other… ayakashi. Creaminess flooding each of their mouths as veggies and fried chicken come together in this glorious, crusted symphony. And at the very end of it all,

“Delicious.”

“Oh my gosh! It’s so good! The chicken, yum! More, please!”

As they chew contentedly amongst dozens of floating… chicken and biscuits… Yura approaches them with the most adorable signboard… and the weirdest customizable one at that. That’s right, we are featuring the talents of Yura and Aoi… for the second time in the latter's case.

“Welcometh, chef! Bef're we start, bid us thy nameth!”

Translation: Give us the coolest names you have Ginnojo and Kuro! Note: no explicit language or demeaning words are allowed.

“Oooh, let’s do a ship name, Gin-Gin!”

“I dislike ships. Especially the black ones. Why can’t humans just learn to be one with the waves?”

Thus, comes the most epic name ever.

Mammon!

“Like, Mama + Mon! Because, I dunno, it feels like a mum made this!”

“The Mon is an abbreviation of Monday, the day we are watching… I mean, playing this theatrical game.”

...

Should… should we tell them?

No.

With the dimming of lights and pot pie nearly finished, Kuro and Ginnojo move on to the chicken wings and munching sounds accompanied the sight of the protagonist… in bed. Since the protagonist is me. So…

I’m taking over the narration from this point onwards. Be grateful. And note… this is the game. So if it’s weird… do not blame me for it.

Oh hush, and get to your job.

Futaba is buried like one zinger in a tortilla wrap. Until the latest alarm clock that I have built with a custom ringtone goes off with the best sound in the world - that of a happy chicken. Sleep in or wake up? What should they choose?

“I’m concerned about the rooster.”

“Yes… but whelp, up and at’em is what I’d say!” was the only warning the poor alarm clock received before Kuro smacked the robot rooster with the goddamned whip of his, ruining hours and hours and hours of…

Don't be so offended, Gaku, it's just a game.

...

“Wow, I better get ready for my first day at the prestigious University of Cooking School: Academy for Learning!” Futaba says in a way-too-enthusiastic voice that is almost on Kuro’s level when he’s drunk.

“Ok, so I’m only familiar with Futaba and Aoi’s schools but I’m pretty sure no one would want that for a name. Oh! Let’s call it Cuddling Chicken School!”

Case in point because as I speak, Kuro and Ginnojo are now enjoying another treat with coke… that may or may not have been spiked. The main focus though is the box filled with delicious chicken and named after popcorn.

“This one’s the most processed. I don’t think I can take another bite. Oh, Kuro? You’ve finished yours?”

“... More like you finished yours and mine within a bite.”

For once, Ginnojo looked more innocent than Kuro was somewhat forlornly staring at his very, very empty container. At least now both could be more invested in the… plot of this play as our main character starts to get changed into a chef’s uniform, complete with an apron and a hat. All that is left to do is for her to actually move but she just has to ask,

“Hmm, I kinda want to daydream and laze about in bed.”

Of course, that’s challenging everything a former Shinsengumi member loves and knows so Ginnojo is quick to call my brother over to reject the option… except that Kuro is a bit more nonchalant about the whole affair.

“D’aww, let her, it’s so rare to see her relaxed.”

“I won’t deny that a girl her age shouldn’t be concerned with hard matters but Futaba wants to go to school. And I shall support her in her endeavours.”

“Except, this isn’t Futaba. She’s being Mammon remember?”

“Very well.”

And just like that, Ordinary Chef Student protagonist Futaba is late and doesn’t have time to sit and eat a full meal. She grabs a piece of biscuit, fluffy… unlike her missing deodorant.

“I knew she had a price to pay.” Ginnojo’s heavy sigh provoked a gasp of realization from his neighbour,

“Are we going to be fried?”

Alas, she was not…

HEY!

By the time she has thrown the biscuit at me, the setting has been changed to the ivory walls of UCS: AL… or the Cuddling Chicken School. And there, awaiting her is the ever-so-perky… BROTHER?!

He volunteered for the role!

Wow, I’m so proud of him! Wait, should I have auditioned… no, I’m just going to record every moment of this now.

Here comes the bestest friend in the world, Yura!

“Many thanks, brother, but I shall now don the name ‘Miriam’ and ask Mammon here if she is highly anticipating our term of 3 days!”

Ginnojo does have to voice out one concern that I am sure most viewers will have as well,

"Hold on, they can graduate in 3 days? Youth these days really are picking up new knowledge."

"I want a degree in English in 3 days. If I take the English food course in 3 days, will that count?"

Before Kuro can learn more about this miraculous development in education, Futaba has to continue with her dialogue and actually focus like my brother,

“Good morning Miriam! I'm sure…”

“Because I most certainly am! Alack, the breakfast I hadst did prepare this morn did not have enough love… whatever shall I do?”

As another branch of the game appears, the choice is rather evident…

COMFORT HIM YOU IDIOTS!

Finally, sense strikes the two, Kuro furiously slamming the option and poor Nachi as a result. Still, the nekomata behind the Option Board manages to signal to the other actors and Futaba barely adeptly gives my brother a pep talk,

“Ever since we were little babies together and you rescued me from that quicksand box, it’s been clear to me that you’re the most loving, caring person I’ve known! Your tiny… sweets are definitely going to be a hit!”

Part of the reason why this speech is not adequate enough is because Futaba is RUDELY interrupted when someone smacks her books and custom-engraved measuring spoons out of her hands and onto the ground.

“... Aeshleigh.” Futaba finally spat out, or whether it’s from deliberating drawing out the heavy silence to emphasize the sheer tension… or because she is wonder if Kuya cannot spell Ashley.

“This is the fancy name. For the fancy Ashley. Aeshleigh who is better than everyone else.” Ginnojo’s attempt at finding the reason for Aoi’s character name is ultimately thwarted by Aoi starting to get into character EXTREMELY reluctantly,

“Oh, I didn’t see you there, chicken shins.”

"Her boobs are not parallel at all." came Kuro's deadpan remark… and Ginnojo choking whilst looking like a boiled lobster. That, or because he is eating the Crispy Version of the Chicken breast.

“Kuro! Do not look there!”

“Why is she even insulting us for having chicken shins? She has chicken breasts on her thigh socks! Futaba, you should have actually worn chicken shin guards.”

…

Don't be so offended, Futaba, it's just a game.

Across the quad, one can see the rival’s best friend, who has stopped to look at his own reflection in the mirror. Pants so tight, anyone can see him casually working out his glutes while he styles his hair. No lie, they’re rocking glutes belonging only to one Koga.

“Ahem, Van Van?”

“You rang-rang?”

“Damn, Koga, you cougar go!”

“I’m curious about his hair, it’s actually in the shape of a starfish.”

“Don’t you just mean a star?”

“That can work too, I suppose.”

Sure, the pairing seems weird to the current audience but Aoi… I mean, Aeshleigh continues to sneer at Mammon who is slowly getting up with Miriam’s help but quicker with throwing the retort,

“I can’t believe that the University of Cooking School: Academy for Learning would ever allow people like you to attend as students.”

Except that it completely flies over both bullies’ heads as Aoi delicately laughs with icy cold teal eyes,

“Ara ara, so you do know. We should have gotten our diplomas already with these great skills of ours.”

“Or maybe hire us on as professors. You amateurs could learn a lot from us.”

With the first day of school about to start, there’s just not enough time to properly tell these two off so everyone else resists the urge. As Mammon and Miriam approach the door, they see a goofy-looking kid pushing hard against the window directly next to it.

“He would have been completely dislikable if it weren’t for the fact the cutest cub is playing him right now.”

On a more serious note, could someone like this also be a student at the school? He must be a great chef, with a name tag that clearly says ‘Bob’ but there he is, introducing himself as,

“Hi! I’m Kogare… Pop! And I think I was supposed to say that I broke this door.”

… And now I know why Fox-Face wants a copy of this film while he is attending Part 1 of the New Year Kitsune Festival…

When Mammon easily opens the door, Kogare… or Bob… or… Pop? Just has to tackle her for a big hug and squeal out,

“I LOVE YOU!”

“D’aww!” should have been everyone’s response but only Kuro’s was heard over Ginnojo screeching and of course, an epic debate about expressions of affection,

“GAGH! K-k-kogare! Do not touch a lady like that yet! Or profess something that serious until you are of age!”

“What? No! Hug her like you are squeezing the life out of her!”

Fortunately, the actors continue the scene. Unfortunately, it is with this line from Kogare Pop’s mouth that makes you wonder who allowed this writing. Money is on Kuya.

“Did you know my other name ‘Pop’ comes from my great-grandfather Pop pop?”

The critics are not amused, Ginnojo tutting and Kuro making a face like he had just tasted chocolate for the 32nd time,

“Days like these makes me glad I don’t know my lineage.”

“Yeah…”

“Is it just me or is that young gentleman cute?” Miriam tries to note but everyone... and I mean everyone... just has to say,

“It’s just you.”

Miriam and Mammon shrug their shoulders before following Kogare Pop into the building. They stand at the edge of the room, unsure where to sit. Other students wander in and keep themselves busy chit-chatting.

“Where… is the Colonel we were promised to romance for fried chicken? Even now we are stuck with cheese fries… nothing can make up for these soggy… Oh my gosh, so CUTE!!!”

Kuro only stops when he sees a scruffy-looking cat taking his place at a podium at the front of the class, the smallest chef hat on his head. Head Instructor and CEO of UCS: AL is here everyone! Nachi taps his paw against the wooden surface to gather attention… although Kuro is already cooing over the little hat on the nekomata’s head and even Ginnojo smiles a bit in approval.

Out of nowhere, the wind begins to rush around everyone as a swirl of cherry blossom petals fill the air inside the classroom despite it being in the middle of winter in Japan. To be more accurate, the petals are… Kuya’s feathers dyed pink much to Kuro’s delight,

“Nice effects! I kinda wanna play with them now! Guess I better wait for Kuya to fly and leave some behind next time...”

“Wait, the cherry blossoms are blooming for them? Where and when are they?”

A hushed murmur rolls through the classroom as HE walks down the aisle of desks. Suddenly, the room is sweltering. And there… we have Oji as the one, the only…

Colonel Sanders!

...

“I’m confused… are we supposed to find him handsome?”

“Did Oji just reveal his true aged appearance or did he just dye his hair white?”

“His eyeliner is as thick as his actual eyes and even thicker than his actual eyebrows and spectacle frames.”

All those statements were slowly cracking the fried chicken skin, with Ginnojo’s final casual observation really roasting Oji’s self-esteem. Nevertheless, the show must go on with the main chef and… love interest... helping the two audience members crack open the ranch. We shall now divulge in a bit of ASMR… ASMRanch as we massage Colonel Sander’s arm that is as thick as his neck. See how he flexes...

“OH GOD MAKE IT STOP!” Kuro squirms.

“FUTABA!!! I mean, Mammon, right, Mammon… MAMMON DON’T MIX WITH SUCH FILTH!”

… We are changing scenes already? Oh, ok, suit yourself.

Here, he wields the spork, his eyeliner game suddenly aligned…

“NO…!!!”

“It… is… rectangular. A rectangular spork.”

“Foon.”

Did that earn a… Kentucky-fried chuckle?

What’s Kentucky? Also, you broke character.

Think this play is broken. Oh, next scene...

The Colonel makes a delicious array of food items in the cafeteria...

“What kind of cafeteria has flowers and a fancy atmosphere?”

“Not Milk Hall Raccord except for the flowers.”

The Mac and Cheese falls flat on the ground, along with Oji’s chef hat,

“THAT’S IT! THE COLONEL QUITS!”

…

Ok, I’m going to resume while Ginnojo eats the rest of the food Oji has left...

Yeah.

And so, the wisest Satori Seer, on behalf of his boss, buries the abominable script and the actually-kinda-nice-art-if-it-wasn't-about-fried-chicken romance.

Hey, should we bury this camera?

WHAT?! AFTER ALL THAT WE’VE BEEN THROUGH???

Ok, ok, we won’t. Besides, there’s still Valentine's day if this show hits more than 1 view.

… Why the 1 view benchmark?

Cus… apparently, there was a dish here that wasn’t revealed here that would work great for a Valentine's Day episode.

… At least my brother can eat it.

Epilogue

For some reason, we have noticed a foreigner digging up the manuscript. He even paid Oji for it. Said it might be the next biggest thing in America for an even weirder reason?

Ginnojo is still eating the whole menu. Kuro has shared the magic of fried chicken with the rest of the troupe and occassionally, the circus-theatre guest. Unfortunately, it is during one of these stunts that a fried chicken cracked the lens. Even more unfortunate, the grease from the fried chicken seeped through the components and short-circuited everything.

So the only thing hotter than Colonel... is everything. Let’s hope we never see anything like this even in the 21st century.

Epilogue to the Epilogue

My grandparents sure were naive.

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crazyfreckledginger · 5 years

Text

Warlords x Reader - “Fluff Army” [Part 1]

Struggling to keep up with the pace of the preparations for the arrival of the Uesugi-Takeda alliance as well as helping everyone around the castle made you very very overworked. The Oda forces, having understood this, decide to put their pet’s care inside your hand instead of working you hard. After discussing the ceasefire, both side go on the search for you and find a promising scene that only melt their heart.. some more than others.

A/N: I honestly don’t know what went through my brain when I wrote this, it was supposed to be cute but it turned out chaotic, blame the warlords! Also, don’t mind the edit, I know it’s bad but I don’t have the time to think over it.

"Oof," she released a breath as she bumped into a tall frame when pacing around a corner.

"Careful before you trip and fall," the blond grumbled.

Peeking from over the stack of clothes she was carrying, her eyes locked with his.

"I'm so sorry Ieyasu, it's hard for me to see over this, I'll be more careful next time." Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. The man didn't say a word.

"Whatever, just watch where you're going," he glanced away from her, feeling his own cheeks blush before moving out of her way.

"Do you need help with that?" Masamune raised a questioning eyebrow at her, also sliding out of her path.

"No, I'm good." Her grip tightened around the fabrics to make sure none of them were falling off.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" The One-Eyed Dragon interrogated.

"Well, since the last ceasefire, most people around the castle want to look their best, for the most part, the maids, they seem particularly keen to impress Shingen." She paused for a moment before continuing, "the seamstress also want my help to sew them something for him once they've finished with their own orders."

"That damn tiger, stealing all our women, I'm happy he didn't get to your pretty little head, however," the warlord smirked, tapping two fingers consecutively on her forehead.

"I need to go."

"Don't overwork yourself, I'd hate to have to take care of you," Ieyasu mumbled, watching as she nodded and scurried down the hallway to her room.

"Why am I not surprised to see you outside of war council?" A honey dipped sigh was heard behind them.

"I'm not late, I'm with Ieyasu," the dragon defended.

"He has a reason to be out, you don't." Hideyoshi's scowl only grew as he glared at him.

"Well, I'm here now aren't I?"

"Just come on, we has issues to discuss before they get here!"

****

"According to the messenger, they are supposed to arrive in the afternoon." Mitsuhide informed.

"Let's hope (Y/N) will be in bed by then." Masamune added.

"Yes, she needs to sleep." The vassal's motherly tone appeared.

"She's not a child, and it will be during the afternoon, of course she will still be awake!" Ieyasu rolled his eyes.

"She's overworking herself."

"Is she now?" Nobunaga intervened, remembering the kimono she delivered for him this morning.

"Everyone wants to look their best in front of our soon-to-be temporary allies, especially the ladies for Shingen." Mitsunari recounted the information she had told him the day before

"Then make sure she takes no part in the banquet, she need only enjoy." The devil announced.

****

The sun was nearly setting when a herd of mounted horses arrived in Azuchi.

"Still as lively as I remember," Kenshin watched as the numerous markets and shops appeared to be still open.

"Oh, it's you," Ieyasu stated stoically.

"You can at least greet us correctly can't you?! We came all this way after all." Yukimura scoffed.

"Yuki," Shingen warned.

"I apologise for his behaviour." Toyotomi bowed deeply to the four of them.

"As do I," Shingen dismounted his horse and flicked his vassal's forehead.

"Ow!!" He moaned, glaring at his lord.

"This way please."

They walked in silence until the doors before they were greeted by a few maids.

"Good day, Hideyoshi, Ieyasu, ooh, and Shingen, do you remember me?" A girl grinned, locking eyes with smoky grey ones.

"Why of course! How can I forget such a pretty face," he chuckled.

"How about me?" Another one chipped up.

"Yes I-" Yukimura pushed him through before he could say anymore.

Kenshin's scrutinizing gaze pierced through the girls, making them cower slightly under his beautiful yet intimidating figure.

"Feel free not to scare the maids," Sasuke spoke.

"Here we are," Ieyasu groaned, interrupting the dragon of Echigo from coming up with a retort to his ninja.

"Any chance my lovely goddess would be in here?" Shingen smiled, before it fell completely, "nope, clearly not." His eyes scanned over the men that were patiently waiting for them to arrive.

"You won't be seeing her." Nobunaga spoke.

"What is this nonsense you speak?" The warlord's hetechromia eyes shot daggers at his rival.

"What? Afraid we will 'intoxicated' and 'pollute' her?" Yukimura mocked.

"Yes, actually." Mitsuhide snickered.

"What?!" Shingen and Kenshin nearly screeched.

"Does she even know we are coming?" Sasuke asked.

"She does, but we have given her the task to take care of our- the animals roaming around in the castle gardens so she doesn't have to see you." Hideyoshi intervene.

"How cruel of you to overwork such a wonderful person just so she couldn't see the people who came just to have a glimpse of her again." Shingen frowned.

"She's overworking herself, the responsibility she had in organising the banquet has changed to playing with animals, she loves that, curiously." The snakes eyes narrowed as they locked with the ninja's.

"Enough of this, I don't want to be here anymore, let's finish this." Kenshin stood in front of Sasuke, glaring possessively at the fox, who innocently looked away.

****

The sky was filled with beautiful shades of yellow, pink and purple when they finally ended council.

"Now to see my lovely goddess" Shingen grinned happily.

"Not over your dead body!" Kenshin intervened.

"Where would (Y/N) be?" Sasuke turned to Hideyoshi.

"Around." Masamune answered vaguely.

"Why thanks," the light brown-haired vassal scoffed.

"Normally in the gardens," Toyotomi finally admitted.

Without another moment of hesitation, the Oda's enemy skipped towards the gardens.

"(Y/N)?" Kenshin asked firmly.

"Where is she?" Mitsunari peered from around the doorframe, squinting in an attempt to see her standing somewhere around the small pound.

"What's that over there?" Nobunaga pointed to the base of a tree, among the grass.

Hastily, the Takeda-Uesugi allies moved to inspect the unknown figure in the grass.

"H-huh?" Their eyes went wide as they recognised the woman they were waiting to see.

"What is it?" Nobunaga's vassal's raced to them to see what was going on. Soon after, the rest of the Oda forces peered over the figure.

The most adorable scene was unfolding in front of them.

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epixolon · 5 years

Text

Hey so I started ORV about 2 weeks ago and I need to place down my feelings and I hope y’all appreciate it. Most of my predictions about immediate events turned out to be wrong, like they were through most of the novel, but some of the longer ranged ones might still be possible, and as you will read i haven’t edited these, so most of my stuff will be wrong, but I don’t much care, it’s stream of thought. Enjoy

Chapter 0-206

* Dokja will bookmark and use either Jonghyuk’s regression, or Nirvana’s reincarnation.

* Dokja will devour a constellation’s story in order to get their stigma, rather than go through the process of bookmarking it, with my personal guess being zeus and the lightning carnival since that’s been mentioned a bunch and he already has electrification.

* when the fourth wall has devoured things so far, dokja gets a better understanding of the being, so maybe if he devours a constellation like, say, zeus, he will gain a better understanding of the constellation to allow for bookmark

* Soon enough he’ll use unidentified wall to communicate with his allies, probably the underworld, maybe Uriel, definitely Jonghyuk and co. outside Seoul in an attempt to consolidate his power before the coming storm of the nebulae opposing him.

* Yoosung will find a way to be a sacrificial bastard like Dokja so she can upgrade her stigma from him by following his story.

* The fourth wall makes a lot of sense both as a representation of Dokja’s inner thoughts and subconscious, mostly seen as the ways that he’s been traumatized, such as with his mother, are when he becomes most like the fourth wall and the benefits are lost.

* The being inside the wall that his mother saw is unclear to me, i could maybe see the subconscious pride and confidence that he has with himself and the knowledge he possesses, but it could also be the author in some fashion, especially with that bit of advice he got in the outer god’s stomach

* The fourth wall is a great piece of writing for every reason possible, but also makes sense within the universe as to how it can do this stuff: we see everywhere that when a constellation wants to do something direct, it has to use up probability, and anyone that wishes to oppose its actions can use some of that probability as well such as with Kyorgius (I don’t remember how to spell his name, the tiny man), or even the outer god, and probability storms are when nobody will use this probability to oppose them, the universe sets the balance right. And so the fourth wall uses probability

* The fourth wall represents two things: 1. how probable is it that a book character can affect a reader? that’s unlikely right? even more so to be able to know the reader in some intimate fashion? and 2. we see sparks every time someone tries to read his mind/abilities. the fourth wall essentially absorbs that probability and stops the skill, and i think a similar thing happened with the unidentified wall as it seemed to be using a lot of probability to do anything and the fourth wall just took it all in “with a bigger spark”

* the unidentified wall i think will possibly become “identified” as something, either a definite thing straight from ways of survival, or it will be open to possibility like Heewon’s crouching figure, in which case i see like a 30% chance it is influenced by the fourth wall and becomes something similar to it

* I definitely think there’s a possibility the secret plotter is related to the author, and you see it much more when in a reread the constellation seems to occasionally hear his thoughts or potentially understand more about the situation than it should be able to, without being overboard obvious about knowing dokja’s attributes.

* ok and with it laughing when he forces down the fourth wall, like he could tell what happened, and when he was “snapping at the great old ones looking at you,” I’d say he’s pretty damn powerful, maybe even more than narrative grade, and maybe it’ll just be the christian god or the devil or whatever something, but it could also be the author i think

* As we’ve seen most clearly from Dokja’s use of the sword song of the maritime war god, but not Jihye’s ghost fleet, constellations can have multiple stigmas, so i at least am predicting Dokja will give the fourth wall or possibly character list, or maybe even a copy of the ways of survival text (i definitely don’t think she’ll get ORV or bookmark though, those are protagonist powers), as a stigma later on for Yoosung, but i def could be wrong about that.

* I think there’s a possibility Sooyoung will tell everyone that Dokja is a reader before he gets back, but i could see it not happening.

* when 41st Yoosung is born as a dokkaebi, i wonder if using her channel will break the contract he and Bihyoung have. i think he might switch over to the channel for his covert revolution actions at the very least, and just block channel access to the vedas and the other nebulae, and might switch over his scenarioing to the new channel entirely

* actually, when he was in Seoul, he said his contract was cancelled, so maybe he can stream with the both of them now, or even just 41st Yoosung

* i think there’s a possibility that Sooyoung actually did plagiarize the text, but just doesn’t remember, either because she’s becoming more like a character like the two prophets, because when the author deleted the text from the internet her mind got frazzled, or when she made her first clones, the memory of reading it went with it and got destroyed when the clone died

* the author in the first chapter said that their story won a contest, and while in retrospect it seems like a lie, i wonder if there’s the possibility that like with peace land, who’s author sold the setting, if the author wrote the story either without meaning to

* like if Sooyoung actually did just write her own story from a dream, maybe the author did the same and just got more of the dream enough to realize the coming reality of the story, and maybe the dream was them acting like actual prophets to the world before the constellations were going to show up anyway

* the debt/free service time mentioned by the dokkaebi in the beginning is interesting, and i wonder if the end of the scenarios is having enough coins to buy either the planetary system or even just more time of free service away from the constellations.

* Dokja might eventually get more attributes, maybe something like writer or fanfiction writer or revisionist to get new powers given the ways he’s changing the story, either something like avatar (or maybe he’ll just use bookmark for that) as a way to either die more or make a nebulae out of one constellation, or some bullshit reality bending power like writing is, or just like a more reliable use of the other constellations’ Deus Ex Machina to do anything he wants, with enough probability of course

* compounded because in his attributes window we see more skills ■’d out

* given Myungoh’s daughter, will Dokja be adopting a 4th child in the near future?

* maybe asmodeus wants to feed the 73rd demon king to his child

* do you think anyone we’ve met, maybe someone from the constellation banquet, has the ancient dragon’s heart we see Dokja looking at in the Ichthyosaurs’ stomach?

* does/will Dokja look very different from how he did previously because of the golden dragon heart (which based on the heart we’ve seen previously should give him a lot of regen and storage of his magic) and the arm? along with the rest of the broken pieces that became his ruined body that probably only vaguely resemble his face? and the demonic energy he had before and might have again, and maybe ending up as the 73rd demon king

* his face is apparently blurry to people, even with a new story on it, i wonder if he’ll lower the fourth wall to let people see him at some point

* Jihye mentioned that his face is blurry, but Gilyoung has mentioned that he looks fine, so to me that indicates it’s maybe the fourth wall

* do you think there will be any romance by the end? i get the Jonghyuk and Dokja romance implications, but at least as far as the Fate goes, it looked a lot more to me that Dokja’s true love was the love of a good story, and that he died from the story he told with his friends, that proof alone isn’t enough for romance to me, so i could see it ending with none, no romance at all and the story just ends with Dokja and his 7 adopted children.

* why are there 72 demon kings, but they’re in the 73rd demon realm and asmodeus has 32 realms under his control? is there a mistranslation or a misunderstanding going on or what?

* maybe asmodeus absorbs/devours/suborns any demon king that he can and just takes his land, and so he wants the 73rd realm

* could be related to the question of asmodeus’s child above

* i think destroy evil from samyeondang might come up in the demon realm

Chapter 207-214

* I love Uriel now I think, and Biyoo

* i wonder if Dokja can bookmark unidentified wall, or if Hayoung can learn bookmark

* I’m unsure if the revolutionary will end up being a bad person or not, because i think I might have a problem if Dokja just kills the revolutionary, but maybe they’ll sacrifice themselves, or die elsewhere, or maybe they can give it up willingly, idk

* i could see the end of the novel being all the star stream being destroyed, which means no dokkaebis and no stories, so the constellations start to die, and we either get a sad ending of Dokja dying as a constellation, or we get a nice one of him (and maybe some other nice constellations) surviving on Biyoo’s Bootleg, or maybe the same barstardry he pulls, with him doing another “I don’t die when I am killed” and coming back from death again

* I wonder if Hayoung and maybe Dokja will find/convince the 15 year old to allow/make a way for Sooyoung to keep her sanity while following the story, like maybe a new story for the constellation, idk

* ooh shit, Dokja having read the story is spreading, yoo sangah at least suspects, i wonder if everyone will know by the time he gets back

* it’d be a funny scene if Uriel notices Biyoo’s Bootleg and tells Jonghyuk about it to avoid the dokkaebi, and so they miss each other for a bit until Dokja does something stupid/self-sacrificing enough (maybe by a plan from the Duke) that Jonghyuk realizes it’s him and comes and saves him

* i had a dream the dokkaebi had british accents whenever they spoke, and the idea of a foul mouthed floating cat going around saying “oi cunts moider each other or ah’ll shank ya nan” is just hilarious to me

Chapter 215-224

* <3 <3 Fuck Kim Dokja <3 <3

* I figured the hair was going to be involved, but not explicitly that

* If Dokja can find a way to with relative consistency summon the soldier, that’s great

* ok asmodeus is the king of the 32nd. ok, not 32 of them

* Dokja normally says no to potentially unfair support like this from constellation level beings, but i’d actually like to see him deal with asmodeus and just manage to manipulate it so that he is the king of all demons or something

* If Dokja gets support from Asmodeus, than the demon will probably leave his incarnation body there and use it as a puppet to pop in when needed even as he attends to matters in his own kingdom most of the time. This’d open the possibility of Dokja getting to adopt another child, which is always good to see

* I’m also real curious how the possibility of the people who were once characters finding out they were, and what differences there will be to the “real” people, although the fact that the two prophets are characters now is intriguing

* So far it’s just Sangah who knows, but I wonder if Heewon and the others will even be allowed to understand the concept, given the ways the filtering has prevented it in the past

#long post #omniscient reader's viewpoint #orv #orv spoilers

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commandocannoli · 6 years

Text

Defeating Thanos

So, I wrote this a long while back because I spent a lot of time writing different ways Loki could have survived. I figured I’d post it because it’s been in my notes for forever. Sorry if it’s cringe and badly written haha I likely wrote it while in deep sorrow at three in the morning. There’s more to it, this is only a mere piece.

.•.•.•.•.•.•.

Darkness enveloped him for a moment, but the shadows began to become disturbed by a slowly growing mist. Loki blinked several times, but instead of going away, the mist increased, as did the view around him. It wasn’t as dark anymore; he could see a path clearly in front of him. Tucking his daggers carefully away, but still keeping them open enough, available to snatch up at any moment, he followed the eerie pathway ahead silently, his gaze carefully scanning the surroundings as he went.

Loki couldn’t remember where he was or how he got here. Though the area was dark, it didn’t feel sinister. All the same, he wasn’t going to put his guard down.

As the straight path began to turn into corners, Loki following with ease, he noticed a glowing light around the upcoming corner. Swallowing, he gripped the handle of one of his daggers and made his way closer. Pressed to what was a very odd sort of wall, Loki slowly began peering around the edge. He held back a grunt of disappointment when he realised he wouldn’t be able to see what it was without showing himself. Drawing in a breath, he turned the corner, dagger drawn, but stopped and froze when he saw what was there.

“Loki.”

Instant tears welled in Loki’s eyes and soon began to stream down his cheeks. “Mother?” He dropped his dagger, mouth agape.

Frigga smiled, nodding lightly, and opened her arms wide, inviting Loki in for an embrace.

For once, Loki didn’t hide his vulnerability. He practically ran to her, arms wrapping around her and pulling her tight. “I missed you so much. You are my mother. I’m so sorry I said you weren’t. The thought that...that was the last thing I ever said to you has haunted me every day-” His words broke off as he choked back a sob.

“I know. I know.” Frigga whispered gently, her soft fingers combing through Loki’s hair. “I forgive you, and I will always love you, Loki. My son.”

Loki released her from the hug, absorbing her warm expression. He couldn’t believe he’d found her, but a sudden confusion overtook him. “But...but you’re dead? Where are we? A-am I...?”

“You are dead.” Frigga confirmed, but she did not act as though things were grim.

Subconsciously, Loki’s hands rose to his throat and he remembered. “Thanos...” He gripped Frigga’s arms in urgency. “I need to find Odin and Hela.”

Frigga didn’t say anything, but took Loki by the hand and walked through the very wall Loki had been leaning against.

Moving through the wall felt like nothing, but they emerged on the other side into a vast area filled with warmth. Loki peered around, continuing to follow as his mother led him. She didn’t have to go too far before she stopped, standing with Loki at the base of a stone staircase.

“I see that my son has arrived.”

The voice was nothing unfamiliar. Loki slowly released Frigga’s hand, his eyes climbing the stone steps to the top, where he saw Odin, sitting in a large throne beside Hela, situated in another throne.

“I’ve come to ask something of you.” Loki responded, icy gaze flicking from Hela to Odin. “It isn’t a favour for me; it is for the good of everyone and everything.”

“A noble act? From Loki? God of Mischief?” Odin inquired, raising a brow.

Odin looked powerful; much more than he did in his final days. Loki did not cower, no matter how much it seemed Odin had improved. “So you know already then?”

At first Odin said nothing, scratching his chin before he rose from his throne and began to descend the steps, Hela following at his shoulder. “I do. You allowed Thanos to kill you, in order to save your brother.”

The statement didn’t sound like it was tinged with any sort of admiration. Loki simply nodded. “That, and I needed to come find you for-“

Odin raised his hand and Loki instinctively went silent. “You wish to bring Hela, your mother, and myself back to the world of the living.” Odin replied. “You seek us to help end Thanos.”

“I do.” Loki answered, hating the gleam that flickered in Odin’s gaze.

“If any of us can leave Hel, it’s me.” Hela spoke for the first time, sounding rather bored. “I don’t believe you thought your plan out well enough. Sure, I can bring you all back from death, but you’ll be nothing but walking corpses that do my bidding. Or did you forget what happened during Ragnarok?”

Loki’s fists clenched, but when he felt Frigga’s calming touch on his shoulder, he relaxed again. “Clearly you can’t see everything that happens in the world of the living.” Loki snapped, feeling satisfaction from the sharpness that slid off his tongue with each word. “I made my plan and it’s far better than you could’ve dreamed.”

Hela did not react to Loki’s jabbing way of words, but simply arced a brow high upon her forehead. “Oh really? What plan is that?”

Looking upwards, Loki noticed that the ceiling was a seemingly endless pit of black. “How the hell are you supposed to tell what time of the day it is? Or even what day it is for that matter?”

Hela laughed as though amused. “Time has no meaning here. Why would anyone want to keep track when they’re dead?”

“Because, I need to know when he’s going to bring us-“ Loki began, but was interrupted as the ceiling began to emit light.

Hela instantly looked up in bewilderment, as did Odin.

Loki noticed that a gold dust began rising from the heads of all three individuals around him. Holding up his hands, he noticed the same material rising from his own body. Satisfaction pulsed through him and a smirk tugged the edge of his mouth up sharply. “Looks like it’s time.”

Brightness, and then natural lighting; it occurred as quick as a blink.

“There he is! There’s my Loki!”

Before Loki could do anything, Grandmaster was embracing him as though they’d been apart for ages, though it had only been a few days at most. “I missed you so much.”

Loki returned the embrace warmly, but then suddenly remembered that his parents and sister were there. He saw them all staring in confusion out of the corner of his eye. Pulling out of the hug, Loki cleared throat. “Um, this is the Grandmaster. He’s the one who brought us back...he’s my...friend...”

“Ooh, meeting the family! I’m a little nervous.” Grandmaster murmured the last part, but was smiling as he draped his arm around Loki’s shoulders and approached the other three. “Loki here is an amazing guy, isn’t he? You all must be, ah, very very proud to call him family.”

Embarrassment washed over Loki, but he simply gave a slight smile to the older man before looking at his family once more. “Anyway, Grandmaster said he would help me. I told him my plan and he agreed to bring us back at this time so that we could assist everyone else.”

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oscopelabs · 5 years

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3D, Part 1: James Cameron and the Broken Promise of the Third Wave by Vadim Rizov

[Note: This essay is the first in a two-part series on 3D. Part 2, coming soon, will discuss the unexpected peak of 3D as an artistic form. —ed.]

It’s not fair to say that James Cameron ruined projection standards by pushing for a digital changeover—the industry impetus was already under way—but Avatar left less of an impression as a movie than as technological advocacy, resulting in unintended, still-lingering side effects. Cameron dreamed of 3D cinema arriving, finally, at what he viewed as its overdue narrative fruition; he couldn’t have imagined compromising projection standards or undermining film archiving in the process. This is a two-part essay: The first is a grim recap of the Third Wave of 3D, which has unfolded over the last decade. The second will advocate for a secret classic of 3D cinema at its inadvertently experimental peak.

****

The not-too-reductive standard narrative goes like this: 3D was popularized contemporaneously with widescreen in the ‘50s as half of a two-pronged initiative to lure audiences away from their TV screens by giving the theatrical experience something unavailable at home. By decade’s end, widescreen was normalized; ’60s and ‘70s one-offs excepted, 3D wasn’t. 1980’s Comin’ at Ya! kicked off its second wave, which had a similarly short lifespan. In both runs, 3D failed to transition from passing gimmick to standard filmmaking option, mostly due to the diminishing thrill of seeing things flying at you, but also due to technological flaws that made the results physically difficult to watch. This history’s a bit of an oversimplification: like sound, color, and widescreen (all of which were experimented with long before they became standard options), 3D had test-run incarnations well before its ‘50s boom. Still, this story is largely accurate. So what makes the third wave different?

Cameron’s ideal 3D would be to create totally immersive worlds, refusing to throw objects at viewers the way the first two 3D waves had done. These effects were presumably cheap grabs for attention, while Cameron was focused more on depth rather than breaking the proscenium. In a (troublesomely unattributed) quote from 2009, a collaborator summed up his approach: “There’s a scene early in [Avatar] where something jumps out of the screen. Jim said, `I just did that so that they would know I know how to do it. But then I stopped doing it because that’s not what 3D is; 3D is bringing the audience completely into the environment of the movie.’” Narrative disruption was not on the agenda; Cameron’s films have always followed conventional dramatic arcs, and Avatar has a particularly unchallenging (“archetypal”) story. This meant yoking 3D to digital projection, which would straighten out the format’s numerous problems once and for all by eliminating both the visual eyestrain and eyeline problems of watching 3D, either polarized (the default standard until digital) or in anaglyph (the infamous red-and-blue glasses format that became a stand-in image for the format, despite being relatively rare) and the double potential for error caused by an incompetent projectionist. Cameron had spent years preparing audiences—and, more importantly, the industry—for a digital conversion. In 2005, he, George Lucas, and Peter Jackson appeared at ShoWest, the trade theater convention to boost for 3D and, by association, digital projection. “I’m giving you guys plenty of warning,” Cameron said. “You’ve got two years to get ready.” His timeline was off, the larger idea was not: In 2009, 16,000 screens worldwide were digital-ready. The next year, that had shot up to 36,000.

It’s not clear digital projection is the optimal way to see Avatar; the late 3D advocate Ray Zone saw the film five times in multiple formats in its first run, concluding not only that film-based IMAX 3D (with two 70mm projectors running simultaneously) was the correct way to see the film, but that “One hint that IMAX 3-D 15/70mm was the native 3-D format for Avatar was that the new large platters would only hold two hours and forty minutes of 15/70mm film—the exact running time of the film.” Nonetheless, Avatar’s overwhelming success sped up a slow-moving push to digital conversion, which the industry had been inching towards for some time. George Lucas had some digital screenings of Phantom Menace, but locally, I remember digital first rearing its head at the arthouse—specifically Austin’s long-closed four-screen Dobie Theatre, an independent that had by then been bought by Landmark Theatres. The arthouse chain went in early for digital projectors, a bright future ushered in Windows Media Player 9. (From a press release at the time: “The film is a milestone in digital origination — a genuine work of art that takes full advantage of new technology. Windows Media 9 Series will show it in all its glory.”) “We can hear the techies in the crowd oohing and ahhing already,” The Austin Chronicle’s Marc Savlov wrote. “It'll only be a matter of time before the entire industry goes digital and the notion of scratched and blotchy film and frazzled frame adjustments will seem very quaint indeed. Progress, baby. We live for it.” My first screening in that format was Russian Ark, Alexander Sokruov’s one-take Hermitage film that would have been impossible to realize on celluloid, with its inherent time limits on how long each reel can be. That projection (the Dobie was only one of four US theaters to play it that way in the film’s initial run) made sense: digital in, digital out.

Still, the stakes of first digital conversion were relatively small; Avatar’s success upped digital’s presence significantly while coupling it to 3D. This is the part that’s different: where previous pushes for 3D worked with (extensively) modified versions of existing film hardware, this time the medium’s perfection accelerated the wholesale rethinking of film production and exhibition. Striking and shipping 35mm prints was expensive, as was paying qualified projectionists, and said prints would get beat up; the longer you waited to see a film, odds were the worse it would look. And “qualified” projectionists certainly weren’t the baseline standard by any means: I remember going to see Talk to Her improperly projected in 2002, the frame misaligned so that the bottom of the frame showed as a sliver at the top from start to finish. (Here’s a much more dramatic projection fail story from back in the day; probably everyone has at least one.) As with any new tech rollout, unforeseen problems followed: smaller theaters crowdsourced funds for new projectors or risked going out of business, digital files proved anything but foolproof in practice, a push for digital archiving placed the history of film at risk as new storage formats proved highly unstable relative to well-preserved film. (This last sentence is a heavily compressed version of what David Bordwell tracked at length in his highly recommended “Pandora’s Digital Box” series.) More succinctly, this is the first time 3D introduced a specific ghost in the machine: every time you go to a multiplex to see a movie that looks way too dark, the odds are good someone left the 3D lens on, and no one’s around who can fix it or who would even care to. What started as an attempt to perfect 3D had the inadvertent effect of undoing 2D digital projection standards.

Again, none of this is directly James Cameron’s fault. He’s just the one who helped push through a change faster than it might have been implemented otherwise. Avatar’s blockbuster breakthrough was followed the next year by Alice in Wonderland, which harvested a billion-plus dollars worldwide, making the case that it didn’t matter whether 3D was native or, as in Tim Burton’s film, post-converted. Not a year later, Jeffrey Katzenberg—another 3D booster—was already worried “the bloom was off the rose” because cynical types “thought they could just deliver a kind of low-end crappy version of it, and people wouldn't care, or wouldn't know the difference.” Five years later, Katzenberg was blunter, quoting (intentionally or not) Easy Rider to convey the extent of his disappointment: “we blew it.” 3D’s never had as big a year since 2010: its revenue has declined every year since, and production of 3D films has gone down. The technology stuck, but 3D’s potential as a normative storytelling tool remains once again questionable until further notice.

Setting aside the grim trajectory of 3D’s current wave, which has seen revenue (and audience demand) for the format decrease, it’s worth reflecting on Cameron’s original idea that 3D would add “depth” to the familiar, instead of a better brand of comin-at-ya effects. For years, whenever people would ask which 3D movies I liked, I’d say Yogi Bear. This is (not entirely) a smartass answer: obviously Goodbye to Language would be a better response, but Godard sought to dismantle all 3D’s rules one event shot at a time, and no one will (be able to) follow up on its visual inquiries. Pina made visual sense (the performers are dancing outside, depth is important), Hugo looked neat, and Tron: Legacy was a cool lightshow (though that had more to do with sheer color overload and Daft Punk’s super-loud score as rendered on the biggest speakers theatrically available, and a 3D expert friend swears it has some of the worst use of the medium he’s ever seen); otherwise, my 3D sampling has mostly been review assignments of bad-looking movies. The worst are the post-converted monstrosities. A real low here was the new Pete’s Dragon, which Disney screened in 3D: it looked extremely dark, which was predictable, but worse, a bunch of shots which were clearly shallow-focus, had all been rendered as three to four separate planes of depth, casting blurry background areas in semi-sharp relief, each shot an unintentional diorama. It was sort of possible to tell what the compositional intent was, but impossible to really envision it.

So Yogi Bear is peak 3D. Why not? At a cost of $80 million, Yogi Bear renders a depth-filled Jellystone Park entirely on par with Pandora, with all of the depth and none of the tacky colors. Both movies tell stories, both benefit from depth to spatially reconstruct a largely external environment: the differences are mostly details. In an interview Google will no longer let me find, but which I swear I remember, Cameron said only 19 shots (or thereabouts, let me hedge) in Avatar featured zero CG. These are, I presume, the shots of Jake Sully back on base; to me, they’re easily the most memorable parts of the movie, capturing the full depth of a set (and its metal walls) in a way that’s way more compelling than a fully rendered fake ecosystem . What if Cameron was wrong and 3D is, fundamentally, not just a way to enhance immersiveness but one which, when deployed in the non-CG constructed world, can recode the nuts and bolts of narrative filmmaking visual language itself? In Part II, I’ll look back at the much-derided second wave of ‘80s 3D to make the case that 1983’s Treasure of the Four Crowns, a little-regarded Raiders of the Lost Ark knock-off, is one of the format’s greatest, most progressive and inadvertently suggestive moments.

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marshmallow-the-vampire-slayer · 7 years

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MTVS Epic Rewatch #180

BTVS 7x02 Beneath You

Stray thoughts

1) I’ve always got some strong Run Lola Run vibes from the opening scene of this episode…

It’s the setting, the music, the pace, the fact that the girl is – duh! – running, and her look and outfit. It’s all very Run Lola Run, right?

So, do you think this was an homage to the movie, plagiarism, or Joss’s idea of what Germany is like based simply on one movie he’d seen?

That aside, these scenes bring up a lot of questions about how potential slayers are treated in other countries. We know that Kendra was raised and educated as a potential slayer, knowing that one day she may become one. I think Kennedy was, too. We also know that Buffy and Faith weren’t. But the two girls shown in the opening scenes from episodes 7x01 and 7x02 seem to be aware they should run away and they’re not asking for help in the regular way any citizens would do, you know? Like, they’re not screaming for help or going to the police? So it kind of feels they knew what their deal was and why they were being chased…

It’s all the more interesting because Buffy was having a prophetic (or live action?) dream about the German girl. I’ve always loved Buffy’s prophetic dreams, and I wish her connection to other slayers through her dreams would’ve been explored more in depth in the show.

2) Spike’s chasing rats just like his dad did back when he got his soul back...

3) I love how excited Dawn is to have Buffy around school!

4) This was sweet…

XANDER Those kids are damn lucky having a slayer and a friend on campus there for 'em. I hope they appreciate it. I know I did. Days gone by, huh?

It really takes you back, doesn’t it?

5) Dawn made a good point. And I guess she was officially one of the Scoobies...

DAWN You guys need to really to ease up with the whole dating demons thing.

BUFFY Uh, hello, I'm sorry. Wasn't that you having the smooch-a-thon with teen vampire last Halloween?

DAWN See, this is why I don't want you talking to my friends.

6) This season is super heavy on the self-references and I love it.

PRINCIPAL A little authority can be a wonderful thing. Just remember that while you are here to help, you're not here to be their friend. Trust me, you open that door, and these students will eat you alive.

BUFFY You heard about Principal Flutie, right?

7) The cutest!

BUFFY I was, uh, just curious, you know, uh—not that I'm not grateful or anything. But, uh, I guess I was wondering why I—

PRINCIPAL Have this job?

BUFFY I still haven't finished college.

PRINCIPAL I know.

BUFFY Was it my sparkling personality? Or maybe you enjoyed my work at the Doublemeat Palace?

In case you were wondering: no, Wood didn’t provide a satisfying/convincing answer,

GILES Willow, we could spend another two years here training and practicing and learning to hone your powers and still there'd be no way of knowing for sure that the friends you left behind you are still your friends.

WILLOW Well, sure. I mean, if you put it that way, duh.

GILES I'd love to offer you some guarantee that you'd be welcomed back to Sunnydale with open arms, but I can't. You may not be wanted, but you will be needed.

So… are we supposed to believe that neither Xander nor Buffy cared enough to check up on Willow? To know how she was holding up or if she was doing any better? That they didn’t call Giles IN MONTHS? I mean, he MUST have known something about how they felt about the whole Willow-going-dark thing, right?

9) LITERAL NIGHTMARE! NOT WITH THE DOGGIES, YOU BASTARDS!

10) This is sad…

DAWN Should we round up the gang?

XANDER Good thinking, except... this is the gang.

11) Explain this…

Why hadn’t Buffy bothered to do the spell that removes Spike’s ability to get into her house without an invite? Why hadn’t Dawn or Xander? Yes, he was gone, but they couldn’t know if he would be back and they were giving him free access to do as he pleased. And yes, Willow and Tara (*cries*) were not around to do the spell, but I’m sure the Scoobies could’ve managed somehow if they wanted to.

12) I can understand Buffy’s nonplussed reaction to seeing Spike again in Lessons because she was caught off guard. But when she sees him again here, she had had some time to mull it over and to come to terms with how she wanted to deal with him. I have to say, I hate how they wrote the - delayed - attempted rape aftermath. Buffy facing Spike again after what he had almost done should’ve been written with more care and respect towards her character, considering she was the victim. Instead, the focus was shifted and it became about Spike’s pain with little - and even that is an overstatement - regard to Buffy’ trauma. Regardless of how I feel about Spuffy in general and during the course of season 7 in particular, I have to be unambiguous about this: this is bullshit. All of it. The whole attempted rape scene and what they did with its fallout. How they didn’t address Buffy’s pain. How the would-be-rapist became the victim in the narrative. Bullshit.

BUFFY Do not start by saying you're sorry.

SPIKE I didn't come here to atone.

BUFFY Then what the hell do you want?

SPIKE I'm here to help you.

BUFFY Help me what?

SPIKE I was hoping you'd tell me. You're the slayer.Connected to the visions. Long line of worthies, right? I'm just a guy with his ear to the ground, and even I can feel it. Something's coming. I don't know what exactly, but something's brewing. And it's so big, ugly and damned it makes you and me look like little bitty puzzle pieces. I mean, if I'm wrong, say so. Lovely. No hard feelings. I'll go out that door and you can lock it behind me with any spell you like. So, am I wrong?

BUFFY Everything about you is wrong, Spike.

Something big coming or not, Buffy should’ve sent him off the minute he set foot in her house. She shouldn’t have wanted to engage in casual conversation with him. Not yet, at least. Not before they had addressed what he almost did to her. It feels wrong, and I hate they did this to my Buffy.

13) FORESHADOWING, though.

BUFFY Since when did you become the champion of the people?

14) It just doesn’t make any sense for Buffy to be accepting Spike’s help so easily. It just doesn’t. No no no.

15) Bless you, Dawn Summers. At least someone was reacting somewhat appropriately...

DAWN Spike. You sleep, right? You. Vampires. You sleep.

SPIKE Yeah. What's your point, niblet?

DAWN Well, I can't take you in a fight or anything, even with a chip in your head. But you do sleep. If you hurt my sister at all... touch her... you're gonna wake up on fire.

16) And then we get this moment…

SPIKE Hold the torch, would you? (Seeing Red Flashbacks...)

BUFFY Look, this... us working together—it's not a way for us to get back together, if that's what you want.

SPIKE It's not. Look, I can't blame you for being all skittish.

BUFFY Skittish? That's not a word I would use for it. You tried to rape me. I don't have the words.

And while I do appreciate the fact that we finally have Buffy saying it out loud and calling it for what it was, it feels too little. She shouldn’t be hanging out with her would-be-rapist, especially not so soon and without addressing her trauma in any other way than this.

17) Of course Xander even thinking of daring to go on a date would end up in utter terror. OF COURSE.

18) I love how Anya just uses the word “penis” as a cuss word.

19) Okay, so Spike was present when Anya revealed that the worm-monster was, in fact, the girl’s ex… This will be relevant later.

20) I’m Anya.

BUFFY Anya, that thing you created burst through solid pavement and ate her dog.

ANYA Ooh, puppy!

XANDER Wait, that gets your sad noise? People's lives are in danger, and you give it up for the Yorkie?

ANYA You never understood me, Xander.

21) There’s not a single thing that I don’t love about this whole exchange…

ANYA Hey, hands off the merchandise. Spike, you don't get to go there again.

SPIKE Please. I've already forgotten about our little time together.

NANCY I thought you were Xander's ex-girlfriend.

ANYA I am.

NANCY But you and Spike...

ANYA Had a thing.

SPIKE Didn't last.

NANCY But weren't you Buffy—

SPIKE Briefly.

BUFFY Never serious.

NANCY Is there anyone here that hasn't slept together?

22) I love Anya’s reaction when she realizes Spike got his soul back…

ANYA Oh, my God!

SPIKE What are you staring at?

ANYA Oh, my God!

SPIKE Right. Let's go.

ANYA How did you do it?

BUFFY Spike, what is she talking about?

ANYA I can see you.

SPIKE Nothing. Let's go. Got some worm hunting to do.

ANYA How did you do it?

SPIKE Shut up.

ANYA You shouldn't be allowed to.

SPIKE Shut your mouth!

ANYA I mean, how did you get it?

23) Anya vengeance make-up looks a lot different but in a good way.

24) So, we Spike fans can agree that this moment has given us all fantasies, right?

25) And he was clearly trying to piss her off so that she would take it out on him, right? I mean…

BUFFY You haven't changed, Spike.

SPIKE Working out some personal issues, are we? Hey, I guess this would be first contact since, uh, you know when. Ooh, up for another round up on the balcony, then? Right you are, luv. I haven't changed. Not a lick. And watching your face trying to figure me out was absolutely delicious.

It’s almost as if he saw what we see - the fact that Buffy wasn’t reacting properly to him showing up again. She should be angry, scared, repulsed, outraged. And yet here she was, patrolling by his side and saying she didn’t have any words for him. Spike said he wasn’t looking to atone, and I believe that. I think he was looking for punishment.

26) Why were Buffy and Spike running on the rooftops, though? Wtf

27) He was attacking a man who had been turned into a giant worm, which he was fully aware of, so how surprised could he be that he turned into the man again?

28) James Marsters really nails the breakdown, doesn’t he?

SPIKE Right. Wrong. All wrong. Wrong maneuver. Not hardly helpful.God, please help me. HELP ME!

BUFFY You're not the one who needs help. He's going into shock.

SPIKE No. No. Too much. Too much. Too much. Too much. Too much. Too much. Too much...inside me all the way. (...) Deep, deep, deep inside me.

BUFFY Look, Spike, whatever you're doing—

SPIKE Get away. Get. Uhh—

BUFFY Do it somewhere else. I am through with this.

SPIKE Oh, oh, lucky girl. Call it quits. Now, there's an option. If only it were so easy. If only— If only— If only— What the hell are you screaming about? I can hear you. No need to SHOUT! I get it. The joke's on me. Lots of laughs. Yeah. Hey, bring the wife and kiddies. Come see the show 'cause it's going to be a circus. This... just the beginning, luv. A warm-up act. The real headliner's coming, and when that band hits the stage, all of this... all this... will come tumbling in death and screaming, horror and bloodshed. From beneath you, it devours.

The circus references remind me of his part in Giles’s dream in Restless.

29) I appreciate Xander supporting Anya and acknowledging what she did was courageous. Credit where credit’s due and all that.

XANDER You did the right thing here.

ANYA Tell him that.

XANDER You reversed the spell. It took guts. I know this is bad, but it could be worse.

ANYA Oh, it will be.

And Anya knows there will be consequences for her actions...

30) And then the scene… so beautiful and heartbreaking, so dark and twisted and sad…

SPIKE I tried to find it, of course.

BUFFY Find what?

SPIKE The spark. The missing... the piece that fit. That would make me fit. Because you didn't want... God, I can't... Not with you looking. I dreamed of killing you. I think they were dreams. So weak. Did you make me weak, thinking of you, holding myself, and spilling useless buckets of salt over your... ending? Angel—he should've warned me. He makes a good show of forgetting, but it's here, in me, all the time.

SPIKE The spark. I wanted to give you what you deserve, and I got it. They put the spark in me and now all it does is burn.

BUFFY Your soul.

SPIKE Bit worse for lack of use.

BUFFY You got your soul back. How?

SPIKE It's what you wanted, right? It's what you wanted, right? And—and now everybody's in here, talking. Everything I did... everyone I— and him... and it... the other, the thing beneath—beneath you. It's here too. Everybody. They all just tell me go... go... to hell.

BUFFY Why? Why would you do that—

SPIKE Buffy, shame on you. Why does a man do what he mustn't? For her. To be hers. To be the kind of man who would nev— to be a kind of man. She shall look on him with forgiveness, and everybody will forgive and love. He will be loved. So everything's OK, right? Can—can we rest now? Buffy...can we rest?

I know this doesn’t make up for the fact that he attempted to rape her. Nothing would ever make up for that. And even if his intentions in going after the soul may have been rooted in selfishness, what stands out is the fact that he did it in an attempt to be the kind of man worthy of Buffy’s forgiveness - even if getting his wish meant he wouldn’t see himself in that way.

#Buffy the Vampire Slayer #BTVS #Buffy Summers #Spike #Spuffy #Beneath You #MTVSepicrewatch #BTVSrewatch2015 #mine #recap #180 recaps #that's...#I don't know what that is #but it's something #btvsrecap

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lsgingasblog · 7 years

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Of Happy Coincidences and Fated Connections Chapter 5

Act 5

It was a particular beautiful day and blond haired girl was staring outside from inside a quaint café.

She gets a hand covering her eyes. “Guess who?!”

“Akko” Diana announces while laughing

“Sorry I took so long Diana. These are for you M’lady” Akko hands Diana flowers and proceeds to courtesy although since she’s wearing shorts and a blouse she doesn’t have a hem to hold on to while doing that.

“Ooh my! I’m extremely flattered” and since Diana does have a summer dress she has the ends to courtesy with.

We both laughed and I gave Akko a quick peck on her lips she returns the sentiment various times, but of fear of being called out for too much PDA we left the café. Akko broke the rule and already paid prior for the coffee and dessert we had despite it being my turn to pay.

“You ready?” Akko wanted to reassure Diana. Diana nods.

And so we head back in the direction of the Cavendish Manor.

I suppose and explanation is in order.

Akko cannot believe her luck of being with Diana and after the twists and turns it took to get here.

It’s already the beginning of the summer break of the 2nd year and Akko and Diana have started dating a few weeks after the start of the 2nd year, but that’s a reminiscence for another time, like say their anniversary it was stupidly simple though, because of all the miscommunication and interruptions, carefully planning things out always ended up poorly.

You see they’re heading to visit the grave of Bernadette Cavendish since Diana has a very important letter to announce to her mother.

What’s that letter about?

Well for that we do have to trace back to events that happened right before they got together.

After summer break, by which we met 3 times not counting the week we stayed in Diana’s house prior to the start of our 2nd year. It was a good time and she read the Believing Astral Hearts in and out.

However upon arriving back to school she noticed Ursula sensei particularly crestfallen about Croix being on house arrest the last months after the summer break crisis that occurred and she broke her rules to help. No contact whatsoever. Akko seriously wishes they would finally talk it out, although she supposed it would be horribly hypocritical of her to say that considering she’s known about her feelings for Diana for months already, ever since the café. Actually if she’s being more honest going all the way to her manor to bring her back came out of more than just rival or friend feelings and considering they weren’t even really friends till after that event, her sentiments were definitely at least a wee bit non-platonic.

That said she wanted to cheer Ursula up, but 2nd year took her by storm. She got patrolling duty, but she and Diana’s schedule didn’t match until the 2nd semester of the year. And boy were the late night make out situations in abandoned corridors and courtyards then ever breath-taking.

Both she and Diana were busier with the adverse effects of magic as well. Magic coming back brought with it a lot of wonderful stuff, but it had some less than fortunate occurrences as well.

Black crafts was more prevalent and magical creatures that haven’t been heard or seen for centuries were reappearing and not all of them were peaceful which led to she and Diana getting dragged to help because they were recognizable and the heroes.

To be fair Akko never wanted the attention. Did she enjoy it for a good moment to finally be noticed? Of course, but she just wanted people to feel the joy again of magic. She didn’t for the fame or anything like that. Diana had her own stuff that she was dealing with as well from the council of Old nine witches family, that up until the missile crisis has been fairly silent. The greed of man is disheartening if Akko is honest, but she and Diana have been dealing with it in stride even if it does tend to put a strain in their relationship from time to time, they talk it out and grow together. This is both their first relationship after all so mistakes and learning curves are to be expected.

In any case I wanted to give Believing Astral Hearts story book to Professor Ursula in the hopes that it might cheer her up. Also there was a letter I found after I read the Crab and the Taurus story and I said out loud ‘I love diana cavendish’ more as a confirmation and passing thing really, because I’ve known that for some time.

And what materializes? A letter. So I showed Diana it she started crying I comforted her immediately and she said her mother left a few letter for her at random times to cheer her up or make her realize a few things she was agonizing over.

She lets me read it. Apparently shortly after Diana had regained her magic back Bernadette sent a letter to Chariot to thank her and the lovely book and her inspiration for her and her daughter. This letter had a mark that designated it was a copy though, so we wanted to ask Professor Ursula about it.

Once we gave professor the book she was shocked. She said only less than 20 of the books actually sold before they were recalled. Only 100 were printed and the rest were disposed of.

She tells us she’s happy the books helped both Diana and I through moments we were feeling lost, she confesses she wrote this book sometime during and the last passage after the fiasco with the moon happened.

She was down and her manager was angry with her for not being able to bring in the profit, but he visited her one day a few weeks after the misfire, of which her manager didn’t even remember because of croix erasing everyone present there’s memory except chariot.

So he swipes the manuscript for this book and decides to publish it without her consent.

She finds out a few months later that a book is being made and she recalled them but the manager wouldn’t hear any of it.

Croix came to her and told her she want to help but chariot doesn’t believe her anymore after the way she lied to her.

Croix has Chariot admitting on a recording that was not authorized by chariot to finally get the recall in.

And the whole thing was swept under the rug. Croix told her sorry, but chariot was furious.

And the last ditch effort to restore their friendship went up in flames.

Croix said ‘For what it’s worth I did like the book Char’ and she walks out never to be seen again until she shows up back at Luna Nova in my first year.

Professor says she wanted to recall it because she’s not sure if the ending was the proper one.

Indeed the 7th and last story “A never-ending journey” had Charon the titular pisces and one of the leads in this storybook abandon society and others and goes an odyssey in search of himself, because he feels lost and isn’t sure of his place in the world. He is searching for this oasis of sorts, a place where people’s dream truly come true, because charon’s goal to cheer up and bring happiness did not go so well after some friction later on with libra and a few other individuals so Charon, disillusioned and experiencing the world in his more jaded yet still vulnerable state he discovers many things and just as he makes it to the top of the dessert top with his fish tank water almost completely gone the book ends.

I still love this book, but that last story was clearly a reflection of Chariot’s emotional turmoil and who doesn’t have those, so although not as uplifting it is a sense a feeling that is relatable.

“So right the ending you want Professor Ursula, you owe it to yourself”

She agrees and we went on to ask her about the letter and she shows the original one.

Diana was visibly hurt and confused. Professor Ursula and she spent much of last summer breaks together. Of which neither are privy to divulge to me for some reason or another, although they both promised soon, but it has been annoying.

Why didn’t she tell before?

“I’m sorry Diana I was unsure how to bring it up, but I felt horribly guilty, you see I was away with a particular faction”

A flitting nod of acknowledgment to the faction. I was thoroughly confused but I decided it is best I don’t meddle right now unless it escalates.

“I didn’t come back to my actual home address until a year after your mom had sent it by then I sent a letter back, but it had returned to sender”

Diana’s eyes widen and she stares at the ground. Ooh. Don’t tell me….

“Your mother passed away a week prior to having sent my letter. I’m sure your staff were distraught as well and they were very worried about your emotional state and didn’t feel it would be the right. Diana I’m extremely sorry for not having brought it up sooner, I immensely treasured your mom as you know the crab from the first story Detty was another crab from the 5th one and “Detty” was based off your mom. I was immensely impressed and motivated that night that I talked to your mom….I’m sorry for you loss, I’m aware it’s been years already Diana, but I truly mean it. She was an amazing lady”

“She was” Diana’s shoulders start gently shaking up and down. Professor Ursula and I reach out to comfort her until she calms down. I have seen Diana cry only a few times until now, but you better count yourself lucky if she ever trusts you enough to see this vulnerable side of her.

Diana calmed down and said she was going to wash her face in the bathroom. I wanted to follow but she said it’s ok.

There is a knock on the door and Ursula goes to open it. Holbrooke was wondering if she could borrow Diana for a moment to prepare for the upcoming Samhain festival. Because of all the attention magic and subsidizing luna nova is getting expansion plans and incoming non-magic students like me (of which I started up a club to help and guide them) the Samhain festival is a much bigger fare and preparations start months in advance now. Diana is coordinator again this year.

I pouted. This was finally the day. Everyone else was busy with something and I told Diana it would be just the two of us.

Finally I wasn’t going to waste a moment and confess.

Diana walks out refreshed and looking gorgeous as ever and her eyes only look a bit red now.

She tells Holbrooke that she only wants a small briefing she has previous plans she doesn’t want to cancel on. Yes.

Holbrooke mentions it will be brief and leaves with Diana.

Ursula turns around walks towards me and hugs me. I hug back. She tells me thank you.

“This reminds me of the 6th story professor”

She smiles. “The Amplifying and Rewarding Feeling of Gratitude”

“I wrote that as my final dream of wanting the world to be loving, happy and work out their differences. That’s why I included all the zodiac signs there along with recurring characters of the previous stories”

“Yeah it was amazing, I loved it!”

“Akko I really do mean it. I can’t thank diana or you enough for all you guys have done, truly”

“Same can be said back from us professor, thank you for everything”

Ursula’s kind smile morphs into a mischievous smile. Wait…

“In any case you best go akko, I’m sure you don’t have much time to prepare before miss Cavendish shows up at the library. Go get her akko, it’s about time after all”

Wew. I knew it. She knew. Well not like either Diana or I were being subtle.

“Touché professor, but same can be said for you and Croi-”

And I get pushed out of the door and right before the door closes in front of me. Professor smiles and says “I will and good luck akko”.

In any case the letter had been read by Diana in our winter break. She came back home with me since my parents were worried sick after all the things that have been occurring. They met Diana and absolutely loved her, of course I can’t say I expected anything less. We read it one day when my parents went to a business party of my dad’s and it was a couple one so Diana and I stayed home. She brought the letter and had this nostalgic smile on her face. This is the first time she didn’t cry or become overly emotional with something involving her mom, she’s still sad and very much loves her mom, but I suppose this was fairly cathartic for her, closure often is after all. I hug her.

And she finally starts talking about her mom. About how it was growing up and having her mom around, leading up to the chariot show in japan when we were kids, how her mother knew about the cancer and Taurus cards we swapped and how she teased diana about it from time to time, all the way up to before she died, she did get misty eyes but she confesses how gifted she was to have had her mother and if her mother did not push he life force so much to presently be with Diana for so long, her mother might have an astral projection like woodward has, but she’s happy about what she has and that she found me and all the friends we have and Luna Nova and she loves magic.

She never really talks this long, I’m usually the one talking for extended periods of time and I have to say I’m actually enjoying the change. Diana's mom is truly amazing for having raised an angel, at least in my eyes.

In any case we were busy so it isn’t until now that we both were available to tell the contents of the letter to Bernadette.

Honestly my palms are a bit sweaty as well because this will be the first time actually meeting Diana’s mom, since the times we stayed at Cavendish manor before Diana was a bit skittish about topics concerning the resting place of her mom the rare times it was brought up or hinted upon.

I glance at Diana hoping she doesn’t decide that this million and one time that my hands are sweaty is one too many and she dumps me right then and there. Of course I know I’m being silly. We have been walking in silence. Clearly this letter is a long time coming. She glances at me, squeezes my hand and smiles. I smile back. Not getting dumped today. That’s good. She points ahead. Yep just over the grassy hill we’ll get Bernadette’s tree. She pulls me along and we start running only to come to an abrupt halt once we reach the top.

We couldn’t believe what we saw. It was not one but 3 of those vile malicious creatures. I believe there was a category for them but the name escapes me.

They looked like that green menacing creatures, thornberry I believe, in the final fantasy game I played last week that constanze brought over. Although it also makes my hair on my skin stand up, because these critters while not really big I vaguely remember them being covered in magical creatures class, a subject that got more weight again with the influx of magic from Yggdrasil.

I glanced at Diana. She was rather pale. Ooh god these were dangerous creatures. She was also livid though they had their lantern much like those thorn berry and were sucking out energy out of the tree. Ooh god they are killing Diana’s mom. Well more dead that a spirit inside a tree can get anyway.

Diana starts running towards them and shooting spells. I join her. As crazy as this is I can’t let her go in 3 against 1.

I realize our spells didn’t do much and wanted to go in closer but Diana pulls me away and gets a hit in my place. I was mad. She tells me that they suck your soul. Third swipe they get on you, you’re dead.

Diana already got one. For weird little things they were quick and fighting them was hard I got 1 swipe too trying to protect Diana. There seemed to be no hope, Diana needs time to do a sealing, but she can’t like this. And then we got hope. Andrew came in running and completely threw one of guard.

Andrew doesn’t possess magic though so 2 swipes might mean sudden death.

He helps loads though and injures one, diana lands a killing blow on two now it’s only one, but Andrew had gotten swiped once and diana and I had both 2 swipes. I got my 2nd one pushing Andrew out of the way and he rolled down the small hill, he’s still alive but he’s pretty banged up, he helped us tons.

Diana and I were utterly exhausted and we were bleeding. Diana has the circle set up thanks to that last distraction by Andrew before he nearly got killed I went back to distract him and diana did the sealing not before he managed to throw his knife though straight towards diana. It lodged in her stomach and she pulled it out she was bleeding profusely. No! no! the monster was sealed but I can’t accept this being the cost.

I had sent another Flare up to the Cavendish mansion and a projection of a mouse as well, but seeing as only Andrew came here that means Diana’s aunt and cousins are still out doing Cavendish head affairs and diplomacy. God.

I go towards Diana, I rip out a chunk of my blouse to try and hold the wound or do the healing incantation. Diana smiles sadly at me and shakes her head. No. I refuse to accept this. Diana breathing is labored, I can feel her energy and magic fading. No! please no. “a-akk-o, I l-love you”.

No not like this.

“I love you too Diana, but please tell me what to use Diana, please!”

She smiles sadly at me one more time and reaches at to touch my cheeks. I’m bawling right now. I know it. Then nothing, her hand falls limply and if it wasn’t for all the blood one can assume she was just sleeping.

“Please Diana, please!” I was broken and sobbing. Even poor Andrew was forgotten there and my pain while immense and my energy completely drained all I can feel is this immense grief.

“Don’t cry little one, it will all be ok” I turned around with all my wrath and furry I wanted to send this ethereal voice to hell, but was left stunned. It’s Bernadette Cavendish. I had completely forgot why we were here in the first place.

“I would love to talk to the girl who stole my daughter’s heart, but right now I have to save Diana.”

Save her, but how?

“A mother’s love is one of the most powerful and most ancient magic out here” and Diana’s body started glowing green and I can see the rise and fall of her chest. I was crying. Her power was still weak but she’s alive. I felt a glow around my body and I could see Andrew’s body glowing this healing green as well. I was still weak, but it was a lot more manageable.

“There, I would love to talk longer Atsuko Kagari, but I’m only allowed 3 instances of astral projection, because of having pushed my mortal life so much with my constitution and I’m afraid healing especially a big one that I did on Diana eats away at my time. All I have to say thank you little one. Thank you for bringing Diana’s joy back for magic. Thank you for bringing her and unbridled amount of happiness, truly. Take care of each other”

“I will! I had so many things to say and I feel sad Diana couldn’t see you right now, but I have to say this thank you as well for bringing her into this world and into my life. She makes me so very happy, I can’t even begin to explain it, so thank you for raising her into such a magnificent person and I’m so glad you approve”

She starts laughing and has a blinding, subtle yet charming smile, reminds me of Diana’s.

“We will see each other again and next time hopefully in better circumstances”

She starts fading away. Not before Diana’s aunt shows up and Bernadette smiles at her sisters and Daryl is crying. Well, I never…..the exhaustion starts becoming too much though and I feel myself drift to sleep.

Before thudding Anne & Daryl run toward Diana and I while I’m sure one of the butlers is looking over Andrew.

I wake up in a room with a high ceiling. I’m on a bed. I turn to my right and there’s Andrew sleeping away.

I stand up and find myself feeling a bit woozy. I grab the bed for support. My whole body is sore. Especially my sides and my shoulder. Both of which were areas that got swiped.

I move around and I discover I’m on the 2nd floor in one of the more well-light room near the corner. I start walking/dragging myself toward Diana’s room. As I get closer I see Daryl come out and close to door to Diana’s room. She notices me and nods my way.

Daryl and I aren’t on amicable term to be honest, but I believe she’s ok with us because she knows I make Diana happy and as much as she pretends she really hates her niece and her sister, Diana and I both know differently.

The Twins are the next to walk out “Hey Akko, Diana has yet to wake up” one says “Also you should still be in bed rest you’ve been asleep for the last 36 hours, but I suppose we can’t stop you” the other one said. So they open the door slightly for me and say they’re goodbyes and I can hear ‘Diana is so lucky, why can’t we find guys who cares about us like that’. Diana and her cousins despite their age gap have been on somewhat friendlier terms and they love teasing me so there’s that.

I walk in I see Diana. She has yet to wake up. 1 day and a half of sleeping, that’s insane. Her face is still a bit too devoid of color, but considering she almost died I’m not complaining.

Her bed is huge, I always forget how big to be honest. She’s in the middle of it and there’s still a lot of room on either side. I know I’m not supposed to, but I almost lost her for crying out loud. So I crawl in bed right next to her, I won’t lift the covers though as to not disturb her. I held her hand softly and started caressing her hair and in that I felt myself drifting off. This battle took a lot more out of me then I thought.

“Akko………Akko” I hear an angelic voice coaxing me.

Where am I? Ooh right in the Cavendish mansion and we just escaped a horrific ordeal over a day back.

I flutter my eyes open and I’m met with mesmerizing blue eyes that I can just drown in.

“Diana….” My voice comes out a bit hoarse. Oh god I have something stuck in my throat. I caress her face gently, she holds my hands at her cheek.

“I dreamt I saw my mom”

Ooh I suppose that must’ve happened when she was healing Diana. I look at her intently. She continues.

“It was only for a small moment, but I dreamt she saved me from the dark and then I saw she was talking to you although I couldn’t make out the words”

So I tell her about her mother’s astral projection and how she saved her. How happy I was that she approved of me. I told her how sad I was that I had lost her forever. She said she didn’t want to die either and we kissed gently a few times and I pressed my forehead to hers.

“Your mother is absolutely gorgeous, I totally get my you’re a babe now”

Success I got a bit of color in her cheeks. She smiles “Yeah she is”

I readjust myself more comfortably at her sides while making sure I don’t put any weight on her.

“I love you Atsuko Kagari” Diana says while given me the softest expression she ever had.

“I love you too Diana Cavendish” and we give each other a languid strain of soft kisses that more aptly tries to convey are warmth and devotion for each other.

We hear a cough.

We both look at the open door. When that did happen?

“Jealous?” it was Diana. Honestly while I did the impossible and Diana, Andrew and I are all pretty good friends and Diana and Andrew can actually hang out their teasing and fake hostility are hard habits to shake off from either, but I know we were both grateful for Andrew, without him who knows what state we would be in.

“Being on bed-rest and making out with a cute girl? Extremely. Sadly, we can’t all be so lucky, now can we?”

Andrew’s playful smile. He comes closer and sits on the other side of the bed.

Diana looks at me and knows what we both want to say. I nod.

“Thank you Andrew” we both said in unison.

“It’s the only right thing to do after all. Glad you guys made it out fairly ok. It’s never a dull moment with you guys.”

I was wondering though what Andrew was doing here we weren’t supposed to meet up till…snap how many days now…..counting having slept 2 days I’m assuming now and the attack being our 2nd day here……hmmm…..10 days. Yep we’re all supposed to meet up in 10 days in the Cavendish & Hanbridge summer places, Sucy, Lotte, green team and the rest of blue team alongside Frank and a few other Appleton academy boys, Ooh croix and Ursula as well. Diana beats me to the punch.

“Andrew as relieved as we were to have you here to help us out, we weren’t scheduled to meet for another-” she was probably more out of it than me so I help her out “10” she sends a grateful look my way. “10 days right”

“Ahh about that I came to tell you that one of your projects about merging healing magic with modern medicine was approved. Of course a lot more processes to go through and hurdles to jump, but I thought you would like to be informed, because they were thoroughly impressed with the 1, 3 and 5 year plan you had thought out. They said it was a shame you’re not interested in a political career, they would very much appreciate your meticulous nature.”

“Ooh that’s great news Diana” I hugged her, but after she winced I said sorry she shakes her head as if saying it’s ok “That indeed is good news, what I’m wondering though is that how did your dad take your absence, he won’t be too happy knowing his only son was severely injured….”

Ooh snap that’s true and his father has warmed up a bit to magic and witches too, this would be a set-back.

“ooh no problem I told your butler when they came to fetch me in my brief period of consciousness to tell my dad I’m taking a 3 week vacation and call me after 3 days because we will be traveling.”

“Wait…..he bought that?!” I’m stunned.

“Well I did tell him you would be here, he’s seen firsthand countless of time just how erratic and unpredictable you are….” That smug grin. It’s stupid.

“That’s amazingly solid proof. Well-done Andrew” and they shared a mischievous smile.

Betrayal! and I retaliated by pouting. You know what I think I like them better when they were civil if they are just going to gang up on me to tease.

Diana deflates my puffy cheeks and smiles towards me.

“That said I think I might regret saying that now, there is only so much PDA I will be able to handle”

“Too bad” and I go in for another kiss. One that Diana is eager to return.

“In any case I will be in the recovery room since moving around still hurts. Come and play chess with me if you decide to enjoy anything else than each other’s faces”

We waved him away and he chuckles.

There was a knock.

“Honestly you both have zero self-restraint even in that state”

Daryl. Huh. We break apart and Diana props herself a bit higher on the bed after I adjusted the pillows and I proceed to sit side by side with her.

“Diana I read the letter, I know I wasn’t supposed to, but it’s a beautiful letter. I tried cleaning it up since it was covered in blood. I got most of it out, but I believe you should be the one the tell her what’s written in there”

She hands Diana the letter and reaches out to get it. Daryl puts her other hand briefly on top of Diana and looks a bit nostalgic. “You look very much like Bernadette” and let’s go.

“In any case I have much to do, we asked the security of the old nine witches to increase the range of security of the mansion and it’s vicinity at what could’ve caused this breach. Honestly you guys attract much too many troubles, especially you Kagari.” She throws me a glance and Diana was about to comment and I put a hand on her arm.

“In any case rest up now, the staff will be bringing food up soon, you still have to stay another 2 days without using the stairs so house arrest here until then. Have a good day” she turns around to leave.

“Thank you” I said and Diana’s “Have a good day Aunt Daryl” were said around the same time.

She was at the door, but hasn’t turned around “I’m glad you’re ok Diana, both of you” and she walks out while closing the door.

I stare at Diana and we are both confused “Did she just say me too Diana”

“Apparently you truly are able to charm anyone my enchanting girlfriend”

I turn around and look into Diana’s eyes while putting my hand on her cheek.

“I only care about charming one person and she’s right here next to me”

“Ever the charmer” and she goes in for another kiss.

Well today wasn’t exactly as planned but we can probably still enjoy next week after we’ve recovered and then the beach. This will be an amazing summer, the best is yet to come.

#DianakkoWeek #Dianakko #Diakko #diana cavendish

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