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itsuki-minamy · 4 years ago

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“SIX IDOLS”

CHAPTER 2: “YATA MISAKI’S BUILDING EXPLORATION! HAUNTED HOUSE EDITION” (Complete)

* K - Six Idols (List of Chapters) * Projects & Chapters

Translation: Naru-kun Raws: Ridia

That day, it had been raining since morning.

He lifts his scarf to his mouth, takes a sip of hana, and Misaki Yata walks down the well-known shopping street. Born and raised in Shizume, this shopping street has been a playground, pathway, and everyday scene since childhood.

The fish shop shutter opened and a middle-aged woman appeared. The fish-filled foamed shelf is neat in the showcase. When he saw her, Yata bowed politely.

"Good morning, Oba-chan. You are well today."

"Oh, Misaki-chan. Yes, good morning. Are you going home now?"

Yata smiles bitterly. It is true that there is no morning and no night in the entertainment world, but he has not set an unreasonable schedule for having to go home at this time. Izumo Kusanagi, who is the actual owner, is paying attention to that area.

"No, it's recorded from now on. It's a home visiting plan for 'Shirogin Deluxe'. Have you seen it?"

"Oh, that show! I love it too. Misaki-chan, you're supposed to be out. I'm glad."

Yata was a little glad to see her shaking her face. For him, who has never left his hometown, it is a great motivation to please people who have known him for a long time.

Yata raises his thumb and shows it to the lady.

"Thanks! Well then I'll go!"

The lady also made an approving gesture to imitate Yata.

"Yeah, come on. Good luck, I'm supporting you."

Waving as he walks, Yata realizes that his heart is filled with warm feelings. The cold of winter and the mist that clings to his skin seemed to immediately disappear at that sensation.

Yata, who passed through the business district and onto the main street, was not surprised at all to see the location car.

"Huh? Are you turning the camera already?"

"Oh, Yata-san! Hello!"

Kamamoto, who was standing near the location car, waved loudly while holding the camera. Loud greetings are good in this industry if it's on a television station.

Yata rushed over to Kamamoto and touched his head.

"Ah!"

"Don't yell! It's going to upset the neighbors!"

All of them are also captured on camera. But that doesn't really matter to him. The interaction between the two, as a team, is not yet known to viewers, but when Yata and Kamamoto appear in pairs, such interaction is often expected.

"No, I'm sorry! I'm happy because it's been a while since I've been in a place with you, Yata-san!"

"How do you say, we didn't do something a week ago?"

As they exchanged words, Yata boarded the location car. Kamamoto also sits next to him, pointing his camera at Yata. Yata is reminded of when he sees several staff members in the car pointing lights and microphones at him.

"So why are you already filming? Doesn't filming start after arriving at Kokujoji-san's house?"

Today's plan is to visit the villa of the renowned artist, Daikaku Kokujoji, as he told the lady from the fishmonger. Kokujoji, who was the driving force behind this "idol age" and has 98% national recognition, is a representative not only of the entertainment world but also of Japanese society. Despite the fact that it is a village, Yata was not less than enthusiastic about visiting his home.

"Well, anyway, we are going to visit Kokujoji-san's house, so it's up to the headmaster to take pictures before and after that!"

Kamamoto says that and Yata wonders, "Is that so?" Since a big name like Daikaku Kokujoji is involved, the production side may also be concerned about various things.

"The location car will go outside. Please put your seatbelt on."

Both Yata and Kamamoto wear belts at the director's call. With Yata's unsettling feelings, the vehicle slid slowly onto the national highway.

If he thinks about it later, he should have noticed it then.

++++++++++

Yata finally wondered when he got to the capital highway from the national highway and left Tokyo.

"Isn't that the destination in Tokyo?"

Kamamoto's camera keeps spinning. Behind the camera, Kamamoto's expression covered by sunglasses seemed to be different from his usual appearance. Kamamoto has a smile on his face like a sticker.

"That's right. Everything seems to be near the secret hot spring in Nagano prefecture."

"I haven't heard that."

"Oh, is that so? Well, I heard it for the first time today."

Yata takes a closer look at Kamamoto. Kamamoto is turning the camera with a smile on his face.

"Well, ok."

Muttering, Yata turned to the outside of the car.

It is in the morning on weekdays. Location cars fly down the highway at a comfortable speed. The flowing landscape becomes an overflowing nature.

The location car went off the road through the interchange.

It was the field. Far from being a figure, even houses are rare. Beyond the fields as far as the eye can see, there are three trees with bushes. It must be a rural landscape everywhere in Japan, but he didn't think it was the place where Kokujoji Daikaku's village was located.

"I see. Did you make a mistake on the road?"

"You are not mistaken! Director?"

Kamamoto speaks to him from the passenger seat in an unnecessarily loud tone. The director gave him an ambiguous answer, like "Oh.", "Yes.", which made Yata feel even more uncomfortable. The localization vehicle goes into the mountains.

The landscape that should be described as abundant extends to the left and right. Green leaves and black trees are twisted and intertwined. Behind the threadbare and rusty railing, there was a sign with words like "Take care of your life." and "Think of your family.", and Yata looked away from the vehicle window.

The rain gets stronger.

The rain and fog were turning into a storm before he knew it. Perhaps the weather in the mountains is volatile, with dense black clouds hanging overhead, and it is as dark as it is at night, even though it is close to noon. Also, it seems that he was going astray, and the interior of the car began to shake with the rattle.

Yata yells as he grabs the armrest.

"Hey! Is there really a Kokujoji-san's village in such a place?"

"Well, I heard that."

Hearing the headmaster's response, Yata made his mouth twitch. He wants to complain, but the words can't come out. Either way, he don't know the location and have no choice but to leave everything to them.

After that, when they passed a winding mountain road for several tens of minutes, the vehicle stopped.

"We arrived?"

Yata asked with relief. Kamamoto says in a cheerful voice.

"That's right. Look, it's Kokujoji-san's village!"

Beyond the windshield, when he saw the house illuminated by the lights, Yata's face was full of energy.

It was a decaying western-style building.

It used to be a magnificent building, but due to deterioration over time, the exterior has peeled off in places, exposing construction materials and pipes. It was as if the skin had been ripped off by torture and the muscles and blood vessels underneath were exposed.

Yata slammed his fist into Kamamoto's head, regardless of whether the camera was spinning.

"Ah? What are you doing, Yata-san?"

"Where is this village? No matter how you look at it, it is an abandoned castle!"

"Oh, even if I say that... What about the director?"

The director in the seat looked back as he expanded the map.

"We are not wrong, it is here."

"Isn't that the case?! In such a place, Kokujoji-san's is a great village."

Yata's protest, however, disappeared when he saw what the director was pointing at.

A figure was at the entrance of the building.

The silhouette that extends the Japanese umbrella and protects itself from the rain is familiar. Costumes similar to hunting clothes and masks that imitate rabbits. All people who belong to the largest agency, the "Tokijikuin Agency" represented by Daikaku Kokujoji, regardless of age or gender, idols or non-idols, wear this outfit. They are widely recognized as "rabbits", sometimes appearing as back dancers in the figure and sometimes as messengers from the "Tokijikuin Agency".

Kamamoto says while capturing the surroundings with the camera.

"Looks like it's here, right?"

"Ah, stupid..."

The director gets out of the location vehicle and begins talking to the rabbit. Yata also opened his umbrella and got out of the vehicle, feeling uncomfortable.

"Good morning. Welcome, you have come a long way."

The rabbit bowed politely, waving in a soft voice. Yata is confused and says hello too.

"Oh, good morning. Is this it?"

"The front is closed now. Please relax in the hall first."

The rabbit turned his back to shake off Yata's question and walked into the hall. The film crew, including the director, did the same.

"Really…"

Yata, who was left alone, began to walk quickly. Instead of keeping up with them, he no longer wanted to be alone.

When…

At the edge of his sight, he saw something white moving. Reflectively, Yata turned his gaze to him.

A white figure was standing in one of the windows lined up on the second floor of the building.

The figure, whose skin and clothing were pure white, immediately disappeared into the darkness as if he had noticed Yata's line of sight.

"……"

Yata's face was pale and alternately compared the windows of the second floor with the entrance of the building.

++++++++++

The storm doesn't seem to stop, and it gets stronger and stronger. Yata eagerly watched the sound of the rain pounding from above.

"Hey. Kokujoji-san, isn't he coming yet?"

It has been almost an hour since he passed the dimly lit room. The Rabbit guide said, "Please wait a bit." and he retired and didn't show up at all. Yata and his colleagues were completely abandoned.

He's getting angry. No matter what the "Tokijikuin Agency" is, it is impossible to treat idols from other agencies so carelessly. Yata had a personality that such irrationality could not forgive.

However, now he doesn't feel angry and just wants to go home.

Every time the light from an old lamp shining on the table casts a complex shadow on the wall, the figure in Yata's mind, perhaps the white figure above, blinks.

Yata gulps and talks to Kamamoto next him.

"Maybe he doesn't feel right? So I think it's rude to bother him, we'll re-record at a later date."

"Even if you say that..."

Kamamoto was confused and spoke to the director.

"What do you think, Director? That Rabbit, I don't think he's coming back."

The director puts his hand to his jaw and thinks. Yata looked at his figure expectantly.

"It is true that this will hinder the schedule."

"Really?!"

"Then, let's go find the rabbit."

"Eh?"

The director and other members of the film crew rose to their feet one after another. From those who handle the light to the makeup, they try to go with the director. Yata instinctively tried to stop them.

"Wait a minute! Why is everyone going?"

"As we will be looking for him, it is better to have more manpower."

"That's right, oh, yeah, then I'll go with you."

"No, if we let the actor do these kinds of tasks, the name of the show will be frowned upon. Yata-san and Kamamoto-san, you should wait here."

Just with that, the other members except Yata and Kamamoto walked out of the reception room.

"……"

Yata stretched out his empty hand and sat back on the couch.

The reception room, where the current had already been introduced, felt even colder when the equipment left. Yata flailed his legs fiercely, staring into the dim lamplight. He cannot say anything and is calm.

He feels bad because he is worried about the normal path. As an important figure in the world of idols, Yata pays tribute to Kokujoji. He is concerned about the status of the great man, not because he is afraid of this eerie western-style building.

While repeating his trembling thoughts, Yata was confident that the team or the rabbit would return as soon as possible.

And 30 minutes passed, 1 hour passed.

It seems that the rain has stopped a bit. Instead, thunder was heard more frequently. The haunting and rumbling sky sometimes casts a light similar to a flare on the window. This time, Yata realized that his body was jumping.

"It's not too late?"

Unable to suppress the trembling voice, he talks to Kamamoto. Kamamoto keeps his camera on the table in front of him, arms crossed and silent.

Yata was driven by anxiety and shook his shoulder.

"Eh? Kamamoto?"

Kamamoto lowered his head in a low voice.

"Yes."

"Don't fall asleep, fat man!"

"Hmm!" When he touched his head, Kamamoto's sunglasses slid off.

Kamamoto makes a shocked voice, dressed like an idiot with sunglasses hooked to the edge of his ear.

"What is it? What is it?"

"Idiot! The others haven't come back yet!"

However, Yata's anger did not seem to be transmitted to Kamamoto at all. He stretched out humorously, grabbed the camera from the table, and stood up.

"I'm in trouble. Then I'll search a bit!"

"Oh, why?"

The voice was about to scream, but Yata no longer has the psychological margin to worry about such things. Kamamoto scratched his head like he was in trouble.

"No, it doesn't matter what you say. If they don't come back, it's only natural for me to go looking for them, right?"

"That said, the directors have not returned. If you go, the same thing will happen, right?"

Kamamoto bowed his head and pointed the camera at Yata. Yata's face is reflected in the black lens. Kamamoto had a ridiculous tone as he clearly reflected his scared face.

"Maybe Yata-san… Are you afraid of being alone?"

"Moron!"

Yata's low kick went through Kamamoto's right knee and the giant rolled on the ground.

"Hey, Yata-san, please stop hitting me!"

"Ah! Maybe it's because I don't like your comments?"

"Just kidding! Yata isn't scared at this level! I get it!"

"I go to search..."

Yata responds with a negative voice like a different person than until now. Kamamoto stood up while rubbing his knees and headed straight for the exit.

"Then, I'll go for a bit."

Kamamoto left the room. Yata was left alone in the reception room.

"……"

He cannot hear anything but the sound of rain, thunder, and the beat of his heart. He feels restless and walk around the table for no reason. Check the clock almost every minute. Every time, he repeats the idea of going round and round, why he hasn't come back yet.

At that moment, the roar of the guitar solo echoed through the hall.

"What?!"

Involuntarily, he raises a strange voice and jumps. The guitar solo echoed in Yata's bag that he had left on the couch. The fiery melody is a representative song of "Red King Idol" Suoh Mikoto, which Yata respects.

Yata took out his PDA while suppressing his heartbeat.

The incoming call was from Kamamoto. As soon as he answers the call, Yata yells at him.

"Hey, don't call suddenly!"

As he screamed, Yata felt relieved somewhere in his heart.

Kamamoto on the other end of the phone echoed the usual subtle voice without knowing such complicated psychology.

"No, I'm sorry, Yata-san. I thought it would be bad for Yata-san to be worried, so I'm sorry."

"Are you eating something?"

"Eh? No, no way..."

"You're eating! Where are you now?"

"Oh, no... it's like a kitchen."

"You're stupid! How do you eat in someone's kitchen when you visit their house? You can't do that, even if you're a visitor!"

Yata yells. At the same time, when he looks out the window, he notices that his expression has softened. Kamamoto's usual eating habits seemed to be irreplaceable and encouraging at this point.

Kamamoto says, while making a locking sound.

"Well, you often say that if I'm hungry, I can't do it, right? And I came here guessing."

"Eh?"

"I could see a figure here, so I thought it was a rabbit. It was wearing white clothes, so I'm sure it's correct."

A small shadow was born on Yata's slightly warmed chest.

A figure in white clothes.

"Hey, Kamamoto."

"Hmm? That? That, maybe..."

When he hears Kamamoto's voice as if noticing something, the shadow gets bigger as it swells.

"Wait a minute. Come back!"

"No, what are you talking about, there was a rabbit. Sorry! When can I start recording?"

There, Kamamoto's voice cut off.

The shadow fills Yata's heart. Yata clenches the sweat from his hands that slowly spreads onto his PDA.

"Hey! Kamamoto! Come back!"

"That? It's weird. Why?"

"Kamamoto!"

"Why was his neck looking away?"

Almost at the same time as those words, a wet sound echoed off his PDA.

It's like hitting a wet leather bag on the ground.

It's like squashing a rotten tomato.

A sound with an ominous premonition clung to Yata's ears.

"Kama-…!"

The calling voice was interrupted by a loud sound that pierced the tympanic membrane. Maybe that's why he dropped his PDA. He lets it go involuntarily, and Yata looks at his PDA. Notice the words "Rikio Kamamoto" floating just below the "Call" screen.

After a while of silence, the speaker began to pick up the sound of "something."

Tap. Tap. Yata notes that the sound that resonates regularly is footsteps. Facing Yata, who is stuck as if frozen, the speaker mercilessly continues to reproduce the sound of "something".

"Heh heh heh."

In the end, a sound like that of a laughing voice, and the call was cut off.

Seeing the words "End of call", Yata noticed the sweat on his back.

There is certainly "something" here.

Yata thinks about it while being driven into a panic. Can't imagine what it is. Is it related to that white figure? What happened to that rabbit and the members that went looking for him?

And Kamamoto...

"Ah!"

Clenching his fist and teeth, Yata stared at the living room door.

If Yata were alone, he would have screamed and stormed out of the reception room, rushing into mountains of thunderstorms. Not good in this situation, let's be clear. It is incredibly scary. Even now, his knees are shaking and he can't even stand.

However, Kamamoto is here. There are also directors and film crews that came with him.

If he abandons them and runs away alone, he will deny the human Misaki Yata.

"Damn!"

Yata slammed his hardened fist against his thigh. That doesn't stop the shaking of the knees, but it is something.

Thus, pain inspired Yata. He strides across the room and kicks the door open before crossing.

"Wait, Kamamoto! I'm going to help you now!"

Screaming to inspire himself, Yata stepped into the darkness in front of him.

++++++++++

Kamamoto said at the end that he was in the kitchen.

Of course, Yata does not know the layout of the building. Still, since it's a kitchen, he guesses it's somewhere on the first floor, and he walks down the hall in big surprise. The lamp, which should be from the lighting equipment, was not on, and Yata had to use the light from his PDA as a flashlight and advance terrifyingly.

Lightning and thunder roar. The entire view of the hallway was projected for a moment as if the camera's flash fired.

It's a long corridor with blood-colored ridges and bone-like walls. The portraits are evenly spaced on the wall.

As he slowly advances, Yata tries to keep the portrait out of his eyes. Because the line of sight can match. Because if he looks at them, they might laugh at him.

If he looks at a portrait, his heart may explode as if he is doing his best live. Yata still couldn't die. He couldn't die until he saved Kamamoto and the team members.

"……"

The blankness on his face means that fear outweighs courage. There is no colleague from the "Homura Performing Arts Office" who can laugh at him, they are not here at the moment. Yata has to fight both loneliness and fear.

Fold the corner twice.

Apparently it is a corridor. Maybe the kitchen is not on the first floor. If that happens, he will have to climb the stairs. That fact began to haunt Yata's thoughts.

Before entering the hall, a white figure reflected in the window for a moment flickered in Yata's mind.

Climbing the stairs means going to that figure. Yata wasn't sure he could get into such a situation even though he no longer had the courage to oppress it anymore.

When, suddenly, the door on his left moved with a piercing noise.

"Eh?"

Yata jumped to the ground in a squeaky voice.

The door opened slowly as if it had a will of its own.

The warm breeze that flowed from there caressed his taut cheeks.

He's sure it was moved by air flow or something, until he found out, it wouldn't move.

Thousands of words that are less than thoughts fill his mind. The instinct of "I want to get away from here" and the belief that "I can't abandon my friends" conflict with each other, and Yata's body tends to be rigid.

As it is, a minute has passed.

Nothing happens.

Realizing that, Yata began to move. The doorplate illuminated by the light of the PDA came into view.

The word "Dining Room" was written there.

"This is here?"

Muttering to be sure, swallowing hard, Yata opened the door.

The spacious dining room was filled with humid air. There is a long table as seen in the movie and several chairs around it. A three-pointed candelabrum on a pure white tablecloth receives the light and glows golden.

Yata scans the room while glancing at the scene. If there is a door that leads to the kitchen, that will be the goal.

The feelings of wanting to find them and not wanting to find them are in conflict in Yata. It was the manifestation of the two feelings that filled Yata's heart, the instinct of not wanting to face loyalty and the belief that he should help his companions.

Suddenly, Yata felt something crash against his toes.

It bounces and terrifyingly points the light to the ground.

It was a ham. A thick, boneless ham that appears to be around Yata's foot. There is evidence that the packaging has been broken and removed.

Kamamoto no doubt picked it up and ate it.

He had been here.

"Kamamoto?"

His voice echoed mysteriously. When he turned on the lights, the door that would lead to the kitchen was open. Yata went in there.

The kitchen floor was damp. When Yata's shoes hit the wet floor, he made a sticky noise and pulled a rope between his shoes and the floor.

The light from the PDA trembled as if Yata's discomfort was transmitted.

The previous light reflects the ground. Yata arrived when there was a trail of something crawling across the red-black wet ground.

At the same time, there is a watery sound in the kitchen.

Kucha, Juru, Picha, Nichi, Giri.

He doesn’t notice it from the sound of the rain. he could hear the sound all the time.

Jutsu, guchitsu, baki, zuru, gucha...

Maybe he didn't want to realize it. Because it was a realization of Yata's fear.

Baki, Bagi, Goritsu, Boritsu, Jururu.

However, Yata had to face realization. He thought that he had to record it in his own eyes no matter what result he was hoping for.

A trembling light crawls across the ground and follows the bloodline.

"It" was closer than he expected.

He was wearing white clothing, similar to a dress. The word "it" comes from the fact that it was so worn that it was hard to see. The hem ripped like a saw blade and dirt that has mixed in here and there has soaked it. It was probably the dirt that caused the thread to stick to the soles of Yata's shoes.

"It" seemed to turn away from him and crouch like a monkey, shaking his head vigorously. He shook his pure white hair, moving his face further and further, and moving his hands to break something.

Each time, the watery sound from before, resonates.

A familiar giant lay in front of "It"

Kamamoto's eyes, illuminated by the lights, were wide open and were no longer looking at anything.

Yata took a step back, it would be terrible to blame him for being shy. Yata's survival instinct demanded a distance from "it", just as a hunted animal would reflexively frighten. Holding his mouth with his hand, while pouring a fixed stare at "it", Yata tries to leave the room.

There was a dry sound under his feet.

"… ?!"

Yata hastily points the light at his feet.

There were Kamamoto's sunglasses. Stepped on by Yata, the lens of the sunglasses snapped in two.

He looked up from the sunglasses and saw "it", terrifyingly.

The movement stopped, as if it had frozen.

Even arms thin like dead trees and hair white like ceramic remain frozen.

The neck began to turn silently.

Slowly and precisely, like the gears of a machine. Turning sideways, diagonally back, and turning 180 degrees, it "saw" Yata.

Kamamoto's words revive in Yata's mind.

("Why is your neck there?")

Looking at Yata with only his face, with his body facing forward.

"It" moves just a little.

Random blood-soaked teeth were stained with a speckled pattern of yellow and red.

"Gaaaaaaaaaaah!"

When he noticed, Yata was sprinting down the hall of the building.

Screams of flight and senseless came from his mouth, the eyes had shed tears incessantly. He is not sure where he is going. However, he wanted to get away from that kitchen as soon as possible.

Yata slipped and fell, trying to turn the corner of the hall at full speed. He crashes into the wall and stops, reflectively looking at the darkness from which he ran.

He couldn't find the figure for "it."

However, only sound was heard.

Regularly echoing sounds and footsteps approached Yata from the other side of the darkness with a speed that shook fear.

Yata got to his feet and started running. His brain made a full rotation. Remembering the layout of the building, He try to find a way out.

As he ran down the hall, he saw a familiar sight.

This is the entrance hall he saw when he first entered the building. A ridiculously huge chandelier and a portrait of Daikaku Kokujoji on the wall of a huge staircase. Yata immediately took the door that led to the outside of the left door.

No matter how much he pushes or pull, it won't open. Even if he turned the key like crazy, kicked the door, or slammed it, the heavy door would not stubbornly move. Full of irritation and anger, Yata says, "Come on! What's this? Open up! Open up!"

However, the screaming, almost crying, stopped immediately. The footsteps were getting closer.

Hita, Hita, Hita, Hita.

Yata let go of all his emotions and ran like a ball. He refused to be there putting all his physical abilities that he refined as an idol.

Yata, who was running like the wind, soon found a bath.

When he enters, it was divided into several private rooms. He pushes open while checking with the PDA light and it slides inside.

When the lights went out, the bathroom filled with a darkness that seemed to crush him.

Yata supports his head as he shakes on the toilet seat.

("What is that, what is that, what is that?")

Did "it" eat Kamamoto?

Anger at his partner's murder swelled through his body, but much more than that, fear of the mysterious monster in front of him. The monster crawls out looking for him at this very moment. Just imagining it makes his skin rust.

After doing it for a while, Yata suddenly came up with something.

"I have to ask for help..."

Of course, the reason the idea that was taken for granted didn't come up until now is because his brain was engulfed in fear. Yata tapped his PDA with his shaking finger and first tried to contact his most trusted boss, Izumo Kusanagi.

At that moment, he heard a voice from the depths of the darkness of the hall.

"Yata-san, where are you? Please answer."

Yata stops his finger and raises his face as if flipped over. The cold, sweaty expression shone with wonder and joy.

"Kamamoto...?"

"Yata-san, please help me. I got hurt."

Without a doubt, it was Rikio Kamamoto's voice.

It has been delayed, but it cannot be wrong. Yata stood up in the bathroom of a private room and sharpened his ears.

Kamamoto's voice seems to come and go right outside the bathroom. Or maybe Kamamoto, who was lying at the time, was still alive. Perhaps he escaped from the monster and came to ask for help.

("Here! Kamamoto, I'm here! We will run away together!")

Yata hastily shut his mouth when he was about to scream.

Not out of self-protection, it was out of doubt.

Is that really Kamamoto's voice?

There is no reason. The questions equal to intuition, however, get louder and louder as he hears Kamamoto's voice.

"Yata-san, Yata-san, where are you? I'm hungry, I'm hungry, I don't care, I want to eat soon."

He had goose bumps.

No matter how much it is Kamamoto, in such a situation, he couldn't think of making such a loud voice and worrying about food.

Yata sat back on the toilet seat. He keeps his mouth closed with watery eyes to prevent any sound from escaping.

Still, Kamamoto's voice continues to call him by name. "Yata-san, where are you?"

Suddenly, Kamamoto's voice cut off.

"……"

Yata blinked. A tear drop was shed. He wondered if he was gone.

There is no way to confirm it. There is not an iota of courage to get out of there. Yata took out the PDA again and started the message app. He absolutely did not want to talk. First he would call Kusanagi, then Kusanagi would call the police.

Yata's PDA sounded with a roaring guitar solo.

"Eh?"

Suoh Mikoto's guitar solo, which he is more intoxicated with than anyone, now sounds like a devastating call from the devil. Yata hurries to look at the PDA. While cursing the idiot who made a call in such a situation, he looks at the screen regretting not having put the silent mode.

His spine froze.

The name "Rikio Kamamoto" was etched on the screen.

He hung up the call and turned off the PDA. As he did so, he thought.

He couldn't think optimistically that Kamamoto was alive. The voice from before was definitely not Kamamoto himself.

So the current call was... that "thing".

That "thing" took Kamamoto's PDA and called it, to find out where it turned on.

About the same time, he was convinced of that, there was a sound of footsteps.

Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap. He has regular intervals and gradually but surely approaches Yata.

Can't bear it. Yata decided to reject the reality in front of him.

He closed his eyes tightly. He covered his ears with both hands. Even if death falls from above one day, try not to look directly at it.

Yet in the dark, Yata thinks.

A feeling of strangeness.

A person can stop his movement of his own free will, but he cannot stop his will. The feeling of strangeness that was born in the dark grew in Yata's brain, because there was nothing else.

Why does he hear footsteps?

The floor of the building is completely strange. The kitchen was really different, but the hallways and bathrooms were filled with crimson delicacy.

The heavy boots would make steps. But that step is barefoot. No matter how fast he run barefoot, the sound should be absorbed by the relief and disappear.

So it's "it".

At that moment, there was something that shone like a revelation.

Can't stop thinking. The discovery cannot be ignored. In that sense, Yata must have been more human than anyone. Even if that means ruin, to confirm his own conscience, he opened his eyes and turned his face away.

On the bathroom ceiling, "it" was stuck.

His palm with dirty claws, every time it sticks to the ceiling, makes a "thump" sound. That was the true identity of the "steps". When he turned his head upside down, the ragged white hair was tousled. Stuck to the ceiling on all fours, "it" had bright red eyes that glowed negatively, exposing turbulent yellow and red teeth.

In the form of a predator who found Yata with no escape.

"No, aaaaaaaaaaah!"

Yata screamed with all his soul. At that moment, Yata's sight turned white.

++++++++++

"Hey! It was amazing!"

With such a voice, the door to the private room was opened.

Behind the door, the film crew, illuminated by electric lights, waited. Kamamoto Rikio holds up the camera, and a man in sunglasses and a red helmet holds a sign that says, "Don't miss it!" The man in the sunglasses looked a lot like Yata's trusted boss, Izumo Kusanagi.

"……"

Yata was watching the scene with all faces dead.

Kamamoto, who should have died, looks at a man who looks like Kusanagi while holding the camera.

"Kusanagi-san, this is…"

"I don't think there will be a reaction. So again."

He hit the sign in front of him.

"Yata-chan? Are you really okay?"

"……"

Yata cannot react.

When the man who looked like Kusanagi sighed, he left the sign to Kamamoto and entered the private room.

"Sure! The idol has a fluid face during the tea ceremony!"

Gently tap Yata's head.

"Ah! Eh, that? Kusanagi-san? Why?"

Kusanagi shakes his head at Yata, who drips confusion as is.

"That's why I told you about it for a while. It's a shocking show! The target is Yata-chan, and the tricks are us, 'Homura Performing Arts Office'."

At that moment, a figure fell from the ceiling. That monster with a shabby dress and white hair.

From "it", the horror was completely lost. She pulled her false teeth out of her mouth, tucked her white hair back, and turned her red eyes to Yata. "It" he breathed through her nose, giving a feeling of fullness to her young face.

"How was it? Was my performance terrifying?"

"Oh, you did it perfectly, Anna!"

"He was scared of you!"

Look at the friends who are raising their thumbs.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah?!"

Yata screamed as loud as he did before.

Ten minutes later.

Yata was angry at the entrance of the building, which was fully lit.

"What's that? It's terrible, Kusanagi-san! Please tell me in advance if you do this kind of thing!"

"Ahaha, Yata-chan, don't talk nonsense. If I told you, you wouldn't be surprised, right?"

"Kamamoto, you were an accessory too! I really thought you were dead!"

"Well, it doesn't matter how much food you eat there, doesn't it?"

Yata struck Kamamoto's head with all his might for the first time in a long time, gathering in his fist all the reaction of fear and anger that he had suffered.

With Kamamoto crouched on his back, Yata turns his resentful eyes on Anna.

"And Anna... even you..."

Anna suddenly looked away, perhaps uncomfortable.

"Because it was work.", Anna muttered.

So everything, it was something that had been organized from the beginning.

The place where the program will be broadcast is "Shirogin Deluxe" remains unchanged. However, it was not actually a visit to Kokujoji's house, but rather a project presented by the "Homura Performing Arts Office".

After seeing it, "Idol King" Isana Yashiro said, "This looks interesting!", And this project received the full backing of the "Tokijikuin Agency". Small dark vision cameras were installed around the building, rabbit costumes rented, and a recreational facility that was no longer in use. The words, actions and reactions Yata has done so far are said to be fully reflected.

Everything to give the Yata lens the greatest fear and obtain the best recordings.

Kusanagi happily explains.

"You know, Yata-chan has become popular lately? He's been featured in entertainment magazines and online, and some people call him 'The Red Prince'."

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"So, I wonder if that's a little different from Yata-chan's politics. I brought this project to highlight Yata-chan's original charm here."

"Eh..."

Honestly, he's not sure about politics or appeal. Yata entered this path longing for Suoh. He really hadn't been aware of how others saw him.

Such a production was the work of Kusanagi at the "Homura Performing Arts Office".

"Thanks to that, I got a good photo! Anna did a good job, and two birds with one stone."

Therefore, it would be nice if Kusanagi were satisfied with his work, although he is not yet convinced.

However, Yata looks at Anna with concern.

"Well Anna, how did you do that?"

Anna shook her head.

"Eh?"

"I see, that... was it glued to the ceiling?"

Anna turns to the side. Look at the hallway wall, put both hands on it, and climb the wall while making noise.

Yata opened his mouth.

Anna asks, glued to the ceiling and looking at Yata upside down.

"What about this?"

"No... that... how...?"

"Expert."

Anna said it with a calm face. Yata watches her like he's looking at something incredible. No, the idea occurred to him that it would be impossible to practice or that she was ignoring the laws of physics, but he felt that even doing it was unsophisticated.

"Well then, what about that? That way of turning the neck."

"This?"

When Anna's neck began to twist, Yata hastily stopped her.

"Wait! Stop! Stop! You don't have to show it!"

Anna returned her head to its original position. Looking at Yata upside down, with a smile.

"Special training."

"No, it's amazing, right?! Kusanagi-san, okay? What are you doing as an idol?"

"Yeah, well it's a subtle thing to say if it's an ant or a pear, but... Anna did her best, so ant!"

"Sweet! Are you really sweet to Anna?"

"Haha, okay, this is also an art style. Wasn't Anna's threatening role in the hallway quite realistic?"

"Yeah, well, I thought my heart would stop..."

Yata muttered that.

Of course, the rage at being cheated continues to smoke.

However, it was even stronger than that, and relief filled Yata's heart. He really thought that Kamamoto was dead, and he really thought they were going to kill him. Rather, he even remembered to praise the production team that created such high quality.

"Well I'm excited about this too. Yata-chan had a good reaction too!"

"Ah…"

When Kusanagi hit him on the back, Yata gave a dry laugh.

"The event has been completed! Please go ahead!"

A staff member who was in charge of the location car outside the building called him out. Kusanagi and other members of the "Homura Performing Arts Office" follow suit and get into the car one after another.

The rain had completely stopped and the light was shining through the clouds. Looking at him, Yata suddenly called to Anna in the seat next to him.

"Hey, Anna, you were on the second floor when we entered the building, right?"

"Eh?"

"No, you know. I saw you by the second floor window."

Anna looks at Yata saying, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Kusanagi, who had either heard or accosted him before, said with a bitter smile.

"Yata-chan, don't say weird things. No one went up the stairs."

"Ah…"

"I had no plans to use the second floor in the first place. No one should have gone."

The relief in his heart changes fast and cold.

So what did you see at the time?

Yata's neck was twisted back, as if it were a physical law. While he thought it was something he shouldn't see, he wanted to make his own discoveries, simple human curiosity.

The exterior of the desolate building. The windows on the second floor open in black at regular intervals. At one of the windows where sunlight enters after the rain, a girl dressed in white was smiling and showing her yellowish teeth.

#k #k project #K stories #k six idols #idol k #k fan clan #yata misaki

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middleinthenight21 · 5 years ago

Text

One by one

summary: After the defeat of the Teen Titans, Raven agrees to lead the League of Shadows alongside Damian, but she must face her own fears and earn a place among the assassins. AU JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK: APOKOLIPS WAR SPOILERS

Rated M (Blood, intense violence, sexual themes and strong languague)

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to DC COMICS

PREFACE

The pain seemed like a steel stake that merged with her soul, penetrating her bones and wounding the blood vessels, touching the correct points and it would take a long time to rip it from her veins. Raven had suffered for whole days, it hurt so much that tears are not enough, although she knows that she must be strong, she cannot avoid being overwhelmed.

Conner looks up, his eyes that once were merry and rogue are now two empty sockets. The surviving Titans are gathered at the entrance to the island, away from the bloodshed, but their minds travel to painful places.

The cost of this war was high; it had taken Kory, Garfield, Wally, Roy, all her friends, her family. She no longer has the energy to speak, smile and wish for a better tomorrow; nothing would be the same anymore.

Her mind flies like a butterfly to Richard Grayson, her mentor and one of the best men she had ever known, he was one of the fallen. If he were here, he would know how to turn off the silence of death. He would guide them as always and take them away from the pain as he could. She wants to see him one last time and say goodbye accordingly, share even a moment with her friends, she would tell Kory that she was like a mother to her and she would never forget her, she represented a beacon of light in the dark, but she knows the immense love Kory had for Dick and she does not want to see the suffering on their faces when she finds out about the death of her partner. One of her parts thinks that perhaps it is better that both were dead, it avoided that they will mourn the death of the other, at least death is a simple thing and they could rest.

If there is something called heaven, she is sure that her friends would be there, they got the simple part. Raven knows that she will not go to heaven, it is not made for the daughters of demons, but she would be happy because somewhere they would be happy and reunited, although she would never see them again.

She wonders because of all of them she is who survived, she did not deserve it. Others think the same.

Donna hugs her knees, looks like a little girl holding on to a stuffed animal. Her hair is covered in a layer of dirt and debris, her uniform has cuts and her shoulder is hurt. A stab so deep that it reveals the bone, they had washed her, and Raven wanted to heal her, but she didn't let her. The young Amazon did not complain but Raven saw the pain on her face and the sweat like a film on her forehead, perhaps it is better to focus on physical suffering.

The rain creeps off the fire, nobody moves. Their bodies are wet, and it doesn't bother them, it's as if discomfort and cold are nothing.

What will they do now? They do not return to the tower for days, which before represented hope and dreams, where lonely young people found a home now it is a killing field. She had heard the story of Icarus. The young man who made wings, attached them to his back with wax and flew very close to the sun. His wings were melted by the temperature and he collapsed, his body crashed to the ground.

Perhaps they were like Icarus, their glory days were short, and the heroes had sealed their own tomb when they invaded Apokolips. Even if they managed to recover, the world would never be the same, it would never be the same.

''Your heroes were scum, a bunch of arrogant idiots, daughter. If I had freed myself...''

Turn off your voice.

How do you learn to live with the impossible? Raven would take the pain of her friends, keep it, and suffer in solitude, if they smiled back at her. Watching Jump City is painful, it reminds her of her first home, when she lost her mother in the blink of an eye and was forced to live with that mistake. She would lay down her life for Kory, offer her remaining strength and magic to win back her friends.

How would she go on? How is it possible to recover from this?

"I'll go back to Themiscyra." says Donna. Her voice is a whisper, and the rain hits her body forming rivers of dirty water. She doesn't know if there are tears running down her cheeks or it's just the rain. "I'm leaving tonight."

They don't say anything.

The news hits Raven, despite everything, she still thinks she can stay. She does not want to lose a friend as valuable as the Amazon, but she also knows that they have to leave. They cannot stay, the tower is destroyed, there is no reason to return, and at any moment the parademons can return. It pains her to think that something she has worked so hard for was dissolving in her hands.

"Go soon…." Conner sighs. The boy does not move, he is like a statue and his eyes remain focused on the fire of the bonfire being extinguished by the rain and the smoke, a curtain that is dividing his friends. "At least you'll be in a safe place, Donna." the Amazon doesn't say anything.

He watches her and, wonders what it's like to have a home. A place he could take refuge, arms outstretched to hug, familiar faces wishing for the best and healing. Conner does not have a family. He is the result of an experiment and he does not think that he considers Lex Luthor as his father and they did not know where Superman was. Raven lost her mother and dimension years ago. They have no place to go.

If her mother and Azarath were alive, she might run into her arms, hug Arella, and cry until her eyes were dry, exposing her feelings and emotions like never before.

''You were always strong, daughter. If there is someone who can recover from anything, it is you.'' Arella told her this when she broke her leg after falling from a tree and she had to resist the magical procedures of the monks. She still remembers how her mother had caressed her forehead. Wiping away the sweat, her grunts and complaints, how she placed a kiss on her forehead gently.

''You are trusting, too proud and arrogant.'' the older monk murmured when she escaped from the lessons and appeared for the exams, emerging victorious. Raven thought the monk hated her when she forced him to find her among the temples. He grumbled and growled, but she saw the fun in his emotions and had been some kind of grumpy grandfather. When Trigon razed the dimension, she only found a broken skull, it was the only thing left of the monk.

They had left her dealing with her mistakes, blaming herself for what she did as a child; feeling helpless in hell and fighting her father. The Titans were no different, her mind wonders what would have been had she escaped from Trigon after he attacked Superman, if he hadn't listened to them and traveled between dimensions, maybe the end result wouldn't hurt as much.

Her mother visits her at night.

In her dreams she is never angry at what she did. The monk still looks for her and scolds her when she runs through the squares, all the monks and the bright skies are there. Now she adds other burdens on her back, Dick's mischievous gaze, Kory's softness, Garfield's silly jokes, as Jaime loved competition and spoke with love about his younger sister.

Shit, she would miss them so much.

She had had a home and lost it, when she let her guard down and became fond again, they took it from her in the worst possible way.

Now one of her friends was leaving her.

Her insides ache and she thinks she can vomit right now. She feels the anxiety devouring her guts, the pain showing up and the idea of being alone terrifies her too much. She is afraid of being alone in a ghost town.

Jump City is her second Azarath.

In her native dimension there were no decomposed and dismembered bodies. The smell of blood did not rise, and no cries were heard from afar. There was only fire and ashes, and the voice of her father manipulating the situation, insisting that it is the best she has, now only the deaf suffering remains.

"I'll be going too." Raven gasps. Feeling the weight of loneliness and swallows hard. "I need to see if the Kent’s are okay." Conner looks up, as if expecting someone to appear in the clouds. "He would want it." he murmurs.

She looks down, her hair is wet, and a drop of rainwater descends from her head to her forehead, it is the only thing she perceives. Raven does not have a family, they do not expect her return on a protected island and there is no house in the middle of the field, there is no one waiting for her.

Everything she owned was taken from him.

Perhaps only death, loneliness and pain would be her faithful companions. She imagines herself wandering among the rubble, observing in first person what was left of the city that they protected for years, trying to find herself between the disaster and the tears. She doesn't want that.

What will become of her now?

When Damian shows up, he has civilian clothes, his hands are broken and there is a thick layer of mud that stains his clothes, his nails are a mixture of earth and blood. His face is neutral, and his eyes are hard, there is a grimace that has not left his face and she thinks it may be something permanent.

He stares spitefully at the Superman symbol on Conner's chest.

Titus follows, the Great Dane trotting alongside his companion. The formality and discipline that characterized the dog seemed attenuated, as if he knew that the situation was not good and he did not want to cause problems. She looks him in the eye, he sits next to her, does not give her second glances, there is a backpack on his back and reality hits her, like a slap.

''I'm the only thing you have, witch.''

She had barely seen Damian since the fall of the Teen Titans. He stood next to Dick's body, as if he couldn't believe it and the pain was a tsunami for a few moments, until he looked up straight at the sky. Raven had watched him harden, build a breastplate for himself, and she hasn't felt so much anger coming from the young man since he came to the Titans.

He did not let the wound in his torso heal, he treated it by himself without anesthesia and when the pain came he preferred to find out inside, she felt that she was losing him, that the person who visited her in her room in the afternoons, who drank tea in porcelain cups and worried about her safety more than anyone, was no longer here. Raven thought she had punctured his walls, that they could look each other in the eye untethered, but she knows she will no longer be able to knock him down.

Her soul is in pieces, but she prefers that he leave. That he leaves in silence because at least they would not have a farewell and she would not cry to see his back without looking back. Damian would hurt less to leave her behind, he's strong and would fight to earn a place in the world, and Raven would be left in the ruins with nothing to hold on to, there would be nothing that mattered to her. No one would cry for her.

''Even your friends are leaving you. I am the only thing you have.''

What a miserable life.

"I'm leaving." Damian declares. It was direct and cold, and Raven hopes it will be. "I leave in the morning. "

Of course.

"Good luck." Donna hugs her knees tighter. She hides her head and they can see how she trembles and is collapsing. They do nothing to comfort her and Titus is the only one sitting next to her, but he does not make any movement, he is simply there. "They'll be fine, right?" She says in a broken voice.

The sobs seem just as useless and sad as the rain. Raven thinks Donna is expressing herself for the group, as no one else had shed a single tear and they kept their pain to themselves. For a few minutes their heads are too helpless to provide encouragement.

Conner grimaces at the girl. She can feel the suffering tearing his soul, his mouth trembles in what looks like a pout and his eyes are red, threatening to shed tears, but before this happens, he puts on his glasses. One of the lenses is broken and it is not very protective or effective.

He puts on his glasses as if that will remind him of who he is, but it's more than that. He uses it so they don't see him cry.

Damian remains motionless, clenching his fists and frowning. She can see the thoughts going through his head, like a whirlpool and he doesn't let her see his emotions, he is a ghost that Raven cannot chase.

They are all ghosts that will disappear in a few hours.

***

When Donna leaves, she is silent. The girl had been crying for hours until she sighed and got up, when she managed to regain her composure, she did not look back or say goodbye, but takes off when the sun hides among the mountains.

It is as if the star knew what was happening, since it disappears on the horizon along with her friend.

Raven is left remembering the moments she shared with Donna, knowing that perhaps she will never see her again.

***

"Be well." Conner grimaces. He was about to leave as he was worried about the Kent’s. He hadn't shared much with the couple, but they were kind of parents to Superboy and he tried to keep in touch. She would like to tell him that the old couple are fine, however this is hardly possible, "We had some good years." he keeps his eyes on the stars. "But I'm done."

Raven remains silent, clasping her hands in her lap and ducking her head. Conner is about to leave and cannot feel worse because she knows that she is staying alone. She wants to be angry with them for not considering her in their plans. Leaving her with a wound in her heart so big that she does not know how to cure the pain, but she is not like them.

She has no one and everyone needs to recover, at least until the suffering was bearable. Now they are sore, tired and want to be anywhere but here.

She's not going to blame Conner for leaving.

She wasn't going to blame them for leaving her behind.

"Will you take care of yourself?"

She raises her head in surprise at the question. Conner is looking at her through his glasses.

"I can take care of myself." But her inner strength is faltering.

Silence is a monster, he does not respond, but sighs while staring at the tower and a pout forms on his mouth, it is a trembling line "Send my good wishes to Damian." The Son of Batman disappeared with Titus after Donna left, giving the excuse that the animal wanted to eat and something inside Raven cut off at the thought that he might go. That it might be the last time she would see him. Conner's feet floated a few inches off the ground, and he looked at Raven. "Find me if you need anything ... "

She nodded.

Her hands trembled at the sides of her body, as if she had no control. It pained her to think that she was being left alone, her memory returning to the battle, to the place where she was before the world became a field of deaths and tormented souls. She thinks of Darkseid, he had inflicted more damage on them than he thought. He is probably sitting on a throne with death as his servant, millions of lives in his hands, mocking the stupidity of those who faced him, keeping them alive was a punishment.

It would have been better if she died… Dying is easy.

But her death is not easy, it would not come from anywhere and Raven always knew that she would have a long existence. Right now, she just thinks it would be better to die in battle, at least she would take Trigon with her and...

''Let me out, daughter. I can...''

"Goodbye, Rae."

Conner disappeared into the heavy clouds laden with the promise of a thunderstorm. The superhero is so dramatic that he chose to leave when the mist covers the destroyed shoreline of Jump City, when pieces of the buildings still fall to the ground and there is a concrete explosion, like a bomb.

Even the sky is sad.

Raven closes her eyes by burying her head in her hands, struggling with the situation, with the silence that is a being that tries to eat her. It is ironic to her as she described herself as someone silent, a friend of private spaces and that old comfort of when you contemplate a landscape, now her qualities are defects.

No one would save her.

She does not have her friends to sustain herself in the midst of pain and despair, there is only death and abandonment.

A lump is installed in her throat and she cannot get rid of it.

''You are weak, you filthy witch. You are just like your mother.''

''I love you to the moon and back.'' says his mother. Her mind goes back to that time when she escaped from a lesson only to chase that little cat who was stealing her lunch and the monks had scolded her. She thought she would be angry and would approve of her being punished, but she watched her with love and caressed her cheeks. ''I don't care if they tell you that you are proud, confident and highlight your flaws. You are my girl, my little bird.''

''You are the most hopeful heroine I have ever met.'' Dick smiled at her and the sun illuminated his features. A sweet softness wrapped around him as Kory joined them, the alien taking her hand. ''Don't go, stay with the Teen Titans.'' observed Dick. ''We can help you choose clothes, remodel your room and accompany you to buy those little ducks that go in the bathtub.''

None of them are here, they are just voices that would be lost over time. Raven doesn't want to forget, she has no right to recover from this.

It would have been better to die.

An arm wraps around her shoulder, she doesn't need her powers to know that it’s Damian and she finds herself burying her head in his chest, clutching her fists to his clothes, as if he is going to disappear. She doesn't want him to leave, Raven wants his heart to return, she thinks he would be better elsewhere. Her intentions were never to win with Damian, and she would give in if that implied the safety of this boy. She just wants him to be happy.

Damian lost his brother. They did not know what had happened to Batman and Gotham fell a few days ago. He has nothing.

He pressed down on her body and she could feel his jaw pressed to her head. If she lost him, she would keep this moment forever, she clinging to his arms and he wrapping his arms around her when the sky opens and reveals the stars. She wants to memorize his scent, his strength and he is a point in a story that she did not reach to be narrated; If she had been braver, she would have confessed her feelings to him before, but her life is not made for fairy tales. They are built on a darker premise.

Titus groans and rests his head on her shoulder, runs his tongue over her face and it is a relief. She will miss the animal.

What hero has a happy story?

In another reality he could be hers, or at least enter her life in a different way, even if he rejects her, she would still have him and that would be enough.

She feels his mouth open and close, not knowing what to say. She knows what he will say.

"Don't cover it with sugar, Damian."

He is silent. Raven looks up, still refusing to give up his arms and is looking into his eyes, her green eyes are looking directly at her and she can't believe that this is her end.

She would remember the green tone of his eyes, not compared to wet grass, to the water of a river, but to jade. Damian has grown in recent years; his jaw has become square and must be shaved to get a beard away from his face. His skin color has become more olive, his bones ached when he had a rapid growth and his body developed muscles in the areas closer to that of grown man.

He has changed.

"I'll go back to the League of Assassins." he frowns. "I have already spoken to Lady Shiva."

She thought it would hurt, but she couldn't imagine how much, and her fingers were loosening. Her knowing it was coming indirectly is one thing, hearing it from his lips makes it a reality and loneliness crushes her heart.

Donna is gone.

Conner disappeared into the clouds a few hours ago.

Damian was leaving her now, too.

She had to have seen the signs, maybe it was her bad judgment that convinced her that there was a remote chance that he would stay, but what for? He has nothing to fight for, they cannot remain in the tower forever.

"Oh." escapes her lips.

Suddenly she's walking away, and it may be the last time she sees him.

She wonders if Damian has no doubts. He left the League of Assassins for years and Batman does not approve of Ra's Al Ghul lifestyle, only the one he had intended for his son and instilled other values in him, he would not think well of Damian upon returning. Raven does not know what to think, the barrier could deepen between the two, the league is full of criminals. Maybe going back to the league is the only thing he had as insurance in his life, there is no Nightwing, Batman or the Teen Titans.

One part of her justifies it, but the other is terrified to discover what he could become.

"Everyone is leaving." she murmurs. She tries to keep her tone neutral, but it breaks like a tuned guitar string.

Where would she go? She doesn't have a home, can't even look at the tower without feeling devastated, overwhelmed with pain, and wouldn't be able to make it through the city on her own. Her empathic abilities would end up driving her insane, there's too much pain, the city is kindled by suffering and from a distance she distinguishes its colors.

Damian looks down and she sees the fight in his mind, she almost wants to pass a hand to smooth the wrinkle that forms between his brows.

She would miss that wrinkle.

"Come with me. "

What?

He watches her, there is a shyness sparkle in his eyes and if he had not been so close, he may not even hear it, his proposal is so fast in a thick tone that it would be confusing, but Raven heard it clearly.

She is stunned by the offer.

"Come with me. Lead the League of Assassins by my side." He was looking her in the eye now. His katana in its case, and him in a hoodie. He looks casual, as if he had never witnessed death and pain with his own eyes. "You can do it. You are a good fighter."

Hope was shining within her, Damian wanted them to go together, but she is not an assassin; she has nothing to claim among the ranks of the league.

She can't imagine leading an organization made up of assassins, but where would she go? She has nothing and nobody. She had heard that her mother had a sister, but Arella never spoke directly of her family, limiting herself to just Raven and she doubts very much that they would have survived. She doesn't want to say goodbye to Damian Wayne and watch him go off into the unknown.

Say Yes! A voice inside shouts, it’s optimistic marked by blind love and the promise of a tomorrow, perhaps not a better one, but it is still a more decent future than one of solitude and corpses. She is surprised at how idealistic she can be, even with everything that happened, she still dreamed of this boy, she still sighed because he was offering her a different life, one that would allow her to see him every day. You are not an assassin.

They are his people, not yours, a wicked voice warned her, it is like a snake poisoned with truth, more damaging than her father's words.

''Do you think you will write the tale of the witch and the assassin, idiot girl? '' Trigon scoffs. ''Don't make me laugh, daughter. You are weak, you have always been equal to your mother who believed in demons that fall in love with humans and golden futures.''

Do you want to play the queen of assassins so much?

Raven ducks her head, refusing to look him in the eye. Her mind was in conflict, she wanted to quench her father's teasing and her racing heart believing that he would not leave her alone. She wished for them to build a future together, but she also knows that the place where they would go is not idyllic; It is not a paradise.

"We can be secure." he offers as if it were the last resort. Damian's tone is soft, but it is mixed with doubt and silent resignation, as if he were realizing that she would say no. "It is one of the safest places on the planet."

She strokes his uniform cape, as if to remind herself that this is real, and he is still here.

They look at each other in the eyes. Damian's breathing is heavy, time freezes and she knows that this moment can define what would be of her life in what they had left, she could change it for better or worse.

The person in front of you. The future in front of you.

For the first time in three days she looks at the tower, it is destroyed, holes and cracks damage the T and she realizes that he cannot stay. She cannot bear the idea of being alone, she could not compose herself; she doesn't want to go through another hell where she only has Trigon as a company, him feeding on her pain and weakness. Her father would feel no empathy for her, even if she died, he would still worry about himself.

Maybe it would not be perfect, but it is a future, and she does not want to lose him.

"I'm going to go." She clears her throat. "I'll go with you to the League of Assassins."

Damian nods.

***

She hadn't expected the trip to be this long, but Damian insists it would be days. Nanda Parbat is a fortress in Tibet, she is trying to locate it on the map, and she is half a world away, so they must take a trip on a plane waiting for them outside Jump City. She does not distinguish the face of the pilot, as he is covered by a mask that only leaves his eyes exposed and bows when he sees Damian.

Raven had looked out the window at the decimated city. She has not packed, did not want to rescue anything that was her home, but found a jewel that had belonged to Starfire; she said that it was the only thing she could bring from Tamaran, it is a violet stone that catches sunlight and reminds her of her friend. It had been lying a few meters from her shattered body, as if in her last moments she had clung to the stone.

It breaks her heart when she sees the jewel.

Titus rests his head on her lap and yawns. She smiles at the animal and strokes its head; he had been a loyal and brave dog not to be disturbed when seeing the chaos that the world had become. His soft fur is like the fibers of a carpet and it is warm, like a stuffed animal. He reminds her of good things, laughs in the park, the pet store that always smelled of food, and a box of puppies they gave away in the city center.

The pilot barely looks at her. She is surprised by the technology of the plane, although it is small. Damian sits in the passenger seat, as if he were the one directing it, gives the pilot instructions in another language and the man nods.

When the plane takes off, Raven cannot take her eyes off the city. She feels bad for leaving the corpses of her friends and not giving them a decent burial and leaving. They deserved better.

Watching Jump City hurts, however, she can't look away either.

She wonders what Kory, Garfield, or any of her friends would think if they found out what she was doing, would they get mad? Perhaps they were reproving her from heaven, they look at her with furious eyes and they would have a bad opinion of her decision to follow Damian to lead an organization that the heroes disapprove of.

Jump City, the city where memories had been formed and would remain here, the destroyed tower is a point on the small island from afar, it seems like a fallacy that a few weeks ago she would have lived in that tower with other thoughts hanging around her head. She stretches out her hand on the glass when the plane is about to take off, her fingers touch the point where the destroyed tower is positioned and murmurs a silent prayer to Uxia, the spirit that guides souls to eternal rest and is the protector of the martyrs, to direct her fallen friends to a better place than she is heading for.

"Goodbye." she whispers.

She wants to see their faces for the last time, that they are in a place full of light. Because people as wonderful as them deserve the best, if this life did not offer it to them, then let it be in the next ones.

Feeling eyes on her, Damian is watching her from the passenger seat and there is a grimace on his face, he disappears in the blink of an eye and presses buttons and continues giving orders with a firm voice.

Titus falls asleep on her lap.

The plane takes off and for a few moments she swears that there is a figure flying around the tower, but by then the plane has already crossed the mountains and she is observing the ocean.

Raven presses the jewel that belonged to her friend against her chest, praying that she had not been wrong and blinded by feelings.

''You are weak. You are running away like your mother, but don't worry, daughter; you'll ruin it anyway. You always do it.''

***

@ravenfan1242 Thank you ❤❤❤

The fanfiction will have ten parts

Inspired by Batman Beyond and Games of Thrones

See you in two weeks!

#damirae #damirae fanfiction #damian x raven #Damian Wayne #Raven #DC animated universe #demonbirds #onebyonepreface #onebyone

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ljones41 · 4 years ago

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"PERSUASION" (2007) Review

"PERSUASION" (2007) Review When it comes to adaptations of Jane Austen novels, I tend to stick with a trio of titles - ”Pride and Prejudice”, ”Emma” and ”Sense and Sensibility”. Before this year, I have never seen a screen adaptation of any remaining Austen novels. Until I saw the 2007 adaptation of her last completed novel published in 1818, ”Persuasion”.

Directed by Adrian Shergold, ”PERSUASION” told the story of Anne Elliot, the sensible middle daughter of a vain and spendthrift baronet named Sir Walter Elliot. At the age of 19, Anne had fallen in love with a young naval officer named Frederick Wentworth. But due to his lack of fortune and family connections, Sir Walter and Anne’s friends expressed displeasure at the idea of her becoming Mrs. Wentworth. But it was a family friend named Lady Russell who persuaded Anne into breaking off her engagement to Frederick. Eight years later, the Elliot family found themselves in financial straits due to the careless spending of Sir Walter and his oldest daughter, Elizabeth. They ended up leasing their house and estate – Kellylynch Hall in Somersetshire – to an Admiral Croft and his wife. The latter turned out to be the older sister of the now Captain Wentworth. While Elizabeth and Sir Walter set off for their new residence in Bath, Anne remained behind to take care of further business in Somersetshire; including taking care of her hypochondriac sister Mary Musgrove, who is married to Charles Musgrove and living in a nearby estate. During one of his visits to his sister, Frederick re-entered Anne’s life. He had risen to the rank of Captain and has become rich from prize money awarded for capturing enemy vessels during the Napoleonic Wars. Frederick also became viewed as a catch by every eligible young woman – including her brother-in-law’s two sisters, Louisa and Henrietta Musgrove. But Anne suspected that Frederick had not forgiven her for rejecting his offer of marriage so many years ago. And both end up learning how to overcome their personal demons in order to let go of the past and find a new future together. Hands down, ”PERSUASION” has to be the most emotional Jane Austen tale I have ever come across. In fact, I would go as far to say that this tale literally had me squirming on my living room sofa in sheer discomfort during many scenes that featured Anne Elliot and Frederick Wentworth. Or . . . I found myself heaving with frustration – especially during the movie’s last ten to fifteen minutes, as Frederick made an effort to emotionally reconnect with Anne, while the latter’s family continued to put obstacles in her way. However, it eventually struck me that the main barrier between Anne and Frederick’s reconciliation came from the two lovers. I would probably go as far to say that the couple’s personal demons over the past broken engagement perpetrated the entire story. And I truly enjoyed this – in a slightly perverse way. Thanks to screenwriter Simon Burke’s writing and Sally Hawkins’ performance, I came away with a feeling that Anne had existed in a fog of resignation ever since her rejection of Frederick’s proposal, eight years ago. Aside from struggling to keep her family out of financial straits – despite Sir Walter and Elizabeth’s spending – I wondered if she had spent all of those years flagellating herself for allowing Lady Russell to persuade her into giving up Frederick. Her self-flagellation seemed to have continued during moments when Frederick either snubbed her or when their past connections came up in conversation. Frederick’s attitude did not help matters, considering that he spent most of the movie coldly rebuffing Anne or wallowing in resentment. This especially seemed to be the case after he learned that Anne had rejected another suitor after Lady Russell (again) persuaded her that he would be an unsuitable match for her. Frederick’s anger and resentment assumed a righteous tone following that revelation. His attitude ended up blinding him from the fact that his friendliness toward the Musgrove sisters – especially Louisa – had led many to assume he was seriously interested in her. At that moment, Frederick realized two things – his inability to forgive Anne had nearly led him to a marriage he did not desire; and that he still loved her. In other words, ”PERSUASION” had the type of romance that really appealed to me. I found it complex, difficult and slightly perverse. In the movie’s third act, Anne joined Sir Walter and Elizabeth in Bath. She became acquainted with an old friend named Mrs. Smith. She also acquired a new suitor – her cousin, the widowed and now wealthy Mr. William Elliot. Unfortunately, the William Elliot character proved to be the story’s weakest link. Many fans of Austen’s novel have complained that Simon Burke’s screenplay failed to adhere closely to the author’s portrayal of the character. I have read a few reviews of the 1995 adaptation and came across similar complaints. In the Austen novel, William Elliot happened to be heir to Sir Walter’s baronetcy and the Kellylynch estate upon the older man’s death due to a lack of sons. Fearing that Sir Walter might marry Elizabeth’s companion, Mrs. Clay, and produce a son; William set out to ensure his inheritance by re-establishing ties with Sir Walter and marry one of the latter’s remaining single daughters . . . namely Anne. I can see why many have criticized the movie’s portrayal of William Elliot. But I find it interesting that many have not considered the possibility that the fault originated with Austen’s novel. Think about it. Why did William went through so much trouble to court Anne? Could he not tell that she had little interest in him? Why not court the daughter who did express interest – namely Elizabeth? And why did William believe that a marriage to Anne or any of Sir Walter’s daughters would secure his inheritance of the Elliot baronetcy and Kellylynch? How would such a marriage prevent Sir Walter from marrying a younger woman capable of giving him a son? After all, the man remained a vital and attractive man at the age of 54. And even if William had prevented Mrs. Clay from marrying Sir Walter, there would be other eligible young women (preferably wealthy) that would not mind marrying Sir Walter in order to become Lady Elliot and mistress of Kellylynch. Personally, I feel that the William Elliot storyline in the novel was a contrived and flawed attempt to provide a romantic complication for Anne and Frederick. And instead of re-writing Austen’s portrayal of William or getting rid of him altogether, Burke and director Adrian Shergold decided to vaguely adhere to the literary version. Another problem I had with ”PERSUASION” turned out to be the supporting cast. Well . . . some of the supporting cast. Poor Tobias Menzies could barely do anything but project a bit of smugness and false warmth with the poorly written William Elliot character. And if I must be frank, I could not remember the faces of characters like Mary Elliot Musgroves’ husband and sisters-in-law, the Crofts, and Mrs. Smith. Mind you, it was nice to see television and movie veteran Nicholas Farrell in the role of the older Mr. Musgrove. Fortunately, I cannot say the same about those who portrayed Anne’s immediate family, Captain Harville and Lady Russell. The always competent Anthony Stewart Head gave a spot-on performance as the vain and arrogant Sir Walter Elliot. One can only assume that Anne had inherited her personality from her mother. Both Julia Davis and Amanda Hale were memorably amusing as Anne’s sisters – the equally vain and arrogant Elizabeth Elliot and the self-involved hypochondriac Mary Elliot Musgrove. Mary Stockley gave a subtle performance as Elizabeth's obsequious companion, Mrs. Penelope Clay. I also enjoyed Joseph Mawle's portrayal of Captain Harville, one of Wentworth's closest friend. I found his performance quiet and subtle in a very satisfying way. And Alice Kriege’s portrayal of the well-meaning, yet snobbish Lady Russell struck me as very complex and very subtle. Her performance made Lady Russell seem like a kind woman with a surprising lack of tolerance that ended up wrecking havoc on Anne’s life for eight years. For my money, ”PERSUASION” truly belonged to Sally Hawkins and Rupert Penry-Jones as Anne Elliot and Captain Frederick Wentworth. I believe that both did beautiful jobs in breathing life into the two lead characters. Someone had once complained in another article that in ”PERSUASION”, the two leads exchanged very little dialogue with each other and other characters. This person also added that it almost felt like watching a silent movie. This only confirmed my belief that both Hawkins and Penry-Jones are more than competent screen actors. Through their expressions and very little dialogue, they managed to convey their characters’ emotions, demons and development. Not only did Hawkins express Anne Elliot’s resignation to a life as Sir Walter’s unmarried and overlooked daughter; she also revealed Anne’s despair and discomfort over dealing with Frederick Wentworth’s silent anger and contempt. And in the movie’s last half hour, the actress made it a joy to watch Anne bloom again under the attentions of her morally questionable Cousin William Elliot and Frederick’s renewed interest. One would think that Penry-Jones’ had an easier job in his portrayal of Captain Wentworth. Well . . . he had less screen time. Though his character did strike me to be just as complex as Anne’s. Penry-Jones took Frederick’s character through an emotional journey during the entire film; via anger, contempt, indifference, mild cheerfulness, longing, jealousy, desperation and joy. Some of his best moments featured Frederick’s struggles to keep his emotions in check. More importantly, both Hawkins and Penry-Jones had such a strong screen chemistry that most of their scenes that featured them staring longingly at each other had me muttering ”get a room” under my breath. I just realized that I have not mentioned a word about Anne Elliot’s infamous run through the streets of Bath. Many fans have complained that no decent young English lady of the early 19th century would ever do such a thing. Others have viewed it as simply a ludicrous scene that made Anne look ridiculous. I must admit that a part of me found the sequence rather ridiculous-looking. But I have managed to consider some positive aspects to this scene. One, it represented Anne’s desperate attempt to connect with Frederick before it was too late. And two, the scene provided colorful views of the very distinctive-looking Bath. Many fans have complained about the movie’s 93-minute running time. They claimed that ”PERSUASION” should have been a lot longer. Perhaps they had a point. After all, the 1971 adaptation had a running time of 210 minutes. And the 1960-61 version aired as a series of four episodes. On the other hand, some fans of the movie claimed that Austen’s novel was not as long as some of her previous ones. Also, the much admired 1995 version had a running time of only 107 minutes. The 93 minute running time for ”PERSUASION” did not bother me one bit. I really enjoyed this latest version of Austen’s novel very much. Granted, it had its flaws – namely the handling of the William Elliot character. But I believe that this flaw can be traced to Austen’s novel. Flaws or not, I enjoyed ”PERSUASION” so much that I immediately purchased a DVD copy of it after seeing the movie on television. In my opinion, director Adrian Shergold’s BAFTA nomination was very well-deserved.

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jungle321jungle · 4 years ago

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Blood Letters

Writing letters which are not meant to be sent can be therapeutic, at least that is what people claim. Logan thinks it is to an extent, but he finds the subject matter of the letters to be of far more consequence.

Or, Logan dreams about murder.

Taglist: @hells-missing-a-goat @angels-and-dreams @ollyollyoxinfree @gattonero17 @chumo-cookie @dreaming-always @anxiety-ismy-name @mrbubbajones @janustheliar @hogwarts-my-love

Ao3 - Masterlist

Note: Lots of blood and death mention things of all sorts

~~~~

Blood Letters

Dear Janus,

I am writing this letter which is addressed to you in order to sort out my own thoughts. Patton recommended this method to me in order to “get out my feelings in a positive way”. He claims that writing a letter addressed to myself or no one at all with all my thoughts is nearly on par with saying them aloud. Roman agreed and then recommended burning the letters upon completion to get rid of any trace of my problems. However, Patton suggests I keep them. I am still not sure which I will do (I had also asked Remus who only suggested I set myself ablaze), so I will decide upon finishing. Oh, and before I go further, I do apologize for how disjointed this letter will be. I am told that the less structured and closer to a stream of consciousness I am, the better. This has yet to be proven.

Now, I have chosen to address this letter to your Janus rather than myself, given part of my issues seem to stem from you. I assure you, that I am not blaming you in any regard. I am entirely to blame for my own compulsions, and I accept that. But I hope that by addressing the concerns between us that lie solely in my mind I can expel them entirely. Quite frankly I do not expect much from this, intrusive thoughts are not such a simple concept after all- but I have not told my friends the ongoings of my mind. I do not wish to concern them, nor do I wish to seek professional help for multiple reasons. For one I do not have the time nor money, I spend much of time working to pay for my grandmother’s nursing home bills, also I-

It occurs to me that I have been prattling on about my reasons for writing the letter as opposed to writing how I feel about you, so I shall commence doing so.

Given this letter is not intended to be read I have no need to sugar coat my words.

I am in love with you Janus, and more than that- I want to see you die.

I am not partial to the method of your death. I have had dreams where you suffocate, drown, bleed out, and more- all of which were as spectacular as the last. In the first dream you and I had been walking down the street with our friends. The group hadn’t been talking about anything of true value to my knowledge, but I do recall the way it ended. You and I had fallen to the back of the group, walking in silence. And I did not see why it was that you lingered when we crossed the street- but I did turn to see you take flight once the car struck you. For a moment I was filled with nothing but fear. My heart was racing, and despite being a dream I was struggling to breathe. Upon waking I assumed my reaction was because I saw someone die. But after the second dream where I watched you bleed out and suffocate after your throat was slit, I understood that my heart racing wasn’t due to fear, it was something closer to intrigue. And from there my feelings have only grown more intense.

Whenever I see you Janus- or dream of you- I fall for you even more.

I am not sure what else I can say in this letter, so I suppose I shall end it here. I am still unsure what I will do with this short letter, but I suppose it is not that important.

Yours,

Logan

~~~~

Dear Janus,

I hadn’t intended to write you a letter again.

After I wrote (and kept) the first, I found the dreams and urges decreased greatly. And I was happy to feel a “normal” love for you, but now weeks later I found they have returned in full force and I am not entirely sure why they have. Perhaps it was on account of me spending more time with you. I greatly enjoyed our trip to the mall. I am not one to believe in fate, but I think it is a wonderful coincidence that we both happened to run into each other. And I think it speaks yards that you suggested we shop together. As we did, I found myself staring at your face so often when you weren’t looking. I think I stared so much that if I held any artistic talent I think I could sketch every ridge of your face and its scars with accuracy, and still not hold a candle to your general beauty.

I wish I had artistic talent, if I did I’d render the versions of you I see only in my mind.

Your eyes wide and terrified. Maybe with burst blood vessels. I can’t help but wonder what you’d look like with your scars open. So many times I have wanted to ask you how you got them- I want you to explain to me every detail. Well enough that I can picture it myself and savor every moment. But I know if I ask I would push you away. And that’s the one thing I can’t do. I won’t jeopardize my chance at seeing you. Because at this point I’m not sure how well I’ll fair without you.

Yours,

Logan

~~~~

Dear Janus,

The dreams are back.

This time you fell from a building. Your limbs bent at strange angles with a vacant yet shocked looked in your eyes. It was beautiful Janus. More so than your face alive.

I can’t explain the beauty I see that no one else ever can. But I wish I could.

Yours,

Logan.

~~~~

Janus,

It’s the middle of the night. 3:41 am according to the clock on my nightstand.

You were dead again. That’s nothing new. What was new however, is that this time I was the one who killed you.

I’m not even sure how- or why.

I’m still tired yet running on adrenaline, I can’t make sense of my own thoughts. All I know is that I saw you lying in a pool of your own blood, and I was holding the knife.

I need to get some air.

Logan

~~~~

Janus,

It’s only been a week. And I killed you again.

I used a baseball bat. I watched your body lurch with each strike.

I continued even after I knew you were dead, because each time I hit you it seemed the blood sprayed about you like a frame of red. With your beauty pictured in its center.

I wonder what it will be next time.

Logan

~~~~

Janus,

I’ve never told you that I’ve been to prison, have I?

It was years ago, not long after I came out, my father had kicked me out and my grandmother took me in. She had been waiting for me outside of my job, and when I exited the building I saw two men look at me before they ran off. They stole her purse. She was injured and she told me not to go after them, so I didn’t at the time. But I tracked them down. I only did eighteen months for two counts of assault. I probably would have done more had I not caught them they were attacking some other old woman. It was only eighteen months, plus time in jail awaiting sentencing, but it’s not something I wish to repeat. I don't want to lose my freedom.

Just as I don’t want to lose you.

So why do I dream of your death- of your murder?

Why is it that killing you is both what I want and what I fear most?

Logan

~~~~

Janus,

You gave me a hug today when the group all said goodbye.

And when walking back to my car, Virgil teased me for liking you. I wasn’t aware that anyone knew that I cared for you. He told me to ask you out, but I’m not sure I deserve that much. But when I told him so he didn’t understand. I made no effort to explain because I can’t expect him to.

I can’t expect anyone to understand the fact that when you hugged me, I had to ensure my hands went around your torso and not your neck.

Logan

~~~~

Janus,

In my dreams your blood has texture.

It is thicker than water, but I can’t quite identify what it’s viscosity reminds me of. But there are also small bits to it. Bits is the wrong phrasing. I am not sure what the proper word is, perhaps chunks? No that seems wrong as well. Whatever the word, I believe it is a result of your tissue mixing with the blood. This is only conjecture though, the dreams never last long enough for me to figure it out.

One thing I do I know however, is how white your bones look in contrast with the blood. They appear like porcelain- no like beautiful white pearls. They’re luxurious, and priceless.

Logan

~~~~

Janus,

I should leave.

I should go elsewhere. Somewhere far away where you are not within my reach.

But I shouldn’t leave my grandmother. I go visit her every other week. She looks forward to those visits.

Do I have to pick between the two I love?

How does a person do that? No. That’s not the right question. The right question is why am I leaning towards you?

Logan

~~~~

#10

Janus,

I don’t know how far I should go. Where is far enough that I don’t see you when I close my eyes? Because no matter what you’d always be a distance away. And if I travel somewhere there is always the risk that I will take the journey back here.

Where is far enough?

Right now I can only think of one place where I cannot hurt you, but while I know I could take your life, I am too much of a coward to take my own.

Logan

~~~~

#11

Janus,

You seemed annoyed when I cancelled our plans leaving you to see the movie with Remus alone. But I don’t know if I could sit for two hours beside you, without wanting the light in your eyes to dim. I couldn’t go. Not when I’ve already found a new job and a new place to stay.

I’m going to leave for your safety. So I can’t jeopardize it now.

I hope you enjoyed the film.

Logan.

~~~~

#12

Janus,

I leave today. I have not told anyone where I am going. And I’m sure my sudden disappearance will come as a shock to our friends, but that is the least of all evils.

It took months, and it took me till today- the day I am leaving- but I have finally decided what to do with all these letters. I can only hope it is the right choice.

I am sorry Janus.

I am sure those are words you do not wish to hear- or read. But they are true. I am sorry, who I am and whom I’ve become. And at this point it might sound strange, but even so I wish you happiness and life. I wish you life.

Perhaps more than I wish for you death.

Logan.

~~~~

“You have a package.”

“Who from?”

“I dunno.”

He gave a frown as he took the package. It was a small box, a bit smaller than a shoe box and in neat handwriting on top was his name and address but the name on the return address had been rendered unreadable. Maybe something had spilled and scratched it in transport. He stood from his seat, and moved to the kitchen setting the box on the table before retrieving a knife to open the box. When he had, he found envelopes inside- each one bearing his name and a number on the front.

“Did someone send you a box of letters?”

“I’m as confused as you are, Virgil.” He dumped them out, his eyes scanning until he found the envelope marked number one. The letter inside thankfully didn’t seem long, but it held the same neat scrawl. “Dear Janus, I am writing this letter which is addressed to you in order to sort out my own thoughts...” he trailed off his eyes scanning the lines in confusion- before he froze. He read it once. Twice. Three times, before Virgil had snatched it from his hands.

Janus could hear his heartbeat drumming in his ears, and he felt bile rise in his throat- but even so he reached for number two.

“It’s sick,” Virgil said finally, throwing the last one down the table.

Janus didn’t reply as he reached for the closest one- number seven- but Virgil put a hand on it stopping him.

“Don't. Reading them once was bad enough.”

Janus moved his hand away as his eyes drifted to the ceiling above him- but on the whiteness of it he could only see the words he had read. He closed his eyes, squeezing them tight. But now he could almost hear Logan’s voice.

“I used a baseball bat... Your blood has texture... A frame of red.”

“I know we joked that Logan left without a word because he got into trouble but...” Janus trailed off as he took a deep shuddering breath, and when he spoke again his voice was barely above a whisper. “He’s going to come back, isn’t he?”

Virgil didn’t reply, but Janus could hear as he moved about the room before he finally spoke. “...I’m calling the police.”

“And tell them what?” He demanded, looking back to Virgil. “Tell then that someone I thought was my friend actually dreams of killing me? To tell them that he’s now vanished into thin air? He could be anywhere Vee. Anywhere!”

Virgil didn’t reply but he turned so Janus couldn’t see his face. “I’m calling.” He didn’t bother to say anything more, he only took a step out of the room as he dialed, leaving Janus alone.

Alone with the letters.

Alone with his thoughts.

Alone with his fears.

And alone with the hope that Logan would never come back.

#jaz's oneshots #blood #gore #tw blood #tw gore #murder #death #character death #tw death #tw character death #love letters #pining #loceit #one sided attraction #unrequited romance #unrequited pining #unrequited crush #tw suicide #suicide mentions

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duxarcana · 5 years ago

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Clear Card Chapter 40 Review

Looks like the fandom has kind of died down; there was no hype about the new chapter, and no one is talking about it. Since it seems no one else has uploaded a review of the new chapter, I’ll do so here (not that anyone will ever read it).

So let’s start off with the GLORIOUS cover artwork. I’ll admit I let out a rather loud squeal when I first saw the video thumbnail. This is one of the most beautiful outfits Syaoran has worn, and the similarity of its style and color scheme to his previous outfits makes me hope that we may one day see this as a battle costume. Kaito looks stunning here as well, and it’s nice to see his staff in colour. The image of these two enemy magicians who both hold the power of the Moon and are connected to time, depicted together, wielding their magical artefacts among clock gears with a full moon in the background--this image is simply ethereal.

Now, moving on to the content of the chapter:

We start off with Sakura recounting to Tomoyo the circumstances of The Mirror attending school in her place. I’m always down for some good Tomoyo content (which seems to be kind of lacking in Clear Card), so this chapter was off to a great start.

We also find out that because of all this, poor Syaoran was late to class. Since he seems to have quite a serious concern for punctuality, I hope he wasn’t too stressed out about the situation. I feel bad for the poor card, too. Accidentally coming to class without the homework was scary enough for me back when I was in secondary school, even without attempting to impersonate someone else on top of it! At least Sakura apologizes for putting her through that.

Sakura then gives the outfit she wore back to Tomoyo, and explains that she repaired it with Repair. Tomoyo comments on how much the card resembles her. I find it kind of funny that although she had seen it earlier in Chapter 34, she didn’t notice it looked like her because she was too busy fangirling over the adorableness of Rewind (weren’t we all?).

She then asks Sakura to not use the card except in emergencies, and to bring all other items to be repaired to her instead (she even makes a pun on the card’s name by saying ��repair” in English, which was cute). I also find Tomoyo’s protectiveness of the dresses she made to be really cute. I hope at some point CLAMP allows her to tell Sakura how she feels, as it would not only continue their trend of LGBTQ+ inclusiveness (another aspect which seems to be lacking in Clear Card), but would be an excellent opportunity to demonstrate how much Sakura has matured in the supportive answer she would surely give to her dear friend.

Suddenly, enter Syaoran! He apologizes for being late and talks about his conversation with the teacher. We are also blessed with this precious image:

Anyway, something interesting is that since Japanese typically doesn’t require pronouns if they’re implied, the gender of his teacher is never revealed, but in other languages, these pronouns are necessary. The Spanish and French translations both chose female, but the English translation chose male.

Syaoran mentions how the teacher was worried about him taking care of himself when he’s living alone. I agree with your teacher (and Yue, and Sakura, and Eriol...), Syaoran! Please make sure you’re taking good care of yourself!

Then poor Syaoran goes on to do what he always does: doubt his own abilities and claim to not be able to do anything. As much as I hate it when he does this, I can honestly relate to him a lot. I hope he learns to develop more self-confidence and realizes how important his contributions are!

Sakura does her best to reassure him a bit, but it doesn’t look like it did much. Another thing I am hoping for in the series is for Sakura to at some point attempt to help Syaoran with his anxiety, instead of just commenting about it to others. I get that she’s trying her best, but I wish she would realize the extent of Syaoran’s insecurities and actively help him to overcome some of them.

Thankfully, Tomoyo brightens the mood a bit by starting to film them, leading them to start quickly opening their bentô in embarrassment, where we are graced with another beautiful picture of Syaoran:

Syaoran informs the two that the teacher also told him that on Saturday, their school will be having a zyugyôsankan, an event in Japanese culture where parental figures visit the school to observe their child in class for a day. And that’s the last we see of Syaoran in this chapter...

Sakura brings home the information, worried that her father will be unable to attend due to work. Tôya begins to offer to go in his place, but Fujitaka interrupts and excitedly declares that he can go, calling the university to arrange for him to not work that day. It feels like Fujitaka has been shown to be very cheerful and innocent in Clear Card. Sakura’s personality is often compared to Nadeshiko, but it is nice to see that she gets some of it from her father as well.

We then see that Akiho is having a similar conversation with Kaito. She talks about how she told the teacher that no one could come to observe her, as all her family is living overseas. She also mentions that there were other students who didn’t have any family members who could come, one of which would obviously be Syaoran. Since we don’t see him at school at all on Saturday, I wonder if he went about his school day alone or just stayed home. I just wish someone (like one of his friends, maybe? Looking at you, Sakura and Tomoyo) had remembered him that day and made sure he wasn’t lonely :(

But anyway, enough about my favorite character, since CLAMP clearly doesn’t feel the same way.

Kaito slyly remarks that he could go to the school as her parental figure, if Akiho so desired. Akiho, blissfully ignorant of Kaito’s evident malicious intent, says she would be very happy if he did so. I must admit that while I wish Akiho were a bit more perceptive, her elation is very cute. I hope Kaito listens to Momo and realizes how much Akiho cares about him before he decides to do any evil stuff around her--or worse, continue to use his time magic and sever his soul beyond repair.

After Akiho is safely out of earshot, Momo asks Kaito if he intends to “do something”; i.e., attempt to cause the creation of another Clear Card. Kaito says that he would like to if he has an opportunity, but explains that his real reason for wanting to go is that there is a person he assumes will be there whom he would like to meet.

The day comes, the parents see the children in class, et cetera. The topic of Sakura and Tomoyo resembling their parents comes up, and Sakura asks Akiho if she looks like any of her family members. Akiho says she doesn’t know, as she has rarely seen the faces of any of her family members, and she was told her parents passed away right after she was born. This is very interesting information. While the depiction of the person assumed to be Akiho’s mother on the cover of Chapter 37 having angel wings did suggest that she was not alive, it has now been more or less confirmed. However, Akiho’s phrasing unnerves me a bit. The creepy and clearly evil Clan to which she belongs, which has always valued the gaining of more power above even the lives of its members, informed Akiho that right after she was born, her parents “passed away”? I wonder what terrible fate befell the two of them after their failure to bear a magical child...

Sakura, being kind as always, takes Akiho’s hand and tells her with a smile that she is the first person whom Akiho resembles. An innocent comment that, with the knowledge of the forced magical synchronization of Sakura and Akiho, becomes slightly less cutesy.

Kaito comes in to watch the choir practice, and Fujitaka seems quite startled--I wonder if, with half of Clow’s power, he can sense Kaito’s presence?

We find out that the person Kaito wanted to meet was indeed Fujitaka. Here lies another bit of discrepancy between translations. In the Japanese and Spanish versions, Kaito says that the vessel they have created (i.e. Akiho) holds even greater magic potential than Fujitaka, half of the reincarnation of Clow Reed. In the English version, however, he says that Fujitaka himself is a vessel, and that he is an even bigger one than Akiho. (I did not finish the chapter in French, and it seems CLAMP has taken down the video now, so I unfortunately do not know how the French version translated this scene.) The quality of the official English translations for Cardcaptor Sakura, whether the original manga or the Clear Card chapters, is just pathetic. It’s no wonder I spend half my time in the fandom answering basic questions for English fans--the garbage translations can’t even bother to properly translate essential plot points. Just how is it that the unofficial fan translations people produce are more accurately translated than all of the OFFICIAL English translations? Alright, I’m done being salty. Back to the chapter.

Kaito is all ready to start causing mischief in order to inspire the creation of a new card, when who should appear...but NADESHIKO. Oh my god. The intensity of her expression, the mild fear in Kaito’s eyes...I am entirely ready to see Nadeshiko protect her husband and the two little Alices in Chapter 41!

If you read this far, thank you so much for taking the time to hear my thoughts!

#ccs #clear card #lgbtq #syaoran #yuna d. kaito #cardcaptor sakura #cardcaptor sakura clear card

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dukereviewsmovies · 5 years ago

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Duke Reviews: Captain America: The First Avenger

Hello, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews Where We Are Continuing Our Look At The Marvel Cinematic Universe...

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Where Today We Are Looking At The First Movie With The First Avenger, Captain America...

When I Saw The Trailer For This Movie, I Had No Idea Who Captain America Was, I Had Seen The Original Movie With Matt Sallenger When I Was Younger But I Had Absolutely No Memory About It Whatsoever And After Watching The Nostalgia Critic's Review Of It, I'm Glad I Don't...

So I Went To The Comics And Bought An Omnibus Of Captain America Comics With The First Few Issues, And I Liked It To The Point I Couldn't Wait To See The Film In Theatres, However, When I Saw The Captain America Costume I Started To Not Hold Out Much Hope For The Movie As It Didn't Look Like Captain America From The Comics

And The Idea Of The Human Torch Playing Cap Instead Of Someone Who Hasn't Been A Superhero Just Added To That But Luckily, When I Saw The Film I Absolutely Loved It But Is It As Good As I Remember It?...

Let's Find Out As We Watch Captain America: The First Avenger...

The Film Starts In The Arctic, As 2 Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Are Taken To A Ship That Has Been Uncovered By A Russian Oil Team, Lasering Their Way Into The Vessel, The 2 Agents Find The Vessel Iced Over. Discovering What Looks To Be A Red, White And Blue Shield Covered In Ice, One Of The Agents Tries To Contact Nick Fury, Saying That He Has To Know About What They Found...

But Before We Can Find Out, We Go To A Flashback In Norway In The Year 1942, As A Hydra Tank Barges Into A Church, So The Leader Of Hydra, Johann Schmidt (Played By Hugo Weaving) May Enter With Soliders To Find The Tesseract...

(Imitating Agent Smith From The Matrix) Mr. Anderson...

Searching A Tomb, Schmidt Finds Something That Looks Like The Tesseract But As Schmidt Points Out, The Tesseract Was The Jewel Of Odin's Treasure Room And It's Not Something Someone Buries...

Asking The Caretaker Where The Tesseract Is To The Point Of Threatening To Destroy The Entire City, The Man Points To A Big Wooden Wall Carving Of Yggdrasil, The Tree Of The World, Which Is Where Schmidt Finds It...

With The Caretaker Telling Schmidt That He Contol The Power Of The Tesseract And He Will Burn For It, Schmidt Kills The Caretaker Before Walking Out...

Meanwhile In New York, We Go To An Army Enlistment Center Where Steve Rogers (Played By What's Left Of Chris Evans After Playing This Character For Many Movies) Attempts To Join The Army Only To Not Get In Due To His Bad Health..

Going To A Movie Afterwards, Steve Gets Mad At A Guy Who Doesn't Care About The Newsreels And Wants The Cartoons To Roll Which Leads To A Fight Outside Between The 2 Of Them...

Saved By His Best Friend, Bucky Barnes (Played By Sebastian Stan) Who Got Himself Enlisted And Is Shipping Out Tomorrow So, That Night Him And Steve Take 2 Girls (One Being Possibly An Ancestor Of Clara Oswald) To The World Of Tomorrow Expo Where They See A Science Demonstration Done By Howard Stark (Played Here By Dominic Cooper)...

Going To An Army Recruitment Center At The Expo, Bucky Tries To Stop Steve From Enlisting Again (As He's Been Lying On His Enlistment Forms And That's Technically Illegal) But Not Willing To Sit On The Sidelines Anymore, Steve Tells Bucky That He's At Least Got To Try No Matter What The Cost...

Telling His Friend To Be Careful And To Not Do Anything Stupid, Bucky Leaves, Overhearing His Conversation With Bucky, Steve Is Confronted By Dr. Abraham Erskine, A Scientist Who Works For The SSR Who Offers Steve A Chance To Get What He Wants...

Meanwhile At Hydra HQ, Johann Schmidt Has Arnim Zola (Played By Toby Jones) Work On A Machine That Will Transfer The Power Of The Tesseract Into Weaponry For Hydra....

Activating The Machine, Arnim Zola Is Cautious When Raising The Energy For The Transference But Schmidt Is A Patient Man And Places The Machine At Full Power Which Causes A Interesting Effect But It Works...

With The Energy They Have, Zola Tells Schmidt That It Could Not Power All Of His Designs But Change The War As Well As The World...

A Few Days Later At The SSR Base Camp, Steve And A Bunch Of Other Guys Are Briefed By Agent Peggy Carter (Played By Hayley Atwell) And Colonel Phillips (Played By Agent K Himself, Tommy Lee Jones) Who Tell Them About The SSR And How They Will Be Choosing A Man To Be The First In A New Breed Of Super Solider...

Cue The Training Montage!

Well, I'll Admit Steve Isn't Mulan But He Got The Flag!

With Erskine Deciding That Steve Is The Right Man For The Job, Phillips Fights Erskine On It As He Believes That Steve Is A Loser And That A Man Named Hodge Is Better Decision As He Passed All Their Tests, But Looking For Qualities Beyond Physical For This, Phillips Decides To Throw In A Dummy Grenade Which Steve Gladly Takes For His Fellow Soldiers, Saying That He's Still Skinny, Phillips Walks Away...

With The Experiment Happening The Next Day, Erskine Pays Steve A Visit In His Bunk Where He Asks Erskine Why Him? This Leads Erskine To Tell Steve How He Was Recruited By Adolf Hitler Himself To Join The Nazis But Telling Hitler That He's Not Interested, Hitler Instead Sent Schmidt Who Shares A Passion With Hitler For The Occult And Myths...

However Unlike Hitler Who Believes It To Be Fantasy, Schmidt Believes It To Be Real And That There Is Some Great Power Left By The Gods Waiting To Be Seized By Man. Hearing About Erskine's Formula, Schmidt Could Not Resist Taking That Power For Himself, But When Schmidt Took It There Were Unfortunate Side Effects...

Saying That The Formula Amplifies Everything That Is Inside Of The Person, With Good Becoming Great And Evil Becoming Worse, He Says That That Is Why Steve Was Chosen Because A Strong Man Who Has Known Power All Of His Life Will Lose Respect For That Power Where A Weak Man Knows The Value Of Strength And Compassion...

Before Tomorrow, Erskine Has Steve Promise Him One Thing, That He Will Stay Who He Is, Not A Perfect Solider But A Good Man...

Back At Hydra HQ, Schmidt Tells Zola That His Men Have Located Erskine And Tells Zola To Give The Order To Kill Him...

Taking Steve To The SSR's Hideout, Peggy Takes Steve Into A Lab Where The Experiment Will Happen...

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Meanwhile At Hydra HQ, Schmidt Is Visited By Some Of Hitler's Generals Which Leads To Him Showing Them The Results Of His Work By Saying That Hydra Is Developing An Arsenal To Destroy Schmidt's Enemies In One Stroke Including Germany, Which Leads To Him Wiping The Generals Out With One His New Weapons...

I Guess We Can Change The Name Of The Musical To Springtime For Red Skull...

With The President Retasking The SSR To Go After Hydra, Steve Wants In But With Erskine's Death, Phillips Considers The Project A Failure As Erskine Promised Them An Army Of Super Soliders And That Just Having Steve Is Not Enough To Win The War.

However, A Senator Believes Different After Both Him And The Country See Steve In Action And Offers Steve Another Opportunity To Serve His Country...By Selling War Bonds....

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(Start At 0:22)

And What Can I Say About This? I Absolutely Love It! There's Only One Other Thing That Could Top It And That's If They Played This...

Doing A Performance At An Army Camp That Goes Horribly, Steve Runs Into Peggy Who Reminds Steve That Erskine Wanted Better For Him Than To Just Be A Performing Monkey, Seeing Wounded Soliders Come In From The 107th, Steve Remembers That That Is Bucky's Troop Which Leads Him To Talk With Phillips About If Bucky Survived And Phillips Makes It Look Like He Didn't...

Asking If Phillips Is Planning A Rescue Mission For The Ca, Phillips Tells Steve No As They're 30 Miles Behind Enemy Lines That Are Heavily Fortified And They'd Lose More Men Then They'd Save, But Unable To Accept That Steve Plans A Rescue Mission With The Help Of Peggy And Howard Stark, Who Takes Steve Into Enemy Lines On Board Stark's Airplane...

Parachuting Into Enemy Lines, Steve Boards A Truck That Takes Him Into Hydra Base, Once Inside, Steve Rescues The Missing Soliders Including The Howling Commandos (With Two Of Them Played By Damien Dahrk And Spider-Man's Principal?)...

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With The Soldiers Fighting Hydra And The Base Exploding Around Them, Steve And Bucky Go Up Flights Of Stairs Only To Be Confronted By Schmidt...

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Back At The SSR Camp, It's Believed That Rogers Is Dead But...Yeah, Steve Survived As Well As The Soliders From The 107th Including Bucky...

Meanwhile In Washington, Steve Is About To Get A Medal For Valor By The Senator But Of Course He's Not There...

Stan Lee Cameo!

Returning To The SSR's Headquarters In London, Steve Shows Peggy The Locations Of The Hydra Bases That He Saw On Schmidt's Map While Bucky Tells Them About The Weapons Factories However, Hydra Has Shipped The Parts To His Main HQ Which Is Not On The Map...

Phillips Tells Carter To Coordinate With MI6 (Which Makes Me Wonder If Captain America And James Bond Have Ever Teamed Up) To Look For Schmidt's Main Base, While They Send Rogers To Deal With The Other Bases...

With Phillips Putting Together A Team To Help Steve, Steve Already Has People In Mind Which Leads Him To Recruit The Howling Commandos And Bucky To Help Him...

The Next Day, Steve Goes To Meet With Howard Stark, But While He Waits, He Talks With Margaery Tyrell Which Leads To Her Kissing Steve (And Who Wouldn't Want To Kiss Her) Only For Them To Be Spotted By Peggy Despite Steve Thinking That Her And Stark Had Something Going On...

When Stark Talks With Steve, He Tells Him That There's Nothing Going On Between Him And Peggy Before He Shows Steve Some New Shields Until Steve Finds A Prototype Made Out Of Vibranium...

(Imitating Black Panther) Wakanda Forever!

Which Will Work...

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(End At 2:02)

Not Happy With What Is Going On With His Bases, Red Skull Tells Zola To Finish His Mission Before Captain America Does Or Else...

Attempting To Get Zola Back To His Headquarters As Quick As Possible, Zola Ends Up Boarding A Speed Train That Unfortunately Passes By Where Cap And His Crew Happen To Be...

Using A Zip Line, Cap, Bucky And The Other Howling Commandos Board The Train Only To Be Confronted By Hydra Soliders With Major Weaponry...

Major Weaponry That's Powerful Enough To Burst Open A Wall...

After Dealing With The Soldiers, Another One Enters And Blasts Bucky Out Of The Train Only To Leave Him Hanging By A Handle, Attempting To Save His Best Friend Steve Tries To Reach For Him But Unfortunately The Rail Breaks And Bucky Just Falls To His Death...

But In Good News, They Capture Arnim Zola...

Phillips Interrogates Zola Who Doesn't Say A Damn Word Until Phillips Gives Him A Letter That Shows Him That The Red Skull Has Turned On Him And Believes Zola To Be A Liability Which Leads Zola To Spill His Guts On Red Skull's Plan...

Finding Steve In A Cafe That Him And His Friends Went To Before It Was Destroyed, Peggy Finds Steve Having A Few Drinks To Try To Dull The Pain Of Losing Bucky But Like The Flash, Due To His Powers He Can't Get Drunk...

But Peggy Tells Steve That It's Not His Fault And If He Believed And Respected Bucky Then He Should Honor His Decision. Understanding That, Steve Swears To Go To Go After Schmidt And Destroy Hydra...

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Steve, Peggy And The Howling Commandos Fight Hydra's Soliders Off, But Eventually Steve Catches Up With Red Skull Only To See Him Take Off In His Massive Plane, But When Phillips And Peggy Commandeer Red Skull's Car, They Attempt To Catch Up With It...

(Captain America) You Remember The Little Red Button?

(Phillips) You Don't Have To Tell Me Twice!

(Pushes Little Red Button)

Catching Up With Red Skull's Ship, Steve Kisses Peggy Goodbye, Before Hopping On Board...

As Steve Sees Missiles Targeted For Every City On The Planet, More Soliders Appear To Fight Steve, With Him Defeating Every Single One Of Them, Before Facing Off Against Red Skull...

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With Peggy Contacting Steve On-Board The Plane, She Tries To Direct Him To A Site To Land But There's Not Enough Time And He Has No Choice But To Force The Ship Down...

Peggy Talks With Steve For As Long As Possible Till His Ship Crashes....

We Get A Montage Of What Happened After The War Including A Scene Where Howard Stark Finds The Tesseract In The Ocean And Peggy Keeping A Picture Of Steve Before Cutting To The Future! As Steve Wakes Up Years Later In A Hospital (That Looks Like It's In The Past) By A Woman (Who Is Supposedly Sharon Carter Except Instead Of Emily Van Camp It's Amanda Righetti From The O.C.) Who Is There To Tell Steve What's Going On...

However, The Game Playing On The Radio, Is A Game Steve Went To Years Ago...

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(Start At 1:17)

After The Credits We Get A Sneak Peak Of The Avengers Before The Movie Ends...

And That's Captain America: The First Avenger And I Absolutely Love This Movie...

The 1940s Setting Is Fantastic, I Love The Story, I Love The Characters, I Love The Villain Despite Everyone Saying That He's Lame And Honestly I Have No Idea Why Hugo Weaving Did Not Want To Come Back For A Sequel As Red Skull Is Such A Good Character And A Great Villain In This Movie, I Love The Effects In The Movie With The Hydra Weaponry, The Costumes Are Great And It Is One Of My Favorite MCU Films And I Say See It...

Till Next Time, This Is Duke Saying That Next Week We're Tackling The Avengers!

#captain america #captain america the first avenger #chris evans #hayley atwell #tommy lee jones #stanley tucci #sebastian stan #neal mcdonough #dominic cooper #natalie dormer #jenna coleman #Marvel #marvel cinematic universe #MCU #hugo weaving #red skull

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cafeshiawase · 5 years ago

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🍧 - A silly scenario

They finally had a filming break. Finally, he and his fellow idols could explore the streets of Macau a little. It was itching that desperate scratch he’d had for ages; that need to move, travel, and explore Yukihiro often felt. Of course he loved home and his work and his friends, but he simply couldn’t stay there forever.

Clearly, 315PRO’s own Sora Kitamura understood exactly how he felt, because the look on his face expressed that same relief and excitement he felt...even if there was also a hint of anxiety there.

“Sora-kun, you look a little nervous. Is something the matter?” Yukihiro asked when the two of them both stopped to look at something out the front of a souvenir shop. Yukihiro picked up a mug and inspected it closely, wondering if he should get it to add to his vast collection of hot beverage vessels.

“Hmm~ I guess I’m just a little worried about getting lost...~” Sora replied in his usual airy tone, setting down a little plush toy he’d been looking over. “Even if we have Shoma-san here with us, we could still get into trouble. I don’t want to inconvenience Producer-san and the rest of the film crew~.”

Yukihiro hummed quietly, focusing on Sora’s concern and not even picking up what might have been a slight jab at his awful sense of direction. Sora had expressed these worries to him before they’d even left for Macau, and it seemed despite all the travel tips he had listed off at that time Sora was still anxious about being far from home for the first time. He sympathised; even though it was something he had always wanted to do, Yukihiro had been just as nervous when he had stepped off a plane in a foreign country for the first time. Sora seemed to be the type of person who focused too much on the potential negatives of a situation; he needed to impart his personal wisdom on him, without seeming like he was dismissing him...

“Well, if you ask me, sometimes you need to get lost in order to truly experience a new place! It helps you to explore somewhere in greater depth than you would have if you were following a map closely,” Yukihiro grinned as he spoke. “It’s more fun to just let yourself be carried where your body wants to go.”

“I hope you don’t take offence to this, Yukihiro-san, but it does seem like you’re just trying to make your bad internal compass seem like a good thing...~” He could see the uncertainty on Sora’s face get even more pronounced. Yukihiro sighed softly, trying to think of a way to make the situation better, before he spotted...

“I mean, if you get lost, you can always just ask the locals for help! Like this guy!” Yukihiro ran over to the cat he saw perched on a box outside one of the stores, ignoring Sora’s cry for him to stop in case he got lost. “Hello, sir. Surely you know all the most interesting places in town for us to visit?”

The cat stood up as if it somehow understood Yukihiro’s words, jumping off its box and walking off.

“Sora-kun, Shoma-san, follow me!” He called out, following the feline along the busy streets of Macau, unable to hear his coworkers’ frantic cries as they tried to find him among the crowds of people.

#the-wandering-rock-collector #answers #drabbles #(kamiya u DUMB BICH #this is...based off a canon situation #where kamiya asks a cat for directions............i cant stand this man

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dancingkirby · 5 years ago

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Jonerys Week-Day 1-Foreshadowing.

Rated: T. Takes place between Seasons 7 and 8.

The instant that Dany was awake enough to arise from her bed, she ran over to the porthole and looked out. Her heart lifted when she saw blue skies. Yesterday, it had rained all day and night, and all of the passengers had had to stay in their cabins and listen to the dragons’ shrieks of discontent. Dany knew that she should be grateful that her room, furnished with all of the luxuries that were possible on a seagoing vessel, has protected her from the rain and wind. Nevertheless, it had been tedious waiting for the hours to pass by.

No, that was not completely correct. The daytime hours had certainly elapsed slowly, but the night, when Jon had paid his usual visit, had been quite enjoyable. Still, today she was eager to get out and enjoy some fresh air, and she even had an idea for an activity for them to do while on the deck.

She looked in her trunk until she found the required item. Opting to not disturb Missandei with a request for hot water and hair restyling, Dany washed up as well as she could with the water that remained in the basin, rubbed her teeth with a cloth, and dressed. After scribbling a quick note informing her friend of her whereabouts, she set off for Jon’s cabin. (They had decided to maintain the fiction that he spent the entire night in his own room for the nonce, if only for the sake of politeness.)

When he opened the door in response to her knock, the first words out of his mouth were, “You look lively today.”

“Yes, I was wondering if you would want to join me for a walk on the deck,” Dany answered in a bit of a rush; her relationship with Jon was still new enough that even being in his presence made her feel giddy and quite unlike her usual self. She showed him the small, ceramic jar in her hands as she added, “Perhaps we could amuse ourselves with this.”

“Of course,” Jon answered automatically. Then, as he looked at the jar, “What is that?”

“I am not certain myself,” Dany admitted. “It was a gift from Dorne. Ellaria Sand gave it to me when we met, among other things. Unfortunately, I was not able to test it out before she was captured.”

“From Dorne?” Jon echoed. He stretched out his hand, and Dany handed the jar over to him. He examined it carefully from every angle, and shook the liquid contents within. “Are you certain that this is meant for outdoor activities?”

“By order of your queen, you are to cease that train of thought immediately,” Dany replied, trying (and failing) to keep a straight face.

“You were not so reserved last night,” Jon reminded her.

“Jon Snow!” Dany admonished. She would have said more, but she was laughing so hard that she had to ben over double to regain her composure. When had the last time been that she had done that? Perhaps never.

When she stood upright again, Jon was looking at her somewhat bemusedly yet not unkindly.

“Ellaria said that her children liked to play with this in the water gardens,” she explained, still short of breath.

“And you take her at her word?”

“Why would I not? She has…had…no reason to harm me.” When Jon still appeared unconvinced, she said, “Let’s just see what happens.”

“All right. You are my queen,” Jon conceded, and let Dany lead him to the deck.

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They soon found an ideal location on the deck: relatively quiet, yet not completely isolated. Dany saw Drogon and Rhaegal flying a short distance away, although the sun was climbing in the sky and making it nigh on impossible to tell which was which. Jon stood nearby in case he was needed for the traditional male duty of jar-opening. However, Dany was able to pull out the cork stopper on her own, and felt quite pleased at her accomplishment as Jon applauded her. The liquid inside was colorless, slightly viscous, and smelled of soap.

“Now what do we do?” Jon asked.

Dany dug around in her coat, located a small pocket sewn within, and withdrew a small wooden wand with a hoop affixed to one end.

“Ellaria was rather vague on what would happen,” she admitted. “Doubtless she wanted it to be a surprise. She did say that one sticks the hoop end of this into the liquid and then blow on it.” She pretended not to notice the poorly-concealed smirk that Jon made at the wording.

When she removed the wand from the jar, she noted that the hoop had formed a sort of film on it. Intriguing. She blew on it, but to her disappointment, the force of the air popped the film. She thought about this, and decided that she may have blown too hard. So she tried again, and couldn’t hold back a gasp of delight when a stream of bubbles were produced.

And what marvelous bubbles they were too! Small, to be sure, but glistening with all number of shades of red and blue and yellow and purple as they drifted in the breeze. Dany had seen so many amazing things in her lifetime, and while this was not on the magnitude of hatching three dragons, it felt miraculous in its own small way. Judging by the way Jon was gaping at the bubbles, he was equally enthralled. He wordlessly reached out his hands, and Dany gave him the jar and wand in kind.

Back and forth they passed these objects, until they grew so adept at this game that they were making new bubbles faster than the old ones could disintegrate. As they became surrounded by the colorful orbs, Dany felt a sort of giddiness. It was like, for this brief moment, she was reclaiming a fragment of her lost childhood. After a while, she broke out into an impromptu sort of dance, twirling in place and letting the bubbles dance around her. Everything else–including Jon–seemed to fade into the background. She was only vaguely aware that passing crewmembers were shooting them odd looks.

She wanted it to never end…but of course it did. The jar’s contents could not last forever. As the last of the bubbles began to pop, Jon turned to look at her. He had a strange look of longing in those dark eyes…not lust, but something subtly different. It appeared that he had been as touched by this activity as Dany had.

Finally, only one bubble remained. The wind was propelling towards Dany, and she stretched her hand out by instinct. For the briefest instant, it made contact with her skin, and then it popped, never to be seen again.

Dany felt a sense of sadness which she did not fully understand. However, this was quickly forgotten as Jon pulled her into an embrace and kissed her.

#fanfic #jonerysweek #jonerysweek2019 #jonerys #jonerys week #jonerys week 2019

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septic-dr-schneep · 6 years ago

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JSE Fanfiction - In Time of Need (Part 17: Interim)

Summary: Unaware of what’s continuing at home, Chase becomes increasingly restless as he recovers from his surgery. Soon enough he receives a visit that will hopefully serve well to distract him.

Chase had always considered himself a good patient. He wasn’t like Schneep, who would grumble at his caretaker that they weren’t doing it right and he could take care of himself, and he wasn’t like Marvin, who was constantly looking at the clock to see when he could make a break for it. He wasn’t like Jameson, who felt guilty for causing a fuss, or like Jackieboy, who—

Well, at this point Jackie’s a better patient than I am…He’s somewhere in this hospital, just…lying there.

It went against everything in Jackieboy’s nature. As soon as he was patched up, he would try to leap off the exam table and go on patrol as if nothing had ever happened. He’d never been able to sit still when it came to healing. Perhaps that was still the case; he wasn’t healing right now. He was in tandem.

The point was that Chase had always been well aware of his limits. He knew what would stress him enough to hurt and what he could take. There had been a time when he didn’t care, when he had wanted the pain just to break through the numbness, but this wasn’t that time. Therefore Chase had stayed prostrate in his hospital bed for the past several hours. He’d hardly moved enough to wrinkle the blankets and yet he still found himself exhausted, as if he’d just finished a twelve-hour day of filming stunts.

Even if he’d been up and about, he wouldn’t have been filming; he’d put up a notice on the Bro Average channel almost five months ago that he was going on hiatus because of a serious family emergency.

“I…honestly don’t know when I’ll be back,” he’d admitted, scrubbing at his sore, tender, sleep-deprived eyes. “Hopefully by the end of this…I don’t know, maybe by the end of this year. Thanks, all of you, for understanding. Family comes first, y’know?”

Given his history with family, given what his viewers had watched him do for family, they were more than willing to let him have a reprieve. The stream of concerned comments had eased up as the weeks grew longer but there was always that sense of anticipation there. He knew they would be there waiting for him, no matter how long it took, and for that he was grateful. Hopefully he wouldn’t get too out of practice and lose his touch.

These thoughts were among the many he used to occupy himself as he whiled away hours upon hours of nothingness, resignedly drifting between sleep and a periodic staring contest with the ceiling. The ceiling always won.

Sometimes he would do his best to make conversation with Dr. Iplier and the Host, but he wasn’t close or knowledgeable about either of them so he eventually ran out of topics they might have in common. Neither of them were naturally talkative anyway, which only made it harder. The only entertainment Chase got during the day was when the nurses would come to check on him and even that was short-lived.

As the last nurse eased the door shut behind her, Chase leaned his head carefully back against the pillows and sighed deeply.

“Dude, can you grab my phone and see if any of the others have—?”

“They haven’t, Chase,” Dr. Iplier assured him, shuffling through the papers on the clipboard he was engrossed in. “I just checked twenty minutes ago.”

“Well, it’s on vibrate! Maybe we didn’t hear it! I just wanna know if they’re—”

“As impatience mounts within the Septic Ego, he recalls that he hasn’t taken a nap in almost an hour,” the Host cut in pointedly. “As much as he wishes he could continue to fidget and inquire, he finds that it will do him no good and that he should rest if he wants to leave the hospital sooner. The less time he spends awake, the less he will be aware of the time passing.”

Pouting, Chase hunkered down a little lower in his bed and mumbled, “You’re cheap.”

Before he could take the suggestion and close his eyes, however, the phone near Dr. Iplier’s elbow did vibrate. Perking up, he glanced at it in vague surprise and a haughty grin spread across Chase’s face.

“Well, would you look at that? Somebody’s calling! What’s the ID? ‘My Drug Dealer?’ ‘I’m A Kitty Cat?’ ‘Brainy Bub?’”

“None of them,” Dr. Iplier replied, raising an eyebrow at Chase’s phone screen. “It just says ‘Her’.”

At that Chase’s smile faltered, eyes widening as slow realization trickled into his brain. “Oh, no…Oh, no, I was supposed to…Give me that, doc, let me see—”

As soon as the doctor handed him the phone, Chase felt as if it weighed three pounds heavier than usual underneath the tangible frustration and anger conveyed through the text glaring back at him.

>The kids and I are at your house. Where are you? I’ve been ringing for five straight minutes. Don’t tell me you went out and forgot about them.

Cursing under his breath, Chase hurriedly swiped at the keys, wincing as he was forced to pull against the IV lead in his arm.

<Had an emergency, I’m at the hospital. Needed surgery.

>What? What kind of emergency? What kind of surgery?

<Doesn’t matter. Could you bring them here? I still want to see them!

>Are you sure the doctors will allow that?

<YOU’RE MY FAMILY.

As soon as he clicked “send” on that one, Chase knew he had made a mistake. He could almost sense Stacy on the other end, staring at those three words with skepticism and mistrust. His eyes lingered on them just as long, filled with longing, desperation, pleading. At long last, he could see her typing.

>Elvery Heights West General, right? What’s your room number?

Falling back against the pillows, he exhaled slowly and mouthed a silent thank-you, sending the proper information and then glancing back and forth between his companions.

“Okay, sorry to spring this on you, but I was supposed to have the kids today. They’re on their way here instead.”

“Oh.” Flipping the papers on his clipboard shut, Dr. Iplier promptly rose from his seat, brushing down his coat. “In that case, I’ll be excusing myself now. I’m not good with kids; they always end up crying when I’m around. Host?”

“The Host isn’t particularly adept with them either, but he would like to remind the doctor that they are meant to be protecting Chase Brody should anything arise.”

“Then you’re staying?” At the Host’s brusque nod, the doctor waved a hand dismissively. “Alright, then, do what you want. Just don’t let them start pulling on your bandages or anything; you almost ruptured a blood vessel when you took them off during the fight and I don’t think it’d make for good times if they ended up covered in blood.”

Chase visibly flinched at the thought and for half a second the doctor looked as if he may regret saying it, but he didn’t apologize. As the door slid shut behind him, the Host apologized on his behalf.

“The doctor has always maintained a noticeable lack of a bedside manner.”

“Yeah, no kidding…” Picking at some loose string on his sheets, Chase squirmed, discomfort striking a more prominent ache in his head. “Host…uh, my family’s kinda…well, I just don’t want you to be weirded out if my wife—my ex-wife and I are—”

“Chase need not worry; the Host is well aware of his marital status.”

“You are? How?”

At that the Host simply tilted his head, folding his hands primly in his lap. “There is very little that escapes him.”

Then did it escape him how unsettling he was being or was he doing it to toy with him? Chase wondered uneasily. He didn’t bother to ask; he had a feeling that whatever the Host might say in response would only compound the issue.

As soon as he heard their voices outside the door, the vlogger pushed himself up in his bed as far as he could, trying to plaster a smile on his face. His kids didn’t need to know what had happened. They didn’t need to know everything that was weighing on his mind or causing him pain; they just needed to see their daddy smiling. The Host straightened in his chair in the corner and while he didn’t smile—did he ever?—he did seem much more attentive, even expectant.

“Here we are,” Stacy announced as she eased the door open, letting Connor and Brianna shuffle into the room.

“Hey there! Come give me a hug, would you?” Chase urged cheerfully, extending the arm that wasn’t hindered by the IV.

As soon as they saw their dad was upright and alert, in contrast to whatever they may have imagined, the kids lit up, rushing over to latch onto him. Their warmth, their familiar smell, their little hands entwining with his…It never stopped being precious.

“We missed you, Dad!” Brianna exclaimed, wrapping herself tightly around his forearm and rocking back and forth with it.

“Mama wanted to give up, she wanted to take us back to her house but I told her to keep ringing the doorbell, no matter how long it took!” Connor piped up eagerly, tugging on his fingers. “I knew you’d want to see us!”

“Oh, I always want to see you, little man…I’m sorry I wasn’t at the house,” Chase murmured kindly, casting a fleeting glance up at Stacy, who stood at the foot of the bed and hadn’t said a word of greeting.

There hadn’t been an actual face-to-face greeting between them for about nine months—no, nine months exactly. She had known something was seriously wrong with him and the others after Schneep had been abducted, so whenever they had to see each other, she opted to skip pleasantries and get right down to business. The same rang true here. Even as her eyes asked, What happened to you? her mind purposely glossed over the explanation.

“How are you feeling?” she asked evenly, loosely folding her arms against her chest—closing herself off from him. He forced his smile to remain despite it.

“Better than I was. It’s been a long week,” he confessed honestly. “I should be out of here tomorrow, if there aren’t any complications.”

“What happened?” Brianna asked at the same time Connor happened to glance into the corner and notice the other man in the room, holding Chase’s hand protectively in front of him as he demanded, “Who’s that?”

“Oh, that’s a—friend of mine.” Hopefully no one noticed Chase’s hesitation. “He’s called the Host. He’s been keeping me company, making sure I’m okay.”

“The Host is happy to inform them that their father has been very well cared for,” the Iplier Ego assured them, his tone strictly neutral but a shade lighter than its usual monotone. Brianna wrinkled her nose unsurely at that, peeking up at her dad.

“Why does he talk like that?” she whispered.

“Don’t be rude,” Chase scolded lightly, ruffling her silky blond hair. “That’s just how he likes to talk.” Come to think of it, he didn’t know if the Host could talk in first person.

Now that he had been reassured that this was a friend, Connor had broken away from Chase and was peering with wide eyes up at the Host, fiddling with his hands. “Do you—Do you wanna see a magic trick, Mr. Host?” he ventured hopefully. “I’ve been practicing one and I wanted to show Daddy when we came so can I show you too?”

“You don’t have to say yes, it’s just a silly trick he does with a calculator,” Stacy cut in, a little embarrassed.

“On the contrary, the Host is quite interested,” he countered, to which she stifled a sigh as Connor scurried to her side and pulled on the clasp to her purse until she fished the calculator out for him.

“See, see, I can make the calculator talk to you when you turn it upside down!” he exclaimed, hurriedly punching in numbers and then thrusting it out for the Host to see. He shrank back only a little as the Host rose from his chair and he noticed how large the man was, but the hand the Host extended to hold the device was kind. As he read it, he chuckled lightly.

“The Host bids the calculator hello in return,” he offered.

Pleased that he was playing along, Connor beamed, snatching the calculator back and typing a second time as he bragged, “I can get it to say your name too! It’s really easy!”

At that the Host raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical, but as he watched him wait patiently as Connor fiddled with it, Chase couldn’t help but feel a warm surge of gratitude. He said he wasn’t good with kids…Or maybe he doesn’t need to be if kids are good with him.

“Here!”

After a pause, the Host cleared his throat, announcing in a tone that was measured to be somewhat gentle, “The Host is sorry to break it to the master magician, but that combination of numbers spells ‘HOSE.’”

“What?!” Scandalized, Connor took a second look and glowered, pouting, “Well, maybe you’ve been spelling your name wrong all this time.” The Host bit his lower lip at that, clearly trying to hide a smile, and the little boy took his toy back, returning his attention to Chase as the Host returned to his chair. “Daddy, this one’s for you!”

“It’s a really good one,” Brianna promised. “He showed me earlier.”

“Well, then I’m looking forward to it,” Chase mused, scanning the numbers for a few moments before turning it around. He promptly burst out laughing, the sound causing a ringing pain in his own ears that he completely ignored. “You figured out how to say ‘BOSS’ with numbers?”

“Isn’t it the best?!” Connor burst out, nearly hopping up and down in his excitement. “I did it all on my own and I knew you’d like it! I knew you would! I wanna show your friend Mr. Jack. Do you think he’d like it?”

At that Chase’s laughter waned, his attention falling back to the calculator screen. He could already picture the smile Jack would give if he could see it, the one that always lit the entire room and filled everyone around him with warmth.

“Well, Jack is…He’s been really, really busy lately,” he managed at length. “I’ll see when we can get together and you can show him, okay? Hopefully we can do that soon.”

As Connor nodded and took the calculator back, chattering with his sister about how much he would practice until then, Chase found his thoughts straying. Now that he’d been reminded of what lay waiting for him at home, he felt even more trapped in this bed than before.

#youtube #jacksepticeye #fanfiction #youtube fanfiction #chase brody #chase brody's family #stacy brody #the host #dr iplier #hurt comfort #family life #in which this is filler before the juicy chapters to come #in time of need #i'd love some feedback

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mariequitecontrarie · 7 years ago

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Meet Me in the Courtyard: Part 5

Summary: Belle takes her new friend Leroy’s advice and shows up at Gold’s with dinner—unannounced and uninvited. The Fic: Belle hosts a monthly movie night in Storybrooke, always leaving the seat next to her empty. Gold loathes movies, yet movie night at the library is the one community event even he can’t seem to resist. Rating: T A/N: Written for the @a-monthly-rumbelling prompt: “Please don’t tell anyone.” I know it’s been forever and you’re probably wondering if I was ever going to update. Thanks to @still-searching47 for looking over this for me!

{On AO3} Previous parts: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

Branan Gold was a terrible excuse for a fugitive.

In the past two weeks, he had played duck and weave at the park, pretended to study a display of star fruit in the grocery store, and even crouched behind his display case in the shop, the tips of his ears burning with shame as he waited for a certain auburn-haired beauty to cross the street and pass by on the sidewalk.

Gold had been avoiding Belle French for exactly 13 days, ever since the pornography incident in his back room. The circumstances went far beyond his discomfiture at the X-rated seventies film his son Neal had loaded on the old-fashioned projector. Gold had behaved like an overgrown child, letting Ruby Lucas worm under his skin like an infection with her sardonic humor and cutting remarks. All he’d cared about in the moment was getting his pound of flesh on his own turf, but he’d regretted volleying back Ms. Lucas’s insults every day since.

Mostly he regretted embarrassing Belle, but he didn’t know quite how to apologize.

Besides getting tongue-tied in her presence, he was absolute garbage at playing inconspicuous. His bad knee made quick moves impossible, and his penchant for bespoke Italian wool caused him to stand out in a crowd. The worst part was, he didn’t want to avoid Belle—not really. Each time he’d seen her, he’d been unable to stop himself from staring—drinking in her remarkable beauty had become a habit he couldn’t seem to break. He’d longed to reach out, to say hello, tease her into speaking first. He was half agony and half hope that she would walk up to him and slap his smug face or yell at him at the top of her lungs. Anything to break the tense silence between them. But other than waiting for Belle to make the first move, what other option was available?

Leaning heavily on his cane, Gold poured himself another healthy glass of scotch—his third of the evening—and wondered not for the first time why he was such an unmitigated ass. It’s self-preservation, nothing more.

Another plaintive whine came from the back porch from the half-grown puppy he’d found in the alley between his shop and the Fish and Chips place next door. The dog had shown up about a month ago, fur muddy and smelling of sewage. He’d rolled up his shirtsleeves and given him a bath in the sanitary tub and a bowl of kibble, and the puppy had come around every morning for a week, whimpering at Gold with wet, melting brown eyes. One afternoon he had followed Gold home and set up camp on the porch. Little savage. He could hang around outside of the house all he liked, but if he didn’t leave off the crying and scratching at the door, Gold was going to make good on his repeated threats to call Animal Control.

Ignoring the whimpering pup, he limped over to his favorite leather recliner, settled against the worn leather, then pulled an afghan over his legs. Hell, maybe he’d even sleep downstairs tonight. It seemed like exactly the sort of thing a crabby old bastard would do. His bad knee was tired, loose and wobbly from the effects of the alcohol, warm and languid in his veins.

He flipped on the television and leafed through the channels till he found something mindless. The Cooking Channel was doing a foodumentary on the history of popcorn—his ex-wife’s favorite. Foul, disgusting excuse for a snack. He slumped deeper into chair and forced himself to watch the program, disgust keeping him from drifting back into daydreams of Belle using his shoulder as a pillow while their fingers intertwined inside a box of Junior Mints.

Another insistent whine filtered through the back wall of the house, and when the mewls turned to howls, Gold drained his glass of scotch in one fiery gulp and peered at the blank screen of his cell phone. What a pathetic sack he was.

There was no point in pursuing this thing with Belle, only to be cast aside when she discovered what everyone else already had—he was too boring to bother truly knowing and too damaged inside to be worth the trouble. He was like one of those vases that eager, star-eyed innocents took onto Antiques Roadshow, hoping to strike it big with a valuable piece—the veneer was smooth and polished, but the vessel itself worth the grand total of $20 and change.

Gold glanced at the back windows; it was only September—still warm enough outside for an animal to be safe and comfortable—but maybe he should let the dog in for a couple of hours.

The doorbell rang, its obnoxious peal echoing through the house. Gold scowled; no one ever came to visit, so it was either a sales call or his son. The boy was always forgetting his key; it was a miracle he had survived three years of college in Boston. All he’d managed to accomplish was spending $200,000 in tuition for a pre-law degree and getting expelled a semester before graduation. Neal’s lock-picking skills weren’t appreciated—particularly when executed on university property.

At 22, the boy was taking a year to find himself. Translation: he was situated at the top of the stairs in his old bedroom, spending his days playing video games and his evenings doodling in a notebook and making eyes at Emma Swan. So much wasted potential.

Muttering as he padded into the hallway, Gold threw open the door.

To Belle French.

“I’ve brought Chinese,” she announced, peeking over the top of a huge brown paper bag.

Shoots of steam snaked into the cooling evening air, causing curly tendrils of hair to stick to her forehead. Gold took a half-step backward in surprise. He’d never expected her to show up here. Every lousy excuse he’d made about why continuing their friendship was a terrible idea flew out of his brain like bats swarming out of a cave at dusk.

Yes, he was a terrible fugitive indeed.

“I hope you haven’t had dinner yet.” The question in her muffled voice came from behind the bag.

His stomach gurgled on command, reminding him that he hadn’t eaten since breakfast. He’d thought to simply polish off the bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue and pass out in his recliner, but he decided against sharing such pitiful plans.

Gold sniffed the air in appreciation. “Sizzling garlic shrimp?”

The bag lowered, and her face split in a wide smile, all shell pink lips and gleaming white teeth. “I wouldn’t dare darken your door without it.”

He hefted the bag from her arms with a short laugh. The scotch had done its job, and he was a little tipsy, his head fuzzy. “Come on in,” he said, leading the way through the foyer into the kitchen.

The bag seemed bottomless as Belle pulled out an endless parade of white square cartons, lining them up on the counter like little soldiers. Auburn curls were tousled around her shoulders, and she looked deliciously at home in his kitchen in blue jeans and a fitted white oxford shirt unbuttoned almost to the middle of her chest. A frilly pink tank top accentuated her lovely breasts and creamy skin. He shifted his weight and clenched the handle of his cane.

“You’ve enough to feed an army in here,” he said, dragging his gaze away from her décolletage. A pamphlet fluttered to the floor and he swiped it up, relieved to have something useful to do. “And dry cleaning coupons?”

“Those are for you. Compliments of Leroy over at Snowy White’s.” Another one of her sunny smiles lit up the dreary room.

“I’ve never gotten a coupon from Leroy in ten years of taking my suits there. He must really like you.” Instead of staring at her like a halfwit, he busied himself with fetching napkins and silverware, while Belle dished up plates piled high with garlic shrimp, Singapore noodles, fried rice, and boneless spare ribs.

The steam rolled off the food in white, puffy waves, making his forehead tingle. A few minutes later they were ready to sit down, and his buzz was already wearing off. He leaned against the counter for support; his face felt numb, his tongue two sizes too big for his mouth. How stupid would he look if he dropped his food? His sweaty hands tightened around the edges of his plate as he shuffled toward the kitchen table.

“I’m hot,” he blurted, his leg twitching when Belle chose the chair beside his. “I meant the food is hot. Not me. I’m not hot…” His upper lip prickled with sweat, and he blotted his face with a napkin.

Belle set her fork down. “Gold?”

“Yes?”

She smiled, her azure eyes soft and kind. “Relax, okay? It’s just takeout, not an interrogation.”

“I appreciate that, Belle, but I need to say something.”

“All right.” She folded her hands and bit down on her lower lip.

“I’m really sorry for my behavior at the shop a couple of weeks ago.” He swallowed past the lump in his throat. “The movie was inexcusable, but so was my treatment of Miss Lucas.”

“It’s all right. I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have left without saying goodbye. Ruby was rude to both of us, and it made me so angry I couldn’t see straight. And then I saw you out at the market and on the street, but I didn’t know what to say. So many times I started to walk over and talk to you, but I couldn’t get the words out.” She bit her lip again. “Then a friend gave me some advice. He told me if I truly cared about this—us—I had to find a way in, break the tension. So here I am.”

“I’m glad.” The tightness in his chest loosened and he twirled a forkful of lo mein round and round while it cooled. Knowing he wasn’t alone in his nervousness—or his growing feelings—gave him more hope than he’d had in a long time. “And you don’t owe me an apology, Belle. Nothing that happened was your fault.”

“You know—” she placed her warm, soft hand over his—“we spend an awful lot of our time together apologizing and explaining ourselves. Let’s just eat some dinner and chat about normal things.”

He turned his hand over and squeezed her fingers. “I would like that.”

She scooted closer, until their knees touched under the table. “How was your day at the shop? Have you acquired any fascinating new objects?”

“Knock, knock.” Neal entered through the back door, an arm draped around Emma Swan’s shoulders. “Hiya Pop. Is this a moo shu pork party?”

Perfect.

“It was a party for two,” Gold muttered under his breath. He dropped his fork on a sigh, his hopes of a quiet evening with Belle dashed. For once, things had been going well and selfishly, he didn’t want to share her or open himself up to embarrassment. “As usual, son, your timing is impeccable.”

“Yeah?” Neal chuckled, eyeing the countertop filled with takeout boxes. “I’ve got a talent for sniffing out Chinese.”

Gold snorted. “I think you mean food in general. Belle, this is Bae, er, Neal, and his girlfriend, Emma.”

“I remember.” Belle grinned at his son and Emma, welcoming and gracious as always. “Join us, please! And help yourselves—I brought plenty.”

xoxo

It hadn’t been the Saturday night she’d planned, but it was the most pleasant one Belle had spent in weeks.

Buoyed by Leroy’s pep talk, she had abandoned her cheeseburger and stomped up Gold’s porch steps, her stilettos clicking in time to the nervous thump of her heart. She rang the doorbell and held her breath, clutching the oversized sack of Chinese food to her chest like a lifeline. She’d never shown up at anyone’s house with dinner unannounced. Maybe she should have called first to make sure he was home, or hadn’t eaten, or if he still liked Chinese food, or…

Belle, you think too much. Leroy’s encouragements echoed in her ears.

But she needn’t have worried. Gold’s home was an extension of his shop—comfortable and resembling a museum in its vast collection of things; teeming with gleaming wall-to-wall hardwood, threadbare area rugs, and antiques of all shapes and sizes. Then there was the man himself who, beneath the grouchy exterior, was so much more than met the eye. His insightful questions about the library and his admiring glances made her feel intelligent and special, and she felt herself redden when he insisted on pulling out her chair when she rose from the table.

After a lively dinner, Belle, Gold, Neal, and Emma moved to the den to nibble on Mr. Wong’s trademark fortune cookies and fresh oranges. Belle sank into the leather loveseat and patted the spot beside her. Gold looked surprised, but he moved his arm over the back of the sofa and edged half an inch closer. Belle frowned; she would have to work harder on putting him at ease and showing him his touch was welcome.

“Thank you for dinner, Belle.” His lips almost grazed her ear and Belle shivered in delight. “Everything was delicious.”

“That Chinese was money and I’m stuffed.” Neal dropped onto the couch opposite the loveseat with a groan. “Caps lock on the delicious, Belle.”

“My pleasure. I’m so glad you enjoyed it.”

“Anyway, how is work at the library? I mean, I don’t really do the thing with the…” Neal mimed turning pages. “Ya know, with the books?”

“Reading?” Gold supplied dryly, and they all laughed.

The younger man was goofy, but his wide grin and the laugh lines bracketing his generous mouth were absolutely charming, reminding Belle of his father’s cautious, lopsided smile. Every so often, Gold grinned wide enough to showcase his generous dimples and Belle’s heart fluttered. She wanted to press a kiss to his cheek and nuzzle her face against his whiskers. She wanted to sink her hands into his hair and pull him in for a kiss, right in front of Neal and Emma.

If she was attracted to Gold before tonight, watching the interactions between father and son had her half in love with him. Their gentle squabbling was endearing, the way Gold pretended to be put out with his son, yet pride was an undercurrent in every word he said.

“But I dig on the whole movie thing you’re doing outside,” Neal added, scanning Netflix in search of something for them all to watch.

“Me too,” Emma hollered from the kitchen where she was making hot chocolate. “I like the way you mix new releases in with classics.”

“Papa loves to read, though. He likes orchestra and opera and poetry.” Neal carried a fistful of fried noodles to his mouth. “All that classy shit. Just like you.”

“Your father—and his love of ‘classy shit’—is absolutely charming.” Belle linked her arm through his and sidled closer until she and Gold were seated hip-to-hip, thighs pressed together, his delicious, spicy scent making her nostrils flare and the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

“Charming, huh?” Another grin split Neal’s face, and he leaned forward, warming to his task of would-be matchmaker. “You know, he’s an animal lover, too.”

Belle squeezed Gold’s knee, delighted when he jumped a bit. He wasn’t as unaffected by her as he pretended to be. “Yes, you have quite a few strays coming to the side door of the shop for scraps, don’t you, Gold? Before you know it, you’ll have a pet of your own.” She cocked her head and sipped her Gewürztraminer, hearing another tiny mewl from outside. “Speaking of animals, I’ve been hearing barking from the direction of the backyard all evening. Do the neighbors have a dog?”

The patter of tiny feet clicked against the floorboards, and a half-grown chocolate brown pug with a square face rounded the back of the sofa and jumped into Gold’s lap.

“Oh!” Belle squealed.

“Your dog was crying outside, Mr. Gold,” Emma called. “So I let him in.”

“This isn’t my dog.” Gold crossed his arms and tried to wriggle away. “He’s just another stray. Take him back outside.”

“Right.” Neal snorted. “You just feed him and let him sleep here. Makes total sense. I suppose that’s not his water bowl out in the pantry, too.” He lifted a stack of mail. “Look, here’s his vet bill—right on top.”

The puppy wormed against Gold’s chest, nudging Belle out of the way with a plaintive moan, then attacked his master’s face with a long pink tongue.

“Oh, he loves you, Gold. Adorable, darling thing!” Belle cooed at the puppy and scratched him behind the ears. An animal lover herself, she spent every Saturday morning at the Storybrooke Animal Shelter. Sometimes she would sit on the tile floor and cuddle the dogs for her entire shift. “What’s his name?”

“He doesn’t have a name. He doesn’t live here because he doesn’t belong to me, the little beastie.” To prove his point, Gold scooped the puppy up and deposited him into Belle’s lap.

“Why are you such a hard ass?” Neal shook his head.

“Years of practice.” Gold waved a hand. “But if you don’t like it, feel free to move out of your old bedroom and into your own place.”

“I think he’s hungry,” Belle said, ignoring Gold’s harsh words and gruff demeanor. The grooves in his forehead softened when he looked at that little wrinkled black face, the same way they did when he looked at his son.

“I don’t think we should feed a dog Chinese food,” Emma announced, returning from the kitchen. She tapped the dark frame of her glasses. “Too rich for his stomach.”

Neal nodded. “You’re right, babe. How about a piece of that leftover pizza, instead? Pizza crust is a lot like a bagel.”

“Great idea. I’ll go get it.” Emma went back to the kitchen, her long ponytail swinging behind her, and Belle hid a grin as Neal watched her go. He was head-over-heels with the lovely, no-nonsense blonde, and Belle thought they made an excellent match.

Belle squinted in thought. She didn’t wish to intrude, but feeding a puppy takeout was never a good idea. “What about puppy chow?” she suggested.

They all looked at Gold, who opened his mouth, then clamped it shut without saying a word.

Neal sent his father another feigned disgusted look. “We don’t have any. He’s not our dog.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Gold muttered. “His food is in the closet at the top of the stairs.” He turned to Belle, his amber eyes wide and beseeching. “Please don’t tell anyone about this.”

“You have my word.” She splayed her hand over her heart, which was now pounding so hard she thought the entire neighborhood could hear it.

Forget halfway; she was almost certainly three-quarters of the way in love with him.

###

#rumbelle fic #a monthly rumbelling #rumbelle #belle x mr. gold #swanfire #meet me in the courtyard #mqc writes

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emperor-uncarnate · 6 years ago

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Old Ben: A Star Wars Story

Had some ideas for an Obi-Wan Kenobi movie I’d want to see... without Darth Maul in it. I’ve watched some Rebels and The Clone Wars but I’m gonna completely ignore them and most of the other expanded media (because let’s be real, Disney probably will too) and come up with a film synopsis that won’t end in just another lightsaber duel. I want a movie that’s gonna challenge Obi-Wan’s Jedi faith, and I think I came up with something that could be compelling. Read on and lemme know what you think:

The film opens with the familiar sight of a Star Destroyer coming out of hyperspace above Tatooine. An Imperial shuttle descends from the capital ship’s hanger and makes its way down to Mos Eisley, flying over a bustling marketplace as it nears its landing site. Down in the streets we see an awestruck trio of human children watching the shuttle pass overhead: Luke, Biggs, and Camie. The kids are around nine or ten years old at this point and they’re enamored - albeit naively - with the Galactic Empire. Camie’s mother, who we’re going to tentatively name “Diane” (mostly because I imagine her played by Diane Lane and I don’t feel like coming up with Star-Warsy names for hypothetical characters), is looking after the children for the day while she shops. Luke and Biggs, who dream of someday becoming TIE Fighter pilots, decide to slip away from Diane’s supervision while she’s haggling with a trader and go check out the shuttle at the docks. The responsible Camie objects and threatens to tattle on them but best bros Luke and Biggs can’t be deterred. They sneak near the landed vessel and observe an Imperial officer trudging menacingly down its boarding ramp. The boys overhear the officer saying something about locating a fugitive of the Empire and something else about making a deal with some shady Tatooine locals.

As the officer departs, the boys try to get a better look at the shuttle and are caught by a few Stormtroopers. The soldiers mock them and push them around, intending to arrest or otherwise harm them, until Diane arrives. She puts herself at risk and tries to protect her daughter’s friends, frantically attempting to coax the Stormtroopers into looking the other way. She fails to sway the brutish Imperials, who care nothing for the innocence of curious children, and it seems like all of them are in deep trouble when a cloaked man arrives just in time. The not-so-mysterious figure drops his hood and we get our first look at a 47-year-old Obi-Wan Kenobi. Dude’s looking grizzled with a little more than a touch of grayed hair. One Jedi mind trick later, the group is able to safely walk away and the Stormtroopers have no memory of the event. Diane thanks their rescuer and takes Camie and Biggs home while Obi-Wan, introducing himself with a smile as “Ben,” offers to take Luke home himself. Luke doesn’t know Ben very well but he knows him enough to trust him, and so they leave Mos Eisley together.

Luke is left pretty confused by the encounter. His first experience with the Empire leads him to conclude they’re not as great as he’d first thought, and Ben’s refusal to explain how he threw off the Stormtroopers left Luke with even more questions. Remember, Luke has no idea what the Force is until it’s explained to him in A New Hope. Ben delivers Luke to Owen and Beru Lars, who are grateful for Ben’s interference. At this point, Luke’s Uncle Owen has little reason to dislike Ben and is overjoyed that his nephew was returned safely.

Luke goes to his room while the adults chat (it’d be cool if little Luke was playing with the same T-16 Skyhopper toy he has later) and Ben gets to telling Owen and Beru what happened at the spaceport. He explains that the Galactic Emperor suspected Tatooine might be a possible hiding place for a Jedi named Obi-Wan and that the Empire would send a battalion to their Mos Eisley checkpoint every now and then to scope things out. Ben recounts that Obi-Wan was killed around the same time Anakin was, and he warns that Luke shouldn’t be allowed near larger settlements when the Empire is visiting (and the Empire’s presence in town was why Ben decided to keep tabs on Luke that day in the first place). According to Ben, the Empire doesn’t know Obi-Wan is dead so they’re still circling the galaxy hunting for any sign of him. Owen and Beru heed his warning but they have no idea that Ben is in fact Obi-Wan himself, and this later mirrors the way Luke is told Anakin and Vader are two separate people.

Ben goes on to offer to train Luke in the ways of the Force, stating the boy is at the ideal age to do so, but a protective Owen is hesitant to the proposal. Beru, who is much more open to the idea, convinces Owen to consider it. Owen agrees to think about it, and Ben leaves them both to ponder young Luke’s future. He mounts his eopie, a creature you might recall from the prequels, and rides off into the treacherous Jundland Wastes where he’s made his home. Unbeknownst to Ben, however, he has a follower...

Say what you will about the green milk scene in The Last Jedi but I really enjoyed the montage of self-exiled Luke’s daily routine. I’d want to see something similar here, showing us how Ben survives as a hermit in the harsh wilds of the Dune Sea. And while he’s rustling up some grub made from desert flora and fauna (maybe actual grubs?), he’s interrupted by an attractive human woman. She approaches him as a lost traveller, asking if she can take shelter in his dusty little hut for the night. She’s a little too nosy and flirtatious for Ben to trust, however, and his Jedi instincts lead him to concoct a plan. He invites her to join him in his home and share his meal before in some way calling on his classic Kenobi cleverness to reveal her true identity. Turns out she’s a Clawdite changeling, much like the one he and Anakin pursued in Attack of the Clones, and Ben’s trickery causes her to revert to her natural reptilian form. Maybe he dupes her into eating something spicy or sour and that causes her to lose concentration and shapeshift back to her real self. Something along those lines.

Ben interrogates her and tries to find out who she is and why she was trying to deceive him. The Clawdite woman explains that she was also there at the spaceport keeping an eye on the Imperials when she saw what Ben did to save Diane and the children. The changeling, who we’ll name... wait for it... “Changeling,” recognized his Jedi mind trick. Coupled with her intel that the Empire was looking for one such runaway force-user, Changeling suspected he was the one they were after. Ben is frustrated and perturbed that someone finally caught on to his true identity and asks if her intention was to turn him in to the authorities. Changeling denies this, claiming she’s in trouble with the Empire and he’s the only one who can help her (but she doesn’t say “you’re my only hope” because repeating little lines like that just feels shoehorned half the time). She only shapeshifted and lied about who she was so she could get to talk with him over dinner and confirm that he wasn’t some kind of lunatic.

Changeling gathered a great deal of information thanks to her latent transformative abilities, allowing her to spy on the Imperial officer Luke and Biggs listened in on earlier. Apparently, members of the Empire’s leadership were growing tired of sending teams all the way to the Outer Rim to look for signs of Kenobi. The Imperial High Command or the Grand Moffs or whoever would be in charge of that disagreed with Emperor Palpatine’s decision to continue searching Tatooine. They believed they were wasting resources on this insignificant desert planet because of the “baseless” inklings and hunches of their monarch. Palpatine still suspected Obi-Wan’s presence there but the Moffs and Admirals weren’t big believers in the Force, so they decided to compromise instead. The Empire was going to give the job of monitoring Tatooine to a crime syndicate they were in talks with in (the Empire and the crime syndicate definitely have to meet at a cantina called “Club Mola Ram” as a reverse reference to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom). The crime syndicate, which would be comparable to the one run by the Hutts, would be able to more thoroughly keep an eye out for any Jedi activity while the Empire could spend its time and resources on efforts they considered more important.

In exchange, the Empire agreed to construct a massive slave-processing facility for the crime syndicate. Slavery, which was outlawed by the Republic, was making a return in popularity thanks to the general shittiness of the Empire. And, wouldn’t you know it, the Empire was planning on seizing land from a number of moisture farmers in order to build it. You might be wondering why the Empire wouldn’t just pick a barren, unowned patch of land since Tatooine’s really just chock full of barren, unowned patches of land. They picked the part of the desert Changeling lives in because A, it’s within range of where the crime syndicate operates, B, it’s already equipped with the moisture farming infrastructure required to maintain it, and C, they can just turn the existing residents there into their first batch of slaves. The Empire and the crime syndicate wouldn’t lose a wink sleep over that, but Changeling and the moisture farmers in her community would suffer greatly.

Ben isn’t surprised that the Empire would stoop to that, but he does question why Changeling’s first impulse wasn’t to bring him in. If she captured Ben and handed him over, the Empire wouldn’t need to hire the crime syndicate and it wouldn’t need to build the “slave station” on her land. Ben is comforted to learn that Changeling, unlike most people at the time, is a supporter of the Jedi. She knows they’re the good guys, and she thought the right thing to do would be to tell Ben and at least try to work together with him.

Ben reluctantly refuses. He can’t risk himself as one of the last Jedi and he certainly can’t risk Luke, and he assures Changeling that he absolutely cannot get involved. Still trying to protect himself and the Jedi legacy, Ben denies the allegation that he’s a Jedi and continues to pretend he’s just some aging vagabond. He apologizes to her and it’s clear that he has to resist his desire to help people because he thinks it’s for the greater good. Changeling states her disappointment that he wasn’t more willing to help, and it is at that moment Ben realizes the two of them aren’t alone. He steps outside his hut to find it is surrounded by armed moisture farmers. They’re kind of a pathetic band of desperate people, obviously unsuited to be threatening anyone. Maybe one of them isn’t even holding his blaster correctly. Ben can clearly see they’re not really fighters but after a short bout (not involving any lightsabers or Force abilities because Ben’s still denying he’s a Jedi at all) the scene ends with him being stunned and taken captive anyway.

Ben awakens in an unfamiliar little house and slowly recognizes who was making sure he was alright while he was unconscious: Diane. Despite his grogginess, you can tell Ben’s happy to see her. He learns she and Camie also live on the endangered land before meeting a number of other farmers from their sector. So now we have Ben, Diane, Camie, Changeling, and room for a few other aliens or droids in their little crew. This is where the merchandise team has some real action figure opportunity. We’re going to name them “Huey, Dewey, and Louie” because Disney joke and also because they ultimately don’t matter much beyond comic relief or having cool/useful abilities. I’m not above throwing a few characters like this into a movie just to spice things up. Anyway, Ben learns that the half-dozen or so farmers he’s with are the only ones who know about him being there, although he still won’t admit he’s a Jedi. Changeling feels as if she isn’t left with much choice, so she finally sticks Ben with an ultimatum: help them stop the deal between the Empire and the syndicate or get knocked out again and be handed over to them against his will. Diane is a little taken aback by Changeling’s threat, protesting and claiming that the deal has already been struck and the Empire’s construction crews are already gathering in Mos Eisley. The way she says it, it seems like the slave facility is going to be built either way.

While Diane, Changeling, and the other farmers squabble, Ben quietly slips away and tries to escape them. But as he reaches his exit, he comes face to face with someone who had apparently been eavesdropping on the whole group. Ben is met with the violent screech-grunting of a Tusken Raider trying to assault him. Still avoiding the use of his fantastic Jedi abilities, Ben ducks and dodges as the enraged Sand Person swings wildly at him with his traditional gaderffii weapon. The other farmers hear all the commotion and run outside to meet them, trying to stop the fight, but Ben urges them to stay back for their own safety. He fights the Tusken Raider with his bare hands until he has no choice but to Force push his adversary away. The Tusken lands on his back while the onlooking farmers finally see proof Ben is indeed a Jedi, but the fight’s not over yet. “Tusk,” as I’m going to lazily name him, leaps to his feet and whips out a blaster, forcing Ben to finally ignite his blue lightsaber for the first time in the movie. He deflects the blaster bolts and Tusken, either in his native language or otherwise, reveals his motive:

Almost fifteen years earlier, Tusk’s people were murdered by a rampaging Jedi. He was just a Sand... Child (is “Sand Child” a thing? I don’t know how this works) at the time and was the only survivor. The one who murdered everyone else in his entire village, of course, was Anakin Skywalker during Attack of the Clones. The Tusken Raiders of other villages came to fear or worship Anakin as some kind of demon, but Tusk’s own village was wiped out and he subsequently grew up among the spacefarers and merchants of Anchorhead. The orphaned Sand Child grew into a Sand Man and eventually found a place as a farmhand on one of the threatened moisture farms, but his hatred for the Jedi who slaughtered his people never faded.

Tusk still had the image of a robed man with a blue lightsaber burned into his mind and suddenly there was one right in front of him. After he tells his tale in a little flashback, he angrily asks Ben if he was the one who did it all those years ago. Ben didn’t kill the Tusken Raiders, of course, but he knows Anakin did (somebody told him about it, but I’ll get to that). Still feeling guilty for failing Anakin ten years earlier, so to does Ben feel responsible for the deaths of Tusk’s people. And now here’s the kicker... Tusk senses Ben’s guilt with the Force. Tusk has no idea what the Force is and he thinks what he’s picking up is just his ancestors or something helping him seek the truth, but he can actually sense the shame Ben feels and that convinces him Ben is the murderer. Believing he’d found his chance at revenge, Tusk lashes out again with his gaderffii stick, forcing Ben to block with his lightsaber. That’s when we learn what Tusk has made his ceremonial weapon out of: cortosis. It hasn’t showed up in the films yet, but cortosis is a metal that can short out a lightsaber if it comes in contact with its energy blade. Ben’s lightsaber is extinguished and he can’t turn it back on right away, catching him by surprise and nearly costing him his life. But thanks to his Force powers and the help of Huey, Dewey, and/or Louie, Ben incapacitates Tusk and he’s locked up in some kind of storage unit as a makeshift jail cell.

The jig is up for Ben, who is at last revealed to actually be the Jedi they thought he was. He assures the rest of the group that he didn’t kill all those Sand People, and they choose to believe him since he made no attempt to kill Tusk in the skirmish earlier. Ben learns from the farmers that Tusk is known to be hot-headed and aggressive at times but is also considered a decent member of their farming community. The other farmers seem to know he has a troubled past involving Jedi and they knew it wouldn’t be a good idea to have him meet Ben, so they excluded him from their meeting. They didn’t expect Tusk to show up at their door like that, and Ben wonders if it was Tusk’s Force-sensitivity that guided him there. The farmers thank Ben for refraining from utterly slicing and dicing Tusk and Ben finally agrees to help them with their Empire problem.

Ben is staying with the moisture farmers for the night but he just can’t manage to catch some sleep. Troubled and uncertain, Ben is visited by the ghost of his former master, Qui-Gon Jinn (and you know it’s gotta be Liam Neeson reprising the role). The spectral Jedi Master sought to console his doubtful former apprentice, who was reflecting on all the pain and destruction Anakin and Darth Vader had dealt to the galaxy (there would definitely be some echoes to Force ghost Yoda visiting Luke in The Last Jedi here). Even ten years later, Ben still wonders where he went so wrong with his padawan that Palpatine could so effectively turn him to the dark side. Also, were you wondering how Ben knew about what Anakin did to the Sand People? Anakin wouldn’t have told Obi-Wan about that, but it’s mentioned in this scene that Qui-Gon’s ghost told Ben what Anakin did before the events of the film. Continuity! Anyway, Qui-Gon tries to reassure Ben and give him some words of wisdom and encouragement just before Diane unexpectedly arrives.

Qui-Gon’s spirit disappears and Diane says she came by because she saw the eerie glow of the ghost and wanted to investigate. She sees Ben can’t sleep and offers to make him some tea, or whatever they drink there, and the two stay up into the night talking. Diane eventually asks Ben about Luke and he momentarily lets his guard down to regale the story of his old friend Anakin Skywalker. Remember the story Ben tells nineteen-year-old Luke in A New Hope? She gets that same altered story but you can more obviously discern Ben’s censoring himself. He can barely keep the lie going but the subject of their conversation veers towards the celibacy of Jedi and how Luke came to be. During the conversation we learn that Camie’s father is no longer in Diane’s life and it leads Ben to question his sacred vows what with the Jedi Order as a thing of the past. Diane feels some type of way about Ben and they both know it, but he sees this as a test of his faith. Ben excuses himself before either one of them can make a move and says goodnight, finally getting a little sleep before he wakes up and learns...

...Tusk is gone. Guy somehow flew the coop in the middle of the night, hopping on his wooly Bantha steed and peacing the fuck out. The farmers kind of panic for a moment, realizing that he very well could’ve set off towards the Empire to report Ben. They figured Tusk would do that in an effort to simultaneously save their land and have his revenge, but perhaps Tusk overlooked the fact that the Imperials would kill them all for harboring a fugitive. They determine what time during the night Tusk must’ve left, and they realize that his slow-moving Bantha gave them a chance to head him off in time. Ben, Huey, and company board a landspeeder and go forth at blazing speeds across the desert with Dewey using his alien/droid abilities to track the Bantha (whatever those abilities may be). Take note - the farmers did have a ship at their disposal but Changeling said she had to stay behind and make repairs before they could fly it. Diane and Camie stay at the farm with her, leaving Ben and his inexperienced farmer companions to go out into the Dune Sea.

Unfortunately, a patrolling group of crime syndicate thugs catch them out in the open desert. A whole squadron of enemy speeders give chase, and I’m totally picturing Star War’s version of Mad Max: Fury Road. Imagine someone throwing Ben a blaster and asking “you ever use one of these before?” to which he casually replies “oh, once or twice.” Ben fights valiantly without using his Force powers until his landspeeder, driven expertly by Louie, is about to get wrecked. I’m imagining Ben would pull off some crazy maneuver with the Force, demonstrating the true mastery of his powers he’s refined over his years in solitude. He gets his lightsaber going too and it’d be quite the spectacle. I’d pay some seriously good money to see a scene like that, I dunno about you guys. I also wouldn’t say no to a scene where Ben hijacks one of the syndicate speeder bikes a la Luke in Return of the Jedi and I’m not going to pretend I don’t remember this awesome clip (I said I was gonna ignore Star Wars: The Clone Wars, never said anything about Star Wars: Clone Wars). Watch the clip, it’s great and Obi-Wan does the thing from Akira.

The chase scene ends with them entering a canyon, maybe even the same one from The Phantom Menace’s Boonta-Eve Classic if you want to throw in an extra easter egg. The criminals are killed or otherwise ejected from the chase one at a time until there are none left, you know how it goes. You see one of the syndicate thugs sending a signal to the Empire before it’s all over, letting them know Kenobi is located and is working with people from the farm. Ben on his stolen speeder bike and Huey, Dewey, and Louie in their landspeeder finally reach the wandering Bantha and are surprised to see it’s alone. Tusk’s not riding it, and that’s when Ben’s Jedi-sense gets tingling... Tusk’s not riding his Bantha because Tusk never left the farm.

Tusk sent his Bantha off alone, which would normally be a pretty serious offense in Tusken Raider culture. Sand People are bonded to their faithful Banthas for life, but Tusk sent his away so he could avenge his village and exact what he believed to be justice. He waited until Changeling had repaired her ship and taken off so he could kidnap Diane and Camie, knowing he could only do so if the other people in their group were led elsewhere. It was never his intention to go to the Empire because he desires to kill Ben himself.

Ben freaks when he realizes this and turns his bike around, zooming back towards the farm. Our trio of aliens/droids/whatever tries to go with him in their landspeeder but, conveniently, it breaks down and they have to wait for Changeling to swoop in for pickup with their ship. Ben makes it back to the farm and finds it empty. He discovers Tusk left a small tracking device behind for Ben to use, and so he immediately hops back on his bike and follows it despite knowing it’ll most likely be a trap. After Ben has left the farm again, Changeling and everyone on their ship make it back there too but they’re only inside for a few minutes before they hear the howls of incoming TIE Fighters. Their airspace is surrounded by several TIEs while that Imperial officer from earlier flies in on his shuttle. A platoon of Stromtroopers march out with the officer, who commands Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi exit the farmhouse. Little do they know, the real Ben is closing in on Tusk somewhere else entirely. Changeling decides to do something heroic, shapeshifting into Ben and making a daring escape. Diane’s farmhouse sustains heavy damage in the process but Changeling narrowly makes it to her ship, making sure to be seen in her Ben form and provoking the Imperial forces into chasing her. She pilots her small freighter away from the planet, drawing the Empire off the farm. Changeling thinks she can string them along and somehow make it back alive but she’s outnumbered and cannot escape them. Her ship is blown to smithereens, close enough to the planet’s atmosphere that the onlooking Huey, Dewey, and Louie see the explosion in the distance and cry alien/droid/duck tears. Sad time, but it leads the Empire to at long last confirm the fatality of the legendary Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Meanwhile, the tracking device leads actual Ben to this craggy, desolate wasteland. He finds Tusk, who is waiting for him at the edge of a cave along with an ensnared Diane and Camie. Classic “you killed the people I love so now I’m gonna kill the people you love” situation. Ben tries to ease Tusk into standing down and giving up the innocent woman and her child, even offering up his own lightsaber for their safe return. The enraged Tusken Raider rejects the lightsaber before the desperate Jedi Master also offers to train him in the Force. Ben levitates his lightsaber into Tusk’s hands, promising he’d find peace in learning the ways of the Force, but Tusk is hell-bent on revenge and won’t give up. He goes against Tusken Raider culture yet again, this time removing his head coverings and baring his face (gross) and his dark side-tainted eyes. Now consumed by the dark side of the Force, Tusk roars into the cave and receives a roar in return from what sounds like a large creature. Ben suddenly regrets giving up his lightsaber just as a titanic Krayt Dragon, a monstrous reptilian behemoth native to Tatooine, emerges from the cave. The beast is about to chow down on Diane but Ben uses the Force to demand its attention. He keeps the ravenous dragon focused on him while he evades its many attacks (including its acidic venom) until he finally is able to use enough Force mojo to pacify it.

Just when the hulking, hundred-meter lizard is calming down, a furious Tusk leaps into the fray, disrupting Ben’s attempt to placate it. This turns into a chaotic three-way battle between Ben, Tusk, and the overwhelmingly strong Krayt Dragon. Though already exhausted, Ben manages to get his lightsaber back but is careful not to let it connect with Tusk’s cortosis gaderffii stick. This proves to be challenging, pushing Ben’s middle-aged agility to its limits. The old Jedi Master eventually falters when his lightsaber is fizzled out by the brittle cortosis weapon and he drops it, leaving him open to be swatted away by the dragon’s whip-like tail. Then the monster disarms and pins Tusk down, ready to bite his fucking face off, when Ben uses the Force to lift the gaderffii and send the sharp end of it through the beast’s skull like a missile. The beast is instantly killed and collapses but an injured Ben can barely stand or defend himself anymore.

Tusk picks up Ben’s lightsaber just as the cortosis’ disabling effect wears off and he turns it back on. Sure looks like Tusk is about to finish Ben with his own weapon, but instead he slashes at the Krayt Dragon’s side and makes a deep gash. Tusk reaches into the dead wyrm’s guts and retrieves a dazzling, almost luminous pearl. He hands it and the lightsaber back to Ben and expresses his newfound understanding. During the whole battle, there was no point at which Ben tried to kill Tusk, and Ben even saved Tusk from certain death in the end. It was then that the remorseful Tusken Raider could sense the truth, and that his opponent was innocent. Ben apologizes despite being vindicated, telling Tusk is was his failure as a mentor that led to the tragedy of his village. He kind of vents his guilt to Tusk, who turns around and reveals a glob of acid venom burning through his back, slowly killing him. With his dying breaths, Tusk forgives Ben and voices his regret for sending his Bantha away and for going against the traditions of his people. He urges Ben not to make that same mistake, not for anything, and he ultimately helps Ben reaffirm his faith in the Jedi. Quelling the dark side within Tusk makes Ben think of redeeming Vader and how possible or not that might be.

Everyone regroups and they mourn Changeling’s sacrifice. The Empire believes Obi-Wan has been eliminated so they pack up and leave Tatooine, forsaking their deal with the crime syndicate, which is left in shambles after losing so many thugs in the desert chase. Tusk’s Bantha, who was spiritually linked to Tusk, is found to have died right when his master did. Spooky. Ben gives the valuable Krayt Dragon pearl to Diane, Huey, Dewey, and Louie so they can sell it and use the profits for their farms. The farmers explain that slaying a Krayt Dragon and claiming its pearl are actual rites of passage for young Tusken men, so Ben and Tusk inadvertently completed that ritual in a sense. Anyway, the farmers consider hiring some enforcers of their own to stave off the remnants of the syndicate and decide to pay to rebuild Diane’s farmhouse. Owen Lars later comes to learn that Ben was responsible for the destruction of Diane’s property, not believing the explanation that it was actually Changeling posing as him (and it was really the TIE Fighters’ faults anyway). Owen refuses to allow such a dangerous individual around his nephew or the Lars family farm and so Luke doesn’t really see Ben again for another decade. And by the time they meet again in A New Hope, Ben’s perfected his Krayt Dragon call... I think?

At last, Ben is ready to say his goodbyes to Diane. She’s not upset with him about her farm, but she’s more upset that Tusk would so spontaneously give in to the dark side. Ben explains how quickly revenge can turn someone Force-sensitive to the path of violence, and it wasn’t so surprising someone who’d vowed revenge for all those years could succumb to it. “Revenge, anger, ...and attachment.” With that, she understands what Ben is having difficulty saying: they simply cannot be together. She agrees with him, expressing her newfound fear and misunderstanding of the Force and its vast influence. Diane says she can see how difficult it would’ve been to watch Anakin go through that, and she wishes one day Ben can do for Anakin what he did for Tusk. Diane kisses him... nothing intense, more of a “thank you” than anything else. I think she’d feel kind of sorry for him that she can see he’s such a noble person and he’s so devoted to his values but he won’t allow himself what would likely make him happy. With that somber gesture, Ben tells her his true name is Obi-Wan, gets back on his speeder bike, and goes back to his hut. The end! Can’t believe you made it this far. In my head this was gonna be one page tops but whoops I guess its nine. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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itsuki-minamy · 4 years ago

Text

“SIX IDOLS”

CHAPTER 2: “YATA MISAKI’S BUILDING EXPLORATION! HAUNTED HOUSE EDITION” (Part 1)

* K - Six Idols (List of Chapters) * Projects & Chapters

Translation: Naru-kun Raws: Ridia

That day, it had been raining since morning.

The fish shop shutter opened and a middle-aged woman appeared. The fish-filled foamed shelf is neat in the showcase. When he saw her, Yata bowed politely.

"Good morning, Oba-chan. You are well today."

"Oh, Misaki-chan. Yes, good morning. Are you going home now?"

"No, it's recorded from now on. It's a home visiting plan for 'Shirogin Deluxe'. Have you seen it?"

"Oh, that show! I love it too. Misaki-chan, you're supposed to be out. I'm glad."

Yata was a little glad to see her shaking her face. For him, who has never left his hometown, it is a great motivation to please people who have known him for a long time.

Yata raises his thumb and shows it to the lady.

"Thanks! Well then I'll go!"

The lady also made an approving gesture to imitate Yata.

"Yeah, come on. Good luck, I'm supporting you."

Waving as he walks, Yata realizes that his heart is filled with warm feelings. The cold of winter and the mist that clings to his skin seemed to immediately disappear at that sensation.

Yata, who passed through the business district and onto the main street, was not surprised at all to see the location car.

"Huh? Are you turning the camera already?"

"Oh, Yata-san! Hello!"

Kamamoto, who was standing near the location car, waved loudly while holding the camera. Loud greetings are good in this industry if it's on a television station.

Yata rushed over to Kamamoto and touched his head.

"Ah!"

"Don't yell! It's going to upset the neighbors!"

"No, I'm sorry! I'm happy because it's been a while since I've been in a place with you, Yata-san!"

"How do you say, we didn't do something a week ago?"

"So why are you already filming? Doesn't filming start after arriving at Kokujoji-san's house?"

"Well, anyway, we are going to visit Kokujoji-san's house, so it's up to the headmaster to take pictures before and after that!"

Kamamoto says that and Yata wonders, "Is that so?" Since a big name like Daikaku Kokujoji is involved, the production side may also be concerned about various things.

"The location car will go outside. Please put your seatbelt on."

Both Yata and Kamamoto wear belts at the director's call. With Yata's unsettling feelings, the vehicle slid slowly onto the national highway.

If he thinks about it later, he should have noticed it then.

++++++++++

Yata finally wondered when he got to the capital highway from the national highway and left Tokyo.

"Isn't that the destination in Tokyo?"

Kamamoto's camera keeps spinning. Behind the camera, Kamamoto's expression covered by sunglasses seemed to be different from his usual appearance. Kamamoto has a smile on his face like a sticker.

"That's right. Everything seems to be near the secret hot spring in Nagano prefecture."

"I haven't heard that."

"Oh, is that so? Well, I heard it for the first time today."

Yata takes a closer look at Kamamoto. Kamamoto is turning the camera with a smile on his face.

"Well, ok."

Muttering, Yata turned to the outside of the car.

It is in the morning on weekdays. Location cars fly down the highway at a comfortable speed. The flowing landscape becomes an overflowing nature.

The location car went off the road through the interchange.

"I see. Did you make a mistake on the road?"

"You are not mistaken! Director?"

The rain gets stronger.

Yata yells as he grabs the armrest.

"Hey! Is there really a Kokujoji-san's village in such a place?"

"Well, I heard that."

After that, when they passed a winding mountain road for several tens of minutes, the vehicle stopped.

"We arrived?"

Yata asked with relief. Kamamoto says in a cheerful voice.

"That's right. Look, it's Kokujoji-san's village!"

Beyond the windshield, when he saw the house illuminated by the lights, Yata's face was full of energy.

It was a decaying western-style building.

Yata slammed his fist into Kamamoto's head, regardless of whether the camera was spinning.

"Ah? What are you doing, Yata-san?"

"Where is this village? No matter how you look at it, it is an abandoned castle!"

"Oh, even if I say that... What about the director?"

The director in the seat looked back as he expanded the map.

"We are not wrong, it is here."

"Isn't that the case?! In such a place, Kokujoji-san's is a great village."

Yata's protest, however, disappeared when he saw what the director was pointing at.

A figure was at the entrance of the building.

Kamamoto says while capturing the surroundings with the camera.

"Looks like it's here, right?"

"Ah, stupid..."

The director gets out of the location vehicle and begins talking to the rabbit. Yata also opened his umbrella and got out of the vehicle, feeling uncomfortable.

"Good morning. Welcome, you have come a long way."

The rabbit bowed politely, waving in a soft voice. Yata is confused and says hello too.

"Oh, good morning. Is this it?"

"The front is closed now. Please relax in the hall first."

The rabbit turned his back to shake off Yata's question and walked into the hall. The film crew, including the director, did the same.

"Really…"

Yata, who was left alone, began to walk quickly. Instead of keeping up with them, he no longer wanted to be alone.

When…

At the edge of his sight, he saw something white moving. Reflectively, Yata turned his gaze to him.

A white figure was standing in one of the windows lined up on the second floor of the building.

The figure, whose skin and clothing were pure white, immediately disappeared into the darkness as if he had noticed Yata's line of sight.

"……"

Yata's face was pale and alternately compared the windows of the second floor with the entrance of the building.

++++++++++

The storm doesn't seem to stop, and it gets stronger and stronger. Yata eagerly watched the sound of the rain pounding from above.

"Hey. Kokujoji-san, isn't he coming yet?"

It has been almost an hour since he passed the dimly lit room. The Rabbit guide said, "Please wait a bit." and he retired and didn't show up at all. Yata and his colleagues were completely abandoned.

He's getting angry. No matter what the "Tokijikuin Agency" is, it is impossible to treat idols from other agencies so carelessly. Yata had a personality that such irrationality could not forgive.

However, now he doesn't feel angry and just wants to go home.

Every time the light from an old lamp shining on the table casts a complex shadow on the wall, the figure in Yata's mind, perhaps the white figure above, blinks.

Yata gulps and talks to Kamamoto next him.

"Maybe he doesn't feel right? So I think it's rude to bother him, we'll re-record at a later date."

"Even if you say that..."

Kamamoto was confused and spoke to the director.

"What do you think, Director? That Rabbit, I don't think he's coming back."

In progress...

#k #k project #k six idols #yata misaki #kamamoto rikyo #k fan clan

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all-sortsa-stuff · 7 years ago

Text

A new start, part 7

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

Word Count: 2288

Warning: Fluff and mentions of sex

Part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6

The following two weeks flew by. With the last of the scenes completed and retakes done for a few of the scenes, it surprised you when the director called, “It’s a wrap.” Everyone clapped and cheered, hugging everyone on set. During the four months of filming, it had become a close-knit group and you were going to miss them all. Tomorrow night would be wrap party that you were looking forward to attending. It gave everyone a chance to say goodbye before they were off to another project.

To be honest that was not the only reason why the time had flown, it was also because of Chris. When you were not working you were spending time together. Every other night you switch between houses to have dinner or watch TV. However, you had not slept together yet. That thought, while you certainly wanted to, scared the crap out of you. Not that Chris would ever push when you were not ready. He was not joking when he said he wanted to take things slow with you. Yes, there had been more kissing, which the both of you enjoyed, a lot. But nothing further than that. It was nice to not have the pressure of it looming over your head. You knew that, unlike other relationships in the past, he was not going to leave if you did not have sex with him right away.

It was hard to keep your relationship quiet on set, as everyone with eyes could see the attraction. Now that you were together all the time, everyone knew. It did not bother you in the least. You were happy and you did not care if the world knew. The only thing that ate at your gut was when the press would get wind of it and would most likely haunt you both all the time. It made things difficult in the past and you did not want anything happening to what you had now. Of course, when you mentioned it to Chris he smiled and told you not to worry about it. Things would work out and don’t let those things get to you. Even after a short time together, he knew how to calm you.

One thing though you had not done in the couple weeks together was tell your family about Chris. While they knew of the man that had you distracted at your last visit you had not elaborated any further with them. You knew Chris had told his mother. He told her everything about you and she was so excited to meet you sometime. Not that you had made plans for that yet. Both of you were scared the other would think it was too soon. So the two of you were cuddled up on your couch watching a movie at the end of your long final day of the project. Your phone started to ring with a FaceTime call coming in. When you fished it out of your pocket, you saw it was from your mom. You were not really in the mood to talk to her at the moment. As you tried to refuse the call you accidentally hit the accept button.

“Oh shit…” Chris laughed as your mom’s face popped up.

“[Y/F/N] [Y/M/N], what have I said about using that language? And who is laughing in the background?” He laughed harder trying to cover his mouth.

“Oh she pulled out the middle name. You are in trouble.” You smacked his shoulder as you looked at your mom through the phone.

“Hey mama. I know, I know ladies don’t use language like that. But I am an adult.” She rolled her eyes at you.

“Well you know I don’t wanna hear that kinda talk. Now who is that boy with you? I can hear him. It is that one that you were texting when you were home? Is he good looking?” Your cheeks flamed red as you covered your face with your free hand.

“Mom, he can hear you, you know.” Chris was doing everything he could to hold in the hysterical laughter. He was doing a really shitty job of it. Your mother beamed.

“Oh you are blushing, [Y/N/N]. That means you like him then. Good, about time. He had better be a nice boy. You don’t need another one of them like that last one. If he ever showed up again he would be getting the business end of my shotgun. Never mind your daddy’s.”

“Oh my God mom could you be any more embarrassing?” Your mother grinned wider.

“Probably, but I will behave now. But you do have to tell me who he is. I like seeing him make you so happy.” With a sigh, you looked over at Chris and moved your head close to his so he would be in the frame with you.

“Mom this is Chris. Chris this is my mom, Gini.” He waved and showed that bright beautiful smile of his. No way would your mom be immune to it.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. [Y/L/N].”

“Call me Gini. Mrs. [Y/L/N] was my mother-in-law and …”

“Mom…” Your mom had that smirk on her face.

“And bless her heart wherever she may be.”

“Mom, that is awful.”

“What? It’s not like I said I hope her hind end is getting toasty down there.” Chris laughed that goofy laugh of his making you laugh at him. “You two are the cutest thing. I bet you will make me beautiful grandbabies, one day.” You stopped laughing immediately while Chris laughed harder at your reaction.

“Okay mom I will talk to you later. I will be home at some point… maybe… eventually.” Your embarrassment had just hit its peak and you were about to break blood vessels in your face with the violent blush you had going on.

“Night baby girl. Behave and you had better bring that boy around soon. We all need to meet him.” Disconnecting the phone, you threw it across the room where it landed on the love seat. You buried your face into Chris’s shirt, praying that maybe someday your mom would not try to send you to an early grave with comments like that.

“I think I love your mom already.”

The next morning Chris showed up early with breakfast wanting to get in as much time with you before you both went home. He was going to home to Boston for the next two weeks before he had to go to Ohio for filming Captain America: The Winter Soldier. However, just before he leaves he will be escorting you to the awards as he promised. You had a month off before heading to Canada for three months to film a television show.

As you ate you joked about how your entire family would torture you when you got home, since you were sure you mom had told everyone about Chris. He thought it was hilarious. “Oh it can’t be that bad.”

“You ever met a southern family? Everyone knows now and eventually they are going to demand they meet you. So expect many threats of violence and guns.”

“Well why don’t I just meet them now and get it out of the way? That way everyone is happy and I get to spend more time with you.” You froze mid-chew.

“You want to come home with me? Now? What about your family? I thought you wanted to spend some time with them.” Listening to yourself, you sounded like you did not want him to come home with you. From the look on his face, he took it the same way. “I mean yes I want you to come with me. But I don’t want to mess up your plans, Chris.” He leaned over to kiss the end of your nose.

“You aren’t messing up any plans. I was hoping that I get to spend as much time with you as possible. I go to Tennessee with you and meet your family. Then maybe you will come to Boston and meet my crazy family. We could fly from there to L.A. for the awards before I have to head to Ohio. It’s just a thought though. If you aren’t comfortable with it, I understand. I just want more time with you.” There was no way to keep the excitement from showing on your face as you jumped into his arms.

“Guess you are coming home with me. I apologize now for what may happen. But I am so excited! I can’t wait to show you around.” Chris laughed burying his face into your neck and just inhaling. He could not get enough of you and everything about you. “Oh my God. That means I am meeting your family soon too. Wow, I hope they like me.”

“You worry way too much. They are going to love you. My mom has asked a million times already when she is going to get to meet you.” Even with the reassurance, there was still a flutter of nerves in your stomach. Nevertheless, you decided he was right and that you worry too much. Now you had to finish packing then get ready for the party tonight.

It took you the rest of the morning and early into the afternoon to get everything finished. You left just a few things out for the party tonight and something to change into in the morning when you left for home. It was decided that Chris would just sleep at your place for the night so you could drop off his rental car in the morning then get on the road. He had gone back to finish packing as well and make sure everything was clean before he left. By the time he had returned you were in the shower. When he heard the shower stop and the door open so he warned you as you walked into the bedroom. “Just so you don’t want out here naked or anything I’m here. Unless you want to walk out here naked… I would be totally fine with that.” You heard him laugh as you grinned.

“Thanks for the warning.” You got ready as quickly as you could. When you were not on set, you tried to keep your beauty routine as simple as possible. Just enough makeup to accentuate your eyes, which you considered your best feature and to cover up anything that needed covering. Drying your hair, then brushing it out you left it to its natural style. Paired all that with a pretty green sundress and flats, you were done.

No one seemed surprised when you walked into together holding hands. You were greeted warmly with hugs all around. There were so many people from the crew you were going to miss. The director gave a wonderful speech about how everyone had grown into a family and how proud he was to work with everyone. Then he talked about the possible release date in eight months and to make sure you were all ready for the press tour. Just as he finished the speech, he motioned for the music to start, and the live band started to play. It was a slow romantic song that you had heard many times on the radio. However, the director did not seem to be finished.

“This filming would not have gone so smoothly if it weren’t for our stars. [Y/N] and Chris, you two have been some of my favorites to work with. Thank you for making everyone’s lives easier on this shoot. I hope it has been as amazing for you both. Show everyone one last time why you were truly made to play Tommy and Connie.” He meant for you to dance first. Chris stood up with his beautiful smile, leading you towards the dance floor. As you started to move to the music, everyone applauded. Soon many others followed and so the night went on. There was laughing and dancing, food and fun. Even in the flats, by the end of the night, your feet were killing you. It was almost midnight when you walked into the beach house. Both you and Chris were exhausted.

“What time did we say we were going to leaving in the morning?” He asked as he plopped down on the couch. His head feel back against one of the pillows.

“Umm early but at this rate I will be happy if we wake up before noon.” He grabbed your hand as you leaned down to steal a kiss.

“How about we leave when we are ready. No rushing.”

“That sounds like a good plan to me.” Kissing him again you moved to pull off your shoes and walk back towards your bedroom.

“You just going to leave me here?” You could see the pouty lip he was trying to throw in your direction.

“Yes and I will tell you why. One, I am completely exhausted. I need my bed. Two, you are a big boy, handsome. You know exactly where the spare room is. And three, if I come back over there and kiss you again I will end up with no clothes on. Normally that would not bother me at all. But right now, I would not want the possibility of falling asleep mid-coitus. So goodnight, baby. I will see you in the morning.” As you walked into the bedroom, you blew him a kiss. He was grinning and blew one back. Closing the door, you had to take a breath. A very long breath. It may not be much longer you could keep from stripping that man down and doing the dirty all night.

It was going to be an interesting two weeks.

Part 8

@feelmyroarrrr @bolontiku @aquabrie @malindacath @thegirlwithnodragontattoo @magellan-88 @jensenxnina@thedoctorsnerdgirl @waywardswain @tacohead13 @beckyboo1188 @pegasusdragontiger @our-chaoticwhispers @castellandiangelo @smoothdogsgirl @kitty11223 @sf0206 @debzybrazy @theresnotenoughwords

#chris evans #chris evans imagine #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans x reader #chris evans x you #christopher evans #christopher evans x reader #chris evans fandom #chris evans fic #chris evans fanfic #chris evans fluff #fanfic #fanfiction

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mittensmorgul · 8 years ago

Note

i love your s12 spn meta post, i love how you've analysed things and looked through different angles, but i have to admit. sometimes i feel that us fans of the show think more complexly about the characters and scenes than the writers themselves. they've shown continuity errors and character development mistakes time and time again, and the queerbaiting is frustrating as fuck. it doesn't make sense to me that these people are the same ones orchestrating such fantastic plotlines.

(i ran out of space for that previous ask) but again, i sincerely mean no disrespect to you or to the creators of the show. it was just my two cents. i'm sorry if you find it offensive in any way, i definitely did not mean for it to come off as rude! :(

Hi... I didn’t take it as rude, so you’re fine. :P

(I probably wouldn’t have posted it on anon, though, just because I don’t see the show as being fully of continuity errors and character development mistakes, and “queerbaiting” is in the eye of the beholder and seems a harsh statement to level against a writing staff that is comprised of several LGBT writers. Especially when they have been addressing queer characters and issues in serious ways, and absolutely not making them the punchline of a joke or dismissing them. It’s a word I would not throw around so casually.)

***On second thought, after typing ALL of this out, I feel like having spent the whole morning on it, it should be on my blog... I hope that’s okay.

Half the point of my rewatch (which, oops, I’m behind on because TNT showed a ten episode marathon the morning after a new episode aired, and the new episode had to take priority over the old) is to point out how consistent ALL of these things are.

There’s a post I like very much that I just saw again yesterday:

People should probably learn the difference between “plot holes” and “things I didn’t like” or “things the franchise plans to explain in the future” or “things film makers didn’t think they needed to explicitly explain because they thought you had critical thinking skills”

I didn’t reblog it because it’s already somewhere on my blog from ages ago, but especially relevant to s12, because of the way they’re telling the story.

99% of the time what looks on the surface like a “plot hole” is actually an expansion of canon, and yelling PLOT HOLE! or RETCON! just because something seems different means there’s a reason for the difference now.

Like the fact we’ve seen several shapshifters who don’t shed their skin like puddles of goo and can just *poof* into a new form. We’ve had shifters like this since s6 when we learned about the alphas. Truly powerful shifters don’t need to shed to change form.

(on a practical level, it makes the prop department’s job easier because they don’t have to create goo puddles, but also they’re able to use a shifter’s ability to change instantly as a plot point, and have done so several times very effectively. Like in 12.20 when Ketch was torturing “Mary” and punched her, so the shifter took on HIS form. They couldn’t have done that if they hadn’t introduced this more powerful strain of shifter before.)

Technically, everything that’s happened since 4.01 would fit the strictest definition of plot hole, because it had already been established that angels did not exist. And yet... here were angels.

Cas said in the past that angels were now walking the earth for the first time in two thousand years, so the fact he’d been down here in a vessel in 1901 must be a plot hole too... unless you assume that Cas’s previous statement was both specific and hyperbolic (which really isn’t a stretch, angels have always avoided certain truths in order to manipulate us). Angels as a whole hadn’t embarked on a unified mission to earth in the last 2000 years, but we know that Lily’s first encounter with Ishim in 1901 was because SHE SUMMONED HIM. She performed a magical spell that BROUGHT AN ANGEL TO EARTH. And the events of their relationship unfolded to the point she felt compelled to summon yet another angel (Akobel) to protect her from Ishim. Well, suddenly there’s a whole flight of angels coming to kill her, you know? It’s not the sort of story that any of the angels involved would be cheerfully chirping on about.

Point being, if Lily Sunder was capable of summoning an angel, there’s probably been OTHER people over the course of human history who’d tried it too. All of heaven may not have descended like they did in s4, but here and there, angels very well may have been watching over us.

It’s not a plot hole, it’s an expansion of canon. It refines our understanding and reminds us that we don’t know everything about the entire history of that universe.

I think there’s two kinds of people: Those who see something they think is a “mistake” in canon and scream PLOT HOLE! and get upset about it and think the writers are idiots, and then there are those who see that same thing and wonder how does that fit with the information I already have and then try to understand.

Sometimes a plot hole is just a plot hole (like the time travel nonsense in 12.13 that turns into a strange loop of infinitely decreasing returns), but most of the time it’s really really not.

As for characterization “errors”, most of the time they are incredibly purposeful. Like the whole scene at the beginning of 12.15. People are STILL shouting, “Out of character! Dean hates germs! He would NEVER do that!” and therefore MISSED THE ENTIRE POINT OF THAT SCENE.

Which was SAM standing there staring at Dean THINKING THE EXACT SAME THING.

Dean was putting on the performance FOR SAM. He KNEW Sam was lying to him about where the cases were coming from, and Dean’s not a moron. They visit the MoL, and suddenly a few days later Sam’s got a “magic phone app” that finds cases for him? Yeah, Dean wasn’t about to let Sam keep lying to him, and yet Sam was STILL lying to him even after two weeks of hunting, so he kept upping the Disgusting Quota trying to get Sam to break and confess. Because if he just comes out and asks Sam directly, he continues to lie and give him weak excuses. There’s more to it than that, but that’s the basics right there...

The one characterization thing that actually bugs me was the scene in 9.04 where Sam and Dean are watching Game of Thrones with Charlie, and Jensen and Jared DECIDED TO SWAP LINES because they felt that Sam was the one who would read the books, and not Dean... (Robbie Thompson, who wrote the scene, is still grumpy about it, too). Because DEAN DOES READ. And in this scene HE was the one who was supposed to be mirrored to Charlie through their mutual love of this particular brand of nerdery. It sort of wrecks the entire characterization of the episode, in which Dean’s usual “performing Dean” persona was SUPPOSED to fall down in Charlie’s company, and he would casually and comfortably admit he enjoyed reading the epic fantasy series (which, really, we know Dean reads fantasy novels... he’s a huge effing nerd).

Why do you think in 11.04 (also by Robbie Thompson) he wrote the line about Dean knowing that the phrase “god helps those who helps themselves” was from Aesop and not the bible? Because Jensen COULDN’T JUST HAND THAT LINE TO JARED. He HAD to admit he read. Because Performing Dean is one thing, but when he’s not trying to project that facade, he’s brilliant.

So yeah, 99% of it is 100% intentional. It’s our job as viewers to think about why. You can absolutely watch the show as a passive casual viewer (and the most casual viewer wouldn’t even NOTICE the things that get called plot holes or characterization mistakes), or you can see those things that seem not to make sense on the surface and look for the reason they struck you as being slightly wrong. Because if you dig just a little bit deeper, it opens up an entire new level of understanding about the show.

The writing is NEVER going to hand you all of that deeper characterization on a plate. That would make for TERRIBLE writing. All they want is for the characters and the plots to stick with us, so that we DO turn these issues over in our heads, so we DO think critically about them, and hopefully come to some compelling and fascinating conclusions. Or at the very least we’re eager to tune in again the following week to see if our suspicions are confirmed.

This is a hook that writers have been using since writing was a thing. This is how stories are told. Not just in the words, but in the negative spaces. We’re not just supposed to consume stories, but in the very best way, the best stories also consume US. They make us into an active participant in the narrative, and force us to consider the world and characters on our screens as real people.

That’s how all of this works.

#spn meta meta #this is how stories work #caerulaen

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