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cateringisalie · 1 year ago

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So there’s a new translation mod for FFVII – one that includes cut-content and is leaning on developer commentary for how to translate into English. That’s a thing. It also is using Compilation and Remake as guidance on the translation. That’s… that’s bad? Like, if you prefer Final Fantasy VII as it was released on the PSX and don’t like what Remake has been doing to the story, a lot of people are really quick and willing to tell you to not worry. The old game is right there. And it is… sort of.

There’s a whole bunch of issues with the original game in this sense. There is the game as released on the PSX which is harder to source now thanks to the nature of physical releases that old (they can be found but can be pricey). There’s the PC port which is ostensibly the version you can mostly easily get – though the PC port changed a few minor things, and the Steam/PS4/Switch release changed a few more things. That’s not even getting into how the Japanese release of the PSX game is missing a few bits and pieces the US/rest of the world PSX version has (namely Ruby and Emerald Weapon, the escape from Nibelheim) which lead to the Japanese re-release of the US version as Final Fantasy VII International. So, saying you can just have the original game is a bit flippant if we’re being strict about what that means. It feels additionally off that people are actively modding it to “fix” the translation but with an eye to keeping it consistent with the Remake and Compilation.

Which is just… if Remake is a sequel to Advent Children as people love to speculate, why should the original game be consistent with a modified universe in its future? If Remake is a drop-in replacement then why does it change so much stuff that you need to alter the original translation to fit with it?

What even is the necessity of a new translation?

(some might here point out Reminiscence of FFVII included on the AC DVD as a point that there is scope for a new translation. And sure, the Japanese text is done as subtitles and maybe its a little different to the PSX version. But its basically beside the point. Handful of examples and unlikely whoever got the job of subbing the documentary was unlikely to go boot up a PSX just to replicate the dialogue as originally displayed)

People are very eager to buy into the idea that FFVII was badly translated. While it is true there are spelling mistakes, grammar errors, some peculiar though minor terminology switches, a few misleading lines and the odd point where someone will say something utterly nonsensical… the US release of FFVII is great. Oh, its not got the same translation and localization quality as FFVI or Vagrant Story sure, but its not wrong in any meaningful way. Friends of mine have played through the Japanese FFVII and in their estimation the tone and characters and meaning of the experience tallies very close to the translated PSX version. No translation can be perfect – you don’t think we have this many translations of Don Quixote because this time we’ll get it righter than the previous versions, do you?

Translation – and localisation – is an art. The latter’s need to more blatantly alter cultural aspects that would be obscure in the West has eroded over time thanks to increasing familiarity with other cultures. It’s still essential as some cultural stuff just doesn’t come across (like, I know some would know the answers, but some of Persona 5’s test questions are completely outside common knowledge and necessitate looking up the answers. The test questions are pretty clearly completely non-localized) – and you can either replace if possible or going to have to stick a big asterisk beside the item. Translation, though, aims to capture the spirit of the original. This, incidentally, is a thing I remember from the introduction to the copy of Don Quixote I have – this translation was trying to capture Cervantes’s voice and how it would feel to read in the original language in another language.

And by – admittedly – anecdotal evidence, FFVII’s US version works absolutely fine. But I think there is a method to illustrate there’s nothing wrong with the original translation:

The desire for Compilation consistency I understand but don’t appreciate, but Remake consistency is baffling.

A more interesting question to me is this: you, as a FFVII fan from the PSX days, likely sought out Advent Children as soon as it leaked. Fan subs were rendered pretty quickly and a certain amount of US fans likely watched the film before it was officially out in Japan (given the choice was watch it immediately or wait 7 months for the official dubbed release). Did you – in all honesty – not understand something that happened in Advent Children because of how FFVII US portrayed the story?

Was any character radically out of step with the depiction (excepting Cloud whom the creatives have admitted is OOC and then there’s a whole book to try and justify this). Was any character outright unfamiliar (excepting the remnants, Denzel and Moogle Girl – all added to the film without precedents in FFVII)? Sure, Rufus surviving is something of a surprise, but no version of the PSX release ever implied he had. Tseng’s a more nebulous point but even then neither version says he’s alive or dead. If you did steer well clear of subtitles and bittorrent at the time, same questions when the dub was released.

Given reaction at the time, no one was lead into a state of confusion or voiced some op-ed about how the PSX version of FFVII let them down when they came to watch Advent Children. There are bits and pieces of corrections/clarifications certainly – some honestly thought Tifa wore shorts in the PSX game, the nature and sizing of materia had a consensus but you would find outliers and AC presented a consistent size. About the only excuse I will allow for is if you played FFVII PSX and never found Yuffie or Vincent and yet here they are as part of the case. Fairer, though given their presence in the manual they weren’t hugely secret (something older FF fans got annoyed about at the time. Also, also if you had the real early subs with “Shion” instead of Tseng and not knowing “Agito” meant hideout and thinking the Forgotten Capital had an actual name or “Sierra” instead of Shera. You know, faults with the fansubs which were done in absurd haste anyway).

There was a lot of valid criticism of what AC wound up as and what its legacy has been but no one familiar with FFVII could not get a handle on what AC showed. And any part that you were confused over (and there are some) is a fault with AC/the Compilation not FFVII.

AC, incidentally, originally came with an animated short – since replaced with One the Way to a Smile – Case of Denzel. This older animation was called Last Order and more closely tied itself to Before Crisis – the mobile phone-centric game no one really talks about and has a lot of very strange plot adjustments that largely never got picked up. Not least was the expanded Turks cast (more than Veld and Cissnei) and their presence in most major incidents of most of FFVII’s cast’s pre-game lives. The point of LO was an action thing of Zack on his way to Midgar with Cloud but also a brief recreation of the burning of Nibelheim. LO is fascinating in that when it altered the scenes inside the reactor, fandom as a whole objected. This is why its not on Advent Children Complete discs.

The objection is small but kinda pivotal even if you can introduce reasons why it shouldn’t derail anything (and yet, Genesis is still allowed in Crisis Core somehow) – Tifa is awake when Cloud reaches her and the two share a brief conversation. Its small but that’s an issue with how FFVII works isn’t it? Sure, she can assume it was a delusion/dream/blood loss but Cloud’s also meant to be afraid its already too late for her. Oh, also he has Mako-eyes already.

So hey, LO in direct conflict with FFVII. And FFVII won. LO was ejected and never comes up the same way as the rest of the Compilation.

BC I can’t talk to much as the experience of trying to watch the story on youtube is not fun. I can say it reasonably weirdly introduces Weiss and Nero as SOLDIER recruits (so that’s why these members of the DC cast just kind of show up in CC to connect into DC) as well as the afore-mentioned expanded Turks. And has Cloud also have Mako eyes pre-capture (as with LO) and be some weird other kind of infantry guy. But no discussion or fic relying on BC is in open conflict with how FFVII told its story. Any inconsistencies stem from BC meddling with the backstory.

Its also worth noting here that FFVII – like every FF up to X was conceived of as a single instance (sorry FFIII is not connected to FFVIII, the previously popular FFVI to FFVII connection amounts to nothing. The FFVII and FFVIII references in FFIX are meant to be there but like as… jokes? Nods? Reference humour? Its cute. Like putting FFVII references in Parasite Eve 2. And like how FFVII has Xenogears references. And the FFX-2 to FFVII connection is terrible). There’s the weird and undeveloped maybe FFVI-2 but that seems to have gotten no further than a battle mock-up. All this extra sequel and prequel stuff was never considered during FFVII’s writing (and why would you? Yes, allegedly CC was based on an idea at the time of FFVII’s writing, but that doesn’t magically convey it established canon status if it wasn’t reworked to an unclear degree and released as a game a decade later. Even it was fully-formed, that’s a fault with CC as released and not FFVII. Far more interesting is how Parasite Eve and Xenogears were both discarded or rejected ideas before anything like the released game was conceived. Like how Resident Evil 4 produced at least three other games during development).

Dirge of Cerberus used to vie for worst additional element. And maybe it still does depending on your attitude. But as the third Compilation release (ignoring the book), the western version still relied on the FFVII PSX version for context on what was going on and how it related back to familiar characters. Deepground are unfamiliar! Pretty sure the Japanese audience didn’t know about them prior to this game either. Here are Nero and Weiss and maybe you can feel better for knowing they came from BC, though that’s a slim victory – likewise Grimoire (yep. Another BC one. Squeenix clearly absolutely care about your understanding of the universe and that’s why this weirdly key game was never localised. It could have been at the cost of CC). All the Omega Weapon, Proto-materia and chaos ramblings are all new. The tsviets and the fact the Planet has internet is something of a new reveal is it not?

And last of the Compilation is Crisis Core. Now, admittedly, Zack seems OOC here! Or maybe because it’s a prequel you feel he’s OOC in FFVII PSX. Which… that’s not how writing works if you are being honest. If Zack seems OOC to someone when playing FFVII PSX this is a problem with at least CC and possibly BC as well. And sure, maybe you would struggle to get him to match to his presentation in FFVII PSX as a writer. Hard to have sympathy when this unnecessary story was greenlit. You played yourself Squeenix. You walked into this situation with open arms.

People tend to gloss over what happens to Aerith here, but any conflict between how CC relays its story and how FFVII PSX presented it does not stem from a translation issue otherwise the problems would be wider reaching (see also how Aerith acts in Remake which is far, far closer to FFVII PSX than CC). You can claim that Aerith is no different, but her actions in FFVII PSX feel unlikely for the version of her wandering in CC to ever do and vice-versa. Like, her physically rushing into events in FFVII PSX being a thing you don’t see her do in CC (aware of the justifications for this too and they are absolutely awful).

And maybe you can justify why she is like that to yourself, you can’t blame the translation for why this is happening. A better translation will not smooth that shift and the mod adhering to Remake or Compilation will still conflict with what her polygonal model does on screen versus what it might now say.

What even is the point of restoring cut content?

I have heard that a chunk of the difference between Remake and FFVII US can be found in the cut or dummied text on the PSX disc. So we should all be happy its back because it was always supposed to be thing way.

Things are cut for reasons and blind restoration is not good by default. The most coherent theory I’ve ever seen for the FFVII cuts are timing and flow at the start of the game. And given FFVII PSX goes very, very fast and Remake is noticeably slower and time-consuming, it makes sense as a reason for the cuts to be made. Midgar is an oppressive atmosphere to make reaching the world map expansive and awe-inspiring.

Cuts can also be for bad ideas. Sure they got to the point where the text was in the resource files, but a whole tone of stuff gets into these (seriously, if this is new to you what happens is they pack all the data into big resource files and these are shipped out as is with the game. Things don’t tend to get pulled out once integrated because it’s hard to be sure all the places something is referenced. Hence dummying the text rather than stripping it out. You can’t be certain you found all the locations and the file-size difference is negligible) and is unused because of changes in attitude. Putting this back in does not increase understanding or consistency. No version of the PSX game was released with all this cut content in place – not ahead of Advent Children and not ahead of Remake.

There’s no expectation a player should ever be aware of what was removed before release. Knowing it won’t increase your appreciation of the PSX game. In truth it will only serve to champion the authority of the now de facto writer of the series and every one of his decisions. I find it highly contentious that he should be considered nearly the sole arbiter – and adhering to his attitude feels like it has been done with a mind towards a case that Remake is the superior version because the PSX game was hopelessly compromised. Which I would hope is pretty clearly not the case. The text was dummied out in Japan as well, again, both versions of FFVII PSX share the same mood, atmosphere and tone.

Cuts can also be made because those with more authority don’t like what they now say about character or events or attitudes of the characters. Restoring this risks throwing even more out.

I do understand broadly what the hope for this kind of thing. Make the game default Aerith instead of Aerith (and I am fully aware the game internally calls her Aerith before the prompt which then defaults Aeris in. This is a trivial bug all things considered. Plus, you do know the game has a basic expectation of you renaming the cast on your own whims, right? This was a thing right up to FFX at the last. Dictated party names was purely if you wanted them/to refer to them in conversation with others. Now you get no choice to personalize the game). Dig up the old honeybee inn scenes. Dig up the old Highwind scene (maybe. Not sure that ever got anywhere). Get some insight into the future of Remake by finding a late on conversation which alters the perception of FFVII PSX (but, I mean, people have extracted this text ages ago. You can go read it now if you want). But more than a “better” translation, the cut content will skew the experience of playing the game.

FFVII did not have the “best” translation or localisation – this is true. It did however capture the spirit of the game as released on PSX and in truth the case for a new translation is a handful of mistakes and a prevailing notion that it was always bad (and just… people aren’t careful or really seem to get what they’re messing with. I tried Because once and got weirded out by Reno and Rude changed to Leno and Lude – no official material reflects that change so why?). And no one familiar with the game was lost with Compilation entries for any reason other than those entries failed to set things up properly or forced new details into an existing story (or relied on an unreleased phone-based video game or a book that wasn’t due to be translated. These are faults of Squeenix’s business operations not a video-game from 1997).

(for localisation examples. So FFVIII has a weird fixation with hot dogs which is kind of just funny on the face of it. You can make them part of battle prep if you want. But… are they hot dogs? Zell looks like he's eating one in the end credits but to me it looks more like Yakisoba Bread. As in, what is localised in English as Hot Dogs was either Yakisoba bread or potentially simply bread in the Japanese release. Not wholly more sensible even in Japanese but not quite the same absurd feel. But I reckon the translators were stuck on what to replace it with until they saw the ending and make a judgement call. In 1999 getting across the concept of bread was going to be tricky. A more recent game likely wouldn't sub the food stuff given your audience has a better bet at understanding what it is)

Sure, some stuff didn’t make it through translation. I know people like that Aeris has a nick-name for Cloud that is totally absent in English – a shame, but its not a fundamental loss; their interactions are clear enough and the shippers still latched on just fine to the romantic potential between them.

The distinction between Reeve and Cait Sith’s voices doesn’t come across very well, but that’s a factor you would struggle to do purely in English text in any case. Didn’t make the reveal any less of a surprise though did it?

There is nothing in FFVII PSX that prompted the inconsistencies of the Compilation – that’s on those (mostly) same writers not remembering, not caring, or desperate to include a plot that required massaging, breaking, or ignoring how the PSX game said things worked or happened (see: Genesis at Nibelheim). The fault lies with the Compilation however much you personally may like it. Inconsistencies with Remake are likewise Remake’s fault and while you can turn up some elements that were created and critically discarded for the 1997 release, their restoration in Remake doesn’t make them any better ideas now than then – and it certainly doesn’t cover the fate ghosts (or whatever they are) or Sephiroth’s intro being a million times less effective at threat than FFVII PSX.

Any similarity between the dummied text on the PSX disc and the additions to Remake’s dialogue means is that the person with the final say-so on what is included has absolutely changed since 1997 and with it the character of the series. Even he wasn’t right all the time or made the best decisions, but he remains an oft-excluded (and completely from the development of Remake) critical part of why this game has a remake at all. I will of course be accused of being a purist and nostalgic, but again I must reference a friend who noted that the only reason people were so excited by Remake was via nostalgia and perhaps curiosity about other people’s nostalgia. Their nostalgia and positivity is seemingly more valid to others than my nostalgia and negativity.

FFVII PSX means a lot to me. And maybe Remake means a lot to you. I can’t take that away from you, and my experience with FFVII can’t be taken away but it feels like it’s getting tarnished. It is hard going when FVII PSX seems to only merit mention in context with Remake, with Compilation. Not in context to itself – the context it was created for. A single story with a start and end. Characters given as much background and detail as they needed to work for their roles. A game so many embraced. People were not calling for a Remake for so long (originally) for any reason than wanting to see the same thing but prettier (forgetting its dismissal in some contexts on release for being style/graphics over any other quality. Somewhat ironic). Entirely possible the desire post Compilation was to “fix” FFVII for consistency with the Compilation (which is a pretty distressing notion!) but the whole game’s legacy and fandom and popularity is because of the PSX game not in spite of it as so many seem to treat it now.

Yeah, it’s not as pretty, yeah the controls are clunkier and battles are slower.

But.

Its story and how it used different styles of cut-scene depending on context were considered and effectively chosen. It built character and told story with words and battles and animation. The polygonal figures are not realistic (until they need to be. To make sure the scene will impact you as intended) but perfectly able to convey the emotions they need to. It has mistakes, it has jank. It has some terrible plot shifts in places. Yes, you can leave the end of the world hanging for months if you want to breed and race chocobos. But it was still the start – the foundation upon which everything else was built, it was still a success. And not one part of the Compilation or Remake would have been considered for a second if it had not been a success. It is not a first version for which a second version exists that lead to all the add-ons.

No new translation is ever going to change that situation or truly improve on the experience from 1997.

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starset21 · 1 year ago

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Standard Disclaimer: I only own my original characters, I've done some research but there will likely be Navy/military inaccuracies, and I do not consent to the posting, translating, or publishing of my work to any 3rd party site, the only place it may be found is on tumblr and Wattpad under @.itswildflower

A/N: This story is heavily inspired by the hallmark movie of the same title and is very self-indulgent. I'm also trying a different format than I'm used to using so it may change in the future chapters.

Looking for the other chapters? U.S.S. Christmas Masterlist

Summary: Kate and her family join Jake and his father for dinner with some added company, Kate learns there may be more to just being on the ship with her family.

Chapter 3: Dinner with old friends (and new)

“Ladies, Jackson, welcome. Please, have a seat,” Ron greeted them.

“Oh, my gosh, it looks so beautiful!” Elizabeth complimented.

“Thank you. We take our christmases very seriously on the Polaris,” he grinned.

“How do you decorate something that looks like a rhino in a rainstorm? Not to mention its size. I'm guessing, what… 125 maybe eight-foot Christmas trees laid end to end?” Kate asked.

“Well, I've never quite heard it put that way before,” Ron laughed.

“Kate has quite a way with words sometimes, don't you, darling?” Elizabeth smiled at her daughter.

“Well, the senior chief who runs the post office is in charge of all things Christmas, and he's been here forever,” Ron told her as they took their seats.

“Waste of time if you ask me. Ships are for combat… Not Christmas,” Jake spoke up as he walked in with the woman from the ball from the other door.

“And that is why they start to call him the grinch around Christmas time. Great fighter pilot, but a bit of a Christmas curmudgeon. Oh, forgive my manners. Charlotte, welcome,” Ron greeted.

“Thank you for the invite, Captain,” Charlotte smiled.

“Hmm. This is Elizabeth, Kate, and Jackson. I flew with their father.”

Charlotte nodded. ��Nice to meet you all!”

“Charlotte is a successful writer,” Ron told them.

“Oh. What do you write about?” Kate asked.

“Romance. I'm a big traveler, so I find amazing love stories from around the world and turn them into novels,” Charlotte told them.

“Wow, how interesting. You know, I met Jake's mother on a Christmas tiger cruise about 35 years ago,” Ron reminisced.

“Really?” Kate asked.

“Mm-hm. I was a young lieutenant at the time, and Barbara was a college student visiting her brother. How's that for a unique love story?” Ron asked.

“Without the happy ending,” Jake muttered under his breath.

“So your father was looking for Christmas presents for you kids at a flea market in Japan. And he asked the vendor for a doll… Using his best Japanese, of course. Well, she thought he said… "Cat." Well, your father, he was so confused,” Ron told them.

“I remember the little Japanese dolls he got me,” Kate nodded.

“Yeah. He bought you… A kimono, Elizabeth. Pink with flowers, if I recall,” Ron asked her mother and Elizabeth nodded.

“Yeah. He did.”

“It was always your father's mission to find you girls something new and exciting for Christmas. I used to do the same for Jake.”

Jake scoffed. “Most kids find their presents under the tree. Found mine in the mailbox every year.”

Another man in uniform walked in.

“Dan, hey. You made it,” Ron greeted.

“Sorry I missed dinner. I was airborne,” Dan apologized.

“Dan's a pilot, and Charlotte's brother. They're old family friends,” Jake explained.

“Mom said Dan and I needed more quality time together, so here I am on a Navy ship,” Charlotte laughed.

“So you're not…” Kate trailed off.

“Not what? Oh, together? No, no. I love Jake like my own brother. Oh, Dan, that reminds me. We promised mom we'd call her after dinner. I hope you don't mind if we sneak out?” Charlotte asked.

“No, not at all, not at all. Looks like we're finished up anyway,” Ron told her.

“Yeah, I have to work the night shift,” Jackson stood up.

“Oh. Can I come watch you for a bit? Please? I want to see you in action,” Elizabeth asked as she stood too.

“I'd love that, mom. I'll get some coffees to go. Kate, you want to come?” Jackson asked.

“No, I'm kind of tired,” Kate told him and Jackson nodded.

“Thank you so much. It was just perfect,” Elizabeth told Ron as Jackson took her arm to lead her out.

“You're welcome. Uh, Jake, why don't you walk Kate to her stateroom. It's very easy to get lost around here.” Ron told him before leaving the room with Jackson and their mother.

“Looks like it's just the two of us,” Kate rubbed her hands together.

“Can't believe you thought Charlotte was my girlfriend,” Jake teased.

“Well, I mean, first there was the ball, then she showed up at dinner. I think it's a natural assumption.”

“That makes sense. It's just funny 'cause my dad's always telling me that if I don't meet someone, I'm gonna be alone forever,” Jake snickers.

“My brother tells me the same thing. He say he wants me to find lasting love,” Kate laughs and Jake raises a brow. “Jackson wants me to date an officer, which is not gonna happen. Sorry, it's just that military life is not for me,” she elaborated.

“It's not for everyone,” Jake admits.

“It's pretty amazing, though, that your dad met your mom on a Christmas tiger cruise. Does that happen often?” Kate asked him.

“Wouldn't know. I'm not really focused on that kind of thing. I'm just here to fly my jet and serve this country,” Jake shrugged.

“You said something at dinner about it having an unhappy ending. What did you mean?” Kate asked.

“Nothing. It's not important.” The two of them walked in silence for a moment. “This place is like a giant maze.”

Jake nodded. “Twenty stories high and almost as long as the empire state building is tall. Here we are,” he came to a stop in front of a doorway.

“Wow. Thanks for helping me get back.”

Jake offered her his thousand watt smile. “Just call me your top gun tour guide. Staterooms are in there.”

Kate laughed. “Okay, thanks. See you tomorrow?” She asked.

“See you tomorrow,” he confirmed before she turned down the corridor to her stateroom and entered it.

“Captain?”

Ron turned from the navigation screens he was looking at the next morning. “Huh. It's Ron. And come on in, please. Hi, Kate, what can I do for you today?” he asked.

“Well, I was thinking about something you said at dinner last night, about meeting your wife on a Christmas tiger cruise,” Kate started.

“Ah, Christmas 1984, yeah. But I should tell you, Barbara and I got divorced a long time ago,” Ron told her.

“I'm sorry. Jake alluded to something at dinner,” she apologized.

“The divorce was tough on him as a kid,” Ron admitted sadly.

“Well, military life is hard on any family,” Kate sympathized.

“I hear you. But, you know, some couples do figure it out. Barbara and I, we weren't the first ones to fall in love on a tiger cruise, you know,” Ron told Kate.

“Do you happen to know anyone that I could maybe talk to about that?” Kate asked.

“I'd have to ask around. Everybody's kind of all over the place these days.”

Kate nodded. It was understandable. “Thanks. There must be such rich history on this ship,” she remarked.

“Well, if you're interested, we do have an archives room. Photos, records. You might find something in there,” Ron told her.

“I'd love to take a look.” Kate smiled.

“What's this for, anyway? A story?” he asked.

“Maybe, I… I don't really know yet,” Kate told him.

“Well, I'd find it interesting. Tell you what, I'll have Jake take you for a look around. He can help you with anything you need.”

Kate raised a brow. “Sir, do you think he's gonna be okay with that? Romance and Christmas?” Kate asked.

“Honestly... No! But it might do him some good.”

Jake happened to walk in just as his dad finished speaking.

“No. I have flight ops, and we're trying to finish all the maintenance logs before the end of the year. I'm too busy, pops,” Jake told him.

“I'll clear your schedule. You get Kate whatever she needs. That's an order, Lieutenant Seresin!” Ron smirked and shot Kate a wink before shooing them away.

#starset writes #jake seresin x oc #fic:// u.s.s christmas #top gun maverick au #jake hangman seresin #jake seresin fanfiction

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bloggingproject · 10 months ago

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Kill Bill Movie Review

By Nahla White

I remember once hearing someone compare Quinten Tarantino films to Frank Ocean songs, and while that comparison might not ring as significant to the average person, when I first heard it, I immediately understood. Both Tarantino and Frank have a way of storytelling that is gripping and engaging, but also hard to pull off; they give information in small bits at a time, only filling in the blanks when it’s necessary for the audience to know something in order to convey a bigger picture. I kept this in the back of my mind as I watched the “Kill Bill” series for the millionth time and realized that the statement still held up. Tarantino’s style of directing and writing (which is arguably its most distinguished in the two films) is sporadic in a way that leaves the audience on the edge of their seat – always eager to get to the next chapter of the story. Not only that, but the dramatic script, creative fight choreography, and amazing performances by the cast all come together to create one of the most iconic viewing experiences of the century thus far. Because the series comprises two films, I’ll be reviewing them as one just for the sake of time, even though both films have their own distinct qualities and characteristics.

The story of “Kill Bill” follows a young woman who formerly belonged to a deadly assassination squad as she travels across the world seeking revenge for the murder of her family and friends at the hands of her former comrades. The Bride, played by Uma Thurman, slowly makes her way through each of the other five members of her former group before she ends up facing off with the titular Bill character, played by David Carradine.

Starting off with the script, while the premise itself isn’t all that creative, the execution is what makes it stand out the most from other action films of the early 2000s. The films borrow many tropes and plot points that are reminiscent of both old kung fu flicks and westerns, and I’d say the way in which the script stands out the most is how characters drop one-liners reminiscent of said older films. There are so many banger lines in these films I can’t even begin to count them all. A personal favorite of mine comes from the first film where Hattori Hanzo (played by Sonny Chiba) is presenting a blade to Beatrix and proclaims, “If on your journey, you should encounter God, God will be cut,” obviously in reference to the blade being his best work. The films are filled with lines such as these, and while they’re very over the top and dramatic, within the context of the film coupled with Tarentino’s directing style, they fit perfectly.

Not only that, but as I stated before, many of the scenes and characters' backstories also pull from very common tropes seen in kung fu, western, and anime films. A prime example of this would be the entire training montage between Beatrix and her master Pai Mei, played by Gordon Liu. In said montage, Beatrix is shown perfecting multiple different styles of kung-fu as well as undergoing training exercises commonly featured in older kung-fu movies such as carrying buckets of water up and down flights stairs. It’s also important to note that Gordon Liu is also a famous martial arts actor in his own right, having starred in iconic films such as The 36th Chamber of Shaolin and Shaolin and Wu Tang.

I think another great example of Tarantino implementing an anime style of storytelling into his works is the entire chapter of the film dedicated to O-ren Ishii’s backstory. O-ren, played by Lucy Liu, is a fan favorite, and I think this is in no small part to the extensive amount of time Tarantino spends on building her up as the main antagonist of the first film. O-ren’s backstory is told through the medium of animation, which is fitting given her Japanese heritage, and in said backstory, her parents are brutally murdered at the hands of a yakuza boss. She eventually seeks her revenge, which sends her down the path of becoming an assassin and a crime boss of her own making as well. It's a classic villain origin story. One that is very common in many anime both past and present. Despite this section being the only animated part of the movie, and O-ren being the only villain Tarantino decides to spend such an extensive amount of time focusing on, it never feels out of place and only serves to make the film even more distinctly unique than it already was.

Now, taking a bit of a step away from me glazing Quinten Tarantino, I’d like to draw a bit of attention to the choice of licensed music and the soundtrack. The choice to use Nancy Sinatra’s Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) as a sort of theme for the film is excellent. It’s the first song that plays and perfectly foreshadows the premise of the movie when the audience has little information about the film. A few other favorite songs of mine featured in the film are The Lonely Shepherd, composed by Gheorghe Zamfir and James Last, and The Flower of Carnage by Meiko Kaji. Each song perfectly fits the tone of the scene it’s featured in, which is a skill that not many directors can easily pull off in this day and age storytelling. I also think it’s very interesting that they brought on RZA to do most of the production for the two films. Considering how Wu-Tang Clan based a good majority of its act on the same kung-fu films that Tarantino was trying to emulate, the choice to bring him on was a spectacular one.

And finally, with the acting, I can confidently say that there isn’t a single bad performance in the movies. Even though I did say that I think the dramatic ass script works because it’s coupled with such a sporadic style of directing, what really pulls it together is the delivery from the cast of characters, both major and minor. Focusing on Uma Thurman, she’s able to portray Beatrix Kiddo in a way that makes her seem like a far cry from the stereotypical, “badass” action woman that we’re familiar with seeing nowadays. Don’t get it twisted, she’s still badass, but the way she’s so easily able to portray moments of vulnerability, fear, sorrow, and even joy and snarkiness gives the character so much personality. It makes the film much more enjoyable to watch, and makes Beatrix a much more likable protagonist. One of my personal favorite scenes is the moment when she finally kills Bill at the end of the second film and has a breakdown in a motel bathroom while her daughter is sitting in the other room. It’s unclear whether or not she’s crying out of relief or sorrow, but the fact that the scene is up to much interpretation without leaving the audience completely in the dark is a testament to how well Uma Thurman played the character.

And finally, the directing itself. As I mentioned earlier, Quinten Tarantino has a style of directing that fills in the blanks rather uniquely. Instead of telling the story chronologically, he starts the film in medias res and places backstories and random bits of information wherever he deems fit. While that sounds like a recipe for disaster, it doesn’t seem to take the audience out of the experience, not one bit. If anything, I think it prevents the story from becoming one note and stale. One thing I also think he does well is setting up ideas and having them pay off well in later scenes. Probably one of my favorite payoffs in the film comes from the flashback of Bill talking to Beatrix about Pai Mei. He tells her the story about how Pai Mei killed a monk by using a move called the Five-Point-Palm Exploding-Heart Technique. It is the same move that Beatrix uses later on in the film to actually kill Bill.

There isn’t enough time in the world to truly go in depth about how amazing these films are and how intricate the storytelling is. I think I am a bit biased because on top of me loving so many qualities about these films, I remember my dad introducing me to these movies and while watching them, I could only think about him. But, even outside of my own personal bias, there’s no doubt that all the qualities I listed above are what helped it become one of the iconic action series of all time. It’s inspired so many films and TV shows since then and will undoubtedly continue to remain relevant in the eye of pop culture for many years to come.

Works Cited:

Kill Bill Vol. 1, Dir. Quinten Tarantino, Miramax, 2003.

Kill Bill Vol. 2, Quinten Tarantino, Miramax, 2004.

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sjsmith56 · 1 year ago

Text

The Future - Part 24, From There to Here - Bucky Barnes One Shots

Summary: Told from the POV of Bucky’s girlfriend, she reminisces about meeting the super soldier and falling in love with him. On a motorcycle drive they tour a house where Bucky asks her some important questions. A few months later, as they are leaving their wedding venue, she has an encounter with an old man who apparently knew her grandmother and also Bucky when he was young. Bucky arrives just in time to speak with the man before he mysteriously disappears.

Length: 5.3K

Characters: June (Bucky’s girlfriend), Sam Wilson, Ingrid (Sam’s girlfriend), Joaquin Torres, Steven Grant.

Warnings: If you haven’t read the other one shots in this collection you may be confused by some of the references. Even though the one shots all stand alone there was a common thread linking them in one way or another. Otherwise, this one shot is very sweet and fluffy.

Author’s notes: A strange thing happened while I was writing the 25th one shot, the part that should have ended this collection. It was supposed to be something that could stand alone but still tie this connected assortment of one shots together. The more I wrote the more I realized that it wouldn't work with this collection but could work as the basis of a new novel, one that is still a work in progress. Titled "Stopping Winter" it takes place during and after World War II when future Steve Rogers returns to find Peggy and marry her ... at least that was the original plan. Once he returns he realizes he may have to change his initial plans to improve his chances of saving Bucky. I can tell you that at the end of that work you'll be able to read the mysterious letter that was given to June. Her grandmother, Gladdie, who was referred to in the very first one shot of this collection will have a significant part in the book in its post war setting. Hopefully, that will be enough to tempt readers to explore "Stopping Winter." You can access it on Wattpad, AO3 or FanFiction.net. My username on all three platforms is SJSmith56.

<<Part 23

💍

Waking up next to Bucky Barnes is an experience. First of all, the man is a cuddler, and if you are someone who likes that, like me, then it is the best thing in the world to wake up in the arms of an incredibly handsome super soldier. He's also affectionate, always kissing me good morning, totally ignoring how I look or if I have morning breath because according to him, I am "the most beautiful woman he knows." I'll take that and I believe it now because I believe in him, the man I fell in love with almost eight months ago.

He started out as the new neighbour, who irritated me to no end when he used my paid parking space to park a truck filled with his belongings while he and his friend Sam moved Bucky into the apartment suite next door to mine. But he quickly won me over with his good manners, compassion, and absolute drop-dead sexiness. About 6 weeks after our meeting, we became lovers, and I began thinking of us as a couple. Even though he still rented his apartment he practically lived here with me, and it was wonderful.

I woke up first, on this weekend that I had off from my job as a librarian for the New Orleans Public Library. For several minutes I laid in Bucky's arms enjoying the feeling of his strong arms enclosing me. Carefully, I turned around so I could look at my guy, my boyfriend, the man I loved. His strong features were calm, the little crease he often got between his eyes when he was concentrating was almost invisible; his thick dark lashes that covered his eyes, lashes that any woman would love to have, except his were courtesy of the super soldier serum, were peacefully staying closed. Everything on Bucky's body was constantly repairing and replenishing itself, although grey hairs were now reappearing in his beard, a welcome sign of aging for him.

"You're watching me," he murmured. "I can feel it."

"You do the same when you wake up first," I answered, then kissed him lightly on the lips.

"Now you've done it," he smiled as he pulled me closer.

The man was instantly ready for some morning love, another thing that I loved about him. Before Bucky most of my encounters were laced with a sense that my partner was doing me a favour by being intimate with me. But James Buchanan Barnes always made me feel like I was the centre of his universe, the one he worshipped before all others. I never wanted that to end.

As he made breakfast for both of us later, he received a text on his phone, smiled and answered it.

"Sam is moving in with Ingrid," he said. "He wants help tomorrow with taking some things over to her place."

"She was hoping it would happen," I replied. "You know she fell for him when he laid that shrimp boil out on this very table."

"When did you fall for me?" he asked.

"When you took me out for dinner for our first date," she said. "You were such a gentleman and then that kiss just sealed the deal for me. When are you going to move in with me?"

"I thought I was already," he answered. Then he put his hands up when I began to counter that. "I know I still have the apartment, but I didn't want to break the lease, just in case you tired of me and sent me packing."

"Never," I said, putting my hand on his. "You're perfect, even with all of your imperfections."

He leaned back in a mock swoon. "I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult." Then he leaned towards me and put his face close to mine. "I think you're pretty perfect, too. Actually, I wanted to take you somewhere today. What do you say to a ride on the motorcycle?"

"Okay," I said, slightly puzzled. "Where are we going?"

"Just want to look at something," he said. "It's near Audubon Park. We can go to the zoo after, if you want."

How could I say no? Audubon Park was one of my happy places. After cleaning up the breakfast dishes Bucky helped me put my leather jacket on, the one he bought me so we could ride his motorcycle together. Then we stopped at his apartment to pick up the motorcycle helmets. He was always making sure I was dressed properly for a ride on his Harley. Soon we were on our way, enjoying the clear skies and open roads. About half a block from the larger part of Audubon Park, Bucky pulled up in front of an off-white stucco covered two story home. Waiting for me to dismount first Bucky pulled his helmet off and looked up at it, then at me.

"What do you think?" he asked. "I've been thinking of buying a house and this one just appealed to me."

"You're thinking of buying this?" I confirmed, then looked at the other houses. "Bucky, this is one of the nicer areas in New Orleans. That looks like a big house. Are you sure you need that much?"

"Well, I don't know," he replied. "I could always have roommates." I gave him a look which made him laugh. "I get along with people."

Behind us a car pulled up and a woman got out of the car approaching us.

"Good morning, Mr. Barnes," she said, then looked up at the house. "I'm Janet Dufour. You're right on time."

"Hi Janet, this is my girlfriend June Roberts," he said. "I like the look of the outside but it's the inside that counts. Can we get the tour?"

"Certainly," she said, stepping to the fence and opening it for us.

After keying in a code on the lockbox Janet unlocked the door for us and allowed us to step in first. As she began describing the house, I looked at Bucky, noticing the soft smile he had on his face. The place was absolutely stunning, with beautiful hardwood floors throughout, two staircases up to the second floor, and an open plan feel that still respected the character of the home originally built in 1943. The kitchen was modern, with a gas range, and stainless-steel appliances, having been remodelled just a couple of years previously. There was a living area, dining area, a large family room, a guest bedroom and a full bathroom on the main floor. Opening the door to the back yard Janet showed us there was a covered porch, grassy area, patio and a two-car garage off a back alley, apparently a rarity for this area. Upstairs were four bedrooms of varying sizes and two full bathrooms, one of them an ensuite for the master bedroom. There was also an upstairs laundry room.

"There is air conditioning throughout for our hot summers," added Janet, as we came back downstairs, "plus central heating for the cooler times. We are in flood zone X, which didn't get flooded during Hurricane Katrina and although there is an increasing risk of flooding over the next 30 years more anti-flooding measures are being taken all the time. There is a generator to keep up the power during blackouts, which, as you know, can happen during storm season, and the garage has solar panels on it. The foundation has also been raised. It's a beautifully maintained home and being so close to Audubon Park is in a very desirable area."

"Thank you," said Bucky, smiling his charming smile at her. "Do you mind giving us some privacy so June and I can talk?"

"Not at all," she replied. "I'll be out on the back porch."

"What do you think?" he asked, after Janet left us. "I like it."

"We didn't ask the price," I said, starting for the door to ask Janet.

"I already know it," he replied, calmly. "$1,350,000."

My jaw dropped as did my heart. As we were walking through the house, I could see us in there, see us with a family, maybe a dog. I pictured us going for walks in Audubon Park, or down to the levee that was on the nearby Mississippi River. He just looked at me with a kind look on his face, as I guess a whole range of emotions were playing over mine.

"June," his voice was soft. "Do you like the house?"

"I love it, but we can't afford it," I said, trying not to sound disappointed. "I mean, you can't afford it, can you?"

"If I could afford it, would you marry me?" he asked.

"Bucky, I would marry you whether you could afford it or not," I replied, then saw he was holding something out to me in his fingers.

"So, you don't care if we live in a one-bedroom apartment, or a grand five-bedroom house like this one," he confirmed. "You'll marry me either way?"

It was an engagement ring, and I began to cry. "Is that what this is all about, a proposal?" I stammered. He nodded, then gently took my hand and poised with the ring at my fingertip, waiting for my answer. "Yes!" I exclaimed, nodding my head. "I want to marry you."

"Good," he said, sliding it on. "The house is ours if you want it. I have the money. I just didn't really want to use any of my settlement to buy one until I found someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with."

At that point I threw my arms around his neck, and we kissed, with me crying while he chuckled. I could feel his hand lift from my back and heard the door to the back yard opening, followed by Janet entering. I turned towards her, wiping my eyes.

"I take it she said yes to the proposal and the house?" she asked, grinning.

"Yes," answered Bucky. "Give them the offer I discussed with you, in cash, closing date as soon as possible after the inspection is done."

"Will do," she said. "I'll just get the offer sheet from my car. Congratulations. It is a beautiful home, just waiting for the right couple to begin their life together."

We were alone again, and Bucky was kissing away the tears that were still on my face. "I love you," he said softly. "You're exactly what I wanted in a woman; smart, beautiful, affectionate, and so many other qualities that I can't even begin to list. You do want kids, right?"

I nodded, still a little overcome with the emotion. "The long bedroom upstairs would be perfect for a nursery. I pictured nursing a baby in there. When do you want to get married?"

"Soon," he said. "We'll go over to the zoo but stop at the Tree of Life. It's one of my favourite spots in the city and apparently you can get married there. Then we'll have a big party at a unique place." He looked down for a moment, seemingly embarrassed. "You can say no if you don't agree but I kind of want it at the World War II Museum. We could have a swing orchestra playing 1940s tunes. Those guests who were military could wear their dress uniforms."

As I watched his face light up, I realized how much it would mean to him to honour his pre-Winter Soldier past. The thought of him wearing his uniform intrigued me.

"Would you wear your uniform?" I asked.

He smiled that charming smile of his again. "I think the Smithsonian has it," he replied. "I would have to ask them if I could borrow it. It would probably have to be let out because I grew after the serum."

"Or maybe you can find someone who could make you a new one," I suggested. "Those old wool ones would be torturous to wear in the heat and humidity here. I would like to see you in uniform, after all that I read about what a ladies' man you were, back in the day."

Janet came back inside interrupting our repartee. She entered all of our information on the purchase offer, and we signed it, then shook her hand and went back out to the motorcycle. Once again, Bucky made sure I was buckled up properly and my helmet tightened just right. Getting on behind I held him around his waist. Just a few minutes later we parked in the zoo parking lot and walked over to the Tree of Life. Sam and Ingrid were there, waiting under the massive old oak tree.

"Well?" asked Sam, apparently knowing what was supposed to happen.

I held up my hand, showing off the ring and was immediately hugged by him and Ingrid.

"She loved the house," said Bucky, a smug grin on his face.

Ingrid hugged him next while Sam gave him the more manly pound hug. After confirming that the couple were willing to be our best man and maid of honour we explored the Tree of Life as the site for the wedding ceremony. It really was beautiful, full of natural beauty and majesty. Bucky explained that it would have to be a quick civil ceremony as the city would only give us an hour's time frame for the wedding. We also had to accept that we didn't have exclusive use as it was a public park, and anyone could wander by while the ceremony was going on. He looked at me in anticipation as I stood underneath one of the massive branches, looking up at the sun peeking through the leaves.

"I want to get married here," I said decisively. "It's beautiful."

All those gooey commercials and sappy movies showing the man lifting his fiancée off the ground and twirling her around in the air before lowering her for a romantic kiss were forgiven at that moment as Bucky easily lifted me up. With laughter he twirled us around in a complete circle before lowering me and kissing me tenderly. Sam and Ingrid just watched, with happy faces for both of us. It really was an unbearably sweet moment, and I loved every part of it, as I gazed at those blue eyes on that incredibly handsome face of this man who made me feel more loved than anyone.

Together the four of us strolled through the zoo, trying to come up with a plan to get a wedding organized quickly. Bucky brought up the war museum idea for the reception and Sam actually thought it was a good idea.

"There are several of us Avengers with military backgrounds, and proud of it," he said. "Maybe we could even make it a bit of a 1940s dress up event, like the Christmas party. Listen, why don't we talk more about it when you two help me move in with Ingrid tomorrow?"

It was agreed to discuss it more the following day and we spent the rest of the afternoon at the zoo and Audubon Park, even having a tasty hot dog lunch in one of the zoo food areas. The next morning Bucky dropped me off at Ingrid's, taking my car to Sam's. Together we went through her clothes, discarding some older garments to make room in the closet for Sam's clothes. He was also bringing some furniture and we shifted her furniture arrangement to make room for it as she knew the dimensions. When the guys came back, Joaquin Torres was with them, currently the Falcon. We had met a few times and I liked his energy. He was such an upbeat guy. As soon as he brought in some of the boxes of clothes he came right up to me, giving me a hug.

"Congratulations," he said. "I heard about the engagement. Let's see what kind of rock Bucky gave you."

His eyes lit up when he saw the ring and he hugged me again, seemingly just as excited as I had been the day before.

"Hands off my fiancée, fly boy," growled Bucky as he entered carrying a chair.

"Aw, Sarge, I'm just happy for both of you and you wouldn't let me hug you," pouted the younger man, after giving me a conspiratorial wink. "So, June got both hugs."

After putting the chair down Bucky stood up tall and straight looking down at the shorter Joaquin. With an audible sigh he offered his hand to the younger man and gave him a quick pound hug.

"That's all that Sam gets," he stated. "Don't expect it to be a usual thing."

With a cheeky grin Joaquin headed down to get the next load of possessions. I offered my arms to Bucky, and he stoically accepted them, really milking the strong and silent stereotype for all it was worth. We all knew the truth about him, and he knew we did. After a couple of hours of unloading and unpacking Sam was finally officially moved in and he thanked all of us.

"What do you say to another shrimp boil and some beer?" he asked. "Delancey's has a good one and their beer is always cold."

Bucky drove my car again, with me in the front and Joaquin in the back. He asked if we could stop somewhere, as he promised his girlfriend something from one of the unique shops in New Orleans. Bucky made it known it was a big imposition, but he stopped at the place. While Joaquin was in the shop Bucky took the time to kiss me, then played with my hair while he gazed at me. When it seemed like Joaquin was taking an awfully long time Bucky opened his car door, just as the younger man stepped out of the shop, holding up the bag like it was a trophy.

"Sorry, it took so long," he said. "When I called they said they had one in stock but it wasn't on the shelf when I got here so they had to go looking for it. I didn't realize it was taking so long otherwise I would have come out and told you."

"Right kid," sighed Bucky.

We pulled up at a packed Delancey's, wondering if we could get in but Sam texted that they were already inside. As we stepped into the lively place there was a big cheer and I realized it was an engagement party for us, as I saw several of my friends and work colleagues there with beers already in their hands. There were other Avengers there as well, coming forward with hugs for me and handshakes for Bucky although the women gave him hugs as well. He looked at me once we got through the gauntlet and shrugged.

"I had nothing to do with this," he said.

"That's right, you didn't," declared Sam, with a grinning Ingrid by his side. "We knew it was coming, and Ingrid assured me there was no way June was saying no so we organized a party for you, complete with shrimp boil and beer."

When the food was laid out on a long table that stretched from the front to the back of the bar, loaded with more shrimp, sausage, potatoes and corn than I had ever seen in my life, everyone grabbed a spot and began eating. Just like the party at my place there was no sound except the loud background music from the jukebox and the contented sounds of people eating, moaning and groaning at the sheer ecstasy of buttery juices falling down their chins from the perfectly cooked food onto the newsprint covered table below them. It was an event that was talked about for ages, and repeated a year later when ... well, that's another story.

After eating every last morsel of food, the bar staff came to clean up, bringing wet wipes and paper towels galore to all of us, carrying garbage bags with them to take away the discarded shrimp shells and bare cobs. The tables were relocated to open up a dance floor and the music was cranked up. It was loud Cajun music then it suddenly stopped, and Sam stepped forward.

"We picked a song for Bucky and June to dance to," he said to everyone. "It probably came out after he shipped out for Europe in 1943 but it's something those of us who know you have seen happen right in front of us. Bucky, being the good dancer he claims he was, should be able to do a few turns of this with his girl."

As the strains of People Will Say We're in Love began, Bucky smiled. "I can dance to this."

Just like in those romantic movies he began to lead me across the floor, showing everyone what a light-footed dancer he was. We were in our own world, just us two, on the dance floor as that beautiful song enveloped us in its magic.

The magic was repeated two months later when we danced our first dance to the same song at the wedding reception at the National World War II Museum. Bucky wore his replica uniform that the Smithsonian had actually custom made for him. He even cut his hair and had a close shave that took years off, making him look much younger. I found a flirty forties style wedding dress with lace shoulders that I loved as soon as I put it on. As he twirled me around the dance floor the skirt swished around my legs, making me feel like a modern-day Ginger Rogers.

It had been a beautiful day for a wedding as the perfect weather had just enough breeze to keep the humidity and heat at bay. The ceremony at the Tree of Life was meaningful and we both cried a little during the vows. Afterwards, Bucky hugged everyone and I mean everyone. He was so happy, making me feel like our marriage was the culmination of all his dreams. Certainly, marrying him was the culmination of all of mine. We took pictures at Audubon Park then relaxed at our new home with the wedding party and some few close friends before the reception. It was wonderful.

The limousine dropped us off at the museum and it was everything Bucky pictured in his mind when he thought of having the reception there. The aircraft and vehicles that were on display above us and around the space lent a retro feel to it. There were several young women dressed in period appropriate costume for pictures with the guests. The decorations were done to match the banners and decorations of 1943. A thought occurred to me and I leaned close to Bucky when we sat at the head table.

"I really like this," I said. "It doesn't bring back bad memories?"

A wistful smile crossed his face. "No, it really doesn't," he admitted. "It reminds me of before I shipped out, when wearing the uniform meant you were part of something big. I wasn't looking for it but I know of many marriages that started at a dance at a base, or at a war bonds rally. It was a more innocent time, I guess. Until we got on the battlefields and found a different reality."

I squeezed his hand, receiving a kiss on the cheek for my concern, setting off a round of spoons tapped against the water glasses asking for more kissing from us. We both happily obliged, still caught up in the adrenaline of our new status. During the speeches Ingrid told some stories about me; Sam told some stories about Bucky; people laughed. With a full live swing orchestra our first dance as husband and wife made me feel like the star of an old musical as my handsome soldier twirled me around the dance floor. Between the time of first hearing People Will Say We're in Love at the bar then dancing to it at our wedding Bucky found out it was from the musical Oklahoma. We watched the Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones movie at home and for a week afterwards I had to deal with Bucky getting up singing Oh What a Beautiful Mornin' in his loudest voice to get me out of bed. It would have been irritating if it wasn't so cute. Our marriage was going to be so much fun.

As the evening went on we did the usual cake cutting, throwing of my garter and the bouquet. It's a secret who caught them because they just moved in together and were very emphatic that they were taking things slow. Funny how they disappeared for about half an hour after. After that things changed as the older people (not including Bucky) began taking their leave. The younger people began asking for newer music so Bucky and I decided to leave for our wedding night so the others could have their music. As we waited outside for the limousine Bucky was called in to sign for some additional alcohol, as our guests were a thirsty bunch. While I stood on the curb an elderly man approached me, walking in from the parking lot.

"Is this the Barnes / Roberts wedding?" he asked, then laughed at his own question. "Of course it must be. You look just like your great grandmother."

"You knew her?" I asked, as she had been dead for twenty years.

"I knew her very well," he replied. "Gladdie was one of a kind."

He must have known her because she was known as Gladdie to her friends. Only those who didn't know her called her June. I turned to him and took his hands.

"What's your name?"

"Steven Grant," he said. "I first met Gladdie during the war, in England. Then she met a friend of mine at a dance. Small world. But that's not important. I just wanted to give my regards to you and to your husband. I knew him back in the day as well, although I doubt that he remembers me. It was so long ago, and he's been through so much since then." He looked at his watch and frowned. "I have to be going as I only have a few minutes."

"Bucky will just be a moment," I pleaded, sure that Bucky would want to meet with him.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, but I really have to go," he said, his face showing his sadness, then he reached inside his jacket and pulled out an envelope. "But if you could give him this, I would greatly appreciate it."

I took the envelope from him and turned to see if Bucky was coming. When I turned back Mr. Grant was already walking away from me.

"Wait, please!" I called to him but he just waved his hand and walked to a part of the parking lot that was in shadow. Bucky came out of the door and I grabbed him, pointing out Mr. Grant to him. "He knows you, Bucky. He said he knew my great grandmother."

Leaving me on the curb, Bucky ran after him and called out to the old man.

"Hey, mister, wait!" he yelled, before pulling up just a few feet from him.

Mr. Grant turned around and I wish I was in a position to see Bucky's face but the old man had the biggest smile on his. Bucky lifted him up in a hug then gently put him down and the two men talked for a moment. The old man got misty eyed and I could tell he was ready to leave. Bucky stepped away a few steps and Mr. Grant stood straight and tall, as Bucky saluted him, a salute he returned. Then the strangest thing happened. A sparkling circle appeared behind Mr. Grant, growing in size until it was larger than him. With another wave of his hand, he stepped inside the circle and it closed leaving Bucky alone in the dark parking lot. His shoulders slumped and I was worried about him, so I quickly walked over to where he stood in the dark. He wasn't crying but he did look somewhat sad. Placing my hand on his shoulder made him turn around and he grasped me, surrounding me with his arms.

"It was him," he said, his voice muffled as he buried his face in my neck. "It was Steve, the one who went back. He did it. The Bucky in that timeline never became the Winter Soldier."

I held him closely, letting him deal with the conflicting feelings of grief, happiness, and envy. He had shared with me how Steve Rogers had recognized a letter received in the 1990s by Rebecca, Bucky's sister, apologizing for not being able to rescue Bucky, as being written by himself. It was his and Rebecca's belief that he went back to rescue Bucky but hadn't been successful, resulting in a never-ending loop where his original self kept waking up in 2011 after so many years of being frozen, even while his returned self was in the past, seemingly reluctant to interfere with that Steve's fate. He wanted to keep trying, even though Bucky wanted him to stay.

After Steve left and Rebecca died Bucky kept that secret until just a few weeks ago when he told me. He knew it wouldn't change his past but he always wondered if Steve had finally been successful for at least one Bucky in the multiverse. In my hand was the letter that Steve said to give to him and I pulled away showing it to my husband. Several moments passed before he took it from my hand and looked at the writing on the front. Then he slipped it inside his jacket pocket and kissed me.

"I'll read it later," he said, then he offered me his arm and we walked back to the curb in front of the museum.

The sound of loud modern music bled out of the building as we waited silently for the now late limousine. When it arrived, the driver apologized profusely as he had experienced a flat tire. He opened the door for us, and Bucky assisted me in getting in before stepping inside himself. We had already decided to spend our wedding night at home as we didn't need a fancy hotel room to feel special. Bucky made me feel special every day and he said the same about me. On the drive to our house, he put his arm around me and kissed the side of my head.

"Thank you for saying yes," he whispered. "Thank you for agreeing to a life with me."

I thanked him for being the good man I had waited for. When we arrived at the house he paid the driver a cash tip, believing that the limo being late allowed him to experience the few moments with Steve. He stepped out of the car and offered me his hand as I got out, ever the gentleman. Then he inputted the security code on the door and we stepped inside. We kissed each other tenderly in the darkness of the foyer, then my husband picked me up in his arms, his strong arms that would never let me fall, and carried me upstairs to our bedroom, where we began the future of our life together.

Series Masterlist

Please like, comment and reblog if you enjoyed this one shot.

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes fanfiction #buckybarnes original female character #sam wilson #soft bucky #bucky in love #buckybarnes romance #bucky barnes oneshot

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chelsea-katz · 2 years ago

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HAPPIESTPLACEHQ TASK 11 - INTRO & CONNECTIONS

chelsea katz ~ thirty-nine ~ journalist ~ she/her (cis woman, bisexual)

[ bio / muse / headcanons / pinterest / spotify ]

Character Information

If you’re trying to get a hold of her, you’d have better luck trying to catch a cloud with your hands. Chelsea left Redwood Hollow when she was a teenager, and ten years later she came back mostly the same, if not a little more jittery and with about five different new addictions.

Chelsea was a bright but restless kid back in the day, skipping school, wandering around the forest and hanging around with the wrong crowd, giving her parents more than a few headaches.

Those ten years she spent away from Redwood Hollow are a mystery to everyone but a very select few friends: she’s notoriously nosy and loves to get into other people’s business, but she doesn’t allow anyone to get into hers.

Despite her erratic tendencies, Chelsea takes her job at the Redwood Review very seriously, and would never refuse to lend a helping hand. What shape that helping hand ends up taking is always up for grabs.

Wanted Connections

Eyes And Ears: Does your muse need a few quick bucks? Do they have any sensitive information that, perhaps, a journalist could use? Then Chelsea’s the gal you need. If they have a position in which the intel is updated with some regularity, Miss Katz may even put them on a payroll.

High School Pals: It was the best of times, period, for Chelsea! Any old friends and troublemakers who used to associate with her are welcome for a reunion. Whether current rascals stuck to their old ways, or reformed model citizens who made the switch, she’s your lady for an afternoon of drinking and reminiscing.

Sing Me A Song: She’s not exactly a performer, per se, but if there’s something Chelsea loves is dancing, listening to live performances, and hang out with talented folks. If there’s a swinging music scene she can get into, she will.

Plot Ideas

Lil’ Gumshoe: Chelsea has a soft spot for the younger folk, especially those that remind her of herself when she was younger. If your muse is curious about the going-ons of the town, their best bet might just be to knock on Chelsea’s door (or hunt her down at some local dive bar, with any luck) and hope she’s in a sharing mood.

Archnemesis Mine: You don’t get to where Chelsea is without making a few enemies. From a small tiff caused by her erratic behaviour, to an actual case of libel, she’s likely the originator of all sort of grudges among the townsfolk.

Persuasion Tactics: A flirt and a scamp, this journalist is not exactly over mixing business with pleasure; it is a small town, after all, and news travel fast. Chelsea is also the type to love and leave if she doesn’t get what she secretely wanted, so potential partners be warned.

Taken Connections

Friends: @queencfharts

Exes: @ritasaysrelax

Other

I'd like to see some other characters from Alice In Wonderland, especially the trio of Madison Harrigan, Harry March and Dorothy Wilt. If they ever complete the set, Redwood Hollow would be shaken to its core.

#happiestplacetask #happiestplacetask11 #drug mention cw

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rivi-ri · 5 months ago

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I consider myself skilled in the art of rambling, so buckle up for an unnecessary amount of personal history and very old writing lore.

Mine was originally from Rivira, a name I came up with as like, an eight-year-old for the first original character I remember ever making (it also might possibly have been a little bit later than the first one, but it was somewhere around there). I didn't know about the existing name Rivera at the time, and I was pretty insistent on the spelling despite the name being pretty transparently based on the word "river". When I reused or possibly originally used the name in my first longest project for a while, Rivira had water powers, because of course, and was my obligatory most-self-insert character in that book/series. fond memories

I started using Rivira as one of my main usernames from the first time I started having accounts online and interacting a bit with the internet. Riddle was another character name I would sometimes use and was interested in for a while.

Fast forward to whenever I started using RPG Maker a bunch. Somewhere fairly late in my RPG Maker phase proper, I ended up making a character in Game Character Hub, I think, that had blue hair, as far as I remember. I needed to think of a name for the character (the protagonist of yet another RPG Maker game I never got far with making), and after a bit of brainstorming, came up with "Rivi". Yeah, it probably took some subconscious inspiration from "Rivira". I don't actually like r as a letter all that much on its own, but I tend to like it a lot in names and some words, which is interesting. (the Japanese r is really nice though, I like that one pretty much all the time, though I'm not always great at saying it correctly)

I forgot about that project pretty quickly, but the name stuck around somewhere in my brain, resurfacing now and then, and eventually I started using the name "Rivi" or "Rivi Ri" where I'd used Rivira in the past. The "Ri" part was partially just from liking the flow of the names with it, and partially from "Riddle". I do actually use Rivi Riddle sometimes. The full version would probably technically be Rivira Riddle, but I don't like the flow of that as much.

aaanyway, that was definitely longer than it needed to be, but I don't assume it's likely to cause anyone any/much inconvenience, because chances are no one will read this anyway. twas fun to reminisce a smidge.

USERNAME LORE GIVE IT TO ME NOW YOU ALL

#username lore

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trainsinanime · 3 years ago

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Trains in Anime - Arcane

Once more I’m calling things anime that are really not, simply because I gotta justify the use of this URL somehow.

Arcane, the League of Legends animated series, is a masterpiece of animation and storytelling, on a level similar to the Spiderverse. Every frame is amazing, its characters are alive and wonderful, its music is inspired, it’s great and you should absolutely watch it.

But that doesn’t mean it isn’t flawless. Arcane has two major issues: Caitlyn’s hat, and it doesn’t have enough trains. Thankfully, Caitlyn’s hat gets discarded almost immediately, and even more importantly, there are some trains in it after all. Just not a lot. The first one we see is…

The Funicular

This appears in episode five, after Caitlyn broke Vi out of prison, and it seems to connect the upper levels of the city with the lower levels, in style.

[Image: Screenshot; a cliffside with a fence. At the end is a steep steel bridge carrying a funicular car, leading up to an end station. On top of the station is steel frame tower. Next to it is what looks like a station building. More details are discussed in the text below.]

Damn, this is pretty. Look at all the steel girders. Look at the rivets! Look at the arches and details that are here not only for structural support, but also to make it look nicer, reminiscent of e.g. the more odd details of the Eiffel Tower. I also love the light green color, which is a shade you see a lot on similar old steel constructions. This is just perfect 1890s steel design. And building such a funicular railway on top of a steel bridge is also a well-established and very awesome form of designing them.

We see more of it in the next shot, along with a thankfully hat-less Caitlyn holding tickets for it.

[Image: Screenshot, Caitlyn holding tickets; in the background we see a steel tower with glass viewing area on top]

The tower on top of the appears to be there mainly for tourists who want to get a good view. The design has similarities to a mining headframe, which makes sense; those work differently, but it makes sense to reuse the construction. Note that the tower is on top of the platform, and next to it is a station building where the tickets are probably sold. Everything about this design is well-thought out and realistic, even though I couldn’t name any funicular railway in the real world that is the exact only inspiration. Whoever designed this clearly had fun, but also, they really knew what they were doing. And note that in the grand scheme of things, these are hardly the most impressive frames and details in the show.

It is unclear in that scene whether Caitlyn intends to use the funicular railway or not; she has two tickets and is standing next to the station, but she talks about getting an overview from the “bathysphere”. This thing here is, of course, not a bathysphere, it’s not even spherical. Maybe the funicular leads down to a bathysphere? Maybe it’s the “Bathysphere railway company” because the builder wanted to first build a bathysphere, but then didn’t have the money? (Compare the real-life “Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester and Dubuque Electric Traction Company”, which, despite its name, was never electric)

The funicular car itself is interesting. At the end is has a large semicircular viewing area, which isn’t something I know of in real life, but it’s a detail that makes a lot of sense. It doesn’t have too many other windows, which is unusual for funicular railways that often want to provide a good view, but not too much so.

One thing that’s interesting is that it lets out a puff of smoke as it stops, which implies that this funicular car has air brakes, instead of being braked by the cable that it pulls it up. I don’t know any real-life funicular that does it that way, and I guess I could mark this up as an error. But maybe the funicular safety regulations in Piltover are just different.

A few seconds later we get another look. Our heroes have decided to parkour instead of using the railway, and so we get this shot:

[Image: Another screenshot: In the foreground, a character is running over a pipe that is angled down, in darkness. In the rear, the funicular is running down at a similar angle, much brighter, but getting darker as it descends.]

This really tells us so much about how the city works, both actually and thematically. It is part of a longer great sequence where we follow Vi and Caitlyn from the top side to the bottom, and see how the transition between them really works, while also establishing the characters. Everything about it is beautiful, but even just this one shot already tells us so much. Including about the how the funicular works.

The funicular has a very sleek steel structure, painted in lovely light green, as it descends. Realistically, the structure is way too sleek; for the span between supports we see there, I would expect far more reinforcements and trusses, based on how the tower on top is constructed. Compare e.g. the Wuppertaler Schwebebahn for how much steel trusses something like this normally needs:

[Image: Photo of the Wuppertal Schwebebahn suspended monorail system, on the section that travels along a road.]

But the real point isn’t that, it’s the contrast with Vi running on the pipe in the foreground, in darkness.

You get the clear impression that the funicular, beautiful and in light, is how rich people make the journey down on the few times they have to. In the foreground, we see the alternate way to make the trick; similar, but dark and dangerous. Vi isn’t meant to take this way; as far as the city planners were concerned, someone like her isn’t meant to travel between the top and bottom side at all. She’s not going to let that stop her, of course.

That’s all we see of the funicular. It’s just a tiny bit of just one episode, but it’s generally really well designed, and it tells us something about the time period and the city, while only ever being a background element. Very nice.

The other train appears in episode 8.

The smuggling train

This train appears briefly during a scene where law enforcement storms an underground drug den in what appears to be an abandoned factory of some sort. The train in question here is leaving the factory slowly, but then the Enforcers (police officers) take control of it and run it back through the factory gate to get in from an angle that people don’t expect.

[Image: Screenshot of a sort of fantasy steam locomotive pulling out of a gate.]

The train in question here seems to be just a single locomotive, consisting of a lot of boiler and a platform at the back, where barrels of illegal pink drugs are stored. Another angle gives more detail of the platform

[Image: Screenshot of the same train, now a close-up of the platform, full of barrels.]

When it returns to the factory, just on the same track backwards, it goes to a very short unloading track.

[Image: A short section of track ending at a buffer stop, leading to a currently closed door]

So what is up with that? There are a number of unusual things about this. For example, the chimney is at the end of what appears to be the boiler that is closer to the platform than the end of the train. As a general rule in steam locomotive design, the chimney is always at the opposite end from where you put the coals in, so you get a good draft through the tubes in the boiler. But okay, we don’t know where the fire is in this locomotive, or whether it even has one at all.

The really weird thing is the platform. It is fairly large compared to a normal engine, but fairly small compared to the overall thing. A locomotive of that size (I’d say at least ten meters if not more) would generally haul a number of carriages, instead of having a platform in itself. A self-propelled steam freight car would make some sort of sense, but that would get a smaller boiler than this.

Obviously, it’s all fantasy tech, but building a thing that is 80% engine and 20% place to haul stuff is always inefficient no matter what you do.

My head canon theory here is that this is some sort of maintenance of way vehicle that the drug smugglers have repurposed. By design, you can use it to haul either an entire long train (it has couplers and buffers for that), or you can run it on its own and still bring some construction supplies, tools and such. It’s probably not the most efficient for either, but flexible. And that would make it useful for smuggling as well.

The track in the factory is fairly short, but that’s not that unusual. When the factory was active, it probably had to unload one or two cars at a time, and the track is sized properly for that. It would make sense to have some sort of unloading ramp here, but you can’t have everything. I’m okay with that sort of explanation, especially since they leave the rest of the rail network completely vague. It’s not even clear how much of the rest of the rail network still exists.

An aside that I just feel like pointing out because I’m mean: Look at this door here, slightly brightened up:

[Image: Screenshot, a double door on what looks like a wooden shed. The doors have horizontal elements, and each has a vertical metal bar along the entire length.]

These are container doors. This is the type of door you find on a standard ISO shipping container. Considering the level of technology and logistics we see in the rest of the show, I would argue that this makes no sense. Of course, it’s generally too dark to see, so it’s not an actual problem. But if you wanted to see actual problems, you wouldn’t read a post reviewing the trains in this show, would you?

When the train runs back in with all the cops on board, we see a bit more detail of the buffer stop and the front of the train, but generally with too much motion blur (it’s a very action-heavy sequence) to make out details, let alone take pictures of them. This is the best I could do:

[Image: Screenshot, the end of a rail vehicle at an old-time iron buffer stop.]

I think that looks generally alright. You can’t see the coupling here, but you can see it in a different shot that is too full of motion blur to take screenshots of; it looks good, too. The whole thing is a well-made representation of european railroad couplers. (If they had done a good representation of american railroad couplers, that would have been good as well, of course. Here they picked european and stuck with it, and I think the result is good).

The air hoses for the Westinghouse-style air brake also look good. Note that you technically need only one hose here, connected to the hose of the next car if you attach one, but in Europe, most rail vehicles still have two anyway. (This is unrelated to the newer and rarer main air reservoir pipe, which this vehicle doesn’t appear to have and wouldn’t need either.)

All in all, if we assume this is some sort of weird dual-use maintenance vehicle that these smugglers repurposed, then I think everything else can be explained and works well.

In conclusion

There aren’t a lot of trains in Arcane, and the ones that are there aren’t important, but they are really well designed and make sense in context. They are unique novel designs for the show, but their design is realistic and makes sense. This is a good show.

#arcane #arcane meta #train review

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lilysdaydreams · 4 years ago

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For Them

→ Pairing : Corpse Husband X Fem!Reader

→ Genre : fluff.

→ Warnings : Swearing, Reader panicking a bit.

→ Request : Heya! I was thinking maybe a corpse x reader where the reader is playing among us with him and the gang and they use the proximity mic and he walks past her to hear her singing and she’s kept her singing like a MAJOR secret because she’s shy about it- idk you don’t have to do it if ya don’t feel like it it’s just an idea 💛

→ A/N : Oh my god, did Lily finally finish writing something??? YES SHE DID. Pretty happy with this, so I hope you guys enjoy as well! Sorry for any spelling mistakes :) Requests are open!

~~~

You grabbed the water on the table, moving to the side and out of the camera to quickly take a few sips. You could hear the rest of the group still yelling about the previous game. You laughed quietly hearing Peter and Rae yell at each other.

Looking over at chat you hummed as you took in the questions.

"How much longer am I streaming?" you read out the question.

"Probably a few more games. Maybe like 30 more minutes. I wanna go get dinner soon." you mumbled as you kept on scanning the chat.

A random question caught your eye.

"Do I sing?" you read out with a laugh.

"Wow, that's such a random question oh my god. Um, I used to want to be a singer when I was a kid," you started leaning back in your chair. You looked at the ceiling reminiscing and chuckled when you remembered the concerts you used to throw for your parents.

"I used to get my parents to be the audience and I would sing all my different songs for them. When they weren't free, I would do it for all of my plushies on my bed. Oh my god, I probably have old videos in the basement or something."

You smiled wistfully, looking back onto the screen.

"Those were good times," you muttered.

Looking back onto chat, your eyes widened at the amount of "SING FOR US" messages.

"Woah guys, calm down, that was when I was a kid. I don't sing seriously you know that right?" you questioned, laughing at how fast the chat was going.

"Okay okay," you said smiling when they didn't stop. "Lemme ju- Oh wait" you cut yourself off seeing the words "IMPOSTER" light up your screen.

"LETS GOOOOO" you yelled, turning your mic on again for the game. Everyone's voice slowly faded as people went different ways. You stuck with Lily, both of you going straight to medbay.

"Lilyyyyy" you said dragging her name out.

"Y/N" she said doing the same to you.

You giggled, and asked her if she had med scan.

"Nope, I have the inspecting the sample one."

"Ohh okay," you said getting on the med scan and pretending to scan. You watched as Lily finished her task, saying a quiet "bye" and rushing off to the next task.

You sighed, moving off the scan and starting to walk towards weapons. "Lily's so nice, I'm so glad I got to meet her through this. Like, she's the absolute sweetest I swear, I'm hoping that I get to m-" you got cut off by a body being reported.

"Already?" you asked, others echoing. You gasped when you saw who was killed, immediately whining about how someone could kill Sykunno, while playfully glaring at Sean's name, who was the other imposter.

"Okay, so the body was at reactor," revealed Rae.

"I was in the cafeteria, going towards weapons. Me and Lily were in Medbay before but she left before me," you said leaning back.

Lily confirmed this, also stating that she was in weapons now.

Sean, Corpse and Felix all said they were in Electrical, and Poki said she'd been in storage.

You looked at the chat again, not saying anything while the rest said where they were.

The chat was still spamming "Sing please!" and you looked back to the game without giving an answer. If you were being honest, then what you had said before was a lie. You still sang. Hell, it had been your dream to release your songs ever since you started writing at 15. You had started singing by singing for your parents. Ever since their car crash though, you couldn't even think about performing for anyone else. If you couldn't even perform for them, then what was the point? For some reason, whenever you thought of singing in front of someone, you couldn't even get the words out.

You sighed and skipped voting as the timer ticked down. No one was ejected and you started humming slightly as you moved away from everyone.

"Hmm should I sing you a song everyone?" you asked your voice very low. You breathed deeply reminding yourself that technically no one was in the room with you, and it was only your fans watching, a small community of people who were the sweetest you had ever seen.

Going into reactor and moving down to the very end so that no one could see you, you breathed in deeply and started singing lightly, noticing that the lights were off, the blinking arrow in the corner of your screen.

"I think we could do it if we tried

If only to say you're mine

Sofia, know that you and I

Shouldn't feel like a crime

You know I'll do anything you ask me to

But oh my God, I think I'm in love with you

Standin' here alone now, think that we -"

"Y/N what the fuck your voice is -"

You screamed before the person could even finish what they were saying, hitting the "kill" button without even realising, and letting out a gasp when you saw the black body flop over.

"Oh god, oh my god, what did I do?" you whispered staring at Corpses body, half of your brain freaking out over the fact that he had heard you and the other freaking out what to do. You quickly vented, coming out in electrical and pretending to do the download.

"Oh my god, guys!" you whispered furiously, playfully glaring at the camera. "This is all your fault, do you see what I did, I killed someone with my singing... I just got so scared because he came out of absolutely NOWHERE, oh my god guys." Leaving electrical, you heard someone yelling and headed closer to them laughing nervously when you found Toast and Sean yelling at each other.

"Hey guys," you said voice being unnoticed because of all the yelling and you moved into comms pretending to do a task there.

Just as you did that, Pokis body was found, and you gasped as you realised that Sean had killed three people so now there were 5 left. Toast was dead, which means that he just died, which left Sean, you, Rae, Lily and Leslie.

There was a stunned silence for a second as everyone took in the 4 kills and then Rae immediately attacked.

"Ahh, the body was in cafeteria. Like bottom cafeteria."

"Um, So I just wanna add something, I was coming from the electrical right, and I was walking to comms, and Toast just passed in the middle of storage. I came into comms and Sean is here as well.

"Yup, shes right, toast just left and she came in." confirmed Sean.

"Well, I saw Leslie at the start of the round, we stuck together and then I was with Poki for a bit."

"Yeah okay, but where were you?"

"Well, I went to weapons then I went down into comms and storage and then I went electrical when lights were called and everyone was ther-" she said cutting herself off and gasping. “Guess who WASNT there? Y/N wasn’t there!”

“Well yeah, I just thought someone else would do it” you replied. “I was all the way in upper engine and I couldn’t be bothered. You all did lights and I was doing my tasks in reactor and then I went to electrical and then I was waking to comms, and then I saw toast and then I got into comma and saw Sean. Even if I was the imposter and killed Toast, I definitely couldn’t have been able to kill Poki.”

“Yeah no, I still think it’s you,” said Rae after a pause, Leslie and Lily both giggling at her.

Lily chimed in then as well, “Yeah I haven’t seen y/n this whole round at ALLLLL, so I think its her as well."

Ignoring your protests, they all voted you out, and you shrugged at the camera as your character was thrown off the ship.

"I think I'm okay with that guys, I was way too nervous to still play," you muttered, now looking at the chat.

"Guys," you whined suddenly remembering. "I was only meant to sing for you, I didn't want anyone else to hear it, Corpse literally came out of nowhere. I hope he wasn't deafened by my screeching," you grimaced.

The word "Victory" came onto your screen and you huffed out a laugh as the lobby exploded with noise.

"Lily! I told you it was Sean!" exclaimed Rae.

"Sean was on a killing spree," you added in, sipping your water. "I only killed like two people cuz I was distracted, I swear he literally carried the whole game.”

“He backstabbed me!” said Sykkuno and you could hear the smile in his voice. “I was doing upload while he was right next to me and we were talking about how great this group was and he just killed me right there!”

Suddenly all the attention was on Sykkuno as everyone started cooing.

“Awww, Sykkuno, did you just compliment us?” Rae yelled, lots of other chiming in to tease Sykunno and him ending up stuttering because he got flustered.

“Alright guys,” you said when everyone quieted down. "I think I'm gonna go now."

"NOOOOO" yelled Rae, everyone else echoing her.

You smiled and quickly said your goodbyes, logging off the game and quickly saying bye to the viewers and ending that as well.

Slumping into your chair, your breath quickened. "Oh my god," you whispered, the realization creeping up on you that you had just sung in front of nearly ten thousand people and that Corpse had heard you sing. You and Corpse had met through Among Us with Toast inviting you to the lobby. You had fun playing with him and you'd both followed each other, but most of your interaction was in games. Like sure you'd messaged each other a few times but those were only brief conversations! and sure, maybe you had a small tiny crush on the guy but like WHO WOULDNT? He was sweet, nice and you related to him a lot. The point was, you were absolutely not ready to sing in front of him. You stood up from the chair and went to the kitchen, pouring yourself a glass of water to calm down.

Your phone rang and you grabbed it from the counter, choking on the water as you saw that it was from Corpse.

He had never called you before. Like you said you simply weren't that close.

Coughing out a "What the fuck?" you answered the call, grabbing onto the counter for support.

"Hey," you said, confused when there was no sound.

"Uh yeah, Hi Y/N. Its Corpse."

"Ah yeah, I see." You facepalmed yourself, rubbing your forehead. What the fucks was wrong with you.

"Um yeah, so uh I just- You know in the game? Um I kind of - well - I kind of heard you singing, um um, that song."

You stilled, not a breath coming out of you.

"Your voice, its -" he paused, letting out a huge breath. "It's absolutely beautiful."

You opened your mouth not even sure what you were gonna say but he continued talking.

"I just, I cant get it out of my mind. Have you heard some of my music?"

"Um yeah, I-I listened to it when I first heard about you. Your songs are so good!" you exclaimed, finally being able to move your mouth

"Do you think maybe we could do a song together sometime? Your voice would be absolutely amazing on one of the tracks I'm currently working on, its a chill one that I have, kind of like Agoraphobic," he asked, rambling through the sentence.

"Um, Oh my god," you muttered, still confused on if this was actually happening. "Yeah, Yeah definitely that would be so cool."

"Oh. Oh that's great, I-I didn't think you'd agree, that's great, I can send you a sample and the lyrics but -"

"Um," you started cutting him off. "If I'm being honest," you muttered, shoulders coming up to your ears. "I'm actually really conscious about my singing. Like this was the absolute first time I ever even sang on stream, so like sorry- I'm ruining it, but this is just a bit overwhelming for me. It's a great opportunity, and if you want I can definitely try but please don't have big expectations of me okay?" you asked biting your lip slightly. "I'm not that great."

There was a second of silence and then he whispered lightly, "Even if you don't believe it, just from those 30 seconds, I could already tell how amazing your voice was."

Your breath caught but a second later he had already moved on.

"If you want to, we could do a few singing sessions together? Just mess around have some fun? That way you can get a bit more comfortable and have some fun," he suggested, voice changing to a shy one that you hadn't ever heard from him.

~~~

"Yeah sure," you agreed, smiling. "Lets try that."

3 months later, you guys finally released your song. Titled "For Them", you sang about your parents who you had loved dearly, and he sang about his parents and their distant relationship. It showed two different perspectives, two different stories, two different lives, and you both loved it so much.

The song was a success, with fans pouring into your channel and small community and well, your life. Most importantly though, along with all of it, came a mask-wearing man, who held you on the days that it was hard for you, and who you held on the nights that were hard for him.

fin.

#corpse #corpse husband #corpse x reader #corpse husband x reader #sykkuno #Corpse husband fics #corpse x y/n #please like and comment #I like validation

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ijustwant2write · 4 years ago

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Subtle-Remus Lupin x Professor!Reader

(GIF credit to @shurley)

Requested by anonymous: ‘hello! can i request professor remus lupin x professor reader where they are married but try to keep it in secret just to avoid gossip but eventually students get suspicious because of their closeness? thank you, love your work💕’

Characters: Remus Lupin X Professor!Reader, Severus Snape x Reader (platonic), Minerva Mcgonagall x Reader (platonic)

Meanings: (Y/N)=Your name

(Y/L/N)=Your last name

Warnings: Fluff, gossiping, hiding relationship/feelings

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Please make sure your homework is completed and handed in to me at the beginning of tomorrows lesson. You’ve had a week to complete it, so I expect full pile on my desk.” I shouted over the hustle of the students packing away their things.

I hated having the last lesson of the day. No one was focused, they were tired from their other classes, and all they could think about was getting to the Great Hall for dinner; although I was exactly the same, I couldn’t wait for a good meal. Now alone, I started to tidy up my classroom, yawning when I realised how tired I was as well. Luckily, it was the end of the week, and this weekend I was chaperoning the students to Hogsmeade, meaning I could have some retail therapy. I heard the door open, thinking it was a student who had forgotten something, but I was pleasantly surprised when I saw my husband waltz in.

“Oh, hello you.” I smiled as I approached him.

“Hello you.” he leaned down to kiss me before glancing around the room.“Need any help before dinner?”

“No, not tonight. I’ve just got to put a few things away in my desk.”

I went back to tidying, making sure I wasn’t coming back to a mess after the weekend, and that everything was in its right place.

He perched on a student desk.“Are you still going to Hogsmeade this weekend?”

“Of course. I can’t wait.”

“Did you want to...did you want to go for a drink?”

“I don’t think we should be drinking whilst looking after the students Remus.”

“We won’t have anything alcoholic. Perhaps even a meal?”

“What if someone sees us?”

“How many students have we seen go into a restaurant on any trip, hm? And if they do, it’s a meal between friends!”

“You know, I don’t think that whole story about us being old friends worked.”

He suddenly looked panicked.“Why? Have the children been saying anything?”

“No. I can just see it in their faces.”

“You’re overthinking this. It’ll be fine. Let me treat you.” a charming smile spread across his face.

I rolled my eyes, giving in.“Alright. But I’ve got to pop round some of the shops first.”

He groaned.“So we’ll have time for a starter then?”

I scoffed a laugh at him, grabbing a nearby scroll to hit him with.“I might be going shopping for you, did you ever think of that? I am a very loving wife after all.”

He chuckled, shielding himself.“Alright, alright!”

“Plus, and as much as it pains me to say this, we’ll be apart for a while. That means students won’t see us together.”

“Unfortunately, you’re right. We haven’t been too careful as of late.”

“Saying that, should we head to dinner?”

I walked out of the classroom first, checking the corridors, and like always at this time, they were empty. We freely walked towards the Great Hall, daringly holding hands whilst we were still far away. But as it neared, we sadly looked at each other, having to let go. It broke my heart that we had to hide our marriage, we couldn’t even wear our wedding rings for fear of being questioned, and accidentally revealing a detail that was too specific towards each other.

“You two might want to be more careful if you don’t want your secret out.” the monotone voice of Severus said behind us. How was he always so quiet?

Remus sighed.“Well, do you see any students?”

“I was able to sneak up on you,” we were at the entrance of the Great Hall now,“and with all this chatter amongst the students, I would take extra precaution. The gossip is starting to disrupt my lessons.”

He walked away from us, and we glanced at each other. Severus was horribly truthful about these kind of things. I was right. The students had their suspicions.

“Remus, what are we going to do?”

We began walking towards the head table.“Relax, we’ll draw more attention to ourselves otherwise. Look, just forget about what he said. I’m sure it’s a group of first years thinking they’ve discovered something and have irritated him.”

Although he was attempting to comfort me, the dreadful feeling of all the students eyes on me was making me feel sick. It wasn’t that I was ashamed to be with Remus, I loved him with my whole heart, I couldn’t wait to be with him forever. When we both got a job at Hogwarts, we had had a long discussion beforehand. Obviously we were excited to have new jobs, until I thought back to a friend who also worked with her partner. They were open with it, and unfortunately, the students would gossip, make up rude stories and interfere, ask too many questions to get into their personal life. It was awful for them. It sounds like a bunch of children ‘bullying’ professors wouldn’t effect them, you should be able to handle children as a professor; but it really took a tole on them.

"Chin up dear," Minerva said as everyone started eating,"I'm sure this will all pass by."

"You might be right. But I can't help thinking...maybe everyone knows." I stated down at my plate.

"Would that really be so bad?"

"I just don't want them talking about us. I've seen it happen to my friends, and I know a lot of married couples aren't work together because of it."

"Perhaps you two will be different."

I sighed."How many times has someone said that?"

"But, don't they see you leaving the castle together?"

"We said that we live near each other so we share lifts to work. It was the only thing we could come up with."

There was empathy on her face."It will all be fine (Y/N), just you wait and see."

The next day had arrived, meaning it was time to chaperone the students to Hogsmeade. When we returned home last night, I had dropped the subject, knowing Remus was much calmer about all of this than I was. I would only cause a fuss, which would perhaps lead to a small argument between us; and I didn't want the tension there tomorrow, if anything came out of this trip, I wanted to enjoy my time with Remus.

"Are you sure I cannot accompany you on the way there?" Remus had asked as the children's permission slips were approved.

I nodded."I just think it's best to split up for a few hours, then we'll meet up at that restaurant, yeah?"

"Alright, see you later."

In any other circumstance, we would have shared a small kiss before leaving one another, but everyone was here. A small smile graced our lips as he walked away, though mine disappeared as soon as he turned around. Sighing to myself, I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to keep warm as my group was assigned to me.

The students practically ran off as soon as we got there, leaving me alone to wander. Remus was no where to be seen, but we had a set time to meet up. For now, it was aimless wandering.

I couldn't stop checking my watch throughout the day. I was too excited to see my husband, have a dinner out together. Teaching was hard, it took up so much time. Although in the evenings Remus and I were together, we weren't actually together. We weren't present because we would probably be marking papers. And having to constantly remember to hide our love at work was tiring and infuriating. Passing some students in shops, I politely smiled, maybe asked if they were having a good day or making sure they stayed in line, before it was finally time to meet my husband.

There was much more of a spring in my step as I made my way to the designated restaurant. Luckily the number of students got smaller as I strayed away from the main hustle and bustle of Hogsmeade, though they should be minding their own business anyway (that would have avoided this whole mess in the first place). I almost missed the place because it was so small. It was made out of old, dark brick, with a narrow but long window, made of old wooden panes. The door was also small, and I smiled at the thought of Remus ducking through it.

It felt more like a cafe than a restaurant. Like the window, it was long and narrow, tables either side of the room, because if there were tables lining down the middle, no one would be able to move. Remus caught my attention by standing up from our table.

"You look beautiful." he greeted, kissing me.

I scoffed as I sat."You knew what I was wearing, we do live together."

"Doesn't mean you're not beautiful."

I bashfully smiled."You're still able to make me blush after all these years."

"Good, I must be doing something right then."

The lunch together reminded me of old times. It was easy to forget about the stress that had been piled on top of our usual schedule in that moment. We laughed, started reminiscing on our lives when we met each other, it was as if we were catching up after not seeing each other for a long time. When we weren't eating, one of our hands was holding onto each other. I knew I had to cherish every moment, especially since it went by far too quickly.

We found ourselves putting on our coats and scarves, taking a few seconds to just gaze at each other. Neither of us wanted to leave. We felt safe here, hidden away from any prying students. Our marriage shouldn't have been hidden, we loved each other, it was supposed to be shown.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Ready."

We quickly kissed each other before making our way to the door. Thanking a waitress as we passed by, I was about to open the door when something in the window caught my eye. My heart dropped as I spotted three children poking their heads up, watching us until they realised they had been caught.

"Remus!" I snapped."We've been spotted."

He had his usual calm tone."We're just two friendly colleagues getting lunch, there's nothing wrong in that."

"We don't know how long they've been there. What if they saw us kissing?!"

"Very friendly colleagues?"

I huffed as I opened the door, trying to see if the kids were still there. They had started running off in the distance, headed in the direction of our meeting point. We had to head back now, it was the end of the trip, and I was expecting a lot of hushed whispers as we arrived.

"Professor (Y/L/N)?" a fourth year student approached me as we rounded up our groups for counting.

Here we go.

"Yes?"

She seemed nervous, glancing back at her friends."Um...just so you know, we all think you and Professor Lupin make a really cute couple. Like, you two are probably the coolest professors we have."

I was shocked by her words."O-Oh. Thank you...that's a very nice thing to say."

She just smiled before leaving to join her friends again. There had been no point lying to her, it was obvious to everyone. But that small opinion meant a lot to me. Perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad thing to put our marriage on display.

" You see?" Remus approached me."It's not as bad as you thought."

"No, I guess not. I just...I didn't want anything to effect us."

"You're my wife. I love you with all my being. A few gossiping children wouldn't change any of that."

He leaned in to kiss me again, but I giggled as I stopped him.

"What?"

"We may let them know about our marriage, but PDA from staff is still frowned upon."

"Do you know how hard it is to resist you?"

"Guess we'll have to make up for it when we're home."

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