Wait, am I reading too much into this or is that the Travelers!?
Because if it is, Noelle could commiserate with Taylor over perceived body image issues.
A CYOA in Worm or I think my name is No No
- Thread starter Rajvik_wolfboy
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- worm cyoa cyoa si self insert
Wait, am I reading too much into this or is that the Travelers!?
Because if it is, Noelle could commiserate with Taylor over perceived body image issues.
Prince Charon
Just zis guy, you know?
Same. Plausible, but thusly quite painful.
Rajvik_wolfboy
Wolf amongst the stars.
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have an internet cookie, you have it correct
Mmmmm... I just looove the taste of electrons.
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I've tried reading this story several times, and I keep wondering why I didn't continue each time until I get to this part.
The biggest issue is that this is all extremely anime. Excessively so. And it doesn't fit. I'm not saying Worm needs to be grim dark, but it's a setting that tries to go for a 'realistic' feel, yet everyone in this acts like an anime character. It's horrendously out of character for the established characters, but every background character wouldn't show up in regular worm either.
I'm not really looking for this kind of anime fanfic, and it's odd to find it here.
- Location
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Um, Akane is named after Tendo Akane. Kuno Kodachi showed up in the last chapter or so. Other Ranma characters have also showed up in this. Of COURSE it's anime!
Also, I'm having a bit of a disconnect here. A series about a giant depressed space whale-shaped creature giving out superpowers to, amongst others, a person who gets stuck into a school locker filled with biological waste and is hospitalized for weeks, with no apparent repercussions for the school or anyone else? Maybe if you're used to living, say, in Gotham City, this is realistic. Otherwise? *shakes head*
That said, Akane's quote here? It's most likely hyperbole. But if you can get away with it by seeming confident in your ability, with the typical cowardice of the high schoolers at the place where the above happened, being able to back it up is likely unnecessary.
No. In story, Ranma characters are based off the older generation that Akane is related to. This has been mentioned in story several times.
The one I can find with a brief search is:
And I know there is at least one more.
Rajvik_wolfboy
Wolf amongst the stars.
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Earlier in the same conversation
Yes, this has become a fairly generic anime crossover, but I like the tone it is taking. I can't please everyone, so I'm going to please myself in how I write it.
@Haiku Ranma characters are there, but they are the earlier generation. Shampoo is running the Brockton Bay Cat Café, Nabiki is the head of the Kuno Foundation and Ran, (female Ranma) is Mayumi's mother. They are more background characters for the things going on around the world that need background to make sense so that later situations have context.
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Yeah, that was what I was trying to get at. Sorry if I was unclear.
There is also an internal monologue (I think?) where it is out right stated that the Manga-ka for Ranma 1/2 worked at Furinkan and used the students as inspiration.
Winchester
Buzzzzzkill
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- Creeping towards your ear
The premise of the fic is essentially "what if Worm Japan had been Anime Japan instead, and all the anime that could actually fit in were real?" The Ranma 1/2 cast was changed up some because the magic doesn't fit, and Nanoha doesn't work for the TSAB, she works for the Japanese police. I imagine other anime inclusions will have had similar changes to them but the only other thing I've spotted for certain was Full Metal Panic and I'm not sure I saw anything that looked different there.
This kind of thing has been done before, just not with Worm, and I don't see why Worm should be exempt from "everything can be crossed with Ranma 1/2"...
Rajvik_wolfboy
Wolf amongst the stars.
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FMP is probably the least changed out of all of it. They are still somewhat mercenaries that predominantly work for the UN. The only real changes are as to what the Whispered are, thinkers and tinkers.
Chapter 7.2
Rajvik_wolfboy
Wolf amongst the stars.
- Location
- Florida
**
Akane
Just off the BBU campus was a little dive eatery that mostly served the students when they wanted something other than cafeteria food or takeout. From the sign over the bartop where you ordered it wasn't much, just a half-dozen tables and booths, with a jukebox, cheap beer, and greasy food. Right now though, the most important thing was that it was effectively empty, meaning it was someplace with a calm atmosphere. Sitting Taylor down I went and ordered us a couple of sodas and a basket of fries before coming back to her and sliding into the booth next to her. "Taylor," I said softly, "Taylor look at me."
The look in my friend's eyes when she looked at me wrenched at my heart and a part of me wished I had hit that damn redhead harder than I had. I will make her regret this somehow, I thought as Taylor suddenly grabbed me and buried her head in my chest, sobbing. My response was to hold her, making soothing noises and holding her. After a few minutes, a voice said, "There was a time when young women were at least somewhat respected by the men around here." I looked away from Taylor to find the bartender/waitress setting our drinks and fry basket down on the table. "And when they weren't respected, the people who didn't respect them learned to fear them." The look in the woman's face turned hard with that comment, "She's your friend, right?" she asked, and I nodded. She nodded back before continuing, "You find whoever hurt her and make it right if you can, if you can't you call me or come find me, Some of the boss's girls didn't go to prison, and others have gotten out since"
I smiled at her, "Thanks," I said, and she nodded before walking back towards the bar. Turning my attention back to Taylor I sighed. "Taylor listen to me ok?" I felt her nod against my chest and rolled my eyes. "I need you to think back for a minute and tell me, who has been telling you that you were not cute."
"Well," Taylor said, her brows knit in concentration. "It was everyone at…" and that was when the realization hit her. Taylor's reaction was to jerk back like she had been slapped, her face turning into a snarl. "Emma!" she growled, and I nodded even as I took her by the shoulders.
"For whatever her reasons, she did this to keep you down, to break your spirit," I told her and then chuckled. "Besides," I continued. "If you weren't at least cute, you wouldn't have half the school watching whenever you walk past."
"You're exaggerating," Taylor countered huddling in on herself.
"Am not," I returned. "I've personally watched Aaron Kilpatrick, Dennis, Chris and Tracey Perkins all follow you with hungry eyes as you've walked away."
"Dennis is scared of me," she mumbled causing me to raise an eyebrow. Taylor saw the unvoiced question and chuckled a bit. "Caught him stealing the mallow jars for a prank when I needed them for last week's fudge, and I, well I threatened to engulf him in bugs if he didn't put them back or tried it again."
That she had the gumption to do even that much was a step in the right direction and I pulled her into a hug, "Good girl," I said smiling, "and while it could explain his partner in crime, that doesn't explain the baseball team captain or the head cheerleader checking out your butt as you left the room."
Taylor snorted, "Akane, I'm too tall, my mouth is too wide, I'm skinny as a rail and I'm flat as a board, no one is going to want me." Unvoiced I could hear the, "I'm not good looking," in her tone and I shook my head as I put a finger to her lips.
"Taylor," I said with a slight smile and a shake of my head. "Think for a moment about the other girls that were in that auditorium, the ones that were there to model the clothes. All of them were skinny as rails, most of them because they live unhealthy lifestyles to keep the weight off. Yes, they are almost all shorter than you, but they want your height so that they can look skinnier than they already are. As for the rest, you're still in that gangly coltish stage of growth, give it a couple of more years and you are going to be breaking hearts and your father is going to be answering the door with a shotgun,"
That earned a giggle and a smile from her so I continued. "I want you to eat these fries, and drink that soda, and then we need to get back over and do a walk through on the runway before we go home. I'm going to see if I can't get someone over to help." Taylor nodded and I got up before grabbing my cup and heading toward the bar. Pulling out my phone with my other hand I pulled up my contacts list and picked a contact to dial. "Hey Vicky, are you busy?"
"Not particularly," the blonde Alexandria package answered, causing me to smile.
"I need some help and I think you would love to make your sister all flustered again," I told her. "If you at least will come over to the college's auditorium I would appreciate it."
"What do you need help with there?" she asked.
"We need to teach Taylor how to strut." Was all I answered.
**
**Sabah**
"I'm obviously missing something," Noelle had commented as Akane led Taylor out of the auditorium. My response had been to snort at her statement as I took up the slacks before turning to face my teacher's assistant.
"You think?" I asked just a touch sarcastically before turning the pants inside out. "The girl has apparently spent the last eighteen months going through a special kind of hell and Akane and I had to calm her down when I broached the subject of her modeling my clothes. The girl has practically no self-confidence and I have a funny feeling as to the why."
"Shit," the blonde commented. "What's your feeling?" Noelle asked.
"That at least one of the two girls who were supposed to model for me was involved in it," I answered. At that point I turned my attention to the slacks and started stitching the hem into place, losing myself in the repetitive motion.
**
My attention was pulled from finishing the slacks as the main doors to the auditorium slammed open to show three silhouettes standing in the doorway, "Let's do this," a voice I didn't recognize stated as the bodies moved through the room toward the stage. As the doors closed I could see it was Akane, Taylor and a…and Victoria Dallon, Because of course they could get Glory Girl to come over and help Taylor, I thought as I rubbed my eyes.
Akane made a beeline for the sound board and the computer there that would provide the music for the fashion show. Walking over to her I could hear her muttering "No, no, hell no," followed by her lifting an eyebrow at what I could only figure was one song choice as she said clearly, "Who the hell do they think they are, Rick James?" before shaking her head and pulling up the computer's master music list. "Ah, here we go,"
**
**Sunday, January 16, 2011**
Danny smiled as he eased himself into the auditorium seat as Emily sat down between himself and the Dallon sisters. Vicky had somehow convinced Amy that she would enjoy the fashion show or at least that it made more sense for her to take the night off and join them both here and at dinner as opposed to spending another night at the hospital. They would have almost filled the row with Carol and Mark, but the former had an early court appearance in Boston for the Bad Canary trial tomorrow and wouldn't have been able to join them for dinner, while the latter was having one of his bad days and was home in bed. "Excuse me," a low voice rumbled from Danny's other side drawing his attention to a large Asian man with what was obviously his daughters. "Is anyone sitting in these seats?"
"They're open," Danny answered taking a closer look at the two girls. One was a little older than Taylor and Akane, maybe eighteen or so while the other was more than likely a preteen of maybe twelve. "Is yours a student or a model?"
The man blinked for a moment as his girls moved to sit down, "I have one that is a student," he answered smiling. "But not here and not learning fashion, my wife runs the modeling studio that is providing the majority of the models tonight and she wanted to be here to ride herd on them. Herding cats is more accurate in my opinion but what can you do right?" Danny smiled and nodded at the comment. "After this we have to go open the restaurant for the year too, so it's going to be a long night."
Danny smiled at that, "That would mean that you are Kenta Horaki correct?"
The man lifted an eyebrow but nodded over the heads of his daughters, "I am," he answered. "Who are you, if I may be so bold?"
"Danny Hebert," Danny answered standing and offering his hand.
Kenta took the offered hand and shook it while smiling. "You run the Dockworkers Union," he replied and Danny laughed shaking his head.
"I'm just the head of hiring," Danny returned, and Kenta shook his head.
"From what I've heard," Kenta countered. "If you didn't keep beating your head against the wall that is city hall half the city wouldn't be livable and nobody in the union would have legal employment. You do good work, what has you here?"
"Daughter got talked into modeling for one of the students," Danny answered. "Favor trading at its finest." Kenta nodded at that smiling.
"Let me guess," Kenta said, his smile turning a touch feral. "She took the place of one of the two that ended up going to jail for some high school prank turned near deadly."
"Her and her newest friend," Danny answered with a chuckle. "The student asked them to model for her since no one else was available."
Kenta nodded, "My wife was very put out by the stuff that they are accused of doing," he growled. "They have been blacklisted by her and everyone that she could influence, at least until they turn eighteen."
Danny's response was a low whistle, "Blacklisted before they even get out of the house," he said, a smirk gracing his face. "Serves them right."
"Daddy," the younger of the two girls said, breaking into the conversation and drawing both of the adult's attention. "You are being rude," she finished.
Both men looked down at her, Kenta smiling but both of their eyebrows raised. "And how am I being rude my little flower?" her father asked.
"You haven't introduced Miranda or myself," the girl answered. "And you are literally talking over our heads."
Danny had to bite his lip to keep himself from laughing at the girl's precociousness. Kenta on the other hand sighed, a smirk crossing his face before solemnly looking at Danny and addressing his daughter's comment. "Danny, these are my younger two daughters, Miranda who is eighteen, and Nemuri who is twelve. Girls, this is Mister Hebert."
Nemuri smiled wide while Miranda rolled her eyes in exasperation with her sister. "It is a pleasure to meet you both," Danny replied with a smile and a slight bow.
"Is that your wife?" Nemuri asked indicating Emily.
Danny grimaced slightly, the pain of his loss showing for a heartbeat before he answered. "No," he said. "That is the aunt of my daughter's friend, her name is Emily Piggot and she is the director of the local PRT branch." As he answered he noticed Nemuri's eyes got big at that while both Miranda and Kenta seemed to freeze in place.
"Interesting," Kenta commented as he finally sat down in the aisle seat of the row. A moment later the lights all dimmed, and a young blonde woman stepped up to the microphone stand that was set off to one side of the stage.
**
Akane
Just off the BBU campus was a little dive eatery that mostly served the students when they wanted something other than cafeteria food or takeout. From the sign over the bartop where you ordered it wasn't much, just a half-dozen tables and booths, with a jukebox, cheap beer, and greasy food. Right now though, the most important thing was that it was effectively empty, meaning it was someplace with a calm atmosphere. Sitting Taylor down I went and ordered us a couple of sodas and a basket of fries before coming back to her and sliding into the booth next to her. "Taylor," I said softly, "Taylor look at me."
The look in my friend's eyes when she looked at me wrenched at my heart and a part of me wished I had hit that damn redhead harder than I had. I will make her regret this somehow, I thought as Taylor suddenly grabbed me and buried her head in my chest, sobbing. My response was to hold her, making soothing noises and holding her. After a few minutes, a voice said, "There was a time when young women were at least somewhat respected by the men around here." I looked away from Taylor to find the bartender/waitress setting our drinks and fry basket down on the table. "And when they weren't respected, the people who didn't respect them learned to fear them." The look in the woman's face turned hard with that comment, "She's your friend, right?" she asked, and I nodded. She nodded back before continuing, "You find whoever hurt her and make it right if you can, if you can't you call me or come find me, Some of the boss's girls didn't go to prison, and others have gotten out since"
I smiled at her, "Thanks," I said, and she nodded before walking back towards the bar. Turning my attention back to Taylor I sighed. "Taylor listen to me ok?" I felt her nod against my chest and rolled my eyes. "I need you to think back for a minute and tell me, who has been telling you that you were not cute."
"Well," Taylor said, her brows knit in concentration. "It was everyone at…" and that was when the realization hit her. Taylor's reaction was to jerk back like she had been slapped, her face turning into a snarl. "Emma!" she growled, and I nodded even as I took her by the shoulders.
"For whatever her reasons, she did this to keep you down, to break your spirit," I told her and then chuckled. "Besides," I continued. "If you weren't at least cute, you wouldn't have half the school watching whenever you walk past."
"You're exaggerating," Taylor countered huddling in on herself.
"Am not," I returned. "I've personally watched Aaron Kilpatrick, Dennis, Chris and Tracey Perkins all follow you with hungry eyes as you've walked away."
"Dennis is scared of me," she mumbled causing me to raise an eyebrow. Taylor saw the unvoiced question and chuckled a bit. "Caught him stealing the mallow jars for a prank when I needed them for last week's fudge, and I, well I threatened to engulf him in bugs if he didn't put them back or tried it again."
That she had the gumption to do even that much was a step in the right direction and I pulled her into a hug, "Good girl," I said smiling, "and while it could explain his partner in crime, that doesn't explain the baseball team captain or the head cheerleader checking out your butt as you left the room."
Taylor snorted, "Akane, I'm too tall, my mouth is too wide, I'm skinny as a rail and I'm flat as a board, no one is going to want me." Unvoiced I could hear the, "I'm not good looking," in her tone and I shook my head as I put a finger to her lips.
"Taylor," I said with a slight smile and a shake of my head. "Think for a moment about the other girls that were in that auditorium, the ones that were there to model the clothes. All of them were skinny as rails, most of them because they live unhealthy lifestyles to keep the weight off. Yes, they are almost all shorter than you, but they want your height so that they can look skinnier than they already are. As for the rest, you're still in that gangly coltish stage of growth, give it a couple of more years and you are going to be breaking hearts and your father is going to be answering the door with a shotgun,"
That earned a giggle and a smile from her so I continued. "I want you to eat these fries, and drink that soda, and then we need to get back over and do a walk through on the runway before we go home. I'm going to see if I can't get someone over to help." Taylor nodded and I got up before grabbing my cup and heading toward the bar. Pulling out my phone with my other hand I pulled up my contacts list and picked a contact to dial. "Hey Vicky, are you busy?"
"Not particularly," the blonde Alexandria package answered, causing me to smile.
"I need some help and I think you would love to make your sister all flustered again," I told her. "If you at least will come over to the college's auditorium I would appreciate it."
"What do you need help with there?" she asked.
"We need to teach Taylor how to strut." Was all I answered.
**
**Sabah**
"I'm obviously missing something," Noelle had commented as Akane led Taylor out of the auditorium. My response had been to snort at her statement as I took up the slacks before turning to face my teacher's assistant.
"You think?" I asked just a touch sarcastically before turning the pants inside out. "The girl has apparently spent the last eighteen months going through a special kind of hell and Akane and I had to calm her down when I broached the subject of her modeling my clothes. The girl has practically no self-confidence and I have a funny feeling as to the why."
"Shit," the blonde commented. "What's your feeling?" Noelle asked.
"That at least one of the two girls who were supposed to model for me was involved in it," I answered. At that point I turned my attention to the slacks and started stitching the hem into place, losing myself in the repetitive motion.
**
My attention was pulled from finishing the slacks as the main doors to the auditorium slammed open to show three silhouettes standing in the doorway, "Let's do this," a voice I didn't recognize stated as the bodies moved through the room toward the stage. As the doors closed I could see it was Akane, Taylor and a…and Victoria Dallon, Because of course they could get Glory Girl to come over and help Taylor, I thought as I rubbed my eyes.
Akane made a beeline for the sound board and the computer there that would provide the music for the fashion show. Walking over to her I could hear her muttering "No, no, hell no," followed by her lifting an eyebrow at what I could only figure was one song choice as she said clearly, "Who the hell do they think they are, Rick James?" before shaking her head and pulling up the computer's master music list. "Ah, here we go,"
**
**Sunday, January 16, 2011**
Danny smiled as he eased himself into the auditorium seat as Emily sat down between himself and the Dallon sisters. Vicky had somehow convinced Amy that she would enjoy the fashion show or at least that it made more sense for her to take the night off and join them both here and at dinner as opposed to spending another night at the hospital. They would have almost filled the row with Carol and Mark, but the former had an early court appearance in Boston for the Bad Canary trial tomorrow and wouldn't have been able to join them for dinner, while the latter was having one of his bad days and was home in bed. "Excuse me," a low voice rumbled from Danny's other side drawing his attention to a large Asian man with what was obviously his daughters. "Is anyone sitting in these seats?"
"They're open," Danny answered taking a closer look at the two girls. One was a little older than Taylor and Akane, maybe eighteen or so while the other was more than likely a preteen of maybe twelve. "Is yours a student or a model?"
The man blinked for a moment as his girls moved to sit down, "I have one that is a student," he answered smiling. "But not here and not learning fashion, my wife runs the modeling studio that is providing the majority of the models tonight and she wanted to be here to ride herd on them. Herding cats is more accurate in my opinion but what can you do right?" Danny smiled and nodded at the comment. "After this we have to go open the restaurant for the year too, so it's going to be a long night."
Danny smiled at that, "That would mean that you are Kenta Horaki correct?"
The man lifted an eyebrow but nodded over the heads of his daughters, "I am," he answered. "Who are you, if I may be so bold?"
"Danny Hebert," Danny answered standing and offering his hand.
Kenta took the offered hand and shook it while smiling. "You run the Dockworkers Union," he replied and Danny laughed shaking his head.
"I'm just the head of hiring," Danny returned, and Kenta shook his head.
"From what I've heard," Kenta countered. "If you didn't keep beating your head against the wall that is city hall half the city wouldn't be livable and nobody in the union would have legal employment. You do good work, what has you here?"
"Daughter got talked into modeling for one of the students," Danny answered. "Favor trading at its finest." Kenta nodded at that smiling.
"Let me guess," Kenta said, his smile turning a touch feral. "She took the place of one of the two that ended up going to jail for some high school prank turned near deadly."
"Her and her newest friend," Danny answered with a chuckle. "The student asked them to model for her since no one else was available."
Kenta nodded, "My wife was very put out by the stuff that they are accused of doing," he growled. "They have been blacklisted by her and everyone that she could influence, at least until they turn eighteen."
Danny's response was a low whistle, "Blacklisted before they even get out of the house," he said, a smirk gracing his face. "Serves them right."
"Daddy," the younger of the two girls said, breaking into the conversation and drawing both of the adult's attention. "You are being rude," she finished.
Both men looked down at her, Kenta smiling but both of their eyebrows raised. "And how am I being rude my little flower?" her father asked.
"You haven't introduced Miranda or myself," the girl answered. "And you are literally talking over our heads."
Danny had to bite his lip to keep himself from laughing at the girl's precociousness. Kenta on the other hand sighed, a smirk crossing his face before solemnly looking at Danny and addressing his daughter's comment. "Danny, these are my younger two daughters, Miranda who is eighteen, and Nemuri who is twelve. Girls, this is Mister Hebert."
Nemuri smiled wide while Miranda rolled her eyes in exasperation with her sister. "It is a pleasure to meet you both," Danny replied with a smile and a slight bow.
"Is that your wife?" Nemuri asked indicating Emily.
Danny grimaced slightly, the pain of his loss showing for a heartbeat before he answered. "No," he said. "That is the aunt of my daughter's friend, her name is Emily Piggot and she is the director of the local PRT branch." As he answered he noticed Nemuri's eyes got big at that while both Miranda and Kenta seemed to freeze in place.
"Interesting," Kenta commented as he finally sat down in the aisle seat of the row. A moment later the lights all dimmed, and a young blonde woman stepped up to the microphone stand that was set off to one side of the stage.
**
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Wyverntamer
Trans girl
- Location
- Home (The Netherlands)
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Nice! I love a reasonable Lung, and seeing Taylor get more confidence is always a treat.
Jonn Wolfe
(Verified Sarcastic) (Not a Wolf)
- Location
- Beyond Sanity Since 1971
This is looking to be an Honorable Lung, as opposed to Rage Dragon Thug. Hopefully, there's no flesh trading going on. That would suck.
Also, props for getting Lung and Piggot in the same room without things exploding. Now, did they freeze because Piggot's PRT or because she's Akane's aunt?
Also, props for getting Lung and Piggot in the same room without things exploding. Now, did they freeze because Piggot's PRT or because she's Akane's aunt?
ScottotheUnwise
Verified Crack (fic) Dealer
- Location
- Mulberry, Fl
I have to say I immediately went to this for the video and the beat: SheenaStrut And then I really listened to the words (never did that in the eighties and it doesn't get played enough nowadays to remind me) and boy did that go ah age inappropriate fast.
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Ah, the answer would be 'Yes'.
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- Location
- SW Florida
I've said it before (in this very thread) and I'll say again, Family Man Lung is best Lung.
Rajvik_wolfboy
Wolf amongst the stars.
- Location
- Florida
Yeah @ScottotheUnwise I had that, the one I picked, and The Eagles all in mind. Bob Sugar was the only one close to appropriate.
Now this has potential for some of the best revenge on Emma.
Taylor gets an offer from Kenta's wife to do some modeling, and becomes more successful than Emma.
I know it's unlikely because of Taylor being a Ward, but I've been trying (and failing) to come up with a decent omake of her getting a job offer, doing a gig, and Emma finding out about it and blowing her top.
After all, the best revenge is said to be living well, and Taylor getting a lucrative modeling job and outdoing Emma at it would certainly be an interesting revenge. Emma's career tanks because of her treatment of Taylor, while Taylor takes her place and upstages her.
Rajvik_wolfboy
Wolf amongst the stars.
- Location
- Florida
Looks at @SlickRCBD post and whistles innocently.
- Location
- East of Sun, West of Moon
... Really looking forward to seeing what Taylor can do with some nice clothes, a touch of makeup, and a bit of skill.
Because few things are as attractive as confidence, and when you get down to it, few can compare to Taylor Hebert in the determinator department.
Because few things are as attractive as confidence, and when you get down to it, few can compare to Taylor Hebert in the determinator department.
Chapter 7.3
Rajvik_wolfboy
Wolf amongst the stars.
- Location
- Florida
Francis Krouse grimaced as he looked at the tracklist on the soundboard's computer again. Someone had come in yesterday after he finished loading the playlist and made a new one, leaving a note not to change the list. Up until the point that Noelle said anything, he had been planning to ignore the note and delete the new list anyway. "I'm tired of Right Said Fred and RuPaul Francis," she told him. "The girl that put that list together did so to keep others from revolting over the music and managed to pick songs that matched the runway times for each of the fashion styles."
Francis had grimaced at that but nodded, "Alright Noelle," he had told her as he deleted the list that he had put together in favor of this other list. "I'll use this list instead."
"Thanks Francis," she said before leaning in and kissing him. "I have to go deal with Mrs. Horaki now, so I'll see you in a little bit, alright?" Francis nodded and he watched as she went backstage. He didn't like the change, but maybe it would work.
**
**Akane**
Hikari Horaki rampaged through the backstage area like an agitated bull in a china cabinet,her tone that of a platoon sergeant dealing with a group of hungover green recruits, chivvying her girls to where they were supposed to line up. Taylor and I were chatting while we waited for the show to start, already set for the first of our three walks. "And you," the woman said as she stalked over and got into our personal space. "I don't recognize you, who are you?"
"Taylor Hebert and Akane Takamachi," I answered and smiled as Taylor bowed up, standing at her full, heel-augmented height and returned the woman's glare with one of her own. "We are walking for Miss Sabah ibn Salim."
Horaki seemed to blink before nodding. "Good," she said before looking Taylor up and down. "You have backbone," she said smiling. "This is good, we should talk afterwards, I might have some work for you in this field." As Taylor's eyes flew open in shock, Horaki turned to me and switched to Japanese. "What does the name Takamachi Kenta mean to you?" she asked.
"He was my mother's half-brother," I answered in the same language. "Grandfather disinherited him from the family school when he left the village to avenge the death of a friend of his. To the family's knowledge he died during the sinking of Kyushu."
"An interesting summation my dear," Horaki said before leaning in to whisper in my ear. "But are you sure he's dead?"
**
**Taylor**
I was still trying to figure out if Mrs. Horaki's offer was legitimate or not when she leaned in and whispered something in Akane's ear. Akane stepped back in shock at whatever the woman had said, but before Akane could respond the woman said, "Atode mata o ai shimashou," before storming off, yelling at another girl who was not where she was supposed to be.
"Akane are you alright?" I asked her as she shook her head as if she had been hit.
"Yeah," she answered, "I'll be fine, let's get this shit done yeah?" I nodded and took my place at the start of the second tier of models.
**
**Danny**
"I don't know if I should thank Akane," I said as Taylor started down the runway to ZZ Tops "Legs". "Or if I should strangle her for turning her into every hetero-male's fantasy."
"Face it Mr. H." Vicky said with a smile. "You and your wife are as much to blame, as is Sabah who is damned good at what she does. I wonder if I can get her to make my prom dress."
Looking over at Vicky to comment in return I noticed Amy all but drooling, her eyes never leaving Taylor until she left the stage. Not just the straight male population, I thought with a sigh. Turning to my other side to try and get some support from Kenta, I found his wife sitting there on his lap and whispering in his ear.
"Much better than the girl she replaced," the woman said smiling. "I'm going to have to offer her some very good jobs to entice her into working for me and hopefully take the jobs that the Barnes girl is no longer doing." At that point I covered my face with my hands and groaned. Where did I go wrong?
**
Emma Barnes stared at her television in shock as the second leg of models finished. This is not how it was supposed to be! she thought. "That was supposed to be MY JOB DAMN IT!" she screamed, flinging her pillow at the screen. "This can't be fucking happening, how the fuck did she get my job?"
After about two minutes of her slamming about her room someone was banging on her door, drawing Emma's attention. Stomping over, she jerked it open to find her father standing there, "What seems to be the problem Emma?" he asked flatly.
"That!" she growled, pointing at the flatscreen and the fashion show that was shown on it. "Taylor and that ABB bitch are wearing the dresses that were supposed to be for me and Madison and are walking in the fashion show that was supposed to get us noticed and out of this damn town."
Alan Barnes looked past his daughter at the television screen and felt his eyebrows rise at the image of Taylor, frozen at the end of the runway where Emma had managed to freeze the channel. "I'll be damned," he muttered before turning around to walk out of the room.
"Daddy," Emma whined following him through the door to her room. "Can't you do anything about this?"
Turning back to his daughter for a second Alan nodded with a sigh, "Yeah, right," he said before raising his voice. "Hey Zoe," he called out. "Did you leave the VCR set up to record the fashion show?"
"Yes, damn it," she called back from below. "I forgot that I even set it up, Anne wanted to see what her sister was up to. I'll go shut it off."
"No, let it run," Alan called back as he turned and started back down the stairs. "Anne will want to see how Taylor is doing and I'm sure Danny will want a copy as well." Behind him Emma let out an enraged and inarticulate scream as she stomped back through her bedroom door, slamming it behind her.
**
**Taylor**
"I'm going to beat Akane bloody for this," I grumbled as I got behind the curtain and went to where Sabah was set up with the clothes and was finishing up with Akane for the next run. "I'm going to hurt you later," I told Akane as I untied the ribbon belt before contorting my arms to start undoing the back of the dress.
"You love me," Akane smirked as she buckled the belt on her slacks before reaching for her jacket. "Two more passes, right?" Akane asked Sabah who nodded.
"Yes," Sabah answered, pulling out the charcoal grey pencil skirt and white blouse and hanging them over the screen for me to change into as I dropped the dress and stepped out of it behind the screen. "You have this suit, and a bathing suit/sarong combination while Taylor has a cocktail dress." Both of us nodded as I pulled on the under-shirt before grabbing the blouse and pulling it on. Settling the blouse on my shoulders I let the shirt garters hang while I buttoned up the blouse itself. I can do this, I thought reaching for the skirt. It's just two more outfits, this one going with be office suits like Akane is wearing." At that point I gulped, But then it's the little black dress, can I do that?
**
**Kenta**
As my wife snuggled into my side, watching the girls walk up and down the aisle I thought about how much things had changed since my arrival. Back then, the rumors about kidnapping and sex slavery had been true, and everyone seemed to fight for ever damn street corner in the West End. The Tongs, the Triads and the Yakuza all had their representatives, and all of them fought each other making the area a mess of anarchy and destruction. I walked out of the CUI into this maelstrom and over the course of six months beat the local population into submission. It was at this point that I laid down the new laws to them.
**
**Years earlier**
"You are all a part of the community," I said to the gathered survivors of my rampage. The various capes of the different gangs had all either fled or died by my hand, and now their workers, the seamstresses who worked in the sweatshops, the hookers from the street corner, the normal thugs and the shop owners who laundered the funds of the illegal enterprises or else paid their protection, all of them were here. "I have beaten those that stood against me, and now like a smith I shall forge this community into a single group to defend it." All of them looked at me as if I was crazy but they were too beaten down to say anything. Part of that was a good thing, it meant that they wouldn't fight me, that I didn't have to worry about a knife or a bullet in the back as I walked out of the room. At the same time though, it was a bad thing, as those that were too scared lacked initiative.
"One thing you must realize," I continued, "is that we all face a set of common enemies. Enemies that think we are beneath them, that want to see us subjugated to them or else driven out of this place that we intend to make into our homes. The way I see it, we have three common enemies, but together we will be able to face them and if not win, at least keep them from driving us out. Together we can and will hold back Kaiser's Empire, together we will rescue our families from the lands of the Chinese Union Imperial, and together we will fight Leviathan." The start had gotten their attention, pointing out that the Empire 88 wanted to drive us out of town got quite a few of them grumbling as they knew the neo-Nazi's would either try to drive us out, or attempt to butcher us as they could. Putting their attention on WHY they slaved in their jobs most of the time was another thing. Those of them that had come here had mostly done so illegally through snakeheads and were either working to pay off that debt or working to put the down payment on getting their families brought over by the same people. I had different contacts that could accomplish the same thing for less cost. The last thing I had figured was likely to only appeal to the Japanese amongst the group as we had been the one to lose one of our home islands. Surprisingly the entire crowd erupted at that statement and I had to wait quite a few minutes until they quieted down enough for me to continue speaking.
"This will not be an easy task," I said once the crowd had quieted down enough. "There are those of you that, after tonight, who will disobey the edicts that I am about to lay down, and you should know that there is only one penalty. That said, I will not take it out on your family. If you screw the community over, then you will pay the cost of your actions. That said there are certain jobs that will no longer be allowed, or else be seriously curtailed while I rule here. Do not test this, for my resolve is as hot as my fire." The crowd looked around at each other nodding and then I began to lay out the rules that would govern us going forward. When I was done I looked at them and as I had figured I could see some that were already planning on trying to slip around my laws. An example would have to be made, but unfortunately it would have to wait until they were caught breaking the rules.
**
**Now**
Even though they did not know it, these girls would not have to worry about being marked for kidnapping on a dark night only to be sold overseas for men to use until they broke and were replaced. They would not have to worry about being forcibly addicted to various drugs to force their compliance, (at least not by my people) and they would have help through various contacts to help them get their wanted modeling careers started. "Do either of them want a modeling career?" I asked Hikari quietly.
"I don't know," she answered. "The Hebert girl is having confidence issues and Akane seems to be there mostly to keep her standing straight and help her through her panic. If they do want to I will work very hard to ensure they have the best jobs available."
I nodded at that. Akane was family, and Taylor was her friend, that alone called for preferential treatment if it could be done without breaking promises already made. The fact that the Barnes girl and her friend had managed to screw up so royally and break their own contracts made at least those jobs easier to hand to Akane and Taylor. "We will have to find out," I murmured to my wife and settled in as Akane walked out in a well put together business suit.
**
Francis had grimaced at that but nodded, "Alright Noelle," he had told her as he deleted the list that he had put together in favor of this other list. "I'll use this list instead."
"Thanks Francis," she said before leaning in and kissing him. "I have to go deal with Mrs. Horaki now, so I'll see you in a little bit, alright?" Francis nodded and he watched as she went backstage. He didn't like the change, but maybe it would work.
**
**Akane**
Hikari Horaki rampaged through the backstage area like an agitated bull in a china cabinet,her tone that of a platoon sergeant dealing with a group of hungover green recruits, chivvying her girls to where they were supposed to line up. Taylor and I were chatting while we waited for the show to start, already set for the first of our three walks. "And you," the woman said as she stalked over and got into our personal space. "I don't recognize you, who are you?"
"Taylor Hebert and Akane Takamachi," I answered and smiled as Taylor bowed up, standing at her full, heel-augmented height and returned the woman's glare with one of her own. "We are walking for Miss Sabah ibn Salim."
Horaki seemed to blink before nodding. "Good," she said before looking Taylor up and down. "You have backbone," she said smiling. "This is good, we should talk afterwards, I might have some work for you in this field." As Taylor's eyes flew open in shock, Horaki turned to me and switched to Japanese. "What does the name Takamachi Kenta mean to you?" she asked.
"He was my mother's half-brother," I answered in the same language. "Grandfather disinherited him from the family school when he left the village to avenge the death of a friend of his. To the family's knowledge he died during the sinking of Kyushu."
"An interesting summation my dear," Horaki said before leaning in to whisper in my ear. "But are you sure he's dead?"
**
**Taylor**
I was still trying to figure out if Mrs. Horaki's offer was legitimate or not when she leaned in and whispered something in Akane's ear. Akane stepped back in shock at whatever the woman had said, but before Akane could respond the woman said, "Atode mata o ai shimashou," before storming off, yelling at another girl who was not where she was supposed to be.
"Akane are you alright?" I asked her as she shook her head as if she had been hit.
"Yeah," she answered, "I'll be fine, let's get this shit done yeah?" I nodded and took my place at the start of the second tier of models.
**
**Danny**
"I don't know if I should thank Akane," I said as Taylor started down the runway to ZZ Tops "Legs". "Or if I should strangle her for turning her into every hetero-male's fantasy."
"Face it Mr. H." Vicky said with a smile. "You and your wife are as much to blame, as is Sabah who is damned good at what she does. I wonder if I can get her to make my prom dress."
Looking over at Vicky to comment in return I noticed Amy all but drooling, her eyes never leaving Taylor until she left the stage. Not just the straight male population, I thought with a sigh. Turning to my other side to try and get some support from Kenta, I found his wife sitting there on his lap and whispering in his ear.
"Much better than the girl she replaced," the woman said smiling. "I'm going to have to offer her some very good jobs to entice her into working for me and hopefully take the jobs that the Barnes girl is no longer doing." At that point I covered my face with my hands and groaned. Where did I go wrong?
**
Emma Barnes stared at her television in shock as the second leg of models finished. This is not how it was supposed to be! she thought. "That was supposed to be MY JOB DAMN IT!" she screamed, flinging her pillow at the screen. "This can't be fucking happening, how the fuck did she get my job?"
After about two minutes of her slamming about her room someone was banging on her door, drawing Emma's attention. Stomping over, she jerked it open to find her father standing there, "What seems to be the problem Emma?" he asked flatly.
"That!" she growled, pointing at the flatscreen and the fashion show that was shown on it. "Taylor and that ABB bitch are wearing the dresses that were supposed to be for me and Madison and are walking in the fashion show that was supposed to get us noticed and out of this damn town."
Alan Barnes looked past his daughter at the television screen and felt his eyebrows rise at the image of Taylor, frozen at the end of the runway where Emma had managed to freeze the channel. "I'll be damned," he muttered before turning around to walk out of the room.
"Daddy," Emma whined following him through the door to her room. "Can't you do anything about this?"
Turning back to his daughter for a second Alan nodded with a sigh, "Yeah, right," he said before raising his voice. "Hey Zoe," he called out. "Did you leave the VCR set up to record the fashion show?"
"Yes, damn it," she called back from below. "I forgot that I even set it up, Anne wanted to see what her sister was up to. I'll go shut it off."
"No, let it run," Alan called back as he turned and started back down the stairs. "Anne will want to see how Taylor is doing and I'm sure Danny will want a copy as well." Behind him Emma let out an enraged and inarticulate scream as she stomped back through her bedroom door, slamming it behind her.
**
**Taylor**
"I'm going to beat Akane bloody for this," I grumbled as I got behind the curtain and went to where Sabah was set up with the clothes and was finishing up with Akane for the next run. "I'm going to hurt you later," I told Akane as I untied the ribbon belt before contorting my arms to start undoing the back of the dress.
"You love me," Akane smirked as she buckled the belt on her slacks before reaching for her jacket. "Two more passes, right?" Akane asked Sabah who nodded.
"Yes," Sabah answered, pulling out the charcoal grey pencil skirt and white blouse and hanging them over the screen for me to change into as I dropped the dress and stepped out of it behind the screen. "You have this suit, and a bathing suit/sarong combination while Taylor has a cocktail dress." Both of us nodded as I pulled on the under-shirt before grabbing the blouse and pulling it on. Settling the blouse on my shoulders I let the shirt garters hang while I buttoned up the blouse itself. I can do this, I thought reaching for the skirt. It's just two more outfits, this one going with be office suits like Akane is wearing." At that point I gulped, But then it's the little black dress, can I do that?
**
**Kenta**
As my wife snuggled into my side, watching the girls walk up and down the aisle I thought about how much things had changed since my arrival. Back then, the rumors about kidnapping and sex slavery had been true, and everyone seemed to fight for ever damn street corner in the West End. The Tongs, the Triads and the Yakuza all had their representatives, and all of them fought each other making the area a mess of anarchy and destruction. I walked out of the CUI into this maelstrom and over the course of six months beat the local population into submission. It was at this point that I laid down the new laws to them.
**
**Years earlier**
"You are all a part of the community," I said to the gathered survivors of my rampage. The various capes of the different gangs had all either fled or died by my hand, and now their workers, the seamstresses who worked in the sweatshops, the hookers from the street corner, the normal thugs and the shop owners who laundered the funds of the illegal enterprises or else paid their protection, all of them were here. "I have beaten those that stood against me, and now like a smith I shall forge this community into a single group to defend it." All of them looked at me as if I was crazy but they were too beaten down to say anything. Part of that was a good thing, it meant that they wouldn't fight me, that I didn't have to worry about a knife or a bullet in the back as I walked out of the room. At the same time though, it was a bad thing, as those that were too scared lacked initiative.
"One thing you must realize," I continued, "is that we all face a set of common enemies. Enemies that think we are beneath them, that want to see us subjugated to them or else driven out of this place that we intend to make into our homes. The way I see it, we have three common enemies, but together we will be able to face them and if not win, at least keep them from driving us out. Together we can and will hold back Kaiser's Empire, together we will rescue our families from the lands of the Chinese Union Imperial, and together we will fight Leviathan." The start had gotten their attention, pointing out that the Empire 88 wanted to drive us out of town got quite a few of them grumbling as they knew the neo-Nazi's would either try to drive us out, or attempt to butcher us as they could. Putting their attention on WHY they slaved in their jobs most of the time was another thing. Those of them that had come here had mostly done so illegally through snakeheads and were either working to pay off that debt or working to put the down payment on getting their families brought over by the same people. I had different contacts that could accomplish the same thing for less cost. The last thing I had figured was likely to only appeal to the Japanese amongst the group as we had been the one to lose one of our home islands. Surprisingly the entire crowd erupted at that statement and I had to wait quite a few minutes until they quieted down enough for me to continue speaking.
"This will not be an easy task," I said once the crowd had quieted down enough. "There are those of you that, after tonight, who will disobey the edicts that I am about to lay down, and you should know that there is only one penalty. That said, I will not take it out on your family. If you screw the community over, then you will pay the cost of your actions. That said there are certain jobs that will no longer be allowed, or else be seriously curtailed while I rule here. Do not test this, for my resolve is as hot as my fire." The crowd looked around at each other nodding and then I began to lay out the rules that would govern us going forward. When I was done I looked at them and as I had figured I could see some that were already planning on trying to slip around my laws. An example would have to be made, but unfortunately it would have to wait until they were caught breaking the rules.
**
**Now**
Even though they did not know it, these girls would not have to worry about being marked for kidnapping on a dark night only to be sold overseas for men to use until they broke and were replaced. They would not have to worry about being forcibly addicted to various drugs to force their compliance, (at least not by my people) and they would have help through various contacts to help them get their wanted modeling careers started. "Do either of them want a modeling career?" I asked Hikari quietly.
"I don't know," she answered. "The Hebert girl is having confidence issues and Akane seems to be there mostly to keep her standing straight and help her through her panic. If they do want to I will work very hard to ensure they have the best jobs available."
I nodded at that. Akane was family, and Taylor was her friend, that alone called for preferential treatment if it could be done without breaking promises already made. The fact that the Barnes girl and her friend had managed to screw up so royally and break their own contracts made at least those jobs easier to hand to Akane and Taylor. "We will have to find out," I murmured to my wife and settled in as Akane walked out in a well put together business suit.
**
Jonn Wolfe
(Verified Sarcastic) (Not a Wolf)
- Location
- Beyond Sanity Since 1971
Oh good, this Kenta is a proper Shogun and not a thug. Those are always fun to read.
Oh Hai Emma! Suck IT! *points and laughs*
It is so weird that the Travelers are Runway Show operators. I keep expecting bad shit to happen when they're around.
So, who's gonna tell Taylor that she has at least two people who want to be more than friends? Amy was proper, wide-eyed, nonverbal stunned, while Akane is doing her best to stay verbal. Poor Danny. His little girl isn't so little anymore. Every father's nightmare.
Oh Hai Emma! Suck IT! *points and laughs*
It is so weird that the Travelers are Runway Show operators. I keep expecting bad shit to happen when they're around.
So, who's gonna tell Taylor that she has at least two people who want to be more than friends? Amy was proper, wide-eyed, nonverbal stunned, while Akane is doing her best to stay verbal. Poor Danny. His little girl isn't so little anymore. Every father's nightmare.