GL Sandborn wrote:
More setup for the action to follow. Please C&C. It
really needs it.
K. Step one: find and replace "Karou" with "Kaoru". Both of them are
equally hated by the spellchecker, but only one of them is his real name.
Step two: I realize popcorn spy movies often have Idiot Plots, but
really... well, more on that when it hits.
Once she got him back to her room in the servants'
quarters of the mansion, it was really late. Nobody was
still awake. She remembered dumping him on the floor
over by her desk and throwing a blanket over his body.
How he got in her bed, she'd rather not think about.
It's more how he _stayed_ in her bed that I'm wondering about. Aoi
snuggles in her sleep. Tina dreams about being Sheena, Queen of the
Jungle, or something similarly athletic and winds up booting everything
off onto the floor. Even when she goes to bed tired and scared.
The series of events would unfold mostly the same if she stepped out of
bed onto him and that woke _him_ up enough to go all Mexican Standoff
with Taeko.
Sheepishly, the man eyed the mess. "A person in my
business can't be too careful." He blinked and shook his
head like he was trying to clear his vision. "I think...
I think I got up too fast." His eyes rolled back in his
head and he collapsed with a loud 'thud' in the middle of
Tina's formally clean laundry.
"I wish you'd stop doing that," she said with a
heavy sigh.
Again I wonder how Mr. Linguist has got enough reflexive situational
awareness to draw and point the gun. Or is he only a linguist like Indy
is a professor?
"Of course she wouldn't," Aoi said calmly as she
stood up. Holding her hands together down the front of
her, she turned to her governess. "I'm quite certain
there is a logical explanation."
That description sounds _incredibly_ salacious. I know what you're
trying to do here - Aoi is a loaded respect cannon, ready to bow at any
time. Not sure how to keep this with the flow. "Clasping her hands over
her sash", maybe? It can't be _too_ long because it's such a casual
gesture, but.
"Oh, come on, Miss Manager. I'm an American. We
know how to handle guns. It's in our genes." As if to
prove her claim, she struck a Lupin-like pose and winked
at Kaoru.
I'm having trouble visualizing 'a Lupin-like pose'. Lupin mostly runs,
right? Hauling his latest acquisition over his shoulder?
::one Google Image search later::
Would "resting the gun against her temple in a Lupin pose" describe it
appropriately? No, that sounds a) initially suicidal and b) like she'll
deafen herself with the misfire.Further description seems to make it
sound like the bullet went nearly straight up, which makes me
retroactively visualize that silhouette in the center in the classic
Charlie's Angels logo.
Maybe just "crossed her arms and winked at Kaoru"?
"Gimmie that!" Miyabi snapped, grabbing the pistol
out of Tina's limp hand.
"Give me that!", right? Miyabi doesn't lose her cool even when she's
losing her cool.
"Probably my office," Miyabi said with a sigh. "It
is directly above this room."
[...]
"In the mean time," Miyabi said, casting her eyes
towards the hole in their living room ceiling, "I'm going
to see what damage Miss Tina did to my office and lock up
this horrible weapon."
[...]
"You better come with me," Miyabi said firmly. "If
that bullet went all the way through the ceiling of my
office, I will require someone to check for a hole in the
roof."
"You had better", "You had best", or perhaps "you will".
Also, "office" has stopped looking like a word. If Miyabi's deliberately
emphasizing it then stick in some _emphasis_.
By evening, Kaoru returned from class in time for
dinner. Tina could tell by the more relaxed atmosphere
that all were confident that Mr. Hunter was gone for good
and nothing more would come from the incident.
Is Tina that perceptive?
"No one even mentioned him, or the gun, at dinner. They were probably
all confident he was gone for good."
Something like that, maybe.
Miyabi, however, wasn't quite ready to turn over her
most troublesome resident. "Can I get you some tea? You
can talk to her in the living room here." She indicated
the large room with her hand.
"May I" seems to fit Miyabi better.
"I don't know but I have a very bad feeling about
this," Miyabi replied.
And this is about where the Idiot Plot kicks in. I really doubt Miyabi
would be all that willing to let three strange men come into her house
and act the way they pleased. I think I can see where you want to go
with this - Tina goes bye-bye under suspicious circumstances and the
house comes to belatedly realize this - but that was a bit much to
swallow. Two possibilities:
1) The scene happens mostly as written, but the man who does most of the
non-suspicious talking passes himself off credibly as an inspector and
apologizes for the rookies who aren't used to the pressure of such an
important case.
2) Tina decides to turn herself in to the friendly neighborhood beat cop
but gets intercepted most of the way there and absconded with. He sees
the car (not an actual police car) and relates the story to whichever
member of the household next sees him and asks after Tina.
--GF
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