• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Capibara said:
Nice interview, I enjoyed it ;)

Thank you for reading !

update will be tonight !
 
Okay canonized, just wanted to update you on my progress (Up to XXVIII I believe)... I WANNA KNOW WHO THIS ELENA WOMAN/CREATURE/THING IS! But sadly I have to stop to work on my own AAR :-(. Looking forward to seeing the upcoming war!
 
General_BT said:
Okay canonized, just wanted to update you on my progress (Up to XXVIII I believe)... I WANNA KNOW WHO THIS ELENA WOMAN/CREATURE/THING IS! But sadly I have to stop to work on my own AAR :-(. Looking forward to seeing the upcoming war!

Haha glad to see you finally catch up you crazy ole bean !! Very much appreciate the comment too XD
 
A Timelines Christmas: Part 5

25 December A.D. 2007

Antonio leaned against the bar heavily and drooped his upper body near the X of his arms against the countertop. He had not been drinking much at all, but his watch was already informing him that it was getting closer to four o clock and the weight of being awake for so long tugged at his body. He couldn’t deny, too, however that something in his chest bent his body forward-- as if there was a weight inside his ribs that pressed his form on the bamboo and wood counter.

“Have you been drinking too much?” someone asked him from behind. Antonio turned his head only slightly to catch a hazy, dim glimpse of who it was. “You’re missing out on the party,” Abdullah spoke up again. Antonio’s eyes adjusted and he straightened himself up just a little at the approach of the man. The older one took a seat next to him on the adjacent bar stool.

“He hasn’t though he looks that way,” chuckled the easily recognizable man behind the counter: Riku’s Finnish accent shone through his smile as he spoke like moonbeams from a winter night’s crescent.

“I’ll have some of your best coffee, ‘bartender’,” Abdullah teased his colleague.

“Willem!” Riku called out behind him.

“Yeah, yeah, I heard it. I‘ll try to find some fresh beans back here just get the grinder ready,” was the response from some of the store closets behind where Riku was manning the Hotel‘s only alcoholic outlet aside from the sake served in each room.

In the exchange, Antonio had returned to his tabletop stare. A glass of scotch was held in place by fingers with no real force behind them. “Hayato’s been looking for you,” Abdullah said quietly as he waited for his hot beverage, “and so has Jakob.”

Antonio heard the older man’s voice and decided to remain silent. “You’ve been an actor now for thirty years, Abdullah,” the younger man finally said while keeping his voice low, “have you ever…”

“Fallen in love? You sound like a teenager!” the older one gave out a laugh. “Back in my day,” Abdullah started again with a comedic twist to those words, “we actors did not have the luxury of falling in love-- at least we Turkish ones.” Even though it was a touchy subject, Antonio could sense Abdullah’s massive acting experience masking any uncomfortable feelings about being exiled from his home province of Turkey due to the outbreak of the Great War.

“How did you know?” Antonio let some of his curiosity slip as he watched his index finger tap against the rim of his glass.

“It is not really a flattering story,” Abdullah replied, “after having to work with the young ones like Zeren all the time; you start to see the patterns of today’s youth. Oh no, I quite know you’re not as young as Zeren,” Abdullah anticipated the retort with great precision, “but the way you’ve been acting around you know who reminds me of how those young ones act-- which is not so much of a bad thing.” It was here that Abdullah gave a dramatic sigh as he accepted his coffee from a gracious Riku.

“It’s just dangerous,” Antonio admitted letting his breath form a misty sheen against the side of his glass, “seeing as how we work together-- it could be problematic.”

“This is true,” Abdullah agreed with a nod of his head and a sip of his coffee, “but although you may act like children you both are also privileged to have the capacity of being adults if you so choose.”

Antonio held those words for a while; words of wisdom. He let them swirl in his mind and had that contemplation reflected in the pool of his drink. It was finally that he started to realize it: The World would not End over such a thing as asking her, now would it? “Thank you, sir,” Antonio said straightening himself up and taking a sip of his scotch before leaving the counter abruptly. Abdullah did not bother turning to watch him go off; the older man merely took another sample of his piping hot coffee with a wise grin on his face.

---

The hallways of the resort that led from the bar to the inner chambers were bustling with guests even at that hour-- presents were being opened and noche buenas were being celebrated. Most of his colleagues were in the rear of the complex basking in the various hot spring pools, but he was surprised to collide with Raul after turning a corner.

“There you are!” Raul said as Antonio quickly apologized and started to go on.

“I know, I know, Jakob and Hayato are looking for me,” Antonio called out behind him as he started to run off again.

“Wait!” Raul exclaimed, “I’ve got a message for you!”

---

“Front Lobby: 4:20” the paper said. It wasn’t like Isabella to send communications like that and already Antonio’s heart was attempting to beat out of the cage of his chest. His eyes traveled anxiously from one end of the empty lobby to the other and his fingers tapped away at the corner edge of the front desk’s marble surface. Antonio checked his watch… it was already 4:27.

“Waited long?” a familiar voice teased as he straightened and turned himself. His eyes, however, followed the figure that shifted towards him with an unbroken stare that rooted him on the spot. Isabella approached him with her long hair recently dried and her face still percolating with the healing properties of the spring. It was her dress, however, a traditional kimono that suddenly accosted Antonio’s motions: it was the same kimono she wore for the Japanese arc so many months ago.

“I…” Antonio attempted to say but couldn’t find the words.

“It was a surprise Christmas present Nia gave me,” she explained looking down at the fine tailoring -- a custom fit for her figure, of course. “She convinced Armi to let me have it.”

“It’s always been a perfect match for you…” Antonio’s statement flowed naturally from him as if the rolls of her kimono liquefied his words and drew them out like a moon tide.

“I’m sorry about earlier… we sort of got carried away with things and the girls and I have been talking all night.” Isabella’s eyes met Antonio’s and connected with those depths and let her sky blues hover with his dark oceans. “The truth is, there’s been something I needed to explain about that retreat I took that summer… and you see,” and here, she slightly faltered in her expression, “I had gone to go see Sebastian…”

The name drove pins into Antonio’s arms and the sensation traveled up to his collar. Sebastian? What was Isabella-- what did she find out? “Oh…” was the only thing that came out of Antonio’s lips. Suddenly, the warmth from that radiant figure had escaped him and the chilly cold of the glass doorway behind him leading to the road was somehow overtaking his body-- reclaiming him into the obscurity of the darkness-- the protection of the shadow.

“And the thing is, Antonio…” she seemed to say his name tenderly, “I--”

The sliding of the glass doors interrupted them and Isabella stopped herself midsentence. It was not so much the interruption but who had now stepped through the gateway that stole her breath. Antonio was too worried about the next few words that would come out of the woman’s mouth to anticipate a figure from behind clasping him around his torso.

Instinctually pulling himself away and knocking the intruder to the side with his twist, Antonio turned to look at who had grabbed him. On the floor of the lobby room moaned the pained expression of Taguchi Junno-- with a stab wound on his stomach seeping a trail of blood from the floor to the road outside.
 
It seems happy Timelines Christmas is over. Poor Taguchi, hope he make it through.
 
Poor Antonio! Taguchi will be fine, I am sure (since heroes don't die in christmas stories), but Antonio is in a world of hurt when he finds out that he's really Isabella's father ;)

Nah, I *think* she was going to say she has a baby, or is married, but who knows :p
 
Hmmm. Slight potential issue, that the "thing is....I" follows hard on the heels of mentioning Sebastian.

Logical progression expected there:- mention of Sebastian -> thing is I -> love him.

Obviously the logical progression we all want to see is:-
mention of Antonio -> thing is I -> love you.

Either way the *krrrrrrrr...evil....* author has not allowed us this denouement, which either means we're being spared the pain for a little while, or that he's evilly playing with us, and setting up the sentence that way just to be evil.

I've been liking the Christmas updates as a whole though. :D
 
Capibara: Haha , playtime's over ! XD

Avernite: Haha Taguchi will be okay haha oh you guys ! But yes , we're dying to know what this is all about with Antonio and Isabella , eh ?

Incognitia: Hey there ! haven't seen you in a while ! Hope you had a good vacation ! And yes ... I'm sorry but I just *had* to make you guys wait again XD
 
Don't let a little thing like bloody guts all over the floor stop the romantic confession!

-----

That ain't a happy Christmas if you ask me.
 
RGB said:
Don't let a little thing like bloody guts all over the floor stop the romantic confession!

-----

That ain't a happy Christmas if you ask me.

Haha not a happy Christmas at all , but an unforgettable one at least !
 
RGB said:
Don't let a little thing like bloody guts all over the floor stop the romantic confession!
Never has never will.

Another depressing story, is canonized relating to his life again :D

Working on iambic pentameters for my poem, never knew it would be so hard. Then when you add that I am swamped with homework and sports it is hard to find time, yet I know that I don't have it hardest ;)
 
Good grief, will Antonio and Isabella almost kissing be the intro for every bad moment in this story, hehe? :D If this were a movie, you'd hear the romantic record gurgle, replaced by the suspenseful action theme. These two are doomed to precede the evil in Timelines. :D
 
comagoosie: Yes !! I am indeed . unrequited love !! love unspoken ! Woe is me !!!

Mettermrck: Haha harbingers of doom !! yes , that poor couple . Perfect with the same kimono she wore when they almost kissed in the show remember ? XD
 
Gah...can someone tell me if I am doing this right or if it sounds good.

one and two and three and four
sit and watch my decree, please
what do beat the drums of war

One might think the cool chinese
Surprizingly, it is Spain
So I beg you get on your knees

They have commited a great stain
If on purpose no one knows
It has caused us extreme pain

The Spanish are our mortal foes
Let us rise up and forever fight
let the Spanish dare oppose

Now rise my children and stand
Go forth and spead the news. Haste!
Do not let them understand.​
 
An anti-Spanish poem? Forsooth!

Don't worry Armi. I'll get to 5 tonight sometime.
 
The line breakup is very misleading but overall this works!

------

Armi - woe, woe indeed, but such sweet sorrow...
 
comagoosie: Haha great try so far ! But you've got to get the inflections right . the different accents on different words are important . Make sure you have 10 syllables per line and the rhyming scheme should end like this:

ABA BCB CDC DED EE it should be a couplet in the last line that triple rhymes with the second to last .

but remember the the accents need to be like this : ` / ` / ` / ` / ` /

example: "To Reign is worth ambition though in Hell"

[to reign] [is worth] [ambit] [tion though] [in Hell] . See how each pair one part is stressed and the other not ? the first part is not as stressed as the second part in each couple .

do you see the rhythm ?

grayghost: hooray ! glad to see you again !

RGB: line breakup ?
 
canonized said:
RGB: line breakup ?

The lines seem more even in syllable length if you put them into longer chunks.

That's what I meant, not the other kind of breakup.
 
Antonio and Isabella harbingers of doom?

Hmm, indeed. Maybe THEY brought the timepieces to Earth. Bunch of alien spaniards! :mad:

:p

Also, I agree with the poem :D