Magic Class! Ah, yes, the three "R"'s...reading,
'riting, and 'rithmancy. :P Ah, sounds like working in Utah, then. Kokoru explains
to Yuushi why all the Princess Academy students have to take part-time jobs, even
though they're rich/important...and then not get paid for them. The jobs are
supposed to "strengthen your heart", so it's important to be selfless and recieve
no material reward. And then we'll be turning them into teapots. Minus
points if they still have feathers, or a beak where the spout should be. (giggle)
Sorry, sorry, I'll stop with the Harry Potter jokes...
(pause)
...when they stop being appropriate, that is. ;) Concentrate, Yuushi! Now that they are in a
"high-energy magical field" (well, that's not the _exact_ words the teacher used,
but it's close) and have been assured that they should be able to make things appear,
Yuushi tries hard to conjure a bird like the teacher said. (I wonder if the air
in the room feels greasy and tastes like tin, right now...?) A blue parakeet! Even Kokoru can do it! (She strikes
me as being a bit like a female Neville Longbottom, at least in terms of confidence
and so forth). So keep trying, Yuushi... Er...oops? Yuushi finally makes a bird appear...a roast
chicken! This is why it's a bad idea to have magic class right before lunch. Ah, the jobs are almost gone already! And this is ALSO like
trying to find work in Utah...(which is where I live, in case you couldn't figure that
out by the bitterly sarcastic comments. :P) "MINE! I saw it first!" And this is ALSO...okay,
okay, I'll stop... "It's like I don't exist..." says Kokoru sadly, as Yuushi
and Grenda get into yet another one of their fights, completely ignorning all of
Kokoru's attempts to get them to calm down or listen to reason. Cookie-making is Hellish?! Yes, that's the job that
Grenda thinks is so appropriate--making cookies at a sweets shop. She thinks it must be
for a high-class private party so it's appropriate for a princess. The job takes three
people, but I dunno if working with _her_ is a good idea... "Look, dear! They're from the Princess Academy!" says a
passing woman, pointing out the three girls to her little daughter. Strike a pose So Yuushi immediately starts trying to look
all elegant and aloof for her audience. Of course, Grenda is having none of that. "WHY YOU!!" Cute and graceful my butt. :P And notice the classic
"push the sleeves back" gesture, on the robes? When a wizard does that, it basically means
he--or she--is just about ready to start frying arse. Mystery girl... On the way to the shop, the trio passes a
mysterious girl who ducks back into the shadows so as not to be seen, as they pass. Who
could she be and why is she hanging around the cookie shop...? "Konnichiwa!" Each of the girls makes their entrance
in a very typical way for them. Yuushi is open and cheerful... "Please excuse me." Kokoru is shy, over-polite, and
timid... "What a dump!" And Grenda is, well...GRENDA. :P Changing for work When Dan, the baker, said he wanted the girls
to "change quickly", I don't think he quite meant like THIS! The muffin-girl! Yuushi's new look. As a side-note, I gotta
say...I wish _I_ had one of these pendants. Imagine being able to change your clothes to
_anything you can imagine_, just by concentrating. Wow! I could make really _accurate_
character costumes for Halloween or conventions, without having to makeshift or sew or do
things that look "close enough", anymore! :) (Truly, those pendants are the cosplayer's
dream come true...though I don't _call_ myself a "cosplayer".) Demon-kitty! Gaga in his weird winged cat-thing form...is it just
me, or is anybody else slightly reminded of Chibi-Usa's "Luna-Ball"? (That, and Grenda also has Chibi-Usa's
hairstyle...) "I can't work under these conditions." Grenda called Gaga in
for one purpose only...to make him do her job (which was carrying heavy things) so she could
ditch. Notice that when _Cube_ helps "young mistress", it's _voluntary_, and she never asks
him to do anything dangerous or difficult that she isn't also going to do herself...that
right there is a pretty good indication of what seperates the heroes from the villians. (Although I'd
describe Grenda as more of an "antagonist".) Busted! No, Dan _isn't_ stupid and yes, he DID see how you ran off
and made someone else do your job. Sorry, honey, but you're not gonna get away with it... Oooh...ouch. The mystery girl shows up again, accidentally
running into the cookie chef this time, and they get into a bit of a tense argument. She's the
one saying they are no longer parent and child...Master, what did you DO to the young mistress
to make her so upset?! ;) Oooh... Yuushi, sent to clean something up, finds the huge
wedding-cake that Dan was hoping to bring to his daughter, hidden in a back room. I just loved
the artsy lighting on this shot. "My job always had to come first..." In flashbacks, Dan explains
why Mimi (his daughter) is so upset with him and said he couldn't come to her wedding. Awww... "The cake was THIIIIIIIIIS big!" I love when Yuushi does a "sooooo" big!
type gesture/line, the tone on her voice is hilarious every time. Anyway, here she's trying to convince
Mimi, at her (Mimi's) house, to let her father attend the wedding, or, at least...if someone _should_
happen to show up with a great big cake, please accept it! Ha-ha-ha! Grenda gets her revenge by inviting Cyclops (a demon that
she knows, I guess) to eat the whole wedding cake. AAAA! "Do you know what that cake WAS?!" yells a furious Yuushi, tears in her
eyes. Oh, dear...(sniff) "Er...why are you looking at me like that?" At least Grenda has enough
decency to look ashamed of herself. "I'm just fine..." (snore) Yuushi and Kokoru volunteer to help bake a
whole new wedding cake...even it takes all night. Here, sleepiness is starting to take its toll on
Yuushi, who almost falls backwards flat on the floor. Poor girl... Good ol' Cube! Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Cube has (somehow) heard
about what's going on, and is bringing the girls some spare clothes and snacks. Although I'm not sure
why they need _clothes_; can't they do that pendant thing again? (Or maybe it's a bad idea to try
magic while one is zonking out, I guess...) He'd do better bringing them some _coffee_, though! Oof Now you know how us women feel lugging those 40-pound purses around
all day, Cube. ;) An odd place to practice magic... As a random side-note, in
this picture, with the red markings on his shirt blurred into a solid mass, doesn't it kinda makes it look like
he's wearing a Star Trek: The Next Generation uniform...or is it just me? (He'd make a good Vulcan...a
very _petite_ Vulcan, but still...) "Let's GET TO WORK!" Yuushi rouses the troups with a little pep-talk.
(These are "Sweet Gnomes" that Cube conjured; I take it that means they are good at _making_ sweets, not
that they _are_ sweet.) "It was nothing." Yuushi goes to thank Cube as he leaves, but he explains that
the gnomes weren't his idea, but rather a request from Papa. (Actually, I'll bet anything that Papa doesn't know
what "Sweet Gnomes" are...he probably said something more like "And, Cube? While you're there, could you help
the girls out with your magic, somehow?") Another "artsy" shot that I loved simply
because of the lighting. "Happy endings? BAH!" Grenda spies on the others working hard in the
kitchen... What's that? Mimi, in her wedding dress, looks around, hoping against hope
that maybe her father just might actually show up at the last second. Lookie what we brought! And _what_ could possibly be behind that curtain... It's DADDY! Mimi looks at her father, stunned, for a moment, then rushes forward
to hug him. Awww...
But wait, doesn't that big candle on the cake look suspiciously more like...dynamite? Heh heh heh... Grenda has an evil scheme to ruin the wedding! Fireworks?! Yes, Gaga replaced her dynamite stick with a firework instead, so
it'd just rain pretty sparkles over everybody instead of blow the cake up. Here, he explains why...and he's
got a POINT. It's an act of kindness, yes, but a _calculated_ act of kindness, which will bring a later
_advantage_...
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