#ANYWAY FULL SET HOORAH

[kineticallyanywhere]

MOODY TEEN SPEEDPAINT PART 4: NORMAL song: High Hopes by Panic! at the Disco

look at this point I hear trumpets and snares and lyrics about aiming high when you're at rock bottom and what else am I supposed to do? what else. you get it.

DONE

[ Scary] [ Link ] [ Taylor ]

[elaine-abroad]

Volume 1: The Arrival

The Flight

If you’re reading this, you probably already know me and my situation. I’m Elaine and I’m studying abroad in Seoul, South Korea for the next four weeks. It’s strange to think that a whole study abroad trip can even fit into one month, but regardless I’m excited to see what Seoul has for me.

This past week before takeoff felt too short as I continuously told my mom that I wanted more time to mentally prepare for the journey. I also procrastinated on packing a little bit in favor of one last hoorah with my closest friends. I know that I’m acting like I’ll be gone a long time, but a month in a country I’ve never been to IS a long time to me.

I was full of nerves the morning of – I woke up earlier than I had to and didn’t speak on the car ride to the airport. I’ve been on plane trips many times before, but I always get anxious and have to run through the steps. This time was a little more stressful because it was my first time flying internationally alone. I made it on with plenty of time to spare so that was good. There was one thing that dampened my spirits a bit throughout the day though. There was a girl from my school’s program that was supposed to land at the same time as me. We were going to explore the airport and split a hotel room together. It was just my luck when she told me she missed her flight, booked another flight that was due to land the next morning, missed the second flight to Incheon after a connecting flight was delayed or something, and was due to land around 5 pm the next day. It made me nervous thinking about finding things on my own, but I had to move on.

The plane’s “amenities” if you will were nothing like I’ve seen before. They had given us each a cheap pillow and blanket as they do on any international flight, but we also received cheap headphones, a full-sized water bottle (not those mini baby ones other planes have – a full one), and foldable hotel slippers to wear. Each chair had a screen to watch movies on and there was even a remote control for the screen. One push of a button and the whole thing came out. They had an area to plug in a charger and they even had a little knob to hang clothes on. It was crazy.

Interesting chair set up + views from the window shortly after take-off

The part I was most excited for was the meals. I’ve seen and heard from social media that planes to Korea had ACTUAL food that also looked good. My past experiences with United Airlines’ food weren’t even up for comparison. My mom would gobble that stuff up every time (I don’t know how), but my brother and I would rather starve than touch it. Anyways, let me just tell you I was not disappointed. When it was time for the first meal, I was elated that bibimbap was even an option. Of course, I had to get that over some ordinary teriyaki chicken. I was pleasantly surprised with the presentation of it all too. I was expecting some hastily thrown together bowl with nothing else, but I also haven’t had plane food in a good couple of years, so I forgot the meals usually came with sides. It even came with Korean Airline branded gochujang tubes and sesame oil packets which was insane. I ate it all.

Meal 1: bibimbap, miso soup, “spicy” pickles, oranges, Sprite

The next meal came in the middle of “sleep time” where all the lights were off for a few hours.

For the first two meals I kept thinking to myself, “How do they know exactly when I’m hungry?” Because both times I’ve been hungry, and they've almost answered my call. However, as the third time came around, I felt a lot fuller than I wanted to be. I still tried to eat it, albeit a little forcefully, but I knew I would have regretted it later if I didn’t. Plus, I wanted to get through the main dish to eat the carrot cake. Unfortunately, by the time I reached the cake, I was no longer in the mood with my tummy full and all. It was a sad moment because if you know me, you know that I have a sweet tooth.

Meal 3: beef with rice + veg, bread roll, caprese salad, carrot cake. Meal 2 not pictured but consisted of a ham and cheese hot pocket and a mini ham, cheese, lettuce sandwich

As for the plane ride itself, it was not that bad and was more tolerable than my usual five-hour flights to Michigan. Maybe it was because we got food and I slept better with the window seat (I usually sit in the aisle). I did kind of feel bad for the people who sat next to me as I unfortunately had to get up three times. My Korean friend told me not to sleep on the flight because of the time difference when I land or whatever, but I didn’t know what else to do on a 12 hour flight.

Views from window shortly before landing

The airport was a lot more straightforward than I imagined. I was worried I would get lost, but now I realize English signs and directions are a must since it’s literally an airport with tons of foreigners. At this point, everything kind of caught up to me and I just wanted to crash at my hotel. Everything was fine and dandy except there was no toilet in my actual room which meant I had to share with everyone else and my shower wouldn’t work. Maybe it did work and I just didn’t know how to use it because it took me a while to orient myself in the shared bathroom where there was no light switch and I had to press buttons to open the door. I ended up hitting the hay around 9 pm and woke every few hours until I left shortly before 8 am.

Views from above baggage claim and an inside look at my room at the Darakhyu capsule hotel in Incheon airport.

I booked a bus ride for the morning and luckily another girl from STAMPS was able to join me after taking a shuttle from her hotel. She brought two of her friends who were also going to be participating in a program at Yonsei University, the school right across the street from us. The guy who took our tickets was kind of scary as he yelled at us in Korean, asking where we were going. One thing I noticed since the plane ride was that the people here just assume I can speak Korean. It’s probably because I’m clearly Asian, but the flight attendants, customs people, hotel front desk, and café cashiers so far have approached me with Korean. It was kind of funny because the flight attendants would speak perfect English to the obvious white people and then ask me stuff in Korean. Anyways, the bus layout was pretty cool and different – super spacious. M Bus could never.

Bus interior. Fun fact: these two girls got off the same stop as us and were also attending Ewha for the summer

It was quite the journey to get settled (imagine carrying 2 backpacks and 3 suitcases up/down hill-y streets and stairs while battling the raging hot sun). We managed though. My room was nice too and I had it all to myself. I raised my brow at the showerhead, sink, and toilet all being in the same room, but it actually wasn’t too hard after taking one. Each room has a mini fridge and AC which definitely beats life at Bursley (dorm at UM that has no AC and all sorts of problems) last summer.

Extra pillow, pillowcase, sheet, and blanket not pictured. Each room has a balcony

The girl I arrived with, Alyssa, has a roommate (I didn’t hear her name that clearly, but it sounded like ‘Zeda’ so I’m just going to refer to her as that until it’s further clarified), and the roommate’s friend Deborah from their school in Massachusetts when out for lunch and a walk through the nearby streets. I was not expecting Zeda to whip out full on Korean when we struggled to order. Apparently, she took 4 semesters of Korean, and she could speak and read it decently. Deborah also knew quite a few words and could read it as well. Anyways the food was really good and pretty cheap – as well as a lot of things here. I literally bought 12 rolls of toilet paper for 5000 won which converts to less than 4 USD. So good news: I can buy gifts for people without too much caution because everything is so much cheaper here.

Soup dumplings, jajangmyeon, and these spicy seafood noodles

Long story short: the food was good, and we were all happy. We did some more walking and went shopping for dorm essentials at Daiso. Since arriving, I have seen an insane number of Daiso stores in Seoul which is kind of mind-boggling. There’s even one in the subway station near the school I’m staying at.

Despite the temperature being a whopping 93 degrees, we decided to take a little tour around the school. I quite like the simplicity of the campus – the buildings all look pretty much the same and it feels like a little town. The buildings remind me of the Ross (business school) buildings at UM. They’re all a light gray with stones/bricks, and the lush, green vegetation really makes the scene pop. It’s so fresh looking unlike in California where we have droughts and “brown is the new green”.

Views from the frontish part of the school

We didn’t make it far because of how physically taxing the walk was. Between the heat, humidity, and the fact that the school is built on hills of uneven roads, we were beat. We ended the journey with the very first building built at Ewha.

First building ever built at Ewha

To cool off, we visited our first café. I’ve decided to start a collection of those cup sleeves because they’re cute here.

Peach iced tea!

We all went back to our rooms to reset, but a few hours later, Alyssa and I were ready to roam the streets again. We ate at a fast-food place called Lotteria. Think of any place that sells typical burgers and fries, but times twenty. The food took a little longer than expected to come out, but we were joking how that’s how you knew they actually cook their food. Anyways, we were so surprised with the menu because of all the different options that American fast-food places never offered.

I got this mozzarella bacon burger which was absolutely insane because they literally fried like a puck of mozzarella and shoved it inside. Definitely not healthy, but really good.

The mozzarella puck is bigger than the patty. Also, the ice cream was super good too

To end the first night, we went into several cute shops with all sorts of accessories and items. I didn’t get anything, but I’ll definitely be back before the end of the program

ARTBOX interior

The First Day…Kind Of

The next morning, Alyssa, Zeda, and I went for a brisk walk to find breakfast of some sort before the Welcoming Ceremony. They were going to provide lunch, so we didn’t end up getting anything.

Quick street view

At the main gate, there’s this building structure called the ECC. In comparison to UM, think Pierpont/The Union. There are two sides made up of multiple floors. Within the building, there are food stores, a convenience store, a bank, coffee shops/cafes, a gift shop (Ewha’s version of MDen), classrooms, the office for international students, and areas for study. The path is dug out so that the greenery lays on ground level. It’s kind of hard to explain and imagine because you can access different parts of the building because it’s all built on uneven land.

Front and back of ECC

There were a lot of students at the welcoming ceremony – so many that they didn’t have enough chairs for them at first. We were given folders of information and even got a free pen and T-shirt (for field trip wear).

Welcoming Ceremony

The free lunch given was a free coupon for the cafeteria. I was pleasantly surprised with how good the food was and helped myself.

Purple rice, green onion hot spicy meat stew, cubed radish kimchi, meatballs with onions, cucumbers, apple + pineapple fruit salad, yogurt drink, seaweed, and a lemon tea drink

I ended up making my first purchase at the school’s convenience store for dinner where I got some munchies.

Kimbap and banana milk

There were a lot of options, and I was eyeing the bagged drink section. I have seen too many TikToks showing people in Korean convenience stores grabbing a pre-filled cup of ice and then a drink of their choice, and basically creating their own concoction.

Drinks galore

This is the end of the first volume. Stay tuned for my first full week in Seoul.

Spoiler: there were a lot of ups and downs.

-Elaine

[impervicus]

 if you’re hearing HOLD THE LINE by TOTO playing, you have to know BENJAMIN COOPER (HE/HIM; CISMALE) is near by! the FIFTY year old HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER/COACH has been in denver for, like, 27 YEARS. they’re known to be quite BOISTEROUS but being UPBEAT seems to balance that out. or maybe it’s the fact that they resemble EWAN MCGREGGOR. personally, i’d love to know more about them seeing as how they’ve got those ENCOURAGING POSTERS THAT HAVE BEEN IN THE ROOM FOR YEARS, THE CREAKING OF A SWING AT THE PARK, YOUR MORNING COFFEE ON A SUNDAY MORNING vibes. and maybe i’ll get my chance if i hang out around the WASHINGTON PARK long enough!

THE BASICS:

full name: benjamin harold cooper birthdate, zodiac sign: february 2nd / aquarius sexuality: unlabeled occupation: high school teacher / coach

  THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS:

benjamin had always been someone who loved to travel. his parents were very adventurous and they weren’t super well off but they had enough to be able to travel. sometimes it was just a simple trip a few states over, or even visiting a different country for the week. he liked both and he’d always thought he would end up doing something that would allow him to travel. maybe a flight attendant, or a plane driver! but he learned very quickly that wasn’t in the cards for him after a very questionable test ride while he was considering getting a license. 

but as he was in that training, it suddenly hit him that he wasn’t even sure if he wanted to be traveling like that anymore. as he listened to the instructor speak so passionately about the project, he realized that he wanted something completely different. he wanted to do what the instructor was doing but on a bigger level. he had done tutoring for a while and he loved doing that, but it never really occurred to him that he could just be doing that all the time. and get paid for it, even more than the ay he had while helping out his classmates. 

he quickly applied to college and got into a pretty good one for teaching. and in four short years, he was graduating at the top of his class with his degree. he could have gone back for his masters or even more, but he was fine with his bachelors. he was ready to get out into the workforce and start changing lives with his teaching. maybe that was a bit too hopeful, but he always try to think of himself as a pretty optimistic guy. 

but one last hoorah he wanted to do was travel and he knew the perfect place he was going to be traveling to - new zealand. it had always been someplace he wanted to go, something always drew him to it - he wasn’t quite sure what though. but he went and on one of his first days there, he was in the middle of some sort of... crime. he couldn’t quite place his finger on it but that’s when the apparent ringleader had caught his eye. it was kora kelly, the woman who was going to change the trajectory of his life for better or for worse. she had asked him to do something and he had done it without question, which may or may not implicate him if had ever been prosecuted at that time. but he did it anyways and he’d do it again, if it was kora who was asking. 

from there sparked a very chaotic relationship, though the two of them probably would have called it passionate. what was supposed to be a week or two long trip was beginning to turn into weeks long, and then months long stay. and he had some money saved up for it and he could always try to find a job in new zealand instead. but then again, things with kora weren’t always the greatest either. there were plenty of times where benjamin had thought about leaving and one time he almost did, right before kora was set to get birth to their daughter. 

of course, when that time came around, he had missed her birth and kora had thought he was out of the picture entirely. so he hadn’t been put on her birth certificate but he stayed with her in the hospital after she’d given birth. and he proceeded to stick around for the next 10-12 months, taking care of maia with kora and sometimes without her too. and that seemed fine until what kora was doing seemed dangerous. and he wanted out, he should have thought of their daughter in that moment but he knew that any fight to keep her with him, especially over state lines, would have been a battle he wasn’t ready to fight. and to him, kora wasn’t a bad mother but they just weren’t good together. 

he left their home one day with a note and changed his number, and nearly every other thing that she could track him back with.to this day, he wasn’t sure if kora had ever tried to reach out to him or find out. or if their daughter knew he even existed but that was okay, benjamin had moved on and he figured the other two had as well. he found himself in denver and started his new life there, quickly meeting a woman he fell in love with and getting a job teaching at the local high school. it wasn’t long before he was getting serious with the woman and they were engaged within two years and married shortly after that. they had three kids, one who was a young adult, one whose a teenager and their youngest child. his children were his life, he would do anything for his children in a heartbeat. exactly like he did with maia, but now he felt like he had a good start to a family. he was never meant to fit into kora’s life, not that he thought anyways. 

on top of having a great family, benjamin also had a great professional life. the second he started teaching, he instantly fell in love with it. and he quickly became the favorite with his approach to teaching and learning. not only was he an engaging teacher, but he was often there for a lot of the students. no matter what it was, his door was always open if a student needed help or just didn’t want to eat lunch in the cafeteria. he was sure he had at least 5 people consistently eating lunch in his room every semester. and he liked that, being that source for them. he also utilized that in his coaching as well, being the coach for both the boys basketball team and the girls soccer team. differing times that those occurred made it quite easy to do both.

though, as perfect as his family had started out, he and his wife ended up getting divorced. he wasn’t really sure if there was a specific reason he could pin down, just that they had naturally grown apart and staying together for the children would never work.but the difference with this breakup was that he stayed there for the kids, they were able to split 50/50 custody and still even manage to do family dinners. they ended their relationship pretty amicably, and while it was hard sometimes things weren’t too bad. 

but the only problem is that lately, he’s been seeing a familiar face through the streets of denver. the mystery person almost looked nearly identical to kora when they were younger but that would have been impossible. benjamin was just going to have to chalk it up to having a long week, even if it had been on more than one occasion. 

WANTED CONNECTIONS

students that he has taught that stay in contact!! hes very close with a lot of his students and a fair amount still keep in contact with each other. i can also see him possibly being a father figure to them, being there for them always and he would still keep that up for them, even if they were no longer in high school 

since he’s newly divorced, he’ll need to start seeing some new people!!! i’m thinking this relationship will be VERYYYY casual and i’d love for that to be a mlm dynamic only bc he’s so used to being with women for a large chunk of his life but he wants to be able to experience but keeps it casual since he cant jump back into another relationship

first friend he made moving to town!! someone who maybe showed him the ins and outs of the town and they have stayed close with since 

i will also always welcome any hook up or one night stand plots too because theyre so good always 

two wcs will be made for his ex wife and his eldest child though so hehe expect thatas well  

[mediocre-writerr]

invisible string [quinn fabray]

quinn fabray x reader

requested by anon: Hey, I love your writing and I loved Quinn Fabray's miniseries. Could you do a sequel to "Betty", maybe Quinn and the reader meeting in episode 100 and giving them a second chance? I would love :)

pt.1  pt.2 pt.3

*not my gif*

There was once a old folklore. It once said that everyone had an invisible string tying one to their soulmate.

A simpler term for it would be fate.

That everyone decision, good or bad, would lead you to that one person.

The invisible gold string would drag you out of the wrong arms, wrapped all of your past mistakes, and chained your demons back. The one single thread would lead them to you, no matter how far you’ve strayed.

Not many people believe in it anymore because of the time. The time that it takes for the invisible string to tie one another together took far too long, maybe that’s why you didn’t believe anymore.

There you were back at McKinley High School. When Mr. Shue told you that the glee club was shutting down and you were having one last hoorah, you did not hesitate to book a first flight home.

Walking down the hallway with your classic olive green cardigan that made you feel like you seventeen again and straight back into the classroom that made you feel like home.

And there she was the beautiful blonde who held your heart and dropped it all at once, “Y/N,” she let out a breath as her eyes caught on yours.

“Hey Quinn,” you told her with a shy smile, “Long time no see,”

“Yeah, how has college at Penn State?” she asked as the two of you made small conversation in the middle of the choir room.

You shrugged, “It’s been nice, I don’t know if it’s everything I’ve dreamed it would be, but it’s good. How’s Yale?”

The two of you didn’t live far, it wasn’t all the way across the country. It was driving across a few state lines, but you never hung out. In fact, you barely talked after the two of you had broken up.

“Good, good. It uh feels like I’m missing something, but I don’t think I would change my decision,” she told you and you nodded.

She was about to say something else when you heard someone scream your name, “Y/N!” Sam yelled as he rushed over towards you.

You broke out into a big smile as he picked you up from off the ground, spinning you around and around. You let out a hearty laugh as he set you down.

“I’ve missed you!” he told you as he let go.

You smiled, “I’ve missed you too, bud. I wish our third musketeer was still here with us,” you said with a sad smile.

He let out a sigh, “I know, me too,” he turned to Quinn who looked hurt and jealous at the same time. Do you know why? No, but she always has been hard to read.

“Hey Quinn,” he said, giving her a tight hug.

She hugged him back with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, “Hey Sam, I’m gonna go catch up with Mercedes. I’ll catch the two of you later,”

You and Sam looked at each other with furrowed brows before eventually shrugging it off.

You thought that coming back here would bring back loads of bad memories from the cheating to the heartbreak to losing Finn, but it didn’t. As the day went on you remembered why you fell in love with her in the first place.

The way she sang, so full of heart. When she crinkled her nose as she smiled. Or how big her heart is for people she actually lets in.

And at first you weren’t too sure, but when the nostalgia of the club forced you guys to sing your iconic duet, it just hit you harder than before.

“I think we need the iconic rendition of Everything Has Changed from Quinn and Y/N,” Mercedes admitted and your heart immediately stopped.

You looked at Quinn who was already staring at you, like she was seeking approval, “Let’s give the people what they want,”

You grabbed your guitar playing the soft acoustic intro, as she stood on the opposite side of the room, both of you unable to look away from the other.

“All I knew, this morning when I woke is I know something now, know something now, I didn’t before. And all I’ve seen since eighteen hours ago is green eyes and freckles in your smile in the back of my mind, making me feel like,” she began to sing and you forgot how soothing her voice was. Like everything in the world kind of faded away at the sound of her voice.

As the song went on the two of you closed the gap between you until you were face to face. The only thing separating the two of you was the guitar that was wrapped across your body.

“All I know is we said ‘hello’ and your eyes look like coming home. All I know is a simple name and everything has changed. All I know is you held the door, you’ll be mine and I’ll be yours. All I know since yesterday is everything has changed,” the two of you sang.

You couldn’t tear your eyes away from her only doing so when they averted to her lips. Like two puzzle pieces that were supposed to fit together, you were about to connect when the sound of clapping tore you from each other. And with one last lingering look, you broke the gaze as everyone was clapping and smiling like we were all seventeen again.

You didn’t know what to do though. Finn was usually the one to give you advice, but he wasn’t here, so you did the second best thing. The boys locker room was empty as his football jersey hung proudly on the wall. The big number five just staring back at you.

“Hey buddy, I’m in kind of a dilemma right now,” you told him honestly, “And I really wish you were actually here to tell me what to do. You were always good at that,”

He probably would’ve chuckled at what you said, recalling the time where he told you to not eat that funnel cake on senior ditch day before the rollercoaster, but you did anyway and puked all over his shoes.

“I think I’m still in love with Quinn and that absolutely terrifies me. I don’t want to get hurt again,” you whispered, tears staring to sting your eyes when you realize he’s not gonna be there to hug you.

“I’ve been so scared to put myself back out there and when I do it just feels like no one compares to him. And God I wish you could be here right now to tell me what to do because you would know, you always did,”

That’s when you heard someone clear their throat. You looked to find the source of the noise, seeing Coach Beiste standing there next to the office door.

“Hey pumpkin, do you mind if I sit here?” she asked as she pointed to the empty seat on the bleacher.

All you did was nod, before wiping your eyes, “I’m sorry, I know I’m not supposed to be here,”

“Eh it’s okay. You aren’t the first girl who’s come in here to talk to him,” she told you with a shrug.

“Rachel come in here too?” you asked.

She shook her head, “Nope,” she popped the ‘p’ in the word, “Quinn, turns out she needed advice of her own and she asked him a question,”

“About?” you asked, curiously.

“I can’t tell you that,” she confessed. 

“Hey Finn,” Quinn told him, staring at the jersey that was hanging on the wall, “God I don’t think I ever stopped loving her. Actually I know I never stopped loving her, but I’m so scared Finn. I don’t know if she’ll give me a shot or anything, but I don’t want to hurt her,” she confessed.

There was a moment of silence, before she continued on again. 

“I’m so scared that I’m gonna hurt her again and she doesn’t deserve that. But if I don’t tell her how I feel then she’s gonna be the one who got away,” she contemplated it for herself for a second, “Do I have your blessing to love her again? I know how much she meant to you. If you do give me a sign, anything,” 

She sat there on the bench for a moment before something fell off the shelf. She let our a teary laugh, “Thank you,” 

After a little more time she left the room as Coach Beiste left her office to pick up the towel that she dropped. 

“I know I’m not Finn, but do you mind if I give you some advice?”

“Please, I really need it right now,”

She smiled, rubbing your back, “Go for it. If Finn was here he’d tell you something like ‘don’t give up on something that would be good for you’. And I bet if he could come down here right now and tell you one piece of advice it would be dont take life for granted. Don’t let the love of your life slip away like he did. I think that was his one big regret, not being with Rachel before he passed. I think he wants you to be happy,”

“And my advice the two of you are mature now. All of the negative emotions and feelings are easier to talk out now. So talk and just go for it, life’s too short to waste another second,” she told you and you smiled at her with teary eyed.

“I miss him,” I whispered, staring back at the jersey on the wall. 

“Me too, pumpkin, me too,” 

After a few more minutes, you hopped back onto your feet and went to find Quinn. You searched every hallway and every classroom for Quinn, but came up empty. Until you found her outside by the football field. There was a little tree made out in his honor, she was looking at it, just staring, contemplating everything.

“Quinn!” you shouted and her head shot up to the name of her voice.

You were making a bee-line straight for her, “Y/N are you-” but you cut her off and kissed her. Your hands grasping her cheeks and pulling her towards you. 

The two of you pulled away and looked at each other, “Everyone deserves a second chance,” 

“Are you sure?” she asked you, a small smile on her face.

“Very, very sure,” 

The invisible string tied her to you. 

[prettyboybarzal]

i like us like this // jamie benn x reader

summary: jamie benn is the worst blind date you’ve ever been on, and yet he somehow manages to redeem himself.

word count: 5k

author’s note: please enjoy!! (kinda got writers block in the middle of this and had to power through so i hope it’s still as good as i wanted it to be🥴) as always i would love some feedback <3333 

“I want to set you up on a blind date,” Gab said, settling down onto the couch with you. Your groan and the exasperated sigh of her boyfriend, Tyler, in the kitchen sounded simultaneously. “Enough of that,” she grumbled, “and that.” She pointed a warning finger at Tyler. “Let me set you up, pleeeeease.”

“Gab, I’m going to be honest,” you sighed. “I don’t think I’m ready.”

“But how do you know?” she asked. “It’s been over a month.”

“It’s been a month and three days,” you argued. “That’s hardly over a month.”

Gab grunted, turning her back to pout in the direction of the television.

The room went silent again as Tyler settled onto the couch beside Gab and tugged her under his arm. You enjoyed the few minutes of silence as the movie she threw on started. You knew that it wouldn’t last long. Gab didn’t go down without a fight, so you were just waiting for her to start pushing for the date again.

It took all of twenty minutes.

“One date,” Gab pushed. Tyler laughed. “It’s with Ty’s best friend, too!”

You looked at her, then over at Tyler. He shrugged.

“Fine.”

If Tyler was friends with this guy, he was probably okay.

The plans were made for the following Friday night. Jamie texted you to confirm that picking you up around 5 would work, which you agreed to, and then he sent the restaurant’s website. That’s when you started freaking out.

“Gab, I do not belong at a restaurant like this!” you yelled as you stormed across the apartment and into her room. She was already smiling when you entered the room. “It’s a five-star restaurant. I eat in our university’s dining hall when I want to eat out! I don’t have clothes for this!”

“Sure, you do,” Gab said. She stood up and tugged you back to your bedroom. As she sifted through the closet, you watched in dismay. It took her all of five minutes to locate the slip dress she was in search of. A little red thing that you’d worn during undergrad once to a date party with your ex.

“The odds of me fitting into that are slim,” you mumbled. Gab rolled her eyes, throwing the garment at you anyway. She tossed herself onto the bed and motioned for you to put it on. And, once the dress was on, you were proved wrong.

“You look hot.”

“I do,” you admitted, staring at yourself in the mirror. Gab laughed. “Time check?”

“You have an hour.” 

Jamie showed up right on time with a knock at your front door. He was wearing a white button up with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, and your eyes immediately found their way to the definition of his muscles and the tattoos on his skin. He was handsome. Certainly your type in the way of looks. You made a mental note to tell Gab she definitely knew your taste in men.

“Nice to meet you, YN,” he said as he leaned in to place a kiss to your cheek. His hand rested against your hip, and you tried not to think about how large he was compared to you. “You ready to go?”

“Yeah, I’m starving.” 

Jamie offered one more smile before taking your hand in his and leading you out of the building to his car. You took one peek at the way his hand engulfed yours and decided that unless his personality really sucked, you just might invite him in for a night cap at the end of the night.

The restaurant was incredible. Each table had a pristine white tablecloth across it with candles beside a small arrangement of flowers. Jamie pulled out your chair as soon as you got to the table and, when the waitress came over for drink orders, he ordered the most expensive red wine on the menu.

The date started out great. But, as soon as the food came out, the conversation fell flat.

He asked about school, prompting you to explain your graduate degree program in a total of fifteen minutes. So, naturally, you asked about his career. What you weren’t expecting was the rant that came after.

At the mention of the upcoming season, Jamie’s shoulders seemed to tense up and you couldn’t quite understand why. And, after he grumbled about how frustrated he’s been with the preseason games and practices, he tried his best to move on and talk about something else. It just didn’t happen.

Jamie felt horrible. He hadn’t meant to let it all out like that, but he’d been so busy preparing for the season that he couldn’t think about much else, despite the beautiful woman across from him. He wasn’t an idiot. He caught on to your non-verbal cues that this wasn’t going quite as well as expected. He knew he wasn’t going to get a second date, and he was never going to hear the end of it from Tyler and Gab.

After dinner, Jamie dropped you off at your apartment. He got out of the car, swinging your door open for you in an attempt to salvage the disaster of a date you’d just been on. You smiled at him and fell right into step as you walked up to the building.

“Can we be honest with each other?” You had come to a full stop in front of the building. He nodded at your question, brown eyes studying your face as he waited for you to speak again. “I think you’re really great, and we get along well. But, I don’t think this could work right now.”

Jamie let out a soft tuft of breath and said, “Agreed.”

You had to resist the urge to roll your eyes. Was he always this short and terse? Did he have a personality outside of his career? It was getting harder and harder to understand why Gab would set you up with this guy.

“Okay, well,” you murmured. “It was nice meeting you, Jamie. Thank you so much for dinner.”

“It was no problem,” Jamie answered. He nodded towards your apartment building. “You sure you don’t want me to walk you up?”

“Yeah, I’ll be okay.”

Jamie nodded, a faint smile gracing his lips only for a moment, before he turned away and began the walk back to his car. You turned your back as well and began to mentally prepare for the onslaught of questions from Gab.

“How’d it go?” she asked as soon as you walked through the door. “Will there be a second date?”

“No,” you answered, dropping your sweater over the hook near the door. Gab pouted, looking upset with herself for not picking a better match. You reached out and tugged her into a hug. “It was an okay date, but we both agreed that it just won’t work.”

“What is it? Was he mean to you?” she asked, eyes wide. “Tyler said sometimes he can get a little bitchy.”

“No, it wasn’t that,” you responded, giggly at the thought of Tyler calling his captain ‘bitchy’. “I don’t know, Gab. He just seemed a little on the edge, cranky, serious. He talked about hockey the entire time, which is fine but he just sounded miserable. Also, I didn’t laugh… At all.”

“Seriously?” she asked. She seemed surprised, which shocked you. “I really thought he’d be a good match because his sense of humor is a bit like yours.”

“He really had me in the first half,” you admitted. “Like, Gab, he’s cute as hell. But, the conversation was a downer.”

“Yikes.” That voice didn’t belong to Gab. It belonged to Tyler who had just rounded the corner from Gab’s bedroom. He leaned up against the wall, arms crossed in front of him, and said, “Chubbs is never gonna live this one down.”

“Tyler, if you say one word to him of what I said,” you began. “I’ll kill you.” He laughed. “I know which shampoo and conditioner bottles are yours in the shower. Don’t tempt me.”

Tyler put his hands up in defeat.

“You have my word.”

You saw Jamie a few more times after that date, and each time you exchanged nothing more than ‘hello’, ‘goodbye’, and some polite conversation in between. You were thankful that the date didn’t create an awkward tension between the two of you, and you were super thankful Tyler had kept his promise to keep his mouth shut.

About a week before their season officially began, Tyler planned a party at his house. One last hoorah before the season started to get really busy for him and the boys. You went along with Gab, as usual, excited to see some of the girls you’d gotten to know through her and Tyler.

Tyler’s house was almost filled to capacity, and you’d lost Gab hours ago to the dancefloor or Tyler’s bedroom. It didn’t really matter. You were about three drinks in and feeling yourself.

You slipped into the kitchen to make your fourth drink a little after eleven. It was empty, which was surprising, but you didn’t question it and immediately went in for the liquor. You were pouring a vodka Sprite for yourself, with a heavy hand on the liquor when Jamie’s voice spoke up from the entrance.

“I heard you don’t think I’m funny.”

You spun on your heel, nearly knocking the Vodka over behind you as you did so.

“I told Tyler no to say anything,” you grumbled. Jamie raised an eyebrow at you as he settled into a stool at the kitchen counter. “If he shows up to practice bald next week, don’t be surprised.”

“Actually, Gab told me.”

“What?” you asked. “Why did she tell you I said that?”

“She yelled at me,” he said. “Told me that I fucked up.”

“Jesus.”

“S’okay,” he murmured. He walked over to where you were standing, and grabbed a cup from beside you. “I think maybe I did. I spent way too much of that date talking about myself.” Your cheeks warmed at his admission, and the tension seemed to roll off his shoulders. Suddenly, he was grinning from ear-to-ear. “What are you drinking?”

“Vodka Sprite,” you answered, turning to face the drinks with him. He nodded, eyes scanning the counter filled with liquor. He grabbed the Vodka, then the Sprite with a satisfied smirk. You laughed. “Copycat.”

“Where’ve you been all night?” he asked. “I saw Gab a while ago before her and Ty slipped down the hallway, but I haven’t seen you.”

“I was with Roope for a while,” you answered, eyes glancing toward the doorway. Jamie put the Vodka down and glanced at you with a raised brow. You returned his gaze.

“He’s a little young for you, no?” he asked. You stared at him, blank faced and shocked that he’d said that. And then he grinned. “I’m kidding!”

“Oh! He can joke!”

“Here we go,” he mumbled. He finished up his drink and took a sip from it. He leaned his hip against the counter, jabbing a finger in your direction. “I’ll have you know that I’m actually very funny. I think I was just having an off night.”

“Well, then, how’s tonight looking for you?”

“Good, I think,” Jamie answered. He looked down at you with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Why don’t you hang around me and find out?”

For some reason, you chose to do as he asked. You spent the night by his side, being tugged from the beer pong table to the living room couch, back to the beer pong table. And, much to your surprise, Jamie was making you belly laugh almost the entire time. He seemed looser, happier that night. The weight of prepping for the season had finally been pushed aside, and he was ready to start the season off on a good foot.

Maybe Gab was right about setting the two of you up.

A little after midnight, you stepped out onto the porch with a water bottle in hand. The sliding glass door opened behind you and Jamie stepped out to join. He walked over to where you stood by the railing and leaned his back against it. He turned his face to the stars.

“I like you like this,” you murmured. Jamie looked back at you, his facial expression unreadable for only a moment before a smirk split his face. “You’re a lot more relaxed. Some might even go as far as saying you’re kinda funny.”

“Thank you,” he said with a laugh. You giggled, looking back out at Tyler’s backyard. Jamie turned as well, bumping your shoulder as he did so. “I’m sorry about our date, by the way.”

“Oh, it’s fine,” you murmured. He shook his head.

“It’s really not, YN,” he urged. “I was a complete dick. I couldn’t put my stress away long enough to get to know you, and I was mad at myself for days after.”

“Mad at yourself?”

“So mad,” he repeated. You laughed, dropping your face into your hands to stop him from seeing your blush. He kept talking. “You looked so good in that red dress. And you were so sweet, and funny. And, oh my God, I couldn’t get over how cute you looked when you were admiring the restaurant.”

“I don’t go to five-star restaurants often!” you exclaimed. Jamie barked out a laugh. “It was such a nice restaurant.”

“Yeah, it’s my favorite,” he murmured. He took another sip of his drink. “Did you like the wine, though?”

“Yeah, Jamie,” you answered. “I loved that wine.”

You stood out on the deck with him for a little longer, chatting about everything but hockey. He asked you questions about your degree and your family and how you ended up living with Gab. He told dumb stories about Tyler that made tears come out of your eyes.

“I like your laugh,” Jamie whispered after you managed to stop laughing. You looked up at him, heart pounding in your chest, and smirked.

“Yeah, I bet you like it now that you’re the reason for it.”

“Hey!” he exclaimed. And then you were laughing again, and he made a promise to himself to keep getting you to laugh like that. “Would this Jamie get a second date?”

“I mean, he could definitely try,” you said, playful smile still on your lips.

“What are you doing this Tuesday?”

And, so, you went on a second date with Jamie. And then a third, and a fourth.

Each date was a date. Like, dinner reservations at fancy Dallas restaurants that you’d never even batted an eye at on your graduate student budget. Jamie remembered what you said about how you’d never been to a five-star restaurant, and he decided to make that a thing of the past. Gone were the Netflix dates you used to have with your ex. Jamie made sure to treat you right.

But he was also taking things way too slow.

He kissed you goodnight after your second date, and then both hello and goodbye on the third.

It wasn’t until the fourth date, and an entire bottle of wine, that you got that goodbye make out. In your past experiences, it never took this long to get a guy in bed. And, yet, Jamie hadn’t even tried.

So, on your fifth date and after about three weeks of talking every day, you had to ask.

“You’re not seeing anyone else, right?” you asked, coming to a stop three steps away from your front door. The question had been at the forefront of your mind all night. Maybe he wasn’t sleeping with you because he was getting it somewhere else.

“No,” he answered. His eyebrows drew together in concern as he thought over your question. And then his eyes widened. “Are you seeing anyone else?”

“No!”

Jamie smiled and reached out to tug you into him. His arm wrapped around your waist, pulling you up against his chest. His free hand wrapped around the back of your neck and pulled your lips to his. Just before kissing you, he murmured against your lips, “Good.”

You reveled in the feeling of his fingers when they laced through the hair at the back of your neck and the way his other hand slid down the curve of your ass without a care for who could see. And, when he sucked on your lower lip, Jamie nearly lost it at the soft moan that fell from your lips.

He swore he would have kept kissing you in that hallway for hours, not a care in the world. And you felt the same.

When you finally pulled away, mostly for a breath of fresh air, you leaned your forehead against his with a sigh. Jamie chuckled, tilting his head to place a kiss against your cheek.

“Remember when you didn’t want to go on another date with me?” he asked, pulling away completely. You nodded, the redness of your cheeks giving away your embarrassment about not seeing what was right in front of you that night. He took your hand in his and walked toward your apartment door.

“Don’t get too comfortable, Benn,” you warned teasingly. “My midterm exams are coming up. I’m about to be swamped, so our next date might have to wait.”

“We don’t have to do dinner, you know,” he said, leaning against the wall beside your door. “If you’re grabbing coffee and studying somewhere, I’d come by to see you for a little impromptu date.”

You eyed him skeptically, doubting that it was something he’d want to do. In your eyes, Jamie was still too good to be true, and he was a professional athlete. Once he saw you in your natural, stressed out student habitat, the glimmer was going to fade. You had yourself convinced.

“Maybe,” you said before leaning forward and kissing him goodnight. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

It took all of one week for you to cave. You spoke to Jamie almost every day, and even that wasn’t enough. You wanted him near you, close, and he wanted the same. He made it known every single day. So, you caved. You invited him to meet you at the Starbucks around the block from your apartment building with one rule. He couldn’t distract you while you studied.

That morning, you shuffled around your room looking for something that was comfortable enough for studying but also cute enough to impress the new man in your life. But, you were quickly reminded that you haven’t had to impress any guys in a while. Damn long-term relationships.

You ended up throwing on joggers and an over-sized t-shirt with a pair of slip-on Vans before slipping out your apartment door with your backpack.

Studying started out okay, but you could feel Jamie watching you from the opposite side of the booth. You wished you could read his mind, figure out what he was looking at you for. Did he think you looked too much like a bum? What did he think of your glasses? They weren’t exactly trendy anymore.

You were trying your best to ignore him, and the questions in your head, despite the overwhelming desire to lean over and kiss his smirk off his face. But, when you saw him reach across the booth and felt him tug the earbud from your ear, you knew your concentration was going to go down the drain.

“What?”

“I like you like this,” Jamie said. Your heart skipped a beat, and then you remembered saying those words to him just a month prior. Your cheeks turned a light pink beneath his gaze.

“You like me like this?” you asked, motioning to the lazy day outfit you were in. “Stressed out?”

“No, not stressed out,” he answered with a chuckle. “You look good, even if you are stressed.”

“Jamie, I haven’t showered in two days,” you admitted. He barked out a laugh. “Dry shampoo is my best friend.”

“That’s what that smell is?” he teased. You ripped a piece of paper out of your notebook to crumple it up and throw at him. He shifted out of its way. “I’m kidding, YN.”

“I know,” you mumbled. You redirected your attention to the textbook in front of you, and began reading again. Jamie stayed for another forty minutes, alternating between reading his book and watching you.

He did really like the way you looked sitting across from him in that coffee shop. He liked that you weren’t as put together as he usually saw you, and to him it meant you finally had your guard down. He liked the way your hair was gathered in a bun on top of your head and he thought you looked cute as hell in those glasses that sat on the bridge of your nose.

He might’ve even said he liked this look more than those slip dresses and heels you wore out to dinner. But, then again, those were sexy as hell too.

Jamie was beginning to wonder if he’d ever find a side to you that he didn’t like.

When it hit noon, he decided it was time to go and grabbed your hand from where it rested on your books. You looked up at him, tugging one of your earbuds out as you did.

“I’m leaving,” he said. You couldn’t stop yourself from pouting in response. He let out a soft groan and leaned forward to place a kiss against that pout. When he pulled away, he stood to leave, grabbing his things with him. “When you’re done with these exams, we’re going to celebrate.”

“96!” you exclaimed into the phone as you fell back onto your bed. “I got a 96 on my last midterm exam.”

“That’s awesome, babe,” Jamie murmured into the phone. “And right on time, too.”

It had been a week and a half since the last time you saw Jamie at the coffee shop. Between your midterm schedule and his game schedule, time didn’t allow for date nights. You kept each other off the ledge through texts and quick phone calls, chatting about the plans you wanted to make when your schedules freed up again.

Jamie promised to celebrate as soon as your exams were done, and he pulled through. He’d planned for everyone to come by his place that Friday night. The fact that your last grade came back before the pregame began made his plans just a little bit sweeter.

He picked you up not long after your phone call, and brought you back to his place where some of your friends were already waiting. Gab and Tyler showed up not too long after your arrival and the pregame was in full swing.

After making your rounds, you found Jamie in the kitchen. He was pouring himself another drink when you approached, wrapping your arms around his waist to pull his back into your chest. He chuckled softly.

“You know you didn’t have to get everyone together for this occasion, right?” you asked. Jamie nodded as he turned to face you. “Like, it was just my midterms. The semester isn’t even close to over.”

He reached up to cup your cheeks, and leaned in to place a kiss against your lips. When he pulled away, he said, “Doesn’t matter to me. I’ll celebrate you like this during finals, too.” 

Your heart fluttered at his tone of voice, and the way he was looking at you. You felt like the only girl in the world with the party in the other room was momentarily forgotten.

About an hour later, you were in the VIP section of a club and wrapped up in Jamie’s arms, literally. He went all out, as usual. You were quick to tell him he didn’t need to do things like this, and he was quick to kiss you quiet.

“I want to do these things for you,” he murmured against your lips as he walked you backwards towards the dancefloor. He spun you in his arms, and you happily pressed your back against him as you danced to the music blasting from the DJ booth.

This was the closest you’d ever been, save for the few make-outs in his car after dinner but even then, the center console was always in the way. Right then, there was nothing preventing Jamie from touching you, holding you close. Except maybe all the people in the club, and that damn dress you were wearing. He wanted it off.

His fingers slid down your thigh, brushing along the hem of your dress, and you were putty in his hands. You turned, taking his chin in your hand to pull him in. You kissed him like you were the only people in the club, even with Tyler and Gab’s hollering beside you.

You hardly made it back to your apartment that night. You were both so giggly drunk when you stumbled into the cab. As soon as the cab’s door closed to the outside world, Jamie’s hands were all over you. He tugged your legs over his lap and pulled you close to kiss you, one hand resting between your thighs just above your knees.

His touch lit your skin on fire.

You made out the entire way home, the entire way up the elevator, only stopping when you had to open the door to your apartment. Even then, Jamie’s hands rested on your stomach and his lips pressed up against your neck and your shoulders, any inch of skin it could touch.

“I’m proud of you,” he murmured against the shell of your ear. You sighed happily, turning the key in the door’s lock and pushing the door open. “Even if it was just midterms.”

You laughed at the way he mimicked your voice, then slipped out of his grip. Your heart was pounding from nerves and excitement. This moment felt all too real. You’d been wanting to go farther, wanted him in bed the first night you met him. But now, right as it was about to happen, you were a bundle of nerves.

“You hungry?”

“Little bit,” he answered, following you into the kitchen. He leaned up against the counter as you sifted through the frozen foods you’d stocked up on for drunken nights like these. “The team nutritionist is going to hate me this season after spending all this time with you.”

“Well, then, you should stock my fridge up with healthy things then,” you stated. Jamie chuckled and took a step forward to wrap his arms around your waist. Your search for late-night snacks was momentarily forgotten as he brushed the hair from your neck and placed a kiss against your skin.

“Why don’t we,” he started. He kissed the space just below your ear before continuing, “just look for snacks later?”

You turned in his arms, dropping your own arms around his shoulders. He smiled down at you as his eyes studied every bit of your face. You sighed softly, lifting one hand to run through his hair.

“I like you,” you whispered. He grinned. “A lot.”

“I’m crazy about you,” he responded. Jamie picked you up, and your legs wrapped around his waist immediately. He asked again, “Snacks later?”

“Sure.”

Jamie carried you to your bedroom, dropping you onto the mattress with a laugh before his lips were back on yours and his hands were sliding up your thighs. Your dress was gone in seconds, and then you helped him out of his own clothes.

Jamie took his time, admired every bit of your body. He didn’t want to forget any of this moment. He was crazy about you, every piece of you, and he was thanking his lucky stars that you agreed to go on a second date with him after the dumpster fire of a first one.

“I like us like this,” you whispered into his ear a few minutes after you finished. Jamie’s lips ghosted the skin of your collarbone as he peppered kisses along your skin to your shoulder. He looked up at you, brushing the hair out of your face before placing a kiss against your lips.

“God, me too,” he sighed. “I really like us like this.”

You burst out giggling as you laced your fingers in his hair, and Jamie watched you. He was completely enamored with you, everything about you. And then he started laughing with you because who wouldn’t?

“Do you want a snack now?”

“Did I not just have one?” he asked, glancing down at your naked body still pressed up against him. You laughed.

“That was awful,” you told him through giggles. Jamie chuckled, nuzzling his face into your neck as you continued to make fun of him. “I’m not just a snack. I’m a damn meal, Jamie Benn.”

“Don’t I know it!” Jamie exclaimed, rolling onto his back. You laughed. “Alright, let’s get snacks.”

“Okay, okay,” you mumbled. You stood up and grabbed his shirt, throwing it on like a dress. “I’m going to the bathroom. I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”

Jamie was sitting on the counter with two pints of ice cream in his hands, waiting for you. You nudged yourself between his legs, sighing happily when he handed one of the pints to you. The apartment was silent and Jamie had wrapped his legs around your body to keep you close to him.

After a few minutes, Jamie spoke up, “I like us like this, too.” You smiled up at him. “Just for the record.”

“Me too,” you agreed. He leaned down and pressed a kiss against your lips. “I like us all the time.”

[the-beastslayers-queen]

Forever The Shield

A request for @wwesarahjaneroszko and I’m sorry it’s late. My arms are sore af from work and I wasn’t in the best state of mind now that Dean is “gone.” Tagged: @queenofthearchitect @wrestlingfae

You were aware of what lied ahead after Fastlane. You knew that a day like this would come. A day where the faction you’ve been apart of for so many years, The Shield, would ride off into your own sunsets. That this chapter of your life would have to come to an end for a new one to begin. And you didn’t want to say goodbye to the boys you’ve had the pleasure of working with for nearly a decade. Well two of them anyway. You did live with one and shared a hotel with him every night on the road.

That honor of being attached to your hip was given to the Architect and Kingslayer himself, Seth Rollins. You two have been through a lot together. You came to the WWE the same time he did from Ring of Honor, having been best friend there. You trained with him in FCW and in NXT. When it was time to form the Shield, you were offered the position as the fourth member of the Shield, serving as manager/valet when the boys competed and you repped the faction when you were competing as a singles competitor in the women’s division. It was during the early days of the Shield you started dating Seth and forged a brotherly relationship with both Roman and Dean. The four of you all became inseparable peas in a pod. 

Right now, you were busy getting ready in yours and Seth’s locker room, lacing up your combat boots that have had countless miles put into them. They were the same pair you wore when you escorted your boys into the arena when they stormed the gates of the main roster at Survivor Series 2012. After that night, you knew these boots were special to you. Even after all these years, you never replaced them. It would have been like erasing all the history you had with these amazing workhorses.

“You’ve been very quiet all day today, babe,” Seth looked over at you from his spot on the couch, a cup of coffee in his hand and his glasses perched on his nose, “Is something on your mind?”

“Nostalgia mostly I guess,” you shrugged as you finished lacing up your boots, “I’m going to miss nights like this. Where we get to be together as unit and dominate this place.”

“I know,” he sighed before taking another sip of his coffee, “But with Wrestlemania on the horizon and Dean about to make his exit, this has to happen tonight. And since we have Ro back from his battle with cancer, it’s a perfect storm. I hate the idea of us four drifting away from each other, but it was bound to happen sooner or later.”

“Well I’m not drifting away from you,” you corrected him as you took a seat next to him, nestling into his side, “You’re stuck with me.”

“I wouldn’t have it anyother way,” he chuckled, “Besides Roman will still be around if he doesn’t get sent to Smackdown during the shake up. Maybe he and I could show up in the tag team scene again and put on clinics like we used to back in the day.”

“So you think you’re going to lose at Wrestlemania,” you teased.

“Oh hell no,” he shook his head and frowned, “I’m going to run the whole division when I liberate that title from the Beast. I’ll work any match that’s thrown at me.”

“That’s what I thought,” you stood up and grabbed his coffee from him, “Now go get ready. We have to go meet up with Dean and Roman soon.

“Well if it isn’t our little brother and sister,” Dean teased as you and Seth entered catering. Both of you were now in full gear. Since you were only managing tonight, you wore the new Shield shirt, a pair of very short denim shorts, and your favorite black leather moto jacket with your trusty boots to top it all off. Seth was not the biggest fan of your shorts, but you enjoyed that he was a little possessive over you. Jealous Seth tended to be your favorite Seth when you guys would retire to your hotel for the night after a show.

“It’s about time you divas graced us with your presence,” Roman joked as you sat down with Seth on the opposite side of the table from your shield brothers, “Excited for this last hoorah before the war with Lesnar at Mania?”

“Hell yeah I am,” Seth smirked with pride, “It’ll be a great way to get some momentum heading into the fight of my life.”

“I’m not,” you replied to Roman, “I don’t want to think about the end of this, of the four of us not being together when the show is over.”

“Oh dollface,” Dean reached over to rub your shoulder, “We all knew this day would come. I’m sorry I’m leaving, but I need to get away from all this for a while. I might considering coming back, but that’s a long ways off for now.”

You knew that Dean was very dedicated to this industry. Ever since he joined up with WWE back during the FCW days, he never stopped for a break unless he got so injured, he had no choice but to take time off. So in a way, he was letting his contract expire to have time away from this crazy grind and decompress from everything.

“I still hate this,” you grumbled, even as Seth leaned over to place a tender kiss on your forehead, “And now poor Roman has no road wife.”

“I have another one,” he looked over at Seth and I gasped.

“No way,” you pointed a finger at him in protest, “You are not taking my road husband and boyfriend Mr. Samoa. He’s mine and I don’t share.”

This resulted in all three of them laughing their asses off. Seth shook his head and lifted you out of your chair and into his lap, wrapping his arms around you tightly.

“You have nothing to worry about, babe,” Seth kissed your cheek, “I’m not letting Ro steal me away from you. After all, you’re my road wife.”

The show is underway now. The four of you are now hiding out in a janitor’s closet close to the entryway you’d be using to head into the arena. The camera guys that were shooting for the network were with you as each of the boys tried to stay limber and get their hair wet and ready to head out. Thankfully, you had your phone with you to stream the show so you can watch how the night was going.

“It’s almost time to head out,” a stage hand said, you put your phone away and looked over at your boys.

“Let’s kick some ass out there boys,” you hugged each of them tightly before leading them out the door.

Sierra Hotel India Echo Lima Delta Shield!

And with that, the four of you entered the arena within the crowd. You stood out in front, Seth and Dean behind you with Seth over your left should and Dean on the right. Roman took his place behind Seth and Dean to finish the formation. The four of you took in the crowd before you, letting the moment sink in. This would be one of, if not, the last time the four of you would enter through the crowd into the arena. You felt Seth gently brush his gloved fingers against your arm to signal you to lead the team to the battlefield that lied ahead.

With a heavy heart, you start to descend down the steps, brushing past the fans as you walked. You kept your head held high as you smirked out into the crowd. The bravado of having your boys at your back and ready for a fight gave you the confidence to face the end that was looming in the distance.

The four of you arrived at the barricade at last, the last hurdle before the ring for the most dominate team in the business. Seth came up behind you and hoisted you up so you could clear the barricade and make way for him. Seth leapt over the barricade in his signature roll from the early days of the Shield. Dean vaulted over the barricade before Roman simply swung his legs over one at a time.

Seth, Dean, and Roman climbed into the ring while you casually waltzed over to the corner of the ring that would serve as The Shield’s corner. You enjoyed watching your boys square up to Corbin, Lashley, and McIntyre. You were glad that this last was against these guys. It would show the universe that the Shield is still as strong as ever even after all these years being on the scene in the WWE.

As the fists flew between the six men in the ring, you did get a little worried for Seth. If he got hurt this close to Wrestlemania it would be just like a repeat of his knee injury all over again. You knew just how bad that was for him, and you wish more than anything for that to never happen to him again.

Not long after the fists started to fly, Seth, Dean, and Roman had full control of the ring. You got up on the steel steps by the Shield corner and raised your arms out, encouraging the cheers from the crowd. But you went back to standing next to the steps as Dean and Roman took their spots in the corner as Seth got ready to square up with Lashley. Which was not doing you any favors for your anxieties with this match.

Corbin and Roman were fighting it out as the legal men in the match up as Dean and Seth fought Lashley and McIntyre out into the universe. You had moved out of the corner and into the timekeepers area to keep an eye out for Dean and Seth. You watched Seth climb up into the stands and Dean kept fighting with Lashley and McIntyre. You furrowed your brow, a little worried for Seth and his well being. Because, if he was going up there, that meant he had a spot set up to dive from the top of the stands onto Lashley and McIntyre, maybe Dean too. You were going to be berating him for sure after the match for taking such risks so close to the biggest match of his career.

And like the predictable man that he is, Seth leapt from the stands into Lashley and McIntyre as they held Dean in their arms. Oh he was in trouble with you now.

Dean and Seth did recover and made their way back to you in the timekeeper’s area. You checked over Dean before you shifted over to Seth.

“When we get to hotel,” you warned him as you checked him for any serious damage, “I’m going to give you a piece of my damn mind for that spot.”

“I’ll live,” he kissed your forehead quickly before getting back into the ring side area, “Now get back to the corner before those two lugs come back this way. I don’t want you to get hurt in the finish of the match.”

You obeyed Seth’s direction as things got heated between all men involved. McIntyre attempted to work with his team to steal the triple powerbomb from your hounds onto Roman, but Dean and Seth broke it up and laid into the the three. Before long, your hounds set up to unleash the Cerberus and drove McIntyre through the Spanish announce table, incapacitating him in the process.

The crowd cheered for one more triple powerbomb and Corbin was in the ring, alone. This made him the perfect target. Seth, Dean and Roman flanked the ring as you climbed up onto the apron, clinging to the ropes with a smirk on your face.

“You’re done for Corbin,” you taunted as Seth, Dean, and Roman climbed into the ring.

One superkick, Superman punch, and a dirty deeds later, and Corbin was ready to be laid out. Dean and Seth picked Corbin up and Roman did the signature battle cry, rallying his brothers to lift up the weak and staggering Corbin onto his shoulders. Together, the three of them slammed Corbin down into the matt with authority. Roman made the cover as Seth and Dean took to the ropes to block Lashley and McIntyre from breaking the pin if they had managed to get up.

As the bell rang, you climbed through the ropes and ran over to your hounds, a smile beaming from cheek to cheek. You embraced Dean first before getting a bear hug from Roman. You went over to Seth who kissed you hard before pulling you into his chest. You were so proud of them, making this final match being the high-note ending they deserved.

After the boys finished embracing each other, they stood in the middle of the ring with you at their side. You all put your fists in together, the symbol of excellence closing the show one last time.

This era of your careers was done and dusted. Now it was time to prepare for war with the Beast and whatever else laid ahead over the horizon.

A/N: This is, I think, my longest one yet. It was a labor of love. Hope you enjoyed.

[dxmichelle]

The 12 Days of Fic-Mas (Day 4): The Visit

Summary: Yugi travels to see an old friend.

The only one who knew he was going was his grandfather. If he told his friends, they would just insist on making the journey with him, and in any other situation? Sure, the more the merrier. But this time, he wanted to go alone. And if he had to see the disappointment on his friends’ faces, he would have given in out of guilt in a heartbeat.

He met the Ishtars at the airport, and held the strap of the bag on his shoulder a little tighter. They didn’t talk much on the long drive other than idly catching up with what everyone else was up to.

Yugi was surprised that they didn’t drive to the site of where the Millennium Items were laid to rest, though, he did remember the tomb entrance did collapse after Atem passed through the doors to the afterlife. Nor did they go to the place where he and the others, with Shadi’s help, entered the Millennium Puzzle to help Atem save the world. Again.

Instead, they stopped at the entrance to a nondescript tomb.

“Is this it?”

“It is,” said Ishizu. “Will you need a guide?”

Yugi shook his head. “I don’t think so. …In a way, I’ve been here before.”

Marik handed him a torch and stepped back. “We’ll wait here for you.”

“Oh,” said Yugi, “Well…I might be a while.”

“It’s fine,” said Ishizu. “Be careful, and take as long as you need.”

Yugi took a deep breath and started the journey down. It took less time than he initially thought to get through the first chamber, and was surprised at himself that despite not remembering where all of the floor traps were located, none of the giant serpent statues along the walls shot their poisoned needles.

Were all of the darts deployed by visitors in the past? By the tomb keepers that had come through recently? Was he just lucky?

Or…a fleeting thought passed through his mind. Was his presence detected, and he was allowed safe passage?

He waved the idea away. The magic was gone.

Wasn’t it?

Yugi continued onward, down the stairs and into the next chamber. The passage maze along the chasm was exactly as he remembered it, though the armed statues weren’t in the same places.

He stole a glance behind him. The spike wall was naturally reset. Knowing where the pressure switch was on the floor meant he could pass without activating it, alleviating the need to hurry across the pit.

Yugi looked down at his feet and then across the field before him. The first statue was about ten paces away. He hesitated a moment and then inched his right foot forward, drawing it back almost immediately once he saw the sword-raised arm of the first statue shift ever so slightly.

Any lingering idea that the traps would just let him pass instantly dashed.

Good to know, he said to himself. They still work.

It was a wonder the tomb keepers managed to get through that room at all, knowing the cargo they carried at the time.

Left foot forward, one step at a time, until he reached the other side, and onwards through the next room. Grandpa had mentioned how his guide through the tomb had betrayed him here along the bridge all those years ago, and somehow he was saved by the Pharaoh’s spirit, though he didn’t realize it at the time.

The far end of the chamber housed an empty pedestal, but Yugi’s focus was what sat just behind it.

Grandpa had made it sound like no one else had managed to get this far into Atem’s tomb before he did, so Yugi only had to wonder where this particular artifact was actually found. Was it earlier on in one of the smaller chambers? Or in another place entirely. Ishizu never made mention if tombs to any of the other members of the court were found.

Shifting the bag off of his shoulder, Yugi set it on the ground beside the pedestal and sat down on the floor of the room, staring up at the massive Tablet of Memories. He reached into the bag and pulled out the small golden box that once housed his Duel Monsters cards, and more importantly, the pieces of the Millennium Puzzle.

He placed it carefully in his lap and looked up at the carving of Atem on the tablet, forever poised in battle.

“Hi Atem,” Yugi began, “It’s…it’s been a while.”

He sighed. “I know that you can’t really hear me. That’s okay. I know that you’re out there, in your Afterlife. I just wanted to talk. Grandpa said he used to do this sometimes at his father’s gravesite. And, well, this is the closest I’ll have to doing the same thing…. I won’t stay too long – I know you’re finally at peace now, and don’t want to disturb, but I thought I’d just give you a quick update on things, in case you were interested…”

He ran a finger along some of the etchings on the golden box. “It’s been…two years now. Grandpa is doing okay. Moving a little slower, but at his age, I can’t blame him. He went off last year with Professor Hawkins to oversee a dig in South America. His last hoorah before he officially resigned his archaeology hat and settled down in the shop. We were all worried, of course. You remember the last time he went off, and we had to save him from that weird pyramid. But no, he came back safe and sound, and more than a little sunburnt.

“Joey is doing great! There’s something new starting soon. A dueling “Pro-League” and he’s almost got himself a sponsor. It’s not set in stone, not yet, but so far it looks promising. And he could use the break, with him out on his own now.

“Téa is off in New York studying dance. We weren’t able to go visit her, but she brought back a recording of the production she was in. She didn’t have a large part, not in this show, anyway, but it was really cool to see! It’s really exciting to see her living her dream!”

“Tristan’s been helping out at his dad’s factory. He’s saving up to open a garage soon. I think he takes more care of his bike than himself, if that makes sense. But at least he and Duke have stopped fighting over Serenity. …At least I think they have. We don’t see her around too much. She still lives with her mom, and they recently moved a little further out from Domino. She hasn’t come back to Domino since the Battle City tournament, but I know Joey took the train up to see her a few months ago.”

Yugi leaned back, his hands pressed against the cool floor, trying to think of who he hadn’t mentioned yet. “Oh! Kaiba and Mokuba have opened up their second Kaiba Land park! It’s just like the first one, just a little smaller. I made sure to get on the crazy coaster, just for you.” He smiled at the memory. Atem hated that ride. “The one where the Puzzle almost fell off while we were upside down. That one’s at the new park, and it goes faster. It’s great!”

Yugi shifted one hand back front to open the golden box, and then stopped. “I know you’re wondering – but no, Kaiba still hasn’t beaten me yet. I don’t know if he’s getting discouraged – ludicrous, I know – but he doesn’t take part in tournament duels all that much anymore. Téa thinks he’s too busy, and I have to agree with her. There’s a lot on his plate now. But if I had to guess, I think it’s because you’re gone. I mean, I’m still here, but you were his real challenge. I’ve noticed that if I’m not dueling, he’s not dueling.”

Yugi smiled up at the tablet. “I know you’re going to ask too – I’m fine. A bit lonely at times. You would think that wouldn’t be the case, if anything, we’ve all gotten closer over the years, even if some of us aren’t always at home. But…it’s like something’s missing. I can’t quite put my finger on it…”

He narrowed his gaze up at Atem’s profile. “Don’t go blaming yourself for leaving though! Your soul deserves to be at peace after all those years of being trapped in the Puzzle and having the weight of the world on your shoulders! I…I just got so used to you being here, that sometimes it still takes a little reminding that you’re not sharing thoughts anymore.”

Yugi waved his hand dismissively. “But enough about that. I have some exciting news for you. I don’t know if you remember, or if I was considering it before you left, but that strategy sphere game? I made a mockup of it. Mokuba was all over it, showed it to Kaiba, and there’s a real chance that he might put it into production. I’m heading to Kaiba Corp next week and the two of us are going to sit down and play it.”

He laughed. “It’ll be a bit weird, to be sitting around at a table with no cards or fancy dueling holograms. But it’ll be nice. I’m looking forward to it. I have a feeling he was going to move forward with it even without playing it himself, but sometimes he’s still hard to read.”

Yugi kept going, rattling off the news of anyone and everyone that they came across. How Mai was dueling again professionally, but still hadn’t returned to Domino yet, to Joey’s dismay. What Rebecca was up to now that she was just about finished with college. How Duke’s shop was faring, and that Mako managed to get his boat after years of saving from his job at the aquarium….

Finally, Yugi looked down on the golden box, and he frowned slightly. “…And with that…brings me to my visit. I don’t know if you were aware, I mean like truly aware, but ten years ago today, Grandpa gave me this box full of puzzle pieces…”

He leaned back against his hands again. “I think…if child-me knew just how much utter chaos we would get into by putting the Puzzle together, I’m sure I would have buried this box somewhere in the back of the shop where it would never get found. But then…I wouldn’t have met you. Joey and I wouldn’t be friends – maybe – and…well, you’d still be trapped.”

“Speaking of friends…” Yugi tilted his head, still focused on the box. “I’ve sought all sorts of advice about this…. Joey and Tristan – they think this is a mistake. Haven’t been able to talk much to Téa over it, but I was surprised Kaiba was on my side. We talked for a long time actually. You’d be surprised….”

He shrugged, and then hoisted himself up off the floor. He hesitated, a moment unsure, before carefully placing the golden box on the empty pedestal.

“We think it’s best that the Egyptian Gods remain here, watching over this place. I know that the Shadow Games are gone now, and so are the Millennium Items, but as the most powerful cards in existence, I don’t want anyone trying for them anymore. Too many people got hurt trying to collect them. And I don’t want to risk someone finding a way to bring all that magic back.”

Yugi folded his arms across his chest.

“I know, Pharaoh. This is a really big decision. I didn’t come to it lightly. And I know we always kept our cards in this box, but I think…giving the Gods their proper resting place in a way puts them at peace too….and I think, after all this time, they deserve it as well. And I don’t see a better place than here. They were yours to command, after all.”

Yugi removed the lid to the box and glanced inside. Four cards lay along the bottom.

“There’s something else…I told Pegasus what had happened. With the last Shadow Game, and how you moved on. I…also consulted him about what to do with the God Cards…and he was of the same mindset as Kaiba. Anyway…he made us something.”

He pulled the fourth card from the bottom. “I told him about your past, and about a week ago, he came to visit – I know, Grandpa nearly had a heart attack when he showed up at our door. But he had a special card for us. It’s made to work alongside Dark Magician, and I’ve put it in my deck. But he made another one, for you, so in a way we’ll still be connected, even though we can’t communicate anymore.”

Yugi cradled the card close to his chest and looked up at the tablet again, his heart heavy. The other reason for his visit...and it hurt to think about it.

“…I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to come back here. Marik said the tomb keepers who moved the tablet down think some parts of this place are a bit unstable…it may not be safe for much longer…”

He was honestly surprised that the Ishtars let him down in the first place. 

“I was shocked then that they decided to put the tablet here, but I suppose, now that your mission is complete…there’s no need to keep it anywhere else. Pharaoh Set created it to bring you home, after all. Or so I think – that’s what Ishizu believed. And…a part of me was thinking…maybe it is best to let it all fade away.”

He sniffed suddenly, and wiped away the tear forming in his eye. “But, you know? Despite everything that’s happened since I finished the Puzzle? I’m grateful for the chance to have met you, and I’ll really cherish the time we had and the adventures we went on. Time will move on, memories may fade, but you will always be my dear friend.”

Yugi smiled, and looked down at the card in his hands. Palladium Oracle Mahad. He gently placed it back in the golden box and replaced the lid before turning back to the tablet, taking a long sweep over the entire thing, committing as much of it to memory as he possibly could. The Puzzle at the top with the Gods, the Blue Eyes and Dark Magician, Set and Atem…all the way down to the worn, jagged edges along the bottom and the cartouche where Atem’s name used to be.

“Good-bye Pharaoh…rest well.”

[vinylackles]

lyndsey’s first ever gif tutorial!!!

hello world, it’s me, lynds! by request, I’m gonna walk you through how I make my gifs! I’m going to just show a basic gif tutorial (like the one below). This tutorial will walk through the steps of getting the footage, creating the gif, editing it with some minimal coloring, and then exporting! :) let me know if you have any questions, I hope you enjoy!

I use the following programs:

Photoshop CS6 (mac download tutorial) 

QuickTime Player

let’s get started!!!

step one: find what you want to gif

For me, my first stop is almost always netflix. I make supernatural gifs, and I am lucky enough to have 13 seasons right at my fingertips. But Lyndsey, how do you get netflix video onto your laptop?! Well, that’s where QuickTime Player comes into play. For purposes of this tutorial, I’m going to gif a nice little family hug from episode 12x22. So first step, find the part you want to gif and pause the video about 10 seconds before you would want your gif to start, and make it full screen . Like so:

It’s important to start the recording before the actual first gif frame because you want all the extra things to go away (the play button, the rating that pops up in the right corner, etc) before you get to the actual moment you want to gif.

step two: begin recording

Open up QuickTime Player. On mac, it should pop up in your toolbar. A quick trick I use is to do a spotlight search (Command + Spacebar) and search for Quicktime Player. This will begin to run the program. Two finger click on the icon, and a small menu will pop up. It should look like this

Select New Screen Recording. A box should pop up on your screen that looks like this:

Click the red record button. Another box will appear that looks like this:

Click anywhere on your screen and boom! Your laptop is recording your entire screen! Now you can swipe over to your browser tab and it will continue recording your show as you watch! Make sure you move your mouse so all those annoying menus and things go away and it’s just the show on your screen.

Once you have finished recording the whole part you want to gif (make sure it’s short!!), swipe back over and open the menu again. It will have changed slightly to look like this:

Click on Stop Screen Recording. A box will appear where you can play the video you just recorded. Now, click the red x to exit the window that just appeared (trust me on this one) and it will bring up a new box like so:

Title your clip whatever you like and save it wherever! Now you have your clip! Hoorah for you, you’re doing great!!!

step three: getting it into photoshop

Now we’re ready to make our actual gif! Yay! Open up photoshop and then click on File -> Import -> Video Frames to Layers like so:

A new window will pop up where you can browse through your files. Go find the video clip you just recorded and select it. Now, your screen should look like this:

I always select the “Limit to Every 2 Frames” option to fit more content into my gif. I also toggle until I find only the part I want to gif (since we had to record a little extra to get to rid of the menu bars and such. Do this by dragging the small, dark pieces below the gray line until the image you’re looking for pops up on the little mini screen. Make sure to do both sides! Then, press okay!

step four: finding duplicate frames

No technology is perfect, but photoshop is far from it. Often, there are duplicate frames in gifs, which makes them look choppy and sad :( So, after completing step three your screen should look like this:

All the little boxes at the bottom are frames, while the list on the side are the layers. We’ll worry about the layers later. For now, click through each individual frame one by one, and if you find a duplicate, delete it (click the little trashcan below all the frames)! 

tip: I’m not sure if this is universal, but in my program, every fifth frame is a duplicate. idk why. but, I can go through and delete frames until one of the duplicates are on a multiple of 5 (i.e, frame 15 and 16 are the same) and then I select all the ‘5′ frames (Hit command and click frame 15, then frame 20, then frame 25 and so on and so forth). It minimizes the constant clicking. But, this might be confusing to some, so if it doesn’t make sense, just click through and delete the duplicates!

step five: cropping

Now that all those pesky frames are gone, it’s time to crop! Select the crop tool from the side toolbar (it’s selected in the next frame) and drag until you’re satisfied with what you have! 

tip: for individual gifs, it doesn’t matter too much, but if you’re doing gifsets, they need to all be the same size. I recommend using one of the preset ratios, which you can find if you click on “unconstrained” in the top left hand corner 

Now, it looks like this! Double click and it will crop the image to the selected size!

step six: coloring

Now comes the fun part! Coloring/Adjustments! For me, I usually up the brightness, lower the contrast and lower the saturation. I will post the settings I used below:

Make sure these layers are above all your other ones (you can drag them up to change the order). This is totally up to you! Click the buttons and mess around, see what they all do! You can always delete the layer you created and your gif will go back to normal :) 

step seven: frames per second

The final step before export for me is to change the frames per second. By default, mine go to .02 seconds, which is much too fast. The frame rate is shown at the bottom of the frames. I usually set my gifs to .07 seconds. The easiest way to that is to select all frames, by clicking on the small menu on your timeline (the little three lines with the arrow in the top right corner)

And then select “select all frames” from the menu. This will highlight all your frames! Next, click on one of the arrows (next to the timestamp) on any of your frames. A window will appear like so:

Click on “other...” and type in “.07″

Now we’re ready for export! Woo hoo!!

step eight: export

This is the most tedious, and my least favorite part of gifing. Sigh. Anyways, first you will go back to file and open the menu, then select “Save for Web”

The next page it will bring you to is very important:

The most important part of this window is the GIF size, shown here:

Tumblr has a gif size of 3M, so obviously this gif is way too big. Never fear! It’s time to change the image size. If you just change the width, it will keep your gif in proportion and minimize the size. I changed my width to 475px, and now we are at 2.763M, which means we’re good to go for tumblr!

Now, it’s time to save! it will automatically save as a .gif file, and you’re golden! time to upload your beautiful creation to tumblr!

I hope you found this helpful, please like it or reblog it if it helped, mainly so I don’t feel like I did all this for nothing haha. Happy gifing everyone!!! -lynds

[askthedespairkids]

Chapter 2: Lost in Sacrificial Fate ~Daily Life Part 1~

//Hoorah! Chapter 2 of DKronpa (as I will now call it) will finally begin, the daily life gonna be split up this time around because there was a lot more to write about and it would just be easier to have it as two separate chapters. 

//So each daily life chapter is gonna have a bonus event, and this one will be your required fanservice bonus event (probably gonna have another one to stretch across guys and girls)

//Hope you enjoy and hopefully you’ll look forward to the next chapter

-Chapter 2 Daily Life, New world-

 The next morning, we all gathered in the cafeteria. Needless to say, the mood was tense. We were all still feeling the pressure of reality from what we saw yesterday. Well…almost everybody. Kurosaki-san was sitting by himself, humming away without a care in the world. I still can’t get that image out of my head; his grin at Kibe-san’s…

 “Nagata-kun, you look really tired. Did you have trouble sleeping too?” Ram-san brought me back into the real world. She looked tired as well, Okanaya-san not so much, but he certainly wasn’t smiling. It had drawn a few surprised looks when he turned up, but everyone simply went back to their breakfast.

 “Sorry, I’m fine. Just…thinking, I guess.” I murmured my response. Ram-san nodded, probably not wanting to press me any further on the matter. I was glad she was aware when to give me some space. Okanaya-san was sitting with us, eating obnoxiously loud. I know I invited him, but I might end up regretting that decision.

 “Fuck, I didn’t even realise how hungry I was!”

 “Don’t talk with your mouth full…” I said, slightly annoyed. Okanaya-san stared at me for a second and in that moment, I realised who I had just said that to.

 He swallowed his food. “Right. Sorry ‘bout that.” He apologised.

 “Oh~? Nagata-kyun did you manage to tame the beast? How amazing!” Kurosaki-san smiled.

 “Eh? You wanna say that to my face, bastard?!” Okanaya-san stood up suddenly, cracking his knuckles.

 “O-Okanaya-san, c-calm down!” I said. Okanaya-san looked at me and sat down with a huff. He’s actually kind of childish, isn’t he?

 “W-well, it’s certainly lively.” Ram-san commented with an awkward smile, “It’s nice though. It feels less tense all of a sudden.”

“You’re right, Fraulein! After all, it’s been so weird that everybody’s been hung up on Kibe’s execution!” Kurosaki-san laughed. Everyone froze and looked over at Kurosaki-san. Nobody wanted to bring it up, yet he was able to speak about it to casually as if what we all say yesterday didn’t have any effect on him.

 “Nagata…” Okanaya-san fists tightened.

 “He’s not worth it…” I murmured, not completely sure if I believed that myself. I almost went back to my food but heard the sound of something getting hit hard and the sound of a crash. I turned to see Kurosaki-san had been knocked off of his chair and Amaterasu-san was standing over him.

 “Scum.” Was all she said, an animalistic glare in her eyes. “I don’t care about how you feel towards Saori-chan. You’re scum for laughing at her death.”

 “H-Hokama-san…” Kurohiko-san frowned. Amaterasu-san turned and looked at him with her usual blank expression.

 “Call me Amaterasu.” She said before sitting down again. Kurosaki-san stood up, rubbing where he was punched. He didn’t seem to mind, there was still a hint of a smirk visible. I don’t get this guy at all.

 “Geez, you guys can’t go two minutes without wanting to fight, huh?” Monokuma said.

 “Uwah?!” I nearly fell out of my chair when I came face-to-face with the bear.

 “Kya!” Ram-san squeaked, standing up suddenly.

 “Oi, what the fuck’re you doin’ here?!” Okanaya-san cracked his knuckles.

 “See what I mean? Always with the violence. Teenagers, I swear. Is it those hormones? Are all those pent-up hormones making you lash out? Or maybe you had a rough childhood. You wouldn’t be the first.”

 “Th-the fuck?!”

 “Can hormones pent up?” Irunami-san asked.

 “Shut up.” Sly-san said. “Monokuma, what do you want? You never appear unless there’s something you need to tell us.”

 “See, this is how you treat your headmaster with respect! Well…not really, but he’s doing better than the rest of you. But you’re right! I have a very important announcement! A new world has opened up for you now that you’ve cleared the class trial!”

 “Huh? A new world?” I repeated.

 “Yep yep! You know those stairs by the storage room that were blocked off by that grate? Well, I opened them up! You can go up to the new world awaiting you! Hope you enjoy exploring this new land, so…I’ll see ya later!” And with that, Monokuma disappeared just as fast as he appeared.

 “A new world, huh…?” Graves-san pondered the idea for a moment. “Alrighty, let’s go and check it out! Sly can lead the way!”

 “Hmm? Why me?”

 “Duh! If something dangerous appears you can deal with it!” Graves-san smiled and help up a peace sign. “I believe in you, home-slice! I’ll be right behind you, from a safe distance!”

 “I doubt there’ll be anything dangerous…let’s just hurry up and see what this is all about.” Sly-san began walking.

 -Chapter 2 Daily Life, Surface-

 “Wh…what is all of this…?” It was an unexpected sight. When we went up the flight of stairs, we found a set of doors. I expected another floor, not…this. We were greeted by a massive courtyard and four buildings in different directions from a fountain in the centre. And to create the perimeter is a massive wall at least 20 feet high. We could see the sky above us…where the hell are we?!

 “We’re outside?” Sly-san takes in the view. “This is odd. Something like this should be impossible to hide from the world…what’s the meaning of this, I wonder?”

 “Y-yeah, we’re all being forced into a game like this. The world should definitely be trying to do something about it, and yet…how can a place like this exist are we’re still trapped here?!” Kurohiko-san shuddered, scared of the possible explanations.

 “There’s no point thinking about it. Let’s split up and investigate.” Shinko-san suggested.

 “Let us go in pairs then. We can learn more of our new surroundings whilst enjoying the company of each other.” Ishikawa-san smiled.

 “Oh! I can help with that!” Hachi-san clapped their hands together and produced 14 sticks. “There are two of each colour, so everyone picks a stick and see who they end up investigating with!” Everyone went one at a time and drew a stick until Hachi-san was left with one for themselves.

 We all paired off quickly. Asano-san ended up with Ishikawa-san.

 “Asano-sama, let us do our best in our investigation together.” Ishikawa-san bowed.

 “Of course, if that’s what you wish of me.” Asano-san nodded.

 Amaterasu-san and a flustered Kurohiko-san walked away together. Hachi-san and Irunami-san walked away as well, though part of me thinks the sticks were rigged when the snickered to each other. Sly-san walked away, not waiting for a very excited Kurosaki-san.

 “Ah, looks like we’re workin’ together!” Graves-san threw an arm around Yokozawa-san. Yokozawa-san seemed surprised at the sudden physical contact.

 “U-um…yeah. I guess so.” Yokozawa-san nodded awkwardly. “I’ll try to not slow you down…” His voice trailed off. I guess he really isn’t that good with social interaction. He left with Graves-san who leading the conversation between them as he just silently nodded along.

 Shinko-san and Ram-san was definitely the weirdest pairing out of the group. Weirder than Ishikawa-san and Asano-san…maybe. But with all of them gone, that left…

 “Just you an me then.” Okanaya-san smirked. “Though there’s so much shit to look at. Where the fuck do we start?” Good question…

 -Chapter 2 Daily Life, Fountain-

 Okanaya-san and I arrived at a large foundation that marked the middle of the courtyard. It was a statue of a Monokuma dressed like a cherub, holding a jug that sprayed out water into the pool.  It felt almost peaceful here with the sound of the running water filling the air. If it weren’t for the massive wall encasing us, then I might actually be able to enjoy this.

 “Hmm…” Okanaya-san studied the fountain.

 “What’s wrong?” I asked. Okanaya-san seemed to mull over something for a few seconds before shaking his head.

 “Just stuff I’m thinking about. I’ll tell you about it when we meet up with everybody else. It’s just one of those things I feel like everyone should hear together, y’know…?” I wasn’t sure what could be going through Okanaya-san’s head, but I wasn’t going to question it.

 “This fountain is nice, don’t you think?” I asked. I dipped my hand into the water. It was cold. Not sure what else I expected.

 “Gross, do you normally stick your hand in fountain water?” Okanaya-san frowned. I could feel myself blush, I’m not even sure why I did that either. I guess in situation, my instinct just told me to inspect everything. “But yeah, it’s nice. Décor isn’t necessarily something I have strong opinions on, but it would be nice as a landmark. Though I wish it wasn’t Monokuma’s stupid fucking face up there.”

 -Chapter 2 Daily Life, the 2nd Building-

 Okanaya-san and I stepped into the building that was to the right of the dorms. A large extravagant looking building both in and out. The first room was like a foyer, a large staircase went up two floors from where we were. A building with three floors, but probably still isn’t taller than the wall outside.

 “This place is pretty dazzling. It’s almost too bright.” I commented as we walked further into the foyer. “Seriously, what kind of building is this anyway?”

 “Welcome, welcome! This building is the leisure building!”

 “Gwah!” I jumped back into Okanaya-san when Monokuma appeared.

 “Geez, kid…are you gonna do that every time I appear?” Monokuma looked down, almost seeming depressed. “Anyway, as I was saying. This building is a leisure building. A place you can relax! Here on the first floor you can find a swimming pool! On the second floor, you’ll find an amazingly chilly ice rink! And on the third floor is an auditorium! A place for shows and such. Y’know all that drama crap?”

 “When did you build all this?” Okanaya-san questioned.

 “Hmm? I wonder…when did I do all this again?”

 “Bastard, just answer my question or I’ll beat the shit outta you!”

 “O-Okanaya-san, calm down. You know the rules, you can’t hurt Monokuma…!” I tried to reason.

 “It’s bullshit, Nagata! Nothing is right here!” Nothing is right…? What the hell does that mean…? Okanaya-san mentioned he wanted to tell everybody something, is it related to that?

 “Bullshit or not, I don’t actually have to answer any of your questions. Not right now anyway. Maybe I can in the future when I think it’ll make things more interesting…” Monokuma chuckled before disappearing again.

 “Fuck this…seriously, fuck this! Fuck that Monokuma bastard and fuck this stupid killing game and fuck wherever the hell we are right now!” Okanaya-san slammed his fist against the wall. “Nagata! We gotta find a way to get outta here! Let’s fuckin’ do this!”

 “R-right…” Okanaya-san still gets fired up really easily. Though I suppose it’s not always a bad thing.

 -Chapter 2 Daily Life, Cafeteria Meet-up-

 “Okay, so now that we’re all back, should we start thinking about this whole new world shit? It’s weird, right…? This dorm area is basically a basement area. Our perception of our location is completely different now…” Shinko-san said.

 “Hachi, if you would?” Sly-san asked.

 “Of course! No problem!” Hachi-san clapped their hands together and produced two maps: one of the courtyard area and one of the leisure building. Seriously, where did they get those? “So, let’s start off with the courtyard!”

 “As we already know, the building to the right of the dorm entrance is the leisure building. Kurosaki and I tried to enter the other buildings, but they were all locked.” Sly-san said.

 “Not just that but each building’s exterior designs are all vastly different. And that one building that’s to the left of the dorm entrance…it’s like a serious accident occurred there. The first floor was in tact from the outside, but everywhere above was completely destroyed almost as if it was burned.” Kurosaki-san put his hand to his chin in thought.

 “But that’s weird, right? We haven’t been here long so I doubt an accident like that could occur. There’s no fire safety measures here that could deal with a fire of that size.” Amaterasu-san said.

 “You mean it was built to look like that? Wouldn’t it be tricky to fake fire damage?” Ram-san asked.

 “We have already seen a few unbelievable things, is it really so impossible?” Ishikawa-san said. “It’s possible that the building is a key the puzzle that is yet to be answered: for what reason have we been forced to participate in this game?”

 “You really think that building has something to do with it?” Hachi-san asked.

 “It’s not impossible. Though with the building still inaccessible, we can’t answer that question for sure.” Kurosaki-san shrugged. “Another interesting point about the courtyard is that massive wall. How could anyone manage to build something like that?”

 “No exit either.” Amaterasu-san said. Huh? No exit? “Doi-chan and I went around the whole perimeter of the wall and we couldn’t find any kind of door. We’re completely caged in.”

 “There might not be a door in the walls but there was that massive door with all the locks we all saw when we first got here. It’s possible that door leads to a tunnel that goes under the wall, right?” Yokozawa-san suggested. I remember the door, yeah. It’s definitely the exit if there’s nothing along the wall.

 “So, we need to find a way to open that door. Easier said than done.” Shinko-san said.

 “We can cross that bridge later. We’re always learning more about our surroundings so maybe we’ll find something that’ll point us in the direction of how to open that door.” Kurosaki-san smiled.

 “Then let’s talk about the leisure building! Ha-chan and I went exploring in there and it was suuuuper cool! I’ve never seen anything like it!” Irunami-san beamed.

 “Right, we looked around the top floor and found all kinds of cool stuff!” Hachi-san followed. “Let’s see…there was a room filled with different props and costumes, an awesome auditorium! There was a door in the auditorium that went backstage to some dressing rooms and a storage room for things like lighting and stuff! It was so amazing!”

 “On the first and second floor was a swimming pool past some changing rooms, and an ice rink, respectively. I searched around but there was nothing of note. Nothing that could be used to get outta here.” Shinko-san sighed.

 “So, there wasn’t actually anything in the building that was a clue to unlocking the door…ah man! I thought Junpei and I really did well in our investigation!” Graves-san complained.

 “It wasn’t much of an investigation it was just you dragging me around everywhere and pointing at stuff…and call me Yokozawa, calling me by my first name is way too casual.” Yokozawa-san complained.

 “That’s so many syllables though! Junpei is a lot easier to remember!” Graves-san argued with a smile.

 “Sorry to interrupt, but can I say something?” Okanaya-san stood up, grabbing everyone’s attention. I’ve never seen this expression on his face before, it was unreadable, “…so, uh…I was suspicious about it, and I feel like I need to share with the group. After seeing the above ground areas…I have to conclude we aren’t in Hope’s Peak.”

 “Huh? Well…that much was obvious, right?” Yokozawa-san shrugged.

 “But…gah, how I explain it? There’s problems with it not being Hope’s Peak, but there are problems with it being Hope’s Peak too…” Okanaya-san struggled. I do remember when I talked to him on the first day…

 “Okanaya-san said that the structure on the building we’re in now was definitely part of Hope’s Peak. Uncopiable designs and little details. Yet this clearly isn’t the main school building, as the above ground area showed us.” I clarified. This detail seemed to get everybody’s attention.

 “If that is the case…then what of our location? It must be Hope’s Peak, yet it cannot be.” Ishikawa-san frowned.

 “Maybe Hope’s Peak’s team had a part to play in the creation of this site?” Sly-san suggested.

 “Hope’s Peak was built over a century ago. It would impossible for any modern-day builder to reconstruct it perfectly.” Okanaya-san discredited. “It’s like…there’s only a piece of Hope’s Peak here. It was stolen and placed here.”

 “It may be a clue to whoever is behind our situation.” Asano-san finally spoke up. A clue to whoever brought us here. The mastermind, in a sense.

 “Someone really knowledgeable about Hope’s Peak, clearly.” Amaterasu-san said. “Though without any evidence around, we can even begin to think of who it might be.”

 “It might not be just one person. It’s more likely to be some big organisation with how much production went into all those buildings and that wall…yes an organisation of some kind is a much more likely culprit.” Kurosaki-san nodded at his own theory.

 “What kind or organisations would have the kind of funding it would take to pull something like this off?” Graves-san asked.

 “My agency. Possibly Graves’ agency as well.” Sly-san said. I suppose assassins would get paid a lot, and if Graves-san is an agent for the government it makes sense that they would have lots of money.

 “Though outside of just ourselves, there’s also the Togami corporation. Or the Kuzuryuu clan.” Kurosaki-san added.

 “Y-you think the yakuza did this?!” Kurohiko-san went pale.

 “It’s a very low chance.” Amaterasu-san reassured him. “Plus, they’d need a motive for doing it all, and I doubt any of us are linked to either of those organisations Yuuki-chan mentioned.”

 “Hokama is right-“

 “Call me Amaterasu.”

 “-It’s more likely to be some kind of organisation that’s actually linked to one of us. Though we obviously know little about each other…there must be some connection between us all.” Sly-san murmured.

 “Well, we’re all Ultimates. Th-that’s something.” Ram-san scratched the back of her neck as she thought. It’s true. The only thing that really linked us all together was our talents. Other than that, we don’t have anything in common as far as any of us know.

 “Unless we all have a mutual acquaintance?” Kurosaki-san smirked. Huh? “Simply throwing the idea, you see. It’s possible we all know the culprit of this incident but don’t realise we all know that person.”

 “Th-that’s…kind of hard to wrap my head around.” Kurohiko-san said.

 “Kurosaki, stop trying to raise the tension of our situation.” Sly-san warned, “…this is enough. We should get some rest. This day has been a lot for many of us. Let us work hard tomorrow, agreed?”

 -Chapter 2 Daily Life, Motive-

 That night, we were all gathered in the gymnasium after hearing Monokuma’s announcement. It was a much tenser feeling than the last time this happened since the last time we were summoned to the gym all together…no, it’s not worth thinking about. There’s no way we’d let another…it won’t happen!

 “God fucking dammit…” Okanaya-san cursed, “I don’t need this shit right now…that Monokuma bastard is just gathering us here so he can-“

 “No no no, don’t even say it! I don’t wanna hear it!” Kurohiko-san covered his ears.

 “Kurohiko-sama, please do not act like a victim. It will not help your chances.” Ishikawa-san sighed.

 “S-so harsh! That was totally uncalled for!” Kurohiko-san looked ready to cry.

 “Yeah, you’re totally savage!” Monokuma’s voice echoed throughout the room. We all looked over to the podium where the bear was kicking his legs in the air without a care in the world. I hated how his relaxed nature made him that much more menacing.

 “Gwah!!” Kurohiko-san yelped, latching onto Amaterasu-san’s arm. She simply patted his head as he whimpered behind her.

 “Jesus kid, grow some balls.” Monokuma growled. “Anyway, I bet you’re all wondering why I decided to summon you here?”

 “Yeah, but if you don’t want to tell us that’s totally fine with us…” Yokozawa-san tried to smirk, but it was clearly faltering.

 “As if, nerd!”

 “N-nerd?”

 “Well, he’s not wrong.” Graves-san said.

 “N-nobody asked!” Yokozawa-san flushed.

 “As I was saying though. Iiiiiit’s motive time! And I think it’s a pretty good one this time!” Motives…last time it was our unfinished business. Is this going to be something similar, “For this new motive, it doesn’t have a time limit like the last one, so it’ll just apply to the next murder! For the person who kills and wins the class trial…they’ll get one free wish from yours truly!”

 “A…wish? What does that entail?” Ishikawa-san asked.

 “Ya curious? I don’t blame you! Humans always have some kind of wish. Something that if they had the chance to make it happen, they would take it without hesitation! So, if you guys kill and clear the class trial, you can ask for any wish from me! Even…to spare everybody else from execution.” Monokuma’s eye flashed.

 “S…spare us all from execution…?” Irunami-san repeated.

 “Of course! One life traded so that everybody can live? It’s a win in the end, don’t you think? So, go ahead and give it a good think through! I know it’s hard to come up with a wish, so…I’ll see ya later!” And with that, Monokuma disappeared.

 “If we kill…we could save everyone else from execution…” Irunami-san said it again, slowly a smile formed. “Monokuma-chan’s really trying this time, huh…? There’s no way that what he said is true. Letting us all live would go against the whole point of putting us in a killing game. Don’t’cha think, Ha-chan?”

 “U-uh…yeah.” Hachi-san stepped back, a little surprised by Irunami-san’s odd expression.

 “It doesn’t matter if it’s the truth or not. Nobody is becoming a sacrifice.” Amaterasu-san said.

 “What if someone volunteered though?” Kurosaki-san said.

 “Should I take the initiative then?” Sly-san’s flashed a dagger from seemingly nowhere. H-has he had that on him the whole time?!

 “It was simply a suggestion. If someone volunteered to be the sacrifice, then it makes it a little better, morally. Am I wrong?” Kurosaki-san grinned, “we’re in a game of life and death so I believe we should all work together and end it as soon as possible. If anyone wants me to kill them, I’ll gladly use my wish to save everyone else.”

 “Oi…!” Okanaya-san stepped forward.

 “Ah, another fight? Are you going to do this after every motive reveal? Though I don’t have any keys on me this time around, so it’s okay~!” Kurosaki-san half-sang the final sentence. “Though it’s not really a great alternative either. Monokuma’s probably like a genie. A wish like that probably wouldn’t end the killing game.”

 “Wh-what…?” Kurohiko-san frowned.

 “Confused? Think about it. Simply wishing for nobody to be executed is easy enough…but that doesn’t mean they get to leave with the culprit. And saying they wish to end the killing game…well, that was already going to happen, so that doesn’t save everyone from execution.” Kurosaki-san explained. So, what he was saying is that this motive can’t actually get us out of here with just one death.

 “That doesn’t matter…” Ram-san said.

 “Huh? Did you say something?” Kurosaki-san smirked.

 “W-well…what I mean is…I don’t think anyone will kill…after what we s-saw with Watanabe-san and Kibe-san…I j-just can’t believe anyone w-would kill again…” She fiddled with the strand of hair going down the centre of her face. Kurosaki-san stared at her in surprise for a moment before chuckling.

 “How surprising. A girl who can’t even tell us her real name is giving us all a motivational speech. Well, you may be right. It would be nice to think that nobody else will try to kill…though I doubt Monokuma would ever allow something like that…”

 Ram-san seemed really bothered when the subject of her name came up. I’ve not actually asked her about that yet, but…I don’t really think it’s the type of thing she’d want to talk about. I want to believe her though, that nobody else is going to kill…that nobody else will have to die.

 -Chapter 2 Daily Life, A great idea!-

 We all ate in peace the next morning. Well, almost peace. Hachi-san, Shinko-san, and Irunami-san were all mumbling to each other at one of the tables in the corner. It wouldn’t be odd if Shinko-san wasn’t with them. Plus, Ram-san was more poking at her food as if deep in thought about something important. However, I couldn’t complain since Kurosaki-san wasn’t saying anything annoying this time around.

 “Alright, commoners, listen here! We have an important announcement to make!” Shinko-san stood up on the table and clapped his hands together.

 “Who is he calling common?” Okanaya-san glared.

 “I know you’re all feeling extremely lost because of yesterday, but don’t worry because I’m going to solve all your worries with one simple plan! Using the auditorium from the leisure building, we’re going to hold a talent show!”

 “A…talent show…?” I repeated.

 “Right! Ha-chan, Shin-chan and I all came up with the idea! We figured it would be a good way for us all to get closer to each other, so let’s work together to make this happen!” Irunami-san beamed.

 “We all plan on doing a little 20-30 minutes set each, but if anyone else wants to participate then feel free to let us know! It’ll be a lot more exciting if we have more acts in it.” Hachi-san added on.

 “Come to think of it, even though we’re Ultimates, a lot of our talents are really…talent show talents…” Ram-san noted.

 “I can probably do something.” Amaterasu-san stuck her hand in the air.

 “You’re gonna steal from people as an act?” Shinko-san looked unsure of the idea.

 “I can sing.”

 “…eh?” He tilted his head. I think there was surprise from everyone in the room. Amaterasu-san looked around the room and cleared her throat. The sound of her singing voice filled the room. It was some kind of sad song but as Amaterasu-san sang I couldn’t help but feel myself relax in my chair. Her surprisingly soothing voice was like a mother singing a lullaby to her child.

 “Wh…” Kurohiko-san stared in awe when she finished. “A-Amaterasu-san, that was amazing! H-how are you able to do that?! I can’t sing at all!”

 “That’s just because you’re untalented.”

 “Y-your just said it straight…” Kurohiko-san sighed.

 “Please sing at the talent show.” Asano-san suddenly spoke, her eyes showing a never before seen glimmer. “You have a special second talent, I wish to hear more of it. I hope you do not mind that I made a request without being asked.”

 “You don’t have to say it like that. I don’t mind if you ask, and I was planning to anyway, if it’s alright with those three.” Amaterasu-san pointed at Shinko-san, Hachi-san, and Irunami-san.

 “O-of course! I’m not unreasonable for fuck sake!” Shinko-san covered his face, clearly trying to hide his flushed cheeks.

 “Ammy-chan, we’ll give you a slot so don’t worry about it!” Irunami-san nodded confidently.

 “Then we’re gonna need everybody’s help to pull it all together! I can draw up some plans and we can meet in the auditorium around lunchtime, all good?” Hachi-san asked. Everybody agreed quickly. “Great then, that’s all!”

 -Chapter 2 Daily Life, Bonus: Man’s Confidence-

 “Nagata-kun I have a serious problem…!” Hachi-san whined.

 “Huh? Wh-what’s wrong?”

 “Well…Kurosaki-kun wants to join in on the talent show and we’ve been brainstorming ideas for his act. We got an idea he was happy with, but the problem is that it requires a costume…but we couldn’t find anything for it!”

 “What kind of costume are you looking for?”

 “A cowboy one. We found a good hat for it, and Kurosaki-kun already has boots for it but we don’t have chaps.” Hachi-san sighed.

 “Actually, I got some from the school store when I was messing around with the Gacha machine. I could give you those if you want.”

“Huh?! Really!? Nagata-kun, you’re the best! Bring them to the auditorium during rehearsals and I’ll take it from there!” I nodded but couldn’t help noticing a mischievous glint from Hachi-san’s eyes under the mask. I had a bad feeling about this, but I don’t want to potentially throw a wrench in the works…I guess I have no choice.

 ----

 I walked into the almost empty auditorium. Hachi-san, Kurosaki-san, Irunami-san, Hokama-san, Shinko-san, and Kurohiko-san were all standing on the stage. “Ah, Nagata-kun you made it! Sorry, the time I told you for rehearsals was actually a little earlier. I wanted to make we had stuff prepared for the acts before everyone else got here!” Hachi-san explained.

 “Speaking of which, you did actually bring the costumes, right?” Shinko-san glared at me, as if expecting a negative response to his question.

 “Yeah…but why is Kurohiko-san here?”

 “W-well…I got too excited about all this and ended up arriving a lot earlier than necessary. That’s really my own fault, I should have known that I would have had more time.” Kurohiko-san mumbled so quietly that I almost didn’t hear him.

 “It works out though because I actually might need an assistant for my performance! So, Monsieur Kurohiko would fit the bill perfectly!” Kurosaki-san smirked. “Now, obviously you’ll have to wear the same costume as me. Let’s go get changed!” Kurosaki-san scooped the costume from my hands and dragged Kurohiko-san backstage.

 “Keheheheheh…” Hachi-san grinned. Uh-oh.

 “Ah, did you really do it?! Ha-chan, you’re really devious!” Irunami-san suppressed a laugh.

 “Is devious the right word? I figured we could all use a little bit of laughter these days. Plus, this just falls under one of my many tricks~!” Hachi-san said. I feel like I’ve been played here…

 After a few minutes of waiting around, we heard the approaching footsteps of Kurohiko-san and Kurosaki-san. “Hey, Nagata-san, are you sure you brought the whole thing? I don’t think this is all of it…” Kurohiko-san called from the wings.

 “It’s fine, just come on out!” Hachi-san yelled back.

 “H-hell no! I can’t walk out in this!”

 “Come on, Monsieur~ You look perfectly fine! Give them something to gawk at~!” Kurosaki-san sounded like he was smiling.

 “W-wait, Kurosaki-san-!” No matter what kind of person you are, nothing can prepare you for the outfits those two were wearing. Kurosaki-san and Kurohiko-san came out in an almost full get up, with the vest, boots, hat, and chaps…but were completely missing their trousers from the outfit.

 “O-oi! What kind ‘a get-up is that?! You tryin’ to be funny or something?!” Shinko-san nearly exploded.

 “Th-this isn’t my idea! K-Kurosaki-san said this was the whole outfit…!” Kurohiko-san whined trying to cover his underwear.

 “Pahahahahahaha!!” Irunami-san collapsed onto the ground in a fit, “I can’t believe Hiko-chan and Saki-chan really wore them!”

 “Oh? Was I supposed to be embarrassed wearing this? Apologies, but I’ve wore outfits that revealed way more than this. I just thought this is what you wanted me to wear.” Kurosaki-san shrugged.

 “Somehow that’s worse.” Amaterasu-san crossed her arms, staring at Kurohiko-san. She gave him a thumbs up. “You look good.”

 “Wh-what does that mean?!” Kurohiko-san flushed further.

 “Pff…o-okay, I think that’s good enough for today then. I’ll show you where your actual costumes are.” Hachi-san said. Before the group could leave the stage, the doors to the auditorium swung open and one-by-one the rest of the group filed into the auditorium, each stopping once they saw Kurosaki-san and Kurohiko-san on stage.

 “Wh…what the hell? Gross.” Yokozawa-san grimaced.

 “I-is this some kind of roleplay thing we walked in on…?” Graves-san half-laughed.

 “Is that so? Apologies, if we knew this then we would have avoided walking in. Pleasure is an important thing in life, you should be able to experience it without us here.” Ishikawa-san smiled, it was kind of scary how unfazed she was.

 “Nagata, you were doin’ some kinky roleplay shit with Kurosaki and Kurohiko…?” Okanaya-san looked at me confused. Ram-san was behind him, her gaze glued to the floor. I really don’t blame her.

 “Th-that’s not what this is at all! R-right, Kurosaki-san?!” Kurohiko-san turned to look at the explorer, but he wasn’t there.

 “Ah~ Sly-chan, do you like my outfit~?” Without anyone even realising, Kurosaki-san was draping himself over a clearly pissed off Sly-san. “I put it on just to give you the show of a lifetime, tell me that you’ll join me in my dressing room…?”

 “In your dreams.” Sly-san growled.

 “Oh? You know its possible for dreams to become reality, if you’re willing…” Kurosaki-san grinned.

 “I don’t have a problem killing you in front of everyone.”

 I watched as the spat between them continued and Hachi-san led Kurohiko-san away. Okanaya-san and Ram-san walked over to me. “So, uh…you wanna explain what the hell just happened…?” Okanaya-san scratched the back of his head.

 “I-it’s a long story…” I sighed, blocking out Kurosaki-san’s taunts as Sly-san tried to punch him.

[yume-x-hanabi]

Gaius Comparisons #4

Tag for previous entries.

Scenes analyzed here: all the events in Kanbalar and when you seize the airship, as well as the Zenethra.

Rowen: They seem to be struggling.

Leia: Shouldn’t we help them?

Jude: …

Milla: Their diversion will be for naught if we join them. [she adds “We have no choice but to leave it to them.”]

Man: We have to save His Highness!

Soldier: Don’t let them lay a finger on His Highness or the civilians!

Jude: The people really do love him.

Alvin: If I’m not mistaken, your job here is still to help Milla win.

Jude: That’s right. Let’s go, Leia.

Leia: Gotcha.

Commentary: go go, Kanbalar NPC! I love how they support their king♥

[After fighting the flying ship’s robots, the party is still facing some Exodus and Elympion soldiers, but Gaius and the Chimeriad show up with some soldiers.]

Wingul: We’ll take over from here. [“It’s over. The ship is completely under our control.”]

Jude: Gaius probably didn’t need us after all. [“Gaius and the others would have probably managed on their own.” Same thing, except he includes the Chimeriad.]

Ivar: Lady Milla? Are you unharmed?

Milla: Yes, thanks to everyone but you. [BUUURN]

Ivar: What? Grr…

Gaius: The ship is ours! [“Our operation is a success!”]

Soldiers: Hoorah!

Gaius: Let's return to the castle.

Milla: Here, let me help you up.

Commentary: We just need a Gaius Side to play this part from their point of view.

Gaius: How long until we can set sail? [he says “Wingul” at the beginning]

Wingul: I have every available man working to get the ship's systems under control. It may take a few hours.

Jude: Looks like we still have some time.

Milla: Let’s rest until then.

Commentary: I think you can talk to him after that but I don’t have the Japanese line for that. Nothing of note here anyway.

Agria&Leia

Agria: So I heard the pimple wants to be a nurse. I bet it’s ‘cause of that boy! [just “you,” though not the most polite form]

Leia: S-So what of it?

Agria: Don’t play innocent with me. It’s obvious that Jude gets you all hot and bothered. [“your head is full of perverted stuff about that boy”]

Leia: What?! That’s ridiculous!

Agria: But you know, I have to admit my opinion of you has improved.

Leia: Huh? Really?

Agria: If you think with your heart instead of your brain, you’ll end up killing some patient on accident! It’ll be hilarious! [she just laughs] You don’t even care if your efforts end up killing people!

Leia: That won’t happen.

Agria: Oh, that’s right. That boy’s got the hots for Maxwell, the older woman. [“granny Maxwell”] That means no lovin’ for you! Ah ha ha ha! [she’s a bit more crass here]

Milla: Huh?

Agria: Huh? Who’s there? (Leia flees) Hmph, lame.

Commentary: Agria is Agria, no matter the language XD

Presa&Alvin

Alvin: Hey, good lookin’. Come here often? [“Hey. Are you sure this is the time to be idling?”]

Presa: Think you can charm your way back into my life? You make me puke. [“When you talk to me casually like that, it makes me feel sick.”]

Alvin: Cut me some slack, will you? After all, we finally get to fight side by side again. [“Don’t get angry.”]

Presa: I’d sooner kill you.

Alvin: Easy there. Come on, it’ll be just like old times. [“Don’t say something so scary. Let’s get close like we were before.”]

Presa: You expect me to forget how many of us died because of you?

Alvin: That’s ancient history.

Presa: I was captured too, you know… Do you have any idea what I went through?

Alvin: … [he sighs]

Presa: I thought I’d found my place in the world by your side. Don't expect me to forgive and forget. Being tossed away once was enough. [“Never raise my hopes up ever again.”]

Wingul: Presa, I request your presence. I need your opinion on how to integrate the Rashugal soldiers into our own.

Presa: Sure, I'll be right there.

Alvin: See? Your new friends need you. You’ve found your place after all.

Commentary: Presa ;A;  I don’t know which version of Alvin I hate most here, but he’s pretty despicable in this scene, completely brushing off what she went through and thinking he can just waltz back into her life like nothing happened. I wish there’d been another scene like that where they can talk about it seriously, like late-game, after he’s developed and is no longer trying to escape responsibility for his actions. But we all know the game robbed Presa of that chance on the Hallowmont -_-

Wingul&Rowen

Jude: I wonder what those two are talking about. [“Rowen and Wingul…?”]

Wingul: You wish to speak with me?

Rowen: You told me earlier you have a booster implanted in your body. Why would you do such a thing?

Wingul: Why? Hah. If you have to ask, then you'd never understand.

Rowen: But you're still just a young man. How could you throw away your life?

Wingul: Heh, haha. The answer is simple: I await my opportunity to kill the King.

Rowen: What? That is your reason?

Wingul: Gaius is worthy of the throne. That is undeniable. So I was left with only two options. Resist or submit.

Rowen: You are a strong young man.

Wingul: No, you're just a weak old one.

Rowen: I have given a lot of thought to what you said earlier. It would seem that Gaius is capable of leading his people down the correct path.

Wingul: Are you saying you'll support him?

Rowen: Gaius may be Rashugal's only hope now that it has lost its king. I shall summon Rashugal's finest warriors here before the battle with Exodus. With your permission, of course.

Wingul: A wise decision.

Commentary: Wingul please. ... I understand the game trying to only give us the party’s (pretty limited) pov on the Chimeriad, I guess it’s more realistic like that, that they don’t know everything, but it’s still really frustrating as a player not to get all the details. Here we have the Battle of Mon Highlands summed up in twenty words, and it’s barely telling us anything when it’s actually such a huge event in Gaius and Wingul’s lives. This limited pov is really getting in the way of fleshing out the antagonists, which is a shame because this group is so interesting and lovable!

Talking to Wingul before launching the attack.

Wingul: Relay this to all troops: We believe the enemy base to be an enormous structure. All soldiers should review their indoor combat procedures.

Auj Oule Soldier: Yes, sir!

Wingul: I anticipate difficulty getting the word to everyone. Call in all of the relay team reserves.

Other Auj Oule Soldier: Yes, sir!

Milla: I see you're keeping busy.

Wingul: Of course. 99% of a battle is won before it starts.

Milla: So at this point, the fighting is just a formality?

Wingul: I leave nothing to chance. That's why I haven't accounted for your group at all. All I expect from you is a distraction. Should you die in the process, my plans will not be disrupted.  [“Don’t worry, ~”]

Elize: What?

Milla: Fair enough. [she adds “We have no objection to that.”]

Elize: Was that true for Jiao too? Did his death not disrupt your plans?!

Wingul: It was not, and it did. Jiao's strength was a trusted resource, not a destabilizing factor like your own. He was a man who not only bested me, but even challenged Gaius one-on-one.

Elize: Oh...

Teepo: Were you two friends?

Wingul: Friends? Ah, this must be how a child sees the world. It doesn't matter what we were. What matters now is that our military strength doesn't waver from his loss. [he doesn’t say the first italicized line. What he says here is “I will fill the gap left by Jiao’s loss. That’s what my booster is for.”]

Milla: You certainly don't make your emotions easy to read.

Wingul: You'd be wise not to waste your energy trying. The time of battle is at hand. Rest while you still can.

Commentary: I love the trust between him and Jiao, considering their rocky start. Another thing I would have liked to see developed more in depth...

Leia: What are Rashugal soldiers doing here?

Rowen: I summoned them here, although fewer came than I had hoped.

Jude: Ah, looks like Ivar's still here, too.

Milla: That fool. He abandoned his duty to Nia Khera.

Wingul: Your Highness, perhaps a few words.

Gaius: Once, we turned our swords upon each other and fought for control of Rieze Maxia. Today, we come together not as enemies, but as allies. We have already located the enemy's headquarters, a ship known as the Zenethra. Fear not the battle to come, brothers. United, we will not falter. [“Trust yesterday’s enemy.”] Together, we shall reclaim our world!

Wingul: Launch the ship!

Auj Oule Troop: Y-Your Highness! We have detected a high energy channeling circle surrounding all of Rieze Maxia. Here it comes!

Leia: What's happening...? It's like my mana is being sucked dry!

Milla: I know this feeling.

Jude: They're using the Lance of Kresnik to absorb the entire world's mana!

Wingul: The Spirit-fuel Plan.

Gaius: I won't let them hurt our people. I will protect Rieze Maxia! Make us airborne!

Commentary: Look at this guy, still standing up when everyone’s on their knees. Anyway, Gaius is pretty good at short inspirational speeches. You can feel his charisma here 8)

Milla: Sorry I’m late.

Elize: It was just like the Lance of Kresnik, wasn't it?

Wingul: No doubt the Zenethra was the actual source of that light.

Milla: And I think that it put another hole in the schism.

Presa: You're right. At least no ships were able to come through this time. [“But no ship came in like last time.”]

Alvin: Maybe they sent the mana they gathered back to Elympios.

Jude: Looks like your fuel-plan theory was right.

Alvin: It seems like the only time that I'm right is when I'm talkin' about a worst-case scenario.

Agria: Wait a minute. Hahaha! Well, lookie there!

Ivar: Enemy ship approaching! Everyone, brace for impact!

Milla: There's our welcoming committee.

Gaius: Silence all of them!

[Battle]

Jude: They just keep on coming!

Wingul: Is this all you've got? Pathetic!

Milla: Gaius!

Gaius: Helmsman! Maintain course and ram into the Zenethra!

Ivar: All right, fine, if you say so. Just don't try to blame me if we crash and burn!

[anime cutscene where Ivar crashes the airship into the Zenethra, and Muzét blasts some airships with Gravity]

Commentary: Pretty faithful here. Another scene where I would have loved to play Gaius...

[I named this screenshot “everyone is judging you, Ivar”]

Jude: That was incredible.

Muzét: I seem to have regained my powers thanks to your tethering.

Milla: I never imagined you would possess such power.

Leia: Of course! She’s your big sis!

Elize: I’m glad you’re on our side. [I have bad news for you Elize…]

Muzét: I am happy to lend my powers to your cause. [“I will lend you my power here.” (here outside)]

Milla: What are you planning to do?

Muzét: The mission would fail if the ship were to fall, yes?

Milla: I see. It sounds we’ll have to continue asking for your assistance. [“Then I can leave it to you, right?” she... kinda sounds a bit unsure she should trust her]

Jude: Thank you, Muzét. Take care.

Muzét: Be safe. Milla, never forget that you are Maxwell.

Milla: …

Rowen: We must act quickly, while the enemy reinforcements are being blocked.

Milla: We should split into two groups.

Jude: I know. "Do what must be done", right? [“I know, Gaius.”]

Gaius: We will put a stop to their plans right here. Our targets are Gilland and the Lance of Kresnik.

Ivar: At your service, Lady Milla.

Alvin: You again? [“You’re still there?”]

Teepo: Hey! Stay out of our way! [“You’re in our way, so stay away.” Not too different but the “stay away” wording is pretty childish.]

Ivar: Hahaha, but of course! I shall join Gaius' capable crew!

Milla: What?

Wingul: Think you can fill Jiao's shoes in the Chimeriad?

Ivar: Easily!

Gaius: ...

Ivar: Just watch me! [He’s actually rewording his previous line more formally.]

Gaius: Let's go.

Ivar: Guess they know a winner when they see one, phony! [“I won’t lose to you, phony!”]

Presa: Get over here, idiot.

Ivar: How rude! But, I shall let it slide.

Presa: Al...

Alvin: What?

Presa: Try not to die.

Milla: Let's go.

Commentary: And to think the writers were originally planning to make him an official Chimeriad member here... ngl, I’m glad that didn’t happen. As much as I like Ivar, he doesn’t fit into that group at all, and it’s much funnier to have them just glare at him and then abandon him when he gets in trouble. Since it’s Tales Trivia Tuesday: his outfit was designed with that setting in mind. If you look at his legs, it’s pretty similar to how Jiao and Wingul’s pants are styled. And the Chimeriad all have set solid colors (black, yellow, blue, red); Ivar is wearing white for that reason. Though in the end his outfit fits very much with Nia Khera NPC’s, so it really worked out in the end.

Gilland: Guh! No, not now. Not when we finally created a spyrite. Damn it.

Alvin: The only thing you really want to do is gain favor with the outside to boost your influence. What’s the point in making these spyrites, or whatever you call them?

Gilland: Spyrites are different from spyrix devices. They allow us to wield incredible power without consuming spirits. Elympios is overflowing with people and technology. And we need spyrites to sustain ourselves. [“That’s why Elympios, which is overflowing with people and technology, need them.”]

Jude: What are you talking about?

Gilland: As spirits have become scarce, so has the mana in Elympios. Our world is now doomed to fade away.

Rowen: So that is why you implemented the Otherworld Reactor Plan. [“I didn’t know there was such a reason behind the ORP.”]

Leia: But it’s your fault for getting hooked on spyrix to begin with. Now you have to live with the consequences.

Gilland: But if spyrites become commonplace, the people of Elympios will have all the mana they need.

Milla: Isn’t it a bit late for that? You were the ones who chose to rely on spyrix 2,000 years ago!

Gilland: That wasn’t me! Gwaaah!

Alvin: Hey, are you okay?

Gilland: My death is not going to change the fate of Rieze Maxia! O-Our plan can proceed so long as the schism exists. Everything you’ve done is for nothing! Ergh! Ahhhh!

Leia: Is he dead now?

Rowen: Perhaps that was the price he had to pay for using Celsius.

Milla: It was a high price to pay, even for that much power.

Alvin: Well, I’ll be taking this back. Gillandor Yul Svent. Goodbye, Uncle.

Gaius: Has everything been settled now?

Milla: You just missed it.

Jude: This doesn't feel right. Not at all.

Milla: Exodus must abandon their plans. They must be forced to for the sake of Rieze Maxia. [“We must destroy Exodus’ plan for the sake of Rieze Maxia.”]

Jude: Right.

Milla: Good to see you all again.

Gaius: Maxwell.

Milla: Even you won't interfere here. I'll destroy it.

Wingul: Such power! What the hell is this arte? [in Long Dau he says “Damn”]

Elize: It hurts! Make it stop! [“We’re getting squished.”]

Jude: Did Gilland set a trap for us?!

Agria: Come on! Use your artes, for crying out loud! [she calls her her trademark “babaa” (hag/granny)]

Presa: I can't. It's far too powerful!

Gaius: This is nothing I can't handle. I'll break through this arte!

Jude: Break through? That's it! Use the Lance of Kresnik! It has the power to dispel artes!

Milla: That's true! [“The Lance…”]

Leia: Can we even do that? Isn't it out of mana?

Rowen: If everybody here can just focus their mana into the Lance, then maybe...

Agria: Ahahaha! So you're saying we should willingly give that thing power?

Wingul: It could mean the death of us.

Gaius: We're dead either way. We have no choice.

Agria: Damnit! Hurry up already!

Presa: I... I can't take it anymore.

Gaius: Now Maxwell, activate the Lance.

Jude: Milla...

Milla: There is no need for everyone to risk their lives.

Jude: Wait, what? Don't do it! No! You can't do this!

Alvin: What are you doing?! Aren't you supposed to stick around, to help protect the world? There are still so many things left you need to do!

Milla: With the schism gone, Exodus' plan will come to an end. Isn't that right?

Alvin: What?

Milla: You’re still here? I told you to leave with Jude and the others. I’m sorry. I dragged you into this.

Undine: Well, well, you’ve certainly changed, haven’t you?

Milla: I just want to live as Maxwell, that’s all.

Sylph: And that’s an excuse to off yourself, huh?

Milla: I know it conflicts with my mission.

Gnome: Then don’t! Don’t do it!

Milla: I don’t want to disappoint Jude. When he’s watching me… I want to be like this. I want to be the Maxwell that he respects. [“that he loves.” wtf translators]

Efreet: What does Maxwell have to fear?

Milla: So that’s what it was. I finally understand. I’ve become afraid. Afraid of loss.

Leia: This can’t happen. [“No, Milla…”]

Elize: Milla…

Teepo: Don’t do it!

Rowen: Please reconsider! [“Milla!”]

Jude: You can’t do this. Milla. If you leave us, then what? You can’t! [“If you were to disappear, then I…”]

Milla: You’ll be fine without me. [“Don’t make that face.”]

Jude: …

Milla: Farewell. Goodbye, Jude.

Jude: Mi— Millaaaaaaa!

Commentary: I don’t know why these translators keep removing the word “love”, but I don’t like it :( Note how they also made Jude’s line near the end less personal.

Milla is so strong, though. By then she’s realized the truth about herself, and even if it conflicts with her mission, she wants to protect her friends, who she’s become afraid of losing (a nice call back to the scene in Fort Gandala where she was ready to let Gilland kill Elise and Driselle if she had to). She’s changed so much, while still keeping the fundamental part of herself, what makes her so strong. She really is an amazing character.

[jerseydevildom77-blog]

‘Sea Of Thieves' Updates Detailed In Wake Of Fan Complaints Assortment

Navigating the waters in Sea of Thieves can be treacherous, specially for these players that can't get their bearings. Even though the open beta will give a lot of men and women a chance to experience Sea of Thieves's cooperative online piracy action for the initial time, developer Uncommon has unlocked some fresh content for everyone Sea of Thevies PC Download to knowledge as effectively. Up to this point, players could only get missions from the Gold Hoarders faction, but that is altering. Sea of Thieves is not a complete game. A lot of what's present is enchanting, but repetition will claim most before the kraken does. Verify it out on Xbox Games Pass for a month, or hold out and hope that it is filled out in time. This might look like a problem, but I hope Rare does not get rid of the brig system. It isn't that significantly of a problem. You can always just exit the game and matchmake in with an additional Sea of Thevies PC Download crew of randoms. I also think it is a clear indication that you don't want to play with those individuals anyway. Lastly, I kinda prefer it more than kicking players. Put them in the brig and make them want to quit on their personal. This update nicely resolves that nasty " obtaining thrown in the brig and griefed just so you'll quit to make space for somebody's friend" dilemma with the best-level setting of public and private crews. You will nonetheless choose no matter whether you want to set sail on a sloop or a galleon at the starting of play, but then you'll decide on whether or not you want your crew to be "open" or "closed." Open crews automatically matchmake in new players to fill their ship to capacity, closed crews do not Sea of Thevies pc download. This also signifies you can now set sail all by your self in a galleon, if you like, whether or not you are getting factors set up for pals on their way or if you just want the extra elbow room. Uncommon says a later patch will let crews change between open or closed status on the go, but for now you are going to have to make a decision at the outset and leave the session if you change your mind. If you purchased a digital copy of Sea of Thieves, you do not want a code, according to Microsoft. Just download the Black Dog Pack from the Microsoft Store on your console. Get to expertise an innovative co-op gameplay by working sea of thevies pc download with each other as a crew on a private ship. Voyage the open seas together to appear for treasure. Be cautious even though as other hostile players will just be beyond the horizon. This game is like an open world chess match that requires strategy and teamwork. The far more you comprehend how a ship operates the better chance you have of becoming crowned the King of Thieves. Download the game from the award-winning company Uncommon Sea of Thevies PC Download The gaming expertise what some count on to be the ideal cross-platform game for the X-Box and Windows program to date. If you like this title try other EveryDownload titles like it. Beddall, whose operate on Sea of Thieves can be seen on his portfolio page , went on to clarify a little far more of Rare's pondering in the course of improvement, suggesting that "the plans and tips for the game were bigger than what was released," but that the core gameplay loop of the title in no way really shifted. Whereas Beddall himself was hoping for far more by way of "dungeons and raids," rather he shares the genuine issues How to Download Sea of Thevies of players more than the lack of variety discovered in the full release of the game. His expertise of working on Sea of Thieves was 1 exactly where Rare was "actually anal about every detail of the game" when a lot more focus could have been place into the gameplay itself. "I have in no way worked on a game that was created so slowly," he said. Completing The Hungering Deep will earn players exclusive rewards, and Rare plans to introduce some new mechanics that players will use as well. That isn't all Rare has slated for the month of Might, as it really Where i Can Download Sea of Thevies is also going to launch a new weekly events program. This will be utilised to introduce new mechanics and objectives for players to full, with particular rewards for these who do. Not each encounter is so thrilling, although. Just as usually, you will discover oneself getting caught out unawares by silent assailants that steal your progress without having the courtesy of a great story to tell. Or perhaps https://seaofthievespc.download/ have a series of tentative, half encounters with other players where you in no way quite engage, but just make every single Sea of Thevies PC Download other anxious and slow your progress. Player behavior is the variable that Rare has the least handle more than, but given that it is the most essential component in the game, that makes the all round expertise incredibly contingent on something difficult to predict or handle. But therein lies yet another difficulty with The Hungering Deep. It really is ended up becoming a large time-suck. Without having spoiling also significantly, you ultimately get to a point where there are no a lot more clues, and you have to head out in search of danger. Only, you want Where i Can Download Sea of Thevies at least five folks cooperating to trigger the final event, which means even a fully manned galleon is incapable of finishing the campaign. I've spent twice as extended trying to discover other ships to celebration up with for the last hoorah than I have carried out getting to that point. Hours and hours. I really wanted to enjoy Sea of Thieves, I think it is a amazing idea that could truly develop into anything special. But as I kept playing it, I was waiting for a lot more to present itself to me. Much more to do. A lot Sea of Thevies PC Download more to find. Sadly, following many extended hours with the game, and some server problems (that have since been fixed) I've decided that I've had sufficient time with Sea of Thieves. In short, it's not a game for everybody.

[struungout]

doll update: yeah of course it can’t go how i want lmao

so unless you’ve been living under a rock, y’all have likely heard that souldoll is in the process of discontinuing a crap load of their sculpts. this month they’re allowing customers to buy heads only of the sculpts that are getting shelved, and next month is the last month you’ll be able to buy the discontinued sculpts as full dolls.

thanks to this, my 2018 doll plans have got 2 new additions (well...1 new addition and 1 originally on the 2018 list but then removed and is back on it uh...”addition”).

yep, i placed an order for a souldoll gana head as well as a bonnie head (as well as a vito outfit). ;B

i wasn’t actually originally sure i’d be able to afford to get both since i’m currently ferreting cash away to make sure i have plenty to pay off the rest of what i owe for amaya’s and pelna’s faceups whenever @shadowedforce finishes them off...BUUUUUT then i was reminded that bjdivas were dealers for souldoll and offered custom layaways. :D i ended up going for a 5 month layaway (that i’m likely to pay off early if i’m a good kid about luxury spending in the coming months). = w=

i have no idea what i plan to do with either sculpts, and honestly...i probably won’t do anything with them until either next year or the year after (i’m still really set on finally getting a hold of an unoa chibi as well as doll chateau’s irma next year). i’m not too worried about all that though. i’m sure i’ll have something figured out by the time i’m ready to get them bodies in the future. xD

anyway...thanks to the layaway option, i likely won’t have to change my plans to get a rabbit from eve studio with my pfd in october, so hoorah! my doll plans were not screwed up! \o/

[returntothefalls]

IQ-tie (preview)

Preview excerpt from Chapter 3 of Return to the Falls, a Gravity Falls fanfiction

Here’s the preview I promised for the anniversary!  Hope it hypes you all up for what’s to come!

Gravity Falls came to life with the lavender light of the dawn.  The birds were the first to stir, flitting out from their nests in search of the early worms and rousing the rest of the land with their cheery song.  Once the birds were on the wing, it wasn’t long until the rest of the town’s inhabitants followed suit.  Manly Dan rose with the sun and marched into the woods with his boys in tow, axes in hand and ready for another day of chopping wood.  Shandra Jimenez downed the last swallows of her espresso as the camera began rolling for the morning news while Toby Determined slept face first on the desk beside her.  Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland hit the streets in their patrol car, loaded up with enough coffee and sugary cereal to power them until their afternoon energy crash and subsequent power nap.  Business carried on as usual.  One could almost forget that the town had been besieged by rampaging vines just the previous evening.  Even the Mystery Shack, nearest the epicenter of the attack, enjoyed a morning of restful peace – for a certain value of the word.

“Sassafras is correct! That’s seven points for Dipper and one point for Mabel.”

Mabel stomped her foot in disappointment as Soos and Dipper high-fived.  Two bowls of soggy Trivi-o’s sat ignored on the table; the children had more pressing matters at hand.  Abuelita insisted on buying the allegedly-educational cereal for Soos – “brain food, mijo” – and although the cereal itself tasted suspiciously like dog food, the quiz on the back of the box at least brought a competitive flair to breakfast.

“Next question,” Soos said, squinting at the box.  “What valuable blue mineral is found in the American Southwest?”

Dipper’s raised his hand immediately.  “Turquoise!”

“Correct again, dude!” Soos said.  “I would have guessed rock candy.”

Mabel hunched forward in her chair, mouth set in a determined line.  “Watch out, boys, this next one has Mabel written all over it!”

“Last question of the box,” Soos said.  “So this one’s for all the marbles.”  Dipper and Mabel sat at the edge of their seats, their bodies tensed.  “The mythological sphinx has the face of a woman and the body of a what?”

Mabel’s hand shot up a split second after Dipper’s.  “Lion!” he said.

“Correct!” Soos said. “We’ve got a new champion of Turbo Lightning Breakfast Trivia!”  Dipper laughed and jumped out of his chair, pumping his fists.  Soos gave him a fist bump, complete with dramatic explosion sound effect.

“Aww come on!” Mabel said, crossing her arms sulkily and sinking back in her chair.  “I knew that one too!  Dipper was just faster.”

“Don’t sweat it, Mabel,” Dipper said, still grinning.  “It’s just a game.  A game I won!”  He high-fived Soos again.

“You know the nice thing about livin’ on a boat?  You don’t wake up to a house of screamin’ kids.  Screamin’ seagulls, maybe, but I can fry those up for lunch.”

Stan hobbled into the kitchen, looking rather sore and groggy – in other words, he was his usual grunkley self.  His red stocking hat was now adorned with the familiar golden symbol from his old fez, which Mabel had sewn on the night before.  Without hesitation, he picked up a bowl from the table and swallowed a spoonful of pasty cereal mush.

“Sorry, Grunkle Stan,” Dipper said.  “Trivia gets me excited.  Especially winning.”

“I knew a bunch of the answers too,” Mabel said indignantly.

Stan patted Mabel on the head.  “Don’t worry about it, sweetie,” he said.  “I know what it’s like havin’ to put up with the smart twin.”

Mabel frowned.  “You think Dipper is the smart twin?”

“Well yeah, of course,” Stan said.  “But that’s alright.  Maybe he’s the smart twin, but you’re the fun twin!  A real chip off your ole Grunkle Stan!”  He winked.

Mabel gave a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.  “Thanks, Grunkle Stan,” she said.  “Trivia isn’t exactly the Mabel Pines specialty anyway.”  

“Now what are you all standing around for?” Stan said.  “In case you forgot, a demonic salad monster took the world’s most destructive Shack tour last night.  We’ve got a lot of work to do!”

“Soos is keeping the Shack closed today,” Dipper said.  “We thought it would be nice to take some time to relax this morning.  I mean, I did get briefly swallowed by a plant yesterday. Doesn’t that earn me some down time?”

“No,” Stan said.  “I don’t care if this place is under new management, I’m not gonna stand to see the Shack left like this.  So let’s work hard to upgrade her condition from ‘miserable’ to ‘quaintly pitiful!’  Who’s with me?”  He was met with unenthused mutterings from Dipper and Mabel and a genuine hoorah from Soos.  “Good! Now someone go find my nerd brother, tell Corduroy to get her butt over here, and we’ll get this done together!”

Stan turned and left the room with Soos close behind, chattering about how happy he was to be fixing up the Shack with Stan again.  Dipper turned to Mabel and shrugged.  “Guess there are worse ways to spend the morning,” he said.  He carried his still-full bowl to the sink, cringing as he watched the wet cereal clumps swirl down the drain.

Mabel started to follow Dipper out of the room, but the Trivi-o’s box on the counter caught her eye. “Hey Dipper, hang on a sec.” Dipper looked back at her inquisitively and she paused a moment before continuing.  “Do you think of yourself as the smart twin?”

Dipper’s expression was instantly apologetic.  “Mabel, don’t take that to heart, Stan didn’t mean anything by it.”

“But it’s true, right?” Mabel said.  “You’re the guy everyone goes to for help with homework, or for advice on monster hunting, or anything like that.”

“Yeah, and you’re the girl people go to for everything else,” Dipper said.  “It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks about your smarts, they love you for you!”  He smiled. “Stan’s right about you being the fun twin.  That’s something to be proud of!”

Mabel nodded.  “I am happy that people think of me as a hip-hop-happenin’ girl, but I wish they would see me as both fun and smart.”

“For what it’s worth, I think you’re both fun and smart,” Dipper said.

“Thanks, Dip,” Mabel said, putting a hand on his shoulder.  “But you’re my bro, you have to say that.”

“Doesn’t make it any less true,” Dipper said.  “Now come on, we’d better get to work before Stan chews us out.”

“Hopefully it won’t take long,” Mabel said.  “The Shack can’t be in that bad a shape, can it?”

There was a loud knock at the back door, followed by a muffled crack.  A second later, the “S” from the Shack’s sign tumbled to the ground outside the window.

Stan walked into the kitchen, glanced out the window, and sighed.  “I’m gettin’ too old for this.”

“Mr. Pines?”  Soos’s voice called from the entry room. “There’s a nice lady here asking for you.”

Stan immediately straightened up, the corners of his mouth twisting in a sly smile.  “A woman in Gravity Falls who wants to see me? That’s a new one.”  He looked down at himself.  His once-white tanktop was stained yellow with sweat and various food smears, his boxers were tattered and threatened to fall apart at any moment, and a mysterious pulsating fungus coated the exterior of his slippers.  He turned to the kids.  “How do I look?”

Mabel waved her hand in a “so-so” gesture and Dipper simply shook his head.

“Great!” Stan said.  “Watch and learn, kiddos, this is how you charm a lady.”

Chest puffed out with confidence, Stan stepped into the entry room.  He opened his mouth to speak, but as his eyes settled on the visitor, all words froze in his throat.  Every trace of his bluster deflated in an instant.

Dipper and Mabel hurried after him, driven by concern and curiosity in equal measure.  The old woman standing in the doorway was unfamiliar to them, yet the dramatic impact she’d made on Stan was unmistakable.

Mabel poked Stan’s side, but he didn’t respond.  “He’s speechless,” Dipper said.  “Never thought I’d see the day.”

The woman gave a small wave and an even smaller smile.  “Hello, Stanley.”

Finally, Stan croaked out a strained reply.  “Hiya, Hotpants.”

Carla laughed.  “Can I come in?” she asked, grinning sheepishly. “I’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”

[dungeonsdragonsdemonsdaggers]

MYTH AND LIGHT UNDER THE DARK

SESSION 2: I Will Offend You Then Destroy You

Here’s what happened in a nutshell (from my perspective): We avoid a lot of dangerous things, argue a lot, and then eventually we get the fight we’ve been looking for; Drow. I continuously yell Elvish curses at Drow while slipping on slime and mushrooms occasionally failing attacks, occasionally succeeding. HOORAH.

This session was honestly so fun, best fun I’ve had in a game in a long time~~!! 

Important to Note: Aravae’s character has officially switched alignment from Chaotic Neutral to Chaotic Good~ That makes 4 of the 7 of us in this adventure all chaotic good!

So~ we are in the underdark, just killed 2 ogres, and the plan now is to rescue Torgga and get out quick before the ogre’s ‘master’ shows up. First part of the plan goes pretty well. Torgga is not conscious- but she ain’t dead! While Ara and Lingkh are helping out with the unconcious dwarf, the rest of us take a look around. Rael the Elf finds a locked door, Mal the Tiefling finds a dying old gnome in another prison like Torgga’s, and Torvin the Dragonborn (I continuously call him Dragonface...) finds a creepy room full of brains.

I follow Torvin into the creepy room and find a set of 3 doors on one end, and another door on the other. I investigate the 3 doors; I jump up (haha) and look out some windows above the doors and see paths into the underdark- a way out! Torvin, however, peeks through cracks into the other door and finds a mind flayer. A MIND FLAYER. He yells at us as quietly loudly as he can about what he’s found, how dangerous it is, and that we need to skedaddle outta there ASAP.

Mal helps me bust open the three doors and we are on our way out! But not before Torgga regains consciousness, busts open the locked door I found earlier, and retrieves her beloved hammer- she even kisses it! Such a dwarf that one~ We travel quickly and quietly and find a place to rest.

Ara: We should go back and save that gnome

Almost everyone else: What gnome?? The gnome in the prison, where the ogres are, where the mind flayer is?? That gnome??

Ara: ~says something about how it’s not right to leave him there, changes her alignment, and in typical Ara fashion- decides to go back and get the old dying gnome~

Torgga: ~although she was just healed and all from nearly being dead, volunteers to go with Ara- something about fighting for those who cannot fight for themselves (bless her heart)~

Everyone else: Okay. Bye then. 

Lol! Now, in another D&D life, we (Rael who used to be Lenna, and Mal who used to be Norda) would’ve followed Ara no matter what; we were friends. But right now, we’re not very close knit and so Rael, Torvin, Mal, and Lingkh watch Ara and Torgga run off to do crazy things. We discuss for a short while about how we literally don’t know anything about Ara or eachother. They say she’s a weird elf and then I promptly correct them saying she’s actually a half-elf because I am sometimes snobby about these things. Ha. Honestly should’ve gotten inspiration for that~~~

Mal and Lingkh make bets on whether or not they’ll come back alive, Rael remembers that Ara has things she needs and she would rather not lose them before this journey is over- so she sets off to go and find them and make sure everything goes okay, Torvin comes with. I’m not sure why he decided to come, but we sorta become friends- he speaks 5 languages.

Ara and Torgga successfully save the old gnome. He’s not mentally all there...probably because of the mind flayer~~ Anyways, Torgga’s got him on her back and they make their way safely out of the mind flayers zone. They meet up with Rael and Torvin on the way back and we learn that the gnome is afraid of everyone taller that him, especially the dragonborn (even though he speaks perfectly good gnomish). So he stays with Torgga and mumbles a lot. His name is Renifey. He desperately needs some mental healing, but none of us have the spells/power necessary for that. Sad day.

We trek on towards Mithrum! Guess what we find next?? It’s the best thing you find next in a world underground- SPIDERWEBS. We don’t find any spiders, yet- but we find a humongous tunnel full of spiderwebs. Some of us want to engage the spiders head on (*coughTORVINcough*) and some of want to do anything but that (*coughRAELANDMALANDMOREcough*). We decide to try and sneak through without touching anything, planning to fight the spiders that obviously exist only when we have to! Clever, no??!? Anyways

We get to a room blocked by a wall of web and it seems that the only way out is through. We struggle for a very long time about what the best plan of action is, and then I (Rael) grab Tovin’s torch (he has awful sight down here so he’s always got a torch lit) and I hurl it out into the webs behind us!!! Those webs promptly burst into flame and we all cut furiously through the web wall in front of us hoping that the spiders inspect the burning webs while we escape. Clever, no??!? It works (Go Elf) and we make it out without encountering a single spider. We find a place to rest and Ara and I share our food and water with the gnome and Torgga.

Torvin, knowing the Underdark well and being a rogue, looks for water and food. He reports back about a bad stream and some Duergar with their slaves he found. At the mention of the Duergar both Torgga (the righteous Dwarf who once looked a Duergar in the face at a bar and legit just punched him even though he had friends to back him up and she didn’t- yet) and Lingkh (the righteous paladin who has a dark history with Duergar, who is also just righteous in general obvi because he’s a paladin) lose their crap and storm off toward the Duergar without a thought. I think Lingkh stopped himself and realized it was too dangerous, but Torgga was not going to stop and the rest of us were not going to let her engage with these peeps because who knows how many more of them, besides the 9 Torvin found, were out and about. So we grab her and drag her back. She’s way too sober to be okay about it, but we convince her to hold out for a while and that we would find a way later to free some of the slaves.

You might think that this would be the end of this session- no no no. We never get out without a fight! How else will we level up??

Seven Drow find us as we are walking through a creepy place with mushrooms and slime all over the ground, and spider traps everywhere as well. Apparently the Drow train spiders and put them in holes in the ground with sneaky webs around so that once they’re touched the spider come out and eat you. Creeps. Torvin lets us know that we must must must kill every last one of these Drow or even worse things will happen.

The Drow somehow roll a 20 for initiative...lol and we begin the fight!

BTW: I finally figured out in this moment that I am supposed to add a +5 to all my spell attacks- did not do that last time. It gave me so much hope.

Rael misses her attacks for the first three turns~ boooooooooooo. But I did do a lot of sliding down into the mushrooms and shrubbery stuff, so I didn’t get hurt for a long time. Smooth, eh?? 

Some noteworthy battle happenings:

-Ara goes invisible and tries to run away but slips haha

-Mal turns to run somewhere and also slips haha

-In my mind I really was yelling all sorts of Elvish curses at these Drow, even when I missed my attacks haha

-Turns out that Drow are more easily taken down that ogres- thank goodness for that

-Lingkh, as always, very courageously throws his trident of glory- but it hit the ground instead of a Drow haha

-Mal kills a Drow, Torvin kills a Drow, I kill 3 (hehe), idk about the others

-Ara, very tired, at one point said “I HAVE PRE-DESTINATION” and we all yelled back at her “IT’S PRESTIDIGITATION”! Bwahahahaha!!!

-Lingkh and Torvin both got poisoned, Torvin almost died- but Ara ‘russian figure-skated’ in the slime over to him to save him

-We win, and some of us level up :D

There were probably so many other great things happening- but this is what I remember :) Aahh, all that slipping and sliding- good times. 

And actually...one of Ara’s greatest weaknesses is that she can’t resist a pretty face...I know that Drow are not as pretty as normal Elves, but they are probably still pretty...right??? Hmm...that’s going to keep me up at night. 

Haha! We play again tomorrow! I’ll clarify then.

GO TEAM

[jaybug-jabbers]

Bug Run 4: Through Fog, Smoke and Snow

Diving boldly forth into the fog of night, I eagerly set out!

But I am a tight-ass bitch who doesn’t want to waste a move slot on Defog, so instead I toughed it out with thrilling battles such as these:

Yeah. ROFLCOPTER still doesn’t have a flying move. It’s pretty messed up, honestly.

Battles on this route were a rather dreary affair, the most difficult being a tag-team of Raichu and Gyarados. Eventually I clawed my way out of the fog and immerged into the sleepy town of Celestic. Although it’s not so sleepy tonight, as an old lady informs me a spaceman is ranting about a bomb. I go kick his butt, check out some cave paintings, and then Cyrus pays me a visit.

After all my trouble to lay down tox spikes on his opening poke, I find out his next two are Crobat and Murkrow. Dangit. Cleo’s Power Gem is essential for flying types, although I mix it up a little this time and try some Ancient Powers to finish things off. It really wasn’t a problem.

Running into Gavin at Canalave, however …that was a little scary. Cleo took out his Staraptor just fine, because she’s a tanky beast, but next up was fully-evolved Infernape, a few levels higher then me. Ooof.

After a lot of thinking I sent Sparkler out against him. She was my fastest with a useful move. I tried Psybeam, but not surprisingly, Infernape still outsped.

What was surprising, though, was that Sparkler lived on 8 HP and got a good Mind-Plate-powered Psybeam off. Not enough to finish things entirely, but I used toxic and stalled him out with Cleo the rest of the way, just barely.

Next was his Heracross.I had Fiberglass’ Psybeam for that, no problem. Except, uhh. Despite my decent defense and Brick Break only being neutral, it was still doing a huge chunk. I couldn’t win at this rate. I swapped to ROFLCOPTER, feeling the pain of lacking a Flying move more keenly then over. Pelted away with Ancient Powers until eventually Heracross went down.

Finally was Floatzel, and after the rest of my Ancient Powers, I just chipped away with Pursuit until he caved.

So that was that. MAN, I need to get decent moves on Yanmega.

Next, I went to train hard in the gym! I never miss my workout! Just …gimme a minute let me watch some TV, I’ll go soon … *grabs a bag of chips* *flops on couch*

Hey, see? The TV says bug lovers are happy, well-adjusted people. We’re not freaks, I swear.

Anyway, I eventually got off my butt and went to visit Byron in his steely gym of doom. Most of his underlings were easy pickings for Sparkler’s HP-ground. For the rare few with Levitate, I had plenty of others to deal with it.

Byron himself, however, wasn’t exactly a pushover.

I did the Byron fight twice. The first  time, Black Fang crit the opening Magneton and 1HKO’d. Buuuuut then Bastiodon came out and wrecked my face with Stone Edges. I had to try again and think a little harder about strategy instead of charging in so recklessly.

Second time round, Black Fang only got Magneton a little below half HP with his Dig. Somebody had to faint to give my Mothim a safe switch-in. I decided to toss ROFL out there for the slaughter, as I doubted he’d be doing much this match. Sparkler took Magneton out, but next was Bastiodon. I used Hidden Power Ground, did a great chunk but activated Bastiodon’s berry and healed him back up to 3/4s HP. Goddamnit. I hoped for a miss, but down Sparkler went to Stone Edge. Not a chance in heck he was livin’ that.

Next, I sent out Maestro. He’s easily my weakest of the team; I’m willing to bet nobody has ever sung the praises of Kricketune’s base stat totals. Around this time in the run, he’s been really struggling to be useful on the team at all, usually going down in one hit to everything. It makes sense; he’s available so early-on in the game, and those pokes tend to have low base stats. Sooner or later, that fact was going to bite Maestro in the butt.

Still, I had a plan. I’d recently given Maestro Brick Break. This fantastic upgrade was 4x effective on Bastiodon. The only thing is, I knew from my last attempt it wasn’t a 1HKO. I had to Screech if I had any hope at all. I also knew Maestro went down to a single Stone Edge, so it would be up to the others to somehow chip away at Bastiodon… maybe? Though … that seemed unlikely. I had to try, though.

I screeched. It thankfully landed. And … Stone Edge missed. Sweet mercy. After that, Maestro was able to take level 41 Bastiodon out clean. Hoorah! Maestro took out Byron’s ace!! HE DID A THING!

The final was Steelix, though. I tried Brick Break first, and was apalled at how little it did. Utterly disgusting. So I screeched again, but this time it missed, unfortunately. However, Maestro managed to survive long enough to try one more time, successfully landing the second screech before going down. This ended up being very essential indeed.

Things were a bit tricky, because I didn’t exactly have much for Steelix– especially with Sparkler down, since Sparkler and his HP Ground was my main go-to for dealing with all these Steel and Rock types. I sent out Fiberglass and tried out a Bug Bite just to see … mmm yeah that’s not working in a million years. Psybeam was no better, quite frankly. Steelix took Fiber out with several Earthquakes.

Out of other options, I put Cleopatra out. I had to hope the Screech would be enough help for her to chip away with her newly-learned Attack Order. I honestly thought the battle was done at that point, though, because if Steelix knew Rock Slide …

Steelix used Ice Fang on me and the damage really wasn’t too horrible for super-effective damage. Ok, if that was the best he could use on me, I could work with this. I chipped away with Attack Order and kept healing up. Steelix used Sandstorm to do more chip damage for me– but despite the super effective Ice Fang and the Sandstorm, if I was careful enough with my heals and when I timed my attacks, I could maintain a good amount of health and come out on top.

It was a very slow process, though, and I was terrified of getting frozen, which had decent odds considering how many ice fangs I was taking. That would probably spell the end. Still, I couldn’t get too hasty.

Another thing I knew was probably coming was Byron would probably soon use–

Yeah, Full Restore. MMM THAT’S GREAT.

So back to chipping away all over again.

Somehow, I eventually prevailed (and was thankful Byron did not use another Full Restore).

(everyone was level 36 except Cleo and Sparkler at lvl 38)

After this was some more Team Galactic plot and exploding lakes, but beating the grunts and even the admins was really pretty trivial. After taking care of two lakes it was time to head in the direction of the final lake, first passing through Mt. Coronet.

Charging through the snow, I didn’t expect to have many problems, but almost immediately ran into somebody with a high-levelled Tropius and I was convinced I was going to full-party wipe after my ace Cleo was taken out. I’d stalled long enough for Maestro to take care of it, though. Whoo. Maybe I should be more careful.

I hadn’t exactly started out on this journey well-stocked, either. A little resthouse saved me from that problem, fortunately. Yeah! W-we’re good! Let’s just carry on then!

… oof. I was fine until an Electabuzz and Magmar tagteam wrecked my shit. I decided to backtrack and train on some of the other Ace Trainers, only to meet somebody with a Golduck, Rapidash and Sudoowoodoo that also wrecked my shit. A second try with a LOT of careful planning had me scraping through, though: lay down toxic spikes at the start with Golduck, clear Golduck out with Yanmega to get my speed boosts up and running, hit Rapidash with a good Ancient Power, then come in and finish stalling with Cleopatra. Sudoowoodoo was tough, though, man, his Rock Slide taking Cleo out cold. Black Fang got one Dig off, and then Maestro could finish with Brick Break.

Did I mention I was working with only five pokes since I had an HM slave at the time? All of them sub-level 40? Boy.

Getting past the gatekeeper with the Electabuzz and Magmar was going to take some thinking, though. I decided I’d leave that for another day, though. It had been a long day of work, and we all deserved to retire for the night in our rustic lodge.

This is a repost on a new blog. The original post was on Nov 25, 2018.

[maxattack-powell]

Quit Playing Games

***This is an original/stand alone built to fall between TF 1-4 and 1-5 (1-4a) in my masterlist***

Masterlist - go here for other chapters and related original fics

Disclaimer: The following are fics (adaptations from actual game chapters AND original works) to Choices: The Freshman and The Sophomore stories. It is a fictional adaptation. I do not work for Pixelberry Studios, the game developer or own the rights to the characters Chris Powell, Nicole or any other IN GAME character. All of the ORIGINAL characters, storylines and events were developed for my adaptation of The Freshman story.

Comments: I enjoyed playing Choices The Freshman… and then I found this awesome group of people and their works - I’ve loved it all, very much so. Deciding that I wanted more interaction than the options allowed, I’ve gone through the first book, chapter by chapter (omg painfully slow) to follow the story (95-99% I’d say) and add to it as I felt would benefit.

Basically, I wanted to include certain things that weren’t really full fic size worthy, adding to the story. However, I did add some full size fic moments also… some are included in cannon chapters, some are their own full chapters in between. I wanted to see MC and Chris through their freshman year… with more angst, fluff, sweetness, real life and overall detail. So, if you like that pairing then you’ll be satisfied, otherwise sorry James & Kaitlyn fans lol. I even added some parts from Chris’s POV, so that we have a chance to see what he’s thinking, knowing what she experienced.

There will be ADULT and/or NSFW moments in certain chapters - this is a warning lol. I will try my best to make it obvious as it occurs…

Paring: MC x Chris

POV: ~MC~ or ~Chris~

~MC~

MC heads home from her visit with Vasquez, feeling relief for the first time in 24 hours. She sighs as she reaches for the suite door. “I need sleep… I hope the others are getting some too.”

She smiles as she enters quietly, seeing Kaitlyn crashed on the couch. There is pure silence throughout the suite. She tiptoes towards her friend and pulls the blanket from the back of the couch, covering Kaitlyn before creeping down the hallway to her room. She doesn’t even change her clothes before she collapses on the bed face first.

A few hours later she wakes up to some shuffling in the suite. She sits up and stretches as she yawns. Finally realizing she had slept in her clothes she grabs a pair of jeans, a worn band tee, a towel and other necessities before entering the hall. She sees Zack and Tyler in the living room, unaware of her entrance, focused on a video game. Kaitlyn was there too, laughing and cheering for whoever was currently winning.

MC assumes Abbie and Chris are still in their rooms and slips into the vacant bathroom for a quick shower. After getting dressed, she heads back to her room to fix her hair and makeup. When she reenters the living room she sees that everyone has emerged and looks mostly rested.

Chris looks up from his spot at the table and smiles at her. “So… you get to stay, right?”

Everyone looks at her then, thick anticipation filling the room. She lets out a huge breath of air and smiles. “Yes.”

They all cheer and show their excitement in different ways. Zack and Kaitlyn grab each other and jump around the room whooping. Abbie and Tyler look at each other and grin, then blush, then break eye contact. And Chris, he’s still looking at MC, his eyes locked to hers as his smile grows. “Good.”

MC visibly relaxes. “Thanks you guys. I can’t believe you stayed up with me all night. It was miserable and insane… and I love you for it. Let me know when you need anything. I owe you.”

Tyler looks at her immediately, very serious. “I actually need something right now.” His stomach growls so loud no one can miss it.

Chris starts laughing. “Man, I’m glad you said something, ‘cause I was about to if you didn’t.” He rubs his stomach lovingly, clearly ready for some nourishment.

Zack separates from Kaitlyn and walks to the center of the room, splitting the friends. “Yes, food. This is a great idea. We can familiarize ourselves with the campus too while we’re at it. Any objections?”

No one says a word as they quickly get up to put on shoes, grab their things and head to the door. Tyler and Zack lead the way, followed by Abbie and Kaitlyn, each pair talking about different things as they make their way towards their dinner options on campus.

Chris and MC end up walking together, bringing up the rear of their hungry pack. They remain silent for a while before Chris finally cuts in. “I’m really glad you’re going to stay.” He says quietly, just for her ears.

MC smiles but doesn’t turn to him, keeping her focus forward. “Me too.”

He clears his throat. “So, what are you going to have to do to keep Vasquez happy? Please tell me it won’t always be something like last night.” He stretches at the thought of it, clearly still tired from the exhausting effort.

She recalls the professors next request, wanting detailed information about what life is like as a college football player. “Uh, well… he’s making me research different student positions at Hartfeld. I’m not exactly sure how I’m going to pull it off yet.”

With both of his hands in his jean pockets, he lightly bumps her with his elbow, causing her to sway slightly. “You’ve got this.”

She playfully bumps him back, but unlike when he did it, she just runs into solid muscle, his form unwavering. She tries again, this time obviously shoving him, but still receives no results. Her nose scrunches up in determination as he begins to chuckle at her, clearly amused by her attempts to disrupt his stride.

“Seriously?! What are you, a wall?” She puts all of her strength into the next one, leaning into his side and pushing with all of her might. This time she actually manages to disturb his balance and cause him to take a step or two off of the path.

She huffs triumphantly as his frame shakes, his entire body full of mirth. “Hey, hey, hey… Calm down there woman.”

MC playfully sticks her tongue out at him as he winks at her, both catching up with the other as they reach the cafeteria doors.

Everyone takes their turn picking out their meal before heading to one of the larger tables near the windows. They each sit down without much thought on who sits where, eager to begin eating. They discuss their classes starting in the morning. The conversation a mixture of excitement, worry and uncertainty from each of them as they compare schedules.

MC, Zack and Tyler realize they have one class together as a group. Kaitlyn finds that she shares one each with Abbie, Zack and MC. Chris learns that he has one with Zack, and another with MC, causing them both to smile at the realization. Everyone agrees that it’s nice to have at least one class with someone they know, hoping it would be less awkward, possibly even useful for future homework and projects.

Sitting on opposite ends of the table, as they were the only seats left when they joined their friends, Chris and MC share glances but little else as everyone converses. He occasionally looks up at her from across the trays, and holds her gaze until someone interrupts one of them with their conversations.

The group stays like this for a while, enjoying each others company and learning more about one another while their food digests. After an hour or so they begin to clean up and head back outside. This time Zack and Kaitlyn take the lead, both fully reenergized from dinner. Abbie and Tyler walk together next, closer than before, making MC smile.

Chris notices her smile as he matches her speed. “What’s the smile for?”

She nods to the two in front of them with a grin.

“Ah. You and Zack are enjoying this aren’t you?” He laughs quietly.

“Maybe. They are cute.” She whispers.

“I’ve seen cuter.” He simply states, smirking as she turns to him questioningly.

“Have you now…” She begins, but is cut off as Zack yells at them.

“Guys! They have more games set up in the quad! Must be the last hoorah since classes start tomorrow.”

“I challenge you to Giant Jenga, Zack!” Tyler takes off at a sprint as Zack races to catch up.

Abbie just laughs and goes to watch them as Kaitlyn spots a water balloon dodgeball game about to start. She turns to MC and Chris, her eyes huge. “Oh. My. God. We have to do this.”

MC looks at Chris and turns back to Kaitlyn. “Against Chris?!”

He laughs, assuming he could probably take out most of the people playing. “Wait a minute, what makes you think I would do any better?”

MC turns to him and scoffs. “Oh, like you wouldn’t annihilate everyone with that arm.” She pokes his right bicep.

“Hey, water balloons are not like footballs…” He shrugs.

Kaitlyn interrupts. “Ah, who cares! Lets see what happens… we might all be on the same team anyway.”

The three of them join the forming group and are assigned teams. MC’s worst nightmare comes true. Chris was now the enemy.

Similar to regular dodgeball, the center line had multiple tubs filled with water balloons. There were also some backup tubs around the back of both sides. The whistle blows and most of the students rush forward, grabbing ammo from the center tubs. Some hang back on both sides, quickly grabbing some from the other tubs, ready for the attack.

Kaitlyn rushes forward with a battle cry as MC laughs, running next to her. She looks up to focus on the tub in front of her and sees Chris heading to the same one, his eyes glued to hers as he gives her a mischievous grin.

“Oh no you don’t quarterback!” She yells at him as they both reach the tub, grabbing a balloon in each hand. They both immediately stand and wrench back their right arms, playfully glaring at each other in a stalemate.

They stand there frozen for a moment as the carnage continues next to them. Balloons are bursting everywhere, soaking people’s clothes as they yell and cheer, grabbing more balloons.

MC sees the glint in his eyes and she narrows hers. “Dont. You. Dare.”

“Don’t what?” He wings a balloon at her, causing her to jump to the side quickly.

“Chris!” She gasps.

“You dodged it. You’re fiiiiine.” He laughs.

MC glares at him then, holding his gaze.

Suddenly Kaitlyn appears in full warrior mode, catapulting a balloon at Chris. He easily dodges and throws his remaining balloon back at her, hitting her across the collarbone, soaking part of her chest instantly. Kaitlyn screeches and laughs at the same time, reaching for another balloon from the next tub over as he does from the closer one.

MC takes the opportunity to throw her second balloon at him, believing he is distracted, creating an easy target. He still manages to dodge it and grabs two more balloons from the tub, launching them both at her as he slips under her attack.

Both balloons make contact; one crushing into her hip, the other on her shoulder, soaking her across the front. She squeals at the abrupt cold as the water invades her clothes, causing Chris to fold over with laughter.

She and Kaitlyn grab at the wet spots on their clothes and shake their heads, almost in unison, as the game comes to an end.

MC realizes Chris doesn’t have a wet spot on him wrinkles her nose at him. He just grins back and walks over to the closest tub, finding a single remaining green balloon. After he picks it up he walks over to her, his hands up in surrender.

“Okay, you were right. That wasn’t fair.” He flashes her a ridiculous smile. “Here. Do with it what you will.” He hands her the balloon and takes a step back, raising his arms out to his sides, waiting for impact.

MC snorts and closes the gap between them, reaching her arms across his shoulders and around his neck. He raises his eyebrow at her, confused by her actions. She smiles sweetly at him as she closes her hands around his neck, placing them both on the balloon.

Chris smiles at her, like he did on the roof the first night, just before she digs her fingers into the balloon, rupturing it. The cold liquid explodes down his neck and back, causing him to jerk back and yell, his eyes going wide. “Whoa!“

Its MC’s turn to fall over laughing. Kaitlyn joins in, trying to hold herself up as well. Both clearly amused with his reaction.

“Ah, okay. You got me.” He joins in with their amusement as he reaches for MC’s hand, helping her back up. He holds her hand for a moment longer than needed after she stands, MC glad for the warm contact.

The three of them make their way back to the Giant Jenga game to see how their friends were doing. Abbie was chewing on her nails as she watched Tyler pull out another piece, causing the very unstable tower to shake. They continue like that for a few more rounds as the others dry off in the evening sun.

Just as the sun disappears, casting the first shadows across campus, Zack screams. “Noooo!”

The blocks become very unstable, causing the entire tower to collapse, scattering blocks everywhere.

Tyler high fives Abbie as the win becomes clear. “Yeah! I told you not to pull from that spot Zack!”

Zack hisses at him and pouts over his loss. Everyone pitches in and resets the game for the next group that wants to play before moving on to check out other activities.

They find a game of Glow In The Dark Capture The Flag and decide to join. This time they split up with Tyler, Zack and MC on the blue team and Kaitlyn, Abbie and Chris on the red team. Joining other students on each team, each player activates then puts on two glow bracelets in their team color. The ‘flags’ were 5 glow sticks of the same color tied together, making it easy to spot in the dark as the sun had finally set.

Each group takes their side and the game begins. Right away many students were captured and put in the opposing teams ‘jail’ on the sidelines. MC hears her teammates scuffling in the dark, unsure who was still out with her. She hears Tyler let out a startled yell, clearly being caught by the enemy. MC creeps around as quietly and quickly as she can, trying to hide behind bushes and trees, to make her bracelets less noticeable in the dark.

She makes her way to the enemies jail and finds Tyler, as well as Zack inside at this point. They both gesture for her to hurry and let them out, which she does after checking around for enemy players. Specifically Chris, as she had yet to run across him, and that concerned her. As her teammates flee back to their side to reset their new life, she continues towards the red flag, hiding behind more bushes as she gets closer.

MC waits for a moment, studying the flags location from her current hiding place, sensing that something wasn’t right. It was quiet. Too quiet. She continues to wait as players from both teams are fighting in the middle field.

After a few minutes in the same spot, she narrows her eyes and takes a deep breath before making a move. She launches out of her hiding spot, heading straight for the red flag. She snatches it off of the tree and takes a sharp turn towards the blue side of the field. MC feels victorious, but only momentarily, as her momentum is completely stopped a second later.

Her feet come off the ground as a pair of warm muscular arms wrap around her waist, lifting her against an equally warm muscular chest. She yelps at the breathtaking contact as her body is held firmly against his.

“You thought I was going to let you get away with my flag?” He says in a low, almost husky voice, his lips close to her ear. She shudders as his warm breath travels across her neck.

She lets out a huff of air, her body going lip in his hands, knowing she’s been defeated. He chuckles as she relaxes in his arms, moving his face closer to her neck, breathing in her smells in the dark. She gasps, relishing in the contact.

A red team player runs by them, clutching the blue flag in her hand, quickly crossing the goal line. MC doesn’t notice until Chris grins against her neck, lowering her to the ground. She turns to him, finding his eyes in the dark, the tangle of glow sticks lighting their faces just enough.

“You win. Again.” She jokingly grumbles, shoving the red ‘flag’ into his hands.

He tosses it aside and grabs her face with both hands, crushing his lips into hers. She opens her mouth to suck in a startled breath at the contact, and he takes advantage of it, slipping his tongue inside for a moment, tasting her. It doesn’t last long, but it was enough to make her toes tingle.

He pulls back and grins at her. “Spoils of war.”

She tries to glare at him but it comes out as a humorous pout, as she playfully pinches at his side, causing him to yelp and jump away from her. “Hey! That’s against the rules!”

“Show me where!” She takes off after him as he makes a break for it. She eventually cuts him off and catches up with him, jumping on his back as if she was going for a piggyback ride.

He laughs and runs his arms under her knees to hold her up, leaving her wrapped around him as they find the rest of their roommates. MC sighs as his warmth soaks into her body from his broad back.

After helping clean up and saying bye to new friends, the group heads back to their suite, now tired from the exhausting, but entertaining evening. Tyler and Zack stay up for a little while longer to finish their game from earlier as the others go to bed, having classes bright and early in the morning.

MC is the last to go to her room as she spends a few minutes checking her schedule for the morning. As she approaches her door she notices a faint red glow on the handle. It was one of the bracelets from the capture the flag game. She smiles and looks at her own wrists, both still wearing her fading blue bracelets. She tugs one off and loops it over the handle on the door across from hers, Chris’s door.

She quickly grabs the red one on before slipping inside her room and heading to the night stand. She takes off her remaining bracelet and runs it through the red, locking them together in a small chain, before hanging it on her nightstand lamp. She changes into a tank and comfy pair of shorts before crawling into bed. MC sighs and reaches to turn off the light, laying back on her pillow with a smile as she stares at the glowing chain for a few moments, before sleep finally overtakes her.