#ahhhhh 2015 and 2016…….those were the days

[frodo-with-glasses]

I have nothing to contribute to this LOTR/Hamilton crossover-fest, but I AM enjoying it, and it IS making me feel like I'm back in 2015/2016, so congratulations. xD

Cheers to that! Glad you’re getting as much of a kick out of it as I am! X-D

[flavorednarry]

How was yesterday evening??!!!! Dying to know your thoughts once you recover from PCD 😅!

WHERE DO I BEGIN !!

The first time i visited Denver, it was an impromptu decision, a flight booked mere 6hours prior to departure, just to meet a childhood buddy who i hadnt met for years because she had moved to US and i was still in india.. then when i happened to move to US, she was about to go back to India!

anyways, long story short, it was christmas 2015 and a long weekend and we were just chatting on whatsapp and the chat ended up with me flying out of orlando to meet her in denver! so, that trip holds dear to my heart already because it’s the only white christmas i have ever experienced in my life and we had such a great time ! both of us were like.. when we were kids, did you ever imagine that one day we’ll get apart for years and then reunite in effin’ DENVER, COLORADO, U.S.A of all places??!!

Cut to august 2018.. i.e the next time i visited Denver, to see my absolute favorite artists - maren and niall - perform live and together! this was my first time seeing maren live and whoaa it happened to be at RED FREAKIN’ ROCKS??!! it cannot get more special than this! :’)

Maren’s set was a total blast ofcourse.. been singing her songs, listening to her covers since 2016, never got bored of her, when her set completed, i was like, ahhhhh! mission accomplished! gaaad that was a wholesome experience :’) and i kid you not when i say that i thought it’s over, time to leave hjkhbkcjj LOL and i caught myself being such a doofus for thinking that it was over because that’s when i realised OH NO WAIT !! NIALL’S NEXT !! i know this sounds ridiculous but i swear, i had to like- sit down and process the fact that niall’s next! until that moment, “seeing niall perform live at red rocks” was still an unattainable goal in my head.. i am SSSO not used to having such things happen to me HAHA! the whole 40min interval between the two sets had me gradually let the fact sink in that it is indeed mr. niall horan who will be taking that stage next and fulfilling his lifelong dream and i am really here to witness it in person! you better get a grasp on the reality Pallavi lol

and then, when he arrived, i just stared at his sleeked-back hair with that high stiff quiff and that clean shaven face with that bare chest peeking out of his black shirt.. BLACK !! the whole time they were playing OTL intro and i couldnt even recognize the song.. lol, he had me mesmerized, truly!

by the time i gathered my senses, he was talking abt how when he was 11, he had watched u2 on tv perform their 1983 gig at this venue and that was also the time when he had found his calling i.e. playing guitar and singing.. and how he remembered thinking at that tender age that he wanted to play this venue, not knowing what venue it was! and then he started singing this town and the whole audience lit up with the irish tricolor lights.. it was like- if you were wondering why the sky is devoid of stars, the answer is because they all descended to this place.. just take a look around.. god.. it’s so beautiful!! i am sure i heard niall try not to well up while he sang.. bt, can you imagine what a sight it must be to behold from the stage?? :’)

also- there was this moment when niall pointed out at the moon while talking about being 20 mins into the gig and still in awe of the venue! and my piscean self immediately latched on to that, cuz it’s the moon he is thinking about ! how very fascinating that our minds connect in such mystical ways.. now, everytime i see a half crescant moon on a clear night sky, i’ll be reminded of niall at red rocks, no doubt! :’)

speaking of the moon.. the shooting star!! it graced us with it’s presence right when fool’s gold ended and TMTA begun.. (speaking of fool’s gold btw, it was kinda dampener that the audience werent loud when niall asked to sing along the last verse.. twice! but you know what? that audience wasnt exactly a 1d fanbase.. ppl from all demographics were there to see niall and it was immediately quite understandable that they wouldnt know the words to a 1d song.. so its fine.. but heyy!! DITD? Wont back down?? it was LIT !!)

back to the shooting star.. the timing of it! exactly when niall transitioned from a 1d song to one of his solo songs? and it lasted like 3 seconds max.. like -wait for it- a FLICKER ! :) (no pun intended) it was like.. a blessing.. like, if the universe was a person, it was probably thinking “YESS! this is exactly how i wrote his destiny and i am super proud of his achievement!” and then it flicked it’s magic wand (hence the curved flicker of light in the sky right above the stage) as a seal of approval..! for those who saw it happen, it probably felt like, believe it or not, the gig was indeed enchanted!

[resbang-bookclub]

AMA Transcript: Criss-Crossed

This week, @soundofez​ dropped by to chat about her 2016 Resbang, Criss-Crossed! Here’s some of what went down:

Q: What was your favorite scene to write?

fez: Fave scene hands down was the opening scene, it was one of the first I wrote. I had a lot of fun with Spirit's texts though. x)

Q: Did you always plan for two pairings to be developed simultaneously or did it pop up in the middle of planning?

fez: Deffo planned for the two pairings and it was HARD AS BALLS.

Q: How did you decide which characters would be temporary villians?

fez: I just wanted the villains to be recognizable characters with significant ties to either Soul or Maka? There's actually a pretty neat split: Tsubaki and B*S are the friends, Wes and Spirit are the family units, Tsubaki and Wes are Soul's, and B*S and Spirit are Maka's. Stein and Marie, of course, were there to be relevant to their plotline, and Crona is the forever villain. Arachne used to be Medusa until... um... canon parallels + plot relevance. In terms of who tf knows what's going on between her and Lord Death? Certainly not me. Medusa was going to have a creepy fixation on Stein.

Q: Did you secretly plan to make people fall in like with ML? *eyebrow waggle*

fez: Yes. Unequivocally. Ngl I want it to be an ML gateway fic. :^)))))

Q: ACTION SCENES. HOW DID YOU APPROACH THEM?

fez: ACTION SCENES WERE #STRUGGLES. I just sat down and like, forced myself through them. Like, k. Where are they? What are weird things that lucky charm can take advantage of? I freaking h8 lucky charm fjadsklfjasklfjka. A goddamn DIY PROJECTOR IS A CANON THING LADYBUG DID AND I SALT 5EVER.

Q: My question is why did you make Maka Chat and Soul Ladybug instead of vice versa?

fez: Uhhhhh 95% aesthetics, but tbh Maka's approach to fights is really a lot more like canon Cat Noir/Adrien, and Soul has more than enough self esteem issues to parallel canon Ladybug/Marinette. I h8 h8 h8 red-eyed cat, and I might be like wayyyyyy too attached to green-eyed cat Maka. You don't understand, I drew cat Maka and bug soul [in] like... October 2015. I have been on the cat Maka/bug Soul train for eternity.

Q: So, sequel??

fez: MAYBE SEQUEL BUT ONLY WHEN ML GIVES ME MORE CANON THINGS TO WORK WITH, AND NOT A MOMENT BEFORE.

Q: Why'd you decide to go for "they're superhero friends and irl enemies" instead of the love squad?

fez: Superhero friends + irl enemies was 100% a product of ml origins episodes. And to be fair, Soul didn't really hate her. Maka just... Maka.

Q: Did your plot outline always stay the same?

fez: NO, MY PLOT FREAKING BOUNCED ALL OVER THE FREAKING PLACE. I mean, the big overarching plot was the same b/c ch8 was like... the second chapter I finished writing? But. Man. Kid used to be like an actual student. He got lost. Crona was supposed to be more... present ahaha. Everyone started as freshman (w/ upperclassman b*s) but then like... idk I kept writing soul and I just... "bb u r not a freshman. 2 mature." Medusa, ofc, used to be the main antagonist in the way early drafts. TWO CHAPTERS SWAPPED PLACES ON ME LIKE TWO WEEKS BEFORE POST DAY. Franken used to be a doctor instead of a grad student struggling to publish. There used to be a Rachel/Arachne/Excalibur mashup villain in the works That one made it into my claims summary lmao.

Q: Omfg. What would have been their supervillain name?

fez: Idk but the chapter title would've been "The Itsy Bitsy Spider."

Q: Do you have deleted scenes? :)

fez: YOU KNOW I HAVE DELETED SCENES, I CRIED TO YOU OVER MY TOO MANY DELETED WORDS. I THINK I HAVE LIKE 50 DELETED SCENES. 7K. 7K DELETED WORDS.

Q: How do you have a villain mashup of Excalibur and Arachne? I NEED TO KNOW.

fez: I don't even remember how this Rachel/Arachne/Excalibur villain was supposed to go, I never got farther than just "this villain exists I guess." This was before i like.... logicked out that the villains should be tied to Maka and Soul somehow. 

fez: Also for cat Maka and bug Soul: look just loOK AT HOW PRECIOUS THEY ARE: http://soundofez.tumblr.com/post/132631437973/its-a-love-square-between-two-people-x-the. 

fez: I already knew that Blair would be Maka's kwami. I have Kwami Headcanons and this fic was the perf time to Indulge. Part of those headcanons dictate that cat Soul would never be able to have a kwami like Blair. And like... what a waste man. That's more ML territory so idk if I wanna go into em here? But yo, dm me and I will give you All The Things.

Q: What kinda music, if any, did you listen to while writing this?

fez: I'll have a more complete list in a moment but the big one was this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdQpngguJpM 

fez: maka// this is halloween, marilyn manson  soul// l'autre valse d'amélie, yann tierson stein// fairy blue, ama lo & dj lee (i think?) marie// fuck you, lily allen tsubaki// cosmic love, florence + the machine sebastian// immortals, fall out boy spirit// take a break, phillipa soo wes// fragments of memories, ffviii crona// demons, imagine dragon arachne// come little children, erutan more songs: everytime we touch, cascada thinking out loud, ed sheeran E18, detektivbyran grey, project ml

Q: The antibug and catastrophe scenes were some of my fave scenes, did you draw from the Envy chapter for that scene? Bc it seemed that way to me, esp with Maka's breakdown, but I wanted to check and also just hear you talk about your thought process for those scenes.

fez: OH YES DEFFO. My notes have "see Eibon chapters" lmao. Like... man Maka has Issues. So many issues. And I wanted to address them. Maka is not an angel, ok? She petty and she has to Learn. She does not forgive, and that's why her arc is so focused on forgiveness. Like... one of the first lines I wrote was "cat, you are just not nice" b/c I Knew I had to. OH. LEMME SEE IF I CAN DIG UP MY SHITPOST. fez: http://soundofez.tumblr.com/post/153369132853/me-needs-maka-to-come-up-with-her-alternate 

fez : DESTRUCT-O-CAT. I DIED LAUGHING, I THINK I TOLD LIKE EVERYONE I COULD. INCLUDING ML FRIENDS LMAO. Originally Soul was gonna be lucky bug, then I realized no. He derp. And [I needed to] give Maka a reason to love him... accidentally? I need the crushing. And Maka was gonna be black cat b/c she is not French, no sirree. And then, well... Destruct-O-Cat. I almost squeezed that into a scene. Originally B*S and Maka were the ones who were gonna get littled.

Q: How'd you come up with Soul's kwami?

fez: Oooooh. I struggled? B/c I didn't want him to be an OC but he... definitely wound up being an OC. I considered using Wes but... you know... actual brother lmao. [He was] strongly inspired by Tikki for sure.

Q: Kid being Death's kwami was one of my favorite lil gems. At what point in planning did you come up with that?

fez: KIDDO HAPPENED ALMOST BY ACCIDENT. I was just trying to wrap up ch 8 and I realized Kiddo exactly follows the kwami name scheme. It was a Moment.

Q: How did you work out Soul's mom as a character? Did anything influence how you portrayed her?

fez: Ahhhhhh I never liked Mama Evans? Something about her feels like the Smother, in my head I mean. And like... man idk. Been dealing with Unpleasant Feelings at the state of the world, partly directed at oblivious rich people who just... don't get it. They think they're the sun, moon and stars but they really really aren't. I do think she came out flatter/more stereotypical than I would've liked but I also wrote her like... the week of posting rip. I vaguely wanted her to run into Shibusen and be like, ridiculously charmed. Enough to resolve her wanting Wes to Do Better For Himself, but it didn't happen :') I wish I had time to like... make her not so shallow, but I'm also not sure how I would've pulled that off. I mean she's intuitive she just... happened to be wrong about the maid lmao. I enjoyed writing that immensely, ngl. Random humor in the middle of this lady is nuts. She sees what she wants to I guess? Or she assumes. She thinks Wes likes the xxx so she... yeah. There's probably history involving bad first times and short ex relationships in there.

Q: Ahahaha omg which reminds me, that was such a different portrayal of Wes. Most people do write him as into xxx, how did you come to it?

fez: Ahhhhh man i just... I like uncommon interpretations of characters, and I like playing with Wes's character b/c he doesn't have a canon one, and I just thought... everyone makes him super different from Soul but what if he's really not? He's just a grown Soul who Soul thought had his shit together b/c he was so much older. He'd Learned how to be Perfect for his parents but like.... that doesn't mean he liked it. The thing about Soul and Wes going to separate colleges was deffo lifted directly from my college experience. I applied to my brother's uni but I didn't gun it b/c I knew my mom would move down with us if i got accepted and... I love my mom, she is much better than this version of Mama Evans, but No. Nooooo no no no no.

Q: Was there a scene you super struggled with writing or found easier than you thought??

fez: Uhhhh, I thought Soul and Maka would fight more in the library in ch 6, but they settled down pretty quick ahah. Almost too quick?? I was Nervous like... what? Is this okay? Are they being too logical? What's going on? I thought it would be +500 words of Whispered Library Fighting. Most of the action scenes slid past once I sat down to write them? I just didn't like writing them. 

fez: Deleted scenes: so many reveal iterations, so many cat confesses iterations.

Q: Omg pls feed them to me, I loved the reveal.

fez: "'I’m in love with you, dummy,' Maka snaps, feeling her face burn." There's [also] a Soul POV ladybug-reveal iteration. It's... kinda long tho. Do you just.... want the doc? lmao: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11DbejHYa3Cow5frrf2yhO9zHRPac5Zqkv-gvuVD2BJM. [fez would like everyone to know that the doc is, in her opinion, messy ;D]

Q: You did multiple resbangs, how did you manage balancing art and writing?

fez: It helps to like... not have a job or school or anything. When crunch time came I just kinda gunned it. I got lucky that all my resbangs posted so late too, b/c it gave me more time to finish. [For] Dolly's I probably could've uploaded the sketches for all the pages, b/c those were done Super Early. Lining comics takes so long orz. I really love Anne's, we just had so many headcanons in common. Her Resbang was actually the easiest for me to work on. Whenever I worked on it I was like... dang I already have this bit done???? :thumbsup: Julie's I honestly wish I spent more time on b/c her resbang is gorgeous and emotional and mkaldsjfklsadf. I wanted to collab with amanda and do a song mv with her song like I did for Anne but n o p e. And then ofc I just buried myself in ML AU.

Q: I liked that Soul was ladybug.

fez: Ladybug Soul is my beb.

Q: That decision kinda bugs me. (I say it solely for the pun, it is a wonderful decision.)

fez: In hindsight I know it defeats the idea of female protag that ML has? Oh good, I was actually worried. But I just... ladybug Soul.

Q: I semi-wish Arachne would have used spiders.

fez: Haaaah yeah. I didn't want to diverge that much from ML canon, and I tried to nod to the spidery thing with her scene? I think I tried for web imagery there. I don't remember if i succeeded rip. 

fez: Have some of my posting day struggles lmao:

fez: I am... a Mess™.

---

Thanks so much for swingin’ by, fez! Stay tuned for more transcripts!

[morethanonepage]

2016 Fic Writing Round-up

I was tagged by @kittyaugust​! I always love doing these, thanks so much for giving me the chance to!

Total 2016 Word Count:  61,508 Total 2016 Hits: (AO3 only) 21,573 Other 2016 AO3 Stats: 

Total 2015 Word Count: 33,490 Total 2015 Hits: (AO3 only) 11,772 Other 2015 AO3 Stats: 

lmao that’s what’s called going from a david fandom (Constantine) to a goliath (Star Wars). But still, Jesus Christ, that differential: I literally more than doubled kudos and hits! 

More detailed stats:

And since I had all those numbers anyway:

 And just for fun:

It always feels like I write WAY too much porn but....the numbers do not actually reflect that. It’s not even a majority of what I posted this year! 

For fun I also did comment rate (how many comments per kudos a fic got), response rate and comment rate by word count (I was curious if my longer fics were better/worse received -- there doesn’t seem to be any correlation though), and then average comment and response rates depending on rating, which actually seems to indicate my gen and teen fics are better received than my porn. 

*Obviously my kudos/hits ratio doesn’t account for repeated readings, which you can’t kudo for -- everything here’s just a rough estimate. But conventional fanfic writer wisdom (that I’ve noticed) is that a 10% response rate is what to aim for -- higher than that is always phenomenal. 

Links and titles to 2016 works

Star Wars -- The Force Awakens/Shattered Empire

save an x-wing, ride an ex-stormtrooper (1745 words) -- Finn/Poe smut to start off the New Year! I started this on January 3 and posted it on January 4. That’s phenomenal for me. Unprecedented, honestly. I think this is the most popular Finn/Poe fic I’ve written, not that I’ve written that many, relatively. Mostly I just wanted to use the title and was afraid someone else was going to scoop it. Response rate (kudos/hits * 100, which is to say, how many people who read it deemed it worth a kudos): 9.7%*

If the Refresher’s a-Rockin'… (2046 words) -- More Finn/Poe porn, just trying to get it out of my system at that point I guess. I do like some of the Finn stuff I snuck in there at the end, about stormtrooper training & what it prepared him for. This one wasn’t as popular (hit wise_ as the other, but it had a higher response rate (11%), so that’s something. Four day turn around time. 

going, going, gone (2700 words) -- Ahhhhh my infamous Poe & Kylo Ren fic. I got a lot of Poe/Kylo shippers reading that which is....the opposite of what I wanted. It was 100% more meant to be about Poe and his ability to forgive and find decency in people than about Kylo Ren actually having any left but uh....people still wanted a sequel. I was very diplomatic about the possibilities of that but real talk: no. Especially not with the current state of TFA fandom. An unsurprisingly high response rate at 13.5%. 

bleed and fight for you (make it right for you) (2938 words) -- Some Shara/Kes stuff, which I was super excited about but wouldn’t have written as quickly (in five days) if not for the fact that someone one the kinkmeme was a brat about the prompter of this asking for Shara & Kes related stuff. My You know what???!!! spite writing was p fast at the beginning of the year -- now I’m just tired. Response rate at 13.1%, which is nice. 

Seisin (2375) -- More Shara/Kes stuff, with my Yavin IV love creeping in. Mostly written because Snow Patrol’s “The Finish Line” came up on shuffle and I was like dang, that’s such a post-war Shara/Kes on Yavin IV song, so then I wrote the image that came into my head. I legit wrote it all in one day and posted it write away, it seems. Response rate: 13%.

not what ships are built for (4401) -- Oooof, my eternal shame, a WIP. Finn/Poe, I felt so confident going in that I had enough of a grasp on it that I could actually finish it according to a timeline, but then it turned out -- I could not. I liked the idea I had for it, alternating POV fics are always fun to work through, an interesting way to keep in practice with both characters and get a good idea of everyone’s personality and everything. Maybe one day I’ll get back to it; it’s another one of those things I should’ve outlined ON (digital) PAPER and not just in my head, because now I’m not sure where I wanted to go with it anymore. If I give it another read through maybe I’ll figure it out? Response rate: 10.2%.

and so it goes (11401) -- Yessssss the Id Fic. Meant to be the fluffiest sweetest first love nonsense imaginable, to counteract a lot of fandom trends and also make up for all the gooey Kylux stuff (which: lbr, I read too). I JUST WANT FINN AND POE TO BE HAPPY. Also featuring Kes Dameron Is A Good Dad, my favorite trope. Anyway I was really surprisingly happy with this fic, which is rare. Response rate: 10.2%

K-I-S-S-I-N-G (2530) -- I saw an Imagine Your OTP type thing about tree climbing trees and it was so cute that it struck me instantly as an Id Fic moment to explore. So there we are. Writing this fic made it kind of a series so now they’re the Teenage Dreams universe.  Response rate: 12.3%.

a strong enough foundation (21274) -- This was informally called the Travelogue Fic for the longest time, because so much of it is about (my conception of) Yavin IV. It’s also a fic that’s incredibly personal to me, at least w/r/t the imagery and the reactions to a lot of the Typical Yavin IV Things. It’s also 21K words of gen, so I get why it’s got the lowest response rate of anything I wrote this year (7%) but I still feel like...it was good for me to write.

(do it on my) twin bed (3514) -- Another Finn/Poe fic originally from the kinkmeme, which I finally brought to my AO3 at the end of 2016 to have something nice and fluffy to end the year on. It’s also got a lot of Yavin IV/Poe’s childhood details going on, because I love that shit. Response rate: 13.8%.

Constantine

culpability (3493 words) -- John/Chas. I have like a million (four. I have four) John/Chas things started that’ve been languishing in Evernote for at least a year, and then I decided, on a whim and for reasons I don’t even recall, to write & finish this from scratch. It took me 23 days (started October 22, published November 14), which is a relatively short turn around for me. It’s also got the highest response rate of anything I wrote this year, at almost 19%. Probably because Constantine fandom and John/Chas shippers in particular don’t have a lot of other options at the moment as to what to read lmao. 

Favorite Fic: a strong enough foundation and culpability are probably tied -- the former because it’s very personal, the latter because I still love John/Chas stuff SO MUCH and I was proud of myself for getting it done. and so it goes is also so soft & lovely though, and the comments I got for it were some of my very favorite. 

Hardest Fic: Finishing a strong enough foundation was a fucking challenge, especially since I knew that a 21k gen fic full of OCs was never going to be a fandom classic & I personally thrive on attention. 

Do You Plan to Take Prompts in 2017? I mean I’m personally always taking prompts, but people should be aware that I am an incredibly slow writer unless I’m in PRECISELY the right mood and even then, it can be tricky. So yeah I could agree to take a prompt but not finish it for a year. Or it could be done the next day. It always varies, with me. 

What was the best thing about 2016? Well, I passed the bar, so that was pretty nice. Fandom wise...I guess I found my own little community to work within, of people who don’t drive me bananas. I mean the rest of it still exists, but. At least I’ve got my own little bubble to vent with sometimes.

What was the worst thing about 2016? The whole of it. I stopped being able to read Finn/Poe fic and I’m not super eager to start it again, which is disappointing, because I do like to keep up with fandom trends, at the very least -- I like to know what there’s already too much of, so I don’t give people more of the same that no one’s going to want to bother with, etc. 

Any last thoughts for 2016? Obviously I could’ve done more, writing wise, but I’m genuinely surprised at how much I actually did do, so here’s hoping I keep up with that trend. Of course, I was unemployed for a majority of 2016, so that probably helped my fic writing productivity somewhat -- hopefully that won’t be the case in 2017.

I’ve been having a bit of a writer’s block recently, but idk if it’s because I’m annoyed with fandom currently, or just worried about my unemployment, or at my parents’ house and always busy, or what. But I’m hoping my inspiration will come back soon, maybe even with the return of Constantine (conditionally. maybe. in a strange format & weird conditions) or the next Star Wars preview or something.

Goals for 2017

I have an informal list of things I jotted down on like the first or the second day of the year, so hopefully I’ll be able to get through at least a few of those

Generally speaking I want to keep to a writing schedule -- in November I tried to do like 30 minutes/500 words a day and 100% didn’t stick to it, but by tracking how many I did manage to write and on what days I wrote, I got the Travelogue done and finished culpability as well. So a substantial amount of work on two fics, both of which got posted eventually, is a good start. Hopefully once I have a job and a routine down, it’ll be easier to set a time and stick to it; the problem then will be both creativity and exhaustion. 

Having confidence in my writing abilities is always a challenge and it’s never come easy for me, plus I’m such a slow writer, so feedback, which is the one thing that really genuinely helps me, is hard to come by. But I do feel more confidence about my strengths and abilities than I have in the past, so I’m hoping to at least be able to hold on to that. 

I want to stop feeling guilty for what I write or what I want to write -- I like to be organized and I like to have an order of things to work on (”you need to finish this thing first before you can work on the other”) but I don’t know if that actually ends up motivating me. So considering some of the other things fandom gets up to, none of the things I’d rather be working on sometimes are like -- horrible. 

[ilovemaplesyrup17]

Shekarashika! - Chapter 2 (181102)

Author's Note: Warning. The Fic's author totally messed up the timeline of the real world. I know most of the songs mentioned in the fic were released on 2016. However, for the convenience of the fic, the Author still wrote them as they represent the characters well or at least think that it is so. Just think of it as a random mishap of someone who can't do research and probably hasn't encountered good songs because they didn't exist yet.

July 18, 2015

Hakata Private Academy…

1 hour before the first class…

In front of the School gates…

An abnormally long limousine promptly stopped in front of the School gates. Its right rear window opened slightly, revealing a black-haired petite young girl looking at the surroundings of the school gates.

"Sheesh. Why did they have to flock near the school gates today? Why not just tomorrow? Ihh." the petite young girl said in an annoyed tone.

"Geez. Just get out already. Why is this school so big? We wouldn't be using a limousine on our way to school if it wasn't so huge. I mean… The garden looks really good and all but… Ah, never mind. Just get out, Aoi." a taller girl said beside the small young girl she just called 'Aoi'.

"Ihh… But Sakura… I want to play my background mu--"

"No. Not that Imperial March again." Sakura retorted before Aoi could finish her sentence.

"Yes, Sakura. YES." Aoi eagerly replied, her hands obviously gripping on the portable radio.

Sakura, now really annoyed, then swiftly took away the radio from Aoi's hands.

Hakata Private Academy has this very unique way of announcing that a certain Student Council member has arrived in the school. Instead of sounding warning bells, the previous students of the school got creative and instead chose several songs, spanning from current to part and from local to foreign songs to signify a certain member.

"Seriously though. Why do we have to walk separately on our way to school? Damn that song policy." Sakura said in a bored tune.

"Oh come on. Didn't you like Pristin's Wee Woo? It's your song, mah man~!" Aoi said, doing an annoying finger-gun pose at Sakura.

"Where did you learn that annoying pose?" Sakura asked, face-palming at Aoi's pose.

"The interwebs. People from Nihonjin Trashposting sure are funny!" Aoi answered.

"Don't show that in public or your image will be destroyed." Sakura said then got out of the limousine. As Sakura went out, a red carpet welcomed her to the school gates. She stepped on the carpet, making her way. As she was walking, every student had their eyes on her, while the school's megaphones played Pristin's Wee Woo.

"We are Pristin~! Annyeong!"

"Miyawaki-sama sure is pretty. I wish I could be like her."

"Me too! Smart, pretty, and kind! Not to mention but she's as elegant as a swan as well! She's the epitome of perfection!"

Everyone showered Sakura praises as she walked gracefully to the school building.

Several seconds later, Aoi went out of the car and walked to the same red carpet. As she did so, i.o.i.'s Crush started playing in the background. Every male student in the school grounds looked at her as she elegantly walked to the school building.

"Oh my gosh~ Jigeum nae simjangeun crush~ Ontong gyakgyakgyak bimeyongsori gadukhae~!"

"Ah~ Motomura-sama looks cute today as well!"

"Cute, chic, and pretty! I wish I was her boyfriend!"

"Both Motomura-sama and Miyawaki-sama are Class KIV, right? Then they're not only pretty but also intelligent! Perfect people do exist!"

Several minutes later, a boy who was dressed roughly started running past the school gates. This boy was the Public Relations Officer, Tomonaga Rui. A song then played in the school's megaphones, specifically Beast's 'Beautiful'.

"So beautiful my girl! My beautiful my girl and I… So beautiful my girl-- In the cube! Haha girl! This is my confession. Drop. That. Beat."

Aoi and Sakura heard the said song from inside the school building while both were changing to their school shoes and then looked behind them.

"Ah. He did it again." They both said in unison.

Rui then tripped on the sliding door and fell to the ground, leaving Aoi and Sakura weirded out.

Aoi then approached him and said, "Just stop already. The song will play unless you're Moriyasu."

"Aoi got that right." Moriyasu answered, closing his shoe locker.

Sakura then sighed and whispered, "When will you actually use the school gates as an entrance to school, Moriyasu?"

"Oh come on. I know the trick for that song system. That's why I exploit it by using my talents." Moriyasu answered as he went on his way to class. He opened his phone to take his daily selfie.

Rui then ran to Moriyasu's side. "HOW DO I STOP THE SONG FROM PLAYING!? TEACH ME--"

Before he could finish his sentence, a girl, who was slightly taller than Aoi, kicked him in the side. Moriyasu accidentally tapped the capture button as the girl was beating Rui. Moriyasu's face in the photo was smiling awkwardly with his left hand doing a thumbs up as Rui was being beaten by the girl in the background.

"Meru, stop! PLEASE! AHHHHH!" Rui begged for his dear life.

"I already told you several times to stop running to school, didn't I!?"

"Yes! YES! STOP IT! NO MORE!"

As they entered the classroom, the song "Chameleon Joshikousei" could be heard in the background.

"Anai-san has arrived, I see." Sakura muttered.

First Period…

2nd Year Class…

Fuchigami-sensei entered the room then asked the person behind her to stay outside. As usual, the class was uninterested. She then went in front of the whole class and gently put down her books on the desk in front of the blackboard. She then gleefully told them the news. “Class, we have 2 new students!”

Everyone in the class then looked at her.

She then went back to the door, opened it and asked the transferees to go inside and introduce themselves. The first transferee who went in front of the class, was quite flashy, and wore quite a serious face but suddenly smiled when he saw the ever so nerdy Treasurer, Anai Chihiro who was wearing the school’s uniform, a white blouse under a vest, concealed inside the school’s official blazer. Fuchigami-sensei then told him to introduce himself. This transferee also bore a familiar face according to the students.

The student then wrote his name on the board and faced the class with a stern look on his face.

Inoue Yuriya, a student sorted to Class H then whispered to Okamoto Naoko, her seatmate, “Isn’t he the guy in the fashion magazines? The one beside Yuizou-kun in this month’s Hakata Fineboys Magazine, right?”

“KYAA! He is the one! He looks so much better in personal!” answered Naopon who squealed after seeing one of her dream guys in real life.

The flashy transferee student nodded and said, “My name’s Matsuoka Natsu. From Fukuoka Commercial High School. I was sorted into Class H. My talent is dancing, acting, and modelling. And oh, playing the Saxophone.” He then smiled at Chihiron.

The students saw that Natsu was interested at Chihiron and thus gossiped about the two of them. “That Anai! Not only did she bewitch Maki-kun to be interested at her, she also bewitched Matsuoka-kun! What a flirt.”

However, Chihiron was rather avoidant of Natsu the whole time, averting her gaze from him, sticking to her hopefully correctly stated trial balance for Moriyasu’s audit after school hours.

Fuchigami then noticed this and said, “Oh, are you acquainted with Ms. Anai here?”

Natsu then confidently replied, “Of course. We even slept together.” This caused an uproar in the class.

His statement made Anai stand up and retaliate in return. “N-natsu, that was 10 years ago! When we were children!” Those words coupled with Chihiron’s deadly glare made Natsu apologise instantly.

“Oh come on. I’m sorry, okay? I just missed you, that’s all.” said Natsu, sweating profusely.

“Well, that’s that so to make matters easier, Mr. Matsuoka, please sit beside Ms. Anai. Ms. Anai, please tour him around the school later when you have the time.” she then signalled the next student, and then looked somehow at Sakura, Aoi, and Maki.

The transferee then made his way inside the room, wrote his name on the board and faced his classmates. He was wearing an orange hoodie inside his blazer, his hair disorderly but disorderly in a somehow fashionably rebellious manner.

Sakura, unfazed by both transferees, then listened to what the 2nd transferee has to say.

The transferee then inhaled and exhaled loudly as he puffed his chest, gathering his courage. “Good morning, my name ish Kodama Haruto. Naish to meet you!”

The whole class then snickered as they heard the transferee’s lisp. The first transferee however, gave a disappointed expression.

This made Haruto embarrassed. “What’sh with you guysh and lishpsh?! Are you guysh picking up a fight!?” Haruto dared his classmates.

Fuchigami then thought that the 2nd transferee is a rebel so she texted the ever-so-mischievous principal about it. The reply from the Principal came in faster than expected, its words implying that the rebellious transferee be guarded by the Student Council President. Fuchigami, with a somewhat troubled face then signalled Sakura to step forward and read the Principal’s message. Sakura, upon reading the text then obeyed without question.

“Mr. Kodama, please sit beside Ms. Miyawaki. And please tour him later as well, Ms. President.” Fuchigami then concluded the homeroom by starting their Science Class. Haruto sat beside Sakura, the latter who greeted the former with a cold and distant smile. Haruto then took this as a sign that the President was within his reach. He thought that the youth these days were all about partying and having drugs and fun so he decided to try acting like the cool guy that he's not. After the class, Sakura then interrupted his thoughts by giving him her phone number, which she gave to almost everyone in the campus because of her duty as the Student Council President. Haruto gave his in exchange then decided to try his luck by sending her a kinda idiotic message.

To: Miyawaki Sakura-chan

Hey Pres! Want to have

sex with me?

--END OF MESSAGE—

Sakura instantly received this message. To which she gave a neutral reply.

To: Kodama Haruto (2nd Year Class H)

Sexual harassment in the Campus is

not allowed. You have been warned.

Your next attempt would deem it

necessary for me to call the attention

of the Student Council Treasurer to

issue you a fine slip. Have a good day.

--END OF MESSAGE—

Haruto has been cockblocked by school rules. However, being the pushy person that he is, he wouldn’t allow such petty rules to get in the way. He then replied:

To: Miyawaki Sakura-chan

Eh? Just an hour would be

fine!

—END OF MESSAGE—

After Sakura received it, she looked at the direction of Chihiron, who blushed after seeing the transferee beside Sakura. Upon noticing Chihiron’s behavior, she snapped her fingers to call her attention. Chihiron then stood up from her chair, and went to in front of Sakura’s chair with her mini wheel of fortune.

“What is it, Ms. Miyawaki?” Chihiron asked, avoiding Haruto’s gaze.

“Fine slip. Sexual Harassment.” Sakura answered as she showed the conversation on her phone between her and Haruto.

“S-sorry, Kodama-san. You just transferred and now, I’m issuing you a fine slip…” Chihiron apologized and then spun the wheel. In the background, specifically on the chairs of Motomura and Moriyasu, Aoitan could be seen chanting prayers which could be lip synched to ‘Pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza…’ After a few seconds, the wheel lost its momentum and it stopped to 5. Chihiron wrote the slip and gave it to Sakura.

“You didn’t listen. Now, you owe us 5,000 yen.” Sakura said then passed the gray piece of paper to the poor transferee. The poor transferee, defeated, paid the fine. 

Natsu was facepalming after seeing Haruto pay his first fine to his Childhood friend.

Fuchigami continued her lecture as if the whole fine-collecting thing was normal. Miyawaki’s Student Council is known to be so profit-oriented to the point that fines are collected before its members solve the underlying problem. As Fuchigami was walking around the room, she then remembered something important. She then returned in front of the blackboard. “I just remembered, by the way.” The whole class then looked at her. “Ms. Anai, Ms. Miyawaki, and Mr. Moriyasu all passed the 2 Licensure Examinations they took just this May. Namely, the Certified Bookkeeper Examination and the Certified Tax Technician Examination with Ms. Miyawaki getting into the top 10 of both exams.” The whole class applauded.

The three of them stood up and bowed in front of their classmates. Fuchigami then looked at Aoi. “And Ms. Motomura, thanks for your participation.”

Aoi then confidently answered as if she was the topnotcher, “Sure thing. Any time, Professah.” She said these words with matching actions from her right hand as if hitting an imaginary friend in front of her.

Sakura just facepalmed internally as she remembered what Aoi did in the first day of their review.

Flashback…

March 2015…

4 students were originally invited by the Principal to undergo the course. Miyawaki Sakura for being Class KIV’s Topnotcher and of course, because she’s the current Student Council President. Moriyasu Maki for being the Student Council’s Auditor, and also because he’s one of the top students of Class KIV. Anai Chihiro due to her status as Student Council’s Treasurer and also because of her, being the Class H’s Topnotcher. Motomura Aoi because well… She’s the Vice President and because the Principal wasn’t really thinking.

Fuchigami-sensei went in front of the 4 students and said, "Welcome to my Advanced Accounting Review Class. We only have 3 months to prepare you guys. The Licensure Tests would be at the end of May. Blame our Principal for being the incompetent fool that she is for making you guys suffer in this 3 month course just because she needs a slave accountant-slash-bookkeeper to keep the school’s accounts.”

The four students then sighed. Fuchigami-sensei then passed around a thick 1000 pages worth of handout for them to scan. Sakura scanned the handout and started understanding the basics as she tried the theories on the short problems. Moriyasu doesn’t seem to have problems with the handouts due to his background in Accounting, thanks to his Cram School. A few minutes later, Sakura and Moriyasu could be seen comparing their answers, with either of them correcting the other. Chihiron, on the other hand, tried grasping the gist of every paragraph in her own words but couldn’t seem to understand anything. And finally, Aoitan, who only got into the program due to her status as Student Council Vice President, was silently browsing through the pages of the handout.

Sakura stopped momentarily to watch a serious Aoi who looked like she was really studying. Sakura was shocked to see her like that for the first time. ‘I think this is her calling. She’s going to excel at this sort of stuff. I can feel it. I’ll be expecting a lot from Aoi-chan from now on.’ Sakura thought then nodded a little. She then looked at Moriyasu and whispered, “Look at her, Moriyasu. She looks so cute when she’s studying seriously like that.” Sakura then smiled.

Moriyasu then sighed and replied, “I wouldn’t be so sure.” He then moved away from Aoi’s chair.

Sakura wondered as to why Moriyasu did that. She then looked at Aoitan who was reading the middlemost page of the handout. Aoitan then closed the handout, sighed, then pushed the handout a bit away from her. Aoi then closed her eyes and suddenly… scattered her handout in the air and then ran as fast as she could to the door. “FREEDOM!” Aoi shouted as she opened the door and then scurried away from the plague that is, the subject itself.

Sakura’s mouth was left agape. Moriyasu then rolled his eyes and closed Sakura's mouth. “I told you, didn’t I?”

End of Flashback…

Fuchigami then sighed and said, "Well anyway, let's congratulate our 3 passers!"

All of the students in the class gave them a round of applause. After the class ended, Chihiron and Sakura started touring the students assigned to them.

"This is the library. The librarian is a really strict woman so it's best you keep quiet." Chihiron then looked at Natsu. "Are you still listening?" she asked.

"Yeah." Natsu answered then smiled sadly. "It's been so long since we last talked. I just feel that you've really grown into such a good looking woman." he added.

"Stop with the flattery, Natsu. And I agree. The last time I saw you, you were still a snotty nosed brat who liked annoying me together with Aoi. Now, you're in the magazines, and Aoi is still annoying me in class." Chihiron replied, smiling sadly.

"Aoi? The cheerful girl we used to play with was Aoi? She's also the Aoi in the classroom?" Natsu was perplexed with the sudden development.

"Uhh… Yeah? What's wrong?" Chihiron asked in return.

"Didn't she die with the whole Motomura clan in the Motomura Massacre of 2005?" Natsu, hearing Chihiron's answer, is now getting scared.

"Yeah… However, she survived. And even managed to get the clan ring so that everyone would recognize her as the sole heir of the fortune or so I was told but let's not talk about it here." Chihiron then pulled Natsu to the rooftop.

Rooftop…

"Phew. Let's talk about it here. Nobody in the school knows that the Motomura in the school is the survivor to the Motomura Clan massacre. They just know that she was overseas or something when it happened." Chihiron was panting heavily.

"I see. Is she… Still the same person we were friends with?" Natsu asked nervously.

"Yeah… I guess? But for some reason she's really hard on me these days. Could it be…? That she…" Chihiron was thinking deeply.

"That she what?" Natsu then interrupted her thoughts.

"Ah, nothing! Enough of the gory talk. I was asked to tour you around the school, not tell you about some sad event." Chihiron then smiled at him. "Alright, let's go to the Cafeteria, shall we?" Chihiron then went down the stairs, leaving Natsu for a few seconds in the rooftop.

"Nothing… Has changed…" Natsu said as he looked at the back of his childhood friend. 'Or did something change?' he then followed Chihiron.

Meanwhile…

"Kodama-san, this is the Cafeteria. It has set themes daily and the themes may vary from Local to Foreign menus. If you don't like the theme for the day, the Local dishes can be ordered in the leftmost stall. Now, let's go to the other parts of the school. Let's start with the bookstore, shall we?" Sakura was explaining the facilities of the school as fast as she could to Haruto who wrote everything in a pocket-sized notebook diligently.

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am." Haruto answered as he followed Sakura to the Bookstore.

"For someone who asked me to have sex with him in first message, you sure are obedient." Sakura said, not even batting an eye on him.

"I was trying to imitate what boys my age would say." Haruto sighed then looked at the bookstore.

"Anyway, if you need to buy school supplies or books, this is the place for that." Sakura said then looked at Haruto. "My first impression of you was bad enough but you're not that bad of a person. Let's get along well." she then smiled at him and offered her hand for a handshake.

Haruto then smiled back. "Nice to meet you." he then shook her hand.

"Oops, it's time for class. Let's go back. In the afternoon, I might attend a separate class due to our class statuses." Sakura then turned her back on Haruto, showing him the way back to the classroom.

"Oh, so that whole Class KIV and H thing isn't just about class scores?" Haruto wondered as Sakura started walking back to their classroom.

"Yeah. Students from Class KIV are expected to study more about Science as students from Class H are expected to hone their talents more. What was your talent again?" Sakura kept walking.

"I can play the piano." Haruto replied shyly.

"That was unexpected. So they handed you an application sheet for the Orchestra?" Sakura didn't even turn around and looked unfazed by Haruto's surprising talent.

"Yeah. I signed up and I was immediately taken to a special audition. I guess the Maestro and the student jury were satisfied since they gave me a pass to the practice area?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow. 'The orchestra did that? Then he must be a prodigy of some sorts.'

The tour concluded without anything noteworthy. The classes went the same way as well. They all went home as afterwards.

6 o'clock pm…

School Gates…

Sakura was walking out of the gates when Haruto called out to her.

"Miyawaki-shan!"

Sakura turned around nonchalantly. "Yes, Kodama-san?"

"Thanks for showing me around today. And sorry for my behavior earlier again." Haruto bowed his head slightly.

"It was nothing. Please do your best in your studies." Sakura then looked back at where she was headed and walked away. A limousine then stopped several meters away from her, its rear right door opening as she headed to it. "Have a good day." She said as she entered the car and closed the door. The car drove away and Haruto could only look at it.

'That concludes the day one of my infiltration in school. Hopefully, clues will start appearing in the following days.' He then took the bus directly to the student dorms.

7 o'clock pm…

Hakata Private Academy Shrine…

A humbly dressed man in his 20s entered the shrine. He was only wearing a white shirt inside a black blazer. His trousers obviously used every day to the point where one could see its wear and tear. "I…am Iriyama Arthur. I'm here now. Are you here?" He shouted.

"Silence." A deep voice muttered from the covered center part of the temple. "I am h're." The voice added. "What doth thee wanteth?"

"Ah, good. Good. I-I… am here to request the retrieval of my family heirloom. It is currently being shown in the Sakaguchi Museum of Art." He replied. "It's the sword in the stone in the British Legends."

"The Excalibur?" The deep voice showed curiosity.

"No. Contrary to the legends where Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone were one and the same, it is not the same. The sword in the stone just proves one's ancestry."

"I seeth. How didst t endeth up into the museum?" The deep voice asked.

"My ancestors who were British were far relatives of the man who once wielded the Excalibur. When he died, the sword was found by my ancestors whose descendants descended to migrate to Japan in the 1950s. In the first year of the new millennia, while I and my family were in a vacation, an assassin broke into our house, killed most of our servants and stole it." The man answered.

"I thought it was 'sitting atop of a stone'?" the dark voice's interest has been piqued.

"It was but since they were relatives, my ancestors pulled it out and hid it." The man gently answered. " I really want the sword back. It's the family's proof of identity. I beg of you… Please…!" The man knelt and lowered his head, trying to stop his tears.

"Thou art wary of the cost of what thou art currently asking this god to do, art thee not?"

"Yes…! Please help me… I want my family's honor to be restored… I am willing to give anything at the end of our bargain…" the man was in tears.

"I seeth. Well then. Sign the contract in front of thee and ent'r the cost thee has't to payeth.  I shall taketh nay petty change."

The man crawled as quickly as he could to the area near the center of the shrine's interior. He signed the contract almost instantly, putting himself as the collateral.

"What's this? Thee hath made yourself a collateral?"

"Yes."

"V'ry well then.  Thee may leaveth."

The man then stood up. "I… Am a Tactician in the Police Force so if ever you need the floor plans and even the formation of the Police in the night of your heist, please tell me. I'll leave my card on the floor." He then left a silver plated card on the floor.

The man left the shrine interior and the shrine after bowing in front of it. Several minutes after leaving, a shadow emerged from the interior of the shrine.

"The famed sword in the stone? That Sakaguchi sure knows what she wants." a small silhouette appeared beside a nearby tree. "This heist will be interesting, don't you two think?"

A taller silhouette appeared beside the shrine arc. "A Police Officer asking us to steal something. How ironic."

"Only proves how messed up this situation is. The museums have become so untouchable the original owners couldn't do anything when their artifacts are forcibly taken or stolen from them either directly or indirectly by the museums." A voice inside the shrine answered. The voice wasn't deep  but rather belonged to a younger person. "But this client would be a huge asset for us. An informant inside the Police force could make our heists easier." the voice added.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the school building, a female school staff who was working on some research paper was distracted by the sudden vibration on her left pocket. She then froze for a second and then a small grin formed on her lips. "I see. Time to go home." she turned off her personal computer and headed to the door, closing the lights and locking the door on her way out.

-=To be Continued=-