#anyway back to squid kids and band fights

[the-name-is-loser]

Finding out odd things in the Splatoon fandom

[fleshwerks]

Thoughts on new Dragon Age "teaser"? You have the best takes.

I'll be deadly honest, I didn't even realise it was out, that's how checked out I am, but I will always fall hook line and sinker for a delicious bait made of things I can chew on, so let's seeeeeee. I'll do first impressions for now. I'll warn you, I haven't done 'takes' in ages, I've seriously lost my edge and resemble someone yelling at a cloud more than someone with intelligent or at least entertaining takes. Proceed on your own volition. Note, I have not been keeping up with DA4 updates. At all. I am literally grasping at straws and screaming out of my arse.

I'll say this. I believe Mark Darrah who had retired from BioWare was brought back on to save this tattered ship that had failed to launch how many times now? If you were with DAI and Anthem especially, you know that when a vet of that calibre is being brought on board towards the end of production, you're fucked. The sheer scope of the regions visited in the trailer... I wouldn't blink an eye if it was a turn-based strategy game, but it is not.

I'm surprised how shit the game visually looks, but it's been my criticism with the thus far released art, and now, environment assets. And again, I'm coming off of Anthem, and Anthem was truly, truly gorgeous. Now someone might argue that every DA has had its distinctive visual style. Well I thought DA2, for what it was, sure did look inspired. I didn't enjoy the game or the characters, but I enjoyed looking at it. Dragon Age Inquisition kind of lost me aesthetically, but I see what they did there. It was more generic, certainly not attempting to be photorealistic, but I saw the idea and accepted it.

Now this though? What is this? The panning over what I presume is Treviso literally looks like a mobile game ad.

Ok, fine, I'll not go in on the visuals, I'm too fresh out of art college and I'm so anal-retentive that my o-ring's more pinched than a pinprick about this stuff. Moving on.

I believe the new PC is an Antivan Crow? Since when are they fighting for all of Antiva? Everyone??? Since when?! Zevran's canonically not returning, and even he was compassionately practical on his best days. The Crows are not good people. They buy kids to train for miserable jobs meeting miserable ends. Oh, so we had a whole character who gave the Crows a finger for being the shitshow they were, but now they're this resistance task force? What, why, because the 'Islamic Borg' invaded?

Then. I feel like I'm missing a fuckton of contest because I haven't read the preceding comics and stories, I have one comic book from the DAI-DA4 interim and it ended so disappointingly, I never bothered after that.

We're really retconning all the complex and complicated factions into freedom fighters, aren't we. I guess such is the state of our real world. Always a plucky band of people belonging to formerly shitty fucking organisations suddenly saving the day like heroes, possibly somewhere along the way ruminating for 2 seconds on whether they deserve to pat themselves on the back, landing on 'but we will change how we operate, and we will save the world, always!'

I'm into the Rivaini squid though. I've never been fond of Rivain, not just because parts of the fandom like to present this place that has barely been talked about in canon like some haven for... idk. I just didn't expect squids. And you people know I love marine invertebrates. You know what, fuck it, here's my 'best take': have squid, will travel!

But that port city ravaged recently by the dragons in ruins looks like it's been in ruins for the past 2000 years, only recently excavated. It's so clean. And here I go again with the aesthetics.

Anyway, Falon'din and/or dirthamen is fuckin' around in Rivain, aren't they. Because I believe that head shape, multi-hands etc were presented in many of the statues we saw in DAII, and given that Falon'din's proverbial crows, envy and nightmare were so prominently featured, and sexyman Solas' outright resentment for former master Dirthamen and the vain Falon'din, welll... risen gods. Dirthamen at the very least was associated with watery depths, but they're twins (or are they? Perhaps the facets of one person altogether)... Anyway, I'm more interested in what the fuck is happening in Weisshaupt. That part genuinely interests me. Circling back to Dirthamen, Razikale is the dragon of Mystery. Associated with Dirthamen, at least according to my theory, while Urthemiel was the Dragon of Beauty, and we keep getting indications that Falon'din was pretty, aggressive, and exceedingly vain. So Big Dirty's up next. Falon'din had the crows, right? Both defeated in DAI. He's out, more or less. And again, Solas most likely was Dirthamen's student before he decided that he himself didn't want to be but totally wanted to be revered. So my take is that Razikale, who got mentions in DAI is waking up as well.

The villain gods of this mess, the classic Dragon Age false gods we fight in every single game as end bosses, will be connected to Dirt. Eh. Same eagle, different liver.

Anyway I have a doubt that this kind of scope will end anywhere nice. The production's been fraught as fuck to the point where the panic button has been pressed many times. The art looks like a significant downgrade, the production has been filled with veterans just clocking the fuck out.

It doesn't sound interesting. I'm tired of saving the world as an Eastern European in late 2023. This kind of story does not speak to me at all anymore. Not after 2019, not after 2021. It looks dated and mediocre, the story is so old that if it goes where I think it will, it has no relevance or message for anybody but perhaps some American audiences (some). I'm just... I'm not.

The rah-rah I got from that clip leaves me ice cold. There is no rah-rah in such widespread misery. There are only curse words and the sound of grinding teeth, and everybody's a dick, and everybody's dick past is dredged up hard. No retcons.

I don't want it. It better receive insanely high marks for me to play it. And I loved this franchise, two of the PCs have gone on to be archetypal in my private works now.

The mystery is gone. The power creep... I don't want to hang out with gods. They should have never been brought into the story as characters you can extensively hang out with. Edit: basically the entire thing sounds about as exciting as a somewhat well-produced mobile game. Which is fun to fuck with while taking the metro, but...

[celticbotanart]

*Squid Squidward wide awake meme* ALRIGHT, hear me out - I've been saying for a while how much Witcher 3 reminds me of the Brazilian countriside (more specific Minas Gerais). And ever since I had this madlad dream of a Brazilian Witcher except we called them Bruxeiros (the X here is pronounced like "SH" not like the American "X" - its kind of a meme here, kind of a "literal" PT-BR translation, it's complicated), and they fight Brazilian folklore badass stuff like Boitatá (fucking giant fire snake), Iaras (river mermaids) and un-curse women that became Mula Sem Cabeça (literally headless mules running around with fire coming out their necks). These are all some of our most well-known folklore for real, lol (HIGHLY recommend season 1 of Brazilian Netflix show Invisible City if you wanna see more! It's REALLY good!)

ANYWAY. I was in my kitchen making toast at midnight, when it occured to me. I had A VisionTM. Brazilian Witcher battle music would be like. Floral Fury.

For those unfamiliar, this specific Cuphead theme is 200% oldschool Brazilian samba - yeah the "weird straw-against-plastic-lid" sound is an actual instrument, it's called cuíca lol "Nah, but this is too happy and cheerful", you say. Alright, you are correct, maybe it doesn't fit to be a battle theme for the Bruxeiros. HOW ABOUT SEPULTURA, THEN

SEPULTURA, THE BRAZILIAN METAL BAND, who performed this song as soundtrack for the BR movie "Lisbela e o Prisioneiro" (one of my fucking faves btw), and it the theme song for Frederico Evandro, a character who's ruthless hitman ("Matador").

BRO. IMAGINE. The peaceful and colorfully bucolic countryside of Minas Gerais and you are there fighting a Brazilian Werewolf (cause they are different from the European werewolf, we have several types btw), with THAT playing as battle theme.

Another good contender is Break of Reality's rendition of "As Bachianas n5" by Villa-Lobos (guy was a badass proeminend classical music composer who loved to mix in Brazilian folk elements with the classical music sttuff, pissing off a lot of purists in the process lol, good for him)

"As Bachianas n5" is probably Villas' most famous piece, it's originally a GORGEOUS aria, classically sung in Brazilian Portuguese.

SEVERAL people covered this song, including Sandy from sibling duo Sandy & Junior (they were EXTREMELY POPULAR with kids and teens back in the 90s/early 2000s); also people from all around the world covered it. You get it, it's pretty legit and famous AF.

THEN came Break of Reality a few years ago

with THIS badass cover:

LOOK.

THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE VERSIONS OF THIS SONG. I STAN THIS COVER SO HIGH. I LOVE how it is sweet and emotional, but it brings a totally different, new, raw aspect to it that is so strangely fitting to this song (I can't explain, it just is). I can easily imagine this in the Bruxeiro!AU as battle music, even more cause a lot of the og Witcher 3 OST is full of slavic folk music that doesn't even reflect the Battling of Monsters thing - "...Steel For Humans" is like, a song sung by girls on wedding/harvest festivals, lol.

ON THAT NOTE, I think we could end this crazy ass post by including some of the folk / afro-Brazilian culture as well, which is only fair, and add this one, which I LOVE, "Caxangá / Escravos de Jó" by Milton Nascimento (my beloved <3) and folk singer Clementina de Jesus:

Milton is known to sing in high, ethereal vocalizations and extremely emotional lyrics. Guy is just A Fucking Legend fr. If there's a bard in my Bruxeiro!AU it's def Milton, I love his work so so so much! He's also known for mixing up influences from afro-brazilian culture, as you can see in here!

Stay tuned for more posts like this that can happen again at any moment or never again, lol

[redwoodwv-hq]

Name: James 'Jimmy' Darmody Age: 45 Town Occupation: Plumbing/HVAC & Inner Security Previous Occupation: Truck Driver Redwood Resident Length: ~ 2 years Faceclaim: Jason Momoa

Bullet Points:

Jimmy has a pet squirrel. He found it wounded in the junkyard and nursed it back to health. It can be a vicious thing , but also likes fermented apples . His name is Squid

Jimmy is wearing his and Mikaela’s bands in a chain around his neck

He picked up Spanish in Redwood

Jimmy is a true trade in all  card and can help out around Redwood when needed in different jobs than the one he usually does. He learned to shoot as a kid , is very skilled at brawling and knows how to set traps for smaller game.

The cold never bothered him anyway , you’ll see him in thin layers and no one knows how

Jimmy uses the gym quite often and thus is the first to do repairs or build new things to train

Jimmy appears menacing and a hulk, but his character is actually a soft giant who would do anything for his own.

Biography:

Born northeast of Anchorage on his parent’s farms, James had a quiet and completely free childhood. His first memories were among cattle, yaks, chicken and dogs. He was a trouble maker as kid. Stealing some apples on the neighbor’s farm  or “stealing” a tractor to go to town to buy candy at 8. All in all, however, he was close to his family , may it be siblings, parents, aunts, cousins. Life was an easy one to live.  School bored him to death, mostly because he couldn’t sit still behind a desk and was questioning why they needed to learn all these things they would never use in real life. That was the main reason for a lot of whooping : school. It didn’t matter, he preferred helping and working on the farm anyway. He herd the cattle, the yaks, he helped with the diary produce , knew how to use most of the machinery by the age of 13. As he grew older, the need to get away from this “little” life became stronger. It grew stronger when he got a truck at 16.

His older teenage years and twenties were defined by odd jobs and moving around the US.  Most of his knowledge he acquired on the field or by being taught by other workers. Easier back then to get into the field of construction. Jimmy developed also a reputation for himself. While he was a serious walker, he also liked to hit the pub and be totally wasted. He never started a fight, but was damn sure to end them when he was forcefully involved. That in turn made him sleep in jail more often than not.

To lay low , he took up a job as a driver for an 18 wheeler for about 2 years. That’s when he met Mikaela, a waitress at a diner. It wasn’t love at first sight, but it was a reason for James to be the most awkward big foot being ever. It took months before he asked her out and when she accepted, he felt like he had met his soulmate. Mikaela was in a way his angel and he found someone to actually ground him. They both picked a point on the map : West Virginia.  Starting fresh, they got a flat and he found a plumbing job. However as they got married, Jimmy made a mistake. His drunk driving got 2 people killed, which ended him in prison for a few years. In that time , he learned to survive and be smart with his choices and words. Skills he did not know would come more than handy a few years later.

Fast forward to the beginning of the outbreak, in the midst of the chaos, he managed to escape , killing who he had to get out.  He made his way to his wife and both fled the city as soon as possible. Their road would eventually lead to Redwood. On edge, and hiding that he was a fugitive , they found refuge there. No one knew if that outbreak would last. And that did not matter, Mikaela was pregnant, he was making a new life there and everything seemed ok for months. However , he should have known that it was the living that were a danger. He survived the Reaver’s attack, but during it , Mikaela was infected. Jimmy would lose his wife and baby girl in the aftermath of it.  He agreed to the new protocol for the next 2 years made sure no one had to live through his loss. He never agreed to take a seat in the council , but often acts as inner security when not fixing that god damn laundromat.

[jamesxdarmody]

CONNECTIONS/WANTED && OPEN STARTERS

Age— 45 (july 24 - Leo) Originally from—  Anchorage, Alaska community —  since march 2040 Previous job— construction worker Community job— plumbing , inner security , animal handling Living Arrangements — cabin near the junkyard Family — Mikaela (wife ) [dead and buried at Redwood] , unnamed baby girl [dead and buried at Redwood] ,parents - 2 older brothers and 3 younger sisters [status unknown]

Biography:

Born northeast of Anchorage on his parent’s farms, James had a quiet and completely free childhood. His first memories were among cattle, yaks, chicken and dogs. He was a trouble maker as kid. Stealing some apples on the neighbor’s farm  or “stealing” a tractor to go to town to buy candy at 8. All in all, however, he was close to his family , may it be siblings, parents, aunts, cousins. Life was an easy one to live.  School bored him to death, mostly because he couldn’t sit still behind a desk and was questioning why they needed to learn all these things they would never use in real life. That was the main reason for a lot of whooping : school. It didn’t matter, he preferred helping and working on the farm anyway. He herd the cattle, the yaks, he helped with the diary produce , knew how to use most of the machinery by the age of 13. As he grew older, the need to get away from this “little” life became stronger. It grew stronger when he got a truck at 16.

His older teenage years and twenties were defined by odd jobs and moving around the US.  Most of his knowledge he acquired on the field or by being taught by other workers. Easier back then to get into the field of construction. Jimmy developed also a reputation for himself. While he was a serious walker, he also liked to hit the pub and be totally wasted. He never started a fight, but was damn sure to end them when he was forcefully involved. That in turn made him sleep in jail more often than not.

To lay low , he took up a job as a driver for an 18 wheeler for about 2 years. That’s when he met Mikaela, a waitress at a diner. It wasn’t love at first sight, but it was a reason for Lloyd to be the most awkward big foot being ever. It took months before he asked her out and when she accepted, he felt like he had met his soulmate. Mikaela was in a way his angel and he found someone to actually ground him. They both picked a point on the map : West Virginia.  Starting fresh, they got a flat and he found a plumbing job. However as they got married, Jimmy made a mistake. His drunk driving got 2 people killed, which ended him in prison for a few years. In that time , he learned to survive and be smart with his choices and words. Skills he did not know would come more than handy a few years later.

Fast forward to the beginning of the outbreak, in the midst of the chaos, he managed to escape , killing who he had to get out.  He made his way to his wife and both fled the city as soon as possible. Their road would eventually lead to Redwood. On edge, and hiding that he was a fugitive , they found refuge there. No one knew if that outbreak would last. And that did not matter, Mikaela was pregnant, he was making a new life there and everything seemed ok for months. However , he should have known that it was the living that were a danger. He survived the Reaver’s attack, but during it , Mikaela was infected. Jimmy would lose his wife and baby girl in the aftermath of it.  He agreed to the new protocol for the next 2 years made sure no one had to live through his loss. He never agreed to take a seat in the council , but often acts as inner security when not fixing that god damn laundromat.

Headcanons:

• Jimmy has a pet squirrel. He found it wounded in the junkyard and nursed it back to health. It can be a vicious thing , but also likes fermented apples . His name is Squid

• Jimmy is wearing his and Mikaela’s bands in a chain around his neck

• He picked up Spanish in Redwood

• Jimmy is a true trade in all  card and can help out around Redwood when needed in different jobs than the one he usually does. He learned to shoot as a kid , is very skilled at brawling and knows how to set traps for smaller game.

• The cold never bothered him anyway , you’ll see him in thin layers and no one knows how

• Jimmy uses the gym quite often and thus is the first to do repairs or build new things to train

• Jimmy appears menacing and a hulk, but his character is actually a soft giant who would do anything for his own.

• Jimmy appears menacing and a hulk, but his character is actually a soft giant who would do anything for his own.

• Jimmy's parents fell in love with Alaska and left everything to chase their dreams. That always stuck with Jimmy: make his way in the world. However he does not forget his indigenous heritage

[twstarchives]

Floyd Leech・Voice Lines

School Uniform - R

Unlock Card “I gotta have fun everyday, otherwise there was no point in coming to land.”

Groovy “I don’t wanna do anything boring. Let me do as I want.”

Home Setting “What are you doing today? Can I come with you? Just till I get bored.”

Home Transitions “I don’t wanna do group work. It’s so lame that they make you have to work with other people.”

“It feels weird when I’m not with Jade. Why’d he have to be put in another class? I wish we were always taking the same classes together.”

“Trein got mad at me again... This sucks. I feel like he hates me for some reason.”

Home Transition (Login Greeting) “You can guess why I’m here, right? I’m hanging out to waste some time.”

Home Taps “Azul’s so annoying when he tells me I have to iron my shirt. What’s the issue if I can still wear it?”

“You wanna know what kind of classes we used to take under the sea? I could take you down there if you’re curious. Ehe!”

“I don’t get why I can score 100% on the test, but then still get yelled at for skipping class. Why is there a problem if I got 100%?”

“You know, Little Goldfish is called that because he’s red and small and there’s almost nothing on him to eat. Also he turns bright red when he gets angry, ehe~”

“Ahaha! If you keep that up I might just squeeze you.”

PE Uniform - R

Unlock Card “You wanna see me play? Okay, look forward to it~”

Groovy “I’m feeling really motivated today. Can I test it out with you?”

Home Setting “Nobody’s going to beat me at a test of strength, ehe!”

Home Transitions “Humans do so much work when they walk, ‘cause you have to move two legs at the same time.”

“You know, you won’t get taller if you overexercise. I’m not done growing yet either so I need to be careful. Hehe~”

“Ow... I fell off my broom again during Flying. Ahaha. I suck~”

Home Transition (Login Greeting) “I’m not in the mood to go to my club today... Hey, Shrimpy, you should go do them for me instead.”

Home Taps “I’m really flexible. Hm, you wanna see? Should I show you~?”

“Right now I’m kinda in the mood to go chase around some small fries or crabs or something.”

“I like that there aren’t any annoying people in the air. In the water, there’s a lot of irritating fish everywhere...”

“‘Why did I join the basketball club’? Mm, that’s what I felt like picking that day. If it was today I’d probably have picked band.”

“Wanna play tag? Okay, I’ll be It. Alright, hurry up and run away.”

Lab Coat - SR

Unlock Card “I don’t even care about seeing what the result will be. Can we do something more fun?”

Groovy “Wanna try out this special potion I made?”

Home Setting “I don’t wanna do work if it’s not fun.”

Home Transitions “If you mix in the ingredients the way the instructions tell you to, it’ll be an automatic success, right? That sounds boring.”

“If you’re not done with your assignment, maybe go talk to Azul. He’ll tell you anything you want as long as you pay the price.”

“Why do we have to write reports? Getting facts and evidence is so much work.”

Home Transition (Login Greeting) “Should I help you with your lab? Ahaha, don’t be shy~”

Home Transition (Groovy) “Here, have this potion I made earlier. Huh, ‘what does it do’? Like I know?”

Home Taps “I gave Azul this gem I made in class earlier, and he was really happy with it. Maybe it’ll sell for a lot of money.”

“Ahaha~ Everyone looks like squids when they’re all lined up wearing their lab coats.”

“I forgot to wash my lab coat so I’m using Jade’s today.”

“Ahaha! That tickles! My turn now~!”

“‘How come I don’t have a nickname for Azul’? ‘Cause Azul is Azul.”

Home Tap (Groovy) “Here! I mixed together some random ingredients and made cookies. They would taste good to you, so you’ll eat them, right?”

Ceremony Robes - SR

Unlock Card “Want me to tell you the rules of Night Raven College?”

Groovy “I’m tired of standing in line. Wanna do something fun together, Shrimpy?”

Home Setting “Everyone’s in the same black outfits. They look like a bunch of orcas.”

Home Transitions “The black coaches came to pick us up under the sea. That’s so cool. Amphibious magic coaches.”

“Jade and Azul wouldn’t get mad at me if I skipped the ceremony. They’re used to it.”

“The ceremony robes make me feel like I’m a deep-sea fish with lots of big fins.”

Home Transition (Login Greeting) “I’m soo bored just standing still during the ceremony. Here, I think I’ll go over to where you are, Shrimpy~” 

Home Transition (Groovy) “Hah, it’s boring not having anything to do. I guess this is how a barnacle feels... Shrimpy, talk to me about something fun.”

Home Taps “Bah! ♡ Just kidding. Don’t you think the robes are kinda like curtains?”

“I like dark clothes. ‘Cause even if you get dirty, no one’ll notice.”

“I used to hate the concerts they had in the Coral Sea. They were full of songs that all sounded the same; it was so boring.”

“Azul pretends to be so enthusiastic at ceremonies when a lot of teachers and important people are present. It makes them so funny.”

“Shrimpy is so amusing~ Aren’t you scared that I might get back at you for poking at me so much?”

Home Tap (Groovy) “Oh my, whatever is the matter? ...Whaddaya think of my Jade impression? Did I sound like him? Come closer so you can get a better look!”

Dorm Uniform - SSR

Unlock Card “Do you have any serious problems? Then maybe we could help you... Heheh.”

“Ahaha~ You don’t have to be so scared. I’ll squeeze you very gently.”

Groovy “I’ll tell you the rules of Octavinelle. Aren’t I nice?”

Home Setting “If you have any problems, I’ll introduce you to Azul anytime.”

Home Transitions “I don’t squeeze anyone who actually pays the price. It’s only those who don’t... that I have no mercy for. Hehe!”

“I got yelled at for snacking on some food before it was going to be served to a guest. It just looked really good.”

“I lost my scarf somewhere again. I took Jade’s to use right now but he’ll probably notice soon.”

Home Transition (Login Greeting) “You wanna come visit our dorm? Yeah! I’ll show you around.”

Home Transition (Groovy) “Did you know the Mostro Lounge has a secret menu that I made up? Feel free to stop by for a bite anytime~”

Home Taps “My bowtie feels so tight around my neck, and it hurts. I can’t wear it nicely like Jade and the everyone else...”

“Hey, hey, look at my socks. They have an octopus pattern on them~ Aren’t they cute? They’re just like the Sea Witch.”

“Shoes are so nice. We don’t wear them in the ocean, so I wanna try on lots of different kinds while I’m on land.”

“Octavinelle feels really free. ‘Cause our motto here is ‘Do everything at your own risk.’”

“You know~ When I get prodded at so much... aha~ I really hate it.”

Home Tap (Groovy) “The ghosts at the Ramshackle Dorm are kinda like jellyfish. I wanna try talking to them, so let me stay at your place sometime.”

Duo Magic Floyd: “Ahahaha! We’re gonna do ‘em in, Jade~!” Jade: “As long as you’re having fun, Floyd.”

Birthday Celebration Outfit - SSR

This card was only obtainable during Jade and Floyd’s birthday event (Nov 04 - Nov 11, 2020).

Login on Birthday “You remembered me and Jade’s birthday! I was thinking I’d get to squeeze you if you forgot... but that’s too bad. Anyway, what are you gonna do for us, Shrimpy? You’re thinking of something really fun, right?”

Unlock Card “Me and Jade are the stars for today~ I can’t wait for our presents.”

“Hey, sing the classic birthday song they have on land~ Ready, set, go!”

Groovy “Thanks for the birthday wishes. I’ll make sure to do lots of fun things on your birthday too, Shrimpy~”

Home Setting “Happy birthday, me! I’m excited to see what this year’s birthday will be like.”

Home Transitions “Azul gave me shoe polish, so I tried it out right away~ See, they’re so shiny that you can almost see your reflection in them. Cool, right?”

“I got lots of presents from my parents. But I tried to tell them nothing big ‘cause my room is really small at the dorm... Geez.”

*yawns* “All that excitement’s making me tired. I think I’ll go get my presents from everyone who didn’t give me one to keep myself awake.”

Home Transition (Login Greeting) “Who was the first person to wish me happy birthday? The answer is... Jade! Every year we’re always the first ones to say it to each other.”

Home Transition (Groovy) “Shrimpy, you’re kind of bad at plating food, aren’t you? Hehe. It’s okay, you don’t have to redo it. ‘Cause this is funny.”

Home Taps “I told Mr. Beakfish that I didn’t have homework today ‘cause it’s my birthday but he just gave me more ‘presents.’ He’s mean.”

“Sea Otter gave me a percussion instrument from the Scalding Sands. He gave Jade one with strings, and the body’s the same color as our hair.”

“I kept asking Little Goldfish for a shoehorn so he got me one, but was angry about it. It has an ‘F’ carved into it! He told me Jade’s is next. Ehe!”

“Sea Snake and Crabby threw a pie in my face in our clubroom. It turned into a food fight between all of us... It was so much fun~”

“What? You’re curious about my pin? It’s the same design as the shoes we wear with our dorm uniforms. It almost looks like they used magic to shrink one down. It’s cool~”

Home Tap (Groovy) “Hey~ What are you hiding behind your back? You’ve been acting weird for a while, it’s so obvious. Come on~ Give me my present already.”

Duo Magic Floyd: “Are you gonna celebrate for me, Sea Turtle?” Trey: “Let me wish you a happy birthday, Floyd!”

Tutorial “What're you doing today~? I think I'll come with you!”

Lv Up “So? Don’t you think I’m doing well?”

“I’m getting excited~ Hey, I want more.”

“This is so much fun, huh, shrimpy?”

Max Lv Up “I feel like I could do anything today~ Maybe I should show you what I’m like when I’m being serious... Ehe!”

Episode Lv Up “Only fun things happen when we’re together; I never get bored. Let’s have lots and lots more fun together from now on!”

Magic Lv Up “Ehh~ I’m not in the mood to show you my magic right now... I’ll do it later, ‘kay?”

Limit Break “What’s the limit? How far can I go? I wanna see for myself.”

Groovy “Aha~! This feels great! Makes me wanna do something fun maybe!” 

Select Lesson “I’m going to take the same class as Shrimpy today. Which one are you picking?”

“Try guessing which class I wanna take. Jade always gets it right.”

*yawns* “I’m not excited for any of these; I wish there was an option to just nap...”

Lesson Start “Let’s start!”

Lesson End “I studied so hard; yay for me!”

Battle Start “Want me to constrict you?”

Battle End “Why did you think you could win?”

Other

Profile Quote “Whaaat? You want me to squeeze you? Okaaay~♪”

January 2020 Trailer “Just follow us... and we’ll help you~”

Countdown Poster “I’ll be gentle when I squeeze you, so come on over here.”

Login Bonus “Whaaat, you’re collecting those? There are some merpeople who collect things that fall to the oceanfloor too, but is it really that fun?”

Player Birthday Wish “Hey, Shrimpy, isn’t it your birthday? Hehe! You can try to hide, but it won’t work. I’m gonna throw a huge celebration for you, so get ready for it, okay? Heheh!”

[nekoabiwrites]

Ranking Up

I have a very long planning document with backstories for all of the major players in this fic... but who knows what the plot will actually be and if any of that will make it in lmao. 

Anyway, this is based in the Splatoon universe, because I think it’s fun to put the sides in games like this.

Also, what are titles? I am recovering from a migrane as I post this so brain is not really up for creative titles right now.

AU: Splatoon (specifically Splatoon 2) Pairings: None. Words: 2687 Warnings: Deceit, Remus (neither are said to be particularly good or bad), implied graffiting, mentions of battles involving gun-like weapons. Anything else, please let me know.

Summary: We introduce our cast and get to know their teams.

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The young inkling ducked behind the wall that had already been inked by the other team, taking a moment to catch his breath. As he quickly covered the short wall with his own team’s ink colour, he had a chance to check the timer on the board just to the right of him. It showed the timer and a vague overhead map that updated constantly, along with each of the teams’ participants main weapons and status. The inkling was only interested in the timer, however. The match was almost over, there were only 30 seconds left. He grinned as he heard the unmistakable sound of an oncoming roller. The inkling prepared himself to dive out and attack, but the ground around him suddenly had several circles indicating the incoming ink missiles that were targeted on him.

“Shoot.” He muttered to himself before he dived into the ink and swam away from the attack, just moments before the missiles slammed into the ground and covered the spot in the other team’s ink. One of the last splashes of ink from the final missile managed to just catch the end of his squid-form’s tentacle, causing the inkling to wince slightly. It didn’t hurt exactly, just was uncomfortable to be covered in a different colour ink.

He was still able to get the drop on the oncoming roller, despite the clear indication that someone on the opposition had been nearby to them. In fact, their teammate’s attack distracted the roller and had them turning away from their intended path. This allowed the inkling to circle behind and get a good amount of damage on them before they could even retaliate. The opponent was splatted within seconds. The inkling, after taking a moment to celebrate getting yet another splat, used the last seconds of the match to cover as much of the ground that the roller had approached on as he could.

The buzzer sounded and all of the participants of the match stopped in their tracks. Across the map, the inkling could hear a splat bomb detonate and another set of missiles hit the ground, yet it didn’t faze him as he was sure that his team had won. The Ammo-Knights sponsored wristband pinged loudly and automatically opened its interface before the inkling’s face. All the previous information was currently greyed out and a new squid jump location had opened up. He placed his finger above the hologram map and immediately began the process of squid jumping to the spot. All the other participants of the battle were doing the same.

Their teams gathered and split to either side. The inkling was standing up front before his team, hands already resting on his hips victoriously. An overhead image of Kelp Dome appeared before them, with Judd and Mini Judd standing before either team. The drumroll began and the inkling puffed out his chest ready for his team’s victory.

“Why didn’t you let me get that last splat?!”

“Does it really matter who ‘got it’? Our team won.”

“Yes, it does matter, Logan.”

A long-suffering sigh preceded Logan’s next retort. He was going to regret this, “And why is it so important, Roman?” That set off the red-eyed inkling that stood before him. Logan simply rolled his eyes and sat back in the metal chair, waiting for Roman to be finished.

Their team were meant to be relaxing and enjoying their victory by sitting just outside Jelfonzo’s gear shop, having already purchased some snack food from the Crust Bucket truck. But, of course, Roman wanted to discuss the finer details of their match, and apparently that involved Logan’s “splat stealing” in the last few seconds of the match. He had done no such thing and had simply been trying to help them out in the last moments of the game, by freeing up one more teammate to go ahead and continue covering turf. And it was a simple friendly match, a practice one at that. It wasn’t as if a win or loss would affect their ranking at all; nothing they’d just gotten reflected on them at all or did anything for their current place in the league. Roman really did pull at Logan’s last nerve sometimes. He just wished he could-

There was a light touch on his arm that had his eyes fixing on another inkling who sat beside him at the table. He was kicking his legs back and forth, which was only possible because of his strangely short stature. The inkling that had rested a hand on Logan’s arm was giving him an impossibly soft, reassuring smile, which had him blushing a little before he turned away.

“Are you even listening to me?!”

Roman gathered both of the sitting inklings attention, his hands on his hips as he stared at them both with narrowed eyes. He seemed to be angry, but it was all a normal part of their dynamic.

The shorter of them giggled happily, “Sorry, Ro. I think we’re both a little tired after that match!”

The standing inkling immediately put a hand to his forehead and dramatically cried out, “My own team won’t even listen to my woes. It wounds me so! Especially from my longest standing friend, Patton, betraying me like that! How can I go on in this world?” His display caught the attention of some of the surrounding kids, some of whom seemed to be interested in what was going on.

Logan sipped at his drink, purposefully leaving a moment of silence before he spoke, “I do not believe that having a team is conducive to staying alive.”

That had Roman dropping his theatrics and simply pouting at his stoic teammate, “You know what I mean!”

Before the argument could progress, the fourth member of their team approached and stood next to Roman. The eccentric inkling went to wrap an arm around the other, but he was rebuffed quickly.

“Thomas… what’s going on? You look upset about something?” Patton questioned, cutting across Roman’s insulted rhetoric that he was spewing. Thankfully, the question got the red-eyed inkling to quieten down and pay attention.

“Uh yeah, guys… I just had to tell you something.” Thomas swallowed hard, eyes darting from one teammate to another. Each of them were staring back at him, all with their own level of concern. “Ah, well, uh… I’m going to have to quit. The team, I mean.”

“WHAT?!”

The team all jumped harshly at Roman’s loud screech, which regained the attention of the surrounding population of Inkopolis Square. Only this time, the entire plaza went silent and focused in on the small group.

Thomas awkwardly coughed and avoided eye contact, “Yeah, I’m sorry… I just got, uh… well, you know how my parents took me to that audition thing…”

“No. Way. Shut up.” Roman interrupted, his eyes wide with disbelief. “You got it?!” Thomas nodded lightly, clearly a little uncomfortable, but Roman’s next outburst had him jumping in shock once more, “THOMAS, THAT IS FANTASTIC!”

Across the table, Patton was clapping his hands together and squealing, whilst writhing with glee in the chair, “That’s wonderful news! You’ll be amazing, kiddo!”

Logan simply smiled softly and nodded his head in acknowledgement, “That is a great opportunity for you, Thomas. I am pleased for you.”

The inkling was surprised. His gaze flicked between each of his teammates, “You mean… you’re not mad at me? For having to leave?”

Patton and Logan both shook their heads, while Roman scoffed, “While I may not like that you are having to depart from our small band of brothers, this is a great opportunity for you to rise like the star you were born to be, Thomas. This is what you’ve been working towards all of your life. If you did not leave to pursue it, I would likely have to kick you from this team so you would!”

The four continued to chat loudly, trying to gain every scrap of information they could about Thomas’ next step in life as well as thinking about what that could lead to. Several kids around them were passively listening and dropped by the conversation to congratulate Thomas, despite not truly understanding what it was.

One kid in particular was sitting with their back against the wall of Jelfonzo’s shop, just around the corner from the table were the group were sat. He was listening intently in on their conversation. He’d watched their previous battle as well as several others in the past. Something about their casual nature, their confidence in talking about things so loudly in a public space, about their vibes just drew the young octoling towards the group. They seemed so happy and content, despite their usual bickering back and forth banter. There was something there within him that he couldn’t quite understand, an odd feeling that he felt when looking at them in particular.

As he was focusing on listening in on the other group, a shadow fell across him. The octoling immediately snapped his head up, tensing and fighting not to yelp in fear.

“There you are, Virgil. I had wondered where you’d run off to.” The smooth, silky voice sent unpleasant shivers down Virgil’s back. “What are you doing? Trying to hide?”

He stood and brushed himself off. Virgil crossed an arm over his body and held the other at the elbow nervously, “No, I just wanted to… come and chill out here. Is… is that okay?”

“Oh, it’s definitely okay. It’s not like we specifically said we were meeting up to practice or anything…”

Virgil swallowed hard and went to begin apologising, but an arm wrapped around his shoulder and a new voice stopped him before he started.

“Come on, D. We found him, we’re still early. It’s not a problem.”

The octoling before the pair put his hand over his chest and bowed slightly, a sarcastic smile tugging at his lips. “Many apologies to you both. You are so right. I have absolutely no right, as the leader of this team, to be wondering where my teammates are, especially when we all agreed to a time and place to meet. Obviously I must be th-”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Let’s go.”

The octoling who’d wrapped his arm around Virgil’s shoulders pulled him along, towards the entrance to Deca Tower. Even though the brand new 18K Aviators the octoling wore covered most of his facial expression, Virgil was able to make out the light air of annoyance that radiated from the kid.

They passed by the group who Virgil had been listening in on, watching as Roman gave them both a slight once over. He seemed a little irritated by their presence, which made Virgil duck his head and ignore them all.

“Thanks Remy…” Virgil muttered under his breath just as they passed through the doors into the lobby.

“Whatever. Just don’t push his buttons like that.” Remy tossed a look over his shoulder, watching as their team leader passed them by and began to talk to the receptionist. “You know that’s a bad idea. Just be a good boy and turn up on time. You know what will happen if you don’t, right?” Virgil nodded in response, which seemed to satisfy his friend, “Good. Lets just get this over with.”

The two octolings joined their other teammate at the desk, waiting for the receptionist to tell them where they needed to go. During this moment, the doors opened again which caused Virgil to look over. An unmistakable figure walked through from the outside, looking far too pleased with himself whilst being covered in – and smelling like – paint.

As the other kid approached, all of their gathered team seemed to sense him coming and have their own less than pleased reactions to the scent.

“At least it’s better than the last time…” Remy sighed, wrinkling his nose and sending a side glance towards the offender.

“What was wrong with the last time?” The kid asked, circling around to stand next to their team’s leader.

“Salmonid ink smells so bad.”

“I don’t think so!”

“Yeah, we know.”

As the newly arrived octoling went to rest his arms on the reception desk, the team leader stopped him dead by grasping his shoulder, “Remus. No paint on surfaces that are not outside, or did you already forget that?”

“Of course, I didn’t! I just don’t care!” Remus grinned. He rolled his shoulder, which knocked the hand from it. Instead of returning to lean on the desk, he threw both of his arms around the one that had stopped him before whilst flicking the other’s bottom lip with a paint-coated finger, “No pouting. You love me really, Declyn. Come on, admit it…”

Declyn rolled his eyes, thanking the receptionist who’d seem a little put off by Remus’ actions, before turning and walking towards one of the battle lobbies. Remus was still holding on tightly, but at least the octoling was moving, “Yes, Remus. I most definitely do love you.”

The sarcasm was seemingly lost on Remus, who nuzzled his paint-smeared face into Declyn’s shoulder like some kind of deranged kitten. Virgil and Remy followed at a short distance, both not saying anything about the scene before them.

In the lobby, Remus let go in order to go searching through the weapons cache that was available to them. The other members of the team did the same. Virgil cautiously approached the furthest machine and presented his ID card, which brought up his weapon stock. It was fairly limited, as he’d only recently started battling and had very little money to spare – but Remy had been kind enough to give him enough to buy whatever he wanted as his first weapon. He swiped through and found his Undercover Brella, selecting it immediately. He then logged out of the system and stood beside the screen, watching his teammates.

Remy was already done, sipping on a drink that he’s managed to slip past the receptionist. He was sat on the floor, just relaxing as if he had no cares at all. It made Virgil a little jealous. He wished he could have so little care, like Remy did. Declyn made eye contact with him and smiled a small, yet somehow sinister smile as he crossed the room to see how Remus was doing with picking his weapon.

“I just can’t decide!” Remus said loudly, in response to Declyn’s quiet murmur. He seemed to be stuck between picking the Bloblobber and the Goo Tuber; both weapons which made Virgil’s brow furrow in confusion. Remus seemed to enjoy weapons that did weird things and weapons that most other teams despised, and it just confused Virgil to no end. The octoling was like that generally, in fact, and Virgil was trying to stop figuring him out.

Eventually, Remus decided on his Goo Tuber. Within moments of him picking his weapon, the doors opened, and many small jellyfish came in holding their weapons. Declyn approached the one holding his Dualie Squelchers and took them without a word, before heading to the exit on the opposite side of the room. As he had waited for his brella to reach him, Virgil let out an amused snort as he watched five jellyfish carry Remy’s precious Heavy Splatling over to him. Remy picked it up with a soft thanks, but he turned before he could see the five jellyfish almost melt in exhaustion.

“Thank you.” Virgil muttered to the one who handed him his Undercover Brella. He smiled a little, which seemed to make the jellyfish wiggle in happiness before it turned and left. Virgil felt a small burst of warmth as he crossed the room to join his other teammates at the exit.

Minutes later, Remus had his Goo Tuber in hand and the four were ready to go. They teleported into the spawn point of the long-abandoned Bluefin Depot in their octopus form. Virgil’s eyes darted between his team, their silence – while normal – unnerving him. He didn’t have long to think about what to do, however, as they reformed back into their human forms along with the other team and the practice match began.

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[theashemarie]

For the Pearlina request, how about Marina's first day/night staying with Pearl? Or for some angst, nightmares.

send me pearlina requests! - [STILL OPEN]

This one is about double the length I wanted it to be, but I’m happy with it. No real romance because they basically just met, but it was super fun and interesting to explore their early friendship. 

The house is huge, bigger than she’s read about, with a never-ending stream of rooms. “They’re all for storage,” Pearl jokes as she leads Marina up the stairs. Marina, weak in the knees at the sheer size of this place and the fact that she’s free, that she no longer has to struggle to survive underground, in a society that only wanted her for what they could get out of her, how much they could control her, laughs a choked laugh. The banister is smooth under her hand and she can picture Pearl sliding down it as a child, free as... Well, free as an Inkling.

Pearl offers her the first room they come across, for which Marina is thankful. She can’t imagine going further into this labyrinthine house, can’t imagine navigating her way around without Pearl to guide her, and she gratefully follows Pearl inside after she swings the door open grandly. “This is one of the smaller guest rooms,” Pearl says, glancing nervously between Marina and the canopied, queen-sized bed. The room is massive compared to Marina’s standards, with enough space for her to have sparing practice if she so desired. The bed is large enough for three of her, and what little she can see of the bathroom is also far too large—a tub the size of her room back home, a sink she could swim in, and a shower that could double as a second bedroom.

Marina isn’t sure if Pearl has the capacity to look sheepish. In the short time they’ve known each other, Pearl has made no indication that she feels anything other than smug self-confidence, but here she is rubbing the back of her head, watching Marina look over the room with something that looks a lot like apprehension. “You can say you don’t like it,” Pearl assures her. “It’s small, but you said you don’t like big spaces, right?”

She did say that, long ago, when they first ran into each other and Pearl caught Marina laying on her back and staring at the wide blue sky. Well, what she actually said was that she wasn’t used to large spaces, but she was actually grateful that Pearl misheard. It’s easier to explain not liking large spaces than not being used to them, considering she’s pretending to be an inkling. She still can’t believe that Pearl believed that, but then, what would Pearl assume she was, other than an inkling? It’s not like octolings are running around on the surface.

“Yeah,” Marina answers, and steps forward slowly. The plush carpet gives way underfoot, absorbing the impact of her bare feet like a cloud. She’s never felt something so soft. “It’s perfect,” she adds as she wiggles her toes.

“Great!” Pearl whoops. “Not that I was worried,” she adds quickly. Then, seeing Marina’s bemused smile, she begins to back away. “Anyway,” she claps her hands, “I’m gonna go scope out what’s for dinner. Make yourself comfortable.”

+

Dinner is quiet because it’s just the two of them and the giant house. The cook goes home before they finish, and Pearl assures Marina that usually there’s a butler, but she gave him the day off. “Because I didn’t want to overwhelm you...” she says, and then adds, “Because most people are overwhelmed, not because you’re weird or anything. If you are overwhelmed.”

Marina may not be from around here, but she can tell when someone’s accustomed to being stared at. Pearl has a lot of money, and despite her cool, calm demeanor, it’s caused some problems in her life, socially. Marina wonders just how many people have used her.

Of course, Marina is used to having nothing, so she’s not exactly sympathetic to Pearl on the whole, but she is sympathetic to the fact that she’s not sure who she can trust. More than anything, Pearl seems like she wants to impress, as if she’s not used to being so worried that someone will like her home, and that’s touching in a weird way. Marina doesn’t have high standards, but to have Pearl so worried makes her feel a little flattered. And embarrassed, mostly because she doesn’t want their friendship to start off like this.

So, they eat dinner quietly, with just the clack of silverware between them. Marina can’t identify what the food is, but it’s delicious. She studiously ignores the way Pearl keeps peeking at her.

Eventually, the food is eaten, and the dishes need cleaning, so Pearl leads her into the kitchen. It’s just as large as everything else, with lots of chrome and granite. Distantly, she wonders after a dish washer, then realizes that she can hear it gently whirring, somewhere else in the room—probably full from the cooking. Carefully, they wash—or rather, Pearl washes and Marina dries. Marina gets the feeling that Pearl hasn’t done this that often, considering how she uses way too much soap and stares at the plate too hard. Marina doesn’t intrude though, because she knows how that feels, to want to do something for yourself.

That, or Pearl just doesn’t want to seem like too much of a spoiled princess.

They couldn’t be more different really, and that’s what makes this all so interesting and new. Marina is all self-sufficiency and survival while Pearl is all self-indulgence and ease, and that’s intriguing. Marina can’t quite wrap her head around all this new world, but she imagines that Pearl will help her navigate. In return, she’ll give Pearl the friendship that she so desperately desires.

And, maybe, just maybe, they’ll make a little music together too.

“Let’s get you in something comfortable,” Pearl says, apropos of nothing, once they’ve put the dishes away. She looks Marina up and down, at her cheap, thrift store clothes of tight jeans and a thick t-shirt. “This is a sleepover, after all.”

Marina has no idea what that means.

+

They end up on the couch, watching something Marina can’t make sense of. It’s loud and in her face, like a lot of surface culture is, and it’s exciting, exhilarating. She sits up straight with her legs pulled into her chest, dressed comfortably in one of Pearl’s oversized sweatshirts (well, it’s oversized on Pearl; on Marina it fits okay). Pearl, meanwhile, is leaning back, head lolled over to one side, and every now and then she speaks along with the characters on screen, as if she’s seen it a thousand times.

It’s a cute movie, with animated animals and plenty of songs. Pearl says something about it being a remake of a human flick, which explains some of the weird dialogue. Mostly, Marina is glad to have something to relax to. She hasn’t felt this at ease since... Well, she can’t quite remember when. But now, she’s got Pearl’s overstuffed, soft couch and a children’s movie to keep her company, convince her that maybe everything will be okay. Pearl is a comforting presence at her side, and Marina can’t help but begin to hope that things will fall into place.

Then, of course, there’s a distant pop! somewhere nearby. It’s not loud, but it is familiar: an explosion, and Maria can almost feel the smoke in her nose, smell the acrid tartness, and she jumps. Not too much, just a tiny jerk, but her hearts are hammering in her chest and she can feel her teeth clench, the muscles in her jaw tightening. She prepares for the assault, can picture a swarm of inklings hammering on the windows, primed with bombs, inkzookas, inkstrikes, every weapon imaginable.

She covers her ears as the pop comes again, louder, and her hands are shaking.

“Marina?” she hears Pearl, and feels a soft, unafraid hand lay itself on her shoulder. Marina almost rears back, but some rational part of her brain keeps her place, allows her to be comforted. Pearl pats her shoulder awkwardly, ignorant of that fact that Marina could snap her half in she so desired.

“It’s just the splatfest fireworks,” Pearl assures her, as if that will help, as if Marina knows what that is. “I totally forgot that was tonight. Early bird versus night owl. Kinda dumb if you ask me—everyone I know is a night owl.”

Marina tries very hard to focus on her words, trying to ignore a loud crackle of fireworks followed by multiple consecutive concussive booms, and she mostly succeeds. “Splatfest...” she mumbles, trying out the unfamiliar word. “It’s like... a fight?”

Pearl gives her a critical look. “Wow, you totally weren’t kidding when you said you weren’t from around here. Yeah, everyone is given two options and you pick one. Then there’s this giant rager in the plaza and everyone dukes it out. The Squid Sisters perform and everything! It’s killer. We totally have to headline a splatfest someday.”

Marina tries to imagine that—performing in front of all those people, with all that activity, under those lights. But then she gets to the part where there will definitely be more fireworks, right overhead, closer than ever, and she very nearly backs out of the whole thing, panics and tells Pearl actually, I don’t think I can do this whole singing thing after all��� But Pearl is still talking.

“Everyone will love us! You have a great voice and I can hype the crowd! And you can do that sexy walk of yours, that hip swing. I’ll jump a lot because that’s what you do when you’re hyping the crowd. Have you ever been to a concert? I used to headline a punk band and let me tell you: they were hype. I know how to do my shit. Our splatfests will be the best—”

Marina can’t help it. Maybe it’s the stress or the panic, but she laughs. Pearl’s earnest spiel is charming and relaxing all at once because she’s so certain—so certain that they’ll make it, that they’ll get that coveted spot as the headlining act, so confident that they’ll sell, and everyone will love their music. It’s intoxicating in a way, that confidence, and it also helps Marina feel a little better about the future. Pearl is security, with all that certainty packed into her small body, and Marina can’t help but smile.

Of course, the fireworks will be another matter, but she has a feeling that Pearl will help her get through those.

[theadventuresofhelena]

Japan was a dream

Ugh. I was absolutely floored with how amazing Japan was. I expected to like Japan but not fall in love with it. Everything about it was amazing, it was a perfect first port. We arrived on January 24th and it was absolutely freezing cold, but we were determined to be outside to watch us pull in to our first real port (Hawaii didn’t count in my mind). My toes were frozen and my body was an icicle, but it was so wonderful. Everyone was so excited to finally be landing in a new country. At the port the workers had balloons and a marching band to welcome us, it was so cool to see and hear them play. We definitely felt like they were so excited for us to be here. My first day in Japan consisted of a Field Class for my Abnormal Psych class. We traveled by bus from Kobe to Kyoto where we went to a temple and had a class on meditation and got to speak to a monk (this relates to my class because of mindfulness). Immigration took forever so by the time I was able to get back on the ship I had to run to get my things, swallow down some sandwiches, and then run to the lounge where my class was meeting. We left about 10 minutes later and went to the bus, the drive from the cities didn’t take too long and it was really cool to see Japan by bus for the first day. Once we got to the temple grounds we had to walk a bit before getting to the actual building, but it was fun to see the little village it was in. We got to the building and had to take off our shoes and bags and then walked to a little room down the hall. When we got inside the room we were all silent because we had no idea what to expect and were unsure of what to do exactly. Eventually the monk slides open the door and pops his head in and says “Hey, hows it going?” And immediately we all start laughing because we had this stereotype of a monk and he broke it within the first second of walking in the room. He turned out to be a really cool guy and he actually travels to the US to speak on Zen Buddhism at universities which I thought was pretty cool! Anyways, I learned so much but I can’t say it all otherwise this post will be one million pages long, but we talked with him for a bit and then we meditated and I found out after about 7 minutes I’m pretty bad at it! But hey, it was fun and definitely something I wouldn’t mind trying more of in the future. After the meditation class we drank real Japanese Green Tea (which wasn’t that bad!) and some interesting rice-looking cookies (not quite sure what they were made out of). Then we talked with him some more and left to go to eat at a local restaurant. The restaurant meal was unreal. It was so freaking good. It had a little bit of everything on the plate (yes I took a photo, and you bet I’ll be adding it on here). There was shrimp, salmon, squid, tofu, a fish of unknown origin, veggies, green tea, rice, the whole nine yards! And those of you who know me know I am not a big fish person, but I’m in freakin Japan so I’m gonna eat it. And not gonna like ALL of it (minus the salmon) was AMAZING. The squid was probably my favorite out of all of them, it was SO good, I was shocked. I miss it honestly hahah it was freakin delicious. The salmon was alright, but the texture just didn’t seem right when comparing it to the AK salmon I’m use to being force-fed (just kidding ;)) but yeah, overall one of my favorite meals by far on this trip. That night, we got back to Kobe and decided not to go out and just go to bed to get ready for tomorrow. I had made plans with my friend Anna to travel with her and her friend Josh the next morning at 5am, but I couldn’t get a hold of her so I just placed a sticky note on her door to let her know that she can just wake me up when she gets up. So I went to bed, but got up at 6am just incase, but I couldn’t find Anna so I ended up finding my other friends Molly, Allison, and Allie to see what they were doing. They were going to Hiroshima that day and I was debating on going with them because I still couldn’t find or get a hold of Anna. I ended up deciding to go and that was probably one of the best decisions I have ever made. We only went there for the day, to see the museum and the one building that wasn’t destroyed when the bomb hit. But that museum was the most powerful museum I have ever been to. Every single one of us were fighting back tears, it is one of the most gruesome things I’ve seen. I questioned a lot about the decision Truman made when I began to see how horrible it was for the people living here (obviously a bomb is horrible anywhere, but when you see it’s effect in real life it is horrifying). The thing that really got me was a small tricycle that a three year old had been riding right before the bomb hit. The father buried his son in their backyard. There was a girl who had grown up healthy after the bomb struck, but later on in her life she developed leukemia and eventually died from it (some time in her teen years), there is a children’s park that is dedicated to her with thousands of paper cranes in containers that have the word “Peace” on them. I never thought about children dying in the bomb, only adults, and I think that is what really struck me. We left the museum with heavy hearts, but after recooperating slightly from that we went back to the train station to head over to Kobe. Now, on a lighter note, when I was in 7th grade I was in my social studies class watching this documentary series about a woman who travels around the world and gives insight on the people, food, culture etc. in different countries. And this particular day in class we were looking at Japan, more specifically Tokyo. And after I watched this episode my mind was immediately intrigued with Tokyo and I told myself I had to go there. Flash forward 8 years later, I find myself in the Kobe port terminal after already spending 2 days in Japan with friends, without yet being able to go to Tokyo. My entire mind was focused on getting to Tokyo, I could feel my body itching with anticipation of getting there. All my friends had plans to get there the next day but I knew that wouldn’t be enough time for me, so I asked my friend Allie if she would want to pack up tonight and catch a bullet train to Tokyo. She said yes and we ran to get our things. We caught a bullet train around 9:30pm which landed us in Tokyo at about midnight. We were struggling to find out how to get from the train station to the certain metro line we needed to get to so we could find our hostel, when a man came up and asked us if we needed help. We obviously said yes and he looked at where we needed to go and pointed us in the right direction, that normally doesn’t happen super often so I think our spirits lifted slightly because we were exhausted from traveling and we finally knew where we needed to go. Once on the metro we got off at the correct spot and then while getting out of the metro we were unsure again of which exit to walk out of. And again, another guy comes up to us and asks if we need help and we show him the address to our hostel and he points us in the right direction and we thank him and continue on. By the time we are coming up the stairs to the actual street, he was behind us (not in a creepy way) going the same way. He ended up catching up to us and told us that he could take us to our hostel because he lived close by. I had my maps up so I knew where we were and semi-knew where the hostel was located so I felt comfortable enough to let him show us the way. He ended up being so cute and funny because he legit gave us a tiny sight seeing tour while on the way to the hostel, we passed by a famous market and he took a picture of us there and then he showed us his favorite place to eat and what he orders, he showed us some places to drink at and other random things like amusement parks that were near by. He ended up adding both of us on Facebook and then we parted ways. Once we got to the hostel, we checked in, got into our room (which was shared with 30 other people-but it was actually wonderful, I’ll attach pics) and proceeded to pass out. We wake up the next day around 8am and decided to book another night at the hostel because we loved the location and the room and the price, once we got that out of the way we asked for a recommendation of where to get good Japanese food for breakfast. So off we went with our new little map, excited to eat because we were starving, but of course, when we got there, it was closed. It opened at 11am and it as only 9:30am, we didn’t want to eat American food so we looked at our surroundings and saw a Starbucks. We decided to get a small snack/drink and use their wifi to plan our day while we wait to get real food for our meal. So, I got my hot chocolate and we decided to walk through the market that Yudai (the guy who walked us to our hostel) showed us, see the temple that was at the end of it, go to the Sky Tree for views, and then head over to the Shibuya area for food. The market was a lot of fun, we tried hot sweet sake which wasn’t horrible but there was chunks of random things in there, and if they weren’t in the sake, both of us would have liked it better-but hey, we tried it! The temple was packed but it was really cool to see all the bright colors and people, and there were also some lanterns to the right of it that looked really cool. We walked to the Sky Tree afterwards which took some time but it was nice to walk around the streets for a while and just observe what people do here. Once we got to the Sky Tree I was taken back by how tall it was, and once we got to the top it was insane how huge Tokyo is. There was so much city all around us on every single side, it was crazy. I had no idea Tokyo was so huge! It was insane. (I’ll also add pics :)) And we could see Mt. Fuji from the top too because it was a pretty clear day, so that was pretty freakin neat as well :-) once we were done with the Sky Tree, we were hungry so we went to the nearest metro and made our way over to Shibuya to eat some highly anticipated ramen! When we got to the restaurant there was a wait, so we knew it had to be good. When we finally got into the restaurant we realized that it was once of those restaurants where there is the least amount of socialization possible, so you sit in a chair and there is small boards that come up to the right and left of the counter, allowing only one person to sit in each spot and in the front of the counter space there is a little blind that the workers pull down after taking your order (which you pick from a machine and the machine gives you a receipt so really the worker just takes your receipt). The ramen was freakin amazing, oh my god. I about died. There were only chopsticks and a small plastic spoon so it took me a while to eat it but it was sooo good, I cannot emphasize that enough lol After eating we went to check out the Shibuya crossing which is where 10 lanes of traffic is stopped and the crosswalks are open in all directions (including diagonally) for people to cross, it was pretty cool to see! I took a timelapse of it so I’ll add that onto here so you guys can see it as well :) That night we were meeting up with our friend Yuhwa so Allie and I went back to our hostel to get ready for the night and eat dinner. We ate at a place really close to our hostel that had these really long dumplings (our form of potstickers basically, just longer) and they were soo good!! We were still full from lunch so we split a plate of them and again, there were only chopsticks and no forks so I struggled quite a bit, but successfully ate them. After we ate we made our way back to the Shibuya area to go out for the night and meet up with Yuhwa and the people she was traveling with. While waiting to hear back on where we should meet them, Allie and I went to a little bar that was called the Hub or something like that, it ended up being kinda fun because it was jam packed with Japanese people and very few other westerners, but they were all super nice to us. I ended up trying this drink that was something like 20% alcohol in it, slightly terrified I took a sip and it ended up just tasting like Grapefruit juice! It was really yummy so Allie got one as well, and soon we met a guy who was living in Japan but from Seattle, he worked for Amazon and he was already fairly intoxicated and ended up buying us shots and we all cheers to Allie and I’s birthdays, after we took the shot Yuhwa finally got back to us and told her to meet us at this club called Atom, and off we went. It wasn’t too far from where we were so we walked, it was freezing and we didn’t bring coats because we weren’t sure if there would be a place to put them, but soon enough we were there. Cover charges is a thing in Tokyo which was unfortunate, but we paid and while we were waiting to get into the elevators to go up to the club we saw Yuhwa walking in with a bunch of people, so we ran over and they ended up paying for a locker so we waited for them to put their coats away. While waiting we met some Australians and one of them actually had taught English in Thailand, so that was really cool to talk with him about his experiences while teaching there! Finally we make it up to the club and we had so. much. fun. Yuhwa, Allie, and I were going ham with dancing, and we ended up jumping up on these little platforms where females only ( lol ) were allowed to dance, but Yuhwa was just the greatest and we all had such an amazing time dancing and the dj was amazing (and female!! #feminism) so all in all, twas a great night. Unfortunately, by the time we left it was around 3:30am and the metro was closed. So, we had the option of waiting and hour and a half for the metro to open or take a taxi back. Considering we had one million things we still wanted to do and see in Tokyo before we had to leave, we decided to take a cab back so we could get a little more sleep. We woke up around 9am to get ready for the day, we got to eat those really fluffy pancakes that are a thing in Japan, and they were SO filling. We only got two with one order so I was skeptical at first, but wowzers it filled me up so much. It was great. After we ate, we took the metro to the Shibuya area to meet up with Jocelyn, Kenzie, Kelley, and Molly. While Kenzie, Jocelyn, and Kelley went to a piercing/tattoo shop, Allie, Molly, and I went to a Shrine that was in a park area. While we began to walk through the path to get to the Shrine, there were huge lines of Japanese people along the side of the path. At first we were just really confused, but the lines never ended, as soon as one did there would be another starting 20 feet further down the path. As we got closer and closer, we realized that some sort of event had to be happening because inside the shrine there were chairs lined up and a very clear “stage” area as well as security and important looking people lol. As we walked through the square and took pictures and just observed, Molly suggested that we go through a little pathway on the left side of the Shrine. We all agreed because we were just extremely confused as to what was happening. As we make our way through we see a smaller line up of people to our right and in front of them by about 15 feet were 4 people dressed in suits, and this is when we kinda stopped to try to figure out what was happening, we asked 2 women who spoke English but they had no idea what was happening either. It was about 12:57pm and Molly asked if we wanted to wait a little bit to see if anything happens, and I figured if anything were to happen it would happen at 1pm, so we decided to wait. Soon enough, we see the guys in suits looking down a path to our right. I turn to look and I see this little black car come zooming towards us, they stop abruptly in-front of the guys in suits and everyone starts pulling out their phones and cameras (and all 3 of us are still thinking what the heck is going on here) so I pull out my phone to take a video as the crowd starts swarming to the car. The passenger door opens, and I hear Allie gasp and she turns back to us and say “It’s a Sumo wrestler!!!” and we move with the crowd to get slightly closer. He gets out and moves straight to turn a corner and we can no longer see him, but we all turn to each other and are stoked on life that we just saw a real Japanese sumo wrestler, we were seriously SO excited, we were laughing and exclaiming how cool that we got to see this dude. Turns out, a couple days later once we are back on the ship and on our way to Japan, Molly is checking wikipedia for world news (we only get a few free sites on our intranet system) and she finds an article that was talking about this sumo wrestler (here is the link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kisenosato_Yutaka#Promotion_to_yokozuna) so I guess this sumo wrestler is the first sumo wrestler since 1998 to reach yokozuna, I’m not quite sure what that means BUT we felt really freaking cool that we saw him in person for a good 10 seconds! Afterwards, we went to the National Park which also had a botanical garden in it, which was really cool. The park was nice, but everything was pretty dead because it’s January but it was still nice to walk through. It reminded me slightly of central park in nyc. Once we finished walking around we went to a cat cafe, which is a thing in Japan I guess. I had heard of it before i left and had sort of forgotten about it until everyone starting going to them. We passed by one earlier and decided to go after the Shrine and National Park. We spent 30 minutes there all having a blast, the cats were so cute and soft. But my mind kept thinking that something wasn’t quite right, and I was trying to figure it out and while we were on the metro to our hostel, Molly told me that most of the cats were sedated. Which first broke my heart, and second I was so upset at myself because I was ignorant and supported it by paying them to see the cats. The reason she knew is because their inner eyelids come across when sedated and she opened one of the “sleeping” cats eyes to see and she saw the eyelid. But obviously we can’t do anything about it now, but how the cats were acting confused me because they were all laid back and didn’t try to move when everyone would put their faces next to the cats faces to take a picture, and they were all fairly young cats which usually means they are pretty playful and active and there were only about 3 that were actually walking around and one of those three that was playing (I’m assuming they don’t sedate them all so it doesn’t get too boring when people come). So that was really sad for me, but I know I can’t do anything about it. After the cat cafe, we went back to the hostel to get ready for the night. We ended up going to the Golden Gai area to bar hop but we didn’t want to take a taxi home because it was about $60 total, so we got the last metro back to our area of town, around 12:30am. Molly, Allie, and I were pretty hungry so we ended up walking across the street to the McDonalds and ordering some chicken nuggets, the only problem was that you can only choose 5 chicken nuggets or 15. So, naturally, we all got 15 chicken nuggets and they had curly fries! So we got those as well. We sat in our hostel and just talked about our lives and got to know each other a little better, it ended up being one of my favorite nights because we just had such a great conversation and were laughing and cracking jokes while still being able to have deep conversations. It was wonderful :) The next day was our very last day in Japan, we packed up and checked out of our hostel and went straight to the metro to get to the train station to take our bullet train back to Kobe. On our way back, Allie and I purposefully sat on the right side of the train with the window because we wanted to see Mt. Fuji, and it was a beautiful sunny day and sure enough, about 45 minutes in we got our first glimpse at Mt. Fuji! It was so cool to see, I tried taking one million pictures but only got a few good ones because the train was going about 170 mph and random poles/buildings would get in the way of the pictures but yeah, that was really amazing to see! Soon we had made it to Kobe and we all got on the ship and dropped our things off and headed back to the terminal to get the free wifi for a few hours before we had to be back on the ship. I got to FaceTime my mom which was so great, and a few other people but then I had to head back to the ship. One of the best parts of SAS is everyone coming back and getting together and talking about what they did and how great of a time everyone had and all their different experiences. Japan honestly was such an amazing place, I didn’t expect to fall in love with, but i sure did and I can’t wait to come back to see so much more. The people were so amazing and the food was freakin great. My friends and I had dinner together and discussed all of our experiences before passing out because the amount of sleep we all got was a whole lot of none, and soon we were on our way to China :)