#it's really forcing me to relearn a lot of skills fast

[ponderosa121]

X-men. Kurt. he fuzzy.

[local-hellhound-steals-spaghetti]

I don't know if this is something you'll be able to answer, but it's something I've been wondering for decades and I think you have the knowledge necessary for it.

So I used to ride horses for around 10 years, and when I first started to ride when I was around 8, when a horse was being super stuborn and didn't want to move. The riding instructor said it was okay to kick the horses as hard as I could (while I was sitting in the saddle) to get them moving, that they would bearly feel it cause they were so big, and their skin was thicker than ours.

And as a kid I trusted the adult instructor, but as I got older, and the more I interacted with horses and learnt how sensitive they could be to touch, I started to wonder if that was really okay, or if the only reason the horses seemed chill about it was cause they were used to it or something?

oh I just remembered a second thing I was wondering about, that same ranch also had a super old horse, I think he was in his 30s when I stopped going, was allowed to just wander around the ranch once he was retired, which I always sorta wondered if that was okay you know? he never seemed interested in leaving the ranch even tho there was nothing stopping him, and the part where cars could go was extremely small and they never went that fast anyways so I don't see why it'd be a bad thing, but I just couldn't shake the feeling it wasn't okay you know?

(I know these questions aren't about marine animals or even zoo animals, but I hope its okay for me to ask anyways, feel free to ignore if you want obvs)

Hi there! I don't mind horse questions - I used to work with them a lot and used to have my own horse!

I understand that feeling so well - there were so many times where I felt pressured to use excessive force with horses. Even with my own horse, because I was at the mercy of people who I thought knew best.

That's why I left the horse industry to work in the zoo and marine mammal field - so I could learn how to correctly, effectively and ethically apply positive reinforcement based training methods.

The last time I had a riding lesson was about a year ago. I wanted to give it a try again because I missed horses and it had been going fine. But the last time I was there, I left in tears because they put me on a horse that seriously needed to be retrained from the ground - and not be a lesson horse because he clearly hated it. I was not about to bully the horse into submission for the sake of getting my money's worth. I refused to "ride through" this horse's learned behaviour of stopping at arena corners and running my leg into the side of the arena. He wasn't listening to leg aids or rein aids. People had been riding him so inconsistently that he didn't even know what those signals meant anymore.

That's when people often will get out the whips and spurs to escalate those "aids". Because if all you're using is negative reinforcement/positive punishment and the aversive isn't working, you have to make that aversive even more uncomfortable/painful and "make them do it!". That's where things start to get really nasty, that's when conflict behaviours come up like rearing, bucking, bolting.

This animal was stressed, I was frustrated. He wasn't in a state to learn, he needed a break. He needed a chance to relearn those skills and be taught how to enjoy being ridden again. I refused to get into a fight with this horse. That isn't how I train and it won't be how I ride, either.

But horse riding is so heavily aversive based that escalation of aversives is just standard practise in riding schools.

When you were asked to kick harder, you were being asked to escalate the pressure for a horse that probably had become desensitised to softer leg aids. Lesson horses put up with so much incosistency, it makes sense that they get so "dull" to the aids.

There's also the issue of learned helplessness. When animals (and people) are put in a situation that they can't escape from, they give up trying to do so. They just sort of... tune everything out and become dull to any sort of learning process. It's sad because a lot of horses that people say are "bombproof" are just in a state of learned helplessness.

Horses absolutely do feel those kicks and they do not actually have "thick skin". They have thinner skin and even more nerve endings in their skin than we do!

The escalating use of force for "stubborn" horses is a symptom of an outdated industry that's still stuck in eltist tradition and would rather put a piece of twisted wire into a horse's mouth and spurs on rider's boots than re-teach skills from the ground or use positive reinforcement (treats are so taboo with horse people - they way they react, you'd think you'd brought a weapon into the yard and not a bag of carrots lol)

As for the wandering around? It's not ideal, sure. There's a certain amount of complacency in just expecting a free roaming animal not to leave the area. I guess as long as they're not standing in traffic/being a hazard/getting hurt it's okay but definitely not how I would be keeping my animals.

Anyway that was kind of long winded but I hope that helped!

[alectoperdita]

What creative hobbies does your interpretation of Joey and Kaiba (in general) have or do? Like for example, drawing, creative writing, 3D modelling, sculpting, woodworking, etc

I do remember reading one of your chapters from the gundam crossover series where joey did sketches lol

I don't think I really have a consistent view of creative hobbies for these two. In fact I don't seem to write a lot about them having creative hobbies unless it's directly plot relevant. Ironic, given 90% of my life outside of work revolves around my creative hobby.

Canonically in the manga, Jounouchi is mentioned as enjoying plamos. Which makes a lot of sense to me that he likes making stuff with your hand. It's also hard to have a lot of creative hobbies when growing up poor. So I can see Jounouchi wanting to make a lot of stuff like plamos and kits, but that shit gets expensive fast if you do the whole painting bit too. One of the pleasures of growing up and making your own money for Jounouchi will be getting to explore those hobbies he might have always wanted to but couldn't because of financial reason. That opens the door to related hobbies like painting/sculpting/woodworking.

(Related, I love making Jounouchi a carpenter. I think it's an excellent trade for him to pick up, giving him both room to grow and decent financial security).

Conversely, traditional sketch art/doodling is relatively inexpensive and a much lower barrier to entry re: tools. So that's why I think drawing/sketching is a nice hobby that Jounouchi could pick up and enjoy earlier on. In the Gundam crossover, that combination of a love for plamo and sketching definitely informed his career choice.

I think Jounouchi enjoys singing too, but he probably thinks of it less as a hobby than as a way to goof around. He's pretty good too when we take into account his Japanese VA's singing career.

Kaiba, on the other hand, lived a life of (relative) financial security. However, given how strict his education was, I dunno if he was ever given much of the mental space to explore creative hobbies. Art might have been seen a frivolous waste of time within his home schooled education. The one exception to that might be music. I can see Gozaburo insisting on Kaiba learning an instrument or two. But at that point it's more about developing a skill set to show off (and maybe me projecting the Asian experience of your parent forcing you to pick up an instrument because that's classically considered part of a well-rounded education in many East Asian cultures). Violin or piano are the most likely candidates here. Kaiba is good at them, because he has to be. He can't not learn it well if Gozaburo is invested in that part of his education.

How much he personally enjoys it is up for debate.

Definitely one of those things that I imagine falls quickly to the wayside once he's out from under Gozaburo's control. But that also offers opportunities for him to maybe rediscover it later in life, after his skill set had rusted a bit from lack of practice, and learn to enjoy the hobby for itself while relearning the ropes.

A lot of the creative hobbies I've written for Kaiba follow the same development model, including tea ceremony and calligraphy.

I guess that makes them both kinda comparable, because they've each lived a life of scarcity in their youths (more financial for Jounouchi, and emotional deprivation for Kaiba) that robbed them of opportunities to explore their creative sides. As they heal and grow, they can begin to explore those possibilities for themselves.

[radiant-flutterbun]

Mason’s Brightside Part 2

   Part 1

“No Mason, weird dreams are not a symptom of the herb I gave you last night,” Alaria sighed “If you had listened to me you would know the opposite is true.”

    “No dreams is a symptom?”

    “Yes and so are dehydration headaches so make sure you drink lots of water.”

Alaria shooed Mason outside of the healing den and he nearly crashed into Corkscrew, a spiral.

    “Watch where you’re going!” Corkscrew snarled.

    Mason ignored him and went to get something to drink, his mind however was still thinking about that dream. He’d never been a vivid dreamer. Something about it was so unnatural.

    Evan came up to him later in the day and he described the dream to him.

    “Weird right?”

    “Yeah but sometimes a dream is just a dream. Don’t read too much into it.”

    “But it felt so real!”

    “You sure it’s not… Ya know your mind playing tricks on you?”

    Mason glared at Evan “It wasn’t that.”

    “Sorry, sorry I didn’t mean to imply…” Evan coughed “Maybe you’re just not used to a good night’s sleep is all.”

    Mason thought about that for a moment “That… Ok yeah that I can believe.”

    The next night he was given the same herb from Alaria and he found himself right back at the Emperor’s Wake.

    “Good to see you again Mason,” It was the tundra. They were sitting beside him, so close that Mason could feel their fur on him “Are you on your way?”

    “I-” Mason began and then he snarled “What are you doing in my head?”

    The tundra looked back at him calmly, “You can thank our local dreamwalker for that.”

    “Dreamwalker…?”

    “You’ll be waking soon. I don’t have time to explain. Please come here to the Emperor’s Wake. I’ll explain everything. It’ll be much easier in person, I promise.”

    Mason was about to speak when he found himself awake, sunlight danced across his room. 

    He began to pack his things. It didn’t take long. Being formerly dead, he didn’t have any personal belongings from his world. All he had were just a few art supplies Flare had been kind enough to give him, a simple dagger, a water canister, a few snacks and a blanket. Everything fit neatly in a bag he wrapped over his shoulder.

    He trotted down the stairs from his room and into the clan lobby. He made his way to the main exit when Evan found him.

    “Where are you going?” He asked, seeing the bag.

    Mason sighed “The Emperor’s Wake.”

    “What? Isn’t that where that monster is?”

    “Yep.”

    “And you want to go there?!”

    “Correct.”

    “Why?”

    “Because that’s where the dragons in my dreams told me to go.”

    “So you’re just going to listen to random dream dragons now?”

    “See this is why I was trying to avoid you.”

    Evan looked hurt “You were planning on leaving without telling me?”

    “Because I knew this would happen! I knew you wouldn’t understand! Listen, I've been here before. I know that whoever these dragons are, they're not going to get out of my head until I do what they want me to do.”

    “Hey no offense Mason but the last time you listened to some... thing in your mind you ended up hurting a kid.”

    Mason snarled “He wasn’t just a kid. Don’t oversimplify what Muerto is.”

    “I’m just saying, if you knew that was Match speaking to you, would you still have done the things you did?”

    “Yes. Match is just another self centered god, but at least me listening to him, capturing Muerto, weakening him. Getting him to spill his dirty little secrets. At least that did something! You would have rotted away to nothing and we would have all been trapped in that horrible place until we died. I got the gods’ attention. I changed things!”

    Evan took a deep breath “Ok. Yeah you’re right. But I also don’t have to like what we had to do to get where we are now. Maybe this time we can take some time to think about what we’re getting into before we have to hurt anyone?”

    “We? You want to come with me?”

    “I don’t like the idea of being near that monster, but I hate the idea of letting you go alone even more.”

***

    Mason waited for Evan to pack his things. Like him, it wasn’t much so they were off on their journey soon enough. Evan felt bad leaving without a word so he took the time to leave a note for Nike.

    The two took off and soared over the Sunbeam Ruins in the direction of the area now known as the Emperor’s Wake. Mason had a map with him to help him keep track of their journey. As he flapped his wings he noted how natural flight felt to him. It was strange to him how quickly he picked up the skill. His original body was not one designed for flight and never in a million years would he have guessed he’d eventually become a dragon. Sepulchral had taught him to fly after he had entered the Dragon Planet. Sepulchral was a good teacher, and unlike all of the other Selcouth creatures that were brought to Sornieth, Sepulchral actually had wings back in their world, making him uniquely experienced with flight. But even with such an excellent teacher, Mason felt like he shouldn’t have picked up the skill quite so quickly. It only made it more frustrating that relearning to draw was not as natural to him.

    “Sorry about planning to take off without you,” Mason said after a few miles of silence.

    “Hey, it's cool. No big deal,” Evan responded.

    “What were you going to tell me the other day, by the way? I didn’t mean to brush you off like that. Sorry again.”

    “Oh that?” Evan laughed nervously “That was nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

    Mason glanced at his friend “Alright…” He thought about pushing the subject, but decided to let it go.

    The two flew in silence until it got dark. They camped out in a secluded pine forest for the night and took off again when it was morning. 

    Their flight was uneventful until they flew over a patch of land that was scarred in an unusual way. Most of the Sunbeam Ruins were filled with rolling fields of grass and green pine trees dotted with ruins from a forgotten era. But this patch of land was blackened and dead. It was not burned like a fire found it, rather it looked like a perfect circle of the land just shriveled up and died. Below structures that were not ancient ruins were crushed and destroyed like a tornado ran through the community.

    “What do you suppose happened down there?” Evan asked.

    Mason shook his head “Nothing good probably. Let's keep moving.”

    It wasn’t long before the land began to look more like what Mason saw in his dreams. There were tell-tale signs of destruction, but not quite like the shriveled dead land they had just passed. Mason searched the ground below him and nearly stopped mid flight. There on top of a hill covered in ruins was the same rugged tundra that had spoken to him.

    Mason landed beside them with a thud and Evan landed more gracefully beside him.

    “You!” Mason snarled.

    The tundra smiled and waved “Mason! So good to see you in person. And oh look! You brought a friend.”

    “Why were you in my head? How do you know who I am? What do you want with me?”

    “Holy shit,” Evan was ignoring the tundra and instead his eyes were fixed on the horizon “It’s real.”

    Mason heard a roar and looked up. There in the distance was the rampaging beast, the Emperor Luminax. It was even more horrible than it was in his dreams.

    “Terrifying isn’t it?” The tundra asked, following Mason’s gaze.

    “It’s just… Hard to believe it’s real.”

    “I know. Seeing your first Emperor… It makes you wonder what’s real and what’s fake. But that thing is real alright. It’s destroying lives and the gods are doing nothing about it.”

    Mason snorted “Yeah that sounds about right.”

    “Ah, don’t like gods do you?” The tiny bug dragon from Mason’s dream landed on top of the tundra’s head “I knew this one would fit in well!”

    Mason peeled his eyes away from the undead creature in the distance “Ok, no more talking until you two explain why you were in my head.”

    “Ah that would be Karyu’s doing,” The tundra addressed the bug sitting on their head.

    “How dare you!” Mason lunged forward to swat the bug, but they quickly flew away. Mason ended up hitting the large tundra’s antlers instead. Mason’s hand stung and the tundra glared at him.

    “Maybe instead of threatening my friend, you could sit down and listen.” The tundra shoved Mason to the ground. Mason tried to get back up, but stopped when the tundra gave him another glare.

    Karyu flew back onto the tundra’s head and pointed at Mason “That one tortured a kid god, so I guess I shouldn’t really be too surprised. Still, he has use here.”

    Mason’s eyes widened “How did you-”

    “My name is Perryn,” The tundra cut Mason off and smiled “I’m an Emperor hunter, and my friend Karyu here is a dream walker.”

    “And demigod!” Once again Karyu took off from their perch on Perryn’s head. They circled in the air and as they landed they began to transform. Before Mason’s eyes the little bug dragon grew in size. They spun so fast it forced Mason to blink and with that one blink a new creature was standing where the bug disappeared. Its body was unmistakably human to Mason, but it still had some of the bug features of its dragon form. Antennae sprung up from Karyu’s head and insectoid wings from their back. They wore a long robe and their long purple hair touched the ground. They were still small, Perryn towered over them and so would have Mason if he had been standing, but they were no longer squishable. 

    “My mother is the goddess of dreams for this world, and lucky me, I’ve inherited some of her powers,” Karyu walked up to Mason and poked his snout. He snapped at their fingers “You have the most fascinating dreams out of everyones’ I’ve walked through. So many memories are mixed with yours. Some juicy ones too!”

    “No. You didn’t.”

    “It’s just a shame that lately you haven't been dreaming much. I’m guessing insomnia? Well that’s no good for me or my pals here at The Guild of Osiris! I was afraid if your sleeping patterns continued I would have lost contact with you! And that would have been a real bummer.”

    “Which is why Karyu had to bring me into the picture,” Perryn said “We needed you to come here before they lost contact with you and they thought you would listen to me and not them.”

    “And I was fucking right!” Karyu grinned and then leaned close to Mason and whispered “I just thought Perryn would be more your type. I’m gorgeous, I know, but I’m taken.”

    Mason just stared at Karyu. He opened his mouth and then closed it like a fish out of water.

    “Yes. Karyu was right!” Peryn shouted and then coughed “And now you’re here like we were hoping. Karyu has seen a lot of things about you from their dream walking ,which I know may be awkward and invasive-”

    “You don’t think?” Mason found his voice for a moment.

    “But Karyu has a knack for finding those who are perfect for helping our cause. Mason, is life uncertain to you? Maybe you’ll make a good Emperor Hunter.”

[illegiblewords]

Fic Writer Meme

Swiped this because it looked like fun!

Name

Fandoms

Most popular oneshot

Most popular multichapter

Actual worst part of writing

How you choose your titles

Do you outline

Ideas I probably won’t get around to, but wouldn’t it be nice?

Callouts @ Me

Best writing traits

Spicy Tangential Opinion

Tagging: @nilim, @azwoodbomb, @wouldyouliketoseemymask, @parvus-pica, @peregrineroad, @spiral-seeker, @frostmantle, @autumnslance, @strangefellows, @redbud-tree, @maccaroni-eh, @entropytea, @prettyparadoxes, @ivalane, @kunstpause, @fogfens

Name: Illegible or Illegiblewords lately. I’ve switched it in the past a few times.

Fandoms: I’ve been in Final Fantasy XIV for the past couple of years now. Passively I might be in Pathologic fandom and Dragon Age fandom? Maybe others too on and off. I was in comic fandoms for a long time but honestly that spiraled into a hot mess of epic proportions so I’ve mostly peaced out of there. Still love stories, characters, and buddies from there though.

Most Popular Oneshot: Ironically it’s Ideation for Bladerunner 2049 haha. I did exactly one fic there right after seeing the movie and didn’t go back, but I thought it was very good and I had a specific story I wanted to tell. It’s one of my most popular fics, and given it’s gen too I’m actually kind of happy about that.

Most Popular Multichapter: The Immortal Wound for FFXIV fandom! I had only just started writing for the fandom, and the series leading up to this fic was my first time writing NPC shipping in FFXIV. I was seriously, SERIOUSLY nervous at first! I wrote the first fic, Posturing, as a personal challenge to do an ambiguous protagonist/NPC since I saw other people doing that and wanted to see if I could pull it off. Posted it at around 4 in the morning then deleted within a few minutes out of anxiety lol. A week went by before I read it again, realized I still liked it, and put it back up for good. That being well-received helped encourage me to keep trying, and by The Immortal Wound it was getting solid attention. The experience really meant a lot to me!

Actual Worst Part of Writing: Probably chapter maps within the outlining process for me. It’s needed for how I approach things, but shit is anxiety-inducing and stressful af lol. I basically plan each event out in high detail before actually writing the fic, so when the time comes for me to legit write I’m more or less following a plan I can trust. Making that plan is the tough part.

How Do You Choose Your Titles: Often titles are the last things I figure out before starting the fic itself. I know I like punchy stuff if I can manage. Sometimes it’ll be one word, sometimes it’ll be a quote or song lyric, sometimes it’ll be a saying, sometimes it’ll be a phrase that feels fitting. I go fast and loose usually, and tbh I’ve tried to tell myself not to overthink it too hard. I do try title related works in ways that have some thematic link when I can.

Do You Outline: HahahahahaHAHAHAHAhaha yeah. Straight up my outlines are eldritch terrors for their detail, length, and complexity. I don’t mean that as a brag at all, seriously--I tend to get frozen a bit if I don’t have an outline by and large because it’s hard for me to keep track of what’s in my head and plan accordingly. Just end up with too many moving parts + revision and pacing get wonky otherwise.

Depending on the project I might have sections tied to setting, characters, magic systems, religions, etc. at the top. Fanfic this is less likely but does crop up sometimes.

To give an example of the first bullet of the first chapter of an ongoing fic:

Post-Shinryu, the Warrior of Light lingers in the Royal Menagerie alone at his own insistence to search for the Eye of Nidhogg. In the process he remembers the fight against Zenos and Shinryu. Note he was overcome by an almost feral rage at Zenos’ assumption that he was the target of anything resembling lust. Those attentions (“bite down upon my jugular”) belong to another, but note similarities of two pale-eyed, long-haired blondes. Seeing Shinryu, the Warrior had no idea whether Lahabrea survived within. The fusion was horrifying to see and as he fought he didn’t hold back because besides obvious dangers, he was also ready to mercy kill if needed. Also note Warrior wanted to intervene against Thordan for Lahabrea but wasn’t fast enough, questions a little privately how far he’d have gone against him. It might not have mattered even if he’d managed since he knows Lahabrea was going crazy and unable to listen. Locating and examining the Eye, he recognizes how drained it is. Certainly not enough to threaten him when dealing with post-battle exhaustion. So he reaches inside with his own aether, relentless in pushing aside every foreign element—Nidhogg, Thordan, the corrupted Rhalgr, the places Zenos caged them all under his own will. Zodiark’s tempering is what helps him ultimately find Lahabrea, who is barely alive. Zodiark’s tempering has preserved what it could but has a much more tenuous grip in consequence. When the Warrior finds him Lahabrea isn’t even aware, functionally unconscious. The tempering flares against him defensively and this time the Warrior focuses on it. This is all that has allowed Lahabrea to stay alive. He could force himself closer but there is no vessel. Besides, the process of separating a fragile soul so deficient in aether is too great a risk. So he keeps the Eye.

It’s not the only bullet of comparable size for that chapter. The overall piece has at least 40 total chapters, but probably more.

Ideas I Probably Won’t Get Around To, But Wouldn’t It Be Nice: Tbh probably some of the earlier WIPs I have that aren’t finished already. Not just FFXIV (Dead Language, With Good Intentions) but other fandoms. I could end up circling back in the future one day but who knows.

Callouts @ Me: “NO MORE WIPS HOLY SHIT YOU HAVE OVER 20″, “RELEARN HOW TO DO DRABBLES”, “GET UR PRESENTS DONE”, “REVIEW OTHERS MORE THE STAGE FRIGHT IS RIDICULOUS”.

Best Writing Traits: I try to write any character as the hero of their own story/with the capacity to be someone’s favorite. I do my research and prioritize telling a good story first and foremost. I can change my writing style according to need and am good at capturing the cadence and word choices of different characters.

Spicy Tangential Opinion: If no transaction has been made (esp. monetary), no one owes you shit online. Not reviews, not hits, not praise, not agreement, not content of any sort. It sucks to feel like you’re creating to a void. It sucks to be passionately in love with a rarepair when other ships are drowning in art and stories.

People still don’t owe you.

If you don’t like someone else’s content, create something exploring what you do like... or even why you don’t like that content. Tell a story. Create art. Make photosets and playlists and analyses. If it is not a literal crime (as opposed to portraying fictional crime), don’t discourage other creators no matter how awful you might find their stuff. Lend your own voice to an alternative as convincingly as you can. And if that doesn’t persuade others, you need to keep honing your own skills.

If you want more of something to exist, spread inspiration. Again this can be in storytelling, art, photosets, playlists, analysis, you name it. Give form to your passion. And if others disagree or don’t respond, keep working at it. This is a skill too, and it takes practice.

I’ve found it shows when work is created out of a sense of guilt, fear, or obligation. The quality is much lower and no one latches on to keep building in-turn. And IMO it is essential to build up rather than tearing down.

[queenofthemindynasty]

Even If You Say ‘No’ - pt 7

Pairing: Hoseok x Fem!Reader

Summary: {Y/n}, a brilliant, young producer at BigHit Entertainment, tends to be overly self-critical of her work and scarcely gives herself credit when it’s due. Hoseok, A.K.A. J-Hope of BTS, puts so much effort into keeping up the spirits of the other members, he hardly has time to worry about his own well being. What will happen when the two cross paths?

Genre: Angst, Fluff, Idol Universe

Warnings: suggestive themes, explicit language

Word Count: 2984

Ever since her and Hoseok’s semi-successful movie night at her apartment, {Y/n} couldn’t get her mind off of his suggestion. At first, the thought sounded ridiculous; producers didn’t release mixtapes. After all, who would want to listen to something that a mere employee for BTS wrote?

But the more she mulled it over, the more tempting it became. She’d written and recorded a good handful of tracks during and after high school which she’d never shown to anyone. Back in her earlier days of having an interest in music, she’d been doing all her own vocals herself. It had been years since she’d done any of that, but she could probably relearn it. She’d used to love singing and rapping, and she’d even had some game. They were passions of hers that had faded into the background as she matured and became more immersed in the workings of MIDI. It would be nice to revisit those old passions. And who said she had to be an idol to release a mixtape? Sure, she wouldn’t get nearly as much attention as she would if she were, but that didn’t really matter. That hadn’t stopped Donghyuk, or Supreme Boi, from releasing his own tracks on SoundCloud. 

When she sent Hoseok her first sketch, he was virtually beaming. She could practically see his smiling face and hear his enthusiastic tone of voice in his emoticon-filled messages. He was so gungho on the idea that she felt a little less like a complete moron for considering it. And he’d had a point the other night. Lots of the Army followed BigHit’s producers on Twitter. She alone had almost two hundred thousand followers. Hoseok had even suggested that she talk to P.D. Bang about making it an official mixtape written by a solo artist of BigHit. That seemed like a bit of a stretch, however. Not to mention, she was too shy to talk to her boss about something like that. It felt like, as a kid, asking your teacher to take part in some far-fetched, childish project like building a portal for time travel with you. When she expressed these concerns to Hoseok over text, he offered to go with her to ask him. She couldn’t say no since it was so sweet of him to offer. 

A few days later, she and Hoseok spoke with the CEO, and surprisingly, he agreed to let her release her mixtape as one of BigHit’s solo artists. However, there was a condition: if the mixtape was to become a huge success, she would become a full-time idol and be expected to release her own albums. She agreed to this, seeing that it wasn’t a very likely outcome despite what Hoseok may have thought. This would be the only thing she’d ever do on her own. 

She got started on writing new songs to put into her solo album and picked out a few of her old works to polish up. During the whole process, just about everyone in the company was giving their support. When the other members of BTS found out, they were just as eager about it as Hoseok had been. Upon finding out that he was helping her improve on her rapping skills, Taehyung and Jimin insisted on helping her with singing. With everyone by her side, the success of the mixtape was starting to seem more and more like a possibility. 

Once she’d finished composing, recording, and producing all the tracks she would be including with some help from Namjoon (which couldn’t have been more appreciated), Mr. Bang even offered to have a music video put together for her. At first she declined, not wanting to put him and the rest of the staff involved through the trouble of all that, but Hoseok ended up talking her into accepting. She’d always wondered what it would be like to be in a music video. When else would she be given this opportunity? 

After a month’s worth of blood, sweat, and tears, the music video was finished. It had come out wonderfully thanks to the amazingly skilled team of directors and editors. As a whole, it had an unmistakable feeling of nostalgia. Part of it was set on the coast, near where she’d grown up. She’d had no idea she could look so attractive with just a touch of natural makeup expertly applied by the company’s stylists. Fortunately they hadn’t forced her to dye her hair, but it had been cut and styled, which she didn’t really mind. It had provided a nice change. In addition, Hoseok seemed to like her new look even more than she did. He wouldn’t stop fanboying about how perfect she looked in the music video. 

Finally, the day had come to release her first solo album. She’d been working on it for so long, it felt strange to have it all come to such a sudden end. So much had happened during the time she’d been working on it. For the first three months or so, she had simultaneously been working on Love Yourself 結 Answer in addition to her mixtape. She’d accompanied the guys on the tour going all the way from South Korea to South America to the U.S. to Europe and back. And the Asia leg still wasn’t quite over. They’d spoken at the U.N. general assembly, sold out Citi Field, and become the youngest ever to be presented with the Hwagwan Order of Cultural Merit. Not to be left out, they’d stolen every award out from under the noses of the other groups at the end of the year, much to no one’s surprise and everyone’s pride. {Y/n} didn’t know if her heart could hold any more happiness for them before it burst. But now she was about to make history of her own. 

The title of her momentarily-to-be-released mixtape was Mirrors. It contained a full set of eight tracks, half of which being from her early days of songwriting and the other half being current. In order, they were titled Don’t Look Down, Access Denied (자신으로), Sea of People, Interlude : Stopwatch, Somewhen, 88 Iron Bars, Seven Seas, and New Life. Somewhen was the title track. Her title track, of her solo album. It still seemed preposterous even now. She never would have considered doing this if it hadn’t been for Hoseok. It had been a long, bumpy road to the place she’d finally arrived at, but she had a strong feeling it would be worth it. There was no way it could be unsuccessful. BigHit had been putting out little teasers on Twitter and YouTube, including an official tracklist and a trailer for the music video, since a week or so ago. Everyone was bound to have heard about it by now and were no doubt anticipating it just as much as all of her colleagues were. Additionally, she’d put the absolute maximum amount of time and effort into every step of the process. She’d stayed up in her studio countless nights to work on songs. The mixtape had to be a hit; how could it possibly fail?

Now she was in her studio with Hoseok as company. It was January twenty-ninth, 11:58 p.m. Two minutes until it would be uploaded. Atlantas may as well have been a sauna as she was sweating bullets. Her head was spinning, she felt like she was being strangled, and her heart rate was fast and irregular. She couldn’t stop her violent trembling. This wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling. But this time she had Hobi there to keep her stable. He just kept rubbing her back and reassuring her. “You’re supposed to be this nervous at this point. Trust me, I know. You’ll feel better when it’s over.” The minute changed from fifty eight to fifty nine. She just wanted to run away and hide from her inevitable fate. But with Hoseok by her, supporting her to the very end, she felt just a little bit braver. 

The clock struck six, and the mixtape cover, an illustration of a silhouetted girl standing on water and staring down at her reflection, appeared under her profile on Spotify. At that moment, a weight was lifted from her body, and she released a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding. Hoseok glomped her from behind, pointing and shouting, “There it is! You did it!” All she could manage in return was a faint smile; this all still felt like a dream to her. 

They decided to listen to it along with everyone else. It took them a little less than an hour to get through every track as well as the music video. He started holding her hand during the seventh or maybe eighth track. He already knew about the songs and the meanings behind each of them. The act of holding her hand itself could have meant a few things. Maybe he was saying he was glad to be with her, or he could’ve been trying to ease her pain which was being expressed in the music (even though there wasn’t a lot of pain there anymore thanks to him). Maybe it was both. 

Once it was all over, he was gazing at her, smiling, but not in his usual, bubbly way. This one was more sincere, to put it a certain way, his lips forming a gentle curve as he squeezed her hand. “I’m so proud of you, Sweetheart.” She mirrored his expression before resorting to looking down at their interlocked hands timidly. “Hey…” he said, barely above a whisper. He bent down to her level to meet her eyes, holding her face between his hands as he held her gaze. His lips were parted as if he was about to say something else. But before she found out what it was, he was kissing her. A small sound of pleasant surprise escaped her throat. His hands buried themselves in her hair before traveling lazily along her neck and down to her shoulders. She hummed into the kiss, returning it without a second thought. As always, she became lost in the way he touched her. He was being just as tender and loving as he tended to be during moments like this. One of his hands fell to the small of her back, flattening against it and causing her to sit up towards him. She draped her arms over his shoulders. 

Then something wet slid across her lower lip. 

She jerked away from him. The instant her eyes opened, she saw the look of guilt on his face. What the hell was that?! she scolded herself. It wasn’t as though this was the first time he had made advances like this. Before he had the chance to let go of her, she reconnected her mouth with his. This time, when she felt his tongue prodding at her lips, she yielded. In an instant, Hoseok’s touches became more heated as he devoured her mouth. The breath she’d been holding gave way when she felt his fingernails graze through her hair. Without warning, he was breaking the kiss and she was being picked up and placed on his lap. She gasped. His hand drew her closer by the waist until her body was flush against his. 

“Sorry for the way I reacted. I just wasn’t—nng…”

She shuddered. ‘Expecting it’ were the words that had been abandoned on the tip of her tongue. Her face went from pink to scarlet at the elongated mewl that he’d enticed out of her. 

“Don’t worry about it,” he uttered. His breath fanned across the surface of her neck, making her shudder. “Just let me take care of you. I think you deserve a chance to unwind, don’t you?” She nodded, though his words seemed to hold a sense of irony in them as she struggled to relax her body into his touch. “Just let me know if you ever want me to stop.” She nodded. He started where he’d left off. The languid kisses to her skin weren’t hard just as they weren’t intended to leave a mark. However, they were wet and audible, the obscenity of the sound causing her imagination to sprawl in erotic directions and a heat to begin pooling deep inside her. “Baby, I love you so much,” he breathed, and she moaned out her response, breathless. The hand on her lower back ventured underneath her sweatshirt. The sensation of his cool fingers against her burning skin sent pleasant shivers through her, and her back arched slightly. She let out a mix of a hum and a whine as his lips traveled down her neck and towards her clavicle at a tedious pace, his hand meandering further up her back and leaving more and more of her waist exposed to the biting cold. 

Everything came crashing to a sudden halt. She realised the cause of her instinctive hesitance: the one thing he could never—

“Congrats on your mixtape, {Y/n}!”

Time froze. 

{Y/n} turned her head towards the door, and Hoseok’s lips retreated from her exposed collar bone. Standing in the doorway was Seokjin. He was frozen on the spot, his mouth hanging open. {Y/n} scrambled off of Hoseok’s lap and back into her chair. It was like a bucket of ice had been dumped over her. Jin’s expression darkened, a deep crease forming between his brows. “What the hell did I just walk in on?!”

{Y/n} tore through her mind for some way to explain. “I—we—”

“Hoseok, what the hell were you thinking?! I can’t believe you had it in you to do something like this! And at work, even!”

“Wait, Hyung,” he giggled probably at the comical way Jin tended to speak when he was off on one of his lectures, “it’s not what—”

“Oh, I think it’s exactly what it looks like. You wanna know why?” He gestured to {Y/n}, shooting her a disarming glare. “Because of your song, New Life. I know for a fact you’re in a relationship because you’re the one who explained the lyrics to me. And also that you wouldn’t cheat, because I know you. You’re not that kind of person.”

Her mouth closed shut. That song was about the time she got to spend with the one she loved when neither she or he were busy. The lyrics never explicitly mentioned Hoseok’s name. But that didn’t matter now that they’d been caught. She was desperately racking her brain for something to say to salvage this. 

“But I didn’t think you were the type to break the rules either! And look at you now!” ‘You’re such a filthy whore,’ she could practically hear him saying. His voice was so loud and penetrating, she was afraid people down the hall would hear. “This—I just—I never imagined either of you had the nerve to do this, knowing it wasn’t allowed.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. His volume had subsided a bit, but his shoulders were still tense. Dropping his arm to his side, his eyes went back and forth between her and Hoseok. “When did this start?” 

There was a brief silence, both of them too nervous to say anything. Hoseok was the one to break the silence. “It wasn’t long before she started working on her mixtape. So I guess…eight-ish months ago?” He looked at her for confirmation, and she nodded. 

Jin took a long breath in before expelling it back out in a huffed sigh. {Y/n} had never seen him this serious. It was unsettling. “You kept it a secret for that long…” he muttered under his breath. “Why only now start not caring about whether someone found out?” {Y/n}’s head drooped, her shoulders hunching. 

“It’s not like that,” Hoseok assured. “We just…got a bit…caught up in the moment, I guess.” She could feel his shame even from where she was sitting, though most of the shame she felt was her own. 

Seokjin let out another frustrated sigh. “Okay, here’s my opinion. I don’t see a problem with you two continuing your relationship in private.” This made {Y/n} look up at him hopefully and Hoseok’s ears perk up. “But don’t you dare let me see you doing anything remotely sexual, especially while we’re at work. If I catch you in the middle of what you were doing just now, I’ll have to say something to Mr. Bang. Understood?” Hoseok’s demeanor had been drained of any hint of humour at Seokjin’s threat. He and {Y/n} both nodded without another word. Jin’s eyes softened. “I’m only looking out for you two. I care about you both, and I don’t want you getting in trouble. You know that, right?”

“Of course,” Hoseok conceded, his eyes glued to the floor. {Y/n} simply nodded. 

“Good.” 

The studio was washed in silence. The air was so heavy with tension that you’d have needed a chainsaw to cut through it. 

“Well, I just came by to congratulate you on releasing your mixtape. It really came out well.” 

“Thank you,” she managed, putting on a smile so as not to seem rude. 

Jin gave a curt nod. “And now that I’ve done that, I think I’ll head home. It’s best if you do the same.” He looked at Hoseok, who then turned to {Y/n}, looking like a puppy who’d just gotten a scolding from his owner. She nodded in agreement though she didn’t want to see him go either. 

“Okay,” he sighed monotonously before standing up and following Jin into the hallway. 

“Goodnight, {Y/n}. See you tomorrow,” Jin waved. 

“Yeah, see you,” she waved back as he left. Hobi hung back for a few seconds, giving her an apologetic smile, which she matched. He flashed her a finger heart, taking his time closing the door before catching up to Seokjin. 

He didn’t see, I reminded myself. Thank God. 

[chocobostrinket]

Ace Verses Triple

Link to AO3

Rating: General

Word Count: 3004

Chapter Summary: Diaval just wants the boys to start working together again. Why not fight them about it?

Notes: Just a fun thing to practice writing fight scenes. I know they need work. But also, I adore the idea that one of the kingsglaive characters ended up helping the boys train in the world of ruin. It's also really self-indulgent, so I hope no one minds. Might have spelling and grammar issues, just as a heads up. Thanks for reading!

~

They’d been hesitant at first. It’d been a long time since they’d fought together. A part of each of them worried that they just wouldn’t work very well together. Not after Noctis vanished. They were also worried about the damage they might cause her. She was, after all, one of the major frontline fighters. Someone who needed to avoid injury. Needless to say, that was why she pushed them into this situation.

“You all need to relearn how to work together.” She’d stated, “What would you do if the king came back and you all had become liabilities to him? Plus, as you all are now, I doubt you could hurt me very seriously.”

Diaval had meant for her words to sting; to goad them into the fight. And it worked. Almost too well. Even the sweet natured Prompto had become angry. Either because they were upset about her flippant attitude toward their skills or because she was implying they’d be useless together. They each glanced at each other, in Ignis’s case nodded, and then looked back at her. They’d each fought her one on one and knew she was skilled. But they were confident enough that together she’d go down quick.

Perhaps it’d do her some good to get knocked down at least once by them.

“Show us what you got.” Prompto had said, materializing his gun.

From there they’d crossed the bridge that the ladies of Lestallum let them use for training. She stood at one end and they at the other. She watched them, summoning a shuriken and holding it on her shoulder. Clearly, she was forming a plan. That was the only advantage she had over them. She had fought them all and knew their strengths and weaknesses. However, they felt this wouldn’t be enough.

“She’s quick.” Gladio said to the other two. “Can close distances in seconds given a chance, hits hard and then gets back out before you can retaliate…”

Prompto nodded, keeping his eyes on his gun, checking to make sure it was in working order. “Her magic packs a punch too, from over distances and especially if she gets up close. Also, don’t underestimate the shuriken. She throws it faster than you think.”

“She doesn’t have to touch the ground if she doesn’t want to,” Ignis added, “But she moves in a pattern if you’re careful. She’s also good at last minute dodges. Tricky to hit with spells. But one good hit can lay her flat, giving you have time to strike. The timing of it though, is what’s important.”

Across from the three Diaval had her eyes closed, and rolled her neck, clearly focusing herself and mentally preparing for the fight. She could hear their words and wondered if they realized that what they each knew about her had been tailored to their fights. Likewise, this session would also be tailored to them, as a group. With a slow exhale, she opened her eyes and looked across at them.

“Go.” She said, her face the picture of serenity.

With that, Gladio threw his sword across at her, but she warped right before it hit her, appearing right in front of him and knocking him on his back with the force of her landing. He’d been lucky he’d had his shield ready, blocking the worst of the bladed shuriken. Prompto quickly took aim at where she was, a petrification bullet in his chamber. Before he could shoot she threw her star straight up into the air and warped again causing him to miss by the time he did fire. He cursed and swapped out his gun for the gravity well. If she got into the air, she’d have her pick of who to take out.

“Clear!” he called, and Ignis braced next to him. Gladio stood in wait once he fired.

She was pulled down from where she reappeared and held in place by the gravity well. Before anything else, she summoned her shield, hearing another shot ricochet off it just in time. Behind her, she could hear Gladio getting ready for a swing, his footsteps giving away the weight thrown behind it. At the last minute, with all her strength, she summoned her star again and threw it into the side of one of the beams far above them. Warping after it, and hanging from the blade, she observed them. Gladio nearly tumbled forward, unable to change his directory due to the force behind it. He’d been lucky that the gravity well had finished by then, otherwise he’d have been caught in Prompto’s trap.

Speaking of the blond, she clicked her tongue in approval before bracing her feet against the post and then threw the star at Prompto. He was ready for her, diving out of the way and taking aim at where it landed. However, she simply allowed herself to fall, and dashed for Ignis instead.

“Iggy! Watch it!” He called, pivoting on his heel.

Rather than fire at her, and risk hitting his friend, he allowed his regular bullets to drop back into the spectral arsenal they all had access to. With a flick of his thoughts he summoned Starshell bullets in their stead. He fired far above them but made sure that the light would be angled behind her.

Diaval grinned, though she knew Prompto and Gladio couldn’t see it. Ignis had trouble picking her out from the darkness with his eyes. For Prompto to think of that, and remedy it so soon into the fight, she hadn’t accounted for. In front of her the blind man’s eyes widened. With the light of the starshell behind her, he could see her outline clearly. She was closing the distance fast and he did the only thing he could think of. A flask of magic appeared in his hand and he threw it, watching as it connected with her full force.

The blast was deafening. The three had braced for the force of it, and then realized that she hadn’t gotten out of the way. She had been thrown nearly to the end of the bridge and had ended up rolling a little upon hitting the ground. Normally, the thundaga flask he’d thrown would have been the end of any of the other glaives they’d spared with. But with astonishment and horror, they watched her get back to her feet, lightning crackling around her.

She lifted up her hand in front of her, watching as the sparks jumped around her hand. Then she looked past it, right at them, and grinned.

“Nice hit. But you’ll have to do better than that.”

“What just happened?” Ignis said to the others, holding his daggers at the ready, “Did I hit her?”

Gladio shook his head and likewise put back up his shield, “You did. But she got back up.”

“Unreal.” Prompto muttered, watching her warily as she recalled her weapon back to her hand, and began stalking forward. “Hey guys? I think we pissed her off.”

No one got to answer him, as she began running back at them, seemingly unharmed. Prompto summoned his second gun and began firing at her rapidly, hoping to slow her. Ignis listened carefully, making out her footsteps underneath his fire. Gladio ran forward to meet her, hefting his great sword at her. She phased through, expecting him to block, and for the slightest second stumbled, hitting stasis for the first time. It was then that Prompto managed fire a shot and hit her directly in the center of her chest.

A pained gasped left her, and she couldn’t breathe. In that moment she ended up crouching and clutching the front of her vest. Thank goodness Glaive clothes wear designed to be bullet proof. Didn’t stop it from hurting though, she thought ruefully. Gladio saw his chance and ran forward then, having also recalled his sword and swinging it downwards, as if to hammer her into the ground. He didn’t pull his strength, knowing what a mistake that would be. Without her magic, this was their chance.

“Prom, Iggy, get ready!”

She could either dodge out of the way, and risk being knocked back by both Prompto and Ignis or choose to block his strike. Gladio knew that she wouldn’t risk the two hits if she dodged. So, he counted on her blocking. Without her shield, she wouldn’t be able to hold the block and he’d break through it. That would be the end of it then. Nothing has ever gotten up from this strike and he began to count on it to hold true.

Her eyes flashed with something dangerous and gleeful, and though she couldn’t breathe she summoned her own sword and braced herself. He feels it connect and his hands nearly go numb from the crash of metal on metal. It shakes through him and he grunted with the effort to drive it home.

To his horror, the block held.

He managed to hang onto his blade, though the feeling in them from the impact took away a lot of his strength. It made it easy for her to turn his strike into a deflect. Behind them both Prompto froze at the sight, though he should have been taking aim. Sometimes he forgets that the kingsglaive are frighteningly strong, and when he witnesses them in action it shocks him. Diaval in turn gave Gladio a grin that’s almost a snarl, and let her weapon fall back into the void, and when she rose to her feet she headbutted him. Hard.

He could taste blood in his mouth and his eyes started to water, blinding him for the slightest of seconds, and that’s all she needed. She summoned her star with a growl and hooked her legs behind his and shoved hard. When he went down, he felt the blades of her shuriken on either side of his neck before he could even blink, driven into the bridge. If it was a real fight, she’d have his head. As he looked up at her, trapped by her weapon, she was already looking forward at the other two. Ignis threw another flask then, behind her so it wouldn’t hit Gladio. It exploded with enough force to shake the bridge, but she pivoted on her heel and had a shield ready, her magic already recovered. It protected her from the blast and the flames seemed to have no effect on her. The firelight made her look like a creature of war, feral and dangerous, which he realized that in a way she was.

She dropped the shield within seconds, and spun back around, warping up into Prompto’s space. He let out a yelp and tried to back pedal to get some distance between them, but she closed the distance every time, mercilessly striking where she could with a katana. Ignis, to his frustration, realized that she was purposely keeping Prompto between them, so he couldn’t throw another flask. Though, it seemed they served as little more than a distraction to her. Something he hadn’t accounted for. It appears when he thought she’d dodged them in their sessions, she just hadn’t been affected. He mentally made a note to ask how that was done after this match but was currently doing his best to figure out how best to take her down.

Prompto would fire at her, meaning to hit her with anything, trying different bullets and even the occasional flare. But she was just too close, and too quick. It wasn’t long before she landed one good hit on his torso, sending him flying with a yell. His back hit the ground hard, and he felt his head smack off the ground. It was enough to take him out he knew, as his breath had turned shuddery and everything spun. He was done.

Ignis was the only one left from what he could make out, and she was striding forward with purpose in her step. A huff of disbelief left him, and he readjusted his grip on his daggers as he waited for her. She in turn recalled her sword, twirling it in her left hand before also readying herself.

They watched each other for movements. Ignis was the one she was wary of, knowing his strikes, when perfectly timed, could easily take her out. It had only been luck really, keeping her on her feet during their sessions. She breathed slowly, watching, waiting, reading even the slightest movements he made.

It was without warning that she attacked. He went to block her, and when he felt her blade ricochet off his, hurried into a counter attack. With all his strength he swung both his daggers at the same time, meaning to crush her in one blow. He could do it, she had told him, if he was patient and when the time was right.

But it wasn’t this time.

She summoned a shield again, and when his daggers passed harmlessly off it, she lunged forward with another cry, and struck him down. And just like that, it was over. He crumpled to the ground, onto his knees, his own breath stolen from him from her blow. She paused for a moment, glancing at each of them, making sure the threat was neutralized, and then came back to herself.

She dropped to her own knees, giving Ignis a smile he couldn’t see while rubbing his back to try and coax the breath back into him.

“Well done.” She said to him quietly, “Very well done.”

From her, he knew she was speaking the truth. When she was sure that he was alright, she got back up and hurried over to the shield, still pinned by her shuriken. She laid and hand on it and simply willed it away, offering a hand to him once it was gone. He took it with a nod of thanks and looked away from her upon being back on his feet. She’d address that later she decided.

Prompto was probably the worst off. Gladio had been the largest threat with his strength and skill, but Ignis and Prompto together would have been a greater struggle if they’d realized it faster. With how quickly Prompto picked up on his fellow guards needs, he’d been the second biggest threat. Though, Ignis was no slouch either. Once he got the timing and mastery over his condition, he’d be terrifying. They all would if they honed it. Both together and apart.

She summoned a potion then and wrapped his hand around it, wincing as she saw just how out of it he was.

“Sorry about that.” She said as she helped him crush the potion in his hand. He blinked a couple of times, coming back to himself and sat up with a gasp.

“Wha-? Where?” He looked over at her, as she let go of his hand and shouted, “YOU.”

She chuckled and shook her head. “It’s done Prom.”

He looked up at the others and saw their state and groaned, “You’re not human you know that?”

She gave him an offended look even as she helped him to his feet, “Excuse me? I’m perfectly human!”

“You just took down three people, trained by the crown, at once! How’s that human?” He fired back, frowning, but his eyes had a smile in them. Though he was a little disheartened that she had beat them. A few insecurities came back to him then, but he was comforted by the fact that Gladio and Ignis had also gone down. Not just him.

“I’m trained by both the Galahdian army, the crown, and have magic.” She snorted, she then looked over at Gladio when she’d next spoke, who’d been joined by Ignis while she’d been tending to Prompto, “But no one else could do what I just did, probably.”

As they all began walking back to the town, leaving training for the day, she explained how she could negate magic thanks to Cid’s weapon station, and how her strength was something very few could match even before the king’s magic enhanced her.

“You don’t have as much experience as me as well, but,” She stated, “It may not look like it, but there were more than a few times that you almost had me. In those seconds, if your teamwork was a little better, I would have been down.”

She smiled at them then, nothing like the grin she’d given them in battle, and said, “With some practice together, I’m sure the king will be proud to have you at his side.”

Gladio, she could tell, was unsure, so she nudged him with one arm. “You provided a huge chance for them, and drew most of my attention. As a shield should. You of all people should be proud.”

He shook his head, “Doesn’t change the fact that we failed at taking you down.”

“Don’t I count as a huge threat?” She asked, an eyebrow raised, “Aside from that…”

She held up her right arm, with them only just noticing that she finished the fight left-handed and rotated her wrist. Prompto let out a cry of sympathy and disgust upon hearing her bones crunch and grind while Ignis made a face.

“I’m pretty sure my wrist is cracked. Like I said, with better teamwork, you guys would have had me.”

“Oh sweet Shiva, will you take a potion already?” Gladio said with annoyance, grabbing her arm to stop her from moving it. Though she could tell it was only concern.

“Also, friendly advice, NEVER block what’s supposed to be unblockable. That shit hurts.” She said with a laugh as she did what he asked.

They all continued into town after that and departed each other’s company soon after. Tomorrow would be a rest day. Time for them to relax and perhaps visit their friends and families. And the day after would start another week of missions for all of them. Diaval would be gone for two weeks, though, but she promised that they’d have another trainer to take over for that session.

[artpharos]

Arty’s VGC 2018 SG Open Team- 2nd Place Finisher

Anyway I figure since I FINALLY LEGIT PLACED WELL AT A REGIONALS-LEVEL EVENT even if it was just a 38-man regional sobs I’m just gonna write a summary of a team I’m proud of even if they’re technically not that good oops 

Put under cut because it’s long haha I put a lot of thought on my pokemon vgc teams weeps

So I haven’t had a lot of success in VGC 18. Not since the actual VGC 18 format, anyway. I’ve struggled to find a team composition I feel comfortable with, and I’ve had a lot of trouble relearning all my forgotten skills and regaining confidence in myself, especially since I was Out of Action for like... 2 years. But then after watching Brazil Internationals, I realized a lot of the standard ‘meta’ teams had this really gaping weakness to Bisharp and... I really missed Bisharp a lot. So then, I popped onto Showdown, placed Bisharp onto a team I was working on which was then Kangaskhan/Zapdos/Tapu Fini/Snorlax/Gothitelle/Landorus-T and then realized if I replaced Goth with Bisharp I needed another setup sweeper. I remembered back in VGC 13 that Volcarona was a good partner for Bisharp (or vice versa tbh) and I played a few games and then a month later I was in the top 100 on Showdown. And after staring at the team for a while I realized it had a strange resemblance to my 2015 team (Kangaskhan/Talonflame/Sylveon/Bisharp/Landorus-T/Rotom-Wash), which would explain why I was strangely comfortable with it. So then I ran it in a few tournaments, top cut a few MSSes, had a friend talk me over my mental blocks, and got 2nd at Singapore Open. Anyway, a breakdown of the team:  Potato Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite   Ability: Scrappy   Level: 50   EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD   Adamant Nature   - Fake Out   - Double-Edge   - Low Kick   - Ice Punch  

Throughout the season, people have been telling me since Jan 1 2018 that Kangaskhan Is Bad. And after a whole season and 38 teams of Kangaskhan, I can finally come to the conclusion that yes, on paper, Kangaskhan is a Bad Mon. Kangaskhan, as a mon, just isn’t as good as in 2015, when she was the overwhelming force of the metagame. The Parental Bond nerf has seriously hurt her damage, and Psychic Terrain makes it difficult for Kang’s primary support option (Fake Out) to be completely useful. The loss of Power-Up Punch, and the general increase of offensiveness in the metagame, and Kanga’s neutral matchup towards Intimidate Incineroar have all been factors in why Kangaskhan, in theory, does not work. 

But to be completely honest, whenever I used another Mega I’d just run straight into the stuff they’re automatically weak against and the thing is: Unlike the other Megas, Kangaskhan has technically no matchup that she automatically loses. It just feels a lot easier to put Kangaskhan into a position where she can do work, and I can accept the shift of her role from Primary Attacker to Offensive Support, relying on her to deal constant damage for the team and providing Fake Out support. 

So a breakdown on Potato. I’ve tried all sorts of Kangaskhan, and for the longest time I was convinced that Jolly was the only way to go because without the max speed investment, you’d be unable to outspeed stuff like Tapu Lele and Charizard. However, Jolly Kang always ran into the problem of being outsped ANYWAY since Tapu Koko, Kartana, Mega Metagross and other random fast pokemon exist, and without any investment in her HP she can’t take hits that well. So after trying out my friend’s team, I finally decided on the Super Bulky Kangaskhan with 0 speed investment. I’m still not content with the bulk-speed ratio on Potato, but with the way that the metagame is so matchup dependent, I feel like it’s safer to be bulky than not. In fact, after recent battles, I think if I had to improve Kangaskhan, it’d be to actually drop her attack (since you’re still going to get intimidated to Kingdom Come anyway) and invest in her bulk some more. 

Anyway, on to the moves. Fake Out because Kangaskhan is still, in my opinion, the best Fake Outer in the game, especially with Scrappy to hit ghost types (Hi Mimikyu!) and the ability to outspeed the other premier Fake Outer (Incineroar). Double-Edge for the consistently painful damage that OHKOs stuff like Tapu Koko and Charizard Y, Low Kick to deal 70% to Snorlax/almost OHKO Stakataka/random heavy things like Tyranitar and 4hp Heatran, and Ice Punch to still OHKO 4hp Landorus-T even after Intimidate. Potato functioned more as cleanup, or to clear certain threats that my main sweepers didn’t want to fight. 

Cernunos Landorus-Therian @ Groundium Z   Ability: Intimidate   Level: 50   EVs: 20 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 228 Spe   Jolly Nature   IVs: 0 SpA   - Earthquake   - Rock Slide   - Protect   - Knock Off  

Landorus-Therian is, arguably, the best mon in all of VGC. In fact, in VGC 2018, it’s only matched for utility with Incineroar, who’s also another Intimidating Cat. It’s also been constantly placing at the top (or near to the top) of all the usage stats, and it’s been said that the Best Way to check a Landorus-Therian is to use your own Landorus-Therian. In fact, it’s gone so far that some Landorus-Therian have switched the special scarfed Hidden Power Ice variants I also really liked the scarf Landorus-T variants since that would have helped my matchup vs Metagross+Tapu Lele/Charizard Y and random fast mons like Gengar a lot. However, given that I only have one other Ground-immune (Zapdos), I opted for the Groundium-Z variant, WHICH OHKOS INCINEROAR AFTER AN INTIMIDATE HAH TAKE THAT YOU STUPID CAT  and does a bunch of other neat stuff like being a really powerful nuke, being a single-target ground attack (even if only for one turn), and has the ability to P R O T E C T. Being base 91 speed has its drawbacks, sure, but I hoped to mitigate that somewhat with Tailwind, and once you get an unintimidated Landorus-T on the field with the ability to switch moves+a nuke+x2 speed, it’s definitely a huge boon on your side. 

So Cernny’s set is actually something Coach gave me. Jolly to abuse as much of that fast speed as necessary, attack to maximise the damage output, and the rest in split defenses for some ‘bulky’. His moveset was Earthquake (of course), Rock Slide (for the flinchy flinchy and Charizard Y/Zapdos), Protect and Knock Off because I hate Snorlax and any other mon that uses one of the Super Healing Berries, as compared to the lack of Steel/Normal type mons that you’d usually run Superpower for (and let’s be real, Superpower doesn’t OHKO anything of worth anymore, and without a scarf it didn’t really make sense to run Superpower). 

Castor Bisharp @ Life Orb   Ability: Defiant   Level: 50   EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe   Adamant Nature   - Iron Head   - Knock Off   - Sucker Punch   - Protect  

I’ll be honest, Bisharp is pretty much the glue holding the team together. The ability to gain attack boosts from any status drop, and the ability to pull out a powerful priority attack with those boosts can utterly cut through teams that are unprepared for him. All it takes is an Icy Wind or an accuracy drop from Muddy Water, and Castor can go to town. Especially since most teams rely on Intimidate to control opposing physical attackers, Defiant/Competitive users like Bisharp and Milotic can do a lot of work in the right conditions. Moreover, dark is an extremely good attacking type, even now, and with the ability to hit Fairies super effectively with Iron Head, Bisharp has almost perfect neutral coverage for most of the metagame (with the exceptions being idk Blaziken and Lucario). 

I was running Adamant Nature with max speed and Life Orb because that was the damage calculation/spread I was used to since 2015. Bisharp’s moveset is Iron Head for comfortable STAB, Knock Off to take out berries and also potentially KO weakened Cresses/other bulky mons/stop Snorlax before their berries trigger. Sucker Punch is priority, which helps me pin and maneuver around faster mons, and Protect is Protect lol. At max speed, Bisharp outspeeds most spreads of Tapu Bulu/Tapu Fini, Heatran, and also my own Kangaskhan, which allows me to make some silly plays like Knock Offing a Porygon 2′s Eviolite before Double-Edging into them, destroying fairy redirectors like Togekiss, or limiting Cresselia’s Ally Switch utility by taking out the supporters before Kang attacks. 

Curry Volcarona @ Firium Z   Ability: Flame Body   Level: 50   EVs: 4 HP / 92 Def / 192 SpA / 220 Spe   Modest Nature   IVs: 0 Atk   - Quiver Dance   - Heat Wave   - Giga Drain   - Protect  

I admit I named Volcarona Curry for certain very blatant biases BUT ANYWAY. I haven’t actually used Volcarona that well in VGC at all, dabbling in it only at the start of 2018 with a Salamence/Azumarill team that Did Not Work because I always felt that Volcarona was better off setting up Quiver Dance and sweeping than playing Rage Powder. Remembering that VGC 13 had a Volcarona+Bisharp team working super well for my brother, I decided to try it in VGC 18 because why not. Volcarona had 135 SAtk and with a Quiver Dance, I bet Inferno Overdrive would be extremely spicy. The other item choice that has been recommended to me time and time again is a Super Healing Berry, but to be completely honest I’m perfectly happy with having a secondary nuke in case I can’t land Tectonic Rage for whatever reason. 

Volcarona pairs well with Bisharp, Kangaskhan, and Tapu Fini, being able to clear steel/grass types as well as luring in stuff like Landorus-T into the battle (which its teammates can then take out before Volcarona starts quiver dancing). Volcarona is not a ‘good’ mon; it has far too many weaknesses and requires a lot of ifs to set up properly, and even then it’s main stab is Heat Wave and its defenses are, to put it mildly, shit. However, with most of the metagame being physically defensive, being able to set up a powerful special attacker that gets boosts in speed/special defense/special attack can seriously nuke a lot of teams to oblivion. 

So, Volcarona ran Quiver Dance, Heat Wave, and Protect. Modest 192 SAtk was to maximize my Special Attack as much as possible, but I do know that at +1, in the Sun, Volcarona’s Inferno Overdrive has been able to net OHKOs on Charizard Y of all things. 220 Speed was to outspeed modest Tapu Lele, 4HP/92Def was to survive a -1 Spread Landorus-T Rock Slide. Giga Drain was run to have a better way to deal with Tapu Fini and Milotic, but even at +1 Volcarona will still die to Hydro Vortex so that’s something to keep an eye out for. 

Vegetable Zapdos @ Iapapa Berry   Ability: Pressure   Level: 50   EVs: 28 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 220 Spe   Timid Nature   - Thunderbolt   - Heat Wave   - Tailwind   - Sky Drop  

Zapdos has been something I’ve slowly grown accustomed to over the season. Without Talonflame, I’ve been searching for another Tailwinder that provided the sort of support/pairing ability with Landorus-T that I just couldn’t find elsewhere. While I am more used to the Misty Seed/Roost version, I just felt that it was far too passive and didn’t really feel like it could help contribute to the team with a low speed stat that the Misty Seed variants run (ie, set up Tailwind before dying to a Charizard Y Overheat). In the end, I decided to try something slightly different- not the Gigavolt Havoc Zapdos, but the fast speedy Tailwind support with Iapapa Berry. While it worked somewhat well, I realized that my team had issues with Azu+Redirector support, so I decided to toss Sky Drop onto Zapdos (something I learned from playing Hawlucha earlier in the metagame).

Sky Drop easily opens a lot of doors for my team, being able to stall out Trick Room, Tailwind, deal with redirectors, and force mons into not being able to Protect the next turn when they’re dropped. While my Zapdos spread meant that it was actually exceedingly frail for a Zapdos, it’s also an extremely good utility mon, if used properly (Hint: I still haven’t completely figured it out yet).

Thunderbolt for obligatory STAB. Tailwind helped support my team a lot, since the majority of them were slow and would greatly appreciate the speed advantage. Heat Wave was chosen over HP Ice because of the great Kartana weakness I seemed to have, as well as being able to threaten the 3hko on Mega Metagross. And Sky Drop is... Sky Drop. (Fun fact: I still haven’t completely understood all of Sky Drop’s mechanics yet, isn’t it fun?)

Ultimately, Vegetable started off as a mon I didn’t really like, but it is incredibly necessary for this team to work. If there is one thing I would change, I would drop its Satk and try to figure out a bulkier spread and go max speed Timid simply because I am tired of not having the ability to speed tie Charizard Y. 

Melusine Tapu Fini @ Mago Berry   Ability: Misty Surge   Level: 50   EVs: 236 HP / 4 Def / 196 SpA / 12 SpD / 60 Spe   Calm Nature   IVs: 0 Atk   - Scald   - Moonblast   - Calm Mind   - Protect  

So finally, the Tapu of my team. Tapu Fini easily loses out to ALL THE OTHER TAPUS of the metagame, but it also has one of the best terrain abilities. Immunity to status? Yes Please. Also, being the slowest Tapu (barring some really slow Leles/Bulus), it is almost guaranteed Terrain Control on turn 1. 

I opted for the Calm Mind variant of Tapu Fini because I Like Setting Up, and also Fini just doesn’t do enough damage otherwise. Calm Mind also helps shore up its special defense, giving it a chance versus Tapu Lele and occasionally Tapu Koko/Charizard Y/MGengar/other random powerful special attacking mons. I’m using the standard CM Tapu Fini EV spread, which allows it to outspeed slow Bulu while dealing some really nice damage with its STABS. 

While most Tapu Fini opt for Muddy Water, I’ve lost far too many games from Muddy Water missing, so I decided to go for the more reliable and slightly more powerful single-target Scald. Thus far, I have not regretted that decision. Moonblast for fairy STAB because you need Fairy STAB somewhere on your team to deal with Kommo-O, and Protect because this should be totally standard by now.

AND I HAVE SPENT 2 HOURS WRITING A LONG DRAWN SUMMARY OF MY TEAM. I’M EXTREMELY PROUD OF HOW WELL THEY DID, OF SOME OF THE BATTLES I’VE MANAGED TO PLAY WITH THEM, and while I’m not certain if I want to bring them to Worlds, I’m glad that this is the team that finally helped me overcome my own weaknesses and gave me my confidence back to play. 

Tl;dr: I really love pokemon vgc and I really love this team 

[beckybexxaroundtheworld-blog]

Final Reflective Project

Rebecca Rodriguez

GLS 277

Professor Burkland

Final Reflective Project

In what ways have you changed? I feel like some of the ways that I have changed after studying abroad in Seville, Spain is I have become more independent. In Spain, I was financially independent. All the money that I earned during the summer was what I used to pay for my study abroad trip as well as to spend and travel. I traveled to 13 different places, a lot of them in Andalusia, and in the Catalan region in Spain and Portugal. I was able to make decisions on whether I should spend my money on trips, clothes, souvenirs, and restaurants and how often I wanted to spend money. I also had to learn to be responsible with what I spent it on so that I had enough to last the whole trip and so that I would still have enough in case of emergencies and for when I came back to Chicago. I also feel like I am more outgoing and able to go up to people, order food more easily and stand up for myself more now because of the fact that in Spain, I was forced to act on situations that I wasn’t exposed to back home. So it made less anxious. In what ways might my friends and family changed? My friends have not changed much since I have been back. If anything, leaving for so long and being far away made us closer when we reunited. Especially with my close friends Elizabeth, Ivania, and Erica (Erica was in Spain with me)  which were all in different places studying abroad so we did not have so much communication because of time differences but now, we are with each other all the time on campus. Some ways my family has changed is that my older sister Sonia is pregnant and is having a baby. While I was in Spain, she was having some difficulties with her pregnancy which made me sad that I couldn’t do anything to help her or be there for her but now, I am so much closer to her and overprotective of her and she is very open about how her pregnancy is going and we are excited for my niece to be born in May. My parents are having their first granddaughter and they are so excited. My little sister and I are also so much closer because she was like my best friend before I left and now we do everything together and have fun together due to the long time apart. My relationship with my parents has become more mature, they are treating me more like an adult and having less input on what I want to do because they understand that I have to make my own choices. What lessons have I learned that I never want to forget? Some lessons that I have learned that I never want to forget are to be open to building relationships with people from other cultures because they can bring happiness and cultural enrichment to your life because they are insiders in that culture, while you are an outsider but they can teach you so much. It is also special to be able to share your culture with them and vice versa. You learn so much from them and them from you. They can teach you what is considered respectful, and what is considered disrespectful in their culture and that is very helpful when you are exposed to a new culture that you do not know because you do not want to seem ignorant in a new place. Another lesson I have learned is to enjoy every single moment while traveling because it goes by really fast and traveling expands your horizons and introduces you to new experiences that you didn't know before. It makes you realize how beautiful life is and how to not be so ethnocentric. It opens your eyes to how different the world around you is and how there are difference in societies, politics, and culture that may be better or worse than where you are from, but you can have that in consideration and bring that back with you, and possibly bring about a change in your society, in your political views, and in how open you are to other cultures. What are some skills I have learned? Some skills that I have learned in my time being in Sevilla, Spain is cooking. I had a Tapas class at Pablo de Olavide University which taught me how to cook typical Spanish dishes and tapas which are like appetizers that Spanish people share and have out when they have a gathering. I also learned how to travel and be smart about my money while in Europe. I learned how to book cheap flights and make the most out of my time in each place I visited. There were multiple times where I traveled from Seville to different parts of Andalusia for about 20 euros or less and I was really proud because not a lot of people are smart about traveling to different places and they spend a lot of money on tickets that they could get for more than half the price that they are buying them for. Another skill that I have learned is how to adapt to different countries, cities/provinces, and situations. In some of the places I visited, Castellano was not the official language, there were several different dialects that were predominant in those regions. There was Catalan, Andalusian, Basque, Murcian, and Llanito. In various places I visited, the signs, billboards, directions in the airport and trains were written in these dialects and it made me become more aware and be prepared to have a language barrier but to also be prepared to overcome it and try to understand it. Another skill I have learned while being in Spain is how to communicate with people of different backgrounds than myself. In Spain, people are very straightforward. They say what they think and I learned to be more like this instead of beating around the bush and hiding behind my thoughts. This is effective in communication with people because they will know what you are thinking, how you feel etc. because you say it straightforward. Many say that re-entry shock is more challenging than initial culture shock. What are some things I might do to make the transition easier? Re-entry shock also known as reverse culture shock is 100% real. I didn’t want to believe it at first when I first heard about it from my friends who had studied abroad before me but now that I am currently facing it, I believe it. The first symptoms that I was feeling while still in Spain were not wanting to come back at all. I was really sad as the days kept getting closer and closer to me having to come back to the US. I just kept thinking about how amazing my experience not only in Sevilla was but also my experience at UPO. In my opinion, the teaching style in Spain is so much better than in the US. I really enjoyed each one of my classes and it was weird to come back to classes being taught in English since each class that I took was in Spain was in Spanish. Another thing was the pace. At UPO, the teaching pace was a lot slower than at NCC. Projects, papers, assignments were all spread out and I feel like that allowed students to grasp the concepts that were being taught a lot better than fast-paced teaching.  I also really enjoyed that classes ended on Thursdays, so we would only have classes Monday through Thursday evening. This also allowed us, students, to go out to explore and travel more. It also gave us a lot of free time to go sightseeing and enjoy the place that we called our home for 104 days. Since school was out on Thursday, me and my group of friends would go out and enjoy our time in Sevilla. We always spent so much time together that now that we are back, we all have so much to do with school, work and life in general. It was really upsetting that after being so close and seeing each other all the time and hanging out, back home we can barely all get together for lunch once a week because of all the things each of us has going on in life. It is like we had to all come back to reality and responsibilities that seemed so distant in Spain. The weather is another re-entry shock. After having days reaching 107, we come back to negative degree weather that is freezing. That was something I disliked because this weather doesn't allow us to do much. It is really gloomy and cold. I think the main thing about re-entry shock is that back in Spain, it felt like I was living in a dream. There was so much freedom from school, life, work, that it felt like there were really no responsibilities to worry about. Now coming back, school is so much harder and fast paced that it seems so much heavier to deal with. Then there are family problems that we face and have to deal with solving them when in Spain I had to offer solutions over messages. We have to go to work to make money to pay for school and bills and in Spain, working wasn’t allowed because of our student visas which was one less thing to worry about.  In Spain, there was so much beauty at our fingertips, we just had to walk about 5 minutes to see the beauty of Sevilla’s city center and here everything is kind of dull and so far away. I think it was just really hard to come back to such a different way of life from Sevilla to back home in Chicago and Naperville.

A way to deal with reverse culture shock is knowing that our experience abroad changed us. We adapted to the new culture and immersed ourselves in the new practices of our host country. We learned the sounds of the city, the smells, the food, the culture. It became part of our identity but now we are back. Something we can do is admit that we are back to what we once knew but also incorporate parts of our new identity into our old life. We can do this by continuing to speak the language, maybe cooking the food, and keeping up with the current events of the place we called home abroad. We can also keep updating our blog and update our journals with details of how we feel and how we felt back in our host country. Post pictures of our time abroad on social media and our blogs. We can talk to advisors and counselors or even the study abroad department about what we are feeling. The final thing we can do is re-adapt.  We have to relearn routines and patterns that we may have forgotten. We have to get back into the routine of our old life and continue moving forward.