#paintball war

[archangelween]

Parallels to the war in heaven

We know that the paintball battle is supposed to be a reenactment of the war in heaven.

Newt is Crowley's analogue, and Newt has just gotten a NEW job as a low level clerk and is asking weird, basic questions of another low level employee--he's saying he can't do simple things the way they want them done. In analogy, Crowley must have been promoted or somehow infiltrated the upper admin to try to get info about/stop the planned shut down of the universe. But he was caught, aka Newt was fired after blowing the power. I think Crowley may have found some way to kill miracle power, if we interpret Newt killing all power literally: angels run on miracle power, and they can't delete creation if they don't have the miracles to do it with.

This means Crowley was not high ranking originally. I think what people are reading as deference and respect isn’t about Crowley's assumed high rank, it's just Aziraphale's innate kindness. Perhaps Aziraphale was higher ranking, but I don't think that fits either because he doesn't have an analogue I can identify in the paintball war among all the high admin.

I don’t think angel ranks used to be about how much power an angel was created with, barring possibly Lucifer/Satan. Crowley clearly has a lot of power, but if he wasn't high ranking then ranks can't have been 1:1 about raw power. Hell's respect for Crowley is because he tried to spy on admin to prevent the war that none of them wanted, to stop the destruction of the universe that all of Lucifer's/hell's side was trying to prevent, to protect something they loved. To protect them all. If he was an original archangel, perhaps they got to choose their rank, and he didn't want to be admin, instead doing engineering. Perhaps there weren't ranks below the top admin, and the sleeve decorations denoted type or raw power instead of rank.

I haven’t figured out who Aziraphale is yet in the office parallels, if he’s even there. Perhaps Newt's mother sending him off to his job is Aziraphale's analogue? That would explain why he's not in the war itself, and also why both of them were taken out "early" (ie the ineffables getting shot just as they enter the manor) if they both got caught infiltrating admin. It also means that, since they were shot by opposing sides, hell didn't know Aziraphale was helping Crowley. Newt's mother has a dark green/blue sweater over a dark green dress with white and brown decoration; that's probably death and god's game, which fits Crowley the angel being replaced with Crowley the demon, followed with Aziraphale's usual cognitive acrobatics thinking surely god must want her creations protected. Newt has a dark graybrown suit, white shirt, and tie is red, yellow, grayblue, brown, cream. That’s motivation of the rules and some combo of spying with fate/choice, and the tie is anger/fear plus defiance, spying for defense of life, fate, and bending the rules. His dark green plant means he's part of god's game; their backdrop is light brown bricks, meaning their plan was a choice, not fate. The white box his plant is in tells us that Crowley honestly thought he was doing the right thing to save creation. He was also reluctant to go to this job, he didn't think it would work out, so Crowley was doing this as a last ditch effort because this was better than the alternative. He wanted it to work, he believed, but he was already disillusioned by this time. What had already happened to make him that way? Or had he learned from Aziraphale how things actually go down?

We don’t see the paintball war going on before the ineffables show up at the manor. As they roll up, Aziraphale says the place is loved; I think this is saying that before the war, heaven as a place was loved, and love was abundant. But….how does that track with knowing that there was fear and authoritarianism long before that? Maybe it wasn’t the reality of it or god who was loved (or she was, and they didn't realize her nature yet), but how angel Crowley loved it–the way it could be, the way he wanted it to be, and presumably how Lucifer's side wanted things. Love between each other, before disagreements got entrenched. The war could have been over defending that idea against the growing authoritarianism, not about who should get to be dictator, as traditional christian myth says.

The paintball fight is yellow flags using blue paint, and red flags using yellow. The rebellion side is Lucifer’s side, that’s the yellow people. Norman Weathered is Lucifer–the guy who suggests the “training initiative” ie the war. "Norman Weathered" as a name means northman which biblically refers to either Babylon or the north star; Lucifer can be read as being the "north star" ie the morningstar. Weathered is "tender of rams".

The first time we see him in the office, he’s got a blue/white pinstripe shirt and his tie looks dark red, pinstripe black suit. Can’t see the pattern. Black coffee cup. This means he’s driven by respect for life and the rules, plus love, but he’s hiding all this presumably because despite being the highest archangel, half of heaven doesn’t like that he's speaking out against god.

I think the black coffee cup means that he's hiding something about what he's saying: perhaps he's pushing for the fight and using it or "the rules" as cover to get rid of his opponents in order to protect creation: willing to kill to protect life. I do not think it can be due to wanting to rule, despite that being the traditional accusation, because he would not have a dark red tie. Perhaps that's what the blue and white stripe shirt means more abstractly: he interprets the rules as protecting life, not dominating it, but he's willing to defend it with whatever it takes. During the fight we see his tie is actually bright red, with blue and white flower-looking things. Looks like the same type of flower as is on Metatron’s tie. That his tie goes from looking dark to bright red means he didn’t actually want war, that he was forced into it, just as we see Norman doing: if they want war, we'll give them war.

Yellow with blue ammunition is Lucifer's side saying life matters and that defiance is worth defending it, against Gabriel's red with yellow ammunition side saying Lucifer's defiance matters and using war to enforce that. Thus the war was actually not something god wanted at all: the only orange is on Frobisher, who represents Michael, and ended the war. Since most of them are wearing dark green and dark brown camo, that means the war was part of god's game aka the ineffable plan and it was fate: it wasn't planned per se, but it was fate that the angels would fight over something. God deliberately set them up, engineered it, because she created them as they are. But again, neither side was “hers”, her representatives, even though Gabriel's claimed they are because they won. That was retcon. All winners claim to have god's hand: it seems like god was already not talking to anyone as far back as the pre-fall, perhaps even as far back as immediately after planning creation, and we know this because Janice Evanson in the office says she put in a complaint to HR, ie God, trying to prevent the paintball game. God clearly does nothing.

Janice Evanson means "gift from god, the lord is gracious/favor this child". She's on team yellow. She has a very light blue/green shirt with black and brown designs, I'm going to call that a version of aqua, ie both blue and green: marked as the game and life. The black and brown designs mean she's only slightly dissembling when she's trying to stop the war, and she's exercising free choice to do so: perhaps she doesn't want war only because war is wrong or it's annoying. Janice could be Furfur, who in s2 complains to the dark council about Crowley, which fits Janice complaining to HR about the other employees. That's the wrong season though so it's unlikely. She may be Dagon, purely because when Newt arrives he asks about the wages database, so this group deals with those files, and Dagon is lord of files.

Louisa Blatt "famous dove warrior", is the woman Newt talks to who wears pearls and a black sweater over a white shirt during the fight. She is probably Beelzebub, because Louisa tells Janice that she doesn't trust the people from the other team, which is what Beez says of Michael during Crowley's trial in hell. If she is, then Beelzebub being "favored" and "a gift from god" is a radical statement about hell's denizens: this is who they were before the fall; they're not damned for losing, which we already knew from heaven's winning side not being god's agents. I had originally thought she was Uriel, but she's on team yellow, so unless some of the rebels weren't tossed to hell--which is something the authors would do--that doesn't fit. The name doesn't fit with Uriel's "god is my flame/light of god" though so I don't think that's likely for this character. Beez has an orange sash in s1, so I think her being Louisa with the pearls fits.

The red side is the establishment, Gabriel's. Gabriel is Nigel Tompkins, the guy who announces the paintball in the office and runs up to the ineffables at the manor. Nigel Tomkins means "little twin champion"; traditionally, Gabriel, Michael, and Lucifer were twins/triplets. The first time we see him in the office, his shirt is white with a dark red tie, black suit, bright red coffee cup. That means he's a stickler for the rules and also doing things out of love: there was indeed love present in heaven before the war, just as Aziraphale said "this place is loved". As we see in present-day heaven though, it completely lacks love, because authoritarianism won. Nigel is speaking for war though, hence the bright red cup.

Michael is Frobisher, "warrior", the woman who calls newt a dick and is the one who shoots Norman. Traditionally she's the one who casts Lucifer down to hell. She’s in light browns during the fight, so her taking down Lucifer was her own choice, not fate. They didn’t have to force them to hell. Presumably whatever happened to force the change of name from Satan to Lucifer is what "shooting Norman" is referring to, and that's what this choice means: that wasn't fate, wasn't planned, and was entirely the angels' idea. Michael either is or used to be favored by god before the war, due to Frobisher's dark orange hair; dark orange indicated negative change, throwing a wrench in the works, as opposed to positive things with neon orange like saving Job's kids. Negative change, as in creating hell and eternal fights.

Frobisher has a pink shirt; the only other times we've seen pink are on sex workers, Tracey and Mrs Sandwich, both BDSM doms. It seems Michael either has a side gig or has been domming demons since pre-fall. In s2, Michael and Dagon seem to have a history as Dagon makes faces at Michael, which Michael shakes her head at to indicate "now is not the time". If Janice is indeed Dagon, then perhaps in s3 Michael and Dagon will be next to jump ship like Gabriel and Beez did: Janice didn't want the war, and Michael has been seeing them since before the war which is the reason Beez jumped ship in s2. Perhaps that's part of why Michael was so insistent on becoming the next supreme archangel, to gain that freedom.

Crowley did change the guns from harmless paintball to real guns though, which I think means that god intervened to up the ante: perhaps the angels didn't originally attempt to kill each other, but god gave them something in the middle of the fight that each side may have interpreted as the other deliberately doing: "they wanted war", when it was actually god doing it for her own amusement. Was it changing one side to demons so that halo bombs would be deadly? Was it inventing hellfire and holy water too, so each side had a weapon? Given the halo s2 reference to the war, I think that might be it--god made the Fall happen either before or halfway through the battle because "they wanted to be kill each other, so she gave them what they wanted". It was originally just a moral argument about what silent god wanted, but then god made it so they could die. And blamed it on them to wash her hands, as if she wasn't inventing murder. No wonder Gabriel's side thought that meant God was on their side, and against Lucifer's. But if there's an equal number of angels and demons in present day, then there must have been way more on Lucifer's side to start with if halos can permanently discorporate demons. And if there were way more, then god would be forced to introduce death to make that fight equal, to make it entertaining. The war would have ended everything for her. Can't be having that.

In s2, there's another war parallel in the attack on the bookshop. Perhaps not all the demons and angels went to war, if the availability of the demons is an indicator, and if we read the humans as angels who sat out the battle. Only two humans stayed behind, and very few demons got assigned to go on attack--this fits with the idea that there must have been a lot more demons on Lucifer's side than angels on Gabriel's. I think god must have intervened so that Lucifer wouldn't win, in order to keep her game going, so that there would still be two sides to continue fighting: if that's true, then some demons could have fallen for no reason, depending on how she divided it up. Crowley wasn't one of them though, there was a reason, even though the reason was fascist.

I think the paintball war is how things happened from hell's perspective, and the bookshop attack is how it happened from heaven's perspective. That may be why it comes off so lopsided in the bookshop. I do think there were more on Lucifer's side, but I don't think they were all fighting--much as with the paintball fight, I think they were evenly matched, and god nerfed Lucifer. We see things from Lucifer's team POV, but we aren't shown the other team. In the bookshop, we see things from Aziraphale's POV, aka heaven's, and we don't really see much of the demons' while they're there.

[rimupon]

in my mind Tanya is like one of those dog breeds that in the past were selectively bred to do work and now go stir crazy when they have nothing to do bc instincts demand they be doing Job

she absolutely needs to be useful. it is vital for her self image and the preservation of her ego.

sure she wanted that Job to be Boring Paperwork originally, but also as the books go on it kinda seems like she knows that ship has sailed and she’s stuck as a frontline commander. so Job is now aerial combat.

and after the war this outlet to be useful is no longer allowed and she probably gets antsy

anyway that’s why u need to bring Tanya to laser tag or paintball or something for enrichment post-war so she can get some excess energy out

[rose-of-the-grave]

The Great War: Chapter 7

Pairing: Mattheo Riddle x Reader

Hey everyone, it's a longer one but I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it in what free time I had! Also Merry early Christmas!!! Chapter 8 is already in progress and should be out soon! Sidenote: TGW is over 20k omg!!!!! As always I'm the author (please don't repost) <3

Masterlist. Series Masterlist. Read on Ao3

Warnings: magic paintball, Ron and Lavender, quidditch, trash talk/teasing, nerves, sad Hermione, hurt/comfort, fluff, Filch, Mattheo and Pansy are bffs

Word Count: 4330

Description: While her friends are busy Y/N gets into some mischief with her Slytherin friends. She, along with the rest of their team absolutely crush the Slytherins in a game of Quidditch and she helps Hermione through her current dilemmas.

Taglist: @sylveryfire, @dundunmin, @undercover-smutlover, @whoreforfictionalmen18, @lafrone, @lovemiss-vale

It had only been a few minutes since Harry and Hermione had left for Slughorn’s dinner party and Y/N was already bored. Ron was off getting some extra practicing in with some other Quidditch players outside so she had been left alone. Figuring she would find Pansy somewhere, causing mischief, she grabbed her coat and wand before heading out.

The hallways were abuzz with students discussing their Christmas plans. She sighed thinking about how that used to be her. Planning a ski trip in the Alps or a beach vacation in the Bahamas. Her parents always made good use of her breaks. Now they were somewhere in the Middle East, hiding from Death Eaters. She shuddered to think what might happen to them. For all she knew, they could already be dead. It had already been two weeks since she last heard from them.

Her worries were distracted by a little golden fairy-like apparition beckoning her to enter the room ahead. Her hand gently pressed against the door, pushing it open to reveal a room the size of the Great Hall. The floor was covered in pedestals with encased trophies. Pictures of those people decorating the walls.

About twenty feet in front of her stood Pansy wearing her uniform minus the robe. Her hair pulled back and wand in hand. She turned and waved, “Hey! You came.”

“That was you? The little golden fairy thing?” She motioned her hand as if to demonstrate.

“It’s a new trick I learned.”

Y/N slowly nodded her head, walking over to where she stood. “So…what are you doing here?”

“Same thing as you. I was bored.” Pansy shook her head causing her earrings to jingle a bit. “I’m trying to find someone but I don’t think they're here.”

Y/N’s brow furrowed, “Who?”

The Slytherin opened her mouth but then her gaze shifted, her eyes having glimpsed a bit of movement. Bringing a finger to her mouth, she gave Y/N a stern look before peeking behind one of the trophy cases.

“Aha! Busted!” She chuckled, casting some spell that shot blue sparks that splattered on the person’s coat.

“Hey!” Riddle stood up from his hiding place, dusting off his pants. He walked over to the two of them, tossing his spell-splattered coat at Pansy.

“Ew!” She held it up by the collar. Wrinkling her nose, she taunted, “Sore loser!”

“Reckless words from someone with a clean uniform.” He took out his wand.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

He smirked, “Try me.” Before she could say anything blue was splattered all over the front of her white shirt.

“Mattheo!”

“Pansy!” He mocked. His face suddenly turned to shock, his entire left cheek covered in blue. He turned to face Y/N, a dangerous, almost hungry look in his eyes. “Oh, it’s on.”

Suddenly blue was shot right at her, catching her square in the chin. She fired back at him, right when Pansy did, causing him to retaliate with even more until all of their clothes were covered in blue as well as the area around them. A portrait of an older witch not too far away was now half covered so it was impossible to tell what she looked like.

Just when Pansy was about to call truce Riddle hit with one more magic blue paintball. Raising her wand above her head she said, “Any last words?”

He laid a hand to his chest, tossing his head back, “Tell Blaise I fought till the bitter end and died a hero.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Blue splattered all over his chest and neck.

“And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how it’s done.” She took a bow.

He sat up, squinting at her. “Very funny. You still have two more people to find so hop to it.”

She rolled her eyes, turning to Y/N “You wanna help me?”

“Sure, why not? I’ve got nothing better to do.”

“There’s the enthusiasm!” She grabbed her by the wrist and pushed past Riddle who was shaking his head.

“Cheater!”

“Loser!” She shouted back. The two girls were almost to the door when they heard Filch’s voice.

“Shit, fuck, ugh!” She muttered before turning on her heel. Y/N followed quickly behind her as she grabbed Riddle’s arm, “Come on! Let’s go!”

The three of them turned to see Filch open the door and see all of the blue splats all over the room.

He ran, shouting at them to stop. “I’ll have your heads!”

They laughed, running away, their shoes hitting the floor at light speed with Filch hot on their tails.

Motioning them past a statue, Pansy led the way into a secret tunnel.

“Lumos!” Her wand erupted with bright light, illuminating their path. Y/N kept on accidentally running into Pansy, Riddle right behind her. They didn’t stop until they reached the other side. The tunnel had led them to what Y/N could only assume was the Slytherin common room. She had never been inside except for that one party which was too packed to see anything but she recalled what Harry and Ron had said back in second year. It was just as dark as they had said, with very expensive furnishments. No doubt paid for by parents. The fireplace which was full of ash but not a single spark had a shiny exterior with two snakes running down its sides. The carvings were extremely detailed, every scale shining and polished. Green gems glinted from the eyes.

In the center of the room was a huge black couch and a handful of armchairs. Each looked brand new.

“Took you long enough.” Draco called from where he sat on the couch. A handful of other Slytherins, most of whom she didn’t know that well, sat near him. One or two gave her a polite nod but that was all.

Riddle hopped over the armrest and made a spot for himself on the other end of the couch. “You all are no fun. The game wasn’t over yet and you all just gave up?”

“In case you have forgotten, some of us have assignments to complete. Not that you would know since you don’t come to class.” Daphne said.

Pansy snorted. “I’m surprised you’re even passing.”

Y/N nodded, taking a seat on one of the unoccupied chairs away from everyone else. Recently she had seen him a total of three times in class over the past month. Whenever he showed up she was shocked to realize that he was in that class.

Before Riddle could reply Millicent chimed in, “It’s cause they’re all scared of him.”

“No, they just don’t want him in class.” Daphne responded. “They barely have enough time as it is for all of his detentions.”

“Oh, yeah. How many more weeks do you have left with Trelawney before you’re done?”

Y/N glanced over at him, remembering when Hermione mentioned that. But that was a while ago.

“Four.” He laughed.

“How many have you already done?” Y/N wondered.

He smiled.

“Go on. Tell her.” Pansy taunted.

“Eight.”

“Eight?” Her voice turned a bit squeaky. “What the hell did you do?”

Draco who had been silent for the whole conversation, off in his head, suddenly jumped in. “He released a bunch of stink bombs in her room and blamed it on Peeves. It was in the middle of a test.”

“In my defense, Peeves was about to do it anyway. She totally bought it too.”

Puzzled, she asked, “Then how’d she find out it was you?”

“Your friend, Granger, outed him.” Daphne said.

Malfoy wrinkled his nose in disgust while a few of the others grimaced. There was a reason why she never mentioned her friends when hanging out with them. They were personas non grata within the Slytherin house.

“Right. Sorry I asked.”

“It’s fine. It gives me something to do every Tuesday night.” Riddle said but he didn’t look fine. He had shadows under his eyes and miscellaneous cuts and bruises on his face and arms. His shirt was dyed blue from earlier, no white visible anymore. In fact, one of his wounds had a bit of blood trickling from it, turning the magical paint purple. Some traitorous part of her wanted to wipe it away, to comfort him. The other part of her wanted to know what he was thinking. If he knew anything. As far as she had seen all he did was cut class and hang out with friends while smoking and occasionally drinking. She hadn’t seen him with that girl from the party since she bumped into them. For some reason that made her smile a bit.

Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the return of Blaise and Theodore. Glancing over her shoulder she was surprised to see them dressed so formal. Both of them sat down on the couch in between Draco and Riddle.

She sat still, unsure what she should do. If they were getting back now, then Harry and Hermione were probably headed back to the common room. Ron was probably done practicing. The Slytherins had no windows in their common room but she suspected the sky was already dark.

Nudging Pansy in the arm, she whispered, “I should probably go.”

She turned to look at her, “Okay, see ya.”

“Bye!” She waved at Pansy before walking up the stairs.

“Hey, tell Potter and Weasley to watch out tomorrow!” Someone yelled after her.

She whirled around, a teasing smile on her face. She yelled, “No need! We’re going to kick your asses!”, before ducking out of the common room. A pair of brown eyes trailing behind her before Pansy caught his eye, giving him a knowing look.

-------------------

Ron was the first thing she saw upon entering the common room, or rather the group surrounding him and a few other quidditch players.

A few gave way when she approached them, allowing her access to the couch where her friends were sitting. They were all wishing them luck. Eventually Ginny told them to give Ron some space.

“Come on, nothing to see here.”

Ron sat there, head in his hands while Harry sat beside him, reassuring him. They had their first match in the morning and all week in practice he had been off his game. Even worse, it was against Slytherin so tension was high. The animosity between the two houses had reached an all time high.

Katie Bell was still out a month later. Her replacement, Dean Thomas, had proven himself to be a strong player, giving them hope despite everything. Although it had raised some tension between him and his girlfriend. They had yet another fight right before Slughorn’s party right in the middle of the common room not long after Harry and Hermione left. Something about how closely she and Harry were working on strengthening their team’s strategy.

“Hey Ginny,” Harry said. “What were you going to tell me earlier after practice?”

The redhead’s face lit up despite how tear-stained it had looked, earlier “Oh, yeah. During class today I overheard some Slytherins talking. Two of their players are out of commission for tomorrow’s match, including Malfoy.”

Harry sighed, relieved, “Well that’s good news.”

“Nice!” Y/N said, high fiving Ron who was similarly glad. She hadn’t noticed it earlier but Draco must have gotten injured or something. Maybe that’s why he had seemed so gloomy.

“I must admit, I was looking forward to the look on Malfoy’s face when we won. I can hear him now,” He put on a high pitched voice in a dramatic imitation of the blond Slytherin, “‘My father will hear about this!’”

All four of them collapsed in a fit of laughter.

Struggling to reign in his laughing in order to speak he went into an imitation again, “‘I’m Draco Malfoy and I’m a blond ferret who needs his rich daddy to hear me complain about everything!’”

She felt sick with laughter, clutching her stomach. It did feel odd though, now that she hung out with him more often. Not that they talked much.

When she finally looked up, meeting her friends’ eyes none of them could keep from laughing, breaking almost immediately. It was true what they say, laughter is infectious. The mirth in each others’ eyes twinkled, a welcome sight after so much gloom surrounding the impending exams before Christmas break. Outside of quidditch practice there had been few opportunities to be outside, enjoying the winter weather. Studying had kept them all tied to their books inside. In just a few short weeks school would be out and they all couldn’t wait to escape from the oppressive weight of classwork.

The next morning at breakfast all of their joy had been sucked out, leaving them all jittery with nerves. Ron most of all. The three of them watched as he walked in, stiff as a board. A handful of Slytherin’s taunts echoed but he kept on heading their way. He sat down opposite Harry and a plate appeared with the most unappetizing breakfast imaginable. Ron grimaced, looking up at Harry and Hermione.

“So, how was it?” He asked.

Hermione looked up from her book, “How was what?”

“Your dinner party?”

“Pretty boring actually. Though I think Harry enjoyed dessert.” She said with a small grin on her face.

Harry busied himself with his plate, not meeting their eyes. She exchanged a confused look with Ron. What on Earth did Hermione not tell her last night?

“Slughorn’s having a Christmas party next week and we’re meant to bring someone.”

“I expect you’ll be bringing McLaggen then. He’s in the Slug Club isn’t he?”

Y/N internally slapped her hand to her forehead. Teenage boys could be so dense.

Hermione shook her head, “Actually, I was going to ask you.”

She smiled, elbowing Harry in the ribs. He turned to look at her, his green eyes already rolling in exasperation. She gleefully took his five Galleons and pocketed them before either of their friends spotted it.

Ron scoffed, “Really?”

In the corner of her eye she spotted a flash of blonde hair.

Lavender came up behind Ron. “Good luck today Ron.” She touched his shoulder, “I know you’ll be brilliant.” She flashed him a smile which left him looking a little dazed before walking back to her friends.

Y/N glanced over at Hermione to see her dismayed expression. Reaching behind Harry’s back she touched her shoulder to reassure her. She gave her a small, sad smile before turning back to her forgotten book beside her plate.

Ron gulped, “I’m resigning. After today’s match, McLaggen can have my spot.”

Harry calmly said, “Have it your way. Juice?” He slid a cup across the table.

“Hello Everyone.” Luna’s light and airy voice drew their attention. There she sat, next to Ron, with a lion hat, the mouth was the opening for her head. She gave Ron a look, “You look dreadful, Ron.” Turning to face Harry, she asked, “Is that why you put something in his cup? Is it a tonic?”

All three of them turned to look at him. Ron, who had been about to take a sip, paused and examined the seemingly harmless contents.

Harry’s elbow bumped into Y/N’s as he put something away. She glanced down to see the familiar glint of Felix Felicis. Harry had a habit of toying with it when he was bored.

“Liquid Luck.” she said.

Hermione let out a gasp, “Don’t drink it Ron!”

The redhead shrugged before taking a slow sip. Setting it down he met them with a far more confident look, a noticeably different expression than the one he had earlier when he threatened to resign.

“You could be expelled for that!” Hermione hissed.”

Harry just shrugged, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Ron began to stand up, a smile on his face. “Come on Harry. We’ve got a game to win.”

“Yeah, that’s the spirit!” Y/N exclaimed. She and Harry both stood up. They were going to absolutely crush the Slytherins. Hermione gave them, both a disgruntled look but said nothing.

Once they got on the pitch Harry gave them all a pep talk. “We are going to go out there and we are going to win!”

“Yeah!” They all cheered, raising their brooms in the air.

Ron, instilled with a newfound confidence, marched out to the curtain where they all mounted their brooms.

“Three, two, one,” Harry paused, “Go!” In unison, all seven of them pushed off the ground and soared through the air, circling the pitch. The Gryffindor student section went wild, along with plenty of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. The sound drowning out the Slytherins booing.

A few seconds later the Slytherin team emerged, cheered on by their house. Draco, along with a few others, were noticeably missing. Replaced with other students. They just needed to hope that they would be off their game because of it. Once they got information she looked across at the player in front of her which just so happened to be a certain curly haired Slytherin.

“You’re going down” She mouthed.

He smirked. “You wish.”

Madam Hooch walked out under the field beneath them, blowing the whistle and releasing all of the balls. Harry’s eyes, as per usual, were immediately latched onto the Snitch. The rest of them were immediately spreading out, trying to get a clear path for Ginny to throw the Quaffle. Y/N drew closer so she could pass it before diving lower to escape the Slytherins. Just as she was about to score, the Keeper hit it away, tossing it to someone else.

“Better luck next time!” Riddle taunted from where he sat, perched on his broom a few feet away.

Gritting her teeth, she flew away just in time to see Ron manage to stop the ball from going through one of the hoops.

“Whoohoo!” She cheered before joining her teammates in their formation. Ginny broke away, narrowly escaping one of their Beaters. Her feet only a couple inches away from the icy ground below. Y/N followed suit, distracting the player long enough for Ginny to slam the ball right into the goal, causing two of the Slytherins to collide into it and fall.

After Ron began to block even more points the crowd began to chant, “Weasley! Weasley! Weasley!” The sound of it a soundtrack behind the rest of the game as Ron kept on blocking shot after shot and the rest of them kept on scoring. Not long after, the game was over and they were headed back to the team room. As the winning team they made a few celebratory circles around the Quidditch pitch, the crowd going wild. Most of the Slytherins were walking off, disappointed.

Harry gave them a very brief congratulatory talk before letting them all get changed so they could get back to the common room for the party. The entire room erupted in cheers when the seven of them entered, a banner that had Gryffindor painted on it was lifted high in the air and Ron was lifted onto people’s shoulders. He had the biggest smile on his face, a sort of dazed look in his eyes. Everyone was cheering for him. Even McLaggen halfheartedly joined in despite being a bit dejected over not getting on the team again.

Y/N watched on from where she stood next to Hermione.

“You really shouldn’t have done it.” She said to Harry.

Y/N looked over at him. He smiled impishly from the other side of Hermione. “I know. I suppose I could’ve just used the Confundus charm.”

“That was different. That was tryouts, this was an actual game.” She said, disappointed.

Harry took something out of his pocket to show her. There it was, right between his fingers. The Felix Felicis vial. And it was full.

“You didn’t put it in. Ron only thought you did.”

He nodded, pocketing it once more.

Y/N shook her head in amazement. Of course he did.

All three of them turned back in time to watch as Lavender grabbed Ron by the shoulders and kissed him, Ron’s arms wrapping around her waist. Harry began to clap along with the others but Y/N felt Hermione back away. She watched as Harry finally noticed that she was gone and how his smile faded. Y/N was about to follow her when he put a hand on her arm and shook his head.

“I’ll go.”

She nodded.

--------------------

“I can’t believe you’re going to Slughorn’s party with McClaggen!” Y/N said, hitting her with her pillow.

“I know! I thought it would annoy Ron the most.” Hermione admitted. She flopped down on her back right beside where Y/N sat.

“Have you seen him with Lavender? I doubt he can even notice from where she’s snogging him every five seconds.” Y/N grimaced. They had become insufferable.

Her best friend’s face became dejected. She hated how weak she felt, hurting over a boy.

“Look, I’m sure he’ll be annoyed. He hates Cormac. If he doesn’t notice then I’m sure Harry will mention it to him if you ask.”

Hermione smirked but shook her head. “No. I just want him to notice me, like actually notice me as more than just his friend. It’s not the same if someone is pointing his face in my direction.”

Y/N gave her a hug, mentally thrashing Ron in her head. He would be lucky to have her if he could just see what a wonderful girl was right in front of him. Not that Lavender was a bad person but she smothered him. He didn’t admit it but it was in his eyes whenever she called him her ‘Won-won’. They had only been together for a little over a week but she could tell he was getting tired.

“He will. And if he doesn’t then someone else will. You’re intelligent, funny, and absolutely beautiful. Anyone would be lucky to have you.”

“Thanks.” Y/N could tell she didn’t fully believe it but there was nothing more she could do about that other than remind her.

Hoping to distract her she decided to tell her about what she had overheard in the library earlier. “Okay, so you know Romilda Vane? The girl with the long, dark, and curly hair that we saw Hannah Abbott talking to the other day? Apparently she’s trying to sneak Harry a love potion! I heard her talking about it with some of her friends.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Boy am I glad that I’m not the Chosen One.”

She snorted, “Speaking of, Harry still needs a date to Slughorn’s party.”

“I’m not going if that’s what you’re going to ask.”

“Ugh, why not?”

“Because.”

“No. Give me a real answer. Come on, it’ll be fun! You can distract me from my horrible choices.”

“You can manage. Besides, I have a paper to write.”

“Fair enough. We don’t want you to fail.”

Y/N smiled at her. “I thought you’d think so.”

“You know me so well.”

“I sure do.”

--------------------

A few days passed before the party. Y/N walked into her room to find it in total shambles. Hermione sat in the middle of it. She was still in a shirt and a pair of pants, the only thing done was her makeup. Although subtle, it was there.

“Wow.”

She looked up at her, “I know. I can’t decide.”

“Well you don’t have many dresses so how hard of a decision can it be?”

Hermione sighed. “I didn’t think this through. What am I doing?”

Kneeling beside her amidst the piles of clothes, she gave her a tight squeeze. “It’s going to be alright. Now! What are the options?”

Hermione nodded, glad to have a distraction from the horrifying thought of having to dance with Cormac of all people.

“Okay, how about this one?” Y/N raised the dress that she wore for the Yule Ball. It was still in really good condition.

Hermione shook her head. “I want to wear something else. Something a bit more, I don’t know. Mature? I guess?”

“Oo! How about this one?” It was a pretty pink dress that she had gotten on vacation with her parents over the summer holidays. She still hadn’t worn it.

Hermione took it from her and quickly changed into it. After she zipped it up she turned so Y/N could see it.

“That’s the one!” It was absolutely gorgeous. The pink shade suited her so well and the v-neck and knee length cut made her look amazing. It was so different from what she normally wore. They found a necklace and a pair of earrings that matched her new dress.

“Oh, look at the time! I need to go!” Hermione exclaimed.

“Not so fast! Just give me a minute.” Y/N immediately set to doing her hair, brushing it out a bit before using her wand to curl the ends. As a last touch she grabbed a small clip to tuck a strand of hair back with.

“Okay, you look gorgeous! Let’s go!”

Hermione slipped on a pair of heels and hurried down the stairs.

Y/N watched as she left, excited to hear all about it when she returned. Hopefully Cormac would be able to keep his hands to himself.

Ducking back into the room she realized just how empty it was. The mess of clothes was still all over the place. Sighing, she got to work, cleaning it up, putting all of Hermione’s clothes away. She then went over to her own bed and opened up her bottom drawer. In it was a notebook that she had been using to meticulously note everything she observed about a certain Dark Lord’s son. All she had was the various places she had seen him smoke and that he liked listening to the Smiths. She had been listening to them for research and research only. Although she did occasionally wonder what his favorite song was.

Chapter 8>>

(Let me know if you want to be tagged in upcoming chapters!)

[mibgl]

Paintball AU!! 💕🔫

УРА!!! ВСЕ ЖИВЫ, ВСЕ ЗДОРОВЫ, НИКТО НЕ УМРЁТ, НИКАКОЙ ВОЙНЫ!!!!

[graylinesspam]

501st vs 212th vs 104th paintball war

The ammunition had been color coded. To "determine the accuracy of the different factions". That was command code for earning the right to gloat.

And boy were they ever. There had been three factions. Three colors and the once white or primarily white of their armors had been marred with a slurry of shots. The viscous ooze that was left in the wake of each little explosion of color had dripped and congealed into a mostly beige mess that stained every man and most surfaces.

it was an oil based fluid as was apparent when their hands only managed to smear the muck around until it took on more of a sad brown shade but remained no less on the surface of their plastoid.

The winners, the bastards stood tall in a ring around their Jedi, helmets tucked under their arms, unashamed of their stained condition for it paled in comparison to the conditions of the troops around them. Not even the paint smeared over their cheeks could wipe the cocky grins from them.

Jesse sulked, using a rag to smear the mess around. Gaining no ground in removing the evidence of his defeat. Boys in blue were scattered around in similar states, clouds of malaise accumulating over their heads.

Ahsoka had to hold back her amusement, lest she seem anything less than loyal to her men. Still their utter defeat was so amusing. Her boys were good. Very good. But only a handfull of them had really been trained as a special task force. She had her ARCs. Her own strike team that she'd chosen and trained just the way she wanted them. And for their credit Fives, Echo, and Rex remained far less of a disaster than their brethren.

But they had been squarely defeated. Cody and Wolffe coming to an agreement early in the game that allied them against the boys in blue. They had soundly whooped her men and left them in a state of humiliation, before they turned on each other.

They'd fought hard and dirty, rolling over the floor like animals. Like rabid things.

And it wasn't out of a lack of loyalty that Ahsoka found herself impressed. Far from it. It was a loyalty buried to deep in her that incited a near feral glee in watching Cody and Wolffe perform al out warfare against each other. For as deep as her loyalties ran with the 501st, they were not the first faction she'd been allied with. And given the opportunity, which the Jedi most certainly were not, she'd have been down there in the ring wrestling with them as well.

For as much as she respected Cody, there was something about Wolffe that just resonated with her in an instinctual way. In the way that he stalked, hunted, attacked.

They had the same teeth, her and her first brother. And he flashed them at her now in a show of victory, over the lowered heads of his defeated foes. dark gray paint tainting every surface. Hand prints marring Cody's armor. Rex's. Boil's. Five's.

Wolffe grinned with all his teeth exposed to the air and Ahsoka could have howled with him. But all she dared do was flash her fangs in return.

[sem24]

I maintain that the best live-action Han Solo performance is not Harrison Ford or Alden Ehrenreich. But Danny Pudi as Abed as Han Solo. In, I think the 2nd paintball episode in Community.

[drconstellation]

The Great War of Tadfield Manor

Future Echoes of the Past #1

One of the books on the shelf that Jimbriel is organizing is Catch-22, by Joseph Heller. I have to admit it’s been a while since I read it, (er, several decades, if I’m truthful about it) but my enduring memory is it seemed like the author wrote it in a linear fashion, then took all the chapters and threw them up in the air and put them back together at random, because it bounces back and forth in time in a confusing kind of way. There is a method to this madness, however, and the structure is deliberate. It’s also dealing with bureaucratic absurdity, but that’s not what I’m trying to explore in this particular meta. It’s the bouncing back and forth in time bit.

Now we have two series of GO to feast on, we seem to be slowly piecing together the expanded history of the GO universe in an inferred kind of way. It’s rarely given to us directly in a chunk, it’s mostly by a comment here and there and then we try to join the dots.

So we’ve learnt that there was a great deal of time that existed for Heaven before time on Earth got started, in 4004 BC, maybe an ineffably long period of time, maybe millions of years, maybe not. Sometime prior to 4004 BC, however, there was a rebellion in Heaven between at least two factions of the angels. This event is sometimes called the Great War - which is what Aziraphale is referring to in S2E6 when he is removing his halo for demon-detonating purposes; he’s not referring to what us humans would call World War 1 in the early 20th century. The result of the Great War led to the formation of Hell. The angel known as Lucifer was the leader of the losing side, and he was known as Satan afterwords. A third of the heavenly host of angels were sent with him down to Hell, and this event is called the Fall. They became fallen angels, or demons. At some point, there is supposed to be a second War, one that will decide who is the winner once and for all time. Well, that’s supposed to be the Plan - God’s Ineffable Great Plan, right? And we all know how the first attempt for that to get started ended up, don’t we?

As we start to look more closely into parallel stories and scenes between the two series, some curious pairs of parallels are starting to emerge. And even more interesting is that some of these pairs indicate that they will get a third presentation  - I’m not just talking about the 1941 Blitz scene here, there are others! And I’m going to try and talk about one of them here, that I think has largely slipped under the radar up until just recently.

There was a meta by @newfangledfancy here about the two parallel scenes in S1 and S2 involving miraculous escapes from being shot with a loaded gun, and we should expect a third one in S3. It’s worth pausing and heading over to read it at this point, but if you don’t, I’ll try to fill you in - and I will revisit in the future, as while it contained the seeds of inspiration for this meta, it also reveals something interesting about Crowley's backstory that's worth discussing on its own. You probably know what and where the S2 “miraculous escape” is referring to: the Bullet Catch scene during the 1941 Blitz minisode in S2E4. But where is the one in S1? It’s at Tadfield Manor, in S1E2, after Crowley has turned all the paintball guns into real guns, and Norman, on the yellow team, cracks it, does a big rant about his life and charges into the firing line of the opposing red team, only to be shot straight in the heart.

Let’s rewind this a little bit, because I want to talk about when Crowley and Aziraphale first arrive at Tadfield Manor. All seems calm and quiet. They stroll in side by side – and are each shot by a paintball. Yep, this has been watched over and over, comments made about the colours of the paint, how they represent their various “sides”, and the sexual innuendo in way Crowley miracles it away after Aziraphale makes heart-eyes at him. But you’ve all missed once very important clue about what was about to go down in the next few minutes that was right in front of you all along.

Maybe I should pause this meta just here and refer back to my big colour meta I posted recently. I specifically went to all that work so I could come here and discuss the following event at Tadfield Manor.

Firstly, the paintball colours. There are three: blue, yellow and red.  

There is a discrepancy between the colour that book!Crowley and screen!Crowley gets hit by. In the book its yellow, but in the tv series its red. Just at this point I’m going to emphasize that yellow is not the same as gold; gold is one of the colours of Heaven, but yellow is usually associated with fear.

Secondly, Aziraphale is hit with blue paint. That’s consistent with both book and tv. Then Crowley blows the blue taint of Heaven away, because Aziraphale needs help to escape its abusive clutches, its not something he can do on his own. Ah, a cute demonstrative metaphor there, another layer to that little scene.

BUT YOU DON’T SEE A BLUE COLOURED TEAM IN THE FOLLOWING BATTLE! Where is the blue team, that supposedly represents Heaven in the following battle? Did they just vanish when Crowley snapped his demon-miracle into place? I dunno, but we just see a yellow and a red coded team for the rest of the battle. But if blue is always Heaven-coded, yellow is fear, and red, while often demon-associated should be seen more as an indication of passion…what it really going on? Who is at war with who? It can’t be Heaven against Hell, because Heaven is not present, per se, as you know it, and neither is Hell, which is usually green. Oh no, it’s not that black and white…because we are watching a battle where Hell doesn’t yet exist, there is only Heaven at this point. One side, one faction, in fear, the other fighting with passion, and the division that actually creates the ‘blue’ side is yet to occur…

We’re watching a re-enactment of the Great War.

Let’s take another step back, to here: S1E2, around 15.46 minutes in. Newton Pulsifer is about to start a new job (wait, what? What the Hell is Newt doing mixed up in this? To honest, I'm not quite sure...*looks at a certain at note she made IN ALLCAPS again*...oh ffs- that is the worst joke, its got to be one of Terry's...now I can't stop cackling...oh, god now I've spotted another awful, awful joke...poor Newt, I love you more every second...)

*ahem* Back to the impending battle. Because it's here in the office of UNITED WORLDWIDE HOLDINGS (HOLDINGS) - an office *wink wink* of management and bureaucracy, that we establish the tension. As Newt slides into his seat, Nigel the manager arrives to ask who is exited about the upcoming "training initiative." Turns out, not really anyone has much enthusiasm for it.

Janice is going to complain to HR. Nigel points out there is no "I" in team, and Norman, who apparently organized the whole thing, proceeds to pick the three 'eyes' out of the "team building exercise."

This is going well, isn't it? [Newt departs. His role here is done.]

Lets skip to Tadfield Manor and the "training initiative" is underway. The Red team, lead by Nigel the Manager, seem to have the upper hand. The Yellow team see to be pleased at a chance to let off some steam with anyone who has annoyed them, the bitches.

Then God drops in to make an interesting observation.

Firms these days expected more than that. They wanted to establish leadership potential, group cooperation, and initiative, which allowed their employees to fire paintballs at any colleagues who irritated them.

Oh. Right. Lets deliberately cause a little chaos so we can see who's got leadership potential, who works together, and who actually has some brains? Go God! Lets start a little War and we'll pick the new Archangels out of the winners? Nice one. Plus, we get rid of all the troublemakers in the process, and we'll just be left with those who like to follow management's orders...

Then Crowley ups the ante. As the young woman who was the only keen employee to come, and is on the Red team, no less, runs past and asks "Who's winning?" he snaps his fingers and to change all the paintball guns to real guns.

Cr: You're all going to lose. Az: What - what the Hell did you just do? Cr: Oh, they wanted real guns, so I gave them what they wanted.

You're all going to lose.

Aziraphale does his best to protest at the demon's bit of wicked mischief.

Az: But there are people out there shooting at each other! Cr: Well -  Lends weight to their moral argument. Everyone has free will, including the right to murder. Just think of it as a microcosm of the universe.

A microcosm of the universe?

Who's universe, Crowley? Yours? The humans? It's a big universe out there...

Things don't seem to be going to well for some, and Norman, on the Yellow team, has finally reached his breaking point. He makes a declaration. I'm only going to quote the last bit of his little speech, as I want to deal with the first bit in another meta. As he takes off his tie, and wraps it around his head, he says:

"They want war, we're going to give 'em war! OK guys, let's go get the bastards!"

Hmmm. Do the visuals remind you of anything?...

He turns around to charge out - and is promptly shot in the heart. While it's Nigel the manager he is facing when it happens, it's actually the young woman from the Red Team who ran past Crowley and Aziraphale inside the Manor, who asked who was winning, that fired the shot. The implications of this? I'm going to save that for another meta.

The sequence moves on to the infamous wall-slam encounter, which I don't think we need to go over here, so lets skip to where Crowley and Aziraphale have finished questioning the past-Sister Mary Loquacious and have decided they've found all they are going to find here its time to leave. The police have arrived and have broken up the fight. The fun and games are over. As they walk, floating unnoticed and serene, through the chaos, Aziraphale starts to ponder.

Az: You'd think he'd show up, wouldn't you? You'd think we could detect him in some way. Cr: He wont show up, not to us. Protective camouflage. He wont even know that his powers will keep him hidden from prying occult forces. Az: Occult forces? Cr: You and me. Az: I'm not occult. Angels aren't occult, we're ethereal.

Crowley refers to the two of them as one kind of entity, but Aziraphale insists there is a difference - they aren't the same. Not any more.

The War is over, and the division between Heaven and Hell has been created.

[Edit: I've since finished a meta on the Bentley and it's connection to crossing the thresholds between worlds. I mention this scene in it, as it is actually a beautiful example of two different times and places existing at once, overlaid on one another, as indicated by the smoke - that's a sign we are in a subliminal space. Its why Aziraphale and Crowley seem to just glide through untouched and noticed, as they aren't really there, in a way.]

Will we see another echo of the Great War in S3? Possibly.

It's the 3-card Monte. Its the three cowrie shells and a lone caraway seed. It's the Professor's Nightmare, where you don't know how long a piece of string rope is.

It's a f*cking Mobius strip that has no beginning and no end, infinitely going around and around.

It's God's game. Only She knows where it stops.

Further reading in this series:

#2: The Newton/Crowley Mirror-Parallel in S1

#3: "Not Even At Gunpoint!"

[witchcraftandgeekness]

Elijah tried to be patient and peaceful. He did his best to not descent on the same level as his brats of the siblings, he truly did. But he can restrict himself no more.

The taste for vengence is rooted deeply in his nature, he drank it in with mother's milk.

Elijah couldn't believe that these buffoons had him so worked up for such trivial reasons but the traditions of his Norman ancestry demand him to avenge the disgrace that was set upon him.

Each of them will pay sevenfold, for every damned paintball stain left on his favourite suit. From now on, Elijah had set his foot on the silly (but nonetheless honourable) path of paintball war. The poor idiots will suffer for such daring act of property damage. Elijah shan't show them any mercy.

[fumiko-matsubara]

Puey stays AU: 3E Civil War Arc

There's a strong cultural trait amongst Filipinos called "Utang na loob", which simply means "being deeply indebted to someone's kindness to the point of obligation to return the favour".

Puey would have so much "utang na loob" towards Korosensei because the teacher was the one who saved his family, and essentially saving Puey himself as well since his family is his reason to keep living.

I don't think he has any more reason to genuinely want to kill the man who had changed his life for the better, especially after learning that he is just as human as any of them all are. I think Puey would take any chance to return the favour.

[aromanticannibal]

it's so funny to me that the war arc in assassination classroom is two of the kids beating each other up and the war arc in mha is People Dying

[drekkavac-moving]

sitting here thinking anya and bucky would be the worst to play paintball against ... & you better hope that they're on the same team ... or it'll take over 24 hours ...

[backpackingspace]

okay listen listen I'm pretty sure training sabers are A Thing however I think it would be funny if the jedi children were giving actual real laser swords.

[opisasodomite]

I don’t think of myself as being out of shape since I started exercising, but after playing with my niece and nephew yesterday, which involved throwing an (American) football, climbing a rope, and being spun on a tree swing, I’m more sore today than I think I’ve ever been lmao

[flying-ham]

I can’t believe it’s community’s fault that gamora and nat died in avengers </3

[gyokusai]

Stormtroopers Source: Attribution decay

[sonicasura]

KN8/ Pokémon

The Great Paintball War Of Tachikawa Base

The Great Paintball is considered by many too be the most chaotic, fun, and most fearful time of their life. Multicolor paint decorated many of the Paintball wars combatants by the end of this war.

This is going too give a timeline of events along with statements from many who participated in the Great Paintball War

At exactly 10:04 AM Vice Commander Soshiro Hoshina of the Defense Forces Third Division called forth all of his Troops that he was training.

Here is were a special announcement was made, Commander Hoshina put forward today's training exercise, a Paintball War. Confusing many with the training exercise Commander Hoshina put forward the rules. 4 Factions would be formed and once the 4 Factions were formed, one from each faction would send someone up too grab a popsicle stick with a location on the Base. This is were 1 of the 4 factions would begin and would be supplied with various Paintball guns and Paintballs. Which ever Faction is left standing by the end of the day would not have too join in on the clean up process of the Base and would get a Unknown Prize from Commander Hoshina.

With the rules set in place, Factions quickly formed and Leaders quickly emerged

The 1st Faction was named The Valkyrie Guardians led by Kikoru Shinomiya

The 2nd Faction was named The Leo Rangers led by Aoi Kaguragi

The 3rd Faction was named The Rush Vanguard led by Haruichi Izumo

The 4th and final Faction was named The Ace Commandos led by Reno Ichikawa. Though Reno Ichikawa would later admit that the name was not his idea but his Vice-Commander Iharu Furuhashi

With the Factions and their leaders decided, their Base of operation was quickly selected by once they pulled on the popsicle sticks.

For the Valkyrie Guardians they got the 2rd floor storage rooms, for the Leo Rangers it was the training facility on the 2nd floor, for the Rush Vanguard it was the outdoor track and field along with the equipment sheds, finally for the Ace Commandos their Base was the Library on the 3rd floor thankfully on the other side of the building.

At 11:04 AM all the Factions quickly went too war. The first half hour many Soldiers from all factions were tagged by a Paintball and forced too leave the battle.

After the initial carnage of the fight at Relaxation Lounge a Ironic name too many. Territory lines were quickly drawn by the factions with the Rush Vanguard having the most territory and advantage.

Under direction of their Leader Izumo his troops quickly take defensive positions among the elevators and stair cases too essentially lock the 3 other factions upstairs were they either have too fight their way downstairs or explore other routes upstairs putting them in danger of getting Paintballed by the other. An ingenious move on Izumo part but one that all the factions would not let get the best of them.

The Valkyrie Guardians quickly come up with counter-strategy too expand too the first floor. Unknown too Izumo some of the Guardians barricaded themselves in a first floor room during the initial battle. Using their phones they were bale too contact Kikoru and a plan is formed. At as southern staircase the Guardians will prepare too attack the Vanguards stationed at the bottom of the steps. The Guardians on the first floor will sneak outside through the rooms window and sneakily make their way too the southern staircase and will commence with the attack against the Vanguard Forces at Kikoru's command.

The attack by the Guardians against the Vanguards is brutally effective. Clearing a path too the first floor for the Guardians and causing the Vanguards too scramble too the South Staircase. The other 2 factions hear about this attack and seize upon this chance too expand too the first floor. Soon a full scale battle takes place and control points are set up for each of the factions.

At approximately 1:21 PM

A stalemate occurs as each faction has fortified there areas of control and has been sending out scouting parties too find cracks in the others defenses. The 2 Hour stalemate has caused the war's pace too slow down too a crawl. However a massive shake up is about too happen, while the Commandos Leader Reno and his Top General Iharu are on a scouting mission they are ambushed by Ranger Troops. During the shoot out a perplexed Trainer walks in too see the carnage taking place at Tachikawa Base. Reno and Iharu see Trainer and decide too talk too Trainer after they make their daring escape from the Ranger Troops. Grabbing Trainer and finding a secure area.

Trainer asks the obvious question " What in the name of Arceus happened hear? I come back from Ariake Base too find absolute Mayhem!"

Reno and Iharu answers Trainer's question that everyone in Base is in a No Holds-Bar Faction Paintball War. Trainer's face after the explanation according too Reno Looked like they went through various emotions before ending up just shrugging their shoulders". Iharu after the explanation and subsequent reaction are over asks if Trainer would like too join in on the fun. Trainer takes on a contemplative look before he answers " Maybe, let me just check in with Hoshina first"

Reno pointed Trainer too were Hoshina was monitoring everything from his personal evil lair, his office.

About 10 Minutes Later at exactly 1:42 PM

An announcement is made over the comms system by Hoshina. A announcement that would turn this war into a race for powerful backup. Hoshina announced that Trainer would be acting as a roaming unit and if they any troops came across them Trainer would hint at a location of one of 4 Pokémon that were holding with an emblem on it. If a faction managed too grab the flag that Pokémon would join them in the Paintball war.

The announcement put the Paintball war on a whole new level.

It is worth noting that during the Paintball War Hoshina's critics suggest that Hoshina allowed and added this too the War too further increase Chaos and increase the number of terrified screaming of his troops. Hoshina said however that this was slander and only wanted too train his troops.

However after the war Hoshina said that the accusation were " Essentially Accurate"

At 2:17 PM

The first Pokémon found was by the Rangers scouting party. The Jet Pokémon- Octillery who was relaxing in a small pond on the east side of the training field. News of this quickly spreads too the other faction which furthers panic and efforts too either find Trainer or the Pokémon. For the Vanguards a lucky break is given too them when a troops spots Trainer manages too get too them unscathed. The hint is given which states too follow the Art on the walls, a vague and seemingly unhelpful hint until one the Vanguards report on the north training room there were lines of paint made into shapes lining the walls of the training room. Izumo himself goes too investigate with a small squad and after following the shapes comes across a Pokémon.

The Toxic Monkey Pokémon- Grafaiai

With Grafaiai on the Vanguards side now gives the faction a much needed power and morale boost and just in time too. As the Rangers begin too bombard the Hallways of the Base with Octillery leaving a trail paint filled destruction in their path. The Valkyries take the worst of the paint storm as one their top squad leaders Hakua Igarashi gets taken out of the game. The Valkyries take this as a declaration of war and begin too come up with a counter attack. Thankfully the Vanguards enact their own counter attack aimed at the Rangers and Commandos. Having Grafaiai crawl throw the vents of the base they easily infiltrate the backlines of both factions and lay down paint bombs.

Chaos quickly grips the battle field.

3:57 PM

Things are looking dire for the Ace Commandos, their worst fears realized. They are the last faction too have not acquired a Pokémon yet. The Valkyries around 20 minutes prior had found Trainer and subsequently with the hint they had been given found the Ultra Beast Naganadel. With Naganadel the Valkyries quickly gain air superiority and force the 3 Factions into hiding. However it will not take long for the Rangers, Valkyries, and Vanguards too set their sights on the Commandos too get out the first faction of the war.

Right now the Rangers and Valkyries are currently fighting for the courtyard and the Vanguards are currently planning their next move which make it the perfect time for the Commandos too move out. The Commandos entire remaining soldiers make the risky play too move towards a more advantageous position. The Break rooms of Tachikawa Base, hear is when a lucky break presents itself too the Commandos.

Through sheer dumb luck one of their troopers, a man by the name of Kafka Hibino finds the final Pokémon near a window snacking on a candy bar while painting. The Painter Pokémon- Smeargle and with finding the last Pokémon the Commandos now have a chance too win this war. Especially when they learn of Smeargle's unique skill of learning nearly any Pokémon move.

Victory is still possible for the Ace Commandos

5:14 PM

The battle is reaching it peak, as all 4 factions are getting ready for their final battle with each other. Each faction is evenly matched having few troops left and their Ace Card left too play.

The War is about too enter it's final stage.

6:03 PM

Each faction begins their final rush for glory and victory in the Tachikawa Base Paintball War. Paint litters the Training grounds as many Soldiers race of too meet a Paint filled fate. the first Faction knockout is a double knockout between rivals Aoi and Izumo Factions. Grafaiai and Octillery both knock each other out of the fight leaving the ground troopers too fight too the end. Soon Aoi and Izumo the respective leaders of the Rangers and Vanguards face down each other being the only ones left. This fight ends the best way it can with both getting knocked out by each other.

While the Rangers and Vanguards may be out, the Paintball War rages on with the Commandos and Valkyries trading blows on the battlefield. Both factions numbers continue too dwindle until the last soldiers stand on opposite sides of the battlefield.

Ichikawa, Iharu, Kafka and a few other brave soldiers stand hunkered down near some equipment sheds. Weathering a Paintball storm from the Valkyries and Naganadel, but Reno stays resolute and calls for Smeargle too use Double Team and draw attention away from them and when they have the chance they will start shooting paintballs at Naganadel.

The plan works and with the attention of the soldiers and focused on the doubles of Smeargle gives the rest of the Commandos a chance too strike back. However the Valkyries are quick too provide cover fire for Naganadel who realizes it was a diversion. Though this is were Naganadel makes a fatal error as they left themselves wide open too a Lock-On/ Octazooka combo attack which hits Naganadel dead on, taking the Ultra Beast out of the battle.

A major victory for the Commandos, but a potential catastrophe as when Smeargle goes too cheer for their victory they leave themselves wide open and Kikoru who is not willing too let this victory go unpunished fire the Paintballs straight at the Painter Pokémon.

Catastrophe is however adverted by none other than the resident himbo of the Defense Force, Kafka Hibino who takes the Paint Balls shots in place of Smeargle. Shielding Smeargle from a colorful demise, a sacrifice that by Reno Ichikawa's own words will not be in vain.

6:43 PM

The final act of the Colorful and paint filled war finally draws too a close. The Ace Commandos are able too trap the Valkyries inside a training room were they put out an ultimatum. Either the Valkyries surrender or face paint annihilation. While the Valkyries initially reject the Ultimatum the realization that they are cornered and have no access too any of the snack machines quickly dawns on them and so it is with a heavy heart the Kikoru Shinomiya waves the white flag ending the longest paint filled war Tachikawa Base has ever seen.

The Ace Commandos have officially won The Great Tachikawa Base Paint Ball War

As Vice-Commander Hoshina promised they will not have too participate in the Bases Clean up and their special gift comes the next day in the form of very tasty Sandwich's purchased from a popular Sandwich Shop, as the Commandos get eat their Sandwiches and too watch the other 3 Factions clean the Base.

However in an act of generosity from Trainer they spot the bill for more Sandwiches too be made and delivered from the same Sandwich Shop so all the Factions may eat at their lunch break.

And with that peace once again graces Tachikawa Base

LMFAO Soshiro is such a little shit and we got to love him for it. He knew the paintball war would go off the walls once the Pokemon joined in. I won't be surprised if the whole event has been recorded then shared across the entire Defense Force.

Kafka going in for the dramatic sacrifice for Smeargle and Trainer just treating everyone to sandwiches is so spot on. Hopefully Koraidon had their own bundle or else the Legendary Sandwich Thief would run amok.