#the 2nd curve lift traveled in a straight line

[sunskate]

ACI ice dance- first warmup group plus W/T

did i already say i love Dozzi/Papetti's Nessun Dorma program lol when you're a newer team, judges don't give you the benefit of the doubt if you make mistakes, and D/P had issues with twizzles and levels on steps at this event - but give me an expressive team any day. some skaters have a sensibility or taste informing their choices so that they know how to calibrate things - like LaLa - another team doing the ChaCha Slide could have been epically tacky. or Hannah and Ye- some of the gestures she's making at the end of Umbrellas could be overwrought and ott, just *too much* -- but she’s judging it so that it goes to the line but not over it, and it works. anyway, Leia and Pietro have a certain elegance - their tango last year was like this too, where it feels organic and musical

Robinson/Portz- their serpentine lift in the FD is a highlight for me - it's beautiful how they change position as he changes curves (don't get me started on how another team in this competition with a serpentine lift is on a flat for the 2nd curve lift but scored higher with it😑 Olivia and Tim are the 3rd team with one, and theirs is very cool, and i love how it ends right on the music). Alyssa and Jacob have nice soft knee action. i know he said he likes the fun RD most, but the softness and emotion of this program works really well - i like them a lot too

Harris/Chan's FD felt confusing in person - i can see more clearly what they're going for on the video - the music feels kind of episodic, and there's an ebb and flow like ocean waves in it that they're not quite capturing yet. if you're going to do something atmospheric you have to cast a spell with it, and they have some awkward moments to iron out before they can hold the audience with this-- i think this is a difficult program to pull off because it needs to flow like water

Wolfkostin/Tsarevskiy-- Charlie White did this really annoying thing where he'd clap very loudly when his team finished some of the elements - many coaches clap for their teams, but usually you feel they're clapping like they're applauding. but Charlie was very insistent and loud, like A) trying to get the audience to start clapping for them - it mostly didn't work💀 you have to give people credit - crowds won't be swayed if they're not feeling it, B) showing the judges he thought it was good or trying to influence them into thinking that, or C) signaling to the team that he approved. like stop interjecting yourself and let their skating speak for itself lol

(but after he did that for his team, both MF and Romain loud clapped for the IAM teams who came after - they hadn't done it for anyone before that. i just got a really competitive vibe from Charlie with this)

W/T had a skate they can be happy with here - they had a twizzle issue, but so did so many other teams- this was a deeper field than at Lake Placid where they won. W/T were in the club comp and Pate/Bye were in the International, so they didn't go head to head at Lake Placid

[evilback-wards]

Top Candidate [Pre-DRV3]

Chapter 18

Length: 1494

Rating: 16+ish is the average I’d say for this series? I dunno!

Prefer AO3 format? Click here. Otherwise, below the line lovelies!

I love Kaede Akamatsu. Her entire existence is beautiful. Something in my head finally connected properly. Before all of this, I was thinking the wrong way. When I stormed off, during that brief amount of pain, I found peace.

Kaede took my hand as we kept getting further away from the other participants that were trying to make nice. Kaede, in that one hand touch, managed to soothe all the pain I ever felt since I got roped into the killing game mess. All I could see were cherry blossoms, a nice evening sky, and a picnic basket of our favorite treats. My eyes could see for miles our happiness together if we won the killing game. I saw our children, the bright future stretched  out in front of me. Not a sad memory in sight. Only the gained happiness I got from being attached to Kaede’s piano prowess.

I had been half conscious throughout most of our travels, and then full-on unconscious while the group traveled. I had to be carried by that random Maki girl when my episodisic pass-outs became an issue. Our first objective was to be to lose the other losers trying to follow us. I mean, I get it, they wanted an easy way to survive. But not on our dime. The Maki girl seemed pretty useful, especially since she managed to carry me and that frat boy Kaito while we were dead weight. And that Kaito would make the perfect killing game fodder once this thing got off the ground!

I came to not so long after passing out, waking up in a strange theatre of sorts. My arms were on either armrest area, Kaito still snoozing along to the left of me. On my other side sat Maki, her legs crossed as her eyes were looking straight ahead. I decided to do the same. The image in front of me was, for a lack of a better known adjective, beautiful. Kaede had been dressed in her character outfit, blessed with such curves that made her look like art. I wanted to crawl up and sit next to her, but perhaps, that was asking for a bit too much. There was a glossy pane of glass that separated us from the purest of waifus of all time. Kaede had been working quick with the piano on stage, seeming to be using some sort of duster to clean up the muck on the piano. Why didn’t she have an unimportant person like me do all the peasant work for her?!?

“What happened to you?” whispered Maki, her hand covering my own on the armest. I felt a blush run across my face, my breathing becoming uneasy. Oh boy; Maki was pretty cute too! Would I really be locked in a school with beautiful girls like these!?!

“N-Nothing. You’re the one that carried me wherever we are,” I responded, struggling to determine if my eyes were best suited on Maki or the prepping Kaede. Ah screw it; Kaede all day!

Kaede’s hands appeared impeccable as she scanned the freshly wiped piano for dust or debris. After doing so, she threw the wipe in a random direction as she shook her hands. Maybe to ensure none of that icky dirt stuck to her? Wait, I’m missing the most important part of this! A Piano...An Ultimate Pianist. Oh; were we blessed to hear the sounds from an ultimate pianist in the flesh?

“I just followed your friend. She said she had to do the person running this a favor. This better not be a trap,” Maki said, her voice leaning closer to me, “You’ll be my hostage if that’s the case.”

“Hostage, blah blah, I’m just glad we get to see my beautiful waifu play piano,” I answered, my eyes entranced as I saw Kaede give me a wave. I waved back with both of my hands, still feeling the euphoria. I could hear Maki snort, lightly pushing my arm off the armest. I let my arm fall into my lap. Who cares what Maki thinks? My girlfriend got called here by some mastermind to play some wonderful piano. What’s it to her?

I started to scan the rest of the room for any other waifu material. Nope. Just darkness and some strangely placed cameras. Kaede had  two of them placed facing toward her. Three more were hung on cables, a few feet above her. One more was oddly placed in front of us, a screen placed beside it. Maybe that’s what Maki was really looking at instead of my waifu? What a weirdo.

“Ahem! Remaining auditionees. Monokuma here, excited to tell you some real good news. Well, good news if you’re on the cast that is!  The 2nd round is about to begin! And, to kick things off, we’ll stream the rebirth of our lovely host; Junko Enoshima! Once she wakes up, she’ll be more than happy to let you know what the next steps are,” a bear showed up on the screen, looking a bit too happy for my liking. He couldn’t even see my waifu looking pretty and perfect!  I grumbled at the screen, crossing my arms.

“...Huh, what? How long was I out for? Where that damn robot go,” Kaito spoke, stirring awake as I felt his hands fumbled around and touched my arm. I pulled my arm back immediately, now squished between two  awake unsavory people. If only these two died back in the 1st auditions, I’d be alone with my waifu now! Fucking plebs.

“Finally awake eh? Robot’s gone, we’re almost at 2nd auditions,” Maki said. Her voice sounded like a caring mom or whatever. Maybe Maki had some sort of feelings for Kaito, something that couldn’t be explained. A bound as tight as Kaede and I’s, never to be broke under any scenario!

“Great, now I can prove myself!” Kaito stated. This back and forth between the two had been making it hard for me to concentrate on  Kaede and the screen in front of me. All I wanted to do was please my waifu and figure out where this audition was going next.

“ “Alright kiddos, the show is starting now! Don’t get too bloodthirsty yet, I’m sure your host would be saddened she missed out on some of the action, ” Monokuma said, cackling as the screen flicked over to some...oh, no, another potential waifu! I  hungrily crawled to the screen before me. I fell to my knees and crawled over to it. The moment I heard piano, I nearly creamed myself. Kaede was an angel with the keyboard.  I laid on my stomach, drool dripping from my lips as a I reached out toward the screen.

“What the hell is wrong with you dude?!” Kaito yelled, but his preachiness could easily be muted. Maki said something similar too, but I wasn’t listening. Combining Kaede’s beautiful music with this image...something in my heart was resonating. I couldn’t hold it back like before. It was bursting out into the synapses of my brain, overloading my idiotic melancholy with blossoms of happiness. My waifu is here with me, along with some extras to watch the show. My life was perfect. Nothing could ever top this moment.

“Hey, I think dad said this group gets a bonus for being part of the special core?” a strangely feminine voice said, it came from somewhere close, but I couldn’t see no matter how hard I looked. Urgh, everyone was distracting me! I kept blocking the new and old voices out, watching as the babe on the screen accepted some bright pink spirit straight in the forehead. And, after that, the video cut out, static replacing the beautiful masterpiece. The piano stopped too. What a bummer.

“Shuichi, get up. We have work to do,” Kaede said. I lifted myself to attention quick, smiling sheepishly at Kaede. She had some sort of code on a slice of paper. Her hand was extended out toward me, but, I didn’t want to crumble whatever my waifu thought valuable enough to taint her hands.

But, I tried to do some of that really difficult critical thinking. A variety of colors coded different numbers within the code, confusing me to a great degree. Why would Kaede play her beautiful music for a slice of colored number code?

“He’s useless like this. He seems easily distracted by women, especially you,” Maki commented. Totally not needed, but, whatever. If Kaede wanted to befriend such a cunt, so be it. I’ll be happily ignoring most of her remarks.

“I can fix him for now. He’s a lot easier to manage in this state, but, we need the part of him that actually works now,” Kaede said. Her words to me were like a gospel, no, a prayer that was granted ten times over. No matter how degrading they were...or wait..what...her hand, is touching me again.

And...no...NO! Kokichi, no.

I don’t want to feel this pain of loving you anymore.