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minkoobi · 3 years

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𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡, 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 | 𝐣𝐣𝐤

⤳ pairing: gryffindor!jungkook x slytherin!reader ⤳ genre: rivals to lovers, fluff, slight angst ⤳ word count: 11.5k ⤳ summary: jeon jungkoook, quidditch rival and former best friend, attempts to rekindle your lost friendship- and maybe something more

The gates slowly rise up and you are met with the sun nearly blinding you. With one quick glance to your teammates, you hop on your broomstick and fly up and above the quidditch pitch. Students from different houses were cheering, waving flags and chanting with all their might.

“Slytherin! Slytherin!”

You soar above them with pride and confidence. Quidditch has always been more than a sport to you. It was your calling- your passion. You were the best player in your team after all, earning you the title of being Slytherin’s team captain. You have led your team to many wins, but also shared your losses, specifically against this one team.

As if on cue, the opposing team makes their entrance, flying around the pitch with smiles on their faces, one which caught your attention almost immediately.

That toothy grin with his nose scrunched up and eyes turned into crescents- they could only be that of Jeon Jungkook’s, Gryffindor’s team captain and best player. Simply put, he was your rival. You both had the position of being a chaser and are both known for being extremely competitive.

“Gryffindor! Gryffindor!”

You can see his smile grow bigger and you almost scowl at how easily his ego was boosted. But if you were being honest, you didn’t hate the guy, just disappointed at how your relationship turned out to be.

First Year

“Up.”

And just like that, your broomstick met your palm in an instant. Pride fills you at how easily you’ve done the task at hand. You were really looking forward to Flying Classes since it’s a step closer to learning quidditch.

To your left, the boy kept summoning his broomstick, having it float for a millisecond before it drops to the ground again. His fringe hung over his eyes but you could still make up his furrowed eyebrows. He groans in dismay and you can’t help but giggle.

“You have to put more force into it.”

The boy looks at you, eyes wide and a little flustered by the fact that you were watching him. You give him a small smile and a nod as if telling him to give it a try. He gulps before focusing on the broomstick and with one stern ’up’, he had it in his hand.

“Thanks!” the nameless boy smiles sheepishly.

“It’s nothing. I’m Y/N by the way,” You reach your hand out to him and he gives it a good shake.

“Jungkook.”

“Don’t zone out now Y/N, you wouldn’t want to lose to me again would you?” Jungkook smirks as he flies over to his side of the pitch. You notice Madam Hooch walking towards the wooden chest at the center of the field. The game’s about to start. You position yourself right across from Jungkook and mirror his smug look. “Wouldn’t dream about it.”

Madam Hooch blows on her whistle and throws the quaffle up into the air. Almost effortlessly, you catch it before darting towards the opposing goal. You see red come up from both your sides and as they near you, you throw the quaffle up into the air before your fellow teammate catches it and shoots it into the ring. A bell is heard and the commentator yells “ Slytherin scores first with 10 points!”

“Beaters, get the bludgers! Leave her to me,” Jungkook yells at his teammates before flying right behind your broomstick’s tail. It takes him no longer than a second until he is beside you and a little too close for your liking. You knew he was taunting you.

“You’re being too predictable nowadays,” his arrogance annoys you and you spare him a quick glance.

“I know how this will work out. You’ll have your little snakes catch the ball and have them hand it to you so you can make your goal.” From the corner of your eye, you see your teammate wave a hand at you. Without saying a word, you dart towards their direction and as he throws the ball towards you, Jungkook cuts in between and grabs the quaffle with one hand. He turns his head to face you. “Like I said, predictable.” He speeds towards your goal post and effortlessly shoots it through the ring.

“Yes! 10 points to Gryffindor!” The crowd goes wild as the scores are now tied. Your anger builds up and your determination to win adds up to your adrenaline. “Keeper, don’t let them score,” you say calmly as you fly up higher to the sky. From there you could see everything clearly. You observe your opposing team and are quick to catch on to their tactic. Turns out Jungkook was just as predictable as you.

You make your way to your teammates, sending them a look before spreading out. The Gryffindor team looked confused, watching you all fly aimlessly around them. As the distraction goes on, you and your closest teammate, Seulgi, fly up to Jungkook and trap him between your broomsticks. He is unable to nudge away from you two and causes him to lose his grip on the quaffle. You take this opportunity to snatch it off his hands and shoot it to their ring. Another bell is heard and Slytherin is leading again. “And I thought I was too predictable,” you mock Jungkook’s tone before flying away.

The game progresses intensely and everyone is on the edge of their seat, clearly intrigued by the feud between you and Jungkook. Points were scored here and there and it wasn’t until the commentator announced Slytherin’s win when you noticed your seeker holding the golden snitch. The students from your house were up on their seats, yelling in victory. We did it. I won against Jeon Jungkook. The thought alone made you so happy, you didn’t notice the latter flew closer to you.

“Good game, Y/N,” Jungkook says without any trace of sarcasm and you send him a small smile before going back to celebrating your team’s win.

Second Year

You practically slam the common room door behind you and rush to Jungkook’s side. “I am so so sorry for taking so long, I just misplaced my book somewhere and-“

“Yeah yeah, apologize later. We’re late for Potions Class!” The two of you make a run for it down the hallway, pushing past other students and earning weird looks from them. Professor Granger will not let this slide and will probably give you both extra work. You could already picture the cold, mean scowl on her face.

“I can’t believe you made me wait for you outside your dormitory. Do you know how many times I’ve been glared at by your fellow snakes? I could’ve sworn one of them was trying to hex me,” Jungkook pants as you both continue to sprint down the corridor.

“Shut it Jeon, this is just payback for when you made me late for Herbology.”

“That was a lame class anyway, you would’ve stayed in the courtyard with me if I didn’t remind you of the time.”

The two of you finally reach your classroom and as you step inside, you were fairly surprised to see that Professor Granger hasn’t arrived yet. “Wow, and I thought we were in trouble,” says Jungkook, clearly relieved. Just then, the door slams behind you. Both of you make a slow dramatic turn to see narrowed eyes looking down at you two.

“You’re late.”

Looking back, you can’t really pin-point where things started to go downhill between you two. You were practically inseparable, never found without the other.

During your first two years in Hogwarts, he was your companion as you were his. You both experienced getting lost in the hallways, going up the wrong flight of stairs (they always switch when you least expect them to), and getting spooked by the house ghosts who randomly pop out of walls. Jungkook was also your partner when it came to learning quidditch, since you two shared the same love for the sport.

But as third year came along, things slowly began to change. Jungkook started to gain the attention of many students and even professors. He became known for his exceptional skills in quidditch and everyone was certain that professional teams were already lined up to scout him. You on the other hand, didn’t receive any less recognition. Students, especially younger girls, looked up to you. Many have assumed that you already have a spot reserved in the Holyhead Harpies team, but you chose to stay away from that spotlight and simply focus on perfecting your skills.

But you can tell Jungkook is doing the exact opposite. You can see it in the way he enjoys having to carry a box of sweets and a dozen letters covered in pink and red hearts back to his dormitory almost everyday after class. It’s obvious in the way his cheeks flush pink when he walks in a room and girls start to gush over him.

Your differences with one another become more apparent, causing both of you to spend less time together, which eventually comes to a halt all together. Keeping in touch with each other was no longer a priority and neither of you tried to change that.

Maybe you both simply grew up, or rather, grew apart.

It’s a sad yet inevitable ending, you’ll admit that. But as you continue to stare at the boy surrounded by his rowdy group of friends in the Great Hall who sat not too far from you, you can’t help but feel a sense of longing.

“Y/N, did you even hear a word I said?”

“Huh? Sorry I didn't catch that,” you switch your attention back to your friends, hoping they didn’t notice you just now.

“It’s that Jungkook guy isn’t it.”

“No it’s not.”

“Oh the hell it is! You were practically gawking at him,” your friend imitates your expression, erupting a fit of laughter around you.

“Whatever Wendy, it’s not like you don’t do the same when it comes to Mark.”

“Hey at least I admit it.”

“What happened to you two anyway? You guys were like, best buds two years ago,” Seulgi remembers meeting up with you two in the library and finding it odd for a Gryffindor and a Slytherin to be so close. Now you’re in your fifth year and your conversations with Jungkook only ever happen when you’re both in the pitch. You weren’t even sure if you could consider them as conversations since all you ever say to each other are insults and sarcastic blows.

“I don’t know, his head grew the size of a hippogriff and suddenly he’s too cool to be my friend,” you shrug as you take a bite off your bagel. Jungkook still holds a special place in your life but you’re never going to admit that. Despite everything that happened between you two, he’ll always be that kid who had a hard time summoning his broomstick.

“What a tragic love story,” Wendy feigns pain, placing a hand over her chest before giggling. “But back to the main topic at hand, you and I still need to find a date.” That’s right, the Celestial Ball was just around the corner and you couldn’t care less about who to go with.

“Can’t I just fly solo? It’s not like anyone wants to take me anyway.”

“Might wanna rethink that statement Y/N,” Seulgi grins as she nods towards Jungkook’s direction. You turn back to see him staring right at you. He doesn’t even break his gaze, as if he was studying every little detail on your face. The intimacy of the situation was too much for you, so you look away.

On any given day, you would love to hang out in the courtyard. The gentle breeze and overall ambiance of the place was just the perfect setting for you to relax and even read a book in. But with the Celestial Ball only two weeks away, it wasn’t that much of a surprise to see the place filled with students and couples asking each other to be their dates. And no, you weren’t some bitter bystander who despised the thought of young love, but there’s a fine line between appropriate display of affection and snogging behind a tree.

You’ve just about had it and was about to give up on having some peaceful alone time when a shadow towers over you. You look up to see a boy with black and gold draping over his shoulders and a grin you could’ve easily mistaken for the sun.

“Hey! How’s my favorite chaser doing?”

Kim Seokmin, 6th year Hufflepuff and head boy. You knew each other from past quidditch games and were fairly acquainted with one another. He was his team’s keeper and with his tall, lean frame, you remember it being almost impossible getting a ball through their ring. Unfortunately, he got severely injured on his left leg from a game during a thunderstorm last year and has stopped playing since then. It’s a shame because he was one of the best players in all of Hogwarts.

“Not any better now that you’re here,” you jokingly respond. Seokmin simply chuckles at this and takes up the space next to yours on the bench.

“Aww c’mon, just because you won against Gryffindor you’re suddenly too good for me? I am hurt Y/N,” Seokmin clutches his chest in exaggerated pain, erupting a giggle from you as you grab the end of his scarf and swat it across his face.

“You’re so dramatic.”

“I got you to laugh though,” he wraps an arm around your shoulders and your eyes slightly widen at the unexpected contact. It’s very clear to you now how this guy was placed in Hufflepuff with his tangible enthusiasm radiating off of him. Looking at him now, you couldn’t help but notice how the yellow of his robes match his skin tone and the crinkle of his eyes when he smiles were the perfect embodiment of his House.

“Listen, I actually came up to you cause I have something important to ask,” he spoke in a lower, more serious tone this time.

“What is it?”

“Well.. with the ball coming up and from what I know, you currently don't have a date, i was just wondering if maybe.. you would want to go with me?” Seokmin glances over to your bewildered face, waiting for a response. You were definitely not expecting to be asked out, let alone by a 6th year student you’ve rarely talked to. As you internally debate on an answer, a voice startles you from behind.

“Y/N! I have been looking for you everywhere!” Jungkook sneaks up to you two from behind a pillar, effectively getting Seokmin to remove his arm from you out of shock. The doe eyed boy continues to nudge himself between you two, taking a seat on the already crowded bench.

“I should probably go, but let me know as soon as possible alright? See ya around,” Seokmin sends you a quick wink before jogging back to his group of friends.

“What’s up with you and Donkey Kong?” Jungkook lays across the bench and rests his head on your lap, placing his forearm over his eyes.

“First of all, it’s Seokmin, and second, what makes you think you can use me as your personal pillow?”

“Do you like him?” he asks, completely ignoring your retaliation.

“That’s none of your business Jungkook.”

“You’re dodging the question.”

“Why does it even matter to you?”

“He’s older than you.”

“He’s literally just a year above us and only a few months older than you.”

“Jeez now you’re defending him? Someone’s whipped,” Jungkook lowers his arm to send you a disgusted look, making you shove him off your lap. You’re satisfied to hear a muted thud as he lands on the ground.

“Whoever I like and dislike is not important, so drop it m’kay?” You’ve always hated confrontations since you were never really good at coming to terms with your own feelings. Yes, Seokmin may be a sweet guy, but having Jungkook press an answer out of you was very irritating. You get up to leave immediately when Jungkook grabs your wrist.

“Wait, what’s your next class?”

“I’m done for the day, I’m headed back to my dorm.”

“I’ll walk you back.” Jungkook doesn’t even wait for you to decline his offer as he practically drags you down the corridor. Only when you stop resisting is when Jungkook drops his grip on you.

The walk to your dorm was suffocatingly silent. It wasn’t because you were awkward around him, not at all. You’ve strolled around the castle together in silence multiple times yet this moment felt very new to you. Walking next to him, you notice how much taller he’s grown and how his shoulders have broadened, jawline more prominent and wavy hair just perfectly resting over his eyebrows. It felt like being next to a whole different person. But as he glances at you with those all too familiar eyes of his, you were certain that nothing has changed. That kid you once called your best friend was still in him.

“Dude, I know you hate me but you gotta stop shooting invisible lasers to my head.” There’s a small hop to his steps and you realize just how much you actually miss him.

“I don’t hate you.” You say this mostly to yourself but Jungkook hears it. He holds back the smile that creeps up to his lips, clearing his throat to break the tension between you two.

As much as you enjoyed having him around, your mind starts to go on overdrive. It has literally been years since the two of you hung out like this, so what’s with the sudden change? Losing touch with him was one of the worst things to have ever happened to you and you’re not sure if you ever want to experience that again. All those times of wondering what went wrong and blaming yourself for not being good enough of a friend came flashing back, causing you to stop on your tracks. It takes Jungkook a second to notice that you’ve trailed behind him before he turns to you. “You alright Y/N?”

“Why are you doing this?” Your eyes stay glued to the ground as you fidget on the sleeves of your robes, a habit of yours whenever you were nervous and Jungkook was quick to notice this.

“What do you mean?”

“You haven’t walked me back to my dorm in 2 years. Why are you doing this?” Jungkook remains silent. The truth is he knew exactly why, but he didn't know what took him so long to do so. Disappointed in his lack of his response, you trudge past him.

“Forget it, I can walk back from here. You can go.” You don’t even spare him a glance as you make your way down the stairs to the dungeon. Jungkook remains frozen in his spot as he watches your figure disappear before him, smacking the side of his head in annoyance. He may be confident and self-assured when it comes to quidditch, but dealing with you was a whole other ball game. He glances to his wristwatch before sprinting down the hallway to his Transfiguration class, which he purposely skipped on to accompany you to your dorm.

You couldn’t sleep that night. It was 2am and you have been tossing and turning in your bed for an hour now, causing a few groans and complaints from your roommates. You knew there was no point in trying to get some sleep so you quickly grab your sweater and broomstick before quietly sneaking out of the common room. After years of learning Mr. Filch’s schedule, you knew he was probably wandering around the Ravenclaw Tower by now.

Sneaking off to the quidditch pitch was something you frequently did whenever you felt troubled and needed a place to clear your mind. Something about being in that enclosed field just puts your mind at ease, whether it be flying around it or sitting on the bleachers. You make your way to the center of the pitch and look up at the towering rings that used to intimidate you. With the stars out in the midnight sky, it takes you back to the first time you and Jungkook snuck out here past curfew hours as curious first year students.

“Woah, they’re so much taller than i thought!” You practically gawk at the sky high goal posts. “Can you imagine flying any higher than that?”

“Please, one day I’m gonna fly soooo far up the sky, I bet you I can grab a star,” Jungkook muses, crossing his arms over his chest in fake arrogance.

“Don’t be ridiculous, that’s impossible,” you shake your head at the absurdity of his words.

“You underestimate my skills Y/N! Mark my words, one day I’m gonna grab all the stars in the sky and give them to you.” The confidence in his voice was so endearing, you unconsciously held onto the promise.

“Learn how to fly better than me first,” you playfully shove him before running across the field, having him chase after you.

Mr. Filch catches you two that night, landing both of you a whole week of detention. You smile at the bittersweet memory as you position yourself on your broomstick. How naive were you back then to assume he’d remain in your life forever. People eventually grow apart, you know this now as you soar above the quidditch pitch and fail to reach for a star.

It’s been a week since you last spoke to Jungkook and you rarely get to see him nowadays. The only times you did were during lunch and dinner in the great hall or in some of your shared classes. He was avoiding you, you knew that much, but you couldn't understand why it left a hole in your chest. This wasn’t anything new to you. Both of you rarely exchanged words with one another ever since you drifted apart, but to see him purposely avoid you bothered you more than you would like to admit.

“Y/N,” Seulgi snaps her fingers across your face to get your attention. You have been zoning out again.

“Hm?”

“Your potion,” You glance down to your cauldron to see its liquids overflowing and spilling on your work desk. You quickly grab the washcloth to clean up your mess, a bit irritated at how you screwed up.

“What’s gotten into you lately? It’s not like you to space out like that,” you can hear the worry in Seulgi’s voice but quickly dismiss her with a wave of your hand.

“It’s nothing, just didn’t get enough sleep last night.”

“I know, I hear you sneak out from time to time,” Seulgi helps you out with your potion, scanning through her textbook to read the ingredients. “You know you can talk to me if anything’s bothering you, right?” Your friends know you well enough to know that you cringe at sentiments, so you can’t help but chuckle at how passive Seulgi was trying to be at comforting you, not even sparing you a glance as she adds ingredients into your cauldron.

“I know.” You’re grateful for your friends. As much as you hated relying on other people for your problems, which was called out to be such a Slytherin trait of yours, it was nice knowing someone had your back. Besides, you weren’t going to let some boy bring your mood down like this. You were better than that. You swore from that day on that you were over the whole Jungkook situation. You were sure of it.

At least you thought you were.

Which was why you were surprised to see him two days later, waiting for you outside your common room.

“Jungkook?” He looks up at the sound of your voice and smiles as he walks up to you and Seulgi. “What are you doing here?”

“Our timetables match today so I thought we could go to class together,” he quickly glances over to Seulgi, slightly dipping his head. “May I borrow your friend for the day?”

“We actually made plans-”

“Right! I, uh, actually have to meet up with Wendy for this thing, we have, going on,” Seulgi sends you a knowing look. “You guys go ahead! I’ll see you at lunch?” she spares you no second to reply, side hugging you before speed walking down the hallway.

“I still find it weird how your dorm is literally next to the dungeons,” Jungkook leans down to whisper to your ear, causing you to jump back a bit. “Like c’mon, Salazar could’ve chosen a homier spot,”

“Why are you doing this?” This time, you were hoping for an actual answer. Cause honestly, you were mad, pissed even at how Jungkook thinks he could just approach you like this- like he hasn’t been avoiding you these past few days. But even as you glare at him, a small part of you is happy to see him. He keeps his calm composure and takes a step closer to you, careful not to break eye contact.

“I wanna do things right this time.”

You ponder at this for a second. “What does that even-”

“But that means you can’t ask questions,” he flashes you that stupid grin of his, before snatching your books from your hands. “Now let’s go! We’re gonna miss our first class!”

You choose not to question him since you were already confused as it is, but you must admit that the small gesture of him carrying your things warmed your heart. Jungkook seemed to be a lot more chatty this time, going on and on about his group of friends and the many shenanigans they’ve been up to. You recognized Yoongi and Jimin since they were in the same house as you and even spoke to the latter one a couple of times since he was your team’s seeker. You pretend to be disinterested in his stories when really you’ve been noting down every single detail in your head, piecing together what makes Jungkook the boy he is today. He’s grown more confident over the years and you can see it in the way he walks with his head held high, in every diction of his words, and how he isn’t afraid to voice out his opinions. It was nothing like the shy little kid who used to tail behind you all the time and had a stutter when he spoke- it was a whole new better version of him.

Jungkooks sits next to you in all your shared classes, pestering you in every way he can but still being careful not to cross the line. Every side comment he whispers earns him a smack or pinch on the arm, but you can’t help but laugh every single time. He kept you company through the dull lectures, casting little charms under your desk for entertainment. You watch as he whispers an incantation to the bird origami he folded just a few minutes ago, seeing it slowly flutter its wings. He picks it up and softly blows it towards your face. Your eyes follow the flying piece of paper in amusement as it floats above your head. How have you not heard of this charm before? The paper bird lands on Jungkook’s outstretched hand and he has this smug look on his face you can’t exactly read.

“What?”

“You're smiling.” He gestures to your lips. “It suits you. You should do that more often.”

It takes you a second to realize that there’s a little ache on your cheeks from grinning, and another second to completely wipe out the expression from your face. “You say that as if I have a permanent bitch face on me.”

He laughs. “Not at all. Let me rephrase that then. You should smile more often around me.”

You roll your eyes to hide the fact that you know that wouldn’t be too hard to do.

This goes on for another week and it’s been nothing but fun. The two of you have gotten more comfortable with each other and unconsciously settled in a routine. Jungkook continues to meet you outside your dorm everyday, dropping you off to your classrooms whenever he can. He eventually got you to agree on having lunch with him at least two times a week, just enough times so that you both can still hang out with your own sets of friends.

Although this doesn’t stop Jungkook from introducing them to you. When he asked you to meet up with him in the Clock Tower Courtyard, he didn’t mention six other boys would be tagging along. Just as you were about to make a run for it, he catches you before you can and obnoxiously yells out your name. Yeah, definitely can’t hide now.

If it weren’t for the obvious excitement in his eyes, you wouldn’t be walking towards the fountain they were gathered in. He introduces them to you and most of them were pretty welcoming (you can’t say the same for Yoongi and Namjoon though). It flattered you how Jungkook wanted to include you in this part of his life. It was something else witnessing it first hand. Seven boys from different Houses? You’d expect a clash of different personalities that will result in endless arguments and disagreements, but instead, they mix together beautifully.

You’re grateful Jungkoook has them. He grew up with the best kinds of people.

Then a thought crosses your mind. You could say he was living an almost perfect life right now. If your fall out with Jungkook led him to these people, to be the confident guy he is today, then maybe it was for the best. Maybe you don’t regret it a single bit.

Maybe you were holding him back this whole time.

Maybe he’s better off without you.

The thought alone leaves a bitter taste on your tongue and effectively changes your whole mood for the rest of the day. Luckily, you didn’t have any plans with Jungkook after classes so you use this time wisely; to mope around. What better way to deal with your whirlwind of mentions than by wallowing in self-pity?

Wendy seems to think otherwise.

“Y/N, you better start making some bloody sense.”

“Enough of this please.”

“Not until you explain to me why you’re acting this way!” A distant shush is heard and Wendy is suddenly reminded that you’re both in the library. She speaks in a quieter tone this time but you can still hear the annoyance through her gritted teeth.

“I just don’t get it. I specifically don't get you.”

“Well I didn’t ask you to meet me here to be understood. I just needed a friend to talk to, but clearly you don’t get that.” You continue to scribble down notes onto your parchment paper and try to block out any more of Wendy’s interrogation. You can tell she’s hurt from what you said but this definitely wasn’t the response you were expecting when you decided on opening up to her. You came to the conclusion that ending whatever it is you have with Jungkook will be beneficial to both of you and you expected Wendy to be on board with this. But apparently she is strongly against it.

“Y/N listen to me,” she snatches the quill from your hand and you knew better than to argue with her. “I’m not gonna pretend I know exactly what’s going on in that stubborn head of yours but you better learn how to come to terms with your feelings immediately or you’re gonna end up hurting someone,” she tosses the quill back to you before standing up to leave, but you don’t miss the last words she murmurs.

“Maybe even yourself.”

You hate it when she reads you like a book and especially hate it when you know she’s right. It doesn’t take a genius to know that you’re growing more attached to Jungkook by the second. Things are slowly going back to the way they were, but for what? A setup for more disappointment? You’ve convinced yourself that Jungkook doesn’t really need you in his life, so why is he trying to get you back in it? You’re afraid you know the answer to that already.

“Want some?” Jungkook’s mouth is stuffed with sweets as he hands you a box of chocolates. You eye it suspiciously. It was neatly decorated with pink sparkly wrappings and a red ribbon around it.

“Not when it looks like it’s tampered with some sort of love potion.” You lean away from it and Jungkook chuckles.

“Nah, I had Namjoon check it for me. We’re on the clear,” he continues to pop more of them between his lips. There’s a paper stuck to the box’s lid and you could easily make up the cursive writings on it.

‘Dear Jungkook

My heart only beats for you. Go to the Ball with me?

xoxo Arabella’

The thought of him receiving love letters and gifts bothered you a lot more than you hoped, which is rather stupid cause you can clearly see why. Jungkook is a very dateable guy after all. Did I just say that?

“Arabella huh? The cute redhead from Gryffindor?”

“I mean I guess she’s cute,” Jungkook continues to talk with a mouthful of chocolates. “A lil’ too quirky for my taste though. And she always stares at me in the common room! It’s very unsettling,” he shudders at the memory but is quick to notice the slight scowl on your face.

“Why? You jealous?” there’s a hint of tease to the way he says it and you scoff.

“Absolutely not.”

He laughs as you both continue to walk to the Great Hall. You weren’t supposed to have lunch together until next week but you found it easy to persuade Jungkook into making this exception. It pains you a bit to see how happy this made him when you were already composing the few sentences that will ultimately break this friendship in your head. This only lasts a second until you convince yourself that this will be much harder for you than it ever will be for him.

“So the Celestial Ball is in two days.”

“Yep, it sure is.”

“You have a date yet?”

“Nope.” You sigh in disinterest. You never thought much into having a date. As long as there’s good food, good music, and the company of your friends, you’re sold. But you’d be lying if you said you didn’t have someone in mind.

“Really? So you said no to Seokmin?” He seemed genuinely surprised and somewhat.. relieved?

“Not really. I just haven’t gotten the chance to talk to him.”

“So.. you’d say yes?”

“Oh for Merlin’s sake just worry about your own date!” You roll your eyes. “But I’m guessing you’d be going with Arabella?”

Jungkook frowns. “Do you think I should?” The question dangled carefully from his lips with hesitance. You can’t point it out exactly but it's like he was expecting a specific answer from you.

“Why should my opinion matter? It’s not like I’m your best friend or anything.” This comes out harsher than you intended and halts Jungkook in his tracks.

“Where the hell did that from?” He says this like it’s the most absurd thing he’s ever heard. But wasn’t it simply the truth? You try not to let his clear frustration get to you.

“Look, you can stop this whole ‘making amends with your old friend’ thing you’ve been doing. I don’t need a friend out of pity. That was two years ago and I no longer hold a grudge against you. Shit happens. We’ve changed since then. You’ve changed.”

He scoffs. “And that’s all on me, huh?” he takes a step closer until he’s only inches away from your face. “Everything that has ever gone wrong with us is all because of me. Is that what you’re trying to say?” Jungkook has never raised his voice at you until now. For once you were actually scared of him.

“I never said..”

“You changed too Y/N! Yet I never held that against you,” he was practically seething at this point. “I never once blamed your personal choices for getting in between our friendship, cause they were all for you! Even after you started spending less time with me out of nowhere, I just thought of it as you being your independent self. You think I wanted this to happen to us?”

You’re at loss for words. Up until now, neither of you have ever spoken about this. It was sort of a silent agreement to pretend that there wasn’t this looming tension between you two. You should’ve known one of you was bound to slip at some point. No one dares to speak up, both waiting for the other to say something, anything to end this.

“Is that really what you think this is?” His hand gestures between you two. “Is this really just some sort of compensation to you? That I’m doing this out of pity?" Your lack of denial forces him to believe so.

Every muscle in him was aching for you to reassure him that this past week meant just as much to you as it did to him. That he wasn’t clouded by the fake judgment that things were going extremely well. There’s a pleading look in his eyes when a voice interrupts you two.

“Y/N!” Seokmin runs up to you, completely oblivious. “Have you gotten my owl? I've been trying to reach you this whole week but never heard back from you! I was starting to worry.” It amazed you how dense someone could be. Jungkook doesn’t even spare him a glance as he continues to stare you down.

“Guess you never really knew me after all,” and with a twist of his heel, he walks away, discarding the box of chocolates to the nearest bin. What a waste of food.

You knew you should’ve chased after him. Jungkook may be a brat at times but he would never act on things irrationally. If you were to explain everything to him, this just might have ended on a better note.

But neither of that happens as you let him slip away from your life for the second time.

“I’m sorry, did I catch you at a bad time?” You can see the slight guilt in Seokmin’s eyes so you force yourself to smile at him.

“It’s nothing. Oh gosh I haven’t visited the owlery recently, your letters are probably still there! I’m really sorry,” and you genuinely were. But you just found it hard to care at the moment with Jungkook’s words still echoing at the back of your head.

Seokmin chuckles. “Hey, don’t worry about it. No harm done.” He looks at you pointedly. “But you still owe me an answer Y/N.”

You don’t doubt for a second that you would enjoy yourself if you were to go with him to the ball. Seokmin was known for being the light of the party with his funny antics and humor, anyone would be lucky to have him as a date.

You stare at yourself through the mirror, eyeing the emerald green cloth flow just above your ankles. You thought you looked pretty decent. To finish the look, you decide to tie your hair up into a ponytail to keep any loose strands from falling to your face.

Seulgi walks in the room dressed in a red mermaid dress that compliments her figure. She has her hair styled down and makeup done naturally. The ball isn’t for another two hours and she already looks ready to go. Her eyes immediately land on you, specifically on what you’re wearing.

“Um, you do know there’s a formal dress code, right?” She laughs nervously, hoping what she’s seeing is a practical joke. “Y/N please tell me you just got back from practice or something.” She scans the quidditch gear that covers you from top to bottom. This definitely wasn’t the dress you bought together in Diagon Alley before the year started.

“I’m not going Seulgi, I already told you this.”

“Nooo! You can’t ditch me and Wendy like this!”

“Don’t you guys have dates?” You quirk an eyebrow at her. “If anyone’s getting ditched, it'll be me if I attend the ball.”

“It’s not my fault you rejected Seokmin,” She sits on the edge of your bed. “And I promise I’ll ditch Teddy for you if you ever get bored, so can you pretty pretty pleeeease go with us?” She sprawls herself across your bedding and flashes you the saddest puppy dog eyes she could muster. You laugh and throw a pillow to her face.

“Nice try, but still no.”

“God you’re impossible.” Seulgi pushes herself up and walks to your closet. You glance back to the mirror as you tighten the straps of your quidditch gloves. A quick drill around the pitch will probably be enough to get your mind off everything.

After rummaging through your pile of clothes, Seulgi finds the piece of garment she was looking for. She pulls out a black sheath dress and holds it up close to your face.

“When I come back, you better be out of that uniform and in this beautiful dress I oh-so-carefully picked out for you, okay?” She shoves the clothing to your hands, flashing you a grin before darting towards the door. “Five minutes, Y/N! Then I’ll do your hair and makeup.”

You open your mouth to protest when Seulgi slams the dorm behind her. God she could be so pushy sometimes. The dress feels soft against your fingers as you lay it out across your bed to get a good look at it. Its sleeves are off shouldered with a modest slit on the skirt that ends just by the knee. Aside from the little lace patterns around the waistline, the dress is completely plain. It’s the perfect evening gown for you. Seulgi has a good eye for clothes, you must admit that.

It probably wouldn’t hurt to just try it on...

Two hours later, you’re standing near the entrance to the great hall with an overexcited Seulgi clinging onto your arm. Students dressed in suits and gowns slowly start to pack the venue, meeting up with their friends and partners and you unknowingly become more anxious at the thought of bumping into Jungkook.

“Over here!” Seulgi waves a hand to the sea of people and a guy maneuvers around them to get to you.

“Hello,” The boy you recognized as Teddy Lupin smiles, leaning in to hug Seulgi. “I’m glad you can make it!” he adds to you.

“My friend here can be very persuasive.”

Seulgi grins. “Damn right I am. So, shall we?”

The walls of the Great Hall had all been covered in velvety midnight blue textiles with silver sparkles that resemble those of stars, decorating them from top to bottom. The House tables had vanished; instead, there were about a hundred smaller, lantern-lit ones, each seating about a dozen people. Over your heads, thousands of candles were floating mid air and the enchanted ceiling no longer resembled the sky outside. Instead, it was filled with constellations and planets you learned about in Astronomy class. The three of you stare up at them in astonishment when Wendy sneaks up from behind you.

“Pretty cool huh?” she nods her head towards the ceiling. “I persuaded Professor McGonagall into letting the decorating committee change the view for the night. This place just didn’t scream ‘celestial’ to me before that.”

You’re still gazing at the ceiling when you reply. “Woah Wendy, you guys did a really good job with this place.”

“I know, I know, no need to flatter me,” she jokes. “Come on you guys, I still haven’t introduced to you my date!”

Of course Wendy was able to land herself a date and it wasn’t a surprise to you that it was with Mark, the guy she has been crushing on for months now. Their attires even matched in sapphire blue color and you were pleased to see how much they got along.

You didn't want to admit it, but you ended up having a blast that night. Your friends kept you company the whole time, being sure to include you in their conversations with their dates, who you found to be very friendly. You silently thank Seulgi in your head cause if it weren’t for her, you would be missing out on all this fun.

Across the room, you see Seokmin occupying a table with his friends. He took things well when you rejected his date proposal and made sure there weren’t any hard feelings between you two after that. His eyes meet yours and he sends you a smile, gesturing to the empty seat next to him. Turns out he ended up going dateless as well. He mouths the words ‘this could’ve been you’, making you laugh.

You’re glad things are okay between you two, but you wished you could say the same for Jungkook.

Come to think of it, you haven't seen that boy at all tonight.

Where is he anyway?

“Let’s dance!!” You watch your friends pull their partners with them to the end of the hall where a band was performing on stage. Dinner has ended and everyone is now up on their feet and headed to the dance floor. Seulgi gestures for you to join them but you instead wave a hand for them to go ahead.

“I’ll join you guys later! Just gonna go get some fresh air,” you practically yell over the thumping music before walking towards the entrance hall.

You stop just past the ceiling high doors when the music fades into faint beats. As you step away from the crowd of people, you let out a breath you’ve unknowingly been holding in. A cold breeze brushes against your skin, causing you to shiver. If you knew it was going to be chilly you would’ve brought a cloak with you or something.

“Need a jacket?” You’re surprised to see Jungkook’s friend standing next to you, offering you his blazer in his outstretched hand.

You shake your head. “I’m alright, thank you.”

“Y/N right?” He slings his blazer over his shoulders. “I’m sorry I’m really bad with names.”

“That’s me. And you’re Taehyung?”

He nods and shoots you a boxy grin. You both say nothing else after that and stand together in silence for a few minutes, turning to look back at the party every once in a while.

“He was looking for you, you know.”

“Jungkook’s here?”

“Well, was. He left right after dinner.” Taehyung turns to face you when u remain silent.

“He talks about you a lot you know, even way back when I first got acquainted with him.”

“Nothing too bad I hope,” you muster a small laugh to hide how nervous you are.

He shakes his head. “No no, he always gushes about how close you guys were and how you’re the reason he even plays quidditch in the first place.”

You finally face him, eyes wide in shock. “He said that?” Taehyung simply nods.

“Yeah, you clearly meant a great deal to him if any of the stuff he told me was something to go by,” Taehyung turns to face the open doors of the Great Hall and his eyes immediately land on someone.

“You know, out of all the guys I'm probably the one who relates with him the most.”

“Oh yeah? And why is that?”

He shrugs. “Let’s just say I know what it’s like to pine for someone so clueless.”

You cock a questioning brow at him. When he doesn’t acknowledge your reaction, you follow his gaze which lands on a girl with her back facing you two.

“What are you trying to say?”

“Jungkook’s a good guy, and unlike me, he’s not afraid to act on his feelings,” Taehyung smiles at you, bringing a hand up to ruffle your hair. “You guys should talk things out.”

The brotherly gesture warms your heart and you knew he was right. You owe it to Jungkook to explain everything that’s been on your mind- to finally come to terms with your own feelings.

“I don’t even know where he is,” you look down in dismay.

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” and with one quick nudge of his elbow, he walks back to the party, glancing back at you after a few steps. “He’s a pretty predictable guy.”

Catching onto his subtle hint, you quickly thank him before sprinting down the corridor.

Being in the stands had a different kind of excitement to it. From where Jungkook was seated, he could see the landscape of the field that somehow seemed larger than usual compared to when he’s up flying around it. He starts to play scenes from old matches in his head, including the very first game he had against you.

You. The thought he had been trying to suppress the whole day.

It certainly didn’t help seeing you in the ball, all dressed up and happy despite the argument you two had only a few days back. He also hated to admit how pleased he was to see you without a date, as if he stood any chance with you to begin with.

“Why does she have to be so stubborn,” he breathes out to himself, chuckling at the situation he’s found himself in.

But he knew he had his faults. He felt that he shouldn’t have been so harsh on you that day. If he were being honest, he didn’t even know how things led to that. It’s as if something snapped in him, like everything he had pent up inside came rushing out. He was better than that. Not once has he ever let his emotions get the best of him like that.

It’s crazy how much you can affect him like this.

“I thought you’d be here.”

For a moment, Jungkook believes he’s hallucinating when he sees you standing a few rows down from where he sat. Only when you cautiously take a seat next to him is when he realizes that this is all very much real. Suddenly hyper aware of your presence, Jungkook sits upright and clears his throat.

“Boring party?”

“Oh not at all. I took advantage of the unlimited meals then dipped.”

Jungkook laughs and you’re convinced it's the most beautiful thing you’ve ever heard.

“I actually pocketed some of the flavored beans on our table,” he fishes them out from his dress robe and shows them to you. “Want one?”

You can’t help but giggle at the sight of him pulling out colorful beans from his dapper attire, as if it were the most normal thing to do. “Sure, but you know how bad my luck is when it comes to picking out the good flavors.”

“Hmm sucks to be you huh?” Jungkook smirks.

You both pick out a jelly bean from the bunch, clicking them together before popping them into your mouths. You’re pleased to taste cherries coat your tongue and clasp your hands together.

“I didn’t get a vomit flavoured one!”

You look over to Jungkook and see him grimace, sticking his tongue out in disgust. “That was definitely booger…”

You burst into a fit of laughter, throwing your body back and unknowingly lean on Jungkook’s shoulder. He frowns down at you but it contradicts the pink shade that began to taint his cheeks.

The two of you spend the rest of the night laughing and poking fun at each other, which later on settled into small conversations. The winter air makes itself known once more as it blows past you, making you shiver and the goosebumps on your arms rise. Jungkook notices this and quickly takes his coat off, draping them over your shoulders without acknowledging it. He knew you’d refuse the gesture if he did.

Suddenly you felt ashamed. Even after lashing out on him, Jungkook chose to be civil with you and act as if nothing happened. He could’ve easily gotten up and left as soon as he saw you yet here he is, still making you happy without fail.

You’ve decided that you’re done avoiding confrontation.

A moment of silence fills the air as your eyes meet.

“I’m sorry”

You both chorus at the same time. Jungkook chuckles, gesturing for you to continue. “Ladies first.”

Despite the cool weather, your palms clam up out of nerves as you focus on the unsteady beat of your heart. Wiping off the sweat against your skirt, you build up the courage to voice out the next words you’re about to say.

“Up until recently, I never realized how much I blamed you for our ‘falling-out’. I’ve convinced myself that the sole reason you and I were no longer friends was because you didn’t want to have anything to do with me anymore- or that I wasn’t cool enough to be your friend. Cause, well, I am pretty boring if you ask me,”

There’s a subtle tremble to your voice as you go on and you skillfully mask this with unnecessary arm gestures as you speak. At this very moment, Jungkook has never been more endeared. Maybe he’s always been this smitten, but seeing you ramble on all nervous around him, he can’t seem to fight the smile that sneaks onto his lips.

“but that's where I went wrong. I let my insecurities get the best of me and affect our friendship, relationship, or whatever it is we have going on-”

“You think there’s something going on between us?” Jungkook cuts you off mid babble. There’s a hint of playfulness in his tone and it takes you a second to catch onto his insinuations. You smack his arm.

“I’m being serious!” Your brows knit together in mock annoyance and Jungkook laughs, reaching a hand out to rest it on top of yours. “I’m sorry I’m sorry, please continue.”

You glance at your joined hands on your lap, his thumb rubbing soothing circles on the back of your palm. Now that you think about it, Jungkook has always been more physical in his love language and that may be why you guys got along so well. You were never really great with words, much less receiving them, and so was Jungkook. It was always either tight hugs or a shoulder to cry on whenever he would comfort you. But with the way Jungkook’s ears turn red, you can’t help but think that maybe there was more to those innocent touches.

“I had a lot of self-doubts, especially after spending so much time with you these past couple of days. I guess you could say I was intimidated? You just seemed better off with this new life you had without me. I don’t know- I just didn’t see a reason for you to want me back in it.”

Jungkook doesn’t speak but he keeps his eyes trained on you. He has his lips pressed in a thin line, clearly processing everything you just poured out to him. Sometimes you wonder if he knew he had this affect on you, cause most times you don’t even realize it yourself. You never really understood why a part of you would get all flustered over the menial things he did, but you have a pretty good guess lingering at the back of your head.

“You think too much.” This is the only response he gives you before you snatch your hands away from his grasp.

“E-excuse me??” You didn’t really know what to expect for a response, but this certainly wasn’t one of it. Jungkook clicks his tongue as he brings a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose, as if the answer was blaring right in front of you.

“Y/N, I never wanted you out of my life in the first place,” he says as a matter of fact. “and I hate how I let it happen. I shouldn’t have let it get to me, but the attention people gave me was so new and to be honest, I enjoyed it,” Jungkook pauses, leaning back with palms resting on either side of him. “You knew how shy I was back then and I wasn’t really confident in myself. Funnily enough, I was also intimidated by you,” he chuckles mostly to himself. “I wanted to be more than this timid kid who stuck by your hip 24/7. I wanted my quidditch skills to be recognized, to show people what I’m made of, and even though I got that in the end, I let you down in the process.”

He was intimidated by you? The Jeon Jungkook felt this way around you? It’s almost laughable how similar your thought process was this entire time. “Well shit, I guess we’re both stupid.”

Jungkook laughs and you watch as his eyes crinkle up. You always found that facial asset of his attractive.

“It also didn’t help how I had this big crush on you. Yes, I was this prepubescent boy trying so hard to impress y-”

“You what?” If you were a cartoon, your eyes would be popping out of its sockets right now. He liked me?

Jungkook finally looks at you with an arched brow. “Wait, you never knew?”

You practically scoff. “I’m not a damn mind reader!” You debate on whether you should ask what’s on your mind before giving in. “But.. had? As in, it’s in the past?”

You regret your question almost immediately when this playful smirk graces Jungkook's lips. It looked as if he was waiting for this exact moment the whole night. He sits up and turns his body to face you so you’re forced to look back at him. Jungkook leans dangerously close that you could smell his cologne from where he sat. “What do you think?” he asks in a lower register.

At this point, you can’t help the annoyance that flashes across your face. Why does he keep beating around the bush? Did he like making you this flustered? It takes a lot out of you to shove him back by the chest with an irritated huff. Literally anyone could get lost in those beautiful eyes of his. “That’s why I asked, genius.”

Jungkook grins as he was sure you weren’t as mad as you made yourself to be. This was the front you always had with everyone but he could see right through you. He admires this tough exterior of yours, but must admit that he enjoys breaking them down even more.

“I have something for you,” Jungkook completely changes the course of the conversation but your curiosity gets the better of you when you see him reaching for something in his pant pockets. Before he pulls the mystery item out, he looks at you. “but you should have your eyes closed.”

Too tired to fight back, you do as he says. “You better not be pulling out your wand to hex me or something.”

He giggles before it goes silent again. A few seconds pass and you think that he might have just up and left you alone in the bleachers. Before you could open your eyes to confirm this, you feel a cold, metallic sphere being placed on your right palm. You look down to see it’s a golden snitch.

“It’s not much but i’ve been wanting to give this to you for a while now. I found it in my room while I was cleaning some stuff out.”

“You stole this from the storage room?”

“Of course not!” Jungkook says defensively. “...Professor McGonagall caught me going through Madam Hooch’s things and let me keep it when I confessed.”

“That’s it?” You try to coax the whole story out, knowing full well Professor is not that forgiving.

“...She also gave me 2 weeks worth of detention.” This gets you to laugh, though you couldn’t help but wonder what’s so important about this golden snitch that he had to go through all that just to retrieve it. As if he’s read your mind, or from the way you were intently studying the ball, he continues. “Do you remember our first match against each other? During our 2nd year?”

You groan inwardly at this. “Yeah, your team won.”

“Because?” Jungkook eggs you on.

You openly glare at him this time, venom lacing into your response. “Because I committed Snitchnip*.”

Jungkook grins triumphantly at your admission. “Still don’t get how you made such mistake.” It amuses him how competitive you could get over such little things, but it was one of your many charms he was drawn into. He reaches out to teasingly pinch your cheek. From this close proximity, he notices the light makeup applied on your face- eyelids covered in a light brown hue and lips a darker shade of red. Not that you needed any to begin with in his opinion, but you looked exceptionally beautiful tonight. Has he mentioned that to you? He thought now wasn’t the right time to bring it up though. “There there, it’s all in the past. And besides, you’ve improved a lot since then.”

“Yeah cause I forced you to practice with me every night after that incident,” you smile at the memory. It didn’t matter at the time that you and Jungkook were from opposing teams that were known to rarely get along. All you knew was that you enjoyed training with him more than anyone, including your own teammates. You convince yourself that it was because he was the most challenging player to go against, but truthfully you just genuinely enjoyed his company. “So, is this the ball that made me lose?”

Jungkook hums in agreement before grabbing the golden snitch from your hand. “You know how these things have flesh memory, right?”

You nod. “That’s how they knew I caught it, by accident,” you emphasize the last two words.

“And which hand did you say caught it?”

You wondered where this was going. “Well I didn’t, but my left one.”

Jungkook bites the inside of his cheeks as he loosens his grip on the golden snitch until his palm is laid out flat. The snitch’s wings appear and slowly fly up, hovering just by his eye level. He turns to face you and gestures towards the ball. “I don’t know if it’ll work but, try grabbing it with your left hand.”

Despite the many questions you have, you do as you are told. Jungkook seemed nervous about this that you couldn’t help but anticipate what’s to happen next. Once it’s within your grasp, you look at Jungkook expectantly. This makes him giggle, his hand shyly rubbing the back of his nape. “It’s no star, but I hope it gets the message across.”

You’re about to ask what he meant by that when it suddenly hits you.

“One day I’m gonna grab all the stars in the sky and give them to you.”

You bring the golden snitch up with your left hand and study it once more. With a single swipe of your thumb against its center, enchanted writings start to appear.

“You shine brighter than anyone else,” you murmur the words to yourself.

“Too cheesy?” Jungkook quips nervously in an attempt to lessen the tension he’s built for himself. “I was actually worried the words won’t show up. You know, Seokjin taught me this enchantment just last week! They only appear when the snitch is in contact with it’s first touch. I didn’t think I could pull it off this well but oh thank Merlin it worked. I still feel like I could’ve gone with a better quote, but the guys said this was already good.”

His words have faded into white noise as you continue to stare at the writings engraved on the snitch. You can feel your heart swell up in happiness, excitement, literally every emotion in the book. He put so much thought into this gift and he dares say that it ‘isn’t much’? He could’ve given you a stone with a heart carved on it and you’d still think it was the sweetest thing ever.

You liked him. God, you liked him so much. How are you only realizing this now? Now that’s a lie, you knew you’ve had these feelings for him for a while now and you’ve been denying yourself of this for the longest time. It almost frustrates you how long it took for you to admit this to yourself. At this point, you knew you were openly staring at him with eyes filled with adoration, but he doesn’t seem to notice this as he is still rambling on.

“This also kinda answers the whole past or present question you had for me right? Ugh, I swear I could’ve dealt with this better if I wasn’t such a wuss back then. But hey, I’m here now pouring this all out to you and ready to get my heart stomped on and broken into a million pieces so please be gentle when you completely reject me-”

You shut him up the only way you seem fit at the moment. You press your lips against his and he visibly freezes. It seemed as if he forgot how to breathe, remaining completely still. Your confidence falters at this but just when you are about to pull away, Jungkook’s cups your cheek and kisses you back this time. His touch is feather light against your skin but it creates this huge wave of warmth inside of you- you were literally melting under his touch. His lips were warm and soft but would also slightly quiver as they glided against your own. You felt relieved to know that he was just as nervous as you are as it never crossed your mind that this was all new to him as well.

Jungkook on the other hand was on cloud nine. It was all too good to be true that even as he was kissing you, he found it hard to believe that any of this was really happening. He slowly pulls away from the kiss to look at you, the hand on your cheek moving to tuck a loose strand of hair behind your ear. Yep, this is real.

“Does this mean you like me back?” You both laugh at his question, foreheads resting against each other as you continue to look into each other's eyes.

“What do you think?” you imitate him, causing him to chuckle as he pulls you in for a hug. This better not be some wild jinx casted on him because he swears he’s never been this happy. Luck was definitely on his side today.

A roar of cheers echo the walls of the Great Hall. Students are crowded around the Gryffindor table, chanting the house name while waving their scarves and flags. As you push past them, you see the winning team celebrating with Jungkook, his teammates congratulating him with pats on the back and hair ruffles here and there. Amongst the commotion, he spots you as you smile at him and quickly excuses himself from the team. As he runs up to you, the students stand back to make way for him. Having everyone’s eyes on you two made you a bit uneasy, but this was eased off almost immediately when Jungkook wraps his arms around your waist, lifting you off the ground as he spins you around.

“Hey! Put me down, people are staring,” you say through giggles. Jungkook listens and carefully places you back on your feet but still keeps his arms around you.

“Sorry, I was just happy to see my girl cheer for me.” The petname makes you blush and Jungkook flashes that boyish grin of his. He has gotten a lot more cheesier ever since you started exclusively dating, you weren’t sure if you could handle much more.

“You do know this means you’re up against Slytherin for finals next week, right?” you tilt your head to the side and feign cluelessness.

Jungkook is quick to match your taunt. “U-huh, and I don’t plan on losing this time.”

In losing battles, you have to admit to defeat and surrender, just like how you’ve completely given in to Jungkook and let him win you over. But that doesn’t me you’re always going to go easy on him.

“Neither do I,” you retort back with a smirk.

*Snitchnip - a Quidditch foul that occurs when any player other than the Seeker catches or touches the Golden Snitch.

A/N: first story of the hogwarts series is finally up and its starring bestest boi koo! this took me longer than expected and the ending feels kind of rushed but i hope you guys like it! if this story ends up doing well, i might even post a mini jungkook pov :>

#bts hogwarts au #jungkook #fluff #angst #bts au #bts drabble #bts imagine #jungkook au #jungkook x you #jungkook x reader #jungkook imagine #jungkook fic #jungkook drabble #fanfic #jjk #jeon jungkook #minkoobi fics

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artobotsrollout · 3 years

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Transformers: Harbingers

The Pirate Scream AU

Before I talk about it you guys are the best thank you for indulging me and my AU from this post xjdjd. ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

@badlydrawntransformers @cosmic0de @warrioroffandoms @measlyfurball13 And a bonus thank you to those encouraging me in the tags as well ❤️

I plan to do art for it as well as accompanying written bits and maybe even an animatic but till then have some general info under the cut.

Also there is transformers: Prime spoilers below so open at your own risk.

TRANSFORMERS: HARBINGERS

So this AU comes from the same place many AUs heavily involving TfP Starscream come from: the unfulfilled potential in our boy Scream. Now deeper discussion of that is not gonna be in this post. It'd be a whole essay.

It also comes from just how salty I was that the Team's kindness never really benefitted them much and they kept getting slapped for it. And OP really wanted to win over a con and Starscream kept wanting a partner. ALSO ALSO Optimus was portrayed as keeping his emotions in check and then never really gets a message that it's okay to be emotional so... I'm doing that here.

And the Starscream Pirate AU was born...

Aka Transformers: Harbingers (maybe idk if it's catchy enough djjsw)

Why Harbingers? ''It's just a SHIP Starscream chills in for awhile in the show' ' I hear you say. WELL HANG ON!! I got two very good reasons!! .

First off: Starscream, with the help of some Cybertronians who he wins over one way or another (Ill get to that), help him essentially use the remains of the Harbinger to put together their own functional ship. It's smaller than the Nemesis and will take some pirate ship inspiration. While it is a hardy beast it's a bit jury rigged.

Second of all:

Imagine being a fictional character living in a ship with a name that basically means 'Foreshadowed bringer of change' and then going back to Megatron and his bullshit. I'm gonna grab this and run all the way with it. Highway to Hell just came on my Spotify so... That may be an omen.

---------

NOW LISTEN

I feel like Starscream and Optimus could really have had such an interesting dynamic but we never really got to see that in TfP and I feel cheated. Also both could have mutually benefitted a great deal.

So what do I do? I shove them together to be sorta begrudging Co-Captains. As a result there's a lot of shenanigans to be had!

How this happens OP has some run ins with cons and, through a way I'm still deciding, has the opportunity to extend a hand to Starscream. Starscream, being kindness starved, doesn't entirely know what to do about Optimus being nice to him one whole time with no sarcasm or ulterior motive and sorta starts trying to get his attention.

Starscream and his crew are a bit of their own team at this point. MEANING sort of new LOGOS!

I'm yoinking the crossed out Decepticon logo from the Dark Energon Starscream and Dark Energon Knockout toys cause I mean... It's right there and also kinda like a skull and crossbones. It fits too well guys.

Starscream essentially manages to win over the autobots enough so they can sorta make a mutually beneficial, if strained, alliance to aid their aligned goal: killing Megatron and revitalizing cyberton. This is aided by some slight changes to the plot of course. It's also a benefit, much to Ratchet's delight, since they finally get some cybertronian tech to work with.

And so they gotta work together to take Megatron out and there's much bonding moments esp later when the autobot base is destroyed. Starscream extends his hand to them and offers them a more permanent position onboard. (rubbing in how unfortunate their situation is and how this is such a big favour but he's paying Optimus back.)

And insert team dynamic stuff!! Like cons teaming up with Bots, Starscream and Optimus trying to stick with it leading their own teams but keep accidently backseat-leadering one another. I will write some other ex-con and bot dynamics cause there's a lot of chaos to be had.

Optimus doesn't open up to his crew for morale sake and masks his emotions well, and Starscream is... well Starscream is Starscream so he masks what he truly feels a lot and doesn't share a lot of personal stuff besides complaints with his team either. So there's a lot of tension.... That is until Starscream has had it at just how good a poker face Prime has.

Because he's absolutely paranoid got a harmless curiosity about Optimus's ulterior motives and wants potential dirty secrets he can use as blackmail to have power over the Prime, he essentially puts cybertronian booze (but kid friendly version of course fbejek) in Optimus's energon heavily expecting him to spill the beans when heavily drunk. What he doesn't expect is that Optimus is just... LIKE THAT to his core. He's smart but very sad and guilty. And maybe a bit weepy and exhausted cause this man has not shown an emotion for eons now. /s. Starscream doesn't know wtf to do but swayed by how earnest Optimus is he sorta softens up and does open up. Might have helped that he took a swig of the tainted energon to get on his level though. But it also helps that neither is the others subordinate so they don't need to maintain their image as badly with the Co-captain as they do their team.

The ex cons sorta accidently absorb some of the autobot's morals over time. The cons help the autobots have some fun. There's a lot of stuff learned both ways. Also the cons realize how cool humans can be and after a lot of argument and forced time spent with the kids, they want to protect earth too.

Starscream, helps Optimus open up a bit more and allow himself to be emotional. He also shows him how to be a little selfish. Optimus in turn helps him with self confidence and making friends. Both help each other with the shit Megatron put em both through and overall boost one another up. (This also does change the start of the war a bit but I'll get to that in another post.)

Miko tries to fight all of the cons at first but quickly changes her tune cause "BOOYAH PIRATE CONS!!"

Other bits about this AU:

Starscream will eventually get a slight design change. It'll be less scrappy and look more confident and put together. It'll be minor

Because they are on a flying ship but have less energon than the Nemesis, everyone gets equipped with mods for flight. There is a jetpack upgrade one can get or Knockout can straight up help change their alt mode surgically.

I'm working up a list of who gets what flight mod but... Ya'll should know that Wheeljack dares Knockout to make him into a flying car. Largely cause I just got the image of Wheeljack flying above vehicons and just turning into a car and dropping on them. That and driving up the side of the Nemesis and confusing the fuck out of Megatron. Out of all the characters you know that would be a Wheeljack thing.

Arcee and Knockout grieve together.

Knockout loves bugging the hell out of Ratchet. It's extra fun for him cause Ratchet often can't do shit about it since they both need the room and tools.

Knockout and Wheeljack become an insufferable duo with the nicknames they have for everyone.

Wheeljack won't leave Starscream alone and keeps coming up with worse and worse nicknames like he did with Ratchet.

Starscream and Ratchet become complaining buddies.

STARSCREAM'S SEEKER SQUAD REJOINS. Well some of them. Skywarp, Thundercracker and maybe other peeps.

Miko manages to befriend Skywarp and Bulkhead now has to watch both Miko AND Skywarp. Wheeljack refuses to help Bulkhead round them up.

Raf hits it off with Thundercracker.

Knockout: "FINALLY a team with fragging MANNERS!"

Instead of Beeftimus Prime from the forge, Optimus actually gets access to a third alt mode and.. Idk something else primely. So he actually gets wings.

Starscream and the other fliers are greatly amused because Optimus, as great as he is at his poker face most of the time, hasn't yet figured out how to not emote with the pair of wings he gets from the forge. Thundercracker is the one who eventually informs him while the rest of the crew are booing loudly in the background.

I actually do have designs of TFP Skywarp, Thundercracker, and Ironhide in the works.

Fowler and Starscream have insult battles. Oddly both grow a weird almost fondness for these verbal sparring sessions

They frequently raid the Nemesis

Miko keeps talking in a pirate voice. Smokescreen has joined her.

AND A LOT OF OTHER STUFF I'LL GET INTO WITH MORE DETAIL AND ART. I'll also talk more in depth about some of these things that isn't a ramble like this post is. xnwjskw.

Feel free to ask about anything you're curious about.

#My aus #Autothots content #Transformers: Prime Au #Tfp au #Transformers: Harbingers #Harbingers AU

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theshatteredrose · 4 years

Text

Turquoise Lotus Father (Treasure Seekers Saga 2) - Chapter 4 - Etrian Odyssey 5 Fanfiction

AN: Sorry for the wait! I was too distracted playing Pokemon Shield, but I did dabble at this in-between. It’s also a longer chapter, which is another reason for taking so long (that’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it). So, enjoy~!

Ao3 | Wattpad | FFNet

Chapter 4:

The morning air was cool and crisp as Drayce led his guildmates to the entrance of the labyrinth. Blayke was directly behind him with Caelem huddling close to him out of nerves. Upon seeing that sight, Drayce had to smile to himself when he remembered how Blayke greeted him when he returned to the Crescentia after his little errand.

“C-Caelem actually has a tail,” he uncharacteristically stuttered at him the moment he stepped through the doors.

Caelem, with a tail as long and fluffy as his hair, stood a few feet away behind him, looking confused.

Drayce had spent the next few minutes reassuring Caelem that Blayke’s reaction wasn’t negative. He just thought his tail was cute. Which prompted Caelem to start blushing and stuttering. And Blayke spent the rest of the night trying to act cool.

The whole thing was fun, honestly.

Next to Caelem walked Faelen, Nashoba by his side. Their presence offering the Therian a sense of comfort.

While his tail was hidden from view at current, he too seemed to appreciate the fact that he didn’t have to hide while inside the Crescentia. Unsurprisingly, his tail was the same unique colour as his hair. But was far fluffier than Drayce had anticipated.

It made him wonder just how…uncomfortable it was for them to have to hide their tails like that. He also couldn’t help but feel that there was another reason why they kept them hidden from view when out in public.

Zohar took the rear, leisurely keeping pace as he pulled his coffins alongside him. He took the whole therian tail reveal with ease. Likely having known beforehand.

The entrance of the labyrinth was bustling as usual at this time of the morning. With the sky a clear blue, not a cloud to be seen, it was no surprise that other guilds were also milling about, ready to conduct their own exploration.

“You guys ready to head to the second floor?” Drayce asked as he glanced over his shoulder.

“We’re ready,” Blayke was the one to respond on everyone’s behalf, completely unbothered that Caelem was sticking incredibly close to him. “Let’s hope out first time there goes smoothly.”

He honestly did, too.

As they headed toward the once heavily fortified and barricaded entrance of the labyrinth, Drayce immediately remembered the rune stone that he had learnt about and altered their direction slightly.

“Ah, before we head in; I’ll show you what Virgil showed me yesterday,” Drayce explained as they turned right from the entrance and down a small path that led to a clearing in the forest that surrounded the labyrinth.

Unsurprisingly, the rune stone was still there, in one piece, and with only two gemstones amongst the thirty shining softly. Immediately, a few murmurs of surprise and interest erupted behind him.

“This?” Blayke questioned as he and the others inspected the rune stone.

“Yep, this is it,” Drayce answered. “See those crystals? They are set to transport you to a particular set of stairs. Only after they’ve been activated.”

Faelen inspected the crystals curiously. “There’s…thirty of them. Wait, does that mean there’s thirty floors?” he asked as he spun around to look at Drayce in surprise.

Drayce smiled as he adjusted the holster of his shield. “That’s the consensus.”

“We’ve got a long way to go…” Blayke murmured.

Drayce slapped him on the shoulder in a friendly matter. “And we’re in no hurry. Anyway, let’s get going.”

Heading into the labyrinth, they turned to the right in order to reach the stairs. And in his usual spot, surrounded by his faithful and loyal chickens, was Virgil. He appeared to be speaking with a guild, likely novices on their first mission.

As soon as he was done seeing off the other guild, Virgil turned to likely greet another potential guild. His expression, however, immediately lightened when he recognised them. “Oh, good morning.”

“Moring, Virgil,” Drayce greeted cheerfully as he paused in front of the friendly guard. “We’re popping up to the second floor today, so we shouldn’t be in your hair. Lucky you.”

Virgil chuckled before an expression of realisation appeared on his face. “Ah, your first time, yes? Do you mind if I ask you something before you travel forward?”

Drayce adjusted the band that kept his shield on his back and nodded. “Sure. What’s up?”

“I take it you know of those golden treasure chests that are quite visible around this floor,” Virgil started.

“Like that one behind you?” Drayce returned, his gaze flicking toward the golden treasure chest that seemed to both blend in but stand out amongst the greenery of the labyrinth. “Yeah, I’ve noticed them.”

Virgil shifted on his feet. “You haven’t inspected them?”

Drayce shrugged. It made sense that Virgil would be asking him why he hadn’t broken his neck trying to get to them. He may not know that he’s a treasure hunter, but it was still a valid question.

“I’ve been a tad busy the few times I’ve been on this floor, but I have noticed them,” Drayce explained before he shrugged again. “I take it they’re to help boost morale for the rookie explorers?”

Virgil was momentarily surprised before he smiled politely and nodded his head. “Yes, that’s right. For the first two floors at the very least.”

Yup. Nothing more tempting to a rookie guild than a golden treasure chest in full view. For seasoned treasure hunters, the treasures that were hard to locate or even see held the most value.

Like the Radiant Moon of Compassion, for example. Hidden on the first floor, in a place that was inaccessible and yet people passed by all day, every day for nearly a thousand years. It was right there and no one knew.

That was the kind of treasures that Drayce was interested in.

“Yeah, I had thought as much which is why I haven’t been breaking my neck to get to them,” Drayce replied.

That wasn’t to say that he wasn’t curious to know what was inside those golden treasure chests!

“Ah, I see. I’ve been curious,” Virgil said before he went on to explain further. “We guards have been ordered to ensure that the treasure chests are well stocked but with all the new explorers lately, it’s been hard to remember who had retrieved the treasure inside the chest and who hasn’t.”

Drayce immediately understood what he meant. “Don’t want anyone doubling up. Fair enough. I’ll leave those treasure chests alone for now. For these two floors at least. I can’t promise anything about the higher floors.”

Virgil laughed. “That’s more than reasonable.”

“Besides, I’m more interested in what’s hidden than what is in plain sight.” Drayce adjusted his grip on his shield and straightened. “Well, better get a move on. The second floor won’t explore itself.”

“I best get back to work also,” Virgil said as he glanced over Drayce’s shoulders. “Have a good day.”

Drayce nodded his head and motioned for the others to follow him. “And you.”

“Oh, don’t forget the crystal,” Virgil reminded.

“Got it!” Drayce said as he waved back, still leading the party to the stairs.

“Crystal?” Blayke questioned and Drayce simply sent him a smile.

“You’ll see~”

Passing through a set of doors and between two small streams of water they came across a simple stone and wooden structure. Inside was a set of stairs, made from stone and spiralling upwards. As they stepped inside, the lightening immediately waned. Not to pitch black, but visibility was definitely affected. It thankfully wasn’t stifling inside, nor was it a long spiralling staircase. About twenty steps in total.

They ascended the stairs in silence and soon stepped through onto the second floor. The same lush greenery and clean air greeted them as they stepped out into the sunlight.

As the others filed out from the stairs, Drayce turned to look back toward the archway. He quickly inspected the stonework and it wasn’t long until his gaze fell upon a small crystal nestled within the stone and moss. Clearly, that was the crystal that Virgil told him about.

Faelen seemed to have noticed the gemstone, also, as he moved to stand next to him and tugged on the sleeve of his coat. “Is this linked to that Star Jump you told us about?”

“I think so,” Drayce replied. “Apparently, you have to activate it in order to be transported to these set of stairs. I assume it’s nothing more than just touching the crystal. I take it we all need to do it.”

Drayce raised his hand and slipped off his glove. He then gently brushed his fingers against the simple light green gemstone. Just as his fingers touched the smooth surface, it flickered a soft, subtle light. It lasted only a second, but Drayce was certain its reaction indicated that he crystal, and possibly the deva within, had accepted him.

He didn’t receive a negative reaction, after all.

He took a step back to allow the others to introduce themselves to the gemstone as well.

“Go ahead,” he urged.

Faelen was the first to step up, and he did so eagerly. As he brushed his fingertips against the stone, he received the same reaction, the crystal flickering lightly.

One by one the other stepped forward and tapped the crystal with their fingertips. And they all received the same reaction.

Well, that turned out easier than expected. Which was a good thing. He just needed to remember to introduce the others to the warping crystal the next time they venture into the labyrinth.

“Well, with that out of the way, let’s get exploring, shall we?” Dayce instructed before he turned his attention to Faelen. “Ready to map with me, Fae?”

“Yup!” Faelen immediately responded, full of enthusiasm.

“Let’s just focus on the mapping today, yeah?” Blayke suggested. “We’ll look for that other hidden staircase later.”

“Sounds good,” Drayce immediately agreed as he reached into his coat to pull out the parchment of which he would use to draw their map. “Now, which direction should we head in first?”

“There’s a place where we can pick herbs and flowers not far from here,” Zohar supplied for them. “There is also a place quite close to the stairs that is quite ideal for a campsite.”

Drayce looked up at him, surprised. “Really? Ah, you’ve been to this floor before, then?”

Zohar nodded his head once slowly. “A few times in my travels, yes.”

From where he stood between Caelem and Faelen, Blayke roughly crossed his arms across his chest plate. “So, you know about those large monsters, then.”

Again, Zohar hid head. “Toxipedes, yes. They will prove to be no trouble. Unless provoked, of course.”

Well, they had better try not to provoke them then. Those Wild Dogs of the first floor were bad enough. The monsters that dwell on this floor are said to be even more dangerous than them.

“However, if you spy any animated fungi, immediately head in the opposite direction,” Zohar suddenly warned, sounding unnervingly serious.

Drayce blinked. Fungi? “Ah, ok?”

Zohar wouldn’t say anymore, so Drayce decided to ask him more about the inhabitants of this floor later. He wanted to avoid any battling today. Mapping was their only concern, really. Of course, one could never predict what the monsters of the labyrinth would do. Hopefully, if they left them alone, the monsters would leave them alone.

After taking a moment to get a bearing of where they were on the map, Drayce folded the parchment and placed it securely in his jacket. He then took hold of his shield and took the lead.

“Don’t wander too far forward, Faelen,” Blayke fussed as they walked through the pathways of spiralling trees and stone.

“I won’t!” Faelen said as he slowed his steps slightly so that he was walking between Drayce and Blayke.

Drayce chuckled softly at their youngest teammate’s enthusiasm before he turned his gaze to their surroundings. The foliage of the second was exactly the same as the first. Flowers of yellow, white, pink, and purple nestled within the fallen limps of trees and stones covered in moss.

There was another thing that caught Drayce’s attention. “Hm, curious.”

“What is?” Faelen asked him.

“There are pools of water on this floor, too,” Drayce said as he lifted his chin to motion toward the natural water features. “I wonder why it hasn’t trickled down to the lowest floor yet. Water usually settles in the lowest place possible, after all.”

Blayke glanced over at the pools of water and his brow immediately furrowed. “If there are pools of water on this floor, then there’s probably some on the higher floors. I just hope one of them doesn’t decide to burst on top of us.”

“Ah, yeah, there’s that, too,” Drayce nodded his head as he glanced up at the ceiling that was lost of the canopy of green leaves and moss-covered branches. “But there’s also the possibility of caches of previous jewel heists hidden on this floor, too.”

Blayke suddenly, and rather rudely, snorted. “No time for a swim.”

Drayce immediately pouted and turned to look at him. “Dude, I wasn’t going to suggest it.”

“Yet.”

“Rude.”

Faelen laughed at the two of them, while Caelem chuckled into his hand. From where he stood at the back of the party, Zohar, too, wore an expression of amusement on his face.

But then Caelem suddenly stiffened, his ears perked straight up on top of his head. He appeared tense, nervous even. And he looked around skittishly. That obviously alarmed Drayce. Before he, or anyone else for that matter, could ask him what was wrong, Caelem abruptly turned to face everyone.

“What’s that?” he asked, his eyes wide.

Drayce immediately stopped walking, pulling everyone else to a stop also. “What’s what?” he asked as he turned his attention toward the red-haired masurao.

“You can’t hear that music?” Caelem unexpectedly asked as he nervously wrung his hands together in front of him.

“Music?” Drayce questioned before he fell silent and shared a look with Blayke, the fencer looking puzzled. They remained silent for a few seconds, but could only hear the sounds of birds chirping in the trees around them. Drayce couldn’t hear anything that could be confused with music. And from the arched eyebrow of concern from Blayke, he couldn’t either.

“No, we can’t hear anything,” Drayce said as he turned to look back to Caelem.

Caelem immediately looked deflated. “B-but…” he murmured and shook his head frantically before he looked over at his teammate. “Faelen?”

Faelen’s ears twitched a couple of times before he shook his head. “I can’t hear anything either.”

An express of distress appeared on Caelem’s face and his ears flatten atop of his head. “But…”

Drayce may not be able to hear anything, but that didn’t mean that there wasn’t something out there to hear.

“Easy,” Drayce said in a hopefully soothing tone and reached out to place a hand upon Caelem’s shoulder. “Remember the Radiant Moon? I was the only one who could see its light. So, follow the sound. We’ll follow you.”

Caelem appeared uneasy. But he squared his shoulders and nodded his head. “Ok.”

Drayce gave his shoulder another comforting squeeze before he dropped his hand to his side and took a step back. Everyone fell silent as lifted his head up, his ears twitching amongst his red hair.

“It’s…coming from around here,” he said as he turned to face west and walked cautiously close to the forest wall.

Drayce was immediately behind him, one hand upon his shield while the other rested on the holster of his weapon. He was readying himself for calling a Decoy Shield at the slightest hint of danger. After a few steps, Caelem stopped and looked curiously down at the ground.

“It’s…coming from here,” he said as he looked up at Drayce, his expression a mix of curiosity and unease.

“I can sense some mana within the area,” Zohar announced.

Drayce nodded his head. “There might be something buried here. Where about is it, Cal?”

“Ah…here,” Caelem pointed to the ground directly in front of him.

Drayce glanced down at the ground and studied it carefully. There appeared to be a very slight depression in the ground. If he hadn’t studied as closely as he was, he wouldn’t have given the spot a second glance. He still couldn’t hear anything, but with the way that Caelem’s ears were twitching, he could.

Only one thing to do.

“Nashoba? If you could.”

Faelen moved forward toward the small indentation and knelt down. He then pointed to the spot and clicked his tongue as he uttered Nashoba’s name. Immediately, the white-furred wolf moved to stand directly over the spot and dug hastily and quickly at the soil without any hesitation.

Nashoba managed to dig himself a reasonable size hole before his claws scraped across something hand and Caelem immediately perked up.

“That’s it!” he said as he dropped to his knees and brushed aside some clods of dirt. “That’s where the music is coming from.”

Drayce still couldn’t hear anything, but maybe he truly wasn’t the one who was supposed to.

With Blayke cautiously keeping guard, as per usual, Drayce slid off his shield and propped it to his side. He then knelt down and inspected the hole as well. He spied a rectangular object and he helped Caelem tug it out from the dirt and roots of plants and trees.

As he brushed the clumps of soil aside, Drayce noted that the object was obviously man-made. A simple wooden chest. About medium size. Something that could easily be carried with one set of arms. It didn’t feel that heavy, either.

But the silver lock on the side was definitely curious.

“There’s a lock on it,” Drayce announced as he continued to study their mysterious discovery. “Shouldn’t be too hard to crack.”

“Should we do it here, though?” Blayke, the ever cautious one, asked a very good question.

“Probably not,” Drayce questioned as he took a cautionary glance around their surroundings, also. “Let’s take it back to the Crescentia. Cal, is it still playing music?”

Caelem shook his head. “No, it’s stopped now. But it was definitely coming from that chest.”

Interesting…

In any case, they were going to cut their trek today short. For now, at least. They might return this afternoon just to give the area another going over. But for now, they needed to return to the Crescentia and inspect what they found in a secure environment.

Had to take those bandits into consideration, after all.

As they took a moment to clear off some of the dirt in order to carry the chest out of the labyrinth without gaining too much attention, Drayce paused. He felt a sudden prickle race across his neck.

Drayce glanced over his shoulder, suddenly realising how silent their surroundings were. “That feeling…” was familiar somehow.

“What?” Blayke asked quietly as his brow furrowed protectively. “What’s wrong?”

Drayce didn’t reply immediately. He took a few more long seconds to study the shadows within the foliage. “It’s…nothing,” he finally said and shook his head. “I just thought I heard something behind us. Probably a monster.”

Blayke didn’t look convinced but nodded his head. “As long as it doesn’t try to ambush us, the bastard can stay there.”

Agreed.

Nevermind that. They were heading back to the Crescentia for now, anyway. Hopefully they found something of interest. Maybe they were lucky and found something that would lead them to the stairs!

With their new discovery safely within their possession, Drayce took the lead once more. “Let’s go and see what we’ve got.”

… … … … …

The trek out of the labyrinth was thankfully an easy one. No troubles from either monsters or other inquisitive explorers. And, most appreciative of all, no sign of those bandits. Though…he did get that uneasy feeling as they headed to the stairs of the second floor.

That faded as they stepped out upon the first floor, though.

Feeling more at ease as they left the busy entrance of Yggdrasil they headed toward the comforting sight of Crescentia. There was a sense of urgency in their steps, though it was from curiosity and intrigue. Blayke, on the other hand, was on edge. Ever cautious and protective.

“We’re back!” Drayce announced as they hurried into the foyer of their guildhouse.

Appearing from the top of the stairs, Ashton hastily made his way down. “Hm? You’re back early. What happened?” he asked, his brow furrowed and his gaze critical as he inspected them all for the slightest injury or discomfort.

“Easy, no one’s hurt,” Drayce immediately reassured as shrugged off his shield and armour. “We just found something curious and interesting.”

Shashi, along with Kamali and Fiorello, also appeared suddenly and made their way down the flight of stairs. “I can sense the mana already. What is it?”

Drayce retrieved the chest from Caelem and carried it into the lounge area. “Here it is. First, I need to pick this lock.”

As he placed it upon an empty table, he reached into his jacket to pull out his lock-picking kit. He kept with him at all times. You never know when you needed to pick a lock, after all.

Behind him the others gathered. “A wooden chest?” Ashton questioned as he peered over his shoulder. “Ah, maybe you found one of those hidden jewel caches.”

Drayce shrugged as he dragged over a chair to sit down. “Maybe,” he said as he dropped down upon the chair and opened his kit. “Won’t know until I open it.”

Everyone chatted quietly amongst themselves, Faelen explaining to Shashi and Kamali of how they had stumbled across their discovery. Drayce tuned out their voices as he studied the lock. It wouldn’t be difficult for him to pick. A couple of tools would be more than enough.

Picking out his tools, he focused his full attention on the small silver lock. He had to remind himself to take it slow. He was eager to see what was inside, yes. But he had to take it slow so he wouldn’t mess up the lock.

Drayce unconsciously chewed on his bottom lip as he slowly eased the lock open. When he heard that satisfying click and watched as the lock sprung open just a fraction, he smiled widely. “And done.”

“What’s inside?” Caelem eagerly asked as he huddled closely against his back.

Drayce slowly pulled back the lid and was greeted with something he hadn’t been expecting. A small chest, carved from dark wood. Spirals and carving that appeared to be ancient hieroglyphics adorn the lid. Most prominent was a small plate of gold with a small indentation at the very centre. An indentation that gave the indication that something had once sat there. Or needed to be placed within.

“Hm?” he murmured as he tilted his head to the side as he carefully lifted the chest from its confinement. “It seems like one of those personal trinket chests. I think it’s sealed in some way, though.”

“So, there’s a box within a box?” Blayke muttered with a sense of exasperation. “And this box has a seal on it? Figures.”

Drayce rolled his eyes slightly at his friend’s lack of enthusiasm. But that was just Blayke for ya.

Before Drayce could make some quip about Blayke being a party-pooper, Caelem suddenly fell against Drayce’s back, his hands on his shoulders in an attempt to get a closer look at what he was holding. Drayce blinked at the sudden movement, but managed to keep still.

“W-what, that’s the symbol of the lotus!” Caelem all but shouted in realisation and surprise.

Drayce blinked again and peered up at Caelem, still not moving an inch. “Hm? Wait, is that the same symbol of the one from your village?”

“I-it is,” Caelem immediately replied, his eyes wide. “C-can I see it?”

“Have at it.”

Caelem immediately, but carefully, took the trinket box from Drayce and seemingly unaware that he had been resting against Drayce’s back, having all but launched himself there, took a step back. He held their discovery in his two hands and carefully lifted it this way and that to look at it from every angle.

“It’s definitely the same crest as my village,” Caelem finally stated. “But…there’s no lock. I can’t see anyway to open it.”

Drayce stood in front of Caelem. “Looks like the only way to open it is to find a charm or amulet in the shape of a lotus to fit in here,” he said as he tapped at the lid with his index finger.

Caelem looked at where he had indicated and it took a second for him to realise what that meant. And he immediately deflated, his ears drooping atop of his head in disappointment. “Oh…”

“Sorry, Cal. Sometimes it’s like that,” Drayce said as he retrieved the trinket box from him and handed it over to Shashi, who eagerly snatched it up and began to inspect it.

“But maybe it’s somewhere in the second floor of the labyrinth?” he suggested as he reached out to place a hand on Caelem’s shoulder once more. “I know it’s a long shot, but it probably has some mana on it. So, there’s a chance that Kamali or Zohar will be able to sense it. Or maybe you’ll be able to sense it.”

Although still disappointed, Caelem seemed to accept that. “You’re probably right.”

“If all else fails, we’ll try blowing it up,” Drayce half joked with a smile.

That got a small laugh from Caelem and he shook his head. “I hope we won’t have to do that.”

Caelem may laugh, but blowing things up was still something that would be considered for the truly stubborn locks. The cannons dragoons used wasn’t just for monsters, after all.

“These symbols are intriguing,” Shashi commented as he placed the trinket box upon another table and pulled out a notebook from his pocket. “Are they of ancient Therian dialect?”

“I think so,” Caelem answered before suddenly looking sheepish. “But…I can’t read them.”

Shashi simply nodded his head absentmindedly as he continued to study his latest project. “What of you, Faelen?”

Faelen, of course, squeaked in surprise as the question. “M-me? No, I can’t read them either.”

Again, and completely unperturbed, Shashi nodded his head as he jotted a few notes down upon his notepad. “Well, no matter. I’m sure I can get my hands on a book that will help translate what these symbols mean. It’ll just take a little longer than usual.”

Drayce was immediately reminded of how lucky he was to have such an unfaltering scholar on his side. “Anything you discover would be awesome.”

Shashi made a few more notes in a hurried flourished before he stood up straight. “I’ll get to work then,” he said as he turned to leave the room.

As he did so, however, he walked past Ashton. Whom of which was shaking his head in exasperation.

“Don’t sigh and frown at me, Ashton,” Shashi chided as he slapped the man lightly on his arms that were folded tightly over his chest.

Ashton continued to looked exasperated. “At least there were a couple of days of peace,” he muttered aloud for everyone to hear, to which was immediately waved off by Shashi as he disappeared up the stairs.

“Oh, you enjoy this stuff as much as anyone else,” Drayce couldn’t help but tease.

Ashton arched an eyebrow at him, but smiled nevertheless. “Ah, can’t deny that,” he said as he unfolded his arms and gave Drayce a rather…terse look. “But I am your caretaker, after all. I won’t hesitate to use force.”

Drayce nearly broke out into a cold sweat upon that…threat. “I-I’ll remember that.”

Ashton continued to stare threateningly at him to get his point across just that little bit more before he relaxed and smiled a friendly grin. “Well, that didn’t take you very long, did it?”

Drayce shrugged and grinned also. “Well, I am a treasure hunter. Finding mysteries and treasures is what I’m all about. At least with this one we might have a slight head start on it.”

Faelen made his way to Drayce’s side and tugged on the sleeve of his coat again. “What do we do now, Dray? Should we head back into the labyrinth?”

Drayce mulled over the question for a moment before he nodded his head. “We probably should. We weren’t in there for very long. I’m curious about those gathering points anyway. Coming, Cal?”

From where he stood with Kamali, Caelem immediately stiffened at being called. “Oh, yes, coming!”

Kamali gave Caelem’s arm a slight squeeze as he walked past him to head upstairs himself. “I’ll try to find what I can on this Turquoise Lotus Father figure of yours.”

“Th-thank you, I appreciate it,” Caelem immediately replied.

Snatching up his shield and armour, Drayce led his guildmates once more. “Tell Shashi not to push himself too hard!”

#Etrian Odyssey #etrian odyssey 5 #turquoise lotus father #the treasure seeker #fanfiction #Angelward Guild

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gg-astrology · 5 years

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hi!! leo sun/ sag moon please? ☺️

Hey there!!!!! 💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞

[Below Cut: Leo Sun - Sagittarius Moon 🥁]

‘SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK’ but Also ‘Sleeping for a week’

Marching to the beat of their own drum, Leo/Sag drum is Fun but also unpredictable-- even THEY don’t know what their schedule is like or what theyre going to be up to!!! Everything is a ~flow~ of loosely planned social clusters and improvisation!!!

The type of people who are so chill, so down for anything. Ready to grab their gears, their friends and GO. There’s constant movement and physical activities, like socializing is fun and nice and stops the depression -- but also going home is like,

Home time is me-time y get me?

These people may seem like the type to be like fun and motivating cause they literally urge people to do stuff (’hey let’s go let’s do it’) but at the same time they’re also private??

Do you even know what their home life is like?? Do u know what their domestic sphere is Like at all??

Privacy is important to them--- as much as they like being Out There and Different, the comfort of their own home and having control over that aspect of their life (who they let in, who’s intimate, who’s family) is sacrilege

Like they’re -- a conspiracy theory, what doeth goeth on inside thy humble abodeth? 👀 They put so much energy into their public/social persona that often times--- getting to know what their ‘me’ time is like feels like you only know half a person???

There’s a lot that Leo/Sagittarius has to deal with on their own, emotionally. They recuperate and contemplate a lot, but at the same time-- if they don’t get out and Do something they get dragged down into boredom/insecurities or constant thoughts/ideas/whizziness (Sagittarius itchy restlessness/anxiety) that’s why they’re always like ‘im bored let’s do something lets go’ all the time (needy/whiny)

They’re the type who’d go out, follow the crowd and do something completely crazy (’take a chance!’) because they LOVE a good story to tell ugh

They like hearing about gossip/drama and rumours, especially one about them (gasp) because they’re like---- ‘yes keep talking about me i love it’ it boosts their confidence

These Leo/Sagittarius combos are anxious about not being in trend, not being heard or fitting in sometimes. While they’re independent to a degree, they’re also creature of social inclusivity. They want to be included in stuff, in groups and hang outs. They want to be appreciated and admired, wanna be talked to and about.

They aren’t shy about owning their confidence/worth, because there’s so much more to life that they could be stressed over?? The small stuff-- like surface level things like oh popularity or admirability or social standing-- those things are important but pshhh, it’s nothing like dealing with their deep inner thoughts/turmoils and anxiety y know?

Won’t ever let you know when they need help with those stuff though, they’re NOT the type to disclose information about themselves unless YOU bring it up

They’ll try to advise you, work through THEIR problems by mirroring/projecting through you and figuring it out from there. But you won’t have a clue??

Like there’s something to be said about how Sagittarius does make someone a deep and intellectual thinker. There’s an emphasis on academic and respectability, they know this. Social standing is important, but so is ?? maverick and progression (context).

Think smart not hard, work efficiently not longer. Underneath that fun, care-free and spirited exterior, you ARE a smart, serious and professional person.

The thing is, I think you know your concentration is shit. You LIKE the rebellious life-style mostly because it makes you feel accepted for who you are. Your Sagittarius won’t settle down, so you adapt and make due.

You turn it into a life-style where you encourage and rally people around you to ‘not be so hive-minded’ and show them your critical thinking (but quickly ease back into careful nonchalance and silliness, because you don’t want them to think you’re serious all the time/more than necessary)

Because of your 1) impatience, impulsivity 2) need to for good story to tell you can sometimes be a slave to acting recklessly and carelessly-- sometimes physically putting yourself in danger or seeking out ‘thrills’.

You’re a child at heart, and this can sometimes worry people. Because you are--- as signature of Leo, naive and innocent to an extent. No matter how much you grow up, how you’ve matured. How responsible or hard-working or whatever you have in your ‘social-front’ --- you’ll always be a slave to inner ‘thrill-seeker/wanting adventure’ because of it

You may encourage others to open up about themselves, yet you never open up about you. You believe, strongly in your opinion (research, studies, made up your mind) -- you’re critical and cynical, albeit optimistic/alternative as a person.

The thing about you is-- you believe in frankness and openness, but is boo boo the fool--- clownery when you don’t give back the things you ask for (slip n’ slide, you know you’re charming so you make sure the other person forget about you not opening up by overwhelming them with attention/questions about themselves)

Sometimes you can have the view of ‘uselessly validating someone create hive-mindedness without critical thinking/pushing’ is something like a pet-peeve, but realize that this is out of obliviousness to how emotionality work.

You realize that-- if someone IS upset about something, you’re not supposed to beat down on them or make light of it at the time. Yet you’re unable to keep your mouth shut, unable to support or help others because you’re not in touch with your OWN sensitivity (never let it out) so you hurt others intentionally because it’s ‘my way or no way’

You’re reckless, and that’s not going to work in the long-run. You know this, but reprimanding you is like reprimanding your internal child. You huff and whine and is egoistic, you don’t listen to anybody else and can sometimes think your opinion (informed, thought out, decisive) is arguable more substantial and stronger than weak-mindedness

While you like to challenge others to prove you wrong, realize that your attitude is the problem. You can charm, you can slide, you can be as ‘good’ or morally chaotic as you want. What matters is that you learn how to not HURT people through it, because sometimes-- you really do make those close to you feel like they don’t know you or can’t help you. Because you keep them at arm’s length at all times.

(tl;dr: Sagittarius expands your ego, your emotions. It makes Leo’s needs and combined impulsivity stronger. You can sometimes take on or be too much of something, and believe yourself to be something without considering other people’s feelings/emotions.

Consider how Pisces is the nocturnal Jupiter sign- and what it implicates. Learn how to be more understanding, and don’t do it so you can use it to manipulate others sometimes).

Righty then!! 💀💀💀 I hope you enjoy!! 💞💞💞💞 This one’s a bit hmmm harsh but I hope it gives you something to think about!! 💞💞💞 I hope it helps!!

#leo sun #sagittarius moon #leo-sagittarius #anon #asks

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goodvibesatpeace · 5 years

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Spirituality: The Trap of Spiritual Materialism

Spiritual materialism’ is a term first used by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist teacher who came to the United States in the early seventies. In his book Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, Trungpa expounded on his theories of how the ego likes to use the spiritual path for its own ends, and the mistakes seekers easily fall into in their quest for enlightenment.

The problem is that ego can convert anything to its own use… even spirituality. ~ Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

In the west, we have come to think of our spiritual quest as ‘self-improvement,’ which is all well and good, except what is the self? Ego.

Especially in the west, where we are conditioned from an early age into individualism and material accruement, it is easy to impose these ingrained structures of understanding onto spirituality as well. We can collect courses and retreats and practices like medals, or childhood sports trophies, feeding our ever-hungry egos. “Look at me! Look how much I’ve given up, read, invested in my spiritual life!” As if this spiritual search somehow makes us better than the person beside us; who feels no need to meditate every day or do an hour’s asana practice or sit at the feet of a guru. But in all of us, the spiritual path unfolds.

Whether we are aware of it or not – our soul is growing and finding its way. It is only when the ego grasps hold of this search and uses it to feed itself that we are in danger of falling into the trap of spiritual materialism.

The Three Lords of Materialism

Trungpa discussed how these spiritual errors fall into three misunderstandings, stemming from the materialism inherent in Western cultures. He called these the ‘Three Lords of Materialism.’ The first of these is ‘physical materialism’, where the belief that owning and accumulating more and more will bring us happiness. Yet, even when we attain what we first desired, we always yearn for more. In this sense, dissatisfaction accompanies every purchase. It is the yearning that must be addressed.

The second Lord is ‘psychological materialism’, where we believe that a certain faith or belief system will be the cure to all our ills. We fall in love with Buddhism, for instance, and think that if we throw ourselves into the practices with enough vigor, we will be able to evade suffering. Yet, we still suffer. We may strike upon an idea or a political party or cause that momentarily seems to relieve our burdens. But this relief is only momentary. We are still living in the world and the religion or idea, or whatever it is we’ve latched onto so enthusiastically, doesn’t stop challenges from arising.

The third Lord is ‘spiritual materialism’, the belief that a certain state of mind or spiritual practice will set us free from our daily troubles. We may seek to remove ourselves from the world through overusing meditation or breathing techniques, or by living in a drugged-out haze. Escaping. However, at some point we have to stop meditating or the drugs run out and the world again intrudes and the suffering we sought so hard to evade is back in our faces, louder and harder than ever. Life keeps on happening, no matter how hard we try to block it out. Shit still happens.

The Ego – A Projection of the Mind

Trungpa taught that these three Lords are based on the idea that the ego is real, that it is something to be tamed or trained, when in fact, it is constantly changing and does not exist in itself, only as a projection of the mind. If we feed it and build our sense of self around our spiritual practices for instance, then we are only feeding what doesn’t exist. Anything that feeds into this false self of ego will ultimately cause us only more suffering.

So what are the warning signs and how do we find our joy and relieve our suffering, without falling into the trap of feeding the ravenous ego? God knows!

Navel gazing has often been derided, though of course, it is necessary to examine one’s mind and motivations, but when the focus becomes one of boosting the self, narcissistic or self-aggrandising, then we know perhaps it’s time to stop looking inwards and turn our attention out into the world and set an intention to serve the good of others. Though, that too, can feed the ego – look at me, being so good giving up Christmas with my family (which I really hate anyway) to serve food to the homeless – aren’t I a good person? Just bringing an awareness of our true motivations is enough.

If we find ourselves jumping from one fad, one teacher, one book or idea to the next, hoping for instant enlightenment, or healing, that’s another trap. Unfortunately, there isn’t an easy way out; the work of living continues as long as we live. We can find ways of being that help us to embrace all of it more completely, without judgment, but there is no cure for life except death. Even enlightened beings grieve when someone they love dies. We all feel pain.

The Trap of Competing

That leads me to another trap on the spiritual path, one that I recognize as my ego’s favorite – my suffering is worse than your suffering, my bliss is greater than your bliss — comparison and competition, inherent in capitalism but of no use whatsoever in the quest for living more peacefully. We all suffer, we all find our bliss. Be aware of the ego grasping for fuel. If you find yourself dwelling on your own sainthood, then perhaps it’s time for a reality check. Sooner or later it will come to you anyway. If you catch yourself talking only about your latest spiritual teacher, book or practice, trying to enlist others to the cause – look closely at yourself – are you ‘selling’ it? If we’re selling something, then we’ve probably tipped over into spiritual materialism.

That’s not to say you can’t write a great book about the search for happiness, or provide healing services for a fee, it’s only a caution to ensure that the heart of your practice remains centred in being of service, not of serving your own need for a big fancy house and a brand new car.

Be aware also of buying into quick fixes, super-gurus and anything that promises instant enlightenment or a cure for what is missing in our lives. Perhaps these things do happen but the reality is, we each have our own path unfolding within us for the entirety of our lives. Even when we reach some kind of peace, events will still happen that shake us to the core and strip away all we’d fought so hard to attain.

In the West, we have a bad habit of appropriating the spirituality of other cultures, borrowing the rituals or practices we enjoy, mixing and matching without really thinking about the culture or history that shaped the path. Picking a little of this and a little of that, like a pick-and-mix lolly bag, collecting without due consideration. Accumulating. Treating the practices of other cultures with respect and care is important.

Language Clues

The words we use when referring to our spiritual paths give us clues as to whether we’re falling into the trap of ego identification through spirituality – spiritual materialism. If we’re using words like buy and sell, attain and lose, and win, and more and greater than, less than – words of judgment, separation, and acquisition, then we’re probably in need of a wake-up call.

Spiritual materialism is to deceive ourselves into thinking we are developing spiritually when instead we are strengthening our egocentricity through spiritual techniques.

What Then is Spirituality?

How can we approach our spiritual paths without falling into these traps? Awareness is key, and then once we are aware, focusing not only on ourselves and our own healing but on somehow serving the greater good. True spirituality, for me, means experiencing life as it is, while at the same time experiencing that part of ourselves, and of others and the universe itself, that comes from a higher source and connecting with that source in whatever way works for us.

Trungpa’s writings about spiritual materialism serve to wake us up from the trick we all play on ourselves of feeding the ego through self-improvement. Instead, he shows us a far brighter reality, the true joy that involves letting go of the ego and just being, here in the moment, riding the waves of life as they rise and fall.

We use our spiritual search to build a sense of self as a ‘spiritual person,’ a falsehood and deception, or the seeking of enlightenment as a means of escape. We’ve all met people who are hooked on Vipassana retreats, come out from each one glowing, but then a few weeks later are stumbling and lost once more, searching for another fix of their spiritual drug.

#spirituality #material #materialism #ego #ego trap #trap

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terryblount · 4 years

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Dragon Ball Z Kakarot PC Review

It seems that gamers will never give Dragon Ball Z a chance to quit. Every time this 1989 anime looks ready for a peaceful retirement, it is once again dragged back into service sending 90’s kids spiraling into nostalgia, while a whole new generation falls in love with the show. Fighting games in particular have turned Akira Toriyama’s masterpiece into a magic goose with an infinite supply of golden eggs.

Yet, what lies beyond the fighting game genre for Dragon Ball Z has always represented something of an enigma for developers. The epic stand-offs against insanely powerful enemies are certainly a fundamental part of the anime, but they form part of deeper journey of Goku’s personal growth. No DBZ game has really been able to relay this in a meaningful experience.

Look Gohan! Daddy can move sideways in this game too!

Enter Dragon Ball Z Kakarot. With this game, Japan-based studio CyberConnect2 have taken the arena brawler formula from many of their Naruto titles, and wrapped the entire Dragon Ball Z epic around it. What they cobbled together is a wholly different kind of DBZ game with commendable respect for its source material, yet still falls prey to one too many of the open-world genre pitfalls.

Rock the dragon

Like the majority of Dragon Ball Z fighting games out on the market, DBZ Kakarot is similarly a melange of crucial story moments from the anime crafted into a playable experience. The anime’s main drawing point has always been the utter spectacle that ensues when powerful protagonists come face to face with god-like villains, and these moments are undoubtedly the stars of the show here.

Where CyberConnect2’s latest game distinguishes itself from its peers, however, is DBZ Kakarot’s interest in what leads up to these major showdowns. Rather than just ushering the player from one big fight to the next, the gameplay on the open-world maps becomes an opportunity to put time into grooming your character for the multiple boss encounters within each chapter.

I bet if you went through the anime frame by frame you would find scenes that match these pictures perfectly.

In other words, outside of fighting iconic adversaries like Androids, Frieza, or Cell, DBZ Kakarot takes on a much more relaxed and free pacing where the player can fly around the world hunting for collectables, can do some training, or pummel lesser enemies. Each locale has been utterly packed with oodles of the aforementioned loot which serves the purpose of enhancing your character’s abilities.

DBZ Kakarot is at its strongest when the game can make this entire experience feel like you are playing through the anime rather than watching it. Running on the Unreal Engine 4, the character models look utterly fantastic, and at times I had some difficulty distinguishing them from how they look on the show. This is easily on par with gorgeous visuals from Dragon Ball FighterZ.

The developers have also ensured that the fighting sequences do not hold back from eye-watering lighting and particle effects, as well as the actual sounds that defined the quirky aesthetics of the anime. By the time I reached the Kaio-ken four scene between Goku vs Vegeta, I squealed like a little school girl! You could feel that intensity through the screen, and in moments like these DBZ Kakarot shines.

Still my favourite scene from the entire anime

Unfortunately, while many in-combat animations have been done rather well, the open-world dialogue sequences are truly cringeworthy. The show’s real voice cast – including Seán Schemmel and Christopher Sabat – do their best, but the horrific wooden acting and Final Fantasy X-level awkward pauses between lines make these scenes an utter pain to sit through, and there are a LOT of them.

It’s over nine thousaaaaaaaand!

When the first moment arrived to try my hand at the combat mechanics, I instinctively switched over fighting game mode in my mind. As is the norm whenever I play a new fighting game, I anticipated the usual routine of pausing the game and committing some basic combos to memory before punching Piccolo right between his pointy ears…

Except there weren’t any combos or multi-button attacks to speak of. Instead, I learnt that the player will have access to the three basic actions throughout DBZ Kakarot’s combat sequences: Melee attacks, long-range energy blasts and that… blink/step… thing they do. That’s it. Only three inputs that always form the backbone for those flashy enemy encounters.

See how I totally missed Zarbon here? The game wants you to use energy attacks strategically, which means you cannot just spam them.

The reason why CyberConnect2 have gone with such a simplified, consistent combat system is to ensure that the leading character can be rotated as the story progresses, without the need for the player to learn new fighting moves. Moreover, keeping things simple also ensures that DBZ Kakarot keeps a balance between open-world, story-driven moments, and the more intense combat scenarios.

As such, the combat is based primarily on paying attention to the enemy’s attack patterns, and subsequently deciding what your character should do in that moment. Is the enemy close enough to attack, are they blocking, are they about to discharge an energy attack, or should I try to dodge their next move? You form an instinctive loop of these questions in your head the more you play.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Dragon Ball Z without the signature super moves, so the game does let the characters’ individuality shine through in these abilities. The player can therefore choose between a maximum of four different slots to fire energy blasts at enemies, and when fighting in groups, you can even call on your partners to assist with their super attacks.

I hope you like tutorial text; this game will throw A LOT at you! This is a big no no as this means the game was not designed so the player can learn how to play intuitively.

While combat is overall a robust and multi-layered system, I wish it could have been more responsive. The game does most of the work for you, but inputs are still dependent on the character finishing their animations, which means it was easy to descend into button-mashing. It was frustrating seeing characters failing to block, or not striking in an opening because they were still powering ahead with that combo you entered five seconds ago.

Open-world woes

I reviewed One Piece: World Seeker last year which, like DBZ Kakarot, is another Shonen Jump publication that finally shed the yoke of the fighting genre in exchange for an open-world design. Regrettably, several issues – such as a bland world and sterile gameplay – fatally ruptured what could have been a great recreation of the anime.

It seems that DBZ Kakarot was not paying attention to World Seeker’s failings as it duplicates several of them (albeit to a smaller degree). The most obvious problem in DBZ Kakarot is how the open-world gameplay yet again feels underdeveloped, and extremely repetitive.

You read that correctly, one of the side missions is literally helping Master Roshi find his porn. Why? Just WHY?

The different maps like Planet Namek or the island-strewn oceans around Kame House are decent replicas Dragon Ball Z’s settings, and they are pleasantly spacious. However, these areas rarely elevate beyond being collect-a-thon, sand boxes to find the same items over and over again. Even side quests are nothing more than finding lists of items, or fighting the same minor enemies over and over.

DBZ Kakarot’s reasoning behind these agonizingly generic, open-world quests is that the player is expected to use items like Z Orbs to upgrade their skill trees, or food ingredients to cook stats-boosting meals to consume before battles. In this way, the game is intended to convey the experience of preparing themselves for major encounters later on in the chapter(s).

Seriously, “She’s not happy”!? This is the best reason they could come up with for doing this side quest?

The reality is that I played through large chunks of DBZ Kakarot where I became aware of feeling utterly bored. Like One Piece: World Seeker, there is nothing broken in these systems even counting the cringy cut scenes. The issue is that the fun wears off after a few hours once you realise the open-world gameplay is a one-trick-pony. There is simply not enough variety in gameplay to justify the grinding.

Like anime, like game

I have an inkling that DBZ Kakarot was perhaps envisioned in the early phases of development as a turn-based JRPG since the game is built around strong elements of stats and grinding. This might explain why something feels seriously incomplete, and why DBZ Kakarot plays like different elements of open-world and RPG games that have been desperately cobbled together.

My takeaway from the forty or so hours spent in-game is that I vacillated between moments of nostalgic joy in reliving one of the most epic anime series ever conceived, and an overwhelming sense of ‘Are we there yet?’ There isn’t really another game based in the DBZ universe quite like this one, yet I cannot ignore how the devs failed miserably to make open-world gameplay more interesting.

Sorry folks, while DBZ Kakarot can certainly lay claim to a fairly solid foundation, I wish I had better news for you. It feels like a superior, more fleshed out Dragon Ball Z game constantly threatens to conquer the bland moments, but the experience just doesn’t get there. In December 2020 when the inevitable top ten lists come out, I’d bet most content creators are probably going to say “Oh right, I actually forgot about this game!”. Get it on sale if you must.

Good visuals

Engaging boss fights

Loyal to the DBZ narrative

Battle cut scenes

Bland side quests

Very repetetive

Too much collecting

Open-world cut scenes

Tutorial screen overload

Too much talking!

PC Specs: Windows 10 64-bit computer using Nvidia GTX 1070, i5 4690K CPU, 16GB RAM – Played using an XBox One controller

The post Dragon Ball Z Kakarot PC Review appeared first on DSOGaming.

Dragon Ball Z Kakarot PC Review published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

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creativesage · 7 years

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By Grant Faulkner

Grant Faulkner likes big stories and small stories. He lives in the Bay Area and is the executive director of National Novel Writing Month and the cofounder of 100 Word Story. His stories have appeared in dozens of literary magazines, including the Southwest Review, Green Mountains Review, and PANK. His essays on creativity have been published in the New York Times, Poets & Writers Magazine, Writer’s Digest, and the Writer. He recently published a collection of one hundred 100-word stories, Fissures (Press 53, 2015), two of which are included in The Best Small Fictions 2016 (Queens Ferry Press, 2016). His book of essays on creativity, Pep Talks for Writers: 52 Insights and Prompts to Boost Your Creative Mojo, is forthcoming from Chronicle Books in the fall of 2017.

When I first came to San Francisco as a young English major during my spring break in 1987, I knew nothing of the Bay Area’s literary history. I didn’t know that the young bootstrapping Jack London had determinedly chiseled himself into a writer in nearby Oakland, or that Allen Ginsberg’s famous “Howl” reading had riled the literary world (and its censors) in San Francisco in the 1950s. I hadn’t yet read Dashiell Hammett’s noir novels, nor Eldridge Cleaver’s Soul on Ice (Ramparts Press, 1968), nor Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City (Harper & Row, 1978). And I had no idea that Gertrude Stein had said, “There’s no there there,” about Oakland (if only she could see the “there there” now).

I didn’t know that so many writers had lived out their insurrectionary impulses and beliefs in San Francisco—that for many authors the Bay Area served as a place of refuge, escape, and even salvation from the rest of America.

I had only one thing on my list. A friend told me that if I did just one thing in San Francisco, I had to go to City Lights (261 Columbus Avenue), a bookstore and publishing house owned by the doyen of the Beats, Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

I’d never be quite the same again. When I walked through the doorway, I didn’t just see rows of bookshelves; I felt drawn in, seduced, by the exotic call of the ideas and stories that seemed as if they were part of the air itself. The wooden floors were creaky and uneven, each room a mysterious cavern, a haven. I picked up books published by presses I’d never heard of, books that felt alluring and dangerous, as if they’d prick me with new thoughts. I greedily bought as many as I could afford, and then went to Vesuvio Cafe, the bar across the alley from City Lights where the Beats themselves had thrashed through ideas over too many drinks, and I immersed myself in the lawless careening of their words, enthralled by an edgy, searching, incandescent expression I didn’t know was possible.

Thus began my love affair with the roguish spirit of the Bay Area and its literary tribes of misfits, dropouts, and seekers. If you haven’t been to San Francisco, ban the popular notion of it as a bastion of tie-dyed hippies with streets full of cute cable cars and postcard views of the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s much more than that. It’s a place spawned by the raucous boom-and-bust spirit of the Gold Rush, a place where people have always exuberantly and recklessly searched for different kinds of fortunes. It’s a city that disregards the need for stability, resting precariously on a restless fault line, inviting gate crashers who strive to push the limits of being and shake up all forms poetry and prosody.

“It's an odd thing, but anyone who disappears is said to be seen in San Francisco,” said Oscar Wilde. It’s a city for those who feel “other,” who feel lost, and then find themselves in the Bay Area.

Literature Born in the Streets

Silicon Valley has moved into San Francisco in many ways—“invaded” or “encroached,” some might say, driving up rents and driving out bohemians—but the rollicking energy of former days is alive and well in literary festivals like Litquake, an annual orgy of readings and discussions that sends literary tremors throughout the city for nine days each October. Events take place in unlikely spaces—chapels, bars, and hair salons—and everything culminates in a bacchanalia called Lit Crawl, a pub crawl of readings that wends through the teeming streets of the Mission District on the final Saturday night.

What’s nice about Litquake is that while it includes a healthy lineup of big-name authors, its fundamentally a celebration of local authors and the maverick spirit of the city. Founded in 1999 by San Francisco writers Jack Boulware and Jane Ganahl, Litquake is now the largest independent literary festival on the West Coast, and it’s grown to Austin, Seattle, New York City, Iowa City, Los Angeles, Portland, London, and Helsinki.

Similarly, Oakland has spawned the Oakland Book Festival, a festival that captures the unique character of the quickly evolving East Bay, which has in some ways become the Bay Area’s version of Brooklyn, a haven for artists priced out of San Francisco. It’s not a festival designed around book tours, as many festivals can be, but serves as an exploration of ideas on topics related to Oakland’s past, present, and future, with the goal of encouraging debate. Each year’s festival, which takes place in Oakland’s City Hall in May, has a different theme. This year’s theme is “Equality and Inequality,” following “Labor” and “Cities.”

The Bay Area offers so many literary events and festivals that I can’t list them all. Beast Crawl, a version of Lit Crawl for the East Bay, takes over Uptown Oakland for one night every July with more than one hundred and fifty writers who have roots in the East Bay. The San Francisco Writers Conference brings together best-selling authors, literary agents, editors, and publishers from major publishing houses every President’s Day weekend to help emerging writers launch their professional writing career. And then the Bay Area Book Festival, now in its third year, features notable authors from across the country for a two-day festival in early June in downtown Berkeley. Of note, each year the festival constructs Lacuna, an outdoor library that is assembled with fifty thousand books, all available to take for free, and always empty by the end.

Redefining Readings

You might say the Bay Area itself is an ongoing literary festival, though. Bookstores are crowded with authors on book tours, and there’s a farrago of ongoing series that break the boundaries of conventional readings and invoke a communal spirit that transcends them.

Quiet Lightning, a submission-based reading series, has produced more than a hundred shows over the last seven years—in locations as varied as night clubs, a greenhouse, a mansion, a sporting goods store, and a cave. The series is named Quiet Lightning because it aspires to create “that feeling of what was in the room when someone has stopped talking, but everyone has been listening and paying close attention,” says Evan Karp, founder of the series. Quiet Lightning readings are always bursting with people, yet exist in a hush of focused attention. One person reads, and then the next, with no banter or introductions in between, creating a focus on just the work itself and a feeling that the entire evening is an experience of a single continuous piece of art. Of special note, Quiet Lightning publishes a corresponding book of writings from each show.

Other reading series are less quiet, but pack their own definition of lightning. Porchlight, a monthly storytelling series that takes place at the fabulous Verdi Club (2424 Mariposa Street), features six people telling ten-minute stories without using notes. Like Quiet Lightning, cofounders Beth Lisick and Arline Klatte don’t invite just famous storytellers, but strive to create a space for the voices of all sorts of characters of the city. Storytellers have included school bus drivers, mushroom hunters, politicians, socialites, sex workers, social workers, and even me.

Then there’s the ribald, bawdy Shipwreck, which is billed as “San Francisco’s premier literary erotic fanfiction event,” and takes place on the first Thursday of every month in the Booksmith (1644 Haight Street), one of San Francisco’s best bookstores. Shipwreck thumbs its nose at the sanctimony of conventional literary events by “destroying” classic works. A few weeks before each event, six local authors are selected and assigned to write an erotic story from the point of view of a character from a classic novel. Their pieces are then read aloud to the audience while the authors watch from the stage, trying to show no signs of which piece is theirs before voting begins. In December, Victor Hugo's Les Misérables was erotically plumbed, and this January, Laura Ingalls Wilder's The Little House on the Prairie will be undressed.

Writers With Drinks is a monthly literary variety show with a raucous cross-genre approach held each month at the Make Out Room (3225 22nd Street) in the Mission, which hosts many literary events. Writers With Drinks features six readers from six different genres, but the show isn’t just about readings—it’s one part stand-up comedy, one part erotica, one part rant, and one part something else. I go just to hear the hilarious host, Charlie Jane Anders, spin fictitious biographies of the authors. And then there’s plenty of drinking, of course.

I sometimes sneak out of work for the Lunch Poems series that former U.S. poet laureate Robert Hass started at the University of California in Berkeley’s sumptuous Morrison Library (101 Doe Library). When I first heard that the Mechanics’ Institute Library (57 Post Street) was a private library, I imagined it as an elite bibliophile’s country club, but it’s anything but that. It hosts a diverse range of cultural events including author readings and conversations, the CinemaLit Film Series, and the oldest continuously operating chess club in the United States (its plump leather chairs are also perfect for afternoon naps, as I learned when I worked nearby). The San Francisco Poetry Center (1600 Holloway Avenue) was founded in 1954 with a small donation by W. H. Auden, and it now puts on thirty public readings, performances, and lectures each year on the San Francisco State University campus and at various off-campus venues. If you can’t go to a reading, dive into its American Poetry Archives, a collection of five thousand hours of original audio and video recordings documenting its reading series.

Other engaging series include Why There Are Words, a monthly reading series put on by Peg Alford Pursell that fills the Studio 333 gallery in Sausalito every second Thursday. And then I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the series I cohost with Jane Ciabatarri, Kirstin Chen, and Meg Pokrass, the Flash Fiction Collective series, which showcases writers in San Francisco’s bustling flash fiction scene at the funky Alley Cat Books (3036 24th Street). Many call San Francisco the hub of flash fiction because so many writers in the Bay Area have found a literary home in the shorter side of stories.

[Excerpt — click on the title link to read all three pages of Grant Faulkner’s excellent CITY GUIDE to the San Francisco Bay Area literary scene.]

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