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neeswords · 3 years

Text

JAY HALSTEAD IMAGINE

Pairing: Jay Halstead x Reader

Requested?: yes

Word count: 2794

Authors notes: I hope you enjoy it. If you would like a personalised one please do ask! have fun reading! I have also a promt list :)

Trigger warning(s): mention of death, swearing, violence

Summary: jay seems to always take Hailey's side one everything. Hailey always seems to come first. A trauma takes place and jay realises the reality.

Prompt: request.

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Since Hailey had received a job offer from the FBI Jay had become really close with her, so close then he was pushing away his own actual girlfriend. It wasn't just y/n who noticed this though Atwater asked y/n one evening at molly's if her and Jay had broken up.

Y/n loved Hailey and she thought she was so good to Jay. Maybe too good to him. When Jay got shot one time y/n was sat in the waiting room and Hailey and Vanessa were there and she heard a convocation she wish she could unhear.

'you love him' Vanessa said to Hailey.

'Of course I love him he's my partner' was the response.

This broke Y/n heart a little as she knew at that point that if she wasn't in the equation Jay would be in absolute awe of Hailey. Who was y/n anyways? Everyone would prefer a beautiful blonde greek badass cop.

Y/n worked with a law firm, in fact that's how she met Jay. She was a criminal defence attorney she met Jay in an interrogation room whilst defending her client. Jay later asked for her number and one thing led to another.

At some points she wishes she never picked up that phone call.

'Y/n if your gonna start then leave, Hailey would be so fine wi-' Jay yet again started comparing y/n to Hailey. Y/n was pissed off that Jay kept staying out late with Hailey.

Thats all it took. Y/n lost it. "GET THE FUCK OUT AND GO BE WITH HER THEN" Y/n was fuming she was so tired of being compared to Hailey. Her own boyfriend who was meant to love her and only her was clearly in love with another woman.

"y/n come on what's going on with you? Since I've been shot you've been so different around me. Talk to me baby" Jay was so soothing. He gently approached y/n and gently placed some hair behind her ear.

Y/n refused to even look at him. I guess you could say that she reached her breaking point. She had given up on him. Jay went to kiss her as a way of saying 'I love you' but she turned her head before he had the chance. As much as it hurt her, y/n had to leave. She made her way to the bedroom completely avoiding all eye contact with Jay. She grabbed a duffle and started showing clothes into it. Jay just stood there entirely confused on what to say or do.

"I'll come get the rest when you're out" a few tears were brimming in her eyes but she sure as hell wasn't going to let them fall.

Jay went to grab her hand y/n ignored him and walked out the door.

*BANG BANG BANG

"Derek what do you want" y/n was at her firm and her associate, Derek was wanting her.

"you need to go to the 21st district, Mr Maxwell got caught up again" y/n rolled her eyes. Mr Maxwell was a frequent flyer he was homeless, y/n always felt bad for him so she took his case pro-bono. However, Rossi Maxwell always seemed to find trouble.

"Tell him i'll be there in twenty" and with that y/n left to go to the district.

"Hey Trudy, looking as beautiful as ever" y/n cheekily said with a smirk.

Trudy rolled her eyes and responded with a blunt "upstairs"

Going up these stairs was a familiar feeling for y/n whether she was going to support a client or going to see her boyfriend, well now ex-boyfriend. Y/n hadn't seen Jay in a week she still hasn't been by the house to collect her stuff. She loved Jay but just couldn't face him.

Ruzek greeted y/n with a hug as soon as he saw her "girl I thought you were dead where have you been?"

y/n just laughed and said "Maxwell? what's he been up to this time?"

Ruzek chuckled slightly 'what hasn't that man done? He got caught with some dope but if I tell you anymore I'm pretty sure you'll get him released and we will lose our best shot of catching our guy."

Y/n raised her brows at him. "Ruzek, you do realise i'm his lawyer and that's my job right?"

Ruzek clicked his finger and led her to the interrogation room.

"Adam who's in there with him?" y/n asked nervously.

"Jay and Hailey" Ruzek said barely above a whisper. It was clear that everyone seemed to know about this love triangle between y/n, jay and Hailey.

Y/n being the badass she is walked in with her head held up. "Rossi what have you gotten yourself into this time?"

Rossi gave her his compelling cheeky smirk "oh nothing new, I just wanted to see your pretty face"

Y/n smiled at him then looked towards Hailey who was sat next to jay directly in-front of Mr Maxwell. "My client has nothing further to say to you, we are leaving."

Mr Maxwell stood up. "no he's not, he's being charged with the handling of a class a drug as well as distribution, hell I could hold him as an accessory to murder" Hailey stated with a stern voice.

"accessory. Hailey come on he's a harmless old man who can hardly look after himself how the hell would he be able to help with murder?" y/n stated somewhat pissed off.

"y/n he's staying. End of." Hailey said slightly raising her tone. Jay sat there silently not knowing where to look. He saw that Hailey was getting annoyed and placed his hand on her lower back. Y/n saw this and it made her blood boil. How could he have moved on in a week? They had been together for 3 years and he goes to his partner in a week! It was really clear how much he cared for y/n.

"My client has rights and IM NOT SEEING ANY PROOF OF THIS ACCESSORY TO MURDER. MY client denies all charged and without any admissible evidence we will be walking out of here now." y/n leaned over the table to she was in Hailey's face "end of" she whispered to her. Y/n was true to her word she told Mr Maxwell to leave the interrogation room and to go outside, where Derek, the associate, was waiting. Y/n wanted to speak to Voight about how the whole situation was handled.

"y/n can we-" jay began.

"no" y/n simply stated and carried on walking. However, she was stopped when Jay grabbed onto her wrist and pulled her into him.

"baby please. I love you" y/n could have sworn she saw tears threatening to spill form his eyes. This made her soften but she was still mad.

"I won't be second place" she stated and with that she walked off to Voight's office.

"you need to get your detectives in place before this unit has a pending court trial" y/n said entering Voight's office.

"y/n I know she was out of place bu-" Voight began.

"no Voight I'm tired of making excuses for this unit sort it out" as y/n was leaving she saw Hailey comforting Jay. Y/n chucked and murmured a "point proven, case closed" and made her way back outside to meet with her client and Derek.

Normally, Derek would be waiting outside the car but this time he wasn't. Y/n just predicted that he was in the car; the windows were tinted so she couldn't see. Y/n got in and saw Derek in the back seat, he was coated in blood. "oh my - DEREK WAKE UP" she started to shake him. Maxwell was sat next to Derek looking at his hand with a sore excuse of a smirk. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?" she screamed at him. This got his attention, he looked up at her and reached for a knife. Y/n knew what was about to come so she reached for the door handle of the car. Maxwell grabbed some rope and put it around y/n neck. She found it strange with how he didn't say a word, this wasn't him. She didn't know this person, she knew a sweet old man who just got caught up in the wrong crowd. Y/n fought hard trying not to be choked to death, tears were falling and fear was taking over her, she could barely breathe. "Rossi please" y/n said softly as she was somewhat loosing conciseness due to the lack of oxygen. This made him stop. He got out the car and left. y/n couldn't move, when she finally pulled herself together she went to check on Derek. "hey, hey" she said tears falling rapidly. She couldn't find a pulse and knew she needed help. She could barely catch her breathe so she had to leave the car. She got out and looked around, Maxwell was no where to be seen.

She started speed walking back towards the district. She was stopped by a sharp pain in her upper ribs. She turned around, it was Maxwell. She had been stabbed. He continued plunging the knife into her, she didn't have any energy to fight him off. "Rossi please stop" y/n managed to get out. She wasn't sure if he heard so she said it again with everything she had "Rossi stop p-please." This time he looked at her. He froze and dropped the knife. y/n kicked it out the way. Yn fell to her knees she was blacking out. Maxwell snapped out of his trance and saw her in front of him covered in blood.

"Y/L/N! HELPPPP" Maxwell picked her up and ran into the district with her in his arms.

Trudy saw them and instantly shouted "HELP CITIZEN DOWN" she froze, that's when she recognised her. "AVERY GET YOUR ASS UP TO INTELLIGENCE AND TELL THEM Y/N Y/L/N IS DOWN HERE AND IS IN BAD SHAPE" Trudy put pressure on her wounds "come on y/n stay with me".

JAYS POV.

One of the officers came running up the stairs, something had to be wrong.

"sergeant platt said you need to come down stairs she said something about a 'y/n y/l/n' she's in real bad shape" he started rambling. My heart dropped. There was no way it was her. How could it be her.

I ran downstairs in less than a second and I saw her. She looked completely lifeless.

"baby, come on oh my god, baby wake up" I cried. I couldn't hold myself together. I grabbed her hand whilst Trudy was doing CPR.

END OF POV.

Jay was frantically pacing around the hospital waiting room. How could he have let this happen? Who the hell would do this to her?

Dr Halstead entered the room.

"Will, tell me she's fine. Will please" Will placed a hand on his brothers shoulder and took a deep breath.

"Jay she lost a lot of blood. She's in the ICU at the moment its a hit and miss she's just gotta make it though the night" Jay fell to the floor sobbing loudly. Will comforted him. They were like this for a while until Jay finally spoke.

"Can I see her?" Will responded with a nod, not knowing what else to say.

Will walked Jay to y/n's room. Jay walked in and Will left them alone.

JAYS POV.

She looked ghost-like, yet perfect. Why didn't I go after her? why didn't I try to get her to stay? This is my fault.

I went and sat next to her. I grabbed her hand and placed a light kiss on it.

"Hey honey, its me." I was hoping she would wake up and answer me, she didn't.

I didn't know what to do. what could I do?

END OF POV

Y/n made it though the night but she still had no woken up. Two weeks had passed and nothing seemed to be improving.

"Jay go home, take a shower and get some sleep I will call you if anything changes I promise." Will told Jay sternly.

"promise" Jay said mid-yawn.

"yes let me drive you" and with that both the Halstead brothers drove back to Jay's apartment, previously his and y/n's.

Jay went straight to the bathroom when he remembered what was in the cabinet. He smiled at the thought of what he could have had. He never understood why y/n was always so mad at him he really never noticed how close he was getting with Hailey. He was furious at himself.

"Jay you good?" Will interrupted his thoughts. Jay opened the bathroom door and showed Will what was making him smile. "do you think this was her style?"

Will laughed. "brother, she's a lawyer. Believe me they make it clear what they want. That is perfect" Jay also laughed. It was a noise Will missed hearing.

Jay had a nap whilst Will went back to the ER.

*BEEP BEEP BEEP

Jay didn't hear.

*BEEP BEEP BEEP

He finally heard. Jay answered the phone as quick as he possibly could.

"what's happened?" jay asked frantically

"get here now" was all Will had to say.

Jay rushed out the door and sped to the ER with sirens on. He ran up to y/n's room. He went to the door and he rushed over to her.

"you're awake, Will had me thinking you were dead" Jay chucked

Y/n didn't say anything she still was somewhat mad at Jay.

"Y/n I didn't realise what I did when you left, I really confused me. I love you and I thought you loved me too. I have never missed someone so much, you make me the happiest man. These past 3 years have been the best. You put up with me through my sleepless nights, through the hospital visits and all the times I tried arguing with you in the interrogation rooms. y/n/n you are my everything. You are the reason why I smile in the morning and the reason why I can peacefully and happily close my eyes at night. Atwater made me realise about Hailey, I've only been with her so much lately because she's leaving y/n. She accepting the FBI offer and I wanted to give a good goodbye, spent time with her you know. She's one hell of a cop. She wanted me to go with her. I said no because everything I could ever want is right her. My life is perfect. Well, it was until you left and got yourself stabbed" Jay lightly chuckled. Y/n was tearing up and smiled. Until realisation hit her about being stabbed.

"Maxwell-"

"Is in a mental asylum. He has a 2 personality disorder, he will get better he just needs some support" Jay said softly going to kiss her forehead.

"Derek?" y/n asked not really wanting to know the answer.

Jay shook his head "i'm sorry"

Y/n moved over in the uncomfortable hospital bed. "whoa what are you doing, you'll hurt yourself?" jay said sternly.

"shut up and come cuddle me" y/n said back to him sternly. Jay did as he was told being careful not to hurt her.

"i'm an idiot" she said.

Jay laughed "my idiot"

Will came in and ruined the moment "hey lovers not naughty business in the room thank youuu" They all laughed as Jay smacked his brother lightly on the head. Will placed something in Jay's hands making sure y/n wouldn't see he winked at him then left.

"What was that" y/n asked as Jay got comfy next to her.

"Look at me" Jay said. She did as she was told. "I love you. I don't want to lose you or wake up without you for another day. You are the one I want and I've been planning this for a while"

Jay got down from the bed and got on one knee.

"y/n will you make me the happiest man alive and marry me?"

y/n didn't know what to say so she just nodded and let the tears flow from her eyes. Jay placed the ring on her finger.

"I love you Jay Halstead however I'm not letting that my idiot comment slide. I think your forgetting i'm the one with the law degree" y/n smirked.

Jay laughed.

"I love you too" and that's when Will came in.

"WELCOME TO THE SEXY FAMILY Y/N!"

The three of them laughed as Jay kissed y/n

#chicago pd #jay halstead x reader #fanfic #imagine #jay halstead x you #jay halstead x oc #jay halstead imagine #jay halstead #jay

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evilvarric666-archive · 3 years

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This is gonna be long, so sorry in advance, but as someone who enjoys long fics here are my two cents:

I get why some ppl may not want 75 tags in fics, but this is gonna hurt long fic writers. On a long fic there are probably gonna be more relationships that are central to the plot that aren't the main ship. And side pairings that may be a squick to some ppl. Not to mention trigger warnings and tone tags.

For example: a long fic with the pairing Y x Z. Z had an abusive relationship, and that's gonna be explored. So the author tags abusive relationship, bc that's a trigger, but an explanation next tag saying "not current ship" or smth.

Then Y has very important friendships with some of the cast. These are central to the plot so they're tagged too.

Turns out, character W is controversial in the fandom, but they're central to the fic too. The author is gonna tag after the character tag W positive/negative; so ppl who don't wanna see positive/negative things about W can skip this.

And guess what? Ship A x B appears in this fic too. Maybe it's not that central, but this ship is also disliked by some people, so the author will tag it, so ppl can filter through.

Another problem is with media that has different mediums, like, the media Y, Z, etc are from has movies, and books, and games and a tv show. All these things actually have different stories, different enough at least that ppl may only want to see fics written for the movies! But the author wants to take plot from the movies and the books. So instead of just tagging the all media tag for that media, they also tag media (movies) and media (books)

These tags end up accumulating. And especially in long fics. The author could make the first chapter a list of tws and stuff that they keep updating, but that destroys the purpose of ao3 tags: you can't filter content like that, you can only filter tags.

I honestly think they should just find a way to delete the fics with the trolling tags, or make a readmore thing so it doesn't hurt the browsing. At the very least make the tag limit longer.

sorry in advance that this is going to be rambly and weird. I have a lot of thoughts.

I get where you're coming from but I also still disagree. Like it's definitely going to change the way longfic writers tag, but I really don't think it's going to hurt them. I think it's going to encourage more effective tagging and that that's going to be better for everybody in the long run. If anything, I think that overtagging is what's hurting longfic writers, it makes their works look unappealing, and actually important information gets buried in a wall of text.

i will admit though that I do understand better now why less room for trigger tagging is going to be an issue. My preferred tagging style is "General/umbrella warnings in the tags, with whatever elaboration/specifics the author deems necessary in an author's note/author's notes at the beginning of each chapter" (example: "animal death" in the tags, so that the filters catch it + people who can't handle the subject At All know to keep scrolling, and then the author's note specifying that its in the context of game hunting & not a pet death, so that people who were uncertain and needed more info could click in and get the specifics.) and I thought that preference was pretty universal? But apparently a lot of people use the tags as an exhaustive list of warnings, which I didn't know because when I see a work with more than, well with more than 75 tags, I just start scrolling until it's gone.

(this is a tangent and I get that my experiences are not universal. but I genuinely dislike full warning lists in the tags because, for me at least, it makes it harder for me to figure out if the story is something I can/want to read. The things I Really Do Not Want To Read about are rare, and rarely tagged the same way twice, so the exclusion filter isn't really helpful for me. I have to actually read the full list of warnings and if the things I'm looking for are sandwiched inbetween a bunch of trope/character tags in a big wall o text I am going to miss it. This has happened to me multiple times.)

I think that that's an ineffective tagging style, basically. Lots of tags is kind of the opposite of useful tags, imo. Short, to the point and consistently worded warnings are better and I think having less space will encourage people to do that. I understand why people do this other style, though, and also why it would frustrate them that they can no longer do that. I think it really sucks that ao3 let everyone wild west their website for so long that it managed to spawn like three distinct groups of people who all use the website in completely incompatible ways, and now it's at the point where any new rule implemented is going to screw a lot of people over no matter what. But I digress.

Anyways, as long as someone isn't putting Revolutionary Girl Utena levels of warnings in their tags (and if your fic needs that much... maybe you should just put yur top 10 biggest warnings on there and slap a Dead Dove Do Not Eat on the end there, yknow?), I think that 75 tags will fully accommodate them. I get that tags start adding up, but also I think a lot of people are underestimating how many tags 75 tags is.

Like to just add up how many tags are used in your example: three / pairing tags, lets go crazy and say three more & pairing tags, tag every character tag in those pairings that's twelve, #abusive relationship + #not main pairing tags, three fandom tags bc multiple source mediums, a #[controversial character] positive tag... that's 24 tags. Like all the necessary character & pairing tags are handled in less than a third of the space given (and personally I consider this slightly over tagged. I think the only character tags you should put on a fic are the very mainest/pov characters, but yknow) and honestly if you can't then figure out a way to communicate the rest of the necessary information about your fic in 51 tags and a 1250 character summary then I really don't know how to help you. I personally would have to really push myself to figure out how to put more than 75 tags on one fic, regardless of the length of the fic. And I can't help but notice that a lot of the fics I could find with over 75 tags while searching last night had a lot of... unnecessary duplicate tags, often for information that could've been easily otherwise intuited (tagging #mandolorian #mandolore #mandolorian character and #mandolorian culture on a Jango Fett pre-series fic, for example)

I do have some criticisms about the current change though. I think it would've been better to have individual tag number limits for each individual field (x number of fandom tags, x number of character tags, etc.) instead of a 75 tags over all limit (or make a "warning tags" field that's separate from "additional tags" but that's a separate essay and would... probably mean overhauling the whole site. so not very practical.) A readmore option would be good too, and I'm not sure why they didn't go for that? I also think that this change will be most effective if done in combination with other changes. Like posting very loosely or not at all enforced official tagging/style guides for the site. I really think that even a tepid attempt at standardization will increase the site's usability like, A Lot.

I'm not sure how cohesive that was. TL;DR I appreciate hearing your thoughts, mine are that I still think this is a step in the right direction. And that cutting back on overtagging will lead to more concise, effective tagging which will make browsing and filtering easier in the long run.

#ao3 tag

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gfpt-comic · 3 years

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Hi, I just wanted to hear about if you are still working on this comic? From finding out that you have made it two years ago. I just wanted to make sure, because I like this comic a lot with doing this body swap. But yeah, I am only asking you here of course if you want to answer ok. It's also very nice to meet you. ^^

(ok so I made an EXTREMELY LONG POST and Tumblr ate it so I am now very upset because I talked about a LOT of stuff and now I must find in me the energy to write it all over again ;-; )

I originally answered with a grateful-sorta-bittersweet tone and talked about a lot of stuff, but since everything I said during the past hour or so is now lost forever to the void I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep the same tone... Please bear with me for being too concise this time, that’s really not how the original answer was written :’)

First off, thanks for your message, and despite the fact that the comic is indeed pretty much abandoned, I’m still happy you could at least have a good time for a while during your read. It’s more my problem really for being the type of artist who can’t stay focused on one thing and whose imagination is so wild, I’ll end up creating tons of stories so long and complex that I can rarely ever finish them -- most often I force myself not to look into new stuff just because I’m too scared of getting involved in yet another fandom and getting inspired for yet another story I will never have the time or energy to finish (the will to finish it is always there, although it’s usually more for the sake of my readers rather than because I’m really 100% invested in the story itself by then).

I have multiple still ongoing projects, and Pythagorean Thoughts is the oldest of them... as well as the one for which my notes are the most vague and lacking. Take my Undertale fanfic, Learn When to Quit-- even if I won’t be able to finish it either (it’s just WAY too hard to write, so even if I were to write the rest in fanfic form it wouldn’t have the same quality as the first 13 chapters, so to me it wouldn’t count anyway), the notes I have for it are so detailed, everything from chapter 1 up until chapter ~80 is set in stone, give or take a few details that may show up at the last minute upon writing; there’s, like, only 3-5 chapters that are still “time passes before chapter 74 so just make up some filler-y stuff here.”

Pythagorean Thoughts on the other hand... Well, thing is, the script is very detailed for everything that happens before the comic starts. But for the stuff that happens after...? Well, I do have plot points, important scenes that I want to draw, random jokes and punchlines that I want to include here and there, but when you compare with LWtQ, it’s more like “the important stuff happens on July 12, July 13, July 14, July 16, perhaps July 18, then it jumps to July 31, and then it jumps to the end of the summer. Make as many filler episodes as you can because making ellipses over more than a week’s worth of time doesn’t look good when the purpose of the story is to show the characters’ development over time, step by step.” So... yeah, it’s a bit of a problem when you run out of inspiration and the many, many ideas you do have already are just so all over the place, you can’t use them to create a list of precise plots before the end of the day arrives and you feel terrible for having wasted your precious almost-PhD-student time (technically my PhD starts tomorrow, but it just means that I’ll have even less free time than I used to).

Admittedly, my current Hollow Knight comic (posted on my main blog, @lutiaskokopelli) is just as all over the place as Pythagorean Thoughts is... except 1) it’s inspired by a walkthrough for which I have a list of notes with set-in-stone events, in which every noteworthy detail is already written (not to mention that I also have many plot-relevant ideas for future scenes as well); and 2) it also counts as an ask blog, which means that the constant flood of asks I get is a constant source of inputs for me to use -- I basically just have to write the characters’ answers to the asks while the story progresses, which is much easier than just making up everything on the spot from start to finish. In a way, the readers/askers make 50% of the plot in my stead.

Not gonna lie... In the previous answer that got eaten up by Tumblr (yes, I’m still salty), I had started a list of what the major plot points for the comic were supposed to be, up until it started becoming a huge wall of text. I’ve been wanting to write a real summary of the script for a very long time, but I could never find a way to write it in the way I wanted it to, so... I guess it’ll just have to be a messy list of plot points, trivia, and random ideas I wanted to include in the comic. It’s not gonna be nearly as good as reading a finished product, but... That’s kinda all I have, I’m afraid-- and, well, I don’t even have it yet, since it has yet to be written. I’ll try to brute-force my way through it in another post, given how I was already doing it before Tumblr trolled me.

All that being said... I’m really sorry for not being able to finish my stuff. I have made a point of finishing my Hollow Knight comic no matter what (just to prove to myself that I can finish a story for real), but that doesn’t mean much regarding my other projects, sadly. Once again, I thank you for your kind comment, and I hope the next post will be compensation enough... despite its likely messiness. Please bear with me, it’s either posting something complete but messy or never posting anything at all because of my crippling perfectionism.

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kusunoki-tomori · 4 years

Text

How to get a Tomori sign for HAMIDASHIMONO (IMPORTANT UPDATE)

I wrote in my previous blog post about how if you buy from limista you can get a Tomori signed postcard. Here is how and with tips we found out from round 1. I’ll update this if they release new info for round 2. Last update: 7/20/2020

Sales for the 2nd round of signing starts 7/20 at 12:00 jst and ends 8/2 at 23:59. There will be 3 sessions available and the sign will be given out via lottery. You will not be charged if you don’t win so if you want one just buy one.

You can get 1 cd per session per version (4 cds x 3 sessions = 12 cds in total) (you could only win 1 sign per session though)

If you managed to buy from the 1st round, they will give priority to people who were not able to get a ticket form the 1st round so that more people can participate.

Important: You will only be charged if you won so if you were planning on buying just buy from a session anyways. You will receive a pending charge and it will only go through if you won so don’t panic if you see a pending charge on your card.

The 3 sessions are:

8/8 19:00jst 8/15 14:00jst 8/15 19:00jst

First before even talking about how to buy it we need to talk about being able to buy it. You will need a credit card. I know they accept VISA credit cards because they accepted mine when I bought during round 1 but I cannot say any other foreign credit cards work.

Also they do not ship overseas so you will need a proxy service like tenso japan or blackship. They will accept your mail and ship it to you when they get it. They’re pretty easy to set up but can take a while so I suggest looking into that as soon as possible.

When you click on the link above you will see something like this. Click the see more text (I have my mouse over it in the screen shot)

Scroll down and you will see something like this.

You can see that it’s for session 3. (session 4 is blue and session 5 is purple)

From top to bottom the items are First press limited edition version A First press limited edition version B Standard edition Limited edition (anime) There is no difference in the difference sessions except the time they take place. So just pick which one you want based on what’s inside. (Do note that they only have certain amounts of a certain version per session so each version might have difference chances based on how popular they are)

I’ve covered what each version has in my previous blog post so check that out.

When you click on the version you want you will be taken to a page that will look something like this.

Either click on the picture or the white text on the bottom right of your desired version/session.

The page will tell you to enter the name you want to have signed. Remember to use common sense when putting in a nickname. If they don’t approve of the nickname they will use the name on the shipping address you gave them. For example I used “Xinちゃん” as my name.Then you would click the green button and it will add it to your cart. There will be a pop up like this and it just means its been added into your cart.

Right above the green line(?) is where the cart is click on that and it’ll take you to your cart.

There will be a part where you can write a message but you can change that later so in an interest of time just leave it blank and click on the bottom right button for checkout.

Next it will as for you to enter in your address, put in your proxy service.

Next page click on the green button to enter credit card info.

In the interest of not being charged for something I don’t want I’m not going any further than this but this is pretty standard stuff of putting your card number exp date name and the 3 digit number on the back.

They will ask if you want to make an account and I suggest doing so if you want to change your message and nickname.

When the order is done you will be taken to your member page if you made an account and it’ll look like this.

You’ll be able to change the message and nickname here. There maybe a chance for your message to be read during the live stream so write something good! There is a 120 character limit so be concise. Also once again exercise common sense when writing your message.

When you’re done changing your message and/or nickname click the grey button and it’ll change it.

Good luck everyone!

#tomori kusunoki #kusunoki tomori #tomoriru]#hamidshimono

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gosatsuvns · 4 years

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Weekly Update #315 - Post-Update Notes & Plans For The Remainder Of 2020

If you haven't caught the news yet, we've just released an update for SHINRAI - Broken Beyond Despair in celebration of its 4th anniversary! If you're curious about what exactly has changed, you can read all about the additions and changes to the game here.

Today, I'd like to say a few more words about the update, our new projects and our plans for the rest of 2020!

The Update:

First of all, I need to say that I would have loved to do way more than what we ultimately managed to infuse into this update. Unfortunately, we kinda ran out of time, since we couldn't allocate too much to it in the first place. I mean, it's been four years now since we've released this visual novel and, rather than keep tweaking it, I'd like to focus on our new titles and make sure that those are going to be improved in the areas that players criticized with BBD.

Besides, there are always going to be things that can be done even better and I am quite a perfectionist, so I'll never be satisfied anyway. Therefore, I originally didn't really intend to touch this game again, as I'd like to move forwards and accomplish new things.

I would have eventually made some tiny script adjustments, due to some of the developments regarding GENBA no Kizuna and Withering Without Hope. Both stories have evolved quite a bit from my plans in 2016, after all. But those adjustments would have only been minor continuity/consistency fixes. Like how the place where Raiko lives has been upgraded from a town to a giant metropolis. Thus, the word "town" has been taken out or replaced during the recent update, for instance.

(I told you, I'm a perfectionist... *cough*)

Earlier this year, however, we've been presented with an opportunity I couldn't pass up on. It's something I'm personally super excited about, so I can't wait to finally make the official announcement (which should happen within the next two months, I guess). And it's this opportunity that led us to make an update now, a little bit bigger in scope than simple script adjustments.

Given what we're working on in secret right now, I ended up deciding to also address the bigger criticisms we've received. Unfortunately, in some regards, there was only so much I could actually do about them.

The slow pacing in the beginning is almost always brought up and I did try my best to revise some parts, making them more concise, but ultimately, I doubt there is a noticeable difference. I didn't want to simply erase big parts of the game and I didn't have the time to completely rewrite and restructure things, nor did I really want to. After all, even though most people criticized the slow start, there are also players who didn't mind or even enjoyed it.

But yeah, if it was too slow for you, you probably won't feel any different even after this update.

Still, overall, I do think that we've improved the experience quite a bit. And delving so deeply into BBD's script again was quite beneficial to its sequel, as well.

GENBA & WWH:

After SHINRAI's release in 2016, I immediately started working on GENBA and WWH. One year later, however, I realized that working on two murder mysteries simultaneously maybe wasn't the smartest idea. Not only did it drag out development for both of them, it also complicated things as I was trying to craft two different murder cases, filled with dozens of mysteries, at the same time.

So, I eventually decided to put WWH aside and fully commit myself to GENBA, as this title sets up quite a few things for WWH.

And in the end, it turned out to be a really good idea, because working on GENBA, along with the recent SHINRAI update, has really helped me in shaping the story for WWH into something much better than it was three years ago.

I'm really excited about it and, with GENBA's story fully set in stone now, can't wait to finally do the same with WWH's!

Plans:

For the next week, there is still some post-update stuff to take care of, which I'll probably talk about in next week's blog post. However, in general, I'm going to get back to GENBA now. As mentioned in the update announcement post, I have the perfect release date for it in mind, and I will do everything I can to get it done by then.

Before I make any promises, however, I want to see how the remainder of the year goes and if I can actually accomplish all of my goals. So you'll have to wait until our New Year's post before I will elaborate on any of this (sorry).

Anyway, with GENBA's story planned out and vast chunks of the script written, it's mostly asset work that's left. So that will be my main focus until the end of 2020. Although the first big goal is to get the first chapter fully done (the extended demo only contains about 70% of it), so that will include some script revisions, too.

At the same time, I also want to get a full outline done for WWH, so that next year, I can write its actual script!

As you can see, there's still a lot to be done, but I'm feeling very motivated. I'll further detail some of our plans in our next few blog posts, but for now, I guess I'll wrap this up! As always, please enjoy the rest of your weekend and, until next Saturday, take care! :3

#shinrai #visual novel #visualnovel #visual novel development #vn #evn #vndev #interactive fiction #game development #gamedev #indie #indiedev #indie game #murder mystery #detective game

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theseerasures · 4 years

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Conspicuous Media Consumption, 2019

i mean, everyone's doing these write-ups, right? might as well hop onto the bandwagon

towards the end of last year i had one of my typical existential crises about my media consumption: am i slowly disappearing up my own ass because i no longer care about most of the pop culture people like to discuss ad nauseam? but on the other hand, isn’t it more responsible to find the niche items made by non-mainstream and marginalized creators? on the third hand, wouldn’t i be much happier if i just watched FMA Brotherhood over and over again, preferably while starting a new Mass Effect playthrough at the same time?

the answer to all these questions is probably “yes,” but i decided to try something different going into 2019. for every week of the year, i would try to get through a year’s worth of content for some kind of media, be it comics, video games, TV, etc--they didn’t all have to be recent, or even new to me, but once i was done with that week i’d be done, even if i didn’t finish the content, and i’d make a judgement based what i’d seen on whether i want to continue. mostly, i was trying to avoid what happened to me with video games in 2018, when i was hating every second of playing Uncharted but still felt obligated to finish because everyone and their houseplant liked Uncharted or listlessly doing the Master Hunter achievement in RDR2 because the main quest made me miserable.

the actual outcomes of this Project(tm) are a little more complicated than anticipated--some media i could finish in a day, while trying to play through ALL THE CONTENT OF AN MMO understandably took much longer than a week--but it all kind of evened out. in the end i did 48 weeks of this, and used December as my catch-ups month to follow up on some things i didn’t get to finish. i thought i’d give my thoughts on each of the things i consumed this year as part of this project below in a concise manner--and yes, i know the people who’ve read even one (1) thing i’ve written are probably laughing right now, particularly given how long i took in this introduction just to get to me point, but i really am going to try!! it’s all an exercise in shameless self-indulgence, basically, but hey: if any of you want to chat at length about any of this stuff below, hit me up.

(quick note: you’ll only find media that i chose for this particular project below, so things i watched socially with friends--like certain film properties slorping me back into Disney’s gelatinous monolith--are not included)

Devilman Crybaby (anime, finished 1/5/2019): honestly i should have twigged onto what the year was going to be like when the first thing i drew from the metaphorical barrel was demon tiddies and apocalyptic existentialism. i was determined to dislike it for most of the year due to fundamentally disagreeing with its main thematic thrust, but i kept THINKING about it even months after. at this point i’ve kinda mellowed out. it’s definitely not a must love, but there’s enough queer metaphor and philosophical richness in it to make it worth checking out.

Attack on Titan (manga, 3 volumes finished 1/12/2019): this is the second time i’ve tried to get into this franchise and...yeah, no. i still don’t see the appeal. the fascistic overtones juxtaposed with absolutely no one having a sense of humor wigs me out to no end.

Young Justice (TV, 2.5 seasons finished 1/31/2019): honestly, what even is there to say? they’re my kids. they’re back and grown up and making even more terrible decisions. i screamed when i saw Babs in her wheelchair.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf (book, finished 2/10/2019): i tried VERY HARD to like this book, given how much i liked Brief History of Seven Killings, but it just...didn’t click for me. which honestly is fine, since i don’t think it was made for me either.

Dragon Age (3 games, finished 2/28/2019): i feel like there’s always a part of me that’s going to think of this series as “the other one,” but y’know. it’s good. it’s my second playthrough (as a mage for all three) and it’s good! i even went around killing all the dragons in Inquisition because Knight Enchanter was a blast. appreciate the higher queer content vis-a-vis Mass Effect, even though i couldn’t care less about any of the plot. Dragon Age II is the best one, do not @ me

Bitter Root (comic, 4 issues finished 3/1/2019): i love intergenerational dramas and i love stories about vampire slayers, so this was aces. my only complaint is the pacing was a little slow for a story that was going on hiatus after five issues.

Pearl (comic, 6 issues finished 3/3/2019): i know that he’s done great things and grudgingly admit that he’s probably a net positive in the industry but Brian Michael Bendis can suck my entire dick

Lazarus (comic, 5 trades finished 3/ 4/2019): i really thought this was going to clench the position for comic of the year. it’s Rucka doing Highly Relevant Dystopia! it’s a corporate Lannisters AU! it’s a highly personal story about a woman with high privilege and little agency! what more could you want

Immortal Hulk (comic, 2 trades finished 3/ 4/2019): i vibed with the horror feel, but i don’t honestly think it’s THAT exceptional. being set in 616-verse means there was still ton of baggage i didn’t know or care about, since i’ve now swung more to the DC side of things

thank u, next (album, finished 3/5/2019): didn’t Ariana Grande get canceled this year for some reason? oh well, i liked her album

When I Get Home (album, finished 3/13/2019): i vividly remember listening to this for the first time and feeling vaguely disappointed that it wasn’t more like Seat at the Table until i realized that i was covered in goosebumps. still don’t understand the magic but it is Good

The Bird King (book, finished 3/23/2019): pretty much everything you’d expect from a G. Willow Wilson book--spirituality, the female lead finding Themselves and the Answer and learning they’re the same thing, etc etc. i’m slightly resentful that her Wonder Woman was so lackluster while this was so good, but whatevs

Psychodrama (album, finished 3/29/2019): possibly my favorite album of the year? dense and emotionally raw in a way i really appreciate. Dave has a Mercury and he’s younger than me

Mass Effect (4 games, finished 4/7/2019): wow guys did you know that Mass Effect is good! it is. all of it is actually, even the Mass Effect 3 ending, another controversial finale to a big franchise that i will obstinately defend. even Andromeda, which isn’t AS good as the trilogy but still has a lot of heart. all its bugs have been exhaustively patched since launch anyway

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (TV, 4 seasons finished 5/13/2019): i’m...still kind of mad about this finale, but can’t exactly deny that this show is one of the best things to ever happen to me, or television probably. i didn’t even mind new!Greg that much! tho he was probably the nail on the coffin of me jumping onto the Nathaniel train.

Knights of the Old Republic/The Old Republic (3 games, finished 7/4/2019): did you guys know that KOTOR II was my first ever video game? i feel like that...explains a lot about me. anyway, the first game is a classic and the second is a deconstructive classic and playing either of them is basically a fun way for me to turn off my brain these days. even the MMO wasn’t as much of slog as i worried it would be. the Imperial Agent storyline had some nice surprises and i dig the general atmosphere of ruthless pragmatism and crushing loneliness.

Wanderers (book, finished 7/13/2019): Chuck Wendig is a very well-intentioned man in dire need of a strict editor. still good tho! some VERY punchy emotional bits and an ending that still leaves me with vague existential terror.

Code Geass (anime, 2 seasons finished 7/20/2019): i feel like this is on the polar opposite of the spectrum as Devilman Crybaby, because i don’t think Geass is GOOD on like, any basis, and i actually find its central moral message kind of abhorrent? but some part of my lizard brain LOVED the High Imperial Family Drama (it’s been a good year for me and Lannister types, hasn’t it? well, with the obvious exception of--never mind), so...yeah. have i discovered the true meaning of guilty pleasure

The Farewell (movie, finished 7/23/2019): how could i not a) watch this and b) love this and c) feel emotionally cold towards this at the same time because the situations depicted were so similar to mine that i ended up feeling kind of alienated

The Nickel Boys (book, finished 8/8/2019): i STILL haven’t read Underground Railroad, but here i am a book late and a dollar short to appreciate Whitehead’s new book. the man’s stylistic versatility is jaw-dropping and i appreciate the plotting in contrast to like, 90% of the litfic out there that’s just “protagonist sad in different milieu”

Durarara (anime, 2 seasons finished 8/31/2019): it’s fucking bonkers and i loved pretty much every second of it? even the second season, where i finally got the BruceNat AU i deserved??? the first anime i’ve seen where everyone was relatively soberly dressed. the answer was love and having feelings and asking your middle school best friend to hurl you like a projectile so you can chop your girlfriend’s head off with a demon katana

Lover (album, finished 9/1/2019): i feel like with all the Discourse surrounding Taylor Swift re: she’s the devil incarnate or re: she’s good, actually the fact that she makes fucking bops gets kind of lost in the conversation. i have no vested interest in her as a person but i liked Lover, even though London Boy was “what if Style but stupid”

Are You Listening (comic, finished 10/2/2019): my actual choice for best comic of the year if i were giving out awards like that. it’s coming of age! it’s grief! it’s queers! it’s trauma! it’s magical realism! it’s cats! it’s expressive gorgeous art! Tillie Walden has an Eisner and she’s younger than me

High School DxD (manga, 2 volumes finished 10/10/2019): i don’t even know how to talk about this series?? i actually kind of came around to the whole “main character is a perv but goes hard for consent” by the end of the second volume, but it’s still...bad. i only can have lingering conflicted feelings about one Japanese adaptation of Christian mythology per year

Ghosteen (album, finished 10/18/2019): much like Immortal Hulk i thought it was fine but over-hyped. it’s Nick Cave doing his Nick Cave ethereal music thing. i still can’t tell what any of the lyrics mean, except Jesus is there sometimes

Watchmen (TV, 2 episodes finished 10/29/2019): i am nOT FUCKING CAUGHT UP so please watch out for spoilers. it is on my high priority list of things to be caught up on tho--i appreciate that the plot is blatantly unsubtle but still manages to give me aneurysms and i appreciate the political overtones just kinda...balances on a razor thin wire and also gives me aneurysms. i wanna say i have no expectations and would be fine if it does a full dive into the horrible bland depths of the both-sides porridge, but i’m sadly a fool who wants to believe in Damon Lindelof

Syllabus/Making Comics (2 comics, finished 12/24/2019): it’s funny--even before Making Comics came out i was like “man i miss Lynda Barry” and then BAM. it’s incredible how her work just makes me feel taken care of, even when we’re wrestling with tough topics or she’s demanding that i draw a Batman in 30 seconds. kudos for immediately shooting to the top of my gift list for my sister also

Allegiance/Choices of One (2 books, finished 12/24/2019): fun and largely inoffensive, but i was honestly hoping for more. the level of Empire apologia going on was too much for me, someone who thinks Mara Jade is the best Star Wars character of all time (still?????? still). it reeked a little of Zahn believing his own hype as the only valid guy in Star Wars Legends of whatever

Aldnoah.Zero (anime, 1 season finished 12/24/2019): turns out i also can only have “trash but my trash” feelings about one Japanese mecha show with higher art pretensions and patriotism verging into jingoism per year, and this one ain’t it. it’s not as good as Code Geass and Code Geass ISN’T GOOD. at least Geass attempted character complexity and moved at enough of a breakneck pace to distract me from its questionable bits. Aldnoah is just...bland, and nothing gets accomplished or revealed in 12 episodes, except the baffling and contradictory motivations of the main bad guy.

Baldur’s Gate (game, unfinished): yet again something i really wanted to like, given *gestures at all the BioWare above*. i think it’s mainly the Seinfeld issue, where it actually predates my own experience with video games and was so formative for the Western RPG genre that what was innovative just comes across as kind of staid now. i didn’t DISLIKE it, and will probably play the sequel since it’s supposed to be more character-driven, but by the time i finished the vanilla campaign i just didn’t have it in me to squint at more tiny avatars on the screen, so the expansions ended up a no-go.

most prominent thing i noticed about this list is that only one 2019 movie made it on the list and ZERO 2019 video games did so. the former i’m okay with because i currently live with two film people with whom i’m happy to tag along to the cinema. the latter bums me out a little more, because there WERE a few things i wanted to play this year, but all of them came out just as my semester was reaching its catastrophic boil, so i had no time. maybe i’ll use my free time after the New Year festivities to catch up on those.

to conclude: this worked out pretty well! i ended up finishing all but one of the things, and only a few were bad enough that i have no interest in seeking out more content. i’ll probably do this again in 2020--we’ll see if the scheduling can withstand a full year of grad school hell

#let's break out a new tag for this since this isn't really meta #conspicuous media consumption

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quarantingz · 4 years

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attempting to write again...

sunday, 7 june at 10 am

The truth is I haven’t posted in God knows how long because with every attempt I’ve made to write, it would just get cut short by this nagging need for every sentence to be grammatically perfect and equally profound. For it to be coherent and concise. But that’s not how my mind works at all. What initially was supposed to be a safe and healthy space (and way) for Alyssa and I to express ourselves had turned into something more regulated, for me at least. I had slept with my social editor (credits to Welby Ings for coining this term) which extended beyond a one night stand and now I need to break up with him. So please bear with me as I now proceed to do exactly that, by trying to write after many previous failed attempts. Only this time with less judgment and resistance.

I guess another truth worth mentioning as to why I haven’t returned from my writing hiatus, if we want to call it that, was because I was wrestling with a lot of thoughts and ideas. Both internal and external, ever since coming out of lockdown and back into society. Almost like an ex-convict freed from jail. Only I didn’t see iso as anything closely resembling imprisonment but rather a time for rest and retreat. It’s funny because the book I spent almost all of quarantine in the company of (I consider books as my friends at this point) was about house arrest too. I learned a lot from that book. I’ll quote a handful of lines that stood out to me throughout this blogpost.

Right now I’m sitting here reflecting again on what lockdown entailed for me. I know I’m not alone in saying that it was actually a really positive experience. Although difficult in the beginning, I allowed myself to relax for once. Yes I still felt on edge, anxious and frantic at times but most of my mornings were sacred and something to look back fondly on.

I’m going to be honest again and say that I’m finding it hard to continue writing right now. Before creating this Note entry, everything was coming so clearly and naturally to me but now that I’m trying to articulate my thoughts, I can’t seem to get past this huge boulder blocking my way. And it’s really fucking annoying, to say the least. But I’ll keep trying.

Let me use some of the stuff I’ve been writing in my journal as prompts… In it I wrote a few days ago that one of my biggest fears, if not my worst one, is to lose (connection with) myself. Now I’ve put those two words in brackets because at its core, I think I’m generally just scared of losing myself. Which has a lot of other things attached to it. I’m scared of losing for even a moment what I’ve recently perceived as this heightened self-awareness I’ve somehow gained during lockdown. I’m scared of the thought of not progressing in my personal, career and spiritual growth. Of plateauing in even one of these departments.

When level 2 started and I was able to be in the presence of another being in close proximity again, I kind of felt weird. I missed solitude which I forget was always something I craved as an introvert wherever I can squeeze it in each day. Given that I had more moments of solitude than I’ve ever had in my whole life in the two months we were all forced to stay inside our homes, I got too comfortable with this new way of living. I woke up, checked my sleep quality, meditated, walked the dogs, made coffee, read Scriptures, did deep work for at least two hours (which was made possible by putting my phone on airplane mode), had proper sit-down lunches with my family, read for leisure and ran regularly. In retrospect, it was the best retreat I could’ve asked for. To top it all off, there was no real pressure coming from my manager on the project I was working on. All in all, it was a great time and I can’t express enough how grateful I am to have had that privilege. To actually experience work-life balance in its rawest form.

Hence why I think it was so fitting that I stumbled upon the novel A Gentleman in Moscow which centred around an excellent example of a man who lives an intentional and purposely unrushed life while under house arrest. Someone who genuinely enjoys life’s simple pleasures. “When all was said and done,” he argues, “the endeavours that most modern men saw as urgent . . . probably could have waited, while those they deemed frivolous (such as cups of tea and friendly chats) had deserved their immediate attention.”

But after a fulfilling day of experiencing the latter with Alyssa and Cullen, I got home and was suddenly hit by this familiar wave of guilt for not “working on something” at the moment. Although this growth mindset has served me well all my life, it has also impeded my ability to tune into the Now. In saying that, I feel like quarantine primed me for what's next. And I do feel like something new is coming. Not just for me but for all of us. Cullen felt and pointed it out too. While there have been a lot of challenging events that happened through the course of the year so far, the optimist in me can’t help but feel like something good can still come out of all of this. Of course there are also a lot of other layers to this feeling. Anxiety, dread, boldness, excitement, intimidation, glee, hope, determination, faith, fear, love, doubt. And it doesn’t just end there. It’s perpetual. Cyclical. Contradictory. Which is part of the human condition and brings me to this line in the aforementioned book:

“By their very nature, human beings are so capricious, so complex, so delightfully contradictory, that they deserve not only our consideration, but our reconsideration—and our unwavering determination to withhold our opinion until we have engaged with them in every possible setting at every possible hour.”

There’s a lot to learn and more importantly relearn. About humanity and society at large. The past and how we want to move forward and change for the better. Which is going to take a hell of a lot of work that doesn’t occur overnight. In the context of the Black Lives Matter movement, I’ve been seeing a lot of inspiring statements about showing up however we can and how being an ally to the oppressed can manifest in various ways. And if we think about it there is no point in fighting when the very goal is to support, respect and love each other. So I guess what I’m trying to do is echo Alyssa’s words on checking within ourselves first before we take action or impose anything on anyone else. To withhold judgment aimed towards another being since at the end of the day we’re all just One Body aren’t we? (Thanks to Alyssa and Cullz for bringing up this term yesterday)

I feel like I could say so much more but I’m no expert in social studies or anything for that matter so I’ve refrained from publicly speaking up. Alas, admitting ignorance is often the first and important step to gaining knowledge. Conversely, listening closely before speaking is integral to understanding. Two truths that I’m currently living by and trying to improve on.

with tender love and respect,

- p

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straykidsscribbles · 6 years

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Slowly, Suddenly, and then All at Once

So, it’s here. The elusive CEO AU has made an appearance, after quite a lot of waiting. I’m so sorry it took so long, and thank you for waiting so patiently.

See my masterlist for my other work!

Special thanks to @kim-squishmin for proofreading, especially seeing as I have yet to learn the meaning of the word concise.

Word count: 6840

This vlive had such CEO Chan vibes I can’t

You pulled your knees up to your chest, snuggling into the blanket in front of you and the person next to you.

“You lot are way too nosy aren’t you? Well, if you must know, I’ll tell you the story of how we stopped hating each other and became your unofficial parents. But I’m warning you, no interruptions, otherwise the story ends.”

Eight heads nodded at you, and you began your tale. “It all started back when we were in college.”

---

I pulled my bag closer to myself and craned my neck to see through the crowd. I just want to see the test scores, and then I can go home and sleep. Slowly, I managed to get close enough to read the list posted on the classroom door.

Where am I… I scanned the page, going up from the bottom. Not here, no, not even by the tenth score. Wait. Is that my ID? I let out a small gasp, as I saw my ID code at the top of the list.

I’d set the curve for our first midterm. Well, that just means a lot to live up to now.

“Hey, Chan, you almost set the curve for this test. Pity you didn’t make it!” A tall boy with blond hair nudged his friend.

“Yeah, it sucks. But I mean, with the curve and all I still did okay. I wonder which crazy nerd managed such a high score.”

I felt a small needle of rage prick my insides. I had worked hard for that grade, I’d studied for three days, made study guides, and even done about half the practice problems the professor had given out. I had earned that grade through effort. Who was that upstart little twat who thought just because he got beaten by a few points?

“Excuse me.” My voice was as icy as I could make it. “Instead of complaining about people who got better scores than you, maybe you could actually try studying a little harder next time.”

“No one asked you.” The boy sounded defensive. “Unless you’re the one who managed that score? What did you do, live in the library?”

“Fuck. You.” I twisted on my heel and stormed away, feet tapping out an irate staccato on the pavement. He wants to play that game? Fine. I’m never letting him beat me on anything.

Unfortunately, that didn’t exactly work out for me. Bang Chan, as I soon learned, was about as brilliant as I was, and pretty hard working as well. We fought for top class rank, top test scores, valedictorian, you name it.

And if you think I let any of those go easily, well, you don’t know me.

Suffice it to say, Bang Chan and I were enemies. We hated each other, and that would never change. We hated each other through our masters degrees, and then even as we worked our way up the ranks of the same company. That chip on my shoulder would always be there.

I am not one to just give in and lose.

---

This is it! I bet the board will finally tell us who’s going to be the next CEO! I slipped inside the board room and went to my normal seat, throwing the usual glare at Chan, who was seated opposite me. If he ends up as CEO, I think I might quit.

“Alright, Ms. _____, Mr. Bang. We, the board of directors, have finally come to a decision. Seeing as our company has been growing at such an astronomical rate, we have to acknowledge that both of you have brought unprecedented success to this company. In light of that, we will be declaring both of you as joint CEOs of the company, effective immediately.”

My jaw dropped. “I’m sorry, sir, did you just say joint CEOs?”

“Joint? No one has joint CEOs now!” Chan’s indignance was clearly audible.

“Both of you, control yourselves! There are plenty of companies with more than one CEO, just look at Oracle or Samsung! Now then. You will be moving to the offices on the chief executive floor, and you’ll be working together to make this company even more successful. You’re both dismissed!” The board representative was clearly very irritated. Best not push it.

“Yes sir.” The two of us chorused in unison. We then glared at each other as we moved towards the door. Chan got there first, and held it for the board members as they exited the room.

I made it a point to go through the other door. I'm not being petty… okay maybe I sort of am.

Just outside my own office, Chan stopped me with a hand on my elbow. “Wait. Look. If we want this whole thing to work, all we have to do is split up the work between us. That way we don’t have to talk, and any interaction between us can be limited.”

“Fine by me. The less I have to spend with a blundering baboon, the better.”

“Oh like you’re much better with your holier-than-thou attitude and your-”

“Come in then. Let’s get this over with.” I shoved my door open, taking out my remaining frustration on the slab of wood. I sat down in my chair, and Chan loomed behind my shoulder. Pulling out a pad, I began listing duties, and we argued for the next hour over who would be doing what.

Still, I think I came out slightly on the upper hand. I got most of the things I wanted, and Chan has to deal with the lawyers, which is definitely a good thing.

Now all I had to do was do my job so well that I’d get another promotion, and Chan would get demoted to an underling’s position.

Oh, and move offices.

---

“Oh wow, this place looks so much more open without those awful dark curtains!” I exclaimed, balancing the box of files on my hip as I entered the main office area.

“Wait, will we have to share the floor? How long would it take to set up walls in here so I don’t have to see her irritating face all the time?” He’s right. We’d be sharing the huge office space. I mean I get that this would work, with CEOs who actually tolerated each other, but us? No. Thank. You.

“We will not be setting up walls, you’ll just have to work like this. We need to present a united front to any potential investors.” The board executive’s secretary, a bored looking young man, rolled his eyes. “Just have your desks facing away from each other and it’ll work.”

“Fine.” “Fine.”

I dumped the files on one desk, pulling out the chair and flopping onto it. This is going to be exhausting. Why do we have to be joint CEOs?

Chan flopped into the other chair, throwing his legs up on the desk. “You know what. We’re now CEOs, we just got promoted. I am taking the day off to celebrate. Bye Ms. ____, Mr. Kim.” He waved and got up, throwing his suit jacket over one shoulder.

Can he even do that? I wondered as I tucked the last set of files into the cabinet next to my desk. “Have someone finish alphabetizing these. I have personal business I need to attend to as well.” I grabbed my own coat and headed towards the elevator. If he gets the day off, so do I.

---

“Can you believe his nerve? The bastard actually had the nerve to go and just walk out of our office!” I yelled through the phone at my brother, Hyunjin. “He literally walked in, dumped his stuff on the table, and waltzed out the door.”

“And so you just left too?”

“Well yeah, I wasn’t going to stay and do work when he wasn’t. It’s not fair and also as CEO, I now have underlings to do that sort of stuff for me.”

“Don’t come and complain to me then if you end up with all of your stuff misplaced and your papers not organized the way you like them.”

“Hyunjin no one asked you for this kind of slander.”

“It’s not slander you’re the pickiest person ever! You literally alphabetize your bookshelves.”

“IN OTHER NEWS, how is your latest interior design project going?” I rolled my eyes. He has plenty of quirks himself, I don’t need to listen to this.

“Pretty well actually. I found this photographer the other day, and his night photos look so beautiful. They’ll be perfect for the new apartment buildings. He’s actually a photographer for one of the newspapers but he dabbles in artsy photos and so I’m glad I discovered him.” I smiled to myself as I poured myself a cup of tea. Jinnie might be a little crazy and annoying, but I love listening to him talk about his work. It’s nice to see him happy.

Settling into my chair with tea in hand and a stack of books nearby, I left the phone on speaker. Hyunjin would ramble, I would read, and we could enjoy our time together even if we weren’t in the same city. After all, that’s what siblings were for.

---

The next morning, I quickly got ready and headed downtown towards the office buildings. Even the prospect of dealing with Chan could dampen my spirits; a cinnamon roll and coffee for breakfast had already begun the day on a high note. After all, how could a day with cinnamon rolls be sad?

I entered the lobby of the building, heels making sharp clicking noises on the hardwood floor, bag swinging from my fingertips despite its weight. There was something to be said about nice shoes on a good day. They just made things better. I waved to the receptionist and headed towards the elevator, rolling my eyes at the two or three interns huddled in a corner who were giggling at- who else -Chan.

The elevator doors closed, and we slowly headed up, stopping every so often to let other people get off. There were about ten floors to go, and now it was just Chan and me in the elevator. Ugh this is so awkward. Is this how it’s going to be all the time in our office? He’s annoying and a brat but I don’t want work to always be this awkward. Still, I’m not making the first overtures. He started this, he can apologize first.

Then, a loud creak came from outside the elevator. Scrchhhhhhhhhhhhh, went the mechanism pulling us up.

And then, the elevator stopped.

Another slightly ominous creak emanated from right outside the doors, and then- silence. Utter silence.

Chan pressed the buttons on the elevator panel, trying to get the elevator to start working.

Nothing happened.

“Let me see.” I came over to the panel and pressed a few buttons too.

Dead silence.

“Okay, let me try the fire alarm? Maybe the speaker thing works?” He pressed the red button and again, nothing happened.

I took out my phone, only to find a lovely ‘NO SERVICE’ staring up at me from the top of the screen. “I don’t have service, do you?”

“Nope. Wait. Today they had scheduled maintenance for the elevators! We’re stuck here.”

“Why today of all days?” I leaned against one of the walls. And getting stuck with him? Fantastic.

“Great.” Chan rolled his eyes and dropped his laptop bag on the floor before sitting down himself. “This is just wonderful.”

“You’re telling me? Our first day as CEOs and we get stuck in the blasted elevator.” I’m not standing here, in these shoes, for who knows how long. Might as well sit down too. I thumped down next to him, stretching my legs out and crossing my ankles.

“Of all the people really, I had to get stuck with you? Why is my luck always this bad?” Chan seemed to be talking to himself, but I couldn’t let such an insult pass unchallenged.

“Okay, seriously what is your issue?” I snapped, turning to face him. “Literally from the second we met you’ve been nothing but insulting. At best you’ve been passive at times; but you aren’t even civil. Why do you hate me so much?”

“I don’t hate you exactly… It’s just…” he looked down. Could I have somehow managed to reduce the irrepressible Bang Chan to speechlessness?

“Just. What.” I demanded flatly. We’re going to be trapped here for the next few hours, why shouldn’t we get this out of the way now.

“You’re intimidating? And I put my foot in my mouth the first day we met and that was sort of bad. And then you clearly hated me after that so it was just easier to hate you too.” The words came spilling out, seemingly against his will. I’m intimidating? Really?

“Well, I was hurt afterwards, but I should have given you a chance to apologize. And I shouldn’t have been so mean afterwards… Besides you're more intimidating than me! I'm tiny, I don't know how you think I'm scary. I mean- You can’t say I’m blameless in this I’ve been pretty rude to you over the years too.”

“Yeah. I guess we both were hurt and we took it out on each other.”

“Your insults are pretty creative you know Chan. I don’t think anyone else has called me a jellyfish flavored popsicle.”

“I think your best one was ‘I’d rather get stuck in an elevator for four hours than spend another minute in your presence.’”

“That certainly played out well. Way to tempt fate, past me.” I sighed and leaned my head against the wall. “How long do you think we’ll be stuck here?”

“Depends? I mean I heard someone say that it took five hours once, but we’re the CEOs, people should miss us right?” He scratched the back of his head. “It’s been what, five minutes? I’m borreeeedddddddd, _____.”

I think that’s the first time he’s called me by my name without any sort of secondary inflection behind it. It’s… sort of nice actually. He has a nice voice. “Wait, do you have your laptop?” I asked suddenly.

“Yeah? I have it with me. But it won’t last very long, I was working late last night and I forgot to charge it afterwards.”

“Darn. I guess we could share mine then? We could watch a movie or something on Netflix?” I reached over to my bag and slid the thin silver laptop out. “Any preferences?”

“Wow, you’re letting me choose? Really?” His voice was higher pitched when he was excited.

“Don’t get too happy, it’s a one time thing. But yeah, go ahead.” I opened Netflix, moving the cursor to the search bar.

“Actually, could we just watch Daredevil? You have it on your recently watched, what episode are you on?” He leaned closer to me and pointed to the icon.

“Oh, I only just finished the first season. Is that okay?” He nodded, and so we settled in with the laptop in my lap, shoulders just touching.

About two and half episodes later, there was a sudden crank and the elevator started to move upward once more. The doors slid open and our secretaries slowly peered around the edge of the door. Are they trying to see if we killed each other? I wondered. Chan stood up and held out his hand to help me up as well.

“Wait… are they touching? And not in a passive aggressive annoying poking or death by handshake way?” My secretary whispered.

“I think they are… this is so weird. Quick pinch me, maybe I’m just dreaming,” muttered Chan’s secretary.

Chan rolled his eyes and stepped into our office. “Honestly, we weren’t going to kill each other. We just talked for a little while.”

I smirked over at the two gaping secretaries. “When you think about it, we really do have a lot in common you know.” We walked towards our desks, sitting down and beginning our work.

“I think we broke them.” Chan whispered as he wheeled his chair a little closer to me.

“There’s no think about it Chan, we definitely did.” Maybe things will be better now.

I think I’ll quite like being friends with him.

---

“_____, I’m boreeeeeeedddddddddddd.” Chan whined as he rolled his office chair towards my side of the room. He slid next to me and caught sight of my computer screen before I could close the window I had open.

“Wait. Are you playing card games online? Really. Card games? Online? When you have a perfectly good me to play with?” He grabbed my hand and yanked my chair towards him. Pulling out a deck of cards, he quickly dealt for a game of Go Fish.

Which turned into three games. Which turned into five. Which turned into us taking a half day to deal with the stress.

We played Go Fish, War, Rummy, and even attempted a round of online poker… which we lost.

We couldn’t be good at everything after all.

But at the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but wonder why on earth we hadn’t done this before. Why hadn’t we tried to get along before? We could have had years of just messing around together.

Almost as if he could hear my thoughts, Chan spoke as he was shuffling the cards. “I’m glad we decided to make up. Better late than never, right?”

“Yeah. Better late than never.”

---

“You look nice sis!” came Hyunjin’s voice from the phone speaker. I was trying to frantically get ready for the annual corporate party and I had called Hyunjin for some moral support as I prepared. This year would be the first where I would be giving a speech, and I was both excited and terribly nervous.

I adjusted the curls that were falling out of my up-do and fixed my skirt. Company colors… is that too much of an overkill? But they do look nice…. Blue looks good no matter what, and it ‘ll be good to match the branding.

“Okay, I’m ready. I’ll text you when I get back home okay? Don’t stay up too late!” I called into the phone as I reached for my shoes.

“Don’t mind me, I have color palettes to look at anyways. Are we still on for the movie next weekend?”

“Yup! I’ll arrive on Friday night hopefully. Bye!” I hung up, grabbed my purse and keys, and headed out the door. Show time. Better get used to this speaking business, it’s your new lot in life as CEO _____.

The drive passed in a flash, and soon I was pulling up to the hotel doors, where the party was being held. I handed the car keys to the valet and clicked nervously up the steps to the doorway. Breathe, in, out, this is just another party. You’ve done plenty of these, all you have to do differently is speak at this one.

Straightening my spine, I walked in the double doors. Almost immediately I was swept away by one of the board members.

“____, this lovely lady is the head of the regional bank! Mrs. Lee was just telling me how they were considering investing in the company, do you mind giving her more details? I must go find my wife, she wanted to bid on one of the charity auction items.” He walked off, leaving me in the company of an older woman with steel gray hair and a sharp smile. Her eyes were hard but intelligent; clearly, this was a woman who’d worked her way up in the bank as well.

“How can I help you Mrs. Lee?” I asked, turning fully towards her. A new banking partner would be wonderful for the company, especially as we were dealing with a great deal of financial expansion. Let’s hope this works…

As we were talking, I heard soft giggles coming from behind me. There were a few interns, probably here for their first corporate party, standing in the corner and staring openly at Chan, who was talking to an older gentleman with a cane in one hand. I rolled my eyes. Some things never change. Those look like the same idiots that were giggling in the lobby earlier. Honestly why are people such idiots?

I finished up the conversation and handed Mrs. Lee a business card, asking her to stop by my office any time. Now then, to deal with those imbeciles. They’re ridiculously loud and they are being completely unprofessional.

As I walked over to their corner, I noticed Chan approaching them too, from the other side. Good. If both of us tell them off, they can’t do anything.

“Excuse me, do you three mind? This is a corporate occasion, and you should be acting with a little more decorum than you are currently.” My voice was scathingly cold.

“We were just admiring Mr. Bang. That’s not a crime, is it?” One of them blinked innocently at me, but I was having none of it.

“I don’t care what you were doing. You were all loud enough to be heard a good twenty feet away, and this is not the time for you to be behaving in such an unprofessional manner. You may be young and inexperienced, but that’s no excuse at all.”

Just then, Chan came up behind me, sliding an arm around my waist. What is he doing? We’re barely friends at the moment WHAT DOES HE THINK HE’S PLAYING AT?” I turned to look at him, eyes already narrowed sharply.

“If you all could just please keep it down?” He asked, smiling at them. “You’re being terribly disruptive to everyone here.”

One of the girls, the most brazen of the lot, opened her mouth. “Oh, Mr. Bang, is she your date? You guys are matching.” Fuck he’s wearing company colors too. We had to have the same outfit ideas great this is wonderful.

I was just about to protest, but Chan cut in. “Yes actually, she is. So… if you could excuse us?” He maneuvered me away from them, and shook his head when I turned towards him, ready to ask just what he was playing at.

Behind us, I could just make out the tail end of their conversation. “Well, I wonder if the other CEO is here too? Maybe we could get them to go out with us.”

Chan took me into a side room, and immediately dropped his arm from around my waist. “Okay before you say anything, those interns have been basically following me around for the past three days. They’re all freakishly persistent, and I just needed an out please help me? Please, ____ I’ll buy you expensive chocolate too.”

“You do realize they’ll notice when we’re back at work right?”

“But tonight they’re being especially persistent. They were following me ____. Following me.” He pouted sadly at me, and I figured I had to take pity on him. He looked miserable.

“Okay then. Come on. As it is, we were supposed to sit together for the dinner anyways. Are you speaking before or after me?” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Also, we should probably look into getting them assigned to the mail room or have them sorting through databases or just something mind numbingly boring as punishment for making both of us uncomfortable.”

“I’m speaking right before you. And thank you. Really. I was so sick of them… Hopefully this works.”

We wandered for the next hour or so, making small talk and just generally networking. All the while I could feel my nerves getting worse and worse. I’m going to talk in front of so many people what if I mess up what if I forget what if I just stand there and blank. My mind just kept running a loop of bad scenarios- the worst things that could happen.

Then. Show time.

I slipped into my chair as Chan walked up onto the small raised stage at one end. He spoke for a good five minutes, yet I heard absolutely none of it. See, he’d done a speech last year, as his pet project was one of the main expansions of the company at the time. He had at least some experience.

Oh. He’s waving me up. Okay. Let’s go. I slowly left my seat, focusing on just getting up there and not tripping over any of the speaker cables on the floor.

Five minutes of insane courage. Five minutes. You can do this. I shuffled the index cards I’d hidden in my clutch and gripped them tightly. “Good evening everyone, thank you so much for coming out here. It’s my pleasure to be welcoming you as one of your new CEOs. Chan and I have great plans for the company, and we hope we’ll be able to take the company to new heights.” I steadied myself with another deep breath and continued on, discussing the vision I had for the company and what new ideas we would be trying to implement for the next few years.

All too soon, it was done. I smiled, introduced the board president, and left the stage, tottering back to my seat on wobbly yet satisfied legs.

“You were fine, well done love.” Chan whispered into my ear as I sat down next to him.

“You did well too, thanks Chan. I’m just glad its over and done with.”

It didn’t register until I got home that he’d called me love. And I’d liked it quite a bit.

---

“So. Chan asked you to fake being his date, and called you love, and you matched, however accidentally, and you didn’t collapse after your first speech in front of the whole company. Well done ____ you’re alive!” Hyunjin threw a pillow at me. “Why are you so good at overthinking stuff?”

“Jinnie shut up you’re being mean! It was scary and there were loads of people and you know I’m still not used to it. I guess the only thing that was funny was seeing those interns’ faces when they saw I was the other CEO. One of them actually had his mouth wide open in shock it was glorious.”

“You know what _____ you seem to be enjoying yourself aren't you? And things seem to be better now that you and Chan are getting along.”

“True.” I pushed a lock of hair behind my ear. “Work is definitely a lot more fun. Last week we actually were both so sick of finance reports that we ended up just playing cards the entire afternoon.”

“Did you win?” Hyunjin’s eyes were wide with humor. “If you lost you better have milked it for all it was worth.”

“I lost a couple games… and maybe Chan owes me expensive chocolate now… maybe. But I'm admitting to nothing.” I smiled into my tea cup.

“Look at you you're actually smiling like an idiot just thinking about him. You know I had no idea I was getting a new brother in law so soon. You're still having me as your man of honor right?” He winked at me cockily, referencing our childhood agreement. As tiny children we had decided that if we ever got married we would be each other's best maid/ man of honor. I should have known that would come back to bite me. Why did he automatically jump to marriage I don't even like him like that. We're friends. That's all. Though… I mean Chan is sort of handsome. And smart. And clever. And he has a great sense of humor.

“Shut up Jinnie I don't like him like that. We are barely friends.”

“Last year you said that if you had to choose between kissing a frog and shaking hands with Chan you'd kiss the frog. And now you're blushing just thinking about him.”

“Drink your tea before I throw it in your face.” Hyunjin just rolled his eyes and got up, picking up a sofa pillow.

“You have three seconds to run before this turns into a pillow war.” His voice was completely deadpan but the grin on his face said otherwise. I just reached for a pillow of my own and attacked back in turn.

Sometimes all you needed was a pillow fight with your brother to get rid of annoying, hallucinatory, and clearly false thoughts about a certain CEO.

That night though, I slept fitfully. All I could picture were chocolatey eyes and dark hair that curled softly in the heat of the banquet hall and a soft voice comforting me.

Okay so maybe Hyunjin wasn't totally wrong. Maybe there is something going on here. It's just a crush though. I'll get over it soon. Bet it'll be gone in a week, I told myself.

---

Two weeks later, I was clearly rethinking said earlier idea. My little crush hadn't abated; in fact it had just gotten stronger. I spent most of my time burying myself in paperwork so that I would be able to avoid Chan’s friendly overtures.

It wasn’t working.

He. was. just. so. persistent. He brought me coffee one night when we both stayed at the office until 2 am, he wouldn’t stop thanking me the day I got takeout sandwiches for both of us at lunch.

How on earth was anyone to get a grip if there was literally no respite from his charm?

I was in the middle of looking over the latest deal with a new company that was trying to expand into a more international area when Chan’s voice broke into my thoughts.

“Hey, _____, do you like rap?” The question was a bit out of the blue. That’s an… odd question to ask?

“I mean, I do like it I suppose? Why do you ask?” I turned in my swivel chair to face him.

“Well… you see, a couple of my friends and I sometimes have little rap gigs at this one club near by? I was wondering if you’d be interested in coming to watch us perform.” His voice was a little higher than normal, almost as though he was… nervous?

“I- I’d love to come! When is it? Should I bring anything with me?” I hope I don’t sound like some sort of idiotic ditz.

“Our next show is this weekend actually, on Saturday. I’ll text you the address later, yeah?”

I nodded softly, and we both turned back to our desks. But at the back of my mind I couldn’t stop thinking about this new information.

Chan raps? Since when? I had no idea! Does he mean this as a date thing? Or is it just a “hi, let’s be friends” thing? I’m overthinking it, he’s just being friendly and trying to get to know me outside of work.

Enough wishful thinking, _____. Get a grip.

---

That Saturday, in the back of the club, Changbin and Jisung were treated to a very interesting spectacle.

The Irrepressible Bang Chan, CB97, CEO of a major company and a respected musician and producer, was pacing their dressing room with one of the worst cases of pre-performance stage fright nerves ever.

Pacing. Wringing his hands. Frowning. Mumbling to himself. Turning right before he hit the wall only to almost trip over a chair and wipe out on the floor.

“Channie-hyung, this is weird. Normally Jisungie is the one freaking out like this?” Changbin raised one eyebrow at Chan. “What’s going on?”

Jisung just smirked happily. “I know why he’s panicking~” he said in a very smug, singsong tone.

“Jisung you will keep your mouth shut if you want me to buy you cheesecake any time in the next week.” Chan’s voice was tight with nerves.

“I’ll buy you cheesecake every day for the next two weeks.”

“Done. Channie-hyung’s flustered because _____ is coming tonight.”

“Ohhh that makes sense don’t worry we’ll put on a great show for your girlfriend!” Changbin waggled his eyebrows at Chan, who just flopped into a chair and thumped his head on the table.

“She’s not my girlfriend, she’s the other CEO at work, and we literally started getting along like a month ago so you can shut it.”

“Wait isn’t she the one you used to complain about to Woojin basically every day when we were in college?”

“You know what Jisung? Your cheesecake privileges and your Jeongin privileges are gone. You aren’t allowed to talk to my son anymore.”

“I thought we were your sons too!”

The room devolved into chaos, and a makeup brush and some cords were thrown back and forth. But somehow Chan’s heart felt a little lighter after his friends’ gentle teasing.

They’d always be there for him. Even if he managed to completely ruin this. Which was looking more and more likely by the second.

---

I slipped inside the club after showing my ID to the bouncer. It looks pretty packed. Oh, yay, corner table! I sat down and ordered Coca Cola, not wanting to risk getting anything strong.

A few minutes passed and I was well settled in, facing the stage.

A spotlight turned on, and three boys stood, clustered in the middle of the stage. Chan stood in the middle, wearing baggy sweats and a t-shirt, his hair tousled lightly. The other two boys were dressed similarly as well.

The music began, and they started whispering amongst themselves. “Hey look over there, she’s pretty!”

“Where? Where?”

“In the gray, over there.” To my surprise, one of the boys next to Chan pointed right at me.

The boy who had pointed looked oddly familiar. Is he one of Hyunjin’s friends? I think he is. He began rapping, sticking to a soft slow rhythm. He had on a flannel and what appeared to be oversized boots with the laces wrapped multiple times around his ankles. His voice was sweet and sort of lazy sounding, like he was trying to lure you in with his words.

The music changed, and all three spoke at once. “Wow, oh man, she’s hot.” I raised both eyebrows, shocked a little at the directness of the song. Well, they certainly weren’t messing around were they?

The first boy continued for a little longer, then the one on the other side of the stage continued. “With a smirk I suddenly enter / I’m sorry sorry you’re already hit on and deflated.” His rap was more nasal sounding and faster, clearly distinct from the first boy’s style. He wore all black and a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes; he held his mic close to his lips with one finger over his lips. “There’s nothing to be envious about” he finished, and they began the chorus again. This time the audience laughed along with them and sang a few of the words with them. Clearly, this was a pretty popular song for them.

Then, Chan started rapping. His voice was softer than the previous boy’s, and it sounded incredibly good. I can’t believe he never said anything about this! He should have mentioned something, he’s amazing. I let the words wash over me, just listening to the music.

Suddenly, his voice broke into my thoughts. “I’m just a nice guy with a lot of money”

My head snapped up, eyes widening. Did he just say he has a lot of money? Who writes these lyrics? Wow Chan I get that you’re a CEO and all, but this is a touch blunt.

His eyes swept over the crowd, meeting mine just as he said “Let me take you to a restaurant.”

I couldn’t stop the blush that erupted across my face.

He kept going, and my blush just got darker and darker. I had to fight the urge to hide my face in my hands. His eyes were locked with mine as he rapped.

I barely heard the end of the song.

As the applause began, the three of them bowed to the crowd.

“Hey guys, we’re 3RACHA! I’m CB97, this is J.One, and this is SpearB.” The other two bowed and waved in turn. “We hope you guys enjoy the show! This next song is called Hoodie Season.”

This time a drum beat opened the song and I could stop myself from nodding along to it. This is really catchy. They’re so good, I wish I’d heard them before! But are they actually talking about their love for a hoodie? Can’t say I blame them.

The night went on for a while like that. They performed a few more songs and then bowed their way off the stage to thunderous applause and cheering from a few somewhat crazy looking boys in one corner of the club.

I swirled my Coca Cola in its bottle, staring into the brown whirlpool it formed. What on earth did Chan mean by inviting me and then literally staring at me when saying things like “Hey baby I’ll make you my lover / I’m thankful that I’m warm in the fall / I’ll hug you wherever I go.” Is he just going along with the lyrics?

Just then, Chan slid into the chair opposite me. “So. _____. How was it?” To my surprise, he actually looked a little nervous, as though he was unsure of my response.

“You were amazing! I can’t believe you’ve been hiding that skill for so long! You’re a really good rapper and your vocals are so smooth.” I couldn’t stop myself from gushing after seeing the enormous grin that spread across his face as I spoke.

“I’m glad you liked it.”

“How could I not? I’m only sad I didn’t get to hear you sooner. Though you have no idea what you’ve unleashed, now I’ll be asking you to sing all the time at the office.”

“Well, with such a lovely audience, how could I ever refuse?” He winked at me, and I felt my cheeks heating up again.

A small gurgle sounded, and to my surprise, Chan’s ears got a little red as well. “Ah… after a performance we normally get pretty hungry.”

“Well, CB97, how about I take you to a restaurant?” Where is this confidence coming from ABORT ABORT.

“After you then, my lady.” He held out his hand for me and I took it, wrapping my fingers around his.

We stepped outside, a wall of cold air hitting us as we left the warm club. Turning down a couple of sidestreets, we entered a chicken shop that was open late on weekends.

“Order what you want, I said I was treating you!” I mock glared at him as he tried to pull out his wallet. He complained but ordered anyways, and we settled into a booth to eat the chicken happily.

We didn’t speak much while we ate; Chan was clearly quite hungry. After our meal Chan insisted on walking me back home before heading to his apartment.

I invited him in to warm up for a bit before heading back home, and he came in willingly. I made green tea for us both and was just about to turn off the kettle when Chan came into the kitchenette.

“_____, I sort of have a confession to make. I invited you to see our performance because I really wanted to impress you.” He took a deep breath and, forestalling anything I could say in return, spoke. “I like you. A lot. I understand if you don’t really like me in that way, I mean we only just became friends recently, but I would like to be more.”

My mouth dropped open. “You- you actually like me? I thought you were just trying to be friendly this whole time. I like you too Chan, I mean how could I not? You’re really sweet, talented, and I mean… after tonight’s thing I’m not entirely sure I’m worthy of you.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” He moved closer and pulled me into a hug, wrapping his arms around my waist.

The kettle puffed away behind us, forgotten.

Chan went home that night a little bit giddy. I lay awake in bed going over the night’s events in my head.

Who would have thought after the worst first impression in history we would end up… dating I guess?

---

“And that’s how we got together. Happy now? Curiosity sated?” you asked as you finished your tale, sipping water from the glass in front of you. After that long story, your throat was dry from talking so much.

Chan poked you in the ribs gently. “So you started to fall for me at the party? I was way before you I was crushing on you by the time we were trapped in the elevator together.” He leaned over and hugged you tightly, nuzzling into your neck.

“Ewwwwww! Affection! That’s it, I’m out!” yelled Jeongin and Seungmin as they jumped up from the floor where they had been listening to your story.

You rolled your eyes. They did ask for the story didn’t they? Whatever.

And you snuggled closer into Chan’s arms.

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06/26/2019 DAB Transcript

2 Kings 9:14-10:31, Acts 17:1-34, Psalms 144:1-15, Proverbs 17:27-28

Today is the 26th day of June. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible, I am Brian and its great to be here with you as we move through the center of the week, which I guess is why it's called hump day, we’re getting over the hump and moving to the back half of the week. But no matter what part of the week we’re in we’re always taking the next step forward through the Scriptures, which would take us back into the book of second Kings. We’re reading from the Contemporary English Version this week. Second Kings Chapter 9 verse 14 through 10 verse 31 today.

Commentary:

Alright. So, in the book of Acts we’re continuing along with Paul on his second missionary journey and we should note the way that Paul adapts what he's saying to who he's saying it to. So, in Thessalonica Paul’s in the synagogue, he’s opening the Scriptures and he's explaining how Jesus is a part of the Jewish story and a part of the Jewish heritage. And, so, many come to faith in Jesus and others are against him because they're envious or jealous and angry mob kicks Paul and Silas out of town. So, they go to Berea. Paul's in the synagogue again. The Berean’s are diligently searching the Scriptures. And, so, Paul's right there to interpret. Many come to faith, many get jealous. The they’re out of town again. So, then Paul’s in Athens where spirituality is very diverse but very open and he's talking about the unknown God because they worship many, many gods, including any unknown God that they may not have known about and Paul offers to them very concise, very simple explanation of how he sees the gospel. And, so, let’s look at that again. Let’s listen to what Paul says as if we’re in Athens and we don't have any of the background of the Bible, we don't know other than just sensing that there's a God out there. This is how Paul explains to a person who worships an unknown God. The thing is, we’ll all agree with it, we’re reading it out of the Bible. But consider, do you functionally believe this? Do you live as if this were the truth? So, Paul says, “I want to tell you about this God that you're worshiping that you don't know. This God made the world and everything in it. “He’s the Lord of heaven and earth, and He doesn't live in temples built by human hands. He doesn't need help from anyone. He gives life, breath, and everything else to all people. From one person, God made all nations who live on the earth, and He decided when and where every nation would be. God has done all this so that we will look for Him and reach out and find Him. He isn’t far from any of us and He gives us the power to live to move and to be who we are. We are His children, just to some of your poets have said. And since we are God's children must not think that He's like an idle made out of gold or silver or stone. He isn't like anything that humans have thought up and made. In the past God forgave all this because people did not know what they were doing but now He says that everyone everywhere must turn to Him. He has set a day when He will judge the world's people with fairness and He has chosen the man Jesus to do the judging for Him. God has given proof of this to all of us by raising Jesus from death.” So, there you go. We should find great comfort in that, great encouragement in that, but also put ourselves in the position of somebody who's never heard this before so that we understand the kinds of people that Paul is trying to reach and we should also notice that Paul adapts the way that he interacts with people based on who it is that he's trying to talk to, which doesn't mean he is trying to change his message, it means he's trying to enter a person's story from where they're coming from instead of trying to force-feed where he's coming from. A pretty invaluable lesson for us in this day and age.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for this simple concise truth of the gospel from the apostle Paul here in the book of Acts. It reminds us of the fact that we are Your children. We also acknowledge the fact that we don't know all that we think that we do and a posture of humility in entering into each other's stories is the way of Your kingdom. Come Holy Spirit we pray. And we ask in Jesus’ name expectantly as we surrender, as we allow You to have space and access to our hearts and our day and our actions. Come Holy Spirit we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, it's where you find out what's going on around here, and there's stuff going on around here.

Coming up in less than two weeks, the 7th of July, is our annual Daily Audio Bible long walk. It's happening on a Sunday this year so it kind of makes it easier. And we do this every July 7th. It's a day to give ourselves permission to say, “look, “I'm in the middle of the year, I have journeyed halfway through this year and come to this point with the rhythm of the Scriptures being in my life.” And by now we can see what the Bible does as we put it in our lives every day. So, it’s a day to regroup and go for a long walk with the God of the Bible who is revealing himself to us through the Scriptures. Yeah, just to spend the day saying all of the things that there just aren't time to say. Like we’re just too overcommitted, too out of balance, we’re running too hard. So, we take this one day and go for a long walk, go somewhere beautiful whether near or far and go for a long walk and we can say everything that needs to be said and to allow space because the Lord has some things He's been wanting but we’re just too busy to listen. So, what if we took a day and gave it to listening and just spending time with God and appreciating that life is happening all around us and we’re ignoring it. That's the 7th of July and yeah, it’s a very individual thing, but it's also a very communal thing that we’re doing as a community all over the world. And you just take your phone. You probably have your phone or something with you anyway. Snap a picture of wherever it is you go or take a little video of wherever it is you go and post it up to our Facebook page, facebook.com/dailyaudiobible and then we’ll post them up and they become these beautiful little moments that we get to share with each other, little windows into each other's lives and where it is that we are on the planet and where it is that's beautiful where we are and we get this wonderful picture of God's beauty all over the world on one day. So, make plans for that the 7th of July.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible as we navigate the summer months, then thank you profoundly for your partnership. There's a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, 877-942-4253, is the number to dial.

And that is it for today. I'm Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello, this is Christy in Korea. I am a first-time caller and I have been listening since January, but I am quite a way’s behind. I’m actually 10 weeks behind when you were at the More conference because on that Saturday I was giving birth to my first child. So, I just wanted to share that God is really awesome and I know there’s a lot of women and men out there struggling with infertility. And my husband and I were able to get fertility treatment and now we have a beautiful healthy boy after a loss last year and God…God is amazing, and I know he has a made a promise and I just wanted to__. Also, I heard there was another listening from Korea. You’re not alone. There’s another listener here and I just want to say hi. And I try to pray…I don’t pray for everyone, but I do pray for some people and I want you to know that I can’t remember who you are that I do try to pray for you and that you are being prayed for across the world. And, please pray for my husband because he is kind…I don’t know…agnostic and I see God making movements and I would just like to see him making more movements and thank you for everything you do, and I will try to catch up. Thank you.

Hey family this is Viola from Maryland I hope you’re all doing well. Brian and Jill God bless you. Family I want to encourage you to give to Daily Audio Bible. As Brian always says, this is the summer months and things always slow down during the summer months. So, give and God will bless you. Okay. Doug from Alabama, I’m praying for healing for you brother in the name of Jesus. The word of God says in Philippians 4:6 that you shall not be __ for anything but in everything that prayer and supplication make your request known to God. And, so, pray brother. As people pray for you also pray. And I pray that the peace of God who passes all understanding will flood your heart and mind and God will give you wisdom on how to take care of the __ situation. God bless you my brother. __ from New Zealand I’m praying for little baby willow. Oh, my goodness. God’s such a powerful God. I pray that God will touch this baby and heal her body. You will call back with great testimonies in the name of Jesus. Father Lord of heaven, I pray that you will arrive with healing in your wings over little Willow in the name of Jesus. __ I’m praying for favor for your brother-in-law, that you will get that wisdom. You know, God has a heart for families. I pray that Give her favor and she’ll be reconciled, she’ll be able to be with your son __ Tyler in the name of Jesus. Rob from Canada, I am praying for Jimmy your son. I know how disheartening that can be. Lord of heaven, I pray that you will touch Jamie oh God, Father you that made the __ go away in the first place, I pray that that __ will be thing of the past in the name of Jesus, that every __ body will die in the name of Jesus because it’s…the word of God says that by the stripes of God, that by the stipes of Jesus Christ Jamie has been healed. I’m praying for you __ my sister. I pray that God will flood your business with clients in the name of Jesus. And lastly, Ben from London, I’m praying for your daughter and fellow kids, that they would do well in their __. God bless you….

Hi, DABbers this is Christchurch New Zealand calling. I really need your prayers for my brother. He is a good man but in a failed relationship with an erratic woman who has turned his two daughters against him. This has been going on for 16 years but severe in the last two and I feel that’s gonna break him. He’s strong, fit, hard-working, self-employed and continually gives to their demands to the point of them living or often going without. He wants to see his girls. There’s always a reason why he can’t. Even if he makes a date they find a reason to go out and so he doesn’t see them. He thinks about walking away but is not in him. I actually don’t know how he can still go on because it doesn’t of the Lord. So, I’m asking my DABbers if they can break every curse of his life and pray for the peace of the mind…of his mind and from the pressure that he gets in the demands of him continuing having to find work. He needs a lot of money to find each week to support the family and that there’ll be a breakthrough for his family somehow, that they’ll just be kind to him, they’d be easier on him. He’s positive and he’s always for them. So, would you pray with me please. Thank you.

Hey, God bless. This is Matthew Fouts. I’m calling from Interstate 10 in Mobile Alabama. May God bless you from the South all over the world. The Lord has a word, His word is truth and His word tells us that we must look past our present problems to see the face of Jesus. You must set aside the problems that You face every day and look for the face of Jesus. Jesus is greater than our problem. Jesus is the Lord, He is high and lifted up and we’re all facing something today, we’re all facing a giant, we’re all facing challenges. His word says to rejoice. So, we rejoice through the trials, we rejoice through the tribulations and we say that Jesus is Lord. We yield to the Father, we yield to the voice of the Father and we say, “Father, here we are. Send us.” Father, we’re here to do Your will. We believe in His son Jesus. We are covered by the blood and You are greater than any problem we shall face. Father, we thank You and we love You and we love each other in the name of Jesus. God bless you all.

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livenudebigfoot · 5 years

Note

Hi sorry to bother you with this random question, but would you be able to give any advice on how to land a social media manager job?

Hi! No problem, although I’m not sure how helpful this will be. It’s my understanding that my path to the job was not traditional. I think the usual path looks something like:

Major in Communications

Dark magic?????

Land job at marketing firm, do social media

While my path was: major in English, have literally no idea what to do besides write, volunteer with a nonprofit organization in college and learn about copywriting and grant-writing, look for jobs like that, discover that a lot of nonprofits hire full-time people to write campaign letters, design email newsletters, and run their social media accounts, convince one of those orgs to hire you, use that experience to get a better job with more money, repeat.

And somehow each time, my job got more and more social media-y. At first I was like, “Pffft, I’m writing articles and fundraising materials, how much time is it gonna take me to update Facebook once a day?”

ALL OF IT. ALL OF THE TIME. SOCIAL MEDIA ATE MY LIFE.

Like I said, idk how helpful I can be about getting a job in this area because my path was kind of idiosyncratic and weird and obviously very nonprofit-oriented, which is a problem if you want to work for...literally anything else, or be a consultant with a bunch of different clients rather than work for any specific group. So here are just some things I’ve noticed:

Literally all of this is about storytelling. This is how I explain my job to old people who want me to justify my existence, but also I 100% believe it. You’re telling the story of your brand: what you do, who you are, how you help. You want to be compelling: find the human aspect of your faceless org. Tell stories that provoke emotion - make people smile or cry. Make them want to give you money, or proud that they already do. Create a distinct voice to post in, something that speaks to your people. Right now, my org uses Facebook and Instagram. I use different images and different language on both platforms, because I’m speaking to different groups of people. There are things I post on Facebook that I would never post on Instagram, and vice versa, but I’m always telling the same story.

I lied, it’s about scheduling. I am the least organized human being on Earth, which is rough because social media is all about scheduling and organization and forethought. If you’re an organized person, dope and also how can I become you. If you’re like me, get yourself a calendar app, take rigorous notes, and set hard deadlines. You also want to make a content calendar for your organization, planning your posts as far ahead as you can. There are always empty spaces on my calendar (which is great, because room for spontaneity is important) but I usually know more or less what I’m going to post at least a month in advance.

Brush up on your photography. I feel like any given millenial or gen z kid has a leg up in this area, but just in case: get as good as you can at photography. Social media is a visual medium and a good picture can make or break your post. I have a coworker who is a full-time photographer and videographer right now, and his whole existence is a weight off my mind. But for the first 5 years of my working life, I was on my own with photography, and even now I still have to cover events he can’t make it to or snap spontaneous pics. I’m not saying you have to be a one-stop shop, but it looks good on your CV if you can be.

Graphic design too. Photoshop. Indesign. Canva is a beautiful, free-to-use angel and every time I’m given .5 seconds to advertise an event on Facebook, I bless its name.

Read the literature. There’s this site called Social Media Examiner and I read it pretty frequently just for like...tips and stuff? It’s good for keeping abreast of what’s hot and sexy in social media marketing these days and learning about useful tools to make your life easier.

Cultivate relationships. Idk if this is just a nonprofit thing, but at most communications jobs I’ve had, the non-administrative front-of-house employees have always reacted to me with a mix of suspicion and confusion, as though I were of the devil. But cultivating relationships with them is critical. They’re the ones with the best stories because they’re the ones who connect one-on-one with clients. You just have to make sure they know that you have respect for their stories, and that sharing those stories will have a really powerful impact. Usually after I’ve made that first post or written that first article about someone, they’re quick to think of me the next time they get up to something cool, and that’s how you get exciting leads within your organization.

Be concise, like this post isn’t. Sweet Christ.

I hope any of that helped or was relevant!

#numfarofthedeathwokclan

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its-morphin-time-xiv · 6 years

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TBH, I've always wanted to RP with your Belladonna, she seems interesting,but for quite some time now I've never been able to figure out who, or what, she is? I see a lot of what I'm guessing is the power rangers, as aesthetic posts and I've been trying to figure out how that would apply to FFXIV and its lore? I'm not accusing you of lore breaking, and even if you were it's your choice to play how you want! I'm merely just curious how she fits into the FFXIV world and what she is about. Help me?

Hello Anon! I’m actually really glad you asked, I know with how vague the blog itself is in regards to everything like who, or what she is. And quite frankly, Tags on posts aren’t helping either. The concerns or at the very least, curiosity in regards as to how “Power Rangers” fits into FFXIV Lore and the universe itself are entirely understandable, and I’m always more than willing to explain the reasoning as to why its here, or even how!

I’m more than willing to help explain things in a more clear and concise manner, now with that, please bear in mind that this post might be a touch lengthy, but I hope you understand and that this isn’t something that can be explained with full-clarity without getting down and dirty. I hope that by the end of it, some of the fog has been cleared! So without further ado… Let’s get started, shall we?

I’ll go ahead and place everything I’ve got under the cut, I hope you enjoy it!

–

I suppose we can start from the beginning and that, Bella, the initial character concept was created about… maybe two years ago. Three technically if you just count how long this blog has been standing. Initially, Bella is (was) a Thavnairian blooded hyur. Or rather, for a bit more clarification, is from an Island near Thavnair that could be and is considered part of the island.

Now that we’ve gotten an… okay grasp as to how long I’ve been working on this, we can properly start with things, like where she’s from, then we’ll move from there!

If I could place it on the global map we’ve been given of three continents it would be placed around here, right under the span of clouds within the red circle.

Around there is a fairly good estimate of where I’ve placed the island she’s from, that island being “Gisana” (Yeah, totally original with names, i’m great.) [Not Really] Now, Gisana borrows very basic culture concepts of what Thavnair is, I use Morocco mixed with my own culture, which is Filipino. It’s bit of a homebrew, yes. I take influences from what we know, what we’ve been given, then I slip my own to fill in what gaps I need filled, if that makes any sense.

Now, the island itself is a moderate size, nothing too extreme or anything like that. If anything? It’s about the size of one of the islands there, circled in blue. The island is surrounded by a maelstrom of whirlpools and actual maelstroms due to the unfortunate blend of the waters of The Bounty, and the Dorvos Narrow. Those two create fairly poor conditions for an island’s existence, so much so that the island lays in the ‘eye’ of an ever churning storm.

Something I could equate it to visually, was the storm that surrounded Skull Island in the newest King Kong movie. (If you’ve ever seen that, it’s pretty cool).

The storm itself on the outside and within the clouds were extremely rough, but any sailor with an actual heading and idea of how to travel through the treacherous waters or pilot grave enough to fly the hurricanes could make it through no problem. But solely due to that, this island gets left off the map fairly frequently, which is why it’s counted as nothing in particular outside from just a natural disaster waiting to happen.

Now the reason why the storm remains seemingly like a permanent constant is due to the fluctuations of the aether in the environment, being so turbulent and visceral. Far more than unmanageable than that of Eureka (The Isle of Val) [At least I think that’s what it was called].

Due to the fluctuations, the veil between this realm and the Void is thin, very much like how Eorzea is, except on a much more smaller yet just as dangerous scale of that. This meaning, that incursions of the void are more frequent on the island itself and solely on the island (not counting the water of course).

That’s unfortunate for the inhabitants of the island, which Belladonna was one of them, as a child anyways. Now that’s essentially the ‘Fanon’ locale of where the Rangers essentially originated from.

But not quite yet of where a Ranger comes from, per se. In order to do that, I’ll need to divert our attention back to the island, just a little bit. The Island has been present and weathered the passing of the Astral and Umbral eras ever since the age of Allag. And the people of the island have, through this time collected themselves and united to create one settlement, one city for themselves since they could not bear to leave their island home in the state it is. (That and the storm’s a thing too).

While forging themselves a forever home, they raised walls to keep the demons at bay and away from their people. But walls alone do not protect a fortress, so sometime ago, two of the most brilliant minds there sought to create a tool, a weapon, or even a shield of sorts to defend against the darkness that clawed at their doorstep.

Now I mentioned that the island had been present since the fall of Allag, the “Tek” that the Rangers used are extremely basic in comparison as to what the old Empire had, but it uses old plans and even ideas that they could and would have used back then. Now, I say this because, Nero has a magitek transformation, and Gaius has a powered up transformation too! That only seemed to bolster my idea that or at the very least influence to m that the notion of ‘magitek morphers’ could and would be feasible.

With this in mind and using it as my springboard, I use it to essentially state that the “Morphers” that they use are inherently modified Allagan devices if not further worked with and attuned for the uses that are needed, in regards to Gisana and it’s constant demon plight.

Thusly, Ranger (suits) are created via the Morpher itself, first designed outside by an armorer, then the device essentially borrows the design/uses the armor itself and “stores” it within the device. Sort of like Aetherial de-materialization and re-materialization on the spot, via commands of magick incantations and actual magitek innerworkings. Alternatively, you could describe it like they would use a separate method entirely, like how Allagan teleportation nodes work, and it just gets -teleported- onto your person. Either one works honestly but it gets pretty… mumbojumbo at this point, but it’s a fair explanation on things, at least it is from my perspective.

If that isn’t necessarily as clear as needed, I can further branch upon it, please let me know!

My idea for a city within a wall and the darkness beyond that was pretty inspired by The Last City in Destiny, while the island secluded away, only by natural disaster means was a mix of “Themyscira” and “Wakanda” but also “Skull Island”. More predominantly the latter most than the foremost.

The magitek morphers are also powered by not Ceruleum, but of crystals, more so hypercharged ones. (I am keenly aware of how dangerous that could be in a character/ situation.) But they’re handled on such a far and infantismal level that most characters hardly have to deal with it save for the scientists and Belladonna herself. Crystal shards get reduced and refitted down to be the size of a coin, a “Power Coin”, as it were. Much like how Power Rangers Zeo, Megaforce, Dinocharge, Dinothunder and Lost Galaxy exhibit their Ranger powers and the like.

I like Lost Galaxy because they use ‘beast spirits’ along with crystals. I akin those to soul essences that are also required to properly use a Ranger’s armaments

I hope its been clear, or at least a bit more digestible with this explanation! We’ve still got a little more!

So, lorewise this sits a bit snug in with essentially backdrop and background happenings that weren’t really… significant to anything stated already on the timeline. As the Eras passed, the island suffered, but still most encounters go unnoticed or unrecorded at all do to the hostile nature of the island’s environment surrounding it? Or the denizens within the water below. The island itself could and would become what essentially amounts to sailor’s tales, mysteries and myths you’d hear in passing at your sea-side Tavern.

Sort of like tales of colorful beings in shimmering lights fighting harrowing beasts countless times. Stuff like that!

Now, let’s take this back to our girl!

(Sorry, I just really love this picture.)

From here and below, if I can recall some writing that could pertain and assist with a bit more contextual understanding, I’ll make sure to link it with bold letters to identify!

But yes, as I stated prior, Bella is a character concept that’s been growing and evolving over the course of the past two years since her first… ‘creation’, in a sense. I suppose its also very important to note that much of her story is very much ‘The past doesn’t stay dead’ kind of thing. Some reading may or may not have figured that from my previous drabbles regarding Belladonna. Essentially, Belladonna, herself has been present and around for a long time now. Fifty or so years at the moment, regarding the Game’s Lore Timeline.

That being, from an ooc standpoint, I would run into… rather serious hurdles, regarding my personal life, and to cope, a new concept would be formulated. But I already have trouble playing more than one alt, in regards to RP, i am… poor at attempting it, but I am working on getting better at that. And so, at the time, Balmung was already locked forever™. And I truthfully only had one character to play for a long time. So instead of re-rolling my character and essentially ‘stranding’ myself as it were in regards to RP, I would.. just insert another chunk onto Bella’s timeline. If that makes sense.

While yes, that is a poor maneuver some might say, it’s helped me, in all truthfulness create very memorable moments. But that wouldn’t be without my friends who accept my ideas openly, without them? I might not even have this blog anymore.

But anyways, before I get too far off-topic; Belladonna is a woman who has had a lot of history happen, solely through the past. And what you see now, are mostly new developments and new experiences. I guess you could say, a woman out-of-time, as a possible explanation.

This, however doesn’t explain why she’s an elezen, and not a hyur, as she started, or even why I refer to her as “Mutant” in my writings a lot. You might be sighing and rolling your eyes, but please allow me to explain just a little bit longer.

At her very core, she is still a ‘hyur’. But the reason she is an elezen now, is due to a unfortunate mishap during one of her adventures in which a voidal summoning turns hectic as a Succubus sought to inhabit Bella’s body. Her aether signature already being in turmoil and a rough state in general due to an Imperial sub-project that she subjected herself to in order to.. “keep up” and “combat” the things she fights with her comrades in arms.

She happened upon a very small trace and trail of the Empire’s workings through connections she had gained while living in Kugane and of her own brief Imperial service.

The end result of the use of said ‘project’ gave Bella more drawbacks than features. Having lost all sense of pain, she can push past her would-be limits, even if it means self-harm. Her body wasn’t attuned or conditioned to any capacity for it to handle the testing done, so she now suffers a biological and ‘aetherial’ mutation. Since the project itself deal with matters of using Voidblood and essence to infuse Imperial conscripts / criminals with it for further service of the Imperial Banner.

Learning to live with these new changes, such as biologically having.. a new spine extending from where your old one, being shorter, looking like wade wilson /after/ project x –

– like that, only y’know… “prettier” and with hair. Mildly like a mix of both Wade Wilson and Marrow, if you’ve ever seen them.

I don’t believe there’s any right to call it living, rather than just calling it suffering, because that’s truly what it was. She received extreme chronic pain from her mutations, and.. essentially she wanted an “out”. This was around the time she started really going back to her roots, her roots being… “Rangers”, and the island.

Slowly, in time, despite the rather… negative results she had been given during her time home in an attempt to “cure” herself. And.. possibly to a degree, she got better.

With her already weakened state, she looked to intense and darker means to try and find a way to rid herself of her “problems”. This eventually leading to the summoning and the disasters that came swiftly after. The Succubus, seeing her would-be host in no suitable condition to survive, took liberties and adjusted Bella to her liking. After all.. this is a succubus. The change itself was gradual, a hex on a very slow burn after the situation was resolved, albeit messy.

Slowly she’d see height differences, skin cleansing but some things don’t go away, like the spine. That would learn to stay and not all of her wounds and scars from testing would disappear completely. So she sought after an ink artist, giving her tattoos that coincided along with her scars, some even masking out the worse ones.

And now, she looks the way she looks. Tall, and a bit more happy too.

—

Final Fantasy XIV’s Lore leaves a lot to be user interpreted, even with lorebooks being published. And with the Allagan empire and dark magicks abound, there’s still… lots of room to leave up and open to people to have some creative fun and freedom with.

Knowing this, and using this, and even using the lines from the book(s) themselves, we can come up with amazing stories and do amazing things. All while still being.. in the relative realm of ‘grounded’ to its roots.

[Here’s a link to her about page as well on her tumblr]

Belladonna Slater is a very… complicated character, she strives to learn her place in the world once more but also sees the past calling back to her to be a “Hero” again, hero being a very loose term now since she has grown from lawful neutral to that more of a chaotic neutral in response to just about everything that has happened to her.

But I hope that.. me writing this as an answer to your ask, Anon, that this helps clear the air, if by only a little as to worries and or questions you had. I’d also like to note that this isn’t a complete character breakdown, there are still at least one or two elements of her ‘story’ that could be branched upon and explained if asked.

If you’d like to know about them, you’re more than welcome to ask me, either through Tumblr inbox for the sake of anonymity or even in Tumblr DMs, Discord is also an option as well.

I also do have a document that I have written out in regards to Ranger Corps. I can leave that in a link here below as well. However: The document itself hasn’t been edited or revised since May of this year, 2018. So there are revisions and slight edits to be made. I just haven’t sat down with the time to do it yet. But let it not discourage you from reading!

Ranger Corps - Documents and Information

Anon, I do hope this writing, both the answer to your ask and this document have been able to assuage some of your worries, or curiosities, rather. And if there is anything else from you, specifically, or from anyone else for that matter, that would like to know more, or have a specific question?

You are more than welcome to come and ping me for a conversation!

I love being able to talk to new people, and well… I hope you’d like to talk to me too!

Thank you for your curiosity and question, Anon.

I hope I was able to help.

– M

#Anonymous #logbook #god this took me a few hours to write!#but I hope this helps Anon!

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healthpeak02-blog · 5 years

Text

Deborah Eisenberg’s Short Stories Are Sharp Enough to Cut Deep

It isn’t long before an elegiac note sounds in Deborah Eisenberg’s latest book of short fiction, Your Duck Is My Duck. In the first story, the narrator begins:

Way back—oh, not all that long ago, actually, just a couple of years, but back before I’d gotten a glimpse of the gears and levers and pulleys that dredge the future up from the earth’s core to its surface—I was going to a lot of parties.

That retrospection, tinged with rueful wisdom and more than a little melancholy, is central to the collection, Eisenberg’s first in twelve years and her fifth since Transactions in a Foreign Currency heralded her arrival in 1986.

Eisenberg’s early stories often focused on a certain kind of lost girl—bright but slightly overwhelmed, a little too pliable to the people around her—trying to find a place for herself in a rudely inhospitable world. When Eisenberg was working her comic mode, the travails of these women rose to the level of modern-day screwball comedy: thinking of 1987’s “A Cautionary Tale,” a classic account of Manhattan bootstrapping, I still laugh at how the heroine indignantly admits to herself, at the low point of an impossible waitressing gig, that “This was not how she had imagined her adulthood.”

Thirty-some years later, Eisenberg’s protagonists are likely to be women of a certain age, members, however tenuously, of the creative class, and still city dwellers acutely attuned to the mores of a world that’s passing them by. (“No one met people in person any longer—you couldn’t hear what they were saying” is the most concise summary of New York restaurant culture I may ever need to read.) Most saliently, these modern selves find themselves unexpectedly alone (breakups are a recurring motif) and only too aware of the shadows lengthening all around them.

In one new story, “Cross Off and Move On,” a narrator reckoning with the death of her last surviving relative thinks, “Yes, off they go, my old allies, sailing right through the radiant shield at the edge of the universe, blending into darkness.” In “Recalculating,” a former dancer mourning a long-ago lover feels “brittleness fretting her bones, youth streaming from her in galaxies of sparkly molecules.”

These women have even more to contend with than aging and loss. Because they’re Deborah Eisenberg characters, they are also coping with what it feels like to be alive, as educated, alert citizens of a Western society, in the early years of the twenty-first century, when old-fashioned everyday anxieties have given way to something like dread. As in her previous collection, Twilight of the Superheroes (2006), Eisenberg is able to dramatize how the diabolical crawl that appeared on the bottom of TV news screens in the days after 9/11 found a counterpart inside people’s heads—and just what a toll our new normal of permanent crisis is taking on them. In the title story, a painter says to the doctor who’s prescribing her sleeping pills:

“It’s beginning to look like a photo finish—me first, or the world. It’s not so hard to figure out why I’m not sleeping. What I can’t figure out is why everybody else is sleeping.”

(This is from a story, by the way, that was originally published in 2013.)

The painter in “Your Duck Is My Duck” later meets an avant-garde puppeteer whose magnum opus, The Hand That Feeds You, is such a blunt allegory of life under terminal capitalism that it leaves the audience at its premiere, a select handful of one-percenters, momentarily speechless. The scene is bleakly funny in a way that feels just right for our present moment. But the story’s coda fulfills the puppet show’s preemptive title and then some, acknowledging how the two artists’ reliance on those one-percenters for patronage implicates them in the same system—a subtle reshuffling of our assumptions that’s characteristic of Eisenberg’s method throughout these stories.

In real life, the charge “first-world problems” became a reductive cliché almost overnight, so it’s especially gratifying in this book to see the idea explored humanely and from so many angles. Beings of conscience, Eisenberg’s characters are haunted by a suspicion that their relatively well-off lives might somehow be linked to all the hypocrisies, inequities, and worse that are the stuff of daily headlines—the stuff of our malaise, in other words. (As a character in her story “Twilight of the Superheroes” asked himself back in 2004, “Then again, how far away does something have to be before you have the right to not really know about it?”)

The theme gets its most expansive treatment in the novella “Merge,” which traces the shifting fortunes of Keith, a slippery scion of privilege headed for rock bottom after his domineering father, CEO of a rapacious multinational, kicks him out of their home. Eisenberg has long specialized in a comedy of aggrievement, and at first Keith’s indignation, his perplexity at having to fathom how ordinary people go about their lives, yield some of the funniest scenes in this book. When Celeste, an NGO worker who is also a potential romantic interest, tells him she’s about to embark on fieldwork in Slovakia, he thinks: “Slovakia? That was what she meant by Europe?”

Celeste’s trip to Europe—and points beyond, in several senses—is the hinge on which the story turns; it leads to a widening of scope that puts Keith’s struggles in a stark new light. The fascination with multiple perspectives that distinguishes Eisenberg’s later stories comes into full effect in “Merge,” whose changing points of view ask us to consider, among other things, dramatically different definitions of what it might mean to be homeless, and why some people become victims while others, heedless or even undeserving, get to flourish.

That said, even after repeat readings I’m not sure how all of the story’s thematic elements, which grow to include mental illness and theories of language, cohere into a persuasive whole. At the same time, it’s evident that a late Eisenberg story isn’t interested in surrendering its meanings too easily. A case in point here is “The Third Tower,” the outlier in the collection: set in a world both like and unlike our own, it features a young woman receiving treatment for a psychological condition that scans a lot like unfettered creativity. Something other than naturalism, the story testifies to Eisenberg’s formal restlessness, the way she regularly tests the four walls and ceiling of short-story form.

No account of Your Duck Is My Duck is complete without a mention of how gracefully this writer, tagged earlier in her career as a quintessential urban sophisticate, renders the natural world. “Recalculating” includes a beautiful description of a hurricane descending on a Midwestern prairie, and “Your Duck Is My Duck” has this snapshot of a wildfire witnessed from a great height:

Accident had selected me to observe, in whatever way I could, the demonic, vengeful, helpless, ardent fires as they consumed the trees that had replaced the crops—to observe the moment when, at the heart of the conflagration, the trees that sustained it became phantoms, the fire’s memory.

It’s typical that these lyrical outbursts are prompted by natural disasters—appropriately for a collection that regularly glances over its shoulder at environmental collapse along with every other kind of decline.

How much needs to be said about a writer who has very little left to prove? Across four decades Deborah Eisenberg has steadily enlarged her vision while refining her art. Her writing adds to our collective store of wit, empathy, and intelligence. If you haven’t read her yet, by all means start with Your Duck Is My Duck, and then waste no time in getting your hands on her Collected Stories, the chunky 2010 trade paperback that gathers the rest of her singular body of work.

FICTION Your Duck Is My Duck By Deborah Eisenberg Ecco Published September 25, 2018

Deborah Eisenberg is a MacArthur Foundation Fellow and the award-winning author of four previous collections of stories: Transactions in a Foreign Currency (1986), Under the 82nd Airborne (1992), All Around Atlantis (1997), and Twilight of the Superheroes (2006). Her first two story collections were republished in one volume as The Stories (So Far) of Deborah Eisenberg (1997). All four volumes were reprinted in 2010 in The Collected Stories of Deborah Eisenberg (2010). She is a professor of writing at Columbia University.

Source: https://chireviewofbooks.com/2018/10/25/your-duck-is-my-duck-deborah-eisenbergs-review/

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shapedlikeafriend · 6 years

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here is my @danganronpasecretsanta gift for @enddeux !!! merry christmas navis !!!! and thank you for helping organize this lovely event !!!!!! i really hope this is to your liking >u<)/

Fujisaki fidgeted in front of the empty classroom door; or, at least, the classroom door which the message they got claimed would be empty. Of course, there was always the chance they read it wrong, or misinterpreted what it said. "Old building, 1-B classroom, 7AM" was a specific enough description, but it was so quiet and deserted... Their fists clenched tighter the longer they spent frozen before that doorway. It was way too likely they'll just bother a janitor or, goodness forbid, a teacher by barging in. Maybe they should wait. Maybe they should call Ishimaru and apologize for messing up again. Maybe they--

"Oh, g'mornin', kiddo," said, or more accurately, yawned Oowada, who looked an exhausted mess. "Thank fuck you're here; was startin' to think I came to the wrong place."

Oowada ruffled Fujisaki's hair, and they giggled. "Good morning, Oowada-kun! I was afraid of the same thing actually, eheh..."

"So..." His grip slid from their head to their shoulder. He couldn't help but smile when they wrapped their arm around his waist in return. "Any clue what the hell he wants at this hour?"

"No clue. He was pretty vague about it, which... probably means he's in mom mode again."

"Shit, man-- this ain't a good time to be nagged at..."

"You say that every time he does this, Oowada-kun," said Fujisaki, patting his back in mock sympathy.

"'Cause it's never a good time!"

The both of them made their way into the classroom, and the first image that jumped at them was Ishimaru. He was crouching near one of the whiteboard's corners, appearing to doodle little caricatures of the three of them in its free space. He was well into giving Oowada the fluffiest pompadour in the world before the sound of the door prompted him to erase it in a panic. "A-Ah, Kyoudai! Fujisaki-kun! You're late!"

"Sorry, Ishimaru-kun!," said Fujisaki, making their way to one of the frontmost seats in the center of the room. "Heehee, I love how you did my hair...!"

"Oh! Erm, I'm pleased to hear I could do it justice." Ishimaru's eyes darted to the floor, a sheepish smile unbefitting of a 'big tall authority figure' flashing across his face. Not that he seemed to mind. The others certainly didn't either.

"Was gonna say somethin' about how this better be worth it, but it already is," said Oowada, smirking and planting his feet on his desk after seating himself.

Ishimaru cleared his throat. "While I am flattered and thankful, I did not gather us here to discuss my... artistic endeavours."

"Can we, though?" Oowada folded his arms behind his head. "'Cause the way you were doin' it made it look like you do this often and--"

"Anyhow!" The squeak of Ishimaru's boots against the floor was almost loud enough to cover the snickering. Almost. "What I did gather us for is an emergency meeting!"

When Ishimaru next turned around, he was carrying his telescopic pointer (which he literally never left home without), and wore a much more stern expression on his face. "You see, you might not have taken notice of this yourselves, but I have been carefully analyzing your momentum and morale for your activities, curricular and otherwise, and what I've seen has made me concerned."

The pointer clacked against the left side of the board, which was peppered with concise, technical bullet-points relating to their grades and schedules. "One of the main sticking points that have caught my eye is the decline in your workout sessions. The general downward trend I've noticed in the two of you started when you stopped."

Fujisaki shrank onto themself, and they could tell Oowada tensed up as well. Ishimaru's eyes softened.

"Of course, these matters needn't be discussed if it's uncomfortable. However, what we must talk about is what we may do to improve things for you. And I'm not speaking as a Discipline Monitor, I speak as a friend."

"Is that what ya call it? 'Friend'?" Oowada quipped.

Ishimaru leaned forward, banging his hands on the table. "Kyoudai, I'm serious!"

"And I'm not?"

"I'm very sorry," said Fujisaki, fiddling with their uniform's ribbon. "I didn't mean to... mess up like this..."

Oowada tilted his head down and sighed. "It's my own damn business what I do or don't do with my time, but... I know this shit always gets to ya, and it's a dick move for me not to do anything about it."

"No, that's not..." Ishimaru placed his pointer on the desk and made his way over to them, gently kneeling and placing his hands on their shoulders. "I did not call you here to scold you. Your difficult times, whatever they may be, are not a 'mistake' you need to be held accountable for. The only reason behind this direct approach is that I know how... averse to accepting help you can be."

"Oy, I'm 'averse' 'cause I don't need it. I shouldn't need it. You didn't need to drag everyone out here at this hour for this, Kyoudai."

"I respect where you're coming from, Kyoudai, but I must disagree. Isolating yourself with your burdens is what led you here, and it can only get worse if nothing changes."

Oowada snapped his head to meet Ishimaru's eyes. "I don't know what the hell you mean by 'led here' 'cause I'm fuckin' fine,, alright?! I've been fuckin' fine; you're just fussin' over stuff that no one gives a shit about!"

"You aren't fine. You're screaming again," Ishimaru cautioned, his tone soft, yet firm.

"I..." Oowada hesitated. "...Ffffuck. Yeah, you're right. I've been... stressed."

Ishimaru squeezed his shoulder reassuringly, then left him to swallow his pride in the comfort of solitude turning to address Fujisaki. "I assume the same goes for you?"

"Y-Yeah..." Their hands curled into fists atop their lap. "To be honest... I loved our workouts. They made me feel a lot more accomplished and strong, but... At the same time, I felt like I was so slow... Even when we made our sessions private, just..." They paused to sigh, shrinking further into themself. "Oowada-kun was so, so far ahead, I couldn't stop the thoughts from making me feel small."

Oowada grunted and shifted to face the both of them. "Dunno if it helps ya any, but..." He sat several moments in silence, as though he were building strength to say what he was thinking. He lurched to the side and slammed his fist into the table, making Fujisaki jump. This seemed to have given him the motivation he needed, and he began talking. "I was feelin' the same thing. Heh... You kept pushing through shit, even though you had the weight of the fuckin' world in your shoulders. Made me real pissed off at myself. Guess not being the strongest person in the room makes my thoughts flare up too."

Fujisaki shook their head. "But you are stronger than me!"

"Like hell I am."

"Everyone, please! It's not a competition," said Ishimaru, trying to take the reins on the situation again. "You have earned the praise and admiration of one another, as well as my own. Surely that means your strengths are at least valid, doesn't it?" They groaned unenthusiastically.

Ishimaru thrust his hands behind his back and began walking towards the whiteboard again. "Hm. Well, we were able to talk about and isolate the problem, and that is enough to consider solutions. We have made considerable progress."

Oowada chuffed. "This kind of deep-rooted shit ain't somehing you can solve in a week, bro."

"Perhaps not!" he exclaimed, brandishing his pointer with great vigour. "However, I have faith that the both of you can begin taking steps forward very soon! You are both resolute and admirable individuals who've accomplished much more than you realize! And I will be here to assist you to the best of my abilities!"

"...Thank you, Ishimaru-kun... It means so much that you're willing to put so much of yourself into this." Fujisaki felt a smile tug at their tired face.

"Why would I not? I love you," Ishimaru said all too casually. Which he only noticed after several seconds of flustered silence had already tightened an iron grip on the room. "I-I, ah..." His gaze plummeted towards the floor.

"I... I love you too, Ishimaru-kun," Fujisaki was barely able to squeak out from behind their hands.

They both turned their eyes to Oowada, whose grunts were slowly rising to a crescendo. Before anyone could ask what was happening, he slammed his fist against the table again, this time breaking it clean in half. The sound of crackling wood ripped though the room, but was immediately engulfed by his screaming. "I FUCKING LOVE YOU TOO, KYOUDAI!"

Nobody had time to recover from the shock of what just happened (least of all Oowada himself) before foorsteps from the corridor and the door bursting open put them even more on edge.

Leaning against the doorway stood a concerned Yukizome, who slowly scanned the room and waited for an explanation that wouldn't come. "Are, uh... you guys okay...?"

Ishimaru stepped forward while the rest of the group fidgeted in silence. "Yes, Yukizome-sensei! We are, ah-- we are just... that is to say, this is--"

She held out her hands as if to show she was harmless and flashed a gentle, if not befuddled, smile. "No, no, it's alright; you don't look like you're up to anything bad, so I'll just leave you all to your... business? Heehee!"

With a quick "please don't break anything else so I can cover for you," she left, leaving the trio all the more red-faced. It felt as if eternities had passed before any of them could unfreeze themselves to speak up.

"...We probably need to work on our PDA, huh...?" asked Fujisaki, all but curled up into a ball in their seat.

"Noted," said Ishimaru, marching towards the teacher's desk with all the grace of a bag of bricks. "All in favour of finishing this meeting posthaste to make time to scream in utter agony and embarrassment in the comfort of our rooms, raise your hands."

Every hand in the room shot up, and the meeting went on, much quicker than Ishimaru had planned to.

Students gathered in droves after the final bell rang, turning the corridors of the school into a suffocating mess; a cascade of blaring footsteps and rumbling voices that made your brain itch. Luckily enough, if there was one thing Ryouma Hoshi was efficient at, it was slipping between the seams quickly enough that the noise wouldn't drill into his skull, and as it all faded out, the outside never felt fresher. He was never going to get used to a school environment again, he mused.

A buzzing in his pocket knocked the thoughts out of his mind. He tapped and swiped at his phone, and its notification took him to a message. A picture of Angie and Akamatsu, giving the camera peace signs, their cheeks sprinkled with the odd bit of chocolate or sprinkles. Beneath it, text read "waiting fr uuuuuu 💗💗". Hoshi chuckled.

He typed a response of his own. "skippin class to eat sweets? naughty naughty," he teased before putting the device away.

A distant voice perked at his ears. "Excuse me!" Surely, they wouldn't have meant him. He kept walking.

"Ah, excuse me!" He walked faster.

"With the adorable kitty hat!"

...Damn, it was an adorable kitty hat. Now he had to stop. "Can I help you?"

A tall schoolmate (if he even was tall. Considering Hoshi's... bias, he might have been "average") with a case of the eyebrows stiffly strode over to him. "Thank you for your time, sir! May I ask if you are Hoshi Ryouma?"

"Depends on who's asking. No offense." He didn't see a reason to be wary of this guy, even after eyeing him over a couple of times, but it didn't hurt to be careful.

"Ah, I suppose it is rude of me to ask before introducing myself. My name is Ishimaru Kiyotaka, Super High-School Level Discipline Monitor! It's nice to meet you," he said, punctuating his sentence by extending his hand with the tenacity one would use to slash a sword.

"Yeah, you got me, kid. I'm Hoshi Ryouma." Or used to be, he completed in his thoughts as he shook Ishimaru's hand. "So, what can I do ya for?"

Ishimaru bowed. "Please accept my invitation for a tennis match!"

"What."

He blinked. "A-Ah, I suppose some context is in order. You see, I've some students under my supervision that are lacking in motivation, and after discussing this matter with them, we came to the conclusion that getting started fresh on a new, unfamiliar activity or two would do them wonders! We decided that one of them could be a sport of some kind. And you are the Super High-School Level Tennis Player, a field in which all of us are deeply inexperienced in! And that is why I come to you with the humble offer for a match! At your leisure, of course."

Hoshi squinted. "Wait, run that by me again. You want to get started with tennis."

"Yes, sir."

"And you want one of your first matches..."

"The first, if that can be helped!"

"...to be with me."

"Yes, sir."

He smacked his lips. "Any reason why, or...?"

"You see, I thought getting them started with an uphill battle would be an efficient way to simultaneously humble and inspire us! Two birds with one stone, as they say!" The hearty chuckle that erupted from Ishimaru just then made it seem that he believed there was a universe in which this was a good idea.

Hoshi stifled a sigh. "You're a strange guy... But you got moxie. And you're earnest, too. I respect that."

"Thank you Hoshi-kun! My motto in life is 'Simplicity and Fortitude', after all!" Ishimaru beamed, teeming with pride.

"But you still got a long ways to go."

Hoshi left Ishimaru blinking in confusion and turned away, reaching for his breast pocket to grab a candy cigarette. He spent several seconds fiddling with it with his tongue before he spoke up again. "It's really reckless to approach a killer like me so casually."

He made it a point not to look at Ishimaru. He kept his eyes on the horizon, trying to allow the sight of blues stained by reds and yellows to distract himself from this awful conversation he had to have with every person that so much as looked in his general direction. But he could still feel the tension in the other's composure. In the way the breath caught in his throat. In the way he muttered as he searched for a response. He should be used to this by now. Why isn't he...?

"It..." Ishimaru paused to gather his bearings. "It would be uncouth of me to pry for details in whatever it is you're confessing to me. And I do not underestimate the weight it carries-- you don't read as the prankster or lying type to me, after all. However, I feel... inclined to remind you that you are not the only one standing here with stains in your past. And the fact alone that this school trusts you enough to have you on campus should tell you that I should be able to follow suit with a clear conscience. Even if it weren't, your being here alone is a step forward!"

Hoshi faced him again, brows quirked in curiosity. "You sound like you speak from experience."

"My lips are a tomb, but I will confess you might be right," he said, placing his hands on his hips.

"Hm. Well." Hoshi started, but the look in Ishimaru's eyes gave him pause. He was about to brush this entire ordeal off cold turkey, but... he could still feel his enthusiasm shining through his bright red glare, even in spite of the solemn mist that shrouded it. It was the kind of aura that would have surged energy through his body in an instant in a past life. "I'll be busy for a tick, but how's about I keep you updated?" Saying no proved to be too tall an order.

Ishimaru gasped and bowed again, moving so sharply he nearly slammed his head into Hoshi's. "Thank you very much, Hoshi-kun! We will be in your debt!"

"Hey, hey, take it easy, alright? I haven't done anything yet," he said, biting the inside of his cheek.

They exchanged basic social media information and parted ways, as Ishimaru seemed antsy to attend to some non-specific business. Hoshi picked up the pace himself, taking too long for his liking to notice he was leaving the girls waiting. He shifted his saunter into a light jog, legitimately looking forward to talking about this with them. He wondered how Akamatsu was going to feel about this.

"Hoshi-kun, what do you mean?!"

So, not well, then.

"Exactly what I said," said Hoshi, who was tending to the yipping mess Angie had become from eating ice cream too fast. "You know I don't do tennis anymore, Akamatsu."

"Yeah, you say that, but just... You can't let an opportunity that sits on your lap like this just...! Slip!" She crossed her arms and pouted very aggressively at him. He loved it when she did that.

"I don't know where you see an 'opportunity' here. I got invited to something I didn't want to do, and I declined. That's all."

"'Didn't want to do'. You... Have you seen the nice, soft smile on your face when you gush about tennis stuff?!" she exclaimed, not failing to notice how he seemed to sputter at her comment. "Angie-san, help me ooooout..."

Angie jerked backwards, as though she had been jolted awake at the mention of her name. One of her arms drifted to her side, the tip of her index finger squeezing her thumb and seeming to glide in place in sheer concentration, and the other arm lunged at the table and shoveled another spoonful of bubblegum ice cream into her mouth. "Welp welp, God told Angie that yyyyyayayayaya!" She clutched at her temples and crouched back down.

Hoshi scooted over to pat her back again. "...Now to be fair, that's a good point."

"Hoshi-kun, this is serious! You butt!" Akamatsu rolled up a stray pamphlet into a cone and bapped Hoshi upside the head with it. She had to try really hard not to giggle. And as soon as the others did, the attempt crumbled immediately.

He groaned as he shuffled back into his own seat. "Look, this isn't the first time I've done stuff like this. I'm trying really hard to see it from your angle, but you're gonna have to help me here."

"Because," Akamatsu started, making impassioned, wild gestures, "some nice kid went after you and begged for a match, which is exactly the kind of thing that melts your heart, but you're still being too stubborn to just give in!"

"I... don't know about my heart melting," Hoshi lied. "But you have to listen. I'm done with tennis. It's not me anymore."

"You can't! Just drop! Something you spent all of your passion and sweat into for years like that! That's not how it works!" she scolded, poking his sides to punctuate each dramatic pause and knowing full well how ticklish he was.

"Nyahaha-- Kaede's right, Ryouma!" Yonaga joined in on the poking. "'Cause, like, if you don't get the love God gives you out of your system eventually, it overwhelms you so much, you explode!"

"Angie-san, I don't think--"

"Lovesplooooosionnnnnn!"

"...Nevermind; that's cute enough that I can let go."

"Yaaaaay!"

Hoshi gently grasped both their wrists, getting sick of stifling laughter. "Look," he said, jumping a bit when their immediate reaction was to hold his hands. "It's in the past. You're the ones who keep telling me I have to move on, yeah? So I am."

Akamatsu sighed. "That's not the way to do it, Hoshi-kun. This isn't healthy. I'm not kidding."

"Not a lot about me is, now is it?"

"No, it isn't, and that's a problem! Look, just..." Yonaga's humming disrupted her train of thought. "Are you--"

She shushed Akamatsu, which she rarely ever did, and kept at it with her eyes closed. Hoshi sighed, relieved that he could have a break from all the fierce pushing from both sides.

But that relief wouldn't last.

"You should train the both of us! God said so!"

"Yonaga, are you sure that's not just the brainfreeze talking?" Hoshi asked, absolutely perplexed.

"Nnnnnopenopenope! See, God is so serious about this, They're making Angie's head thump and burn!"

"That's definitely the brainfreeze, Angie-san..."

Yonaga put her hands over the other's faces. "Nonono, listen, this is super smart and divine! 'Cause like, Taka is with Chihiro and Mondo right now anyway, riiight?"

"...You lost me, Yonaga," Hoshi replied as he gently lifted her palm off his mouth, which only made her press harder.

"You're following him! Didn't you see his post?" Hoshi just gawked at her quizzically until she continued. "Yeesh, one sec!" She snatched her phone out of her purse, fiddled with it for a bit, then turned its screen towards him.

In it was a photo post; Ishimaru and another short kid were joined at the hip in matching tennis uniforms, arms wrapped around one another. A flurry of happy emojis were sprinkled all about the picture. And beside it, the caption read "HARD AT WORK L O L!!!!!!! AWAITING hoshir3 S RESPONSE TO OUR CHALLENGE". Hoshi was about to say something, probably along the lines of a heartfelt, genuine "what", but as he inspected further, the comment section was a far more concerning monster. Four comments from someone who was clearly Kaito Momota, all posted seconds apart from one another. "WAIT HOLY SHIUT?????????", "is he playing", "hoshir3 aRE YOU PLAYIGN??????????????????????", and, insightfully, "IUSDGHFIUSDHGIOSDJGIS".

"Oh, good grief," he groaned, pulling his hat over his eyes.

"Right?!" Yonaga exclaimed, not seeming to quite understand Hoshi's vibe.

Akamatsu took a gander of her own. "How do you know these guys?"

"Oh, Angie knows everyone! That's how you spread the word and stuffs!" She put her phone away. "So anyhoo, their thing is a group thing! And if our thing is a group thing too, it'll give more people the chance to do... like, things! And if Ryouma's coaching instead of pitching, then he can warm up to it from a safe distance with two cute girls he loves and adores and would do anything for and--"

"I'm not buying you another ice cream, Yonaga."

"But God is so thirsty, Ryoumaaaaaaa!" She wrapped him in a grim, grievous hug.

"And ice cream makes you more thirsty, and it hurts your head. Please spare God," he chided, resigning to his fate.

"Wait, she makes a good point," said Akamatsu, speaking up after being lost in the highways of her mind for quite a while.

"See, Kaede gets it; if we don't feed God, They're gonna get really angry and wreck our houses with rocks!"

"N-No, not that." Akamatsu clasped her hands together. "Hoshi-kun, if you're just watching us over while we learn and giving input here and there, it would just be a hangout like this one, right? And then you can see if you feel like playing with us! And either way, we'd rep you and kick some tail in your name! Doesn't that sound cool?"

He closed his eyes. "Do either of you know... the first thing about tennis...?"

Yonaga and Akamatsu traded looks, in silence.

"...Okay. Have either of you ever cared about tennis before right this second."

The silence somehow got louder.

"...And if we do this at all, can you be sure the sudden physical exhertion on the art club over here won't just kill you instantly."

"Well, if we do die, we could always play tennis with God instead! They told me They use stars as Their tennis balls," Angie chirped.

He leaned back on his seat, resting his hands in his pockets. "Heh, wow. This is the stupidest idea."

Akamatsu clicked her tongue. "Hoshi-kun, please... We're trying to help you. We care about you a lot, and--"

"Didn't say I wasn't gonna do it."

It took a second for the penny to drop. "Wait, really?!" Akamatsu asked, the sparkle in her eye practically lighting up the entire room.

"Hey, since you're pushing for it this hard... Let's get stupid."

"Yaaaay for stupid!!!!" Hoshi didn't have time to think before his entire body was swallowed by the girls' embrace. Not that he would ever complain.

But he would complain about buying Angie that other ice cream after all.

Ishimaru impatiently bounced his legs. He looked at his wristwatch. 7:13PM. This was excruciating. The tennis court and equipment he went out of his way to reserve was just sitting there, mocking him with how idle it all was. It had been so much trouble carrying all of it here by his lonesome, and now he got to watch it gather dust. 7:13PM. Perhaps he should have put a bit more emphasis on how absolutely important today's practice was. He was sure he already sounded plenty urgent, what with the five seperate reminders he had sent his partners. 7:13PM. Next time, he would erect a banner, with bold red text yelling at them to, for the love of everything righteous and holy on this Earth, move your legs at a reasonable pace. But all things considered, that might not work either. 7:13--

"Ishimaru-kun, we've been here for five minutes..." Fujisaki muttered, without looking away from their computer.

"Five minutes we could have spent practicing, Fujisaki-kun! Every moment from this point on is a precious opportunity for us to grow stronger, and it's foolish to allow it to go to waste!" he replied, crossing his arms in frustration.

They clacked away at their keyboard for a while before responding. "I mean... I get that, but personally I appreciate this extra time we're getting, eheheh..."

His brows shot up. "What are you up to anyway? It sounds like you are hard at work!"

"Ah, well, I'm..." They covered their mouth with a hand. "Actually, on second thought; Alter Ego, why don't you tell him?"

"Oh, yes, Master!" a voice peeped from their monitor. "We are currently in the process of compiling sabermetric data en masse on the top tennis players in the world to parse the most effective techniques and play styles! Then Master can study and emulate them!"

"Ah, I understand!" He didn't understand. "That is very impressive, Fujisaki-kun! And, ah, Alter Ego! You two are doing fantastic work, as usual."

Fujisaki giggled, gently butting their head against Ishimaru's arm. "Thank you so much! We're doing our best for you!"

He awkwardly leaned his head against theirs. They were right-- he really did need to work on this. "And that is more than enough! I am so very proud of you!"

Both students took a moment to enjoy each other's company and wamrth in silence. Ishimaru's worries about the time were all but whisked away by Fujisaki's radiant smile and sugary words. He slowly allowed his posture to relax and his body's weight to drift into theirs as they did the same. He could hear their hearts beating in sync. Something about that put a smile on his face he couldn't wipe away.

"Ah, Master, you wouldn't be able to render your opponents catatonic, would you? Or... turn into a demon...?"

They both shot up in confusion, stammering unintelligibly and making vague gestures at the computer.

"Uh... You guys alright?" asked Oowada, who they hadn't noticed had arrived a few moments ago.

"KYOUDAI, THIS TENNIS PLAYER CAN TURN INTO A DEMON?!"

"WHAT THE FUCK."

Fujisaki snapped the device towards Oowada. "NO SERIOUSLY, LOOK!"

The three of them sat together, yelling progressively louder at the ridiculous athletes Alter Ego was coming across. They had nearly forgotten what they came here to do in the first place until Ishimaru's phone hummed in his pocket, well into their riffing of the 'multiplying tennis balls' match. A message from Hoshi! "hey. uh i dont think im gonna be able to play for a bit but i can send my pupils over for a match whenever. that ok w you?" Attatched was a picture of said pupils, captioned with their names. Ishimaru's eyes widened. After hastily accepting Hoshi's offer, he lurched up.

"I'm sorry to cut this short, but we have training to do!" He marched towards his equipment, drilling through a sea of dissappointed groans. "We must impress Hoshi-kun with our performance!"

Oowada paused. "'Hoshi'... Wait, the guy you at-ed for a match was Killer Tennis?! Get the fuck out of here..."

After doing some research, Fujisaki joined in on Oowada's daze. "H-He's... too good...! This is going to go so bad... Uuu, if I had known that empty account you were tagging was his, I would have said something..."

"Everyone, please," said Ishimaru, making his way to the tennis ball machines. "I would like to not waste anymore time, so explanations will come at our first break, but it's not at it seems. I have confidence that things will turn out alright! You can trust me!"

Oowada sighed. "Not like we coulda stopped you, I guess..." He dropped the sports bag slung around his shoulder to the ground, and from it, he took a rough, but embellished looking tennis racket. It was made entirely of wood and had no grip, with its shaft being packed with tiny, bold text instead; the same text that was printed into his jacket. Its bottom curved outward into a sleek diamond shape, rimmed by a small indented ring shape. And its nylon strings were decorated by a minimalistic orange komainu print, but it had enough detail that you could make out the dimples around its eyebrows, and the curl in its hair.

"Oowada-kun, your racket looks so cool!" said Fujisaki, with their own store-bought racket in hand.

He smirked. "Thanks. Thought if I was gonna do this, might as well get into it, y'know? Been a while since I practiced my carpentry or whatever too, and I got an urge... I know Kyoudai is gonna give me shit for skippin' class to make this, but..."

Ishimaru rushed over to place a hand on his shoulder. "I intend to do no such thing! Your craftsmanship is remarkable, and your efforts must be commended! Why, I can already see improvements in your technique!"

Fujisaki took his cue and followed suit. "Yeah, really Oowada-kun, this is really, really amazing! Specially since you made this so quick! I think if you made more stuff like this, people would be all over it...!"

Oowada's grin grew wider, and he pulled the two of them into the tightest hug he had in him. He loosened it a bit after they started gurgling.

"...so the basic idea is that you want the ball to either bounce twice on the other end, or bounce here," said Hoshi, circling around the outside boundaries of the court, "on your end when it first crosses the net, and you get a point, yeah?"

Akamatsu raised a hand. He pointed at her. "Shoot."

"Are we sure we can't do this at school? This place is kind of dirty, and there's people that keep giving looks..." As she said that, she could feel distant figures squatting in the grass turn their heads.

"They might be practicing at school. Would be kind of awkward to practice next to our rivals, wouldn't it?" He shrugged. "And don't worry about the looks, this is just Diamond Dogs' turf. They owe me a favour, so they won't try anything. I promise you're safe," he finished, giving her a thumbs up.

Angie twirls about in place. "Angie just asked God, and They said we can trust this place! As long as Ryouma slams anyone who gets ten feet from us into a garbage can!"

"That doesn't sound too much like trusting to me, but hey, I can do that," he joked, chuckling. "So anyway... The way we try to make that happen in doubles is we keep one person on the back to basically 'go long', and the other is on the front to pull a fast one on the other guys, right? So, remember that and try and get into formation. There's a line in the middle of your field you can use for reference."

The girls looked at the ground and shuffled about for a bit. Akamatsu placed herself at the very back, while Angie was practically shoving herself into the net.

"Is that what feels right to you?" he called out. They nodded in response. "Alright. Let's do a little practice then."

"R-Right now?" Akamatsu stumbled. "We barely know the basics! Aren't we going to just muck it up? Like... Very bad?"

"Yeah," he replied curtly.

"I...! Hoshi-kun!" she yelled, frowning at him.

He slung his racket over his shoulder. "What? It's how I did it too."

"A vote of confidence would be nice..."

"Actually, Angie likes this better! See, Ryouma made God really mad, so now They're going to bless Angie with super tennis powers out of spite! Just watch!" Angie furrowed her brows and tightened her stance with a glint in her eye.

Hoshi started tossing the ball into the air, and Akamatsu, too, steeled herself. "Here goes nothing," she mumbled, aiming her focus on the ball as best she could.

With a booming thwack, it came soaring straight at her. She bent backwards and swatted at it as forcefully as she could. It nearly tipped her over, and she could feel her wrist crackling as she swung it back. It flew in a flimsy arc back into Hoshi's court, who was quick to shoot it back before it ever touched the ground. Angie dove at the ball, smashing it back with a surprisingly mighty swing, but that left her stumbling. And before either of them had time to do anything, it came back, slashing through the air right in the middle of their field, and ended up slamming into the wobbly chain link fence in the back of the yard.

"Fifteen-love," he crowed wryly.

"Angie loves you too!"

Hoshi groaned and hid under his hat, clearly caught off guard.

"Would that make it fifteen-all?" Akamatsu teased, placing her hands on her hips.

He sighed. "...Moving on. Do either of you want to take a guess as to what happened here?"

"Angie thinks you scored!"

"Yeah, but why was I able to, Yonaga?"

"'Cause you're the Super High-School Level Tennis Player, and this is our first time?"

He pursed his lips. "That's fair. Akamatsu, any takes?"

"Well... I guess the ball was harder to hit than I thought..."

"Ooo! Ooo, Angie had that problem too," she said, hopping about as if that was something she should be proud of. The others couldn't help but smile.

"Well, okay," he said, making his way over to their side. "Let's talk about that. The way you're holding your rackets? It's forcing you to compensate way too much if I aim high. And your swings are way too wide; you'll run out of breath in no time if you keep going like that."

Hoshi stood beside Akamatsu and gently wrapped his fingers around her wrist, guiding it forward with the tenderness one would have with a glass sculpture. "The sweetspot-- the middle of the strings-- they should be level with your nose. And when you swing..." His other arm folded around her side, and he took a step forward, prompting her to follow. "You swing with your body, and you lean forward. It's easier on you that way."

His touch lingered for a moment before he stepped away. "Make sense?"

Akamatsu flashed a playful smile. "I might need you to show me again."

"Hmph... Let's finish our lessons first, then we can review whatever you like," he said, with a smirk of his own. "Yonaga, did you get that too?"

"Angie would appreciate getting hugs too, but she got it!"

"That wasn't..." Hoshi trailed off, and just held her softly, unable to say no. Angie motioned for Akamatsu to join in again from behind his back, and she complied, puzzled and excited.

He sighed. "...Why."

"God could tell you needed this and were too scared to ask!"

Hoshi let out a deep sigh, seeming to look for words to say. "...Geez. Heh, I think you can take credit for that one, Yonaga."

She giggled. "Angie's just following orders."

"Well, don't you think it'd make Them happy if you were proud of yourself? I mean, you can hear Their voice, but you're still here, on the same boat as the rest of us. And you say They want us to have a good time here, so..." The girls could feel him shrug.

Angie froze. Suddenly her embrace grew much tighter. "You're a very sweet guy, Ryouma." She must have needed this too.

The three of them melted into the embrace for what felt like forever. Hoshi was the one who made to break it, and even then, it sounded as if it was killing him. "We... can pick this back up later."

When they picked their rackets back up, they felt heavier and lighter, all at the same time.

"ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR! FEEL YOUR SPIRIT BURN THROUGH VEINS! THE FIRE THAT IGNITES YOUR CORE WILL LIGHT UP YOUR PATH AND LEAD YOU TO A BRIGHT TOMORROW! ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR!"

Gears turned and metal roared. The ground shook as walls shattered all around, and nauseating clouds of dust rose and assaulted their senses. It was a warzone. And yet, broken and battered, they stood.

"THE BLOOD AND SWEAT YOU SHED WILL BE THE BREADCRUMBS THAT REMIND YOU OF HOW FAR YOU'VE COME! ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR!" Ishimaru howled at the top of his lungs as he slammed another tennis ball back from whence it came.

"Bro, why the fuck does this thing even have this setting?! It's going too fast!" cried Oowada, mid-panting.

"I requested their best sports training device, and they delivered!" Three more balls crashed against the opposite wall, just missing the machine that shot them. "And I don't intend on resting until we've returned one million fungoes together!"

Fujisaki picked themself up from the ground. "C-Could... we maybe tone it... tone it down, please...?"

"Fine! A thousand blows it is! ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR!"

"T-That doesn't help much...!" They yelped as one of them grazed against their side.

"Come now, this should be no problem! As long as we plant our feet firmly on the ground, no snow, no rain, no tremors and no winds will knock us down! Counting our blessing and holding onto hope will--ah...?!"

Ishimaru froze as the machine came to a grinding halt, taking all of the stress and noise pollution with it. It felt very strange to be able to hear background noise again. But nonetheless, he was dumbstruck. "What happened...?"

Oowada stomped his way over to Ishimaru and hammered his hands into his shoulders. "You need to calm the fuck down, dude. Take a second to think 'bout how that's commin' from me."

Ishimaru cast his eyes to the floor. "I... overdid it again, didn't I?"

"A lot, yeah." He gave Ishimaru a couple of quick pats. "Now apologize like a man, don't ask me to hit you 'cause that's weird, and we'll be over it, 'kay?"

"Right... I humbly apologize for causing so much trouble," he said, with a deep bow.

"Great. Oy, Fujisaki, you cool with him?"

"A-Apology accepted..." they wheezed, a rumpled heap of sweat and strewn about limbs on the floor.

"Everything's cool, then! Now sit down, we're taking five."

The three of them huddled together in silence to recover from the intense physical strain they were put through. All they could hear was each other's heartbeats banging against their chests and the distant cawing of crows greeting the stars that began to twinkle above. None of them would admit out loud, but this had been the best afternoon any of them had had in far too long.

Oowada, who knew what happened to Ishimaru's head after he made a mistake, decided to break the quiet. "So... Any info on who Killer Tennis is gonna sic at us?"

Ishimaru's eyes widened as he fought back a stupor that was taking a hold of him. "Ah, that... Not much. I am aware that it will be Angie-kun and Akamatsu-kun of his class. But I know so little about them, let alone their tennis prowess. I don't recall ever seeing either of them attending any sports clubs or festivals..."

"Maybe they've been training in secret," Fujisaki chimed.

Ishimaru crossed his arms. "What advantage would there be to a secret tennis player?"

"I dunno, dude. Element of surprise for shit like this?"

"Maybe," Fujisaki started while they sat up, "a Tennis Revolution!"

"A revolution against what? People who are over 4 feet tall?" Oowada snorted. "Not too late to defect to their side, Fujisaki."

"I-- hey! That's mean," they whined over Oowada's guffawing.

He pulled them close and ruffled their hair. "Come on, let me have that; it was good!"

"Fiiiine, just because I love you..." they replied, grinning cheekily.

Oowada, to spare them of how sticky he was, let them go with a clap on their back. "Love ya too, kiddo."

They poked their cheek in musing. "Wait, the two of them will play us, right? Is one of us gonna get left out?"

"Ah! I hadn't thought of that... Astute observation, Fujisaki-kun!" Ishimaru cleared his throat. "Well, seeing as how I was the one who extended him the invitation, I suppose it would be fair that I partake in our first match!"

Oowada tilted his head. "Eh? I really wanted a piece of 'em, though."

"Well, surely there will be other opportunities! I think it would be good to impress him in this first outing!"

Oowada's brows shot up. "...You sayin' I wouldn't impress him? 'Cause, Kyoudai, I was kind of kicking your ass a second ago."

"Hah! You would make the mistake of thinking that! How innatentive of you, Kyoudai! Perhaps some private lessons are in order."

The moment the both of them got up, Fujisaki knew where this was going. "Guys..."

"I'm thinkin' you need that more, Kyoudai. Matter of fact, I could school you myself right the fuck now."

"Is that a fact."

"You bet your fuckin' ass it is, bro."

"Guys, what if I sit out this time...? Problem solved...!"

"I would be interested in seeing you pull off that miracle, Kyoudai."

"Why don't you bring it on then. I'm waitin'."

"Guys, I-I'm dead tired... Can we not do t--okay." They were throwing their shirts on the ground. This was a lost cause. They flopped onto the floor, exasperated.

The boys walked back into the field, their rackets gripped so tight they were emitting crackles, and they began a savage volley that went on.

And on.

Even after going back into the school building to get their laptop and a juicebox and coming back, Fujisaki could still feel them grunting while mindlessly pummeling the ball back and forth.

It was only well into what seemed like hours of passing the time playing with Alter Ego that--

"WHAT?!"

"Oh, look at that! You won, Kyoudai."

"Please explain?!"

Fujisaki looked over at them, and saw Oowada rubbing his neck while Ishimaru screamed in confusion.

"You won. Nothing more to it." He shrugged.

"K-Kyoudai, you clearly let the ball whiz past you! I--" Ishimaru made a series of incomprehensible noises as he held his head.

Oowada sighed. "...Fine. I just... The face you were makin' during our game... I wanted to see more of it, that's all."

Ishimaru fell silent, and a deep shade of red crept into his face. Oowada's was not far behind.

"I... Kyoudai...?"

They stared at each other for an embarrassing eternity. And, just like that, Oowada took off. "I HAD A THING WITH MY CREW I GOTTA GO."

"NO PLEASE COME BACK AND EXPLAIN!"

Fujisaki giggled heartily, and closed their laptop to chase after them.

Really was the best afternoon in a while.

When Hoshi came back to the field (with two bottles of water, as he was asked), it took a while to spot where the girls were. He finally spotted them sitting together by the fence.

"Sorry I took so long, there was this kid--"

Akamatsu placed a finger over a lips, asking him to quiet down. He turned his gaze to Angie, who he noticed was slumped over Akamatsu's shoulder, with an earbud in one ear, while Akamatsu had the other in hers. He snorted. "It's so weird seeing her sleep," he said, his voice nigh a whisper. "She's so... quiet and still. And unlikely to pester people to pamper her."

He handed one water bottle to Akamatsu, and she put it aside to pat the ground between her and Yonaga. And so he did.

"She's never out for long, so I don't think you have to worry. But this is also the most tuckered out I've ever seen her," she said, holding Hoshi's hand in hers.

"Hmph. We can let her rest. We've been making very good time, I think you earned this, at least." He grabbed a candy cigarette and popped it in his mouth.

"Don't leave yourself out, teacher," she whispered while nuzzling the top of his head.

"Come now, all I did was just listen for once... I mean." He paused to lock eyes with her. She already knew what was coming, and she was already enjoying it. Damn it. "...You were right."

"Yessss!" She pumped her fist in excitement, hilariously taking Yonaga's with her. Hoshi could barely stifle his laughter, moreso when the sleeping girl didn't even stir.

"No, seriously Akamatsu; I really needed this. This is... the healthiest I've felt in ages. Means the world to me that you'd go through the trouble..."

"It's not trouble, Hoshi-kun. I think you can tell we're all having a good time here."

He closed his eyes. "Hm... I guess you're right."

"Actually..." She paused, clearly mulling something over. "You know what, it should be fine. I think she forgot anyway. Can you take a look in Angie-san's bag?"

"Oh? Well, alright." He sauntered over to where he remembered it being, and sure enough, there it sat. He looked over at Akamatsu again for confirmation, and after she nodded, he began fiddling through it. It didn't take too long to find a suspicious looking box. "This what we're looking for?" Akamatsu nodded again, and he made his way back.

"Open it!" Akamatsu's anticipation was nearly bursting through her, and it made Hoshi pretty chuffed by proxy.

As he lifted the contents from its box, Hoshi's heart skipped a beat. In his hands, he held a glimmering, polished racket, carefully garnished by glitter and beautiful star patterns in blue and yellow against black and orange. It had such a fine finish and it felt wonderful to the touch, top to bottom. It was like no other object had ever felt so comfortable to have in his hands. But what caught his eye most of all was text along its rim that read "Still The Prince, 2011". Hoshi gawked in awe. "I... Akamatsu, what..."

"Just a little something we worked on together! You agreeing to do this was a huge step forward, and we thought it was worth celebrating, so..." He couldn't see her, but he could tell she was beaming. "Well, Angie-san did most of the work, but she asked me to play something from the room over to inspire her! And the text we came up with together!"

Hoshi dared not speak, because all of the emotions in his chest threatened to come gushing right out. He simply clutched the racket closer to him.

"...Hey, hey, Hoshi-kun..." She pulled him close.

He let out a strained sigh and relented to her touch, sinking into her arms.

"You're really strong, Hoshi-kun. We're so proud of you."

At that point, Hoshi couldn't hold it in anymore. A sad smile creased his lips as tears rolled down his cheeks. "Good grief. You're all too good for me."

"I can say the same about you, silly..." She rubbed his arm supportively.

"Hrmnghr... Ang' j'st woke up b't she lov's..." Hoshi felt another arm being tenderly draped around him.

The three of them cuddled together until their felt each other's breath slow. They had never felt this well rested before.

He didn't want this to be a thing. He really didn't. The last thing he wanted was for this to be a thing. And yet, here he was. On the scheduled day of the tennis game. In front of an audience of hooting and hollering classmates and friends. Hell, there were already chants erupting from both sides of the bleachers. 'Go-Oo-wa-da!' 'An-gie-san!' they cried, back and forth and in complete harmony. "Geez..."

"It's such a pleasant surprise to see so many people excited for this," said Ishimaru while he stretched at the side of the field.

Hoshi eyed Momota (who was pushing Saihara to help him) raising an obnoxiously giant banner with 'KICK SOME ASS KAEDE & ANGIE' that flailed in people's faces. He was getting a hefty number of death glares he was all too oblivious to. A red-haired boy and a cohort with long, shaggy hair from the other side were following suit with a sign for Ishimaru. A riot was going to break out in those bleachers in no time. "You could call it that."

"Precisely! And we are going to deliver a game that will meet and surpass all of their expectations! Isn't that right, everyone?"

"Angie just wants to have a good time," Angie said, taking lackadaisical licks off of a pineapple popsicle.

"W-Well... That's a healthy way to go about it...!" Fujisaki filled in for their partner in lieu of his confusion.

"But! We are going to try our best! Right, Angie-san?" Akamatsu tried to save the mood.

Yonaga hummed. "Yeah, God's cool with that!" She locked eyes with Hoshi. "...Oh! Oh, and me too, I think! Right?"

"You got it, Yonaga," he replied, giving her a thumbs up. She flashed a wide grin and swayed on the balls of her feet.

Oowada strode in. "I don't know what you're talkin' about, but you better give my team a challenge!" He yanked Ishimaru and Fujisaki in his arms. "These two are the hardest motherfuckers in the world, and if you let them just wipe the floor with you, we won't let you hear the end of it," he boasted.

Akamatsu cocked her head, crossing her arms with a confident sneer on her face. "Oh don't worry, we're more than enough for you guys."

"God will show you what Their wrath looks like," Angie droned, in what Hoshi sure was an attempt at friendly competitive banter. He was worried, but the boisterous laughter that exploded from Oowada made it clear it went over well.

"I like your team, dude! They're feisty!"

"You dont know the half of it, Oowada."

Fujisaki turned to look at their watch. "Um, I think we're about to start...?"

"Ah, delightful! Let us pay our respects to one another, and prepare to deliver a spectacle!"

Everyone exchanged hearty handshakes and wishes for good luck, and Yonaga, Akamatsu, Fujisaki and Ishimaru made their way to the field, while Oowada and Hoshi sat with the rest of the audience.

Without much cerimony, the game started, and the crowd roared, bursting with applause and whistling with quick escalation.

And as Hoshi watched on, he was sucked right into it. Each point his team scored nearly sent him into hysterics, leaping and screaming his lungs out. And each loss they suffered felt like a pang in his chest, and he berated himself for not having taught them this or that. He had never cared about a tennis so much. His heart was going a million miles an hour, and it was like he could remember what it felt like. To seize the moment, to look forward to tomorrow, and to live in the moment. It made him feel so warm and light.

It was nice to have a reason to live.

#Drsecretsanta2017 #danganronpa #ndrv3 #ryouma hoshi #kiyotaka ishimaru #mondo oowada #angie yonaga #kaede akamatsu #chihiro fujisaki #stuff by me

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evanvanness · 4 years

Text

Annotated edition for the May 31, 2020, Week in Ethereum News

Here’s the most clicked for the week:

I think the Societe Generale bond issuance paying Banque de France with a CBDC digital euro hadn’t been hyped at all, hence why it led the list. In fact, I don’t think anyone had noticed the press release until Julien Bouteloup tweeted it a week after it had gone out.

Given France’s history protecting domestic industry, you would expect Tezos to be getting these projects due its (probably inaccurate) reputation as being a French project. And I bet Tezos will get some involvement in the future from the French government linked projects, but it’s still notable that these things are still on Ethereum when Tezos has been live for nearly 2 years (though with very little use).

Meanwhile, alongside yesterday’s announcements of Starkware and OMG, Vitalik tweeted that “initial deployment of ethereum's layer 2 scaling strategy has *basically* succeeded.” That’s not wrong, but it’s prone to misinterpretation.

The history of layer2 in blockchain is not a particularly successful one. I’d argue that the question isn’t whether it works, per se, but can it work in a way that gets users over the long haul. Sure, we’re starting to see that (loopring is live with a million trades on its rollup!) - and we appear to be on the verge of real apps running on layer2 - but there’s a long history in Bitcoin and Ethereum of unrealistic expectations for layer2.

Here’s the high-level things for Eth holders reads:

8 things you should consider before staking

Devcon6 will be in Bogota in 2021

Liquidity mining: now you earn Balancer tokens for supplying liquidity or Compound tokens for supplying/borrowing

Lots of folks are considering whether to stake, how much to stake, whether to use a staking service, etc etc. Cayman’s post was a pretty good primer on these questions. Eth2 staking will lock your ETH up for awhile. The return is likely to be quite good, though as more people lock up ETH, the return declines. So it’s hard to say exactly what the return will be - and you won’t be liquid for a long while.

Eth2′s beacon chain is designed for decentralization, with penalties for being offline or doing something wrong (eg, double signing) going up exponentially if they are part of an attack (”correlated”).

That is to say, you should be totally fine staking at home even with mediocre residential connection - going offline usually just means you miss rewards. And even if you go offline when AWS goes down, as long as you bring your connection back up quickly, you should be relatively ok.

Staking services should professionalize the staking in ways that ameliorate some risks but which might provide hidden risk if they don’t make sure to think about the risks. Do they do their staking in the cloud, especially something like AWS east? Do they spread across different clients? How much of a honey pot are they?

Meanwhile, Devcon will be in Colombia but postponed until next year.

Finally, of my 3 high level articles to read: liquidity mining. DeFi apps like Balancer and Compound are decentralizing themselves by giving tokens to their users, to bootstrap the things the network needs to be example. By no means are these the first examples of giving away tokens to users, but these are 2 notable examples of a trend to keep an eye on.

Now for the annotations. A few sections I don’t have anything to add:

Eth1

Latest core devs call, discussion of EIPs for inclusion in Berlin hard fork, whether or not to include 2046 (static call to precompile gas reduction) and 2565 (modexp reprice). Working toward an ephemeral testnet for Berlin.

Latest fee market change (1559) call. Notes from the EIP1559 call

Discussion thread on meta transactions, oil, opcode repricing

Snap sync mainnet benchmarking, single peer on AWS

I basically say the same thing in this section every week. People are implementing the EIPs and figuring out which ones will be ready to go for Berlin. EIP1559 will not be ready until the hard fork after Berlin. Then in the longer-term, there’s lots of work on Stateless Ethereum (or the non-preferred nomenclature: 1.x 🤮) and that’s in discussion.

And then Peter is working on a new sync (formerly known as leaf sync) which seems to cut bandwidth way way down.

Eth2

Latest what’s new in eth2, features a Schlesi testnet postmortem

The new multi-client testnet is Witti. Here’s a guide to staking

Latest eth2 implementer call. Notes from Ben and Mamy

Cross-shard transaction simulation

8 things you should consider before staking

RocketPool is going to wrap the ETH locked up in Eth2 staking, thus giving liquidity to eth2 stakers

New multi-client testnet. They’re basically going to spin them up, try to break them, and not worry about rescuing them if they go down, since you can spin a new one up. This one is called Witti.

RocketPool deciding to tokenize the 32staked eth is interesting. It’s basically inevitable - anything that can get wrapped, eventually will get wrapped. This may end up being the decentralized way to get liquidity for your staked ETH if plans change and you decide you need liquidity for your 32 staked ETH. There will almost certainly be centralized ways - exchanges eventually offer staking and let you trade IOUs. Of course, that depends on how much you trust the exchange.

Layer2

Raiden v1 is live on mainnet for DAI and WETH, with some token limits

Deconstructing a state channel app and how a dev interacts with a state channel wallet

A zk-rollups to scale blockchain explainer

Understanding optimistic rollups by building one

Dharma and Interstate open source their Tiramisu optimistic rollup for token transfers

Raiden shipped with the training wheels on!

Not much else to say around layer2 besides what I said above. Gotta get users.

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Stuff for developers

Array slices in Solidity v0.6

Truffle v5.1.27 – debugger support for Solidity inline assembly

Upgradeable contracts using diamond standard

web3j now includes abi v2

Typescript types for Solidity AST

i18n translation strings for Defi, available as npm package

Build your first Harberger tax app tutorial

eth95: retro UI for calling contract functions

secp256k1 twist attacks

BLS12-381 pairing-friendly curve in JavaScript, now with hash-to-curve v7 and 50 pairings/sec

Ecosystem

Devcon6 will be in Bogota in 2021

All the projects from EthGlobal’s Hack Money

A surprising 120 submissions for Hack Money!

I’m not surprised Devcon got pushed to 2021, but I am disappointed. I’d like to see a prediction market on when the next ETH event is which has more than ~400 attendees.

We’re also getting out of the spring conference season (note for southern hemisphere readers: sorry, I know it’s fall for you), so I’m curious whether we’ll see online conferences continue to pop up for every day of the week. I suspect not, but it is open real estate at the moment.

Enterprise

First Central Bank Digital Currency public blockchain transaction is on Ethereum: Societe General issued €40m of covered bonds as security tokens and paid with Banque de France digital euros. While the press release does not make it clear, the transaction was on Ethereum mainnet

It actually took me the better part of an hour to find the link that confirmed that this was on Eth mainnet.

DAOs and Standards

Summoning the spirit of DAO ops

ERC2680: eth2 standard wallet layout and naming format

ERC2678: EthPM v3

EIP2681: Limit account nonce to 2^64-1

EIP2677: Limit initcode size

Application layer

Enjin plugin for Minecraft to tokenize Minecraft items on your server

Umbra: stealth payments to ENS names, running on Ropsten testnet

How does NexusMutual become an efficient version of Lloyd’s of London?

Maker’s Oasis now makes it easy to leverage up with ETH

DeFi777 – wrap your erc20 tokens as erc777 tokens, then swap through ENS names

RenVM brings BTC, BCH, and ZEC to Ethereum as ERC20 tokens

Mstable basket of stablecoins live on mainnet, includes yield from Compound/Aave plus swap fees – there’s a zero slippage stablecoin trade with 30 basis points of fees

Centrifuge’s Tinlake asset factoring is on mainnet, with factoring for freight shipping and Spotify payments

4/8 arbitrarily classified as DeFi this week.

Zero slippage stablecoin trade is an interesting approach - of course, as a liquidity provider, you’re assuming those stablecoins stay stable. As a user, you want tiny slippage and tiny fees for going between two things that are supposed to represent the same value. As a liquidity provider you want as much fees as possible, especially since you’re assuming the risk of pegs slipping or being broken.

Also just wait until Centrifuge’s factoring gets pushed as collateral for Maker. I’m curious what the response will be - or is it hohum since some trusted assets have already been added?

Tokens/Business/Regulation

Liquidity mining: now you earn Balancer tokens for supplying liquidity or Compound tokens for supplying/borrowing

Zap your liquidity around in one transaction

Ryan Sean Adams: Eth is doubly undervalued

Gavin Andresen: crypto markets take a long time to reflect reality

People seem to call it maximalism these days when you point out that anything is overvalued, but I thought Gavin’s post was a concise reflection of the irrationality of crypto markets.

General

LadderLeak and ECDSA explainer

Hundreds of thousands of Thai users switching to Minds, a Twitter/Facebook hybrid social network incentivized through an ERC20 token

I checked out Minds. They did a token sale two years ago, though you can still buy it on their site now. It’s an interesting concept, you can get paid to post, except you have to pay to be a paid member first. I couldn’t quite work out what the incentives were for me, but social networks need to get traction in one niche and then expand, and it seems like they may be getting that in Thailand. I’d like to see more social network attempts using tokenized incentives.

Housekeeping

Follow me on Twitter @evan_van_ness to get the annotated edition of this newsletter on Monday or Tuesday. Plus I tweet most of what makes it into the newsletter.

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Permalink: https://weekinethereumnews.com/week-in-ethereum-news-may-31-2020/

Dates of Note

Upcoming dates of note (new/changes in bold):

June 1-6 – DAO Rush Week

June 3 – BlockVigil’s free remote developer bootcamp begins

June 16 – deadline to apply for Gitcoin’s Kernel incubator

Oct 2-Oct 30 – EthOnline hackathon

0 notes