#just give me a direct link the FIRST time i click a link and navigate to your random third party website

[detectiveconnor]

what if i made a new rule that if i have to click through more than 1 link to be able to read your rules page, and more than one for your about, and more than one for your verses, i get to not read them

#this is just me being salty about nothing feel free to keep scrolling i'm. not sure where this has come from #it is very much just negatively toned though and will not contribute much to your day at all pls look after yourself! #now u know #negativity tw #and like. not really i don't mean it but Goodness me #Holy moly #this is not about anyone who follows me on this blog but also Holy Moly Me i have an intense distaste for google docs or carrds #i just think they're the worst. thank you #negative cw #also breadcrumbing!!!! 'here is base information and here's an obscure extra link for more information' just give it to me #just give me a direct link the FIRST time i click a link and navigate to your random third party website #exclusively because i want to try to write with you #maybe give me a link for LESS info if i want LESS info but i am not looking for bare minimums when i am looking for info about your muse #like looking in a recipe book and only being shown photos of the finished product #useful but not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! what i am looking for!!!!!!!!!!!!! when i look in a recipe book!!!!

[gamergal-ds]

HOW 2 MOD MAD RAT DEAD ON SWITCH! PART 1: MUSIC!

If at any point you need more information or further assistance, drop me an ask or direct message! Even if it's something 'stupid' don't worry, I'll help :)

What you'll need:

A copy of the game in .nsp or .xci format

Switch Explorer

Sonic Audio Tools

VGAudio

Audacity (My recommendation, alternatives may work)

Switch explorer is used to extract the files from the game to be modded

Sonic audio tools is used to extract the .acb archives the songs (.hca files) are packed in, and to pack the files back in

VGAudio is used to convert the .hca files (the actual audio files) to .wav to be opened and edited in audacity, and to convert them back to .hca before being repacked

Lastly, audacity is used to edit the .wav files to put whatever you want into the files, completely replace it's contents or whatever, go wild

Did any of that make sense to you? no? Good, keep reading.

LET'S GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD!

I'll add like a pastebin link here later with every song's internal number so you can easily find the one you're looking for and extract it, too lazy right now tho :P

Open switch explorer, choose to load up your nsp/xci of the game (file > open) and navigate to data > sound

then, find the song you wish to edit and right click > extract file, then drop it in a good spot for later

Afterwards, open two file explorer windows, one in the sonic audio tools folder and the other where you extracted the .acb file. We do this so you can easily drag the .acb into the ACBeditor.exe found in the sonic audio tools folder:

this will produce a folder in the same directory as the .acb sharing its name, and inside you will find your .hca files:

these are the actual audio files, but we can't edit them yet, because no program knows what to do with a .hca! First, we need to convert them to .wav files, so boot up VGAudio, click open file, pick the .hca file (you need to repeat this process for all 4+ files), choose to convert to WAVE and hit save file.

wherever you saved it, you now have a .wav of the audio file, feel free to give it a listen! If it's just silence, don't worry, some of the songs are like that.

Now these files require a little explanation, the one ending in 0 to 2 are all related to the song's into, opening, and cut scene loops, basically everything you stop hearing once you've started playing the level properly. The file ending in a 3 is the main loop, the part that plays so long as you keep playing through the level. In some rare cases, there will be even more files, or less! I haven't done enough of my own research yet, so you can come to your own conclusions on those, shouldn't be hard to figure out once you get how these work.

Anyways, now that that's outta the way, audacity time! Individually open, edit, and export each .wav you extracted, again as .wav (keep the file name the same!) using audacity, make any changes you want, import other files of any format into it on a new track and remove the original when you're done, whatever, but I recommend keeping the lenght (not filesize) of the audio file the same, idk if the game will have a stroke if it's too long or not long enough. (Also a lot of the song info like BPM is hardcoded so any old song won't work if you just drop it in here, stick to mad rat monday songs for your first edits like I did, those work the best, but do be ready to splice them to extend the main loop (file 3)) (also line it up properly, it can't be off beat from the original, you gotta find a point in the songs where the waveform is similar and use it to line it up exactly right)

This part's kinda all up to you, but I can provide some basic audacity tips specific to your situation if required. Or just general ones, if you can't wrap your head around audacity :P

once they're all edited, use VGAudio to reverse the process, open the .wav files and choose to convert to HCA, and save them, maybe backup the original .hca files instead of replacing them if you want to (i just added an 'og' to the start of the original file's name)

then, remove all the junk from the folder besides the new .hca files you made (or move them to another, identically named folder separately), and drag the folder into the same acbeditor.exe from the sonic audio tools folder, just like you did with the acb the first time. It will pack your folder back into an acb in the same directory as the folder you dragged in (it'll replace the original if you kept them all in the same directory, but don't worry you can just extract the file again if you need the original). Now, we set up the mod!

This part's easy, just make a new folder with the name of your mod, in there make one named romfs, in there make one named data, and in there make one named sound, then drop your new acb file into the sound folder. The mod's done! Drag it into the mod directory on your real switch (idk how that works I don't have a modded switch) or in yuzu right click mad rat dead, choose open mod directory and drop the mod folder in there. Then right click the game, hit properties, and the mod should show up with the name you chose for the top folder. Here's some screenshots for all that:

Tick the box to enable the mod and boot up the game! That's it!

If you need any more help, further assistance, suggestions, anything, just drop me an ask or DM, I'll respond in due time! Additionally, if you have any suggestions or requests for how to improve this guide, let me know with a reply!

Happy modding everyone!

#mad rat modding #mad rat modding tutorials #mad rat dead

[lightblueminecraftorchid]

hi hello I’m still full of spite

The student disability services at my school suck SO much

It has been. Over a year. I am not accommodated. I am fully reliant on the fact that my professors are good people. If any of them decide at any point that my needs are too annoying, or that they keep me from participating in class, I am screwed. It’s already happened in labs; I’m not allowed to wear my earguards, and I’ve gotten in trouble for misunderstanding (vague) directions because “you should know better than that”.

Their current process is as follows:

You, a new disabled student, are planning to attend this university. When you arrive, your professors give you their syllabi; because of an ADA law requirement, they list that the university has Student Disability Services, and that any accommodations you need in class have to go through them. They do not link you to the website on their syllabus; you are lucky if they list the phone number or email of the SDS.

You, a new disabled student, go on the university website to search for the accommodations process. The actual webpage you need is the seventh result. The third result is a webpage that contains the first step of the process and nothing else, but because they’re so nice to you, you can navigate to the accommodations process page from that page if you can figure out the “intuitive” navigation system.

You, a new disabled student, finally find and read the accommodations page, and click the links to every other page under the SDS section. You are told that you must be taking 12 or more credits per semester to qualify. You are told that your IEP or 504 may or may not count as proof of your diagnosis, and if it doesn’t (or you don’t have one), you’ll need your doctor to provide it. The doctor who diagnosed you, of course, not your primary care doctor. You’ll also need that specific doctor to fill out an 8-page packet, detailing your exact diagnosis, exactly how that diagnosis presents, exactly what accommodations they recommend for you, and your personal information. You haven’t spoken to this doctor in ten years, because you were referred to them by your pediatrician at age eight, and haven’t seen them since. You no longer go to that pediatrician, because you aged out of their clinic. Your current doctor has only worked with you for a few months because of your recent switch into adulthood.

You, a new disabled student, must wait until the specialist who diagnosed you fills out the form correctly and sends it back to you. You call their office (it’s a miracle you found their number); you go to voicemail, because they’re only open Tuesdays-Thursdays now, from 8AM-10AM, and 12PM-4PM. It is 4:13 PM on Thursday. You have classes during most times they are open. You wake up early Tuesday morning (losing spoons) to call them before class. You are put on hold for thirty minutes. If you stay on the phone, you’ll be late for class.

You, a new disabled student, call again on Wednesday (losing spoons). You are put on hold for 15 minutes, miraculously short. The person who picks up your call does not actually work at the doctor’s office, but rather an associated call center. You explain what you need, and ask for the email that the doctor’s office uses for this sort of thing. You are given an email and told that they will check right away. You email the doctor’s office. You do not receive a reply.

You, a slightly less new disabled student, don’t receive an email back that week. Or the next week. You’d call again, but you’ve already been playing catch-up because of the sleep you lost before, and waking up that early again sounds hellish. You ask your professors if they can help you in the meantime; they shrug and smile sympathetically. “Sorry, it’s gotta come through SDS; we can’t be giving students an unfair advantage, y’know? Just get it settled with them and we’ll talk.” They walk away; to them, the conversation is over.

You never receive an email back from the office. A month later, you save up your spoons and call again on an early Tuesday morning. The person who picks up your call has no record of your first call, tells you that you were given the wrong email, asks you why you’re calling them; they don’t really do this kind of extra work. You explain why it’s necessary; they seem irritated, but give you a different email, and tell you they’ll contact the doctor right away. It should be done in a week at most. You send the email (with another explanation), double check the spelling just in case, and wait.

Miraculously, improbably, after three weeks, you get the documents back. They are filled out incorrectly. You send them back and ask them to fix it. They do not. You email SDS anyway, with the incomplete documents, and explain that this is all you have right now. They tell you to wait until your doctor sends the correct documents. Have you tried calling them? It might go faster that way.

Exhausted, you complain to your parents (if your parents are the helpful and loving sort). They offer to call for you. They call the doctor, who has no record of the previous two phone calls, and cannot find the email you sent them in the system, and could you please send the documents again with an explanation of what you need?

You send the documents to your parents and pray they handle it.

While you wait, you’re falling behind in class; with no accommodations, you’re struggling to get through your coursework, and your grades are slipping. You are keenly aware that if your GPA dips too low, any scholarships you got through this school can be taken away in an instant. You are very thankful for the semester probation period, and you muddle through as best as you can, exhausted. One of your professors decides to be cruel on purpose, and assigns a full lab report every week; this is not a writing-intensive class, according to the registration, and the other professor for this class barely assigns homework. When you ask for an extension on your work, you receive a sharp look and an annoyed lecture about personal responsibility. “You’re in college now; if you can’t handle it, leave.” You explain you are disabled. “Well, I listed the SDS in the syllabus; go talk to them. If you get them to talk to me, we can work something out.”

It has been months. There are three weeks left in the semester. Finally, you get the documents back. You email them to SDS. You receive an email back next week; apparently, you cannot send them, because you’re not allowed to fill them out yourself, and they can’t be sure. Could you please get your doctor to send it to them directly?

Your parents want to help, but they also have busy lives. You desperately try to catch up before exam week, and they try to call the doctor between meetings. By the time you finish your last exam, they still haven’t answered the phone in time.

Miraculously, you pass your exams well enough, and don’t lose your scholarship. You spend most of Christmas break alternating between family parties and sleeping in until 2PM; you’re burnt out and exhausted, but your family also hasn’t seen you in months, and it’s hard to tell them no. By the time second semester starts, you’re still wiped out.

You, a not-so-new disabled student, wait until the holiday rush has passed somewhat and call the doctor’s office yourself; with your new class schedule, you can call Tuesday afternoon. Praise be. You’re still on hold for 45 minutes; they’re very busy, you know, and it might be faster if you email them-

“Dr X’s Medical Group, how can I help you?”

You explain that the documents that your doctor filled out were sent to the wrong person; that you and your parents tried to contact them by phone and email, but that you hadn’t gotten a response. The person on the phone has no record of your past calls, but is able to find the completed documents in an email draft that was never sent. She asks you for the email it should be sent to. You spell it out slowly and carefully, paranoid that it might get sent to the wrong people. She reads it back to you; it sounds right. She sends the email while on the phone with you (why has nobody else done that for you yet?) and carbon-copies you in the email; you feel your phone buzz seconds after she sends it. You thank her, check your email, and see correctly-done documents sent to the correct email. You feel like you could cry.

A month after that email is sent, you receive a message from Student Disability Services. They’ve processed your doctor’s paperwork (“so sorry for the delay!”) and are ready to move on to step 2. Could you please click this link and schedule a time for an in-person interview? It, of course, is in a building all the way across campus that you haven’t heard of. Thankfully, your GPS knows where it is. You click the link; all but one of the available times are ones you can’t go to because of classes. The one that is available is at 9AM. You sigh, and resign yourself to a spoon deficit for the week, and sign up for it. You receive a confirmation email for your appointment; you put it on your calendar, set up several electronic reminders for it, and go to try and do the homework you can.

Thankfully, your professors this semester are less actively ableist, and you’re able to use some self-administered accommodations in class. They can’t give you anything regarding assignment extensions or note-takers, but you can maybe get preferential seating, and wear earplugs during exams. It’s not enough, but it’s something, and you haven’t gotten anything in a long time. You are still so, so very exhausted.

The time for your appointment comes. You get to the building early; the room is located on the third floor, and the room numbering is extremely counterintuitive. Barely, barely, you find the room before you are late. The interview is short; they ask you what accommodations you’ve previously had, what symptoms you experience, and what suggestions you have regarding accommodations for your classes. You do your best to explain what you need; the interviewer is friendly, but clearly has not experienced being disabled themself, and doesn’t quite seem to understand what you need. You overexplain yourself to compensate.

Three weeks after the interview, you receive an email (“so sorry for the delay!”). After reviewing your doctor’s documents and conducting your interview, they’ve determined that you can receive the following accommodations. You are the one who has to email your professors; they will not contact them for you. Most of the accommodations that would really help you aren’t listed; “this isn’t high school anymore, and some accommodations you may have received in high school aren’t ones that we can give. We cannot grant extensions on assignments, for example. So sorry for the inconvenience!”

You, a veteran disabled student, are very fricking tired.

(Of course, this whole process assumes that you were able to be diagnosed in the first place.)

#I’m so tired

[naturalbornlosers]

hello! what was the one game you played in your early childhood that just really stuck with you?

anon ily so much bc this gives me an excuse to talk about one of my favorite games Ever

when i was like, 8? and Best Buy still sold games on CD-ROM, my parents got me this game called "Keepsake: An Unforgettable Adventure". ever since then, its the first game i install on any computer i own, and i try to replay it every now and again. i still have the box! though i think it's available now on steam iirc.

the premise is you play as a girl named Lydia who is going to be attending Dragonvale Academy, where her best childhood friend, Celeste, is a student. Lydia gets to the school after a long road and finds it entirely fucking empty, except for a wolf locked in a wooden cupboard. and the wolf talks. and his name is Zak. and he's a total dweeb, and their dynamic is so much fun. they have to figure out together why Dragonvale is empty, and what the fuck happened to all the students and staff. in the midst of all of this, Lydia is getting flashbacks of her childhood with Celeste. you have to solve a bunch of puzzles and navigate the school and learn about it and the lore, and it's just. absolutely fantastic.

looking back on it since i recently opened it again, yes it's a little tiresome to click-and-move all the time. yes the puzzles can be exhausting (BUT the game has a feature where you get three hints from "least obvious" to "straight up directions" and then a fourth where it solves the thing for you so you can move on) but, fuck, dude. and the voice acting can be a little shitty and the audio quality isn't great, but i don't think it'd be Keepsake without these little features. and to make it even better, the item you first pick up that starts Lydia's flashback sequences is a jester doll. this may or may not be the reason i love jesters to this day.

plus, the soundtrack fucks so hard. i cannot even explain to you what effect this games soundtrack had on me. i'm linking four songs from it with varying moods so you can get a feel, but i cannot recommend sitting down and just listening to the soundtrack enough. it's genuinely phenomenal.

The Forge

Arcane Arts

The Keepsake

The Trial

thank you so much for sending this!! <33 it made my day to get to ramble about this old hidden gem of a game!!

ask game

#Statement.txt #asks #ask game #keepsake: an unforgettable adventure #keepsake an unforgettable adventure #keepsake #if this game has 100 fans i am one of them if this game has 1 fan i am xem if this game has no fans i am no longer alive etc etc #also i implore anyone reading this to go look at the visuals for the game. Dragonvale Academy is fucking GORGEOUS

[coliearellano]

Story Design Proposal: Becoming Filipino

The concept behind "Becoming a Filipino" is a captivating fusion from diverse individuals with unique and brilliant ideas coming together to craft a cohesive piece of art and digital storytelling. As a key member of Dekada Production, I witnessed our journey of exploring this project, and it became apparent that each team member's personal narrative was intricately woven into our collaborative masterpiece. Prior to embarking on this collective endeavor, we each harbored distinct stories we wished to tell.

One team member envisioned a website that would serve as a digital canvas for their creative ideas, while another sought to capture their life as a chess enthusiast in the form of a compelling film. Yet another member was deeply passionate about shedding light on the struggles faced by marginalized communities, and I, personally, was driven to address the pervasive gender stereotypes that affect women in the Philippines. My contribution took the form of an experimental, narrative-driven still-life film (See post on Choose Your Character).

Through this collaborative process, we discovered both our shared interests and our individual distinctions. We amalgamated our ideas and concepts, ultimately giving birth to the project we proudly christened now as "Becoming Filipino."

In this blog, I would like to explore our awakenings and conceptualization of the web series, and my contributions in its pre-production of its scripts and storyboards. This will be divided into two main domains: The Discourse and The Design.

The Discourse

At the heart of our narrative lies the journey of a young adult, presumably of Filipino descent, who embarks on the significant task of applying for a Government-issued Identification Card. His initiation into this process unfolds in a digital realm as he navigates a dedicated website designed for registration. However, just as he begins the registration process, an unforeseen online glitch disrupts his progress, compelling him to click on a link that redirects him to a distinct subsite.

Within this digital detour, he encounters a unique and unexpected series of events. Here, he is introduced to a trio of engaging Public Service Announcement (PSA) videos, each of which imparts valuable insights and essential information required before he can proceed with his registration. These three videos serve as guiding beacons, each shedding light on different facets of what it truly means to be Filipino, while simultaneously aiding our protagonist on his journey toward obtaining his Government-issued Identification Card.

With this, this digital storytelling takes form in a website, then directed to three mandatory videos in a form of a glitch or error. While it may seem like a lengthy process from getting one part of the story to another, the indirect redirection of each section is quite linear and fast-paced as each videos are timed of at least one to two minutes, and the website to one.

PCS Website. The narrative revolves around an individual, presumed to be Filipino, as they embark on the process of acquiring a National ID through the fictional Philippine Credential System (PCS) Website. This website, presented as a government agency portal, houses a wide array of public information and records, encompassing official documents, articles about government officials, and government agendas in the Philippines. However, as the viewer attempts to register for their National ID, they encounter unexpected prompts within the registration form, leading them to a chat box with automated messages and a supposed glitch they must navigate to complete the process.

PSA 1. The storyline is further enriched through a series of Public Service Announcement (PSA) videos. The first PSA, "Me and You," explores the scientific aspects of storytelling, shedding light on Filipino gender roles and the social class system. It aims to guide viewers in understanding traditional gender identities and societal norms while examining prevailing social qualities in the Philippines.

PSA 2. In the second PSA, "Behind the Smile (is the Struggle)," sensory experiences are employed to showcase the lived experiences of various societal sectors. It begins with a cheerful introduction but soon reveals the hardships faced by workers and farmers in the Philippines, highlighting issues such as rising commodity prices and limited access to social services. The viewer is led to recognize the grim realities of life in the country.

PSA 3. The third and final PSA, "Why are you Filipino?," prompts viewers to reflect on the content of the preceding videos and consider the challenges of living in the Philippines, leading to a profound introspection and sensory experience. This phase also involves the collection of biometric identification data for the National ID. However, it ends with a haunting question, asking the viewer to confront their identity as a Filipino. The narrative comes full circle as the viewer's digital National ID displays a blank face, leaving them with a profound sense of existential questioning.

The web series is primarily aimed at young adults who are grappling with the challenging realities of growing up in a nation marked by a significant power imbalance, evident in its oppressive sociopolitical and economic structures.

This horror narrative choice, although potentially discouraging to some viewers, is deliberate because of its emotional impact and its potential to spark meaningful discourse. Becoming Filipino is intended for mature audiences who may find horror an engaging form of entertainment and is likely to pique the curiosity of those interested in analog horror, a genre that has gained popularity among online media consumers, particularly youth. It's important to note that the series deviates from typical horror conventions like jump scares, instead relying on subject matter and nostalgic elements to evoke a sense of unease and unsettlement, rather than sheer terror.

The Design

As an avid watcher of horror and analog horror, I was thrilled to participate in the creation of Becoming Filipino. What truly encourages me to watch such videos is not for cliched jump scares and haunted houses or people plot lines in horror films, but the unusual storytelling, visuals, plots, and indirect scare and horror through the content and audio creating a well-served horrific ambience to the form of storytelling.

To further explain, analog horror is a unique storytelling style that harnesses analog technology from the past and employs the found footage technique to evoke feelings of dread and fear within a digital context. It achieves this by incorporating elements of nostalgia and anachronism, creating a striking juxtaposition between old and new.

What sets analog horror apart is its ability to tap into deep-seated, primal fears deeply rooted in human psychology. The use of outdated analog technologies like VHS tapes, audio cassettes, and CRT monitors evokes a sense of nostalgia and eerie familiarity. The dissonance between what is known and what is unknown intensifies the unsettling experience. Watching a low-quality VHS-style film with distorted visuals and audio can trigger an uncanny sensation, aligning with our inherent fear of the unknown. This unique fusion of the familiar and the uncanny makes analog horror a powerful vehicle for instilling fear and unease, enabling creators to tap into primal anxieties that transcend cultural boundaries.

Analog horror thrives on emotional engagement, drawing viewers into the narrative through visual and auditory cues. The flaws and imperfections of analog technology establish an immediate and visceral connection with the audience. Cracking old cassette tapes, flickering CRT monitors, and the distortion of analog video contribute to the audience's immersion in the story. Additionally, the analog format often demands active participation from viewers as they piece together fragmented information from distorted visuals and audio, further deepening their interest and emotional investment in the unfolding narrative. Viewers become investigators, solving the mysteries alongside the characters and developing a stronger connection to the storyline as it evolves.

"Becoming Filipino" is a project that embodies the collaborative effort of diverse individuals, each contributing their unique and brilliant ideas to create a cohesive piece of art and digital storytelling. As part of Dekada Production, we embarked on a journey to explore this project, and it became evident that each team member's personal narrative was intricately woven into our collaborative masterpiece. Before coming together, we all held distinct stories we wanted to tell, from exploring creative ideas through a website to delving into the struggles faced by marginalized communities and addressing gender stereotypes in the Philippines.

The series, driven by a desire to spark meaningful discussions about social inequality and cultural identity, employs the unconventional genre of analog horror to engage the audience in a thought-provoking way. This narrative choice, while potentially discouraging to some, intentionally relies on emotional impact and a distinct sense of unease to drive discourse. "Becoming Filipino" is tailored for mature audiences who appreciate horror as a form of entertainment and is likely to captivate those interested in the unique storytelling style of analog horror.

#digital storytelling #Story Design Proposal #Becoming Filipino #Discourse #Design #long post #featured

[avernusbikerlifestyle]

A lot of people have asked me if I can do a YouTube video on how to get involved with Amazon, as I refer to it quite a bit as part of my reselling business. There's good reason I haven't done one, and that is that I don't believe I could do justice to the topic without my channel becoming exclusively about Amazon. I have done very well from my selling activity on Amazon up until Brexit, where it pretty much fell off a cliff, for various reasons. But of late, I have been super conscious of all my eggs being in the eBay basket and quite frankly, as this is my full time job, this was making me a little nervous. I was invited by Sam & Kieran (my peers in the YT reseller scene) to get involved with Beta testing a new service that they have been developing for quite some time now. Next Level Resell (NLR) is designed specifically to help resellers up their game. The service benefits resellers on all platforms, but I was specifically interested on levelling up my Amazon game. The reason I am so buzzed about NLR isn't just the fact that it has helped me get back into the Amazon game, generated a copious amount of sourcing leads for me and helped me navigate some of Amazon's new rules. But I've also witnessed brand new Amazon sellers go from 0 to 4 figures in sales inside a month as a direct result of being involved with NLR. These new sellers quickly found that the cost of the service was money well spent. I'm aware that this testimonial may give the impression that I'm on the NLR payroll, but that's not the case. The only reason I am gladly endorsing it, is because I have had first hand experience of how beneficial it is for resellers. No matter how big their business. The cost is £40 a month. But if you use the code ABL10 on sign up, you'll get £10 off your first month subscription. If you find it’s not for you, you can leave at any time. Click the link below to join. I'll see you in there. https://launchpass.com/next-level-resell/monthly/v2 #nextlevelresell #amazon #amazonreseller #ablreselling https://www.instagram.com/p/CozXoLnt8sa/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#nextlevelresell #amazon #amazonreseller #ablreselling

[cityonlinementor]

8.14.22 Fall Semester is almost here! Here are some end of semester/beginning of new semester tips:

End of the Semester Tips:

1.      Extend Your Course End Dates in Case of Incompletes/Emergencies:  To allow students to send you Inbox/Pronto messages or access and participate in the course material, you may want to reset your “Course End Date” to a time/day beyond the default.

*I like to do this at the beginning of the semester so I don’t forget…

Directions: From the left navigation menu: Settings – Course Details – Use the drop-down menu to change the course end – Update Settings

Cara’s Video Tutorial (1:23)

 2.      Gradebook: Enter zeroes for any student work not submitted OR from Grades select the “gear” drop-down menu, click “Treat Ungraded as 0’s” to ensure unsubmitted assignments are scored with a zero. 

Aileen’s 59 Second Video Tutorial

 3.      End of semester messages: If desired, send final messages to students to give them final feedback, next steps for future semesters, or information about which courses follow yours in the sequence if applicable

Screen shot tutorial

 4.      Backup (Export) & Download Your Canvas Course & Gradebook:

·         Cara’s Video Tutorial (4:52)

·         Cara’s Video Tutorial of just the Gradebook Export (2:16)

·         Screenshot tutorial

 5.      Download any assignment submissions you want to archive locally:

Screenshot tutorial

 6.      You may want to do the same for Quizzes or Quiz Statistics:

Quizzes, Screenshot Tutorial

Quiz Statistics, Screenshot tutorial

  Starting Fall 2022:

1.      Update your Zoom links: Any meetings created before July 1, 2022 will no longer work. Log into http://www.zoom.us or http://sdccd-edu.zoom.us

Not sure how? Dave’s Faculty Tutorial (30 min)

 2.      Develop your materials in a Canvas Development Shell: Why? Campus Solutions is evil, meaning that if for any reason the scheduler has to make a change to the course… a number, a typo, instructor name, room change etc., Campus Solutions deletes your course shell…without any warning.

How to get a Development Shell:

Call or Chat with Canvas Faculty Support at 1-844-612-7422

·         Have your 10-digit Employee ID & Course Name Ready

·         Naming convention: D-Shell-Subject-Course-Firstinitiallastname

*(Ex: For my master development shell for English 101 materials, my development shell name would be: D-SHELL-ENG-101Master-AGUM)

·         Magic Words: State that you are from the San Diego Community College District (don’t abbreviate or assume they know… they are a global company)

·         Make sure you specifically ask for a “Canvas Development Shell”

3.      Copy materials from your development shell or past courses into your new course:

Dave’s Tutorial: Copying (exporting) entire course (4:24)

Dave Giberson’s Tutorial: Copying specific, not all content from one course shell to another (2:44)

Screenshot Tutorial:

*Note: This is also a way to create a back up of your course that you can store off Canvas.

 4.      Check for broken links with the “Link Validator” in your Settings

 5.      Clean out your Inbox & Archive old messages if you want to keep them:

 6.      Optional: Customize your Course listing menu so you only see your current courses in the drop down or see them first (the default is alphabetical for up to 20 courses)

Want a “class” ? Dave’s Webinar on Getting Your Course Ready for the Next Semester (1:13:13)

 General Reminders:

All mentor messages are on a Tumblr blog so you can easily search through the list or see what had been posted if you didn’t have access to SDCCD email or are looking for a specific link.

Tumblr Blog: Copies of all Mentor Posts from me

 Useful Links You Might Want to Use or Link in Your Courses:

Canvas Community Help: If I don’t know how to do something, this is the first place I do a search. Googling your question will often bring you here.

 Canvas Video Guides: I keep a small module at the top of my courses of video guides of the most common tasks students need to do such as Discussion Board, Grades, Assignments, etc. These are very short and already captioned.

 SDCCD Online Pathways:  SDCCD Online Pathways has many different tutorials for support and information for students and faculty

Free Online Tutoring for City College Students for Hours Outside the English Center, Math Center, and Tutorial

[ladydimitrescuspet]

Catch You Later

AO3 link - word challenge: pineapple 

Lady Dimitrescu put two fingers under your chin and lifted your head, slightly straining your neck so you could look up at her. "Do you remember the safe word, my dear?" Lady Dimitrescu.

You frowned slightly. What did you need a safe word for? "Yes, I remember the safe word, My Lady." You replied with a small nod of your head when she removed her fingers.

"Good. You understand that if you say the safe word, fail to escape my maze within the given time frame, or get caught by one of my daughters or myself that you will be my pet, yes?" Lady Dimitrescu asked.

You raised your eyebrow. "I thought I was already your pet, Mistress." Lady Dimitrescu hummed at the already known knowledge but didn't say anything. "And what happens if I do escape?" You asked.

"You are free to leave this castle, this village, Romania, but on the one condition that you never return here under any circumstances. Far be it for me to catch you twice, but if Heisenberg, Moreau, or Beneviento were to get their hands on you, you wouldn't last past a night or two there. You were lucky to survive as long as you did here, sweet one." Lady Dimitrescu replied, but she didn't give you time to comment. "This map will help navigate you through the maze, make sure you pay close attention to it. My daughters and I will keep our abilities to a minimum to give you a fair chance in this little game."

You grimaced at the thought of this being their idea of a game. "When do we start?" You asked as you took the map from her hand. Lady Dimitrescu just motioned for you to turn around and you obeyed, albeit hesitantly. You stiffened a little as you felt a piece of fabric cover your eyes, but relaxed when you realised it was just a blindfold. "I guess this means it starts now." You mumbled to yourself eliciting a small chuckle from Lady Dimitrescu.

You felt the Lady pick you up. "Hold on tightly, dear, wouldn't want you to fall and get hurt before the fun begins." You grimaced again and barely had time to wrap your arms around her neck before it felt like you were flying but you chalked it down to her moving at an unnatural pace. It only lasted a few minutes before you felt her stop, your head was spinning a bit. "You're probably feeling a bit dizzy. I'm going to set you down and I want you to count to ten before removing the blindfold and beginning, understand?" You nodded your head. "Good girl. You'll have a half-hour head start and then you'll want to keep your ears alarmed at any and every sound. You're allowed to hide, but don't stay in one spot too long. And, darling, if you need to use the safe word then don't be afraid to say it. Best of luck to you, pet." Lady Dimitrescu patted the top of your head and then you felt her presence disappear.

You let out a sigh as you counted to ten and removed the blindfold. It was kind of dark outside, but not to the point where you couldn't see. You looked at the map and noticed something, it moved. "Great." You mumbled. You waited until it was finished rearranging, you noticed that only a few spots changed whereas the rest stayed in the same spot. You determined that you'd been brought to the centre of the garden maze. "Okay, so I go left first and then right three times before going straight." You did what you told yourself but came to a dead end. You frowned and looked at the map, it had changed.

You heard something behind you and turned around, but nothing was there. They shouldn't be out here yet, it hadn't been a half hour. You turned around a quickly made various turns, finding different shortcuts throughout the maze until you came to a spot that felt familiar. It was the entrance, but it was blocked off which meant that the entrance had moved to a different spot. You kept going until you came across a puzzle. Did you need to solve the puzzle to escape?

The puzzle wasn't hard you realised as you looked over it. You just needed to put the House's coat of arms in the right places to represent Dimitrescu, Heisenberg, Beneviento, and Moreau. You had seen the different coat of arms before and remembered the tapestry in Lady Dimitrescu's sitting room that had each of the House's on it so you relied on your memory when you put them in their places. You let out a sigh of relief when you heard a click and look to your side to see something open, it held a cloak in it. Put me on if you want to be invisible was on a note that you found in front of it. It had been good timing because you could hear footsteps getting closer to you. You quickly put the coat of arms back in the places you found them and slipped the cloak on and hiding behind a nearby statue as Lady Dimitrescu came into view.

"Hmm, it seems like my little one hasn't cracked this one yet, girls." Lady Dimitrescu said as she walked over to the pieces and inspected them before putting them in their places. She let out a soft gasp when she noticed that the cloak inside the secret space was gone. "So, you did come this way, little one. Girls, spread out, my little darling is somewhere close by. I'll head to the next place and keep a lookout there. You musn't let them escape this maze." Lady Dimitrescu practically growled at her daughters before they headed in three separate directions. You let out a deep breath as Lady Dimitrescu began to walk away only to remember her mentioning the next place you needed to go so you quietly followed her, hiding where you could when you saw her stop and check her surroundings, looking for anything that looked complacent with an invisibility cloak, you realised you had to be even more careful whilst wearing it. "Oh, dearest Y/N, where are you hiding?" You heard Lady Dimitrescu call out, but remained quiet as she came upon another puzzle.

You saw her arrange the puzzle in a way that completed it, but she did it in a position where you could only see part of the puzzle. It looked like a keypad of some sort, more modern than anything you'd seen in the village or the castle. You saw her walk away when she saw that you hadn't gotten there yet and followed where she went with your eyes until she rounded a corner of the maze. You waited a few moments before carefully making your way over to the puzzle but not standing directly in front of it, just close enough where you could see the keypad.

You squinted as you tried to read, it was in Romanian. Great, just great. You knew the language, but you didn't speak it often. "Ai prefera?" You read to yourself. That meant Would you rather? so that was the game this time, okay. You looked up to the corner where Lady Dimitrescu had gone around and noticed a shadow, it was her shadow. Now that wasn't fair. She was waiting on you to solve the puzzle so she could catch you. You grinned as an idea came to your mind. You'd play the game, but you would wait for her to come out. You continued to read the rest of the next question. "Cel mai sălbatic vis sau cel mai rău coșmar al tău?" Why would you need to choose between your wildest dream or your worst nightmare? How would it even know those about you? Shaking off your questions, you made a choice, you obviously wanted your wildest dream so you chose your worst nightmare and the secret space opened up. It was a bottle with a note that said Drink me if you'd like to see the world from a different height, you raised your eyebrow, that could only mean getting taller. You looked up, the shadow hadn't moved yet so you reached into the pocket of your jacket and switched the bottle out with it before allowing the space to close with a slightly loud thud. That caught the attention of the shadow and you saw it began to move so you quickly got the other space opened to find another bottle with a note that said the same thing as the other bottle, switching the bottle out with whatever else you had in your pocket and left it to close as you found a place to hide.

You saw Lady Dimitrescu finally round the corner with a grin on her face. You could tell that she knew that you took both bottles by the fact that she didn't even check each hidden space to see if they were still there. "I'd be careful about getting those two bottles if I were you, Y/N." Lady Dimitrescu said loud enough that you were sure even her daughters heard the warning. You watched her walk back the way she came when you followed her. There goes your plan of following her to all the other puzzles and games. You checked your watched to see how much time you had left, you had one hour left to escape.

You were sure Lady Dimitrescu wasn't going to come back so you made your way over to where she had been hiding and noticed something on the ground. It was a note. "You're very smart, Y/N, following me here, but what you do not know is that it was a trap. I know you've taken both bottles, I gave you a warning, it's best to heed it. As for the trap, well, I'll let you figure it out yourself. Yours truly, Lady D." She wrote all of that while standing here. You heard a laugh and stood still as Daniela, one of her daughters.

"Mother! Your little one has your letter, what shall we do?" You heard her asked.

"My, my, maybe my pet isn't as smart as I thought. You know what to do, Daniela, no need for me to tell you once more." Lady Dimitrescu replied before shooing her daughter away. "Turn around." Lady Dimitrescu said and you realised that she was talking to you so you obeyed. "Cloak off, now." You took the cloak off.

You sighed. "I guess you win. Should I say pineapple or just let you grab me?" You asked.

Lady Dimitrescu shook her head. "Neither, I'm having fun." Lady Dimitrescu smiled wide enough to show her fangs. "Run, Y/N, and don't let me catch you."

You scratched your head. "Can I get the cloak back?" You asked. She handed it to you. "Don't worry, it wouldn't be fair if I wore it the whole game, my love." You replied.

"I see you learned from last time. A tip for you, my dear, Victoria and Elise are hanging around the next stop, so tread lightly and watch the map, it's important." She said. You smiled at her and she smiled back at you. "You may actually win this time, my darling." You rolled your eyes. You weren't going to win, no matter how many times you almost made it out, you always ended in someone's grasp or yelling out pineapples to end the game.

"I'll catch you later, Alci." You replied as you turned around from her. You smiled as you heard her say that that was her line. "It's not your line if I say it first." You heard her chuckle and turned around to find her gone. Probably making her way to the entrance, wherever it may be, to try and hinder you from escaping. Even if you did win you'd never leave Castle Dimitrescu, it was your home and Alcina and her daughters were your family for the rest of time.

#lady dimitrescu #alcina dimitrescu #lady dimitrescu x reader #resident evil #resident evil 8 #resident evil village

[lesbia-with-her-sparrow]

Weblena week day 7: we are unstoppable!

We are far too young and clever

Summary: Eighteen year old Webby and Lena navigate Duckburg’s shoddy legal system, college, and their newly formed relationship with the help of Della and Penny.

Prior to meeting Lena, Webby had not found herself embroiled in many legal battles.

Which is fine, really, because now her life is like a fun legal drama with romance, despair, and the ever impending threat of losing a lot of money on something that turns out to do very little. Duckburg, despite having many robotic, undead, and alien citizens, has not been built to accommodate shadow beings.

With Boyd, it was apparently quite the emotional affair, but once a judge had been properly convinced that Boyd was a definitely real boy, he was able to give out the necessary documentation fairly easily. His birthday was listed as the day he was built, and since his AI was programmed to mature at the same rate as a normal child, he would be fine to go to school and take his drivers test and do all usual kid stuff if he wanted to. For all intents and purposes, he would be considered the son of single parent Gyro Gearloose, who would be responsible for his wellbeing.

With Duckworth, it was even easier. He simply provided proof of his continued existence, had his death certificate revised, and went about his life as usual. He didn’t require healthcare, insurance, or food stamps so there wasn’t much systemically that really had to change. He still had to pay income taxes, but that was about it.

The Moonlanders already had their own governmental bodies, so they worked with the city of Duckburg to integrate their systems. They already had their own versions of birth certificates, personal ID cards and numbers. Penumbra worked hard to ensure the ease of these things for her people, even when she still kind of hated earth (but maybe kind of really liked one person on it); she just couldn’t help it.

But well, it’s hard to get Lena any kind of documentation to be legally recognized as a person. Luckily, they’ve got the richest duck in the world on their side—which certainly makes some bureaucratic headaches go away—Louie, who can talk his way through the system, and Della as moral support, who’s going through a similar nightmare returning to earth after having been declared legally dead, which is somehow thirty times more difficult to deal with than rising from the dead like Duckworth.

The thing is, technically, Lena shouldn’t even exist. Shadow creatures are supposed to be mindless conjugations, less like people and more like machines (the non Boyd sort, of course, that follow directions without any thoughts or feelings of their own). Even Magica never knew how she gained sentience, and when a curious lawyer asked Lena, she simply replied “do you know how you gained sentience?”

He never stopped staring at the wall, so they had to get a new lawyer after that.

It’s funny how starting a life together is somehow harder than any other adventure they’ve ever been on. Lena just wants to go to college, and Webby just wants to share a dorm with her (and a lot of kisses). But first, she has to be able to prove she’s a person, which is a lot harder than it looks.

They spend a lot of late nights with Penny and Della hunched over forms and the dwindling lights of laptop computers.

Webby looks up from a website that keeps redirecting her to a page with a link to the page that redirects her back and sighs. She’s solved multiple labyrinths before, but this one’s got her pretty stumped. At the other side of the table, Penny leans over to watch whatever Della’s doing, a comforting arm around her shoulder.

“Ah-ha!” Della bursts, hitting the enter button with a loud click. “Nothing can stop Della Duck!”

“Did you get them to fix it?” Lena asks, lifting her head from the pile of papers it had been resting on. Her voice isn’t its usual sort of sarcastic deadpan; it’s more vulnerable, filled with just the trace of hope.

“No, but I got them to send me my death certificate which, according to the social security website, is the first step in fixing it,” Della says. “We should celebrate! Do you girls like cake? Let’s make a cake.”

It’s nearly three in the morning, but they need to take a break at some point, and if cake doesn’t ease the pain, it at least can’t hurt.

While Della and Penny get themselves covered in various powders, Lena sits on the counter by the fridge, and Webby mixes together milk, eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla. She adds a couple drops of pink food dye just for fun.

“Do you think we’ll ever even get this?” Lena asks. She’s looking somewhere behind Webby, just over her shoulder.

“Sure we will,” Webby replies with her trademark optimism. “We create literal magic when we hold hands, what could possibly stop us?”

“Nothing can stop Lena Sabrewing, huh?”

Webby sets the whisk on the counter as she turns around. Della and Penny are standing very close to each other, almost kissing but not quite, just looking at each other with complete love and confidence in their eyes. It’s easier for them, Webby thinks, they’re not just confident in each other, they’re confident in themselves in a way neither of the younger girls are. Maybe it’s being older, maybe it’s having lived enough life to know that the worst storms have passed you by and the tides that ebb and flow can never recede back and become the tsunami they’ve faced before.

Webby knows it’s silly, but there’s a little part of her that wonders if cutting off your leg makes the fear of losing your heart a little easier to handle. Another part of her wonders if Della’s just better at hiding her emotions.

While the cake’s in the oven, Webby asks Della to speak with her privately outside. They sit on the back porch, legs extended out on the concrete, cool beneath them despite the warm, humid air outside. It’s dark, but they’re backlit by the windows behind them, their faces visible by Selene’s moon and all the stars in the sky.

“Can I get some advice?” Webby asks, breaking the pleasant silence that had built up between them.

“I’ve messed up a lot,” Della admits, “but maybe that means I’ll give better advice. What do ya need, kid?”

“What do you do if you’re afraid to mess your relationship up?”

There’s a few beats of silence.

“What’s going on with you and Lena?”

Webby scratches her neck awkwardly. “Nothing, I guess, it’s just—I keep saying we’re strong enough to handle anything, but what if we can’t? What if none of this works and Lena decides to break up with me?”

Della pulls Webby in closer, lets her lean against her in a maternal way, the sort of way that makes Webby ache for her younger self, for the family she had yet to gain. “Honey, I don’t think she’ll do that. Do you?”

Webby shrugs. “I don’t know. Probably not. It’s just—when I lost Lena the first time, I was so heartbroken over it. And now that we’re dating, everything just feels so right, and I don’t want to go through that again.”

“You know, they always tell kids that as long as two people love each other, they can do absolutely anything, but that’s not true. I loved the boys’ dad with my entire heart, and it completely tore me apart, but that’s how it is sometimes.” She pauses a moment, contemplative.

Despite her extensive research, Webby doesn’t know anything about the triplets’ dad. She asked Dewey about it once, but all he said was that it was a mystery he didn’t care to solve. It was an unspoken thing, never mentioned again by any of the family. Webby wonders if only Della even knows who he is.

Della looks up at the stars, then speaks again. “A relationship takes a lot of work, but I know a couple of young ladies who are far too stubborn to let a little situation like this tear them apart.”

“You and Penny?” Webby asks, a teasing smile on her face.

Della laughs. “Us too.”

There’s something endlessly comforting about being around Della. Webby loves her granny, but she doesn’t give the same kind of easygoing support that Della does. Granny pushes her to be better, but Della reminds her that she’s already great. And sometimes she really needs that.

There’s still half an hour left on the cake when they go back inside. Lena and Penny are sitting on the counter, laughing about weird human quirks together while drinking cans of Pep. It’s a good thing that Lena has someone to connect with, Webby thinks, even if she doesn’t know any other sentient shadow creatures.

Lena hops off the counter and sidles up next to Webby. It’s always amazed her how casually cool Lena is; it’s just so natural for her that she doesn’t even realize it and that only makes her cooler. Sometimes Webby still feels like that socially inept little girl, in over her head and head over heels for the pretty girl with pink in her hair.

“Hey, um, do you know someone in the St. Canard government called Owlson?” Lena asks.

Webby looks at her incredulously. “You mean the mayor?”

“Oh good, so you know her? I got an email from a government address saying she might be able to hook me up with some identifying documents.”

“I mean, I don’t know her but Scrooge does—” Webby starts.

“Oh god, are they enemies?” Lena interrupts. “Is this is a trap to like, kidnap me or put a bomb in my shoes or something?”

“No, no, she doesn’t like Scrooge much—or Louie, but that’s a whole other story—but she wouldn’t do anything like that,” Webby answers. She leans in closer to read the email on Lena’s phone, and Lena wraps a steadying hand around her waist. It’s embarrassing how that still gives her butterflies. “Come to think of it, why would she help us?”

Lena shrugs. “I don’t know. The email says something about St. Canard being ‘committed to providing for all its supernatural entity citizens’ and then links to some diversity initiative, so I guess it’s that.”

“You know, I think Violet sent me an article about some trouble with supernatural people there…” Webby pulls out her phone and scrolls through her messages till she finds the article. “Yup. ‘Resident Ghosts Protest Mayor Owlson’s Efforts to Revitalize Abandoned Toy Factory District.’ I bet you more than anything that’s why.”

Lena sighs. “It’s all politics in the end, eh Pink?”

“Yeah. But hey, now we have something to celebrate too!” Webby says excitedly.

Despite having just turned eighteen, she still has to stand on her toes to kiss Lena. Lena, for her part, helps by dramatically leaning down, picking Webby up, or sometimes just using her magic to hover Webby in front of her a foot or so off the ground. This time, after a few seconds on her toes, Webby sits up on the counter and wraps her arms around Lena’s shoulders.

They pause a moment, faced inches apart. Webby loves looking into Lena’s eyes, the way they are almost iridescent, picking up light and colors from around them, sometimes glowing ever-so-slightly.

“I love you so much,” Lena mutters. Enveloped in her arms, Webby feels like there’s nothing else in the universe but her and Lena; for them, everything else stands still in wait. “Thanks for helping me with all this. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Probably not this.” Webby puts her hand on Lena’s cheek, holding the beautiful face of this girl who is her world, and they start kissing again.

“Hey girls, I don’t mean to interrupt, but the cake’s ready,” Della calls out from across the room.

Webby immediately pulls back, bright red with embarrassment. Kissing someone in front of Della, that was like kissing in front of her mom… or her aunt? Her family tree didn’t make much sense, but either way, she probably looks like a tomato at the moment, and that tells her all she needs to know about her own emotions on the situation.

The cake is beautiful. Della really is an amazing cook, despite all the time she spends with oil and jet fuel on her hands. (Webby knows she washes them before making anything, but still.) It’s piped with white frosting, a simple blue cursive lettering reading “congrats on being recognized as an alive person.” It’s a long phrase, so the words are crammed in close to each other, taking up every available space across the top of the cake. Webby laughs a little when she reads it.

“Would you like to do the honors?” Della asks. “I seem to recall you’re a girl who’s scarily good with a knife.”

Webby takes the knife and cuts a slice for each of them. It’s a small cake, but there’s still plenty left, now an incomprehensible jumble of words and cut-off letters.

“Small Della,” Penny says as they all stand around the kitchen, eating their cake. “Lena just explained to me what a college is. What do you plan to—uh—major in?”

“Oh, I’m not even sure,” Webby replies honestly. “There’s just so much cool stuff out there. I kind of want to learn everything. Maybe archaeology? I’ve always wanted to know the proper way to preserve all the artifacts we come across on our adventures.”

“Yes, I understand that your inferior Earth atmosphere can slowly destroy your people’s history over time.”

Webby just smiles and nods at that. Penny will probably always believe that the moon is superior to the earth in every possible way, but there’s nothing wrong with that. Webby thinks it’s admirable to have so much pride in your people, in where you came from, that you just can’t help it. She feels much the same way about Lena, about her family.

They stay chatting in the kitchen another hour, until it’s nearly five in the morning and they’re all exhausted, slipping into sleep as they lean against cabinets. Even Penny has gotten more used to sleeping on a solar cycle than a lunar one, and is looking a bit droopy.

Webby and Lena stumble their way up the stairs and somehow make it to her loft without major injury. But hey, it’s a weekend, and they’re in love, what a perfect time to make stupid decisions.

“I don’t wanna go to bed,” Lena admits as she cuddles into Webby underneath the covers. “Don’t wanna ruin a good day with nightmares.”

Webby plants a sleepy kiss on her cheek. She’s pretty sure she was aiming for Lena’s beak, but she is really tired. “You’ll kick those nightmare’s butts,” she says. “And then, when you wake up, I’ll be right here. And together we can do anything.”

“We can do anything,” Lena repeats, and for the first time in a long time, she dreams instead.

#Weblena week 2022 #Weblena week #Weblena #dt webby #dt lena #dt della #dt penny #dt17

[restlessfandoming]

“the president and the troublemaker” (part 13) (chilumi fic)

“Lumine is the student council president and Childe is the school’s number one troublemaker. They cross paths more than they’d like. Especially when Childe finds out Lumine’s big secret. Highschool AU à la Kaichou wa Maid-sama.”

[part 1] [part 2] [part 3] [part 4] [part 5] [part 6] [part 7] [part 8] [part 9] [part 10] [part 11] [part 12]

[Fic Masterlist] // [AO3 Link] // [Main AO3]

* * * 

im really sorry for the massive time between each update. i am truly in the struggle  * * * 

the president and the troublemaker (part 13)

“I’m a professional fighter,” Lumine said to Venti. 

Venti stared at her for a long second, before slowly raising one of his brows. “What are you talking about, LuLu?” 

She bit her lip. “You know, like the UFC. That’s my job. I’m a MMA fighter.” 

Again, Venti stared at her, then glanced between her and the unconscious men on the floor. 

Lumine braced herself for him to laugh, to ridicule her, or even shy away in fear—how terrifying it was that she was powerful enough to do all that and even more. He would be disappointed, a bright student like her getting involved with the activities of delinquents. 

“That’s…,” Venti started. Then, he went to Lumine, grabbing her hands, eyes bright. “So cool!”

Lumine looked at him, silent with shock. 

“Wow, I would have never guessed!” he went on. “But I should have known. You’ve always been so strong.” 

“So you’re not...disappointed?” she asked. 

“Of course not. I would never be disappointed in you,” he said, giving her a soft smile. 

Lumine’s eyes stung. From relief? From gratefulness? “Thank you, Venti.” 

His smile widened. “Just wait until everyone at school hears about this! They’re gonna think you’re so cool, and you’re gonna get so popular, and—”

Lumine pulled her hand away from his, a trembling panic overtaking her nerves. “Venti, no one can find out about this,” she blurted. 

His brows furrowed. “Why not? You should be proud of what you do.”

Lumine stood in silence, ruminating. Proud of what I do? 

Venti started reaching out towards her when there was an audible THUMP from the ground. 

Childe stood from where he had hit one of the men on the floor. “He was waking up,” he said after taking in Venti and Lumine’s worried looks. “We should leave now.” 

Lumine let her gaze linger on Venti—his brows furrowed from either confusion or frustration or both—before turning to Childe. 

“Yeah…let’s go back the way we came and try to backtrack,” she suggested. She and Childe started to make their way back.

Venti didn’t budge. “How does Childe know?” 

“What?” Lumine answered. 

“You said you don’t want anyone to know.” His teal green eyes narrowed, ever so slightly, at Childe. “So he’s an exception?” 

“He found out on his own,” Lumine said. Why is he doing this right now? We need to go—

“And I’m her coach,” Childe said, crossing his arms. There was the tiniest curve of a smile on his lips.

Venti let out a meek laugh. “He’s your coach? So do you spend a lot of time together?” 

She threw a glare at Childe. “Yes—Well, I don’t know. I guess.” She shook her head. “This isn’t the time to be talking about this. Let’s go.” She marched off without another word.

As she walked back the direction they came from, she heard the two boys footsteps behind her. She kept her pace up, however, not wanting to speak to either of them at the moment. Any time either of them entered her peripheral vision, she sped up away from them. Stupid boys and their stupid jealously. 

Eventually, after trying to navigate the twists and turns of the alleyways, the group had somehow ended up in a completely new location. 

Lumine first noticed when the scent of salty sea waves hit her nose. Then, was the shuddering of ocean waves lapping against the shore line, and the groaning of metal ships floating in the water.

“Looks like we’re at a dock,” Childe remarked. 

“How did we even get here?” Venti wondered. 

Lumine rubbed at her forehead. “How do we get out?”

The three of them stood silently, thinking, watching as a group of fishermen unloaded from a large docked ship, and funneled into a nearby building—tall and silvery sleek. 

Childe murmured something to himself before heading towards the building himself. “Follow me,” he said to Lumine and Venti. 

The two shared a questioning look, before following Childe forward. 

They all entered the building, finding themselves in a large lobby, business men and women scooting past. Childe instructed Venti and Lumine to wait in the corner as he went alone to approach the receptionist. 

Lumine watched curiously as the receptionist looked at Childe, a mix of wary and annoyance. Childe started saying something to the lady, his face lifted in confidence. The longer he went on, the receptionist’s expression shifted to disbelief, slowly picking up the telephone and making a call. 

The receptionist kept her eyes on Childe while talking on the phone, with Childe smiling right back at her. As the phone call went on, her face stretched into shock, eventually handing the phone right to Childe with wide eyes. 

Lumine furrowed her brows as Childe took the phone, turning away so she no longer saw his face. What in the world is he doing?

When he finished his conversation, Childe turned back to the receptionist, but kept hold on the phone. He gestured to Lumine, and after a nod from the receptionist, he waved her over. 

Lumine awkwardly walked up to the desk, ignoring Venti’s whispered questions behind her. Upon reaching Childe, he held out the phone to her. 

“All yours,” he said. There was something in his expression Lumine hadn’t quite seen before—a sheepishness of sorts, a humbled look that didn’t seem possible for him. 

She hesitantly took the phone, eyes looking to the receptionist who placed the receiver towards her with a smile—much different than her initial standoffish disposition. 

Lumine looked down at the keypad, her fingers already pressing the only number she could remember in the moment. The phone barely rang once before someone immediately picked up.

“Hello?” Aether’s panicked voice crackled on the other end. 

Lumine let out a shaky sigh of relief. “Aether, it’s me—”

“LUMINE!” he interrupted. “Are you okay? Where are you?” 

The slew of Aether’s worried questions bombarded her ear, and she almost laughed. “I’m fine,” she enunciated over his questioning. “I’m safe here with Childe. And Venti.”

“God, you two…,” Aether murmured. “Where are you?”

“Where are we?” Lumine repeated, looking up at the receptionist. The lady quickly pulled out a business card, the address of the building clearly printed; Lumine repeated the address to Aether. “We wound up here because I chased after some asshole who stole all our stuff.” 

There was shuffling on Aether’s end, and she heard him talking to someone in the background. The line crinkled as he returned to the phone. “Okay, I just told Miss Ninguang,” he said. “She wants to talk to you.” 

Lumine swallowed the lump in her throat. The school principal. Oh, I’m definitely in trouble… 

“Miss Lumine?” Ninguang asked. 

“Yes, hello, Miss Ninguang,” Lumine answered. “I am so sorry for the inconvenience; I—”

“Please, do not worry yourself,” Ninguang said, her voice reassuringly mellow. “I am just glad to hear you and your friends are safe.” A chuckle. “We were really quite besides ourselves at your disappearance.” 

Lumine nearly cried in relief. “We-We’re not in trouble?”

“Of course not,” the principal said. “We just want to make sure to get you back safely.” 

“Thank you. Thank you, Miss Ninguang.” 

There was a pause, and Lumine could imagine Ninguang’s small smile. “Now, for the safety of everyone, we’ll meet back up in the morning. For now, it would be best for everyone to rest for the night.”

The night? Lumine glanced out of the large office windows, and blinked at the darkened sky in disbelief. Have we really been lost that long?! 

“From the address Aether gave me, there should be an inn within walking distance from where the three of you are. Stay there for the night, and we will be there to pick you up in the morning.” 

“Stay in the inn for the night? Miss Ninguang, I’m so sorry, but all of our money was stolen—”

“Do not worry. We will call them and make the reservation for you. Please, just rest up. I am sure it has been a stressful day for you.” 

“Th-Thank you, Miss Ninguang.” 

“I trust you. Stay safe.” Then, the line clicked off. 

Lumine slowly handed the phone back to the receptionist, legs shaky from the relief flooding her body. Finally, the light at the end of the tunnel… 

“Well?” Childe asked. “What’s the plan?”

Lumine relayed the information about the nearby inn. 

“Will you be needing a car ride there, Mister Ajax?” the receptionist asked Childe. 

Lumine’s eyes flashed to him. Ajax?

“No, thank you,” he quickly said. “We’d better get going now.” He sauntered away from the desk.

Lumine jogged up to him. “Ajax?” she questioned. 

She saw his body lock up. “It’s nothing,” he said.

A scoff. “Obviously not. How did you—”

“What’s going on?” Venti asked, skipping over to them. He looked over at the receptionist desk. “What was that all about?”   

“We’ve got rooms at a nearby inn thanks to Lady Ninguang,” Childe said. “Let’s get there quickly before the night gets even darker.” He rushed out of the building. 

Venti shot Lumine a confused look. “Uh, what’s wrong with him?”

“Who knows?” Lumine muttered. 

Childe had always been very straightforward with her, rarely hiding any secrets. 

So why was he hiding something now?

* * *

The inn—Wangshu Inn—was a quaint wooden building lit up with glowing lanterns and paintings plastered along the walls. The lobby and outdoor restaurant had a few groups strewn about, a diverse grouping of travelers. Thankfully, Lumine, Childe, and Venti didn’t look too out of place. 

The three approached the lady at the front desk, a woman named Verr Goldet, with Lumine asking about their reservation. 

“Yes, we just received that phone call about your situation,” she said kindly. “We have the last two rooms ready for you.” 

“Oh,” Lumine uttered. She had assumed there would be three rooms, one for each of them. “I guess Venti and Childe can share a room—”

“I am not sharing a room with him,” Childe said. 

“Ehe, I wasn’t going to say anything, but I will not be sharing a room with the likes of him either,” Venti retorted. 

“Oh, I am so sorry,” Verr Goldet interrupted. “I didn’t realize there are three of you! The last two rooms are single bed only.” 

Lumine’s jaw barely had time to drop before Venti was pulling on her arm. “Let’s have a sleepover like when we were younger, LuLu! We can build forts, watch movies—”

Childe’s hand slid down Lumine’s arm, shoving’s Venti’s hands away. “The only way that’s happening is in your dreams, buddy.”

Lumine shrugged off both of the boys, leaning in towards Verr Goldet. “There are absolutely no other rooms available?” Any combination of the three of them would surely result in a dead body in the morning. 

Verr Goldet started typing away at her computer. “I’ll double check for you!” 

The sound of Childe and Venti hissing insults at each other made Lumine snap around. “Just. Go to the rooms. I will figure where I’m staying for the night. Alone,” she said definitively, pulling the two keys off the counter and holding them out in front of her. 

There was a pause as the two of them stared at the keys. Childe was the first to grab one. 

“Guess this is goodnight then,” he said. He pressed a swift kiss to Lumine’s forehead. “I’ll see you in the morning, Lumi.” Just as quickly, he left, disappearing into the elevator, leaving Lumine’s forehead (along with the rest of her face) to melt with boiling heat. 

Before she had time to process that, Venti’s cheeks puffed, and he planted a kiss on the side of Lumine’s face. “Goodnight, LuLu. If you still want to pig out on junk food, you know where to find me,” he said, jingling his room key. He quickly disappeared into the elevator as well.

Stupid boys. Stupid boys. Stupid boys. Lumine’s mind buzzed. And who was causing this sensation? 

“I am so sorry, ma’am,” Verr Goldet said, bringing Lumine back to reality. “On such short notice we truly gave you the last two rooms.” She clicked around on the computer a little more. “I can find another inn for you to stay at if you’d like.”

Lumine took a deep breath in. Her body was already feeling weighty with fatigue, and she didn’t want to complicate the situation even more. “No, that’s alright. I’ll just...stay in one of the rooms.” 

Verr Goldet nodded. “Which room would you like a key to?”

* * * 

Standing outside the door, Lumine suddenly felt a pang of anxiety burn in her gut. Was she really about to do this? Was it a completely idiotic choice of hers? It wasn’t too late: she could turn right back around and take Verr Goldet’s offer of staying at a separate inn. 

But it wasn’t like she could avoid this choice forever, lest the two boys kept fighting for eternity.

And this was the right choice. She knew it in her heart, no matter how much pain it would cause the other one. She cared for them both, deeply. But in different ways. One as a good friend, the other...something more. 

She started to push the key into the lock, but stopped herself as images of her walking in someone changing brought blood rushing to her head. 

She cleared her throat and knocked on the door instead. 

Seconds passed, and Lumine’s heartbeat picked up, just a bit. Was it anticipation? 

The door opened, and Childe stood there, fully clothed, thankfully. 

He stared at her in silence, as if in disbelief, not sure if she was really there. 

“Move,” was all Lumine could say, feeling heat creep up her spine.

He blinked, and stood to the side, still silent. Lumine stepped through the doorway, moving her way to the corner of the room, and plopping herself on the armchair. Wordlessly, she yanked a blanket from the bed, and wrapped herself in it, then closing her eyes. 

Maybe neither of them would speak. Maybe it would make the situation more bearable. Childe, please, don’t say anything—

“Take the bed,” he said, pulling the blanket off of her. “I’m not having you sleep in an armchair for the night.” 

She tried pulling the blanket back. “It’s fine. You take the bed.” 

A tsk. “Why are you always so difficult?” 

“I am not diff—”

Childe picked her up from the waist, tossing her on the bed. Then he tossed the blanket on top of her. “There. Just sleep now.” 

Her chest fluttered as her breath shortened under the blanket. “And you say I’m the difficult one,” she grumbled. She kept the blanket over her face for as long as she could, not wanting to make eye contact with Childe. 

After a while, she peeled it off for air, and couldn’t help but glance over to the armchair where Childe was sitting, eyes closed. It was obvious he was uncomfortable, his lanky legs crossed awkwardly, and his neck looking oddly stiff. 

Lumine let out a disgruntled groan, and turned on her side so her back was to Childe. “Sleep in the bed before you break your neck in your sleep,” she said. “Just...stay on your side.” 

A long pause. Lumine thought he had fallen asleep. 

“Are you sure about that, Lumi?” he asked. 

“Do it before I change my mind and make you sleep in the bathtub instead.” 

He chuckled lightly. The bed weighed down as he climbed on. Lumine glanced over her shoulder, finding Childe’s back turned to her. 

“I’m not going to do anything you don’t want me to do, Lumi,” he said, as if sensing her eyes on his back. 

She quickly turned her head back, heat flushing into her cheeks. “Good. Because I’d beat you up.”

“I know you would.” 

They laid there in silence, in the dark for a while, backs to each other. 

Lumine couldn’t fall asleep. And she was sure Childe couldn’t either. 

“Why’d that lady call you Ajax?” Lumine asked quietly. 

“Curious about me? I’m flattered.” 

“Nevermind. Goodnight.” 

“It’s my birth name,” he said. “And that place is actually owned by my father.” 

Images of his luxurious mansion flashed in Lumine’s mind. 

“That entire dock, actually, is mostly his. He, uh, runs a very big fishing company. Very famous. Very rich.” 

“Oh,” was all Lumine could utter. That amount of wealth was something she could only dream about. “And you don’t tell anyone because...?”

“We all have our secrets, don’t we, Pres?” he reminded. “People are greedy. If anyone truly knew who I was, all I’d ever be used for is my money.” 

“That’s...very true,” she responded. How...sad. “Is there a reason why you’re not at some big fancy boarding school then?” 

Childe laughed. “Can you imagine me in that kind of environment? I’m not interested in that at all.” 

The bed shifted as Childe moved around. Lumine glanced over her shoulder again, finding Childe laying on his back, eyes open and staring at the ceiling.

“Besides,” he continued. “If I had gone to one of those schools, I wouldn’t have met you.”

Lumine turned onto her back as well. “You would’ve met me anyways,” she murmured. “You ran into me at the arena, remember?” 

“You think so?”

“Our paths would’ve crossed eventually...right?” 

A beat of silence. Fluttering of breaths. 

“Do you regret meeting me?” 

Something about his words, the way he said them, made Lumine’s entire body seize up. It was almost the quietest she had ever heard Childe speak, the tiniest tinge of fear, like his heart had hissed it out before he even really knew what he was saying. 

“No,” she answered, just as quiet, her heart responding to his. 

Another slight pause. Then a small exhale from Childe, breath lilting in a soft laugh. 

“You know. It’s been quite a lonely existence. Before you,” he said. 

Lumine looked over at him. His hand was resting on his chest—right where that huge scar was. 

It was rare to see him so vulnerable, and her to be just as such. Her past self wouldn’t have been able to fathom this happening with Childe of all people.

But just like she said, she didn’t regret it. 

He understood her, better than herself sometimes. And there wasn’t anyone in Childe’s life who came close to knowing who he really was. They both wore facades of sorts, but not around each other. Not anymore. 

Her hand started reaching out without thought. It was the right thing to do, to comfort him, to connect with him. 

Lumine’s hand sat atop Childe’s. “You’re not so lonely anymore, right?”

She felt his hand flex under hers, hesitant. Then, he relaxed, and his fingers intertwined with hers. “Of course not.” 

The warmth from their hold sparked something in her. The warmth of a promise she had made.

She finally turned onto her side, completely facing him. “Did I do it?” Her amber eyes met with his. “Did I save you?” 

He stared at her, gaze lost in gaze. He smiled, small, but real, genuine, from the heart. “Yes.” He brought her hand to his lips, lips brushing over her knuckles. “You saved me, Lumine.” 

She stared at him, wide-eyed with anticipation, heart beating in a frenzy. She swore her chest was going to burst. 

“I love you,” she said. 

…

Childe was frozen, speechless for once.

He’s surprised. He was never surprised. He was always so calm and collected. 

Should I have even said it? No, she had to. She was going to explode otherwise.

“Lumi, are you serious—”

“Yes, I’m serious. I can’t explain it; I just do and I know it sounds crazy, but you—”

He pulled her close and kissed her. 

He kissed her, and this time, she kissed him back. 

* * *

[part 14]

#genshin impact #genshin childe #genshin lumine #chilumi #fanfiction #fanfic #me #childe x lumine

[unforth]

So, English-Speaking Danmei Fandom... (Part 2!)

...you saw my post yesterday and you’re like, “okay, I made a JJWXC account and now I know how much the thing I want to support costs, how do I do the actual money thing?”

Here, I’m figuring it out right now, let’s do it together. I AM STILL RELYING ON THE GUIDE BY SHOKO TRANSLATES. YOU SHOULD USE IT TOO. I have only the most basic idea wtf I’m talking about, and I only have that much because of this guide. That said, it seems to focus more on mobile, and I’m using desktop, so if you’re also on desktop my thing here might help you?

One, go to the payments page. Fortunately, they’ve made it pretty easy to find...

...by making it the one on that list that’s in RED. Handy, right? No, I don’t know what it actually says. Again, I don’t speak a lick of Chinese. I have some Japanese so sometimes I recognize characters but that doesn’t get me far, ha.

Once you click that (you have to be logged in, of course!) it’ll open up a new screen, with a list of payment options on the right. As far as I can tell, this is what the choices are:

I’m gonna take a stab at international credit card, since that’s...the only one of these I have??? I tried to figure out what the “shenzhouxing” prepaid card is but basically got no where.The Shoko Translates guide does NOT have instructions on this part, at least not for desktop? And the pages look pretty differently on desktop. Anyway. Here goes nothing...I’m mostly relying on C&P and Google translate. *sweatdrop*

So, there are two tabs, but I can’t C&P them and I have no idea what they say. However, the one on the right doesn’t have any boxes for entering stuff?? So I’m gonna stick with the left...OH. It’s a page for doing security questions. Oh god, um.

Alright. So. Put your password in the top box. For the security questions, what they say is basically irrelevant, except it’s worth noting that the default option is apparently not a question - it’s just “select one.” If, like me, you don’t know Chinese...just pick whichever questions, and put in answers you’ll remember. It doesn’t give a damn if your answers are correlated (though, the first one on the list has something to do with dad, and the second on the list has something to do with mom, I recognize those characters, ha. It doesn’t let you pick the same questions twice...and there are two near the bottom that I THINK might be “father’s birthday” and “mother’s birthday.” And one about elementary school. Sorry, I’m distractable. The point is, the questions don’t matter as long as they accept your answers! Yes, it accepts English ones, and no it doesn’t have anyway of knowing if your answers correlate to the questions at all. TAKE A SCREENCAP OF YOUR CHOSEN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS AND SAVE IT BECAUSE YOU’LL NEED THEM AGAIN!!! Do your pattern match thingy, then click the green button, and there’s another page which looks like it’s asking me to re-enter the same answers.

Click the green button on that second page, and there’s a new page with a single line of Chinese text:

“恭喜你，密保设置成功，点击此处跳转到用户基本信息页面”

which, according to google translate, is

“Congratulations, the secret security setting is successful, click here to jump to the user basic information page.”

Guess I’ll click the thing.

ALRIGHT. So, after doing all that, it takes me back to a home page? Awesome. Whatever. As long as it worked. Click on that red one in the navigation bar again, and NOW when you go to the “international credit card payment” one...

AHA THIS IS VERY PROMISING, lol. So, based on Shoko Translate’s guide, that place drop down menu with “17″ written says “USD” after it, and that it’ll get me 10,000 points. It looks like it processes payments through Paypal; based on my experience with Paypal, that means you may not need an actual Paypal account? But I’m honestly not sure, and I’ve had a Paypal account for 20 years, so I’m just gonna, ya know, use that.

A little window pops up that I’m assuming (blind guessing) is a “this will take you to another page/open a new window, is that a thing you want?” and I clicked the option on the right, and yep, it opened my Paypal. I’ve got a card on file, so...I’m just doing that. (I’d...better make sure I actually have $17 in my account... *another sweat drop*...okay yes I have like $80, wooo...oh, crap, I accidentally paid from my business account, sigh...well, there was def money in there but I’d better pay myself back...ANYWAY.)

Do the payment thing!

It redirects back to JJWXC!

It says something in big bold letters and I have absolutely no idea what! But then it loads, and it’s all the Chinese that I now recognize as my personal account page, and when I scroll to the bottom and...

...well I have no idea what any of that says but it sure as hell LOOKS like victory. Now to see if I can actually, ya know, buy a thing! I can’t afford to get everything I’d like to at once - I’m pretty broke - so I’m going to start with Tian Guan Ci Fu. It’s my favorite danmei novel, and one of my favorite books of all time, AND it’s by MXTX so even though I can’t buy MDZS on here, I can still support her. I linked to it yesterday in my previous post (which, again, is here).

Author: 墨香铜臭 

Title: 天官赐福

Direct Link:

https://href.li/?http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=3200611

Now...

1. scroll down to the chapter list and click on the first one that says [VIP] next to it. Click the chapter title.

2. the circled button is “select all”

3. a pop up checks if you actually meant to do that. click the one on the left to confirm.

4. scroll to the bottom, and...

5. ignore those two check boxes, you might think they’re a ToS confirmation or a “are you sure” but they’re actually about subscribing to the book (which is pointless, since it’s finished) at least according to google.

6. ...uh...shit...now I have to figure out which of these buttons actually does the thing...um...oh thank God, it’s in the Shoko Translates Guide. So, there are five buttons right below the line saying how many points I have. The first is “confirm purchase” so, ya know, just ignore the other ones and click it.

7. A dialog box popped up! It says how many I spent and how many I have left and a bunch of Chinese and two mystery buttons...thank God, again, for Shoko translates, apparently they’re “read now” on the left and “read later” on the right. I’m gonna “read now” just to see if it worked...

8. Well...it sure looks like a book??? I have the PDF translations (a copy from before it was removed, and no, I won’t share it), and, um...okay, so the first unlocked chapter is 21...oh hey, I see San Lang (三郎)! That’s, like, the only thing on this whole page I can read! lmao. Anyway, comparing, like, pagination, and the placement of the exactly one thing I can read, YES, this definitely worked!

SO.

This has been your second installment of “disaster dumb white person who speaks no Chinese liveblogs their way through figuring out how the HELL to buy danmei on JJWXC.” If this has been helpful to you, please REBLOG, SIGNAL BOOST, and more importantly, SUPPORT YOUR FAVORITE DANMEI AUTHORS!!!!!!

(I own TGCF. I’m so happy omfg. 😭 😭 😭 😭 )

(and as a reminder: I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. If you have a question that requires that someone know what they’re doing, DON’T ASK ME. Instead, try the Shoko Translates guide I linked at the beginning!!! Here, I’ll even link it again. USE IT. DO THE THING.)

#unforth rambles #tgcf #mdzs #svsss #2ha #erha #guardian #hell if remember what else i tagged yesterday #here guys i did the thing #now it's your turn #and now i've gotta go do my actual job

[lysmune]

Hoarfrost Heart

Human still

Pairing: KaeLumi CW: Kaeya has an anxious breakdown near the end, and a lot of this fic deals with his trauma of not opening up to people.

  Blood is a loyal follower to Kaeya’s truths, a faint whisper that reminds him of everything that could—has—happened if he slivered an inch of his thoughts. It is the scent of iron he could never wash out, not from the thin line of death across the necks of so many people, not from his hands, nor from the soles of his feet, split open as he walks across the evergreen growth of thorns, fed fat from his deceit.

   These are only skin deep, is how he convinces himself as he tucks the unease behind a veiled smile that pinches his cheeks. Flesh wounds will heal but honesty, baring an unguarded heart out upon his sleeve, is a dangerous game and Kaeya has no desire to tempt mortality again.

   One narrow escape is enough.

   Sweet words, sweeter lies, he offers those instead. They always repay him in trust, a valuable currency he never quite could give away, so he sacrifices what spare human feeling he has for the pristine beauty of a white winter when he responds. Clean, untainted, pure.

   It is easier to deal with the disease that is loneliness than a knife to the back.

   A laid-back, duty-shirking cavalry captain, whose dull seaward lineage is made riveting through ten rounds of Death After Noon. That is who Kaeya is.

   That is how he introduces himself to Mondstadt.

   That is the image he’ll set in the starlit traveller’s mind.

   That is who she, with unabashed vocality, politely refuses to believe.

   Lumine chalks it up to the vagueness of a hunch, and he can’t help but roll his eyes, click his tongue. Sure, he might enjoy throwing the same reason around, but it feels like complete nonsense to have it flung back at him. He pouts, intentionally puppy-like and innocent, and pleads with a tone of feigned hurt.

   Lumine laughs.

   Laughs and looks at him with topaz-cut eyes, eyes like honeyed spring water. Kaeya can’t decide whether he should feel offended at her subtle dig, or honoured that he’s made her smile. He settles on brushing it off with a shrug and a, “Well, you’ve got me there.”

   “I know,” is Lumine’s response, a simple phrase that holds much more depth than it lets on, and he wonders if she’s seen just what it is he’s truly hiding.

   The prospect sends chills down his spine. Does she know me, more than I do?

   Kaeya drowns those fears in the tavern, his local safe haven, a place away from his worries and her all-seeing gaze. It is short-lived some nights, languorous on the others, but at least, here, the chatter is comfortable. Leaning forward, he listens to the slurred words, the odd secrets, to keep his thoughts at bay.

   And yet

   And yet, Kaeya finds himself following the wide expanse of her back, her small frame belying her insurmountable strength as she carries every single burden in silence. “Trust me,” she would assure with her sunlit smile. Kaeya would never admit it, but he does—he wants to.

   But what has trust ever given me?

   Rain and ichor, and festering wounds.

   Everything is unflinchingly loud. How laughable, how maddeningly soft of him, to be so weak in his resolve. Against the hushed humdrum dawn, he watches her leave the gates.

   They say if you stare too long at the sun, you’ll go blind. In her presence, Kaeya feels robbed of his vision. He looks to her footprints instead, at the trail of fireflies she leaves in her wake. They don’t hurt him as much as her wayward glances do, not as much as the sincerity in her voice when she reminds him that he can always seek her company when he needs someone to talk to.

   “I won’t stay long in Mondstadt, anyway,” Lumine laughs, laced with melancholia. “Whatever your secret is, I’ll bring it with me.”

   Kaeya’s chest tightens, constricts. “How fun would I be without my mysteries?” he hums and she scoffs.

   “Well, either way,” she says, shrugging while she goes to her feet, “I’m here to listen.”

   He knows, he knows, that’s why it’s proving difficult to keep all his bottled thoughts neatly safeguarded. Everything is easier around her, as though he can just be honest and loose-lipped, and bare, and Kaeya despises it.

   He despises how vulnerable he feels, how vulnerable she makes him feel.

   Each passing day only serves to coddle that parasite of an idea, the frail, tempting whisper at the shell of his ear, gnawing at him endlessly. The words coagulate in his throat, begging to be spoken and put to death all at once, barred only by gritted teeth and sheer willpower.

   Lumine never quite pries him, not when he excuses himself of her company through the blatant lie of working through his commissions; nor when he hides at the corner of the bar when they celebrate her victorious homecoming; nor when his nightly patrols loop him back to her in some cyclical torment.

   She gives him his space, lets him breathe. Kaeya isn’t sure if he enjoys the consideration, the lack of judgement, the misplaced respect.

   A clean-cut, clinical distance maintained. Lumine never quite meets him again, and he never bothers. It’s easier, it’s easier, he tells himself, chanting it through like a broken record.

   It’s easier, Kaeya convinces, even when he finds her perplexed at her usual spot at Good Hunter, bathed in the scarlet red of a sunset.

   “My,” he greets, pulling up the chair reserved for him, “I don’t think I’ve seen you quite so bothered, Traveller.”

  Lumine’s eyes never quite meets his, even when she’s turned her body to his direction. A chill creeps up the length of his spine.

   “I’m leaving for Liyue,” she says under her breath, so quiet it’s near indistinguishable from the wind. “Tomorrow morning.”

   “Oh,” is all Kaeya manages to muster. She doesn’t speak after that. He doesn’t either, all the sentences tangled and fumbling on his tongue, and It’s easier this way, he reminds himself still, even when she’s long receded into Mondstadt’s crowd.

   There’s a ringing in his ears, a loud, obnoxious pounding against his skull.

   Lumine’s leaving.

   The creature in his chest twists, writhing as he inhales deeply, like it is wounded and angry. Isn’t this what I wanted?

   Iron fills his mouth as his teeth bite into the inside of his cheek. He’s never once looked at her, not in the longest time, and before he knows it, Kaeya’s letting his feet lead him to the home she’s staying in, blood cold and hands trembling.

   The last time Kaeya’s ever held a person so warm dear to him, he burned to ashes.

   Something old and ancient stirs, an acquaintance he thought bygone. Wrapping around his shoulders like a winter veil, it hovers, large and engulfing.

  What has trust given you? Trauma sneers. Kaeya swallows. Rain and ichor, and festering wounds. Scorched skin black to its bone, pain still as new and fresh as spring. All that hate and fear, and loneliness.

  His hand rests quietly on the door, shaking softly.

  Intimately, anxiety slithers around his neck, a spurned lover begging for a second chance. His back is soaked in the frozen thunderstorm, the terrorised flesh on his arm throbbing painfully, this memoir he’s carried with him since eighteen.

  I should leave. I should go. There isn’t much point in this.

  Flashes of white dancing at the peripheral of his eye, embers sparking like coals. Kaeya balls his hand into a fist, breaths shallow and ragged, the smell of carbonised ozone filling the air.

  This was a terri-

  “Kaeya.”

  His demons fall quiet.

  Her fingers are warm around his wrist, comfortingly so, a hearth on a winter’s eve, and Kaeya’s heart steadies. Everything does.

  I’m scared, he realises when he keeps his gaze to the ground, when he struggles to look back at her, when he’s being honest to himself past all those pretences, a lost child navigating uncharted wasteland.

  I’m scared, he realises, of learning how to trust. It feels like centuries since he has. What has trust given you? Rain and ichor, and festering wounds.

  Her grip on his wrist tightens.

  A home. A friend. A brother. Tiny, stumbling memories that fill with laughter.

  Kaeya swallows and turns around, and this time, he meets the gold of her eyes. In the dying light of day, she seems to glow brighter still, undying and unyielding.

  They say if you stare too long at the sun, you’ll go blind. As long as it’s her, he can learn to live with that, to have faith in her promises and follow her lead.

  “Are you alright?” Lumine questions, and he’s touched by the worry in her voice. Kaeya allows himself to smile, just barely, and nods.

  “I’m here for that offer,” he says. There’s an unusual tremor in his words, a nervousness that he’s not quite felt in ages, and ages past. She blinks, once, twice, and Kaeya wonders if he’s misread.

  Maybe-

Lumine laughs, then, like chimes in the wind, and Kaeya can’t help but chuckle along. With practiced ease, she slips her hand around his, linking their fingers together.

Kaeya lets her.

“Make yourself at home,” she guides him through the door and into her space effortlessly, seamlessly. Within the four walls she calls hers, in the incandescent ardour of her presence, he feels safe. Safe and heard, and at peace.

  It isn’t likely that Kaeya will tell her everything he’s been shouldering within the day, nor the coming week, or month, or possibly a year, but he knows he eventually will. If it’s her, he wants to, and when she offers him a gentle sunburst smile, he’s certain of it.

 For the first time since eighteen, Kaeya offers his heart, bare and beating, and him.

#genshin impact #kaelumi #kaeya #lumine #genshin fanfic #munewrites #f: genshin #ch: kaeya #ch: lumine #otp: your absence is loneliness #an: i acc cannot process words rn because kaelumi is just #an: mY HEART #an: THEIR DYNAMIC #an: I AM DYING ON THIS HILL

[heyybrittannia]

Reminiscence - First Tempo

A/N: Hey, ya’ll! Been a while since my last posting. Proud to say this is my first foray into the rabid Haikyuu fandom, and it’s an Ukai angsty-fluff fest. So glad to announce that this fic has been brought to you by the Haikyuu HQ SFW Collab! Do check them out. This month’s theme was Amnesia~! Look out for Second Tempo on my secondary blog or DM me for the link.

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“Miss? Miss, are you okay?” 

“Shit! I didn’t mean to--!” You woke to a sea of faces swimming into view and a cacophony of voices and rubber squeaking toward your downed direction. Head throbbing and body aching, you groaned as you tried to sit up, only to find you couldn’t. A wince tore through you as your back hit the smooth, polished gym floor. Sneakers squeaked as more people rushed over to peek in on the aftermath of what you assumed was a wayward serve. “Oi, nothing to see here. Get back in formation and run that second drill. Ingrates,” a gruff, older voice drew closer. Blinking up into the rafters of the gym, another face came into your line of sight. Older, weathered with age and tanned with decades in the sun, the coach knelt beside your head, blocking your view of the ceiling. “Give her some air. That was some hit you took.” “Y-yeah...didn’t see it coming.” He rested a firm hand on your back as you sat up, head spinning. The old man grinned and clapped you on the back, almost knocking the wind out of your smaller frame. 

“Hopefully the other team agrees. Can you stand?” Nodding, you took his arm and rose to your feet. Unsteadily, you gave the old coach a small grin and took a moment to gather your thoughts. He returned it in kind and then glared at the bench. “Keishin!” he barked. A boy with sharp eyes and a shaved head jolted up from his conversation with who you assumed was the team advisor and looked over in your direction. You couldn’t place why, but for some reason your heart rate picked up when he locked eyes with yours. The old man gestured for Keishin to come over and you hung your head to hide the flush creeping over your cheeks.

“‘Sup, gramps?” 

“It’s not like you’re doing anything. Make sure she gets home okay.” The player knelt down to gather your things and let out a small huff of irritation. The old man gave you a knowing smile and returned to barking orders and veiled encouragement to his team. Keishin ushered you from the practice gym with a roll of his eyes. “How fucking stupid can you be?” His gruff words confused you, left you caught between your own irritation and something akin to heartache. “I don’t know what you mean…” you replied softly, gathering your books to your chest. It wasn’t your first experience with Keishin Ukai, or his terse persona. You shared some classes together after your transfer to Karasano, but his mind always seemed to be stuck on volleyball. Part of you admired that one-track focus, but he always left you wondering if there was more to him. 

“Dumbass, the court isn’t for little girls.” You scowled and scoffed at his words, your own volleyball gear tucked discreetly away into the bag the younger Ukai had slung over his shoulder.

“I...I was dropping off a book for Shimada.” He scoffed at your reply and continued to lead you down the block. It wasn’t like Miyagi was a big prefecture, but your head throbbed and the streetlamps were starting to flicker on with the impending sundown. You two cleared another two blocks before he stopped and ground his teeth with a low growl. “What’s the matter?” “...Where do you live?” You had been content to let him lead you through the streets, oblivious to the idea that he didn’t actually know you or your life. A soft giggle left your lips and for a moment, Keishin looked like he was either going to throttle you or run away. “Another block, Ukai...you’re young Ukai, yeah?” He grunted and continued to lead you down the street, your bags slung over his shoulder. “If you’re asking if the old man is a relation, he’s my grandfather.” “It must be hard to live up to that,” you murmured thoughtfully, holding your books close to your chest. “It’s like a legacy thing, right? I mean, even outside of Miyagi the Old Crow is a legend, brutal as his methods are…" “Legacy...sure.” It was your turn to lead as you rounded the corner to your apartment building. You tucked your hair behind your ear and offered a small smile. You held out your hand to take your bag from him and he scowled at you, almost as if he was still contemplating your words. You turned away from him and fumbled for your keys. His hand lingered over your shoulder as you turned the key in the lock, mouth slightly open as if the words were waiting to come out…But they never did. You mumbled your thanks, cheeks a gentle pink as you waved goodbye, a wave he returned with a hesitant hand. The door shut between you and the audible click of the deadbolt sliding into place removed you from his presence, leaving him to simmer in his thoughts on his way back to his grandfather’s. He was a setter, strategic, constantly thinking, but with two sentences you had him reeling. Sure, he’d see you at school in some bullshit class he couldn’t care less about. Sure, you’d probably show up at the family store with your friends. Would it even matter? Would you be willing to pick up the one-sided conversation again? Would you grace him with the casual lilt of your voice or those tiny smiles you seemed more than willing to part with when he was around? Under the orange glow of the streetlights he trudged home, scowl growing darker the longer he thought about how you’d be just another face to forget. He had the game, his team to pour himself into, and you would be just another distraction. When he finally made it home, he crept up the stairs to his bedroom and collapsed on the bed with a groan. He didn’t want to admit that your dazed expression was the last thing on his mind before he eventually drifted to sleep. 

+++++

The shrill chirping of the game whistle broke him from his trance. Fatigue leached into his limbs and left Keishin feeling like he belonged on the bench instead of navigating his team to victory. Those early morning drills the old man had him running before the match as penance for missing practices were brutal. It was the end of the first set, and despite it being a scrimmage match against Nekoma the pressure was on to stay sharp. Old Ukai stood on the sidelines, those same sharp eyes constantly analyzing and adjusting the strategy as the match unfolded despite the near constant jeers from the opposing coach. The turnout for the match was modest considering the rivalry between the schools had been going on for well over a decade. You sidled into the stands with a member from the Karasuno girl’s volleyball team, eyes alight with the energy of the match. This was what you missed, what you thought you’d lose when you transferred schools to the all girl’s academy- the undercurrent of animosity between teams, the excitement of competition. As you scanned the court, your friend giggled at the sight of the tall, muscular wing spiker from Nekoma wiping the sweat from his eyes with his shirt, allowing them a peek of the defined muscles rippling just beneath his red cotton t-shirt. “He’s pretty cute, don’t you think, Y/n?” 

You made a noncommittal noise and continued to scan the court. The whistle blew again, signaling a time-out for Karasuno. The sudden halt in the game drew your attention to the gruff old coach and the shaved head of the younger Ukai. You couldn't quite make out what was said, but your eyes were glued to the bright white number two emblazoned on his back as he made his way onto the court holding his card. “Strange they’re calling him in. Think it’ll change things?” You tore away from his back and pouted at your friend. “I mean...he’s a setter, but he’s not the setter, you know? They must be hurting if they’re calling the benchwarmer in.” You shook your head and returned your attention to the game, eyes resting intently on Keishin’s back as he waited for the play. Brow furrowed, you strained to capture the fleeting recognition as your eyes followed him for the start of the play. The serve from Nekoma was brutal, but dug out and received well by Karasuno. Ukai waited patiently for his moment, giving a short shout as the ball came into his zone. Your eyes remained fixed on him as he set the ball for his own team’s ace, securing another point with a quick attack spike that had you cheering. Hearing your voice echo through the gymnasium, Keishin looked up into the stands and watched with a blushing scowl at your cheering. His teammates congratulated him on a return to rhythm and began another play quickly, all the while he became acutely aware of your eyes on him as he played. Your friend seemed more amused at your reactions to the match than eating the eye candy on the court below. By the end of the match, she was convinced you already carried a torch for a certain bench warming setter. “Y’know...I hear the boys’ team is looking for a new team manager. You should ask Coach about it, Y/n.” “I don’t know, Keimi...Pretty sure the manager needs to go to the same school as the team. Besides, I was hoping I could get back into the game.” “And this would be perfect!” “As a player, Keimi! I don’t know the first thing about managing a boys’ team!” The other girl grinned and nudged you closer to the two Ukai men, waving as she left the gym. “Aah, um, hello, Coach?” “Eh? Oh, it’s you! Come to see the scrimmage?” His gruff voice lilted with the same spark of recognition, but he quietly kept it to himself. You lit up, excitedly recounting your favorite moments while the younger Ukai silently took down the net and moved the match equipment into the equipment storage room. The coach nodded, his sharp eyes resting on you as you settled down. He chuckled, a rare sound from the reaction Keishin gave when he returned to carry another box of match balls off the court. “I take it you know a fair bit about volleyball with that kind of commentary, miss.” His comment made you diminish, sinking back onto your heels as you nervously played with the hem of your jacket. “Ah, you could say that...I just wanted to tell the other setter that he played a really good game!” Your shyness seemed to endear you to Old Ukai that he offered you an even rarer smile. Another pang tore at your chest; was this something else you lost in your abrupt transfer? Did you know him from somewhere through the fog of your spotty memory. The brewing distress bubbling in your thoughts must have read through your wilting expression, but he didn’t draw attention to it. Instead he crossed his arms over his chest and nodded. In your fretting you failed to notice the older man tracing the pink puckering of your skin along your hairline curving harshly in front of your ear. The shiny scar told him all he needed to know about your predicament. Your mother had become a client of his daughter-in-law’s and a sort of lifeline for Keishin during your sudden absence from your shared classes; it was a tragedy that the old man found hard to swallow.  “I’ll pass it on. Is there something else you wanted to say?” Your words caught in your throat as Ukai the younger crossed his arms over his chest and stood next to his grandfather. Under the harsh gaze of two generations of Ukai you floundered, fidgeting as you struggled to get the words out. It was almost too much to bear, having the nostalgia resonate without any true justification. Finally you shook your head and gave a small smile. “I’ll see you around!” And with that, you jogged out of the gym. “What the hell was that about?” “Himewari’s girl was here. She caught the game. Said you played well. Don’t get a big head about it, kid.” Keishin blinked. A compliment? He couldn’t let himself hope that she’d remember everything, but your presence had to mean something. Shaking his head, he mumbled under his breath and hoisted his bag over his shoulder. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel a slight twinge of pride-- you came back to watch his team, to watch him. More importantly, you got to watch him do more than warm the bench. His thoughts went back to the throwaway conversation you had about legacy almost a year ago and for a second he almost fooled himself into thinking you knew what you were talking about in passing. “I’ll see you at home, old man.” ++++ Years flew by, and with their passing you felt the weight of the changes that pulled you away from your youth. Your parents’ sudden split after your accident had you transfer to another school in another city with your father. Your mother stayed behind in Miyagi, the offer to come back and enjoy the stability you grew comfortable with before their eventual divorce always open. You thought it strange in your university days how Miyagi and your memories of it seemed distant, vague. Like they were just barely out of reach so you knew something was missed but you couldn’t quite place what. It wasn’t as if you didn’t completely lose those formative years; sometimes it was a feeling, a general sense of nostalgia when you stepped foot on the court, or when you caught the faint squeaking of shoe rubber on a laminated wood floor. It wasn’t until your mother got sick that you decided it was time to pick up your life and move back in with her. Finding a teaching job wouldn’t be too difficult. You viewed the transition as a chance to start off fresh. When you arrived in Miyagi, your cousins met you at the train station. The drive to your mother’s was awkward at best. Conversation attempts were met with half-hearted replies and years of apathy. It was a relief when your oldest cousin Miyuki pulled into the driveway. Your mother sat in the sunroom, patiently awaiting your arrival. “Mama,” you called, setting your bags down in the foyer. She let you wander the modest home until you found her calmly tending to her houseplants. She smiled warmly and in that moment you felt like maybe this wouldn’t be such a bad change. You rushed over to embrace her; she felt so much smaller in your arms than you remembered. She pushed you away to look up into your face, turning it left, then right. “You haven’t been eating enough, Y/n.” “Mama,” you sighed, pulling your head back. “I’m eating just fine. It’s hard when the kids have exams and training camps.” She leveled a deadpan glare at your diversion and wheeled herself out of the sun room and into the kitchen. “What? You know those kids are--” “They’re your life’s work. I know, Y/n. How can you expect to keep up with them when you’re lagging behind? Take care of yourself!” You blanched under your mother’s chiding. You knew she was right, and as much as it hurt for you to admit you were going to miss your students it wasn’t the time to dwell. As you chopped vegetables for dinner prep, your mother wheeled herself around in her wheelchair gathering spices and the rice cooker. “I...I think I have orientation tomorrow,” you murmured, tossing in your chopped spring onion and moving on to a large daikon radish. “I hope it goes well. I’d hate to get lost.” Your mother nodded, keeping her thoughts to herself. Her expression was wistful, almost sad as you fretted over your new job. It had been almost a decade since the accident left you both in the hospital and changed everything. While you were lucky to be alive, the rest of the family had to wonder which one was luckier-- your mother lost the use of her legs, but you lost whole years. The silver scar along your hairline was the only reminder you had from that rainy evening when your world turned upside-down. “I don’t think you’ll get lost, Y/n. If you do, maybe you’ll find a handsome teacher to show you around!” Your cheeks flushed a deep red at the thought, withdrawing into yourself. “You aren’t getting any younger, you know...and I’d like to see my grandchildren before I’m too old to enjoy them!” “Mother!” you shrieked, cheeks ablaze with embarrassment. You barely had a handle on your life as a single adult, let alone adding a potential husband and child to the mix. The older woman hummed, carefully measuring out rice and stock for the meal, giving you a moment to collect yourself. Tomorrow would come sooner than you thought. 

++

“Here’s the faculty lounge. And this here is hallway B. Any questions so far?” You shook your head and followed the friendly face through the halls. “I’m Takeda, by the way. I teach Japanese literature.” His hand hovered between you, his smile disarming you for a moment before you reached to take it. “Y/n. I’m the new biology teacher. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He nodded and continued to lead you out of the building to the gym complexes. Takeda opened the door to Gym 3 and invited you in; suddenly that familiar wave of nostalgia washed over you as the Karasuno Boys’ Volleyball Team ran their drills under the watchful eye of their coach and team manager but you couldn’t place why. It was a familiar rhythm, though the cadence of their team was still off somehow. Takeda ran over to the sidelines with the coach and you lingered by the bleachers, slowly making your way over. Distracted, your eyes fell on the impressive black banner hanging off the balcony but your legs continued to move. It was the last thing you remembered seeing before everything went black. “Nice going, your majesty.” “Shut up!” “Miss, are you okay?!” “Back it up. I said back off! Give her some air for fuck’s sake.” It was an all too familiar sight when you opened your eyes. Sharp eyes and bleach-blond hair swam into view with the worried faces of who you guessed were the players running their drills. Recognition flickered across the blond thug’s face and he chuckled darkly, helping you to your feet. “Funny seeing you here again.” His voice was a low, rasping growl, a sound you couldn’t place but hovered at the edge of memory.

“What do you mean again?” The question bubbled up without a second thought. Disappointment stung worse than outright rejection. “Have we met before..?”

Takeda rushed over and panicked as you rubbed your forehead with a soft moan. “Y/n, are you okay?!” You waved him off and nodded, searching the thug’s face for some kind of answer. “I see you’ve met Coach Ukai.” The blond’s hand lingered on your back a moment longer than you felt comfortable with, but his name sparked something- recognition maybe. “I thought Ukai was retired...and older,” you replied, earning a scowl from the blond coach. “Unless...no.” The coach scowled, arms crossed over his broad chest. “So you remember the old man but you forgot me?” “I know him by reputation. His coaching method was efficient if a little unorthodox.” Takeda stepped in, glancing nervously between the two of you like he was about to mediate a battle between a lion and a wolf. “But you...I don’t think we’ve ever met before.” “Kageyama, drop and give me twenty. The rest of you, run that new play again. Third tempo.” He brushed past you and Takeda, but you weren’t about to let it go. You followed him to the outside of the gym and watched him pull out an abused pack of cigarettes. There was an odd kind of practiced grace that he exuded as he lit the paper and inhaled fire into his lungs. “What?” “I’m...I’m sorry,” you murmured, shyly looking away. Your words only barely registered, a brow raise and low hum the only reply you received. “There’s these...lapses in my memory.” “Can’t say I’m surprised. You make it a habit of taking serves to the head?” That touched a nerve. Flustered, you jabbed a finger into his chest and glared. “I’ll have you know I was a great player!” He grinned, inhaling another drag and blowing the smoke from his nose like some kind of dragon.

“Doubtful. The court isn’t a place for little girls, Y/n.” “How...I never gave you my name, jerk.” “Didn’t need to. It’s hard to forget a face like yours.” “Ugh, your poor wife,” you groaned, turning back into the gym. Keishin scoffed and flicked the ash from his cigarette with mild amusement. Though it stung to see your doe eyes alight with excitement in his gym again, there was something that warmed him to the thought of you being closer again. He might have been a pig, but that wasn’t going to keep you from finishing your tour. Keishin watched as you retreated, your gray slacks hugging your hips perfectly as they swayed with every step. He chuckled with a shake of his head and finished his cigarette with another long drag. Curiously, he returned to find you giggling with Takeda and Shimizu. While he only caught part of the conversation, he had a feeling it wasn’t anything good. Daichi picked up and had the team running the same play, this time in second tempo to perfect the new quick attack. “...So like I was saying, it’d be great to have you help us out!” Takeda finished. You nodded thoughtfully, eyes wandering to the team as they ran their play. Shimizu nodded in agreement, tucking her hair behind her ear. “I mean, you seem to have a strong sense of play,” he added sheepishly. “Definitely more of an idea than I did when I was asked to be a club advisor.” “Nope. We don’t need a little girl telling us how we need to be playing,” Ukai interjected. “Their formations are wrong. You can’t expect your upperclassmen to carry the team when you’re in a rebuild season. It’s irresponsible to think that you can attain victory while being so sloppy. It’s a disgrace to Ukai’s legacy.” He flinched at your words and unzipped his track jacket, throwing it onto the bench. “Big talk from such a little girl. You’ll eat those words.” The boys stopped their drill to watch the exchange. Nishinoya nudged Tanaka in the ribs and whispered loudly, “He’s not thinking what I think he’s thinking, is he?” Tanaka shrugged, unable to pull his attention away from the exchange as you kicked your heels off and pulled your hair back into a low pony-tail. Takeda stammered out something about a challenge being unnecessary, about how it was just an idea bringing you in as an assistant coach and that it shouldn’t be taken seriously but his pleading was ignored. The boys cleared the court, barring the three upperclassmen and the libero, grateful for the break and the show. You stretched, leaving your gray blazer on the bench with your heels. The feeling of polished wood under your bare feet had your fingers and toes tingling in anticipation. Daichi threw you the ball and you looked up quizzically. “House rules- visitor’s got first serve.” Sugawara nodded from his spot at the net while Asahi and Nishinoya waited on the opposite side with their coach. He grinned sadistically from his spot behind the net. “Good luck, little girl.” You bounced the ball once, twice, three times before falling into form behind the boundary line. Keishin waited for the inevitable serve, unaware of what he possibly was getting himself into...that is, until you threw the ball up in an unmistakable running jump serve. His eyes followed as your frame flew gracefully to meet the ball mid-air in a vicious driving serve. With the game in motion, you bounded back into formation, tracking the ball as the libero failed to dig your serve back to Keishin for a set. Stunned, Keishin let out a low growl and tossed the ball back over the net into Sugawara’s capable hands. “Lucky shot.” Daichi raised a brow with a grin. “Yeah! Betcha can’t do it again!” Noya chimed in. You caught the ball and bounced it again, taking your spot behind the service line. Once again, you flew to meet the ball in another near-flawless jump serve. Even Kageyama stood by, impressed by your form, the hangtime your body had before connecting with the ball. “It’s almost like she has wings,” Shimizu mused. Tanaka stood by, jaw slack, still stuck on the fact you were playing three-on-three in business casual dress. Noya dove to save your serve and Keishin adjusted to set up Asahi for a straight spike. Daichi dove to save, giving you a chance to dart into position when Suga readied his set. “Don’t hesitate!” you huffed, smiling brightly. This sensation, this indelible feeling of joy that came with playing the game had you feeling like it was the only thing that mattered. Your lost memories didn’t matter. The faces left forgotten didn’t matter. Nothing but the moment and the movement that came with perfecting the game, that was what truly mattered. Taking your direction, Sugawara tossed the ball daintily, allowing just enough air-time for you to meet it with another impressive jump. Your cross spike echoed as it connected with the floor, drowning out the grumbling of the head coach eating his words. Hinata whistled and jumped excitedly on the sidelines. “Looks like someone’s eating crow. That’s 2 and 0. Still think it’s just luck?”

With a huff, he glanced over at his three-man team and shook his head. “Fine, you’ve got some skill, but that doesn’t mean shit.” He threw the ball back over the net at you, scowl deepening. The match went on for another four sets before Ukai conceded. His sharp eyes watched your frame loosen up as you readied for another serve. The underclassmen on the sidelines watched with interest, especially Kageyama. The King of the Court analyzed your posture before you approached the line. He almost recognized the way your muscles coiled before the toss, how you crouched before throwing yourself into the jump to complete the serve. “Save it!” Asahi yelled, diving for the serve before it hit the floor. You wiped your brow and grinned at the coach sweetly, chest heaving slightly under your white collared blouse. You glowed as Daichi and Sugawara exchanged high-fives with you. With the color back in your cheeks and the smile you graced him with, Keishin Ukai stood stunned on three levels. How could you waltz back into his gym and not remember him? How could you come back and royally serve him on his home turf with his own team? How could you do it and look so breathtakingly stunning doing it? The boys gathered around and began drilling you with questions, each one more invasive than the last. “Where did you learn to do that?” “Yeah, you serve way better than Kageyama for sure!” “I take it you’ve played before?” “I take it you’re single?” Overwhelmed, you waved your hand and laughed, riding out the endorphin high. Takeda stepped in and handed you a towel and your shoes, dazed by your display of skill. Finally Keishin spoke up after shooing the boys away to the locker room. “C’mon. We’re leaving. Practice is over.” He pulled you by the arm and out of the gym with your shoes still in hand. “And you’re telling me more about where you learned to serve like that.” “Ah, I kind of need to get home…” you began, only to be silenced by his intense glare. “Or not. I guess I’ll tell them to not wait up?” He grunted with a nod and continued to lead you down the sunlit streets. The two of you must have looked odd, mismatched for a dinner date. Could you even call it a dinner date? He brought you to his own small flat, tilting his head inside the door for you to follow his lead. He rummaged through the fridge for something while you settled yourself at the table, legs tucked neatly under you. Greeted with the tinkling of glass bottles, he popped the top off his bottle and handed you the bottle opener, his eyes appraising you all the while. “So, where does a little girl learn to serve like that?” “I played through uni, but spent my second and third years of high school at Niiyama.” He chuckled. “Maybe I should call you little queen instead?” You sipped your beer and relaxed into your seat a little. He settled beside you and continued to watch as you made small little fidgeting movements, fussing with the pleats in your slacks, or how that one stubborn lock of hair wouldn’t stay tucked behind your ear. “So...what brought you back to Karasuno?” “My mother. She’s not well, and...I can’t just let her live by herself. It was easier for me to move out here than for her to come to me.” “And where were you before?” He took another sip, constantly appraising you. Did he dare tell you how he had been delivering your mother’s groceries and driving her to her appointments in your absence? Would it be worth seeing your reaction at this stage in the game? “I was a teacher at Shiratorizawa.” His eyes widened at that as he fumbled for his lighter. “I take it you did more than just teach there.” Your cheeks flushed and you looked down at your knees, holding the cold bottle against your legs. “I also coached the girl’s team until they found a full-time head coach for their rebuild season. The girls begged me to stay on as assistant coach. I couldn’t refuse.” You smiled fondly at the memory of your girls cheering and laughing during your last training camp with them. Your sudden shyness didn’t go unnoticed. “You know...your boys have a great foundation, but they lack refinement.” He shook his head and took a long drag from his cigarette, the tip burning bright red in the enclosed space. “You sound like the old man.” “You can’t bank everything on raw power alone. You need direction, finesse. Strategy. As a setter, as a coach you know this!” You sat in silence for a few moments after your outburst before he broke it with another sigh. “We don’t need another coach, little girl. But maybe...you could come help us with refining our younger players.” You grinned and nodded your head. “And maybe we’ll have a little rematch.” “Sure thing, Coach.” His heart skipped a beat, then two at your gentle teasing. This was comfortable, far more cozy than he would have expected your reintroduction would be. You eased back into his life as if you had never left or forgotten him or your almost-firsts from your years at Karasuno. Part of him wondered if you felt it, too. “Keishin. Call me Keishin.” Maybe forgetting your first meeting wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe a fresh start wouldn’t hurt, so long as he could keep it professional. One beer turned into two and you found yourself giggling into the table. Never one to handle your liquor, you hummed tunelessly while the blond watched. He slid in beside you and pulled your beer from your spot at the table, essentially cutting you off for the evening. You pouted sweetly at him and pushed your hair behind your ear again, his eyes following the motion of your fingers running through the dark hair. He caught the silver thread running the length of your hairline behind your left ear and stopped himself from asking the obvious question. “You want to ask about my scar. Figures a setter wouldn’t miss a detail like that,” you slurred with a giggle. “I don’t remember, but I’m told there was a car crash. Drunk driver, roll-over. My mom made it out worse than I did in the long run...but…” Your face grew somber, mind reaching for something just out of reach. “I have problems remembering anything that came before that accident, Keishin.” There it was-- the ghost of pain raking its cold fingers between you. Keishin took another swig from his beer and let the silence between you grow heavy until he couldn’t stand it any longer. “Must have been pretty traumatic for you to forget.” You nodded numbly, smiling grimly. “They call it dissociative amnesia. I still get flickers, but...It’s like being trapped in a thick mist. And everything that came before being cut out of my mom’s car is on the other side, but...but I can’t…” Your eyes filled with frustrated tears as you struggled to get the words out. “Sorry,” you sniffled. Keishin rested his hand on your back, slowly rubbing small circles into the thin fabric of your collared shirt as you fought to collect your emotions. You leaned into his touch and rested your head into his shoulder letting the stray tears fall. Sensing his window was opening, he seized opportunity with both hands and pulled you closer, still rubbing those small circles into the small of your back. “I remember you used to come to every game when you were a Karasuno student.” A hiccup bubbled up from your chest and had you relaxing into his hand. “I remember thinking you were just there for the show, to stare at us guys on the court, but you kept proving me wrong.” He pulled you into the warmth of his arms, carefully gauging your reaction, and rested his chin on the top of your head as he continued. “You might not remember, but I definitely do.” “Nothing gets past you, huh?”

You felt his grin against your hair. “Like a steel trap, Y/n.” Keishin’s grin wavered as you settled into his warmth. He wanted to tell you how flustered he could make you with a look, or how you could get his heart racing when you screamed his name during his matches; you were always loudest when he came onto the court. In the back of his mind he wondered if maybe seeing the old man would help jog your memory. Would it even matter this late in the game? His fingertips danced gently against the seams of your blouse, his nose burying into the dark, silken waves of your hair. The slow, steady rhythm of your breaths tipped him off on your dozing. Your phone lit up with a text notification; it was Takeda. Jealousy was a hunger pang he hadn’t felt since he was a student. I.Takeda- Hey, Y/N! I wanted you to have the practice schedule just in case you changed your mind. :D See you soon!

It was stupid for him to be jealous. He was just a coworker, and one kind enough to show you around. It was harmless. Four-eyes was harmless. As you rested against his chest, a singular thought replayed on a loop in the back of his mind. “Maybe I’m taking this too fast for her.” You nuzzled into his warmth with a small, dopey grin and for a moment he swore he heard you sigh his name. For now it would be enough for him. He’d tuck your forgotten schoolgirl crush away carefully between sheets of rice paper. He’d remain cautiously optimistic that maybe you’d look at him with those same doe-eyes, that you’d give him the chance he didn’t give you before your world went black. You were weightless in his arms, unsurprising considering your size. Keishin carried you to his bedroom, carefully pulled your slacks off one leg at a time, and tucked you into his bed. He stood in the doorway, watching the steady rise and fall of your chest before pulling out his own cell phone. The glow of the screen was a soft blue as he searched his contacts for a familiar surname. He let out a long sigh when the woman on the other end picked up, voice terse, frantic even. “Himewari, you can call off the search party. She’s here.” “Keishin, thank goodness! I was so afraid when she didn’t come home.” He winced, groaning in shame. “Yeah, that’s my fault. I...kinda twisted her arm into coming home with me. But she’s safe. Asleep, but safe.” “She just couldn’t stay away, could she?” The amusement playing in the older woman’s voice was painfully apparent. Fingers fumbled with the lighter as he clenched a cigarette between his lips. “Could have told me she was an ace, Himewari.” “And ruin the surprise? It broke her heart to leave her girls, Keishin.” “I can only imagine. Get some rest, Himewari. I’ll bring her back in the morning.” “Be careful with her, Keishin. And don’t forget my groceries Thursday.” 

~ 

Morning came too soon for the former setter. Sprawled out on the couch, still dressed in his tracksuit, he groaned out into the pale yellow light. His headband sat forgotten on the coffee table with another two empty bottles and a dingy ashtray. He cracked a tired, tawny eye open to find you humming and bouncing on the balls of your feet as you scoured the kitchen for mugs. He sat motionless on the couch for a few moments more until he heard your footfalls draw closer. He could smell it- the hot, welcoming bitterness of the dark roast swilling in the mugs you brought over. A small smile crept over his features before he could stop it. It felt right, you sashaying through the room, legs bare with coffee to share was something he could grow used to. It was the most recent sleepover you shared with him since you began working at Karasuno. Your workshops with the volleyball club ran later and later until Takeda was forced to shut the lights down and you would begrudgingly leave the game on the court. Dressed in one of Keishin’s oversized t-shirts, you pulled your hair to one shoulder and gently nudged him with a warm hand. “Keishin,” you whispered, smiling softly when he inhaled deeply. “C’mon, Keishin.” He woke and wrinkled his nose. “‘S’early, little girl.” “It’s nearly eleven. We’re going to be late for practice.” “I’m going to be late, little girl,” he sighed, gratefully taking a hot mug from your hand and scowling after he took a sip. “Shit, too fucking sweet,” he growled out. You stifled a giggle and shook your head, gesturing at the mug you had placed next to his cigarettes. “Coffee isn't supposed to be sweet, Y/n.” “It’s not for you, genius.” You stood up, rising to your full height and cocked one hip to the side, leveling him with a bemused smirk all your own. In a way, it all felt comfortable, like this was how life was supposed to be. Even with sleep weighing his features down he was handsome. His hair was spun gold glinting in a pale yellow-gray morning. The spark of his lighter and the plume of blue-gray smoke that followed only drew your gaze back to him, the casual curve of his spine as he huddled over his first of what you learned would be many cups and travel mugs worth of coffee to offset the hangover he no doubt was still feeling. “Why do you always take the couch, Keishin? Don’t trust yourself?” You leaned into him, the flash of collarbones and soft skin enticing, teasing him to reach out and brush those long fingers along the line of your chest under his t-shirt. “I...uh, we’re colleagues. Coaches, it wouldn’t be--” “I’m just teasing you, Keishin,” you giggled, brushing his cheek with your lips in an innocent peck. His cheeks betrayed him, flushing deep scarlet as you withdrew to the bedroom. He took a drag and shook his bedhead. “Besides!” you called out as you hurriedly dressed for your own day. “I’ve got a meeting with the vice principal about the girls’ team. Guess their coach left them in the lurch and someone let slip a few things from my resume.” You bounded out with your messenger bag and your heels in hand, dressed in a dark blue pencil skirt and pale gray quarter-sleeve blouse that set his blood on fire. “Want me to walk you?” You shook your head and flashed him an impish grin, one he had grown to love over the past months. “We’re both going to the same place, after all.” “I think I can manage, Keishin.” He furrowed his brow, reaching out to grab your hand to stop you as you pulled away from him. “Y/n, let me.” It was your turn to raise an eyebrow. “Let me walk you just to make sure you get there safely.” There it was again, that pang of unease ripping through him like a razor through wet paper, like if he let you walk out that door he’d never see you again. “Please,” he murmured, dropping his hand. His cigarette smoldered in his free hand to the filter, forgotten in lieu of your departure. You hesitated, eyes furiously searching his face for answers as he pouted back. “Fine. But hurry up. I can’t be late again, Keishin!” 

~

You bounced anxiously in your seat in the vice principal's office. The club advisor, a stern looking woman with her graying hair cut short sat beside you. "So, I hear you coached at Shiratorizawa."

"Um, yes. Assistant coach." You sunk a little under her imperious gaze and she cracked a smile. "You're in the math department."

"I am. It goes without saying that we need a coach. Be a shame for you to squander your skills." Nodding thoughtfully, you chewed on the inside of your cheek and let her finish. So they didn't know about your impromptu workshops with the boys' team. Silently you thanked Takeda for his discretion. 

"So, how about it? I think we could really give our third years a worthy send off with you at the helm."

You couldn't fight the smile if you tried. Taking her hand, you shook it firmly and breathlessly murmured, "When do we start?"

~

"RUN IT AGAIN!" Daichi roared from the back line, Suga serving the ball over the net, only to be received by Noya on the other side. Asahi watched on as Yamaguchi fumbled a block and Tsukishima scoffed at the loss. Ukai scratched the back of his neck as Shimizu made notes on her clipboard for you to review. She and Yachi appreciated having another female presence in the club, even if it was a clandestine partnership at best. "Come on, guys, where's the hustle?" 

"Himewara's not here," Takeda murmured thoughtfully. Ukai nodded absently and said nothing. "Sometimes I think the team plays better when she's around."

"Asahi, get in there and show Tsuki how it's done. Hinata, where's the focus?" Keishin snarled. Takeda shrank under his roar and sighed as Ennoshita missed another block. "Just because Himewari isn't here doesn't mean you can just dick around!" 

The attention in the gym was pulled to the opening of a door and suddenly all eyes were on you. Your chest was heaving, a smile lighting your features and making you seem years younger. It was the same look you had when you had a chance to play. 

"Hime-chan!" Noya hooted, bounding over only to be held back by Asahi by the tail of his shirt. "Lemme go, Asahi!" Your laugh carried through the gym like music on the wind as you jogged over, heels in hand to the coach and managers. 

"I got the job," you huffed breathlessly. Keishin's eyes widened. All the air seemed to be sucked out of the room, the edges of his vision growing hazy. A sickening knot in the pit of his stomach twisted in on itself and it was hard to breathe around the nagging pang of angst. It was what you wanted, to be involved in the game again. Why couldn't you be involved in his? 

Takeda spoke first, hand resting supportively on the coach's shoulder. "That's great! Congratulations! I'm sure you'll be leading our Lady Crows to victory in no time!" 

"Guess that makes you the Queen Crow, right, Himewari?" Tanaka grinned. Hinata jumped for reciprocal joy, squealing about how he couldn't wait to watch you kick their counterpart team into shape to take the W. 

"What about our workshops, coach? We were just beginning to perfect that sneak attack with Hime-"

"Stop, stop, guys," you began, pushing the boys away as they closed in. "I'll still be around to help, but my team will have to come first." That one hurt- a wince flitted across Keishin's usually stoic face, an expression he had hoped you'd miss but he knew he wasn't slick or lucky enough for that. 

Did it mean that you'd stop coming around? No more impromptu sleepovers? No more dinner dates with Shimoda and the other alums? No more whispering sweet nothings into your hair as you snuggled into his pillows? The longer he thought on what your new position meant, the sicker he felt. Without another word, he brushed past the team and beelined for the door. 

"Michimiya's going to be excited to get started, Himewari," Daichi commented off handedly as you rose on your toes to see past the sea of bodies blocking Ukai's departure from view. 

"Excuse me," you sighed, following the same track set before you by the setter-turned coach. You found him in his usual spot, leaned against the brick and mortar on the far side of the gym, puffing away at another cigarette to calm his fraying nerves. "Keishin. Keishin, what's the matter?" 

Silence. 

Undeterred, you pushed on, grabbing him by the muscular forearm. "Keishin," you said firmly, eyes burning up at him with concern. "You can't tell me you didn't see this coming…

"This is huge, Keishin. We can both lead our teams to victory without being rivals. Keishin, say something!"

He continued to blow smoke into the midday sky wordlessly. His mind raced, fitfully searching for a rationale behind the sudden surge of emotion he felt. He should be proud, but he only felt threatened. What was he going to be to you after today? Would he just be another face? Would you forget him again? 

"I won't be just another forgotten memory again," he murmured, more to himself than his audience. You pulled on his black sleeves and frowned up at him, repeating his name as if it would pull him back to you. 

His lips tasted like smoke and salt, the flash of hair and skin that followed, the tangle of fingers through raven hair and the sensation of all the air forcing from your lungs made you dizzy. Keishin gave a gentle tug of your lower lip with his teeth and pulled your head back by the hair, baring that delicate throat to his wandering mouth. 

"I won't be forgotten, little girl," he growled, the rumbling of his voice sending shivers down your spine. "Be mine and earn your wings, little girl." The drag of his teeth along your neck sent you into a frenzy. "Or just be mine." 

Whimpering, you wrapped your arms around his neck and fell into his advances. It was always him; his face was always the one just out of reach when you'd struggle to remember your life before the accident. There was never another after and there never would be. 

#haikyuu!! #haikyuu!! hq #ukai x reader #keishin ukai #ukai fluff #big daddy crow needs more loving

[rainworldslugcats]

Hi ! Just wanted to ask , how do you put your own slugcat skin in game? I know it's works with fancy slugcat mod,,, but i don't know how to use it ;-; , can you teach me

i can try! although i only learned most of this very recently, so i’m not the most knowledgeable. i also use BepInEx as the modloader.

im going to start with the assumption that you already have fancy slugcats installed and working, after this you’re going to need the custom assets and custom tails mod. both can be found on RainDB.

keep in mind, each of these mods contains a read me with more information, so reference those if you don’t understand something in my explanation. everything is under a read more as this post is very long.

ive also attempted to be as detailed with this tutorial as possible.

and lastly, please read through the entire tutorial before starting work as it’s very likely you’ll end up having to redo things otherwise, mostly because of the way custom tails functions.

part 1: custom tails

we’ll start with adding a custom tail, the custom tails mod requires ConfigMachine, fancy Slugcats and Custom Assets. (publicity stunt is only required if you still use Partiality, not if you use BepInEx) download and apply these mods first. (the .dll files)

once you’ve downloaded custom tails you’ll find an “examples” folder in the .zip file, this contains the files you’ll edit to make your own custom tail. 

each of the example tails is shown on the thumbnail for the custom tails mod, so you can get an idea of how they look in action.

sidenote: the devil tail png is completely white, and thus it can be hard or impossible to see on a default photo viewer, open it on something like paint tool sai and add a colored background. once you’ve selected which base you want to use, extract (or just copy and paste) that tail png along with its txt file somewhere you can work on it, desktop works just fine. now you can make whatever modifications you want to the tail, i’ll use my firecracker tail as an example.

note: if you leave parts of the sprite purely white, it will get colored in with whatever color you choose in the fancy slugcats menu, its essentially transparency.

once you’re happy with how it looks, it’s time to apply it. firstly, change the tails name into something recognizable, like FRtail.png

now take your txt file and name it the same thing you named your tail, and make sure to be exact or things might break.

then open said txt file and change the default tail name into your tails name.

once all that is done, you have to navigate into the atlases folder in your rain world install. to get there open up steam, find RW and right click it in the menu to bring up this text box

choose “properties” at the very bottom to open up this menu

select “local files” on the side, and when you see this screen press “browse” and it will open up the root folder of RW.

(i have quite a bit more stuff in my install folder due to mods, so don’t worry about not having all of it) from here you want to open the “Assets” folder near the top, from there you open Futile > Resources > Atlases.

now all you need to do is put both your tail png and txt files into Atlases like so:

note: capital letters matter, if you used capital letters in your name you have to use those same capital letters in every name, for example if you use frtail.txt and FRtail.png it wont work. it all has to be the same in every case.

once that’s done, go back to your RW root folder (the one where RainWorld.exe is located) and open the “ModConfigs” folder, from there go to Fancy slugcats > custom heads. it will be empty if you haven’t made any modifications yet.

once youre here, make a new txt file and name it the same name you’ve used for your tail.png and txt files. then open it and type the same name inside it, don’t forget to save.

now you should be ready to open up RW, remember to enable the required mods: fancy slugcats, custom assets, custom tails, config machine and publicity stunt (partiality only)

note: if your game opens up to a black screen and wont start, it usually means something is wrong with the txt files, either you forgot to add a name inside one of them, you forgot to save when you added the name, or you’ve misspelled the name. double check all the names for your png and txt files.

now then, let’s get to adding your tail to your slugcat

once the game is open, navigate to settings and open mod config, from there you should see custom tails in the menu. once here type your custom tails name into the “sprite” box, remember to be exact with the name.

if the name shows up red, you’ve made a mistake somewhere in the process, if it shows up as white, its been successfully added!

if you touch the sliders it will add a gradient to your tail and undo/cover up any sprite changes, so keep them as black. you can also change your tails size in the fancy slugcats menu as usual.

now you have a snazzy tail to show off to the world! “.......but wait” i might hear you say “my tail isn’t the same color as the image i made!”

that’s because whatever color you apply to your slugcat in the fancy slugcats menu gets applied on top of the image you made. meaning if your slugcat is a rather more dark color, it will make your tail darker as well. meaning not only will bright aspects of it not be bright anymore, the base of your tail will be darker than your base slugcat color, thus it wont match. this is a problem i ran into as my slugcat is purple with bright accents.

the transparency i mentioned earlier helps with this “if you leave parts of the sprite purely white, it will get colored in with whatever color you choose in the fancy slugcats menu, its essentially transparency.“

you can use this transparency to make the base of your tail match the rest of your slugcats body, now all the white will be filled in with whatever color you’ve chosen in the menu, however it still wont fix all other parts of it having the base color applied to them.

now if your base slugcat color is white, you don’t have to worry about any of this at all! the tail will stay how you made it!

if your slugcat will be lightly colored but not completely white, or your dark slugcat will have dark markings, this is all stuff you can reasonably account for while making the markings themselves (once you’ve made the txt and png files and put them in the right places, you can edit the png in the atlases folder directly) but if you want to do something more close to my slugcat, we’re going to have to do it by changing the color of slugcat using sprites.

part 2: sprite edits

so, to get around this problem and to get the freedom to edit the sprites however we like we’re going to be editing each sprite separately. this way you can virtually add anything you like to your slugcat, antlers, spikes, fur. although this might require you to change the position of the sprites to get them to line up properly in-game.

i’ll only touch on recoloring sprites as i haven’t edited the shape of any of them yet, i’ll update this tutorial with extra info once i’ve tried it out myself.

some of slugcats sprites have multiple versions that will get bundled in order to make the animations you see in game (head, arms, legs)

others are static sprites and only have one version (tail, body, hips)

firstly, you’ll need to find the sprites you’re going to edit, all of these sprites are included in the custom assets zip file you downloaded from RainDB.

you’ll find slugcats sprites in Unpacked Atlases > RainWorld, extract this folder to make looking for the correct sprites easier.

note: all of the sprites are white by default, this makes them incredibly difficult to see in a folder without opening them in some external program, thus i’ve changed my windows settings to make the folder background dark (this can be found in Personalization)

this folder includes the sprites of most of the creatures in RW, so picking out slugcats sprites can be a tad... difficult. thus i'll name every single sprite you’ll need to hopefully make it easier. BodyA, HipsA, PlayerArm0 to 12, FaceA0 to 8, FaceB0 to 8, FaceDead, FaceStunned, HeadA0 to 17

aaand all the leg sprites are in a png because they have so many names

most of them can be found bunched up together in the RW folder, a tail texture isn’t included as that will still be handled through custom tails as detailed above.

now i suggest you make some way to store all of slugcats sprites neatly, as it will save you a lot of hassle in the long run. i separated all body part sprites into folders.

now you’re free to make any edits you like to the sprites. however, i’ll go about this tutorial with the expectation the only edits are color edits, not shape edits, as again i don’t have experience with those.

once your sprites are all colored and neatly organized its time to compile them, each body part gets compiled into their own bunch (arms in one, legs in another) for this you’ll need a program called texture packer, i can’t provide a direct link because my post might get thrown into the void by tumblr, there is however a direct link in the custom assets read me.

once you’ve downloaded texture packer, heres an easy to follow short video tutorial made by AndrewFM on how to use it.

once your sprites are bundled you’ll go through the same process as with adding your custom tail. i’ll use arm sprites as an example.

you’ll get a png file with all of your edited sprites in them, as well as a .json file that contains placement information, turn that json file into a txt by renaming it (yourarmname).txt

now open the txt file and rename every single part to whatever name you decided to give your arm sprites, but keep the numbers at the end of the sprite names, they are important.

note: do not rename the individual sprite png’s before they are packed

now that your txt and png files are ready, drop them into the same Atlases folder in your RW install as you did with your custom tail, and similarly add another new txt file into ModConfig > FancySlugcats > CustomHeads and rename it to the same name you named your sprite, and add that exact same name inside the txt file itself.

if the game yet again refuses to start, remember to double check the names in the txt files.

now we’re ready to apply the sprites in-game, open up RW and head to setting > mod config,

depending on which sprites you’ve edited, you’ll need to enter the sprite name into the specific field it belongs to, for me i’ll add the name to the arms section. you’ll get more details about what goes where when you hover over the text field.

for some of them, you’ll need to include A at the end of your sprite name, but only in the mod config menu

this shows where they are needed.

now you need to repeat this process for each bundle of slugcats body parts and apply them. note: body and hips despite both being part of slugcats main body gets applied separately, and even though they only have one sprite each you still need to pack them with texture packer and go through the same process as for the others.

this all might seem tiresome, and in certain ways it definitely is, but once you’ve gotten the hang of the packing, adding to folders and applying the process gets a lot faster.

once all of your sprites are applied, legs, hips, body, head, arms, tail. you want to make sure in fancy slugcats settings to make your slugcats color pure white so it wont affect your custom sprite coloration in any way. however you can apply color to slugcats face through the menu as usual.

there is a known issue where slugcats fists when climbing poles don’t get colored, this issue currently can’t be fixed easily.

the end result? quite a fancy slugcat indeed!

if i made any mistakes, or there’s extra info i should add, then message me and i’ll edit the post accordingly!

if there’s anything you can’t figure out no matter what you try, join the RW discord and ask people in the modding support channel, thats where i got most of my information from!

hopefully this is helpful to some of you! i spent quite a while making this tutorial so reblogs would be very much appreciated!

#Anonymous #rain world #rainworld #rainworldask #video game #modding #helpful #customization #mod #tutorial

[tundrainafrica]

Title: A Tale of Two Slaves (12/17)

Summary:  “Soulmates don’t exist. Fate doesn’t exist. Everything is a choice.” At that moment, Levi could only watch as she made the choice for him.“

Reincarnation AU. Levi remembers everything from their past life. Hange doesn’t.

Other Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Link to cross-postings: AO3

Recruitment Season.

Having been recruited himself, Levi was somewhat familiar with the timeline. Or at least he should have been familiar with it.

When he had suggested showing up for one of Mikasa’s tournaments, his end goal had been to at least get Hange out of her hole, the same way she had pulled him out of his own slump. With nothing else on his mind though leading up to the tournament, he found himself a little too surprised at the large crowd that showed up that day at the entrance of the school.

And Levi was familiar with the clipboards, the iPads and the way those particular people strode into the school with some sort of purpose.

The school so close to their largest city was much larger than the school he grew up in. Back in his old school, there were only two to five scouts at a time for at least ten different sports. There, by the entrance of Public School No. 104, the crowd was large and Levi was overwhelmed.

For a second he doubted whether or not he had read the entries on the events page right. That second became a few seconds and maybe even a minute as Levi recalled that there had been multiple events slated for that day. There was a huge possibility that he could have read it wrong.

He had thought ahead enough at least to bookmark the page on his phone. Whether or not he had thought ahead to bookmark it because of any lingering doubt or because it had been just a little too convenient to click the star on his phone was a question he quickly brushed off even before he could entertain it.

What was important then was he had something to assure him that he hadn’t been a total idiot taking Hange to that school.

If we can’t watch jumping, maybe they have diving or gymnastics or something. Levi thought to himself in that few second gap pulling the phone out of his pocket and scrolling through it.

Those were all consolations though. The grand prize was still the high jump event and he would hate himself if he had read the time wrong. The chances were small but the visit to the school had been crucial for many reasons.

For one, Hange had not gone out since her parents gave her a deadline to vacate her apartment. She hadn’t seemed completely alive since then, almost reminiscent of Levi’s own bout of isolation. She didn’t do much either to ask for help, to open up about her own turmoil.

It had been just the two of them clearing out years worth of clutter in the apartment for hours on end, which soon turned to days on end, save for those small few hours to get groceries. The silence which only further alluded to the lifelessness of the room, was deafening.

And in his own way, Levi found himself almost obliged to reignite something within her.

On top of that, Levi hadn’t written anything for three days. At first glance, that wasn’t an issue. Overtime though, with nothing much to do, with the decision to stay at home with Hange, he had started writing more, organizing thoughts on Petra, Zeke, Erwin, Farland, Isabel and he had written thousands of words, tens of pages but Levi was sure, the story was far from over.

There were glaring holes that he had dug through the deepest pits of his memories trying to fill. His documents were riddled with empty bullet points, blank spaces and sometimes even half complete sentences any other casual reader would have never made sense of.

There were inarguable truths though with what he had pieced together. Many of the people he had met had died, and he felt the raw pain with every single one of them in his dreams, only manageable by the reminder that they were all alive and were merely dead as characters in his dreams.

In his dreams and in his stories, he was a soldier. Erwin died and Hange had taken over as a commander. And somehow, they had ended up outside the walls, lying together in the forest and Levi could have sworn he didn’t want to leave.

But for what? Why?

For a time before that, he had been in the forest with that blond doctor too and Levi had hated his guts then too.

But under what context?

Keep writing and you’ll find out. Something nagged at him. But it was as if he had written everything. The dreams just replayed. The memories of familiar strangers only got more and more vivid. And the dreams he saw and the thoughts he reflected on only served to add detail to the sceneries and to the faces as Levi wrote them.

But he knew how they looked like in real life, there was no need to describe their faces any more than he already did. And what did scenery have to do with anything? From what he remembered, half of what he dreamt of was within walls anyway.

But there was a lead. Mikasa Ackerman. He remembered voices. He remembered raw care and concern. And he was sure there was still something to probe on those names. He tried describing her on paper with just the name as some sort of lead, but it proved futile.

Any description he attempted to shoehorn into his stories seemed like a lie. It felt almost idiotic and almost obsessive then and Levi was very careful with his words as he asked for directions then.

They gestured for Levi to follow and he found himself keeping a good distance from the crowd as they walked through the school grounds.

From his place behind them, he had heard the name ‘Ackerman’ mentioned a few times among the college scouts, whether they were talking about him or Mikasa, he didn’t probe. He didn’t want to know either. Watching the high jump event might be painful enough for him and he didn’t want to unnecessarily add any more salt to that wound.

“Levi, you sure this is the way to go?” Hange asked.

“That’s where the scouts are going,” Levi said.

Hange pulled out her phone. “I’ll look for a school map.”

Levi shrugged. “The school is bigger than I expected. Let’s cover some ground while you search.” He kept his eyes ahead, keeping the crowd at least in his peripherals as he scanned his surroundings.

As they walked through the main path of the school, the crowd gradually dispersed. Then for Levi who had been so religiously following the crowds since almost a minute ago, it became a game of which crowd was biggest.

Because everyone should be here for Mikasa Ackerman right? Levi thought to himself. He couldn’t wait for Hange to navigate. He pressed on, following the biggest crowd before they turned the corner and disappeared completely.

The crowd may have been for Mikasa, or it could have been for any other athlete or any other sport. He never did find out.

“Levi, I think we should turn around here… The high jump event should be---” Hange started.

“It’s Connie Springer! Connie Springer’s batting next!”

From his view along the main road, partially obscured by tall trees and bushes dotting the landscape, Levi hadn’t gotten a good view at first. And if it hadn’t been for the familiar name, maybe Levi never would have sped up, or gone as fast at least as his limp and his crutches would take him.

He turned the corner, the largest crowd forgotten. He made good distance, even on the rocky landscape that made up the smaller path.

“Levi, be careful. You might trip.” Hange asked. “Besides, where are we going? The high jump event i...”

Hange’s protests eventually faded into something unintelligible from behind him. If he had actually tried to listen, maybe he would have heard whatever else she was saying. It was as if his mind knew, anything she said was futile. He was hell bent on making that detour and he was 100% that detour which was only a few feet away, would give him enough of a satisfying answer.

We can check the venue after. Just give me this few minutes. Levi had been in enough high jump tournaments to know they lasted a fair amount of time anyway.

The smaller path opened up to a field. There were athletes on the field clad in red, one on the field clad in green. Levi had enough stock knowledge on Major League Baseball to know exactly what was happening.

The innings were all on the scoreboard, large enough for Levi to see from his angle. Visitors were leading by three points. The home team had one more out left before the game would be declared over. And out on each base was one player clad in green.

It was a decisive possession for green. Levi surmised even if it hadn’t been Connie Springer who had caught his attention then, maybe he still really would have stopped to watch.

A lot of the crowd looked like they were thinking the same thing. Even with the game almost over, people were still approaching the field.

Connie Springer…

Levi heard the whispers among the scouts. Good runner. Mediocre Batter. And maybe he had felt a little offended for Connie when someone had joked that they should just bid the regionals and nationals goodbye.

Connie was better than that. Levi was sure.

And just like Levi had thought, Connie seemed unfazed. From his position at the side of the field, Connie approached the home plate at a steady yet rapid pace, bat in hand.

The whispers around him only started to get louder as Connie got into a position to bat.

Connie was a mediocre batter and a good runner at the same time. And Connie's hand position as he held the bat was a remnant of just that. Connie held one hand behind the mid section of the bat and he gripped it as if he weren’t going to let go any time soon.

He’s gonna bunt. Levi didn’t need the whispers for that commentary. Just as expected, that was a safe play for someone deemed a ‘shitty batter’ by the cruel audience.

Connie gripped the bat and positioned it. The pitch came a second later. And in that small span of a few seconds, Levi’s expectations were subverted, and as proven by the gasps around him, it looked like the audience’s expectations were subverted as well.

Connie had taken a risk. And in the next few seconds, everyone would find out if it were a good risk. He had swung the bat all the way through, there was a clank of the ball and the ball flew. Looking at the blue and white of the sky, Levi had to squint to see it.

It was a bunt fake. Levi soon realized. But he quickly dropped that thought as he followed Connie along all the bases. He was a great runner and Levi struggled to follow him through the bases. He felt his heart thumping as he followed Connie’s path.

He could hear screams from the audience to run. And Connie was screaming much louder as he ran even after having reached the second base.

Levi was sure he could have stopped there but Connie continued to run, screaming to the others to run as well. And by the third base, Connie could have stopped, and they could have secured a tie. The coach by the third base, held his hands up high, as if to tell Connie to take those three points.

It’s a tie game, no need to. And as Levi soon found out, any efforts to move in the next few seconds would be risky. Levi followed the ball which was already making the rounds of the bases. And when he looked back to third base, he found it empty. Connie was still running.

There were angry screams and Levi wouldn’t be surprised if it was from the coach. Levi didn’t bother to look anywhere else though to check. The next few milliseconds, he dedicated to Connie who was still dashing towards the home base.

Levi’s breath caught that split second when the catcher bent over to grab the ball.

But he still has to tag Connie. The catcher made the mistake of approaching Connie on the lane connecting the bases.

Or was it a mistake? He was blocking Connie’s path. And if Connie did anything like stray away from the path it would be an out.

He kept moving, As if fortune did favor the brave, everything started working for him at once. The catcher had bent over to dash faster. Connie was only getting faster, gaining momentum with every stride.

The split second Connie launched himself in the air and over the catcher, Levi could have sworn time stopped. That pause could have lasted an eternity. Yet everything after that could have happened on fast forward. Connie fell onto the home plate and skidded violently on the field and before Levi could take a good look, Connie was surrounded.

That scene on the field reminded Levi of his own accident months ago.

Is he okay? Levi stayed longer than he should have. He knew if he had left then and there, he probably wouldn’t be able to rest without the guarantee that the young baseball player out there wouldn’t suffer the same fate Levi had.

“Levi… Did you see that?” It sounded like Hange was struggling to breathe.

But in a good way. A good way he had missed so much, he found himself distracted enough to look away from the congregation on the home base and back at Hange.”It looked like he was flying huh?” Levi asked, taking a long good look at Hange as he said those words.

Her face was flushed. The glimmer in her eyes was still there, albeit weaker. Her eyes completely concentrated on the scene in front of her, as if in a trance. And Levi was sure she was imagining, seeing herself in that same spot only a second ago.

Was that how it felt Hange? Every single time you saw someone jump?

Levi was convinced he was right. The glimmer in Hange's eyes was weaker for sure. At first, Levi had thought it to be a remnant of the events of weeks ago, with her thesis struggles, with her parent’s admonishing remarks.

Levi ended up concluding though, that it wasn’t weaker. It was just glowing differently.

There was no desire in her eyes, no childish jealousy at lost dreams she couldn’t achieve. It was as if Hange had gained the power to so purely and innocently, so easily place herself in another's shoes, when she just thinks through it.

And absence worked to make Levi notice it more but in that new glow, that new glimmer in her eyes, Levi noticed then, there was no subtle hint of guilt at having indulged in such a trivial and useless passion her whole life.

Yet every single time he had snuck glances at Hange watching jumps before that, there was guilt in her eyes. As if she was supposed to be doing something more important: studying, working, succeeding, meeting expectations.

Is that how liberation feels? Levi asked himself then. He wanted to ask her that same thing then but he found another question, a follow up question which popped so quickly into his mind even before he had completely articulated the first one. Does she know yet that she’s free?

Maybe she didn’t. Because it had just come so naturally for someone like her.

“I wrote her like that because that’s how Hange Zoe really is.”

“Then I’ll work harder to be like her.”

“You don’t have to. The squad leader and the commander are already in you, you just have to uncover for yourself those parts.”

And she had figured it out for herself in the easiest of states, in a trance borne of passion, ecstasy, excitement and maybe euphoria.

An authentic, unrehearsed and organic smile, from Hange of all people, had left Levi with too many emotions to wrangle with: nostalgia, relief, excitement and everything in between. Too many for him to figure out for itself. Yet, it manifested in that moment, as Levi stood frozen next to her, staring at her for god knows how long. As if that Hange Zoe was something he had lost so long ago, maybe even centuries or even millennia ago. And he could have stood there forever as long she remained in that state of pure organic euphoria.

Hange’s lips widened, then curled up into a smile. “He’s okay!” She screamed, much louder than what could have been appropriate for that situation, for someone who barely even knew the guy on the field.

Levi didn’t mind though. In another story, maybe in another life, Connie was a member of their legion after all.

Hange’s outburst was a done deal and there was nothing much they could do about the eyes focused on them or the whispers among the crowd. Levi took advantage of that sunk cost, he approached Connie who was sitting alone on his bench, taking a quick drink of water.

“You did great out there.” It came out as barely a whisper and as Levi soon realized, he was still too far for Connie to have heard it. And the latter didn’t.

That whisper had completely and so easily been overshadowed by calls from his own teammates to hurry up and pack his things. Connie’s team was going to regionals.

And maybe after that, nationals. It would have been nice to send some sort of congratulations then. Reality took over and brought with it reasonable arguments, all against some sort of odd and almost stalkery approach towards Connie.

Their team would be celebrating that night. Connie was far gone and had disappeared among the crowd of red baseball uniforms. It would be an odd and completely unjustifiable effort to chase Connie down then.

“Congratulations,” Levi whispered to himself.

“Congratulations to...? The home team?” Hange asked, stepping up beside him.

“Yeah, I would have wanted to talk to them. Congratulate them myself.”

“I’m sure they heard you,” Hange said.

The murmurs among the crowd, the praises, the cries and the dissemination of rumors were ubiquitous and they were still far from dead, even as the crowds started to disperse. Behind it all, Levi heard the rustle of trees and the whistling of the winds.

And maybe the wind could carry messages for him. Just in case, Levi did whisper other words of greeting, much softer than what Hange would have heard beside him. They were generic words of congratulations and well wishes but Levi swore they were heartfelt.

And he ended it with one last personalized message. I hope we could meet again and maybe have a little more time to talk.

Hange’s voice broke through his little correspondence. “Hey Levi, we still have an hour or so before the high jump event. What about if we try other events on the way?”

Levi shrugged. “Why not? We’re here already.” The trip had proven to be filled with surprises already.

*******

"Levi, you shouldn't have gone to the toilet. You missed some amazing jumps. There's this girl…. Sasha Braus I think…"

“Sasha Braus?” Levi made sure to say her name slowly, to at least imply some unfamiliarity.

But he was all too familiar with that name already. In fact, that hadn't been a toilet break, Levi had gone to the cafeteria only a building away and bought some plastic wrapped melon bread. Just in case there would be an opportunity to talk.

"How many jumps did I miss?" Levi asked.

"Five or six but we missed the start of the competition already so I think we missed more than that. They said this was the last round… But Sasha's already winning by a lot."

"Just as expected."

"So you know Sasha?"

"I follow athletes too you know."

"But diving?"

"Maybe." Levi kept his reply short, unwilling to keep that joke of a charade any longer.

Hange had a knowing look on her face as if she never did believe him.

Levi returned Hange with a playful look of his own as if to say:

But how else would I know her name?

Hange probably suspected the recognition to have been the result of a series of deductions. But Levi wasn't that smart.

After that encounter with Connie, the names and faces just came to him much faster than ever. Even among the five athletes lined up in front of the pull, Levi could spot her from meters away, last in line

He checked the watch on his phone, thirty minutes until the high jump event. They had enough time to kill.

In the few minutes leading up to Sasha's final dive, Levi made sure to search her name.

Top diver. Top seed for college scouts. High level of diving technique.

Diving wasn't a particularly popular sport where they lived but it was enough to make waves at least on the internet.

When Levi started to watch the women dive into the water, performing tucks, pikes and twists along the way, he did wonder why it never was popular.

And with the way, Hange was looking at them, he suspected she thought the same thing.

"Let's go Sasha!" Hange's voice rang out in the indoor pool area.

Do we know her? Levi asked. Realistically, do we know her? He amended that soon after. He knew her. But was he supposed to know her. Was Hange supposed to know her?

He wasn't too self conscious either. She wasn't the only one who was cheering after all. He could have sworn the blonde in front of them was cheering just as hard.

"Was I too loud?" Hange whispered, a second later. "I think I got too excited."

"No, that's very much a Hänge Zoe move," Levi said.

That small shadow of self consciousness in Hange's voice completely dissipated and Levi was relieved to see that gentle yet excited smile that followed.

And it could have been a hint or an illusion, but as Levi looked back at the brunette who approached the edge of the diving board, he could have sworn she had given them a flicker of a gaze as she positioned herself on the edge.

She may have heard Hange's cheers. Levi wondered though, if she had heard any more of their cheers or if she had recognized them.

Levi leaned towards a 'no.' though having been disappointed a little too many times. And he considered it a done deal as she executed a difficult twist, a pike then dove into the water head first.

"The high jump is starting in ten minutes. We should go," Hänge said, glancing at her watch.

The melon bread in the inner pocket of Levi's jacket protested. He had bought it for her after all.

He had other options at least. "Psst…" Levi called the attention of the blonde in front of him.

She didn't look back.

"Historia," Levi said. He decided for himself then that it was worth the risk.

The blonde looked back at them, her eyes wide open in confusion. "I'm sorry… I don't think I recognize you…" It was just like her to still be polite to a couple of potentially creepy strangers.

"No need to recognize me," Levi said. He pressed the melon pan, into the hand that Historia had held out for a hand shake. "Get this to Sasha for us. Tell her it's from her fans."

With that, the two stepped down from their place in the second row bleachers and quickly and silently slipped out through the entrance.

*******

“Maybe we have the time for one more detour,” Levi said.

“We’re still on the way to the high jump venue. And it’s not like we’re gonna miss everything if we’re ten minutes late,” Hange added.

As they stood at the entrance of the gym along the main road, they were distracted for different reasons. Levi was distracted because he had heard that one name among the cheers loud enough to hear even beyond closed doors. Hange though looked like she had managed to at least get a glimpse of what was going on inside through the transparent glass of the door.

“Should we… go in?” Levi asked.

“You wanna? There’s only a few seconds left.”

“Why not?”

Even with both of them in a silent agreement, they still hesitated. The door opened towards the inside and from what Levi could see with a slight tiptoe, even the door was barricaded. As Levi took a closer look at Hange, he realized that that could have been one of the reasons she was hesitant to go in.

“I saw this pretty cool dunk through this window. I wish you could have seen it.”

“I’ve seen a lot of cool things today already.”

“Yeah, but a few more cool things wouldn’t hurt.”

“It’s okay, I’ll just look at them on Youtube after. You got a name?”

“I’m checking his jersey… The name is too far… Can’t see it from this shitty view. It starts with a K… And it looks like a really long name.”

“Kirstein?”

“Can’t tell…But that doesn’t sound like a long name.”

The buzzer rang loud enough that even Levi found himself jumping at the sound. Cheers followed which Levi had to admit, had been a worse ordeal for his ears than the buzzer of a while ago.

But maybe the wait will be worth it. Levi told himself and he willed himself to be patient. “Let’s wait by the side of the door. People are gonna be going out soon.”

“I wish we could have been earlier. I would have wanted to see more dunks.” Hange whined. “You know I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone dunk in real life until now.”

“Well, maybe one day I’ll take you to watch a basketball game live,” Levi said as he leaned on the wall to the side of the gym.

“The tickets are expensive.”

“Aren’t your parent’s filthy rich?”

“Well, they thought games were a waste of time…”

“After we graduate, then we get jobs, maybe we can watch together.”

“That would be nice.” Hange leaned on the wall right next to him. Leaning her head back, she looked to Levi and gave him a playful smile. “Then after that, we can go watch some Major League Baseball and some diving tournaments too.”

It was only then Levi realized he had leaned his head back in the same manner. The way she had mimicked it had been comforting and he found himself following suit. “Maybe we can watch a gymnastics competition or a skating competition?”

“And maybe when we earn more money… Let’s watch the olympics together.”

Levi smiled. “That’s the dream.” He looked at the sky above him, avoiding Hange’s gaze. With the price of the tickets and the distance of the venues though, Levi was aware that it was a distant dream.

But something inside him nagged.

Two months ago, actually making the olympics wouldn’t have been such a distant dream. His coach had talked about the Olympics many times before already, talking about scouts, about post graduation training with the national team. He wondered how pathetic he was at that moment, shifting from dreaming to make the Olympics to dreaming of just watching. It was a short episode of melancholy and maybe if Levi had indulged it, it would have lasted longer.

It was something he willed himself not to show Hange though and instead, he stared up at the sky, willing himself instead to silently admire the view. From his peripherals, he was relieved to see Hange had done similarly.

Noon had shifted to afternoon so subtly. Looking straight up at the light blue, didn’t hurt so much anymore and he suspected it was late afternoon already. He knew they should be leaving soon if they wanted to catch Mikasa’s tournament.

The melancholy weighed on him. As if Hange understood though, she was silent and she didn’t pressure him to move just yet. Levi slid back down on the ground, letting the crutches fall in front of him.

“You okay?” Hange asked, sliding down to a sitting position next to him.

No, I’m not. Levi would have answered. When he looked at Hange though, he saw understanding, as if she knew what would have only been the correct answer to that. But you aren’t okay either. Levi had to note, so it would have only served to stoke the fires of her own vulnerability to admit his own. So he went for a kind in-between.

“I know we’re both not okay. We just have to ride through this until shit gets better,” Levi said, giving Hange the best authentic smile he could muster which felt like more of a lopsided grin in the end.

Hange took a deep breath. “Yeah, maybe you’re right.” She returned that smile with her own and Levi was certain her own smile had been a better rendition of what he had.

“Jean! Hey! Come back here.”

Levi had done a pretty good job of tuning out the crowds that had been exiting the gym since a while ago. When he looked back to the entrance to see Jean and an unrecognizable teammate just outside, he was almost surprised to see their surroundings almost completely empty, especially when compared to a while ago.

“You can’t just leave. Coach will kill us.”

“I said, I’ll follow. It’s just a celebratory dinner. It’s not like we’ll lose our ticket to regionals if I don’t go.”

“But you scored the winning dunk.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Jean asked. “Besides I am going. I’ll just be late.”

The player next to Jean cleared his throat. “Is this about her?”

“Yes. I wanna watch her jump. Is that so bad?”

“Mikasa’s gonna have other tournaments you know.”

“But we’re going to be busy with regionals. Who knows how many times I’ll be able to catch her tournaments before graduation.”

There was an awkward silence between them and Levi was almost tempted to use that moment to approach Jean. Even with some support from Hange though, it had taken Levi more than enough time to push himself to a standing position.

“God you’re such a simp Jean.”

“Cover for me Caleb.”

Caleb walked back into the gym and Jean started to jog, making his way for the main path. Levi was sure with his current state he wouldn’t be able to catch up. It was as if Hange though had read his mind.

“Excuse me!”

Levi followed at a much slower pace, only able to catch up because the two had slowed to a stop in the middle of the main path.

“Mikasa Ackerman? Yes! She’s my classmate.”

Levi noted the light blush on Jean’s face as he spoke. “We wanna watch the tournament too,” Levi added, slowing to a stop beside Hange. “Could we walk there together? This is our first time here so we might get lost.” A partial lie. It wasn’t their first time but they had looked at the map on their phone enough times to have sworn on their life that the path they were taking was correct.

Jean had looked surprised at first, but his dumb expression had quickly shifted to something much friendlier. “I’d be happy to take you two there.” He held out his hand. “Jean Kirstein.”

Hange had been the first to take his hand in a friendly gesture. “Hange Zoe.”

The pleasantries were quickly forgotten and their conversation had shifted to other things. Along the way, Levi had stopped listening as it shifted to conversations on air time and agility exercises.

Just like Hange to want to talk about that. Levi thought. That was the thesis she had wanted to do after all.

Levi allowed himself to trail behind a bit, letting the two grab a bit more distance.

That gave him a good view of the two, side by side. And they have been side by side before, Levi recalled that much. They had discussed strategies, paperwork, war conditions many times before.

Levi took advantage of that distance between them. To further indulge that little picture of a memory, Levi whispered two names under his breath. Commander Hange Zoe and Commanding Officer Jean Kirstein.

That at least added some realism to the view. And Levi was sure he’d remember enough to write pages worth when he got home.

*******

“Looks like we haven’t missed a lot,” Hange said.

“You missed the first few heights but those were too easy. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mikasa sat it out.” Levi commented. He looked to Jean who was gesturing for them to follow as he climbed up the bleachers.

And he kept his focus on Jean the whole way up. The high jump event was his domain and although he had hoped to keep a low profile during the event, a part of him knew that it would be almost impossible. Although his face could be almost forgettable and maybe unnoticeable in the crowds, the crutches only made people stare. And when people stare, they have a tendency to look at faces. And when they look at faces they recognize, sometimes they talk.

Levi had learned that lesson so many times before already. At least though, with every lesson learned, he had gotten better at brushing off the whispers. On top of the quick introductions, the familiar faces on the bleachers had been a very helpful distraction as well, one unbothered and the other, the complete opposite, a little too curious about everything.

Eren and Armin.

“You’re late Jean. Weren’t you the one who so excitedly told Mikasa you’d show up to cheer her on?” Eren asked.

“Hey, I’m here right now. Besides, I knew you and Armin were going to show up anyway. You always do.” Jean said, raising his hands defensively. He looked back at the field as if searching for her among the athletes. “So when is she jumping?”

“She got eliminated.”

Jean buried his face in his hands. “You’re kidding.”

“Eren, she sat out the easier heights right?” Levi had to note that at first glance, it did look like Mikasa wasn’t there. He suspected that the bench where Mikasa was sitting was just a little obscured from their view on the bleachers. He had done similarly too often for it to be anything but routine.

“Oh, you’re familiar with how high jump events work. Better than horseface here,” Eren gave the still recovering Jean a side glance before looking back at Levi. Eren’s unbothered face was far from menacing.

With his own store on his side and his own thoughts, Levi found himself still a little too careful. “I’m a little familiar...” Levi said, letting his voice trail off as he looked back out at the field.

“Excuse me.” Someone spoke up from behind him.

Levi was quick to look back. Compared to Hange who was already so engrossed on the happenings on the field just below, Levi was far from entertained. The heights were still much lower than what he would have considered entertaining.

It was Armin who had called out to him. “Are you Levi Ackerman?” He asked. The blonde seemed so unsure of himself that Levi had half the mind to deny it there just to play with him for a while. Didn’t Jean introduce us already?

“Why do you ask?”

Armin put a hand at the back of his head and flashed a sheepish grin. “Well, ever since Mikasa got into high jumping, I started to get a little more familiar with the high jumping scene. Also Eren, didn’t your brother talk about him?”

Zeke Jaeger.

“He mentioned that Levi Ackerman was injured, probably sidelined for life…” Eren trailed off, he looked pointedly at Levi’s casted knee. “Is that it?”

“So you are Levi Ackerman…” Armin said, a little more certainty in his tone.

“Wait, who’s this Levi Ackerman? Are you related to Mikasa?”

Levi shrugged. He didn’t know the best way to answer it either. Do I say distant relatives? He opted for a safe yet vague. “Maybe.”

The three boys didn’t ask anymore. The crowds exploded into cheers, and in their own little corner, the five of them fell silent as Mikasa made her way to the center and approached the starting line of the runway.

Levi quickly estimated the bar to be at 1.8 meters, too high for most high school students. So high that only two had cleared the height. And if Mikasa cleared it, that meant three people would be moving on to the 1.9 meter bar.

Or when Mikasa clears it. Levi corrected himself a second later as he watched Mikasa run to the take off box.

The crowd cheered as she landed. It had done little though to pull Levi back to reality. The cheers were merely fading background music as Levi replayed that jump in his mind. Everything from the run to the take off to the landing, everything from the smallest twist mid air had been seamless and Levi only noticed a second later his mouth had been wide open.

Mikasa wasn’t the tallest among the jumpers either, as if she relied as well on her own flexibility to get her through the bar.

“Levi, that’s how you used to jump,” Hange said. That had been enough at least to pull Levi out of his trance. “Now do you get how it felt to see you jump?”

Levi didn’t answer instantly. His first instinct had been to look back at the Youtube videos and the Instagram videos of himself Hange had shared to him a while back. He couldn’t have jumped like MIkasa. Back when he had watched his own videos, he never felt the goosebumps, or his hair stand up, or that sudden need to drop his jaw and leave his mouth wide open for a good few seconds.

But his view of Mikasa had been organic, it had been an experience, unmarred by camera angles, commentaries and video edits. Real life didn’t have video edits, and with his own first hand experience, he had the freedom and the convenience to continue to follow Mikasa, long after her jump was over.

He ignored the next two who had failed at the 1.9 meter height, completely eliminated. He had only surmised their own fate from the less than enthusiastic cheers from the crowd that followed each attempt. He continued to follow Mikasa, all the way until her second jump, focusing on the way her body curved so easily above the bar, the way her body twisted into a more comfortable angle mid flight.

As if she’s been flying her whole life.

“Ladies and gentlemen! We have a champion! Mikasa Ackerman!” The announcer chimed. But they weren’t cleaning up yet.

“There’s one more event: the men’s event, then after that the awarding,” Armin explained.

Levi shifted his attention once again to Mikasa who was making her way away from the center.

Towards the audience. Towards the front row. Levi followed Mikasa s gaze, to see a familiar back profile at the front row. The man only stood up from his seat, making the situation all the clearer for Levi.

“Coach Greg is here?” Of course, he’d be here. He’s recruiting.

He didn’t look like he was successful at recruiting though. From his spot towards the middle of the bleachers, Levi could see the way Mikasa shook her head, the way she had given the most apologetic smile and the way she walked back to the bench where her other teammates were, looking completely unbothered by that rejection.

He’s recruiting Mikasa? Levi thought.

In reply, Coach Greg looked back at the bleachers. He caught Levi’s gaze almost instantly as if he had known Levi would have been there the whole time. Levi had trained with him enough to know what he wanted just by the expression on his face.

“Levi, where are you going? The men’s jump event is about to start.”

It had been months since he trained with him, but years of old habits were still hard to break. Before Levi even noticed it himself, he had scrambled onto his feet and maneuvered through the crowd in the bleachers.

*******

“I saw you enter the venue mid match. Honestly happy to see you watching tournaments again and I’m sure a lot of the fans are happy to see you too.”

If by happy, you mean gossiping. “Jumping is hard to completely give up,” Levi replied.

The two had settled on a bench, only a few meters away from the emptiest bleachers. The screams and cheers were still audible and sometimes, comprehensible. But there was still enough peace and quiet to manage a fair conversation.

“How’s your knee?”

“I’m sure you’ve talked to Erwin about it already.”

Greg grinned sheepishly at it. He dropped his shoulders with a sigh. “I was hoping he would have given you a better prognosis. He told me you were gone from jumping for good… I just thought…”

“My last season is over. You’re already preparing for regionals and I can still barely walk,” Levi said as he gave a pointed look at the crutches he leaned on the side of the bench.

“With physical therapy…”

“I can barely walk right now because of physical therapy. We were going too fast.”

“So anything after college might be impossible huh?”

“I’m taking this one step at a time. It was a painful experience. And with the extent of it, Erwin had told me multiple times even post surgery, it might never return to pre injury state. With the competitiveness of the high jumping scene… my height… I feel like these were all just signs to just move on from it all.”

Greg dropped his shoulders and shook his head. “You were something else though. I didn’t think someone of your height could have dominated the high jump. It was like your body knew the exact moments to get you through the bar every time. As if it was completely used to being mid air.”

“Maybe my body is just used to flying,” Levi said. “Maybe I was born and built for these types of sports. But I'm sure you're aware, no matter how inclined someone is to sports, careers don’t last forever. We all have expiry dates. And mine was just a lot earlier than others.”

“But you could have made the Olympics with your numbers.”

“But the accident happened and I don’t think I’ll ever achieve those numbers again,” Levi said matter-of-factly, so realistically it hurt even when Levi was sure he had long gotten over it.

“So, what are you focusing on now?” Greg asked, an attempt at digression.

“Studies, submitting my thesis, passing my last few classes…”

“Maybe when studies die down a bit, you can visit every now and then. After winter break is over, maybe you could even help get the new recruits up to speed.”

Levi raised one eyebrow at Greg. “You have one in mind?” Mikasa Ackerman?

“Mikasa Ackerman.” As if Greg had read his mind, he had repeated those same exact words with the exact same tone Levi had heard it in his head. “Are you two related?” he asked.

“Maybe.”

“With the way you’re saying that, I'm guessing not close enough to talk to her.”

“Talk to her about what?” Levi asked.

“About considering Paradis University. She has that type of talent that only comes once every five years.”

“But if she’s committed to another university…”

“She’s not. In fact, she told me herself, she might not even go to university.”

“Why not?”

“She told me there was someone she didn’t wanna leave behind. You think you might know something about that?”

An all too familiar turn of events. Levi’s answer to his coach’s question had been a resounding yes. But he wasn’t telling him about that yet. ‘I’ll try to talk to her. Then I’ll see what I can do.”

The conversation ended soon after that with a quick promise to keep in touch. His coach hurriedly got back to the tournament and Levi found himself alone on the bench once again.

His knees ached, his arms were stiff from all the walking. And he decided for himself that a men’s jump event would not be worth the struggle of hobbling back to the bleachers.

*******

“There you are!”

Levi only had a few minutes of peace and quiet before it was interrupted by the familiar brunette who settled next to him on the bench. It had interrupted whatever trance he had gotten himself into. Either way, it was still a welcome sight. “You’re not watching?”

“I thought you went to the toilet or something but when you didn’t come back… I kinda realized you might have left because you didn’t wanna watch so I got worried. You wanna go back home?”

“I’m tired. So honestly, yes.” Levi shrugged his shoulders and did some test stretches. His body was aching from having maneuvered in crutches the whole afternoon. He could have sworn, he had reached well more than a thousand steps just walking the university, enough to expect an admonishing stare from either Erwin or his physical therapist.

“Well, we should be going back. We have to do some last minute packing since tomorrow is our last day.”

“Wait, before we leave. I was hoping to get some lead on Mikasa. I wanted to talk to her. Maybe after final exams or something.”

Hange gave him a cheeky grin. She held out her phone in an exaggerated manner. “That’s done already.”

“You got their contact details?”

“I had a pretty pleasant conversation with Armin, Jean and Eren, enough at least to get them to wanna keep in touch.”

“Keep in touch about what?”

“Thesis maybe? Future career prospects?”

“You’re meeting with a bunch of high school students?”

“Armin applied to Paradis University so there’s a lot to talk about and he said he could help out with my thesis. Besides, weren’t you the one who said you wanted to talk to Mikasa?”

“I’m doing my coach a favor.” Levi said, emphasizing those last words a little too much, he started to feel a little ridiculous a second later.

Hange raised one eyebrow in disbelief, only making Levi further regret attempting such a ridiculous lie. A smile played at Hange’s lips. “You know, I’m glad to see you’re reconnecting with your team again.”

Levi returned that smile with his own. “Well, I’m glad to see you’re reconnecting with your thesis again.”

*******

“I talked to the dorm. Scholars can get a good bed space for a cheap price, or maybe even free. You just have to sort out the paperwork, get some paperwork signed by your professor then the scholarship office. After that, we wait for approval. So, in the meantime, you could stay in a motel or something.``

“That’s the plan,” Hange said, her tone a mixture of despondence and exhaustion. Not too surprisingly, she was lugging boxes, lining them towards the entrance of the room as they spoke. “My parents are gonna pick up a lot of these boxes, probably put them in storage back home. And this…” Hange drops a purple suitcase in front of him. “Is all I’m bringing.”

“You’re serious about this huh?”

“Were you doubting it?”

Levi sat and stared at the luggage, his expression unchanging. “This just seems like a huge change.”

“This happens with everyone else anyway. I’m a senior in college. I’ll find a job, take out a loan then rent some cheap studio apartment just outside the city.”

“Studio apartments aren’t cheap, even if they are outside the city. Would you be able to afford that with the entry level income of one person?” Somehow, a part of Levi was still hoping Hange would make amends with her parents. Despite her having proven multiple times she was sure with her decision. She seemed happier then, more confident, more free. But at what cost?

“Then I’ll get a roommate,” Hange said.

“That’s a reasonable plan.” Levi said. “Well first things first. Fix those dorm papers, finish your thesis.”

“Thanks for the help Levi. Really, it means a lot.” From the firm determination of a while ago, Hange’s gaze softened to something else, something Levi had sworn he had only seen long ago, in another lifetime.

“You’ve done a lot for me too,” Levi said.

“You won’t be much help now since I’ll just be lugging boxes so feel free to just write or something until we’re ready to leave. Or you know, you could go ahead to your dorm. I’ll just contact you if I need to.”

“No, I’d rather stay.” Levi looked back at his laptop and opened his document. He had written a few words the night before as soon as they had arrived home.

Armin Arlert. Jean Kirstein. Eren Jaeger. Mikasa Ackerman. Connie Springer. Sasha Braus. Historia Reiss. The names had worked magic on the draft. With the names where they needed them to be, the story became more vivid than he had expected. He lost count of the amount of words he had written the night before, but he was sure he had added at least five pages.

And his head throbbed at that moment as he scanned through the file, reminding him of how much sleep he had sacrificed to get it written. At the least, he had managed to understand what had gotten them to the point in the woods, he understood why it had been he and Hange of all people who stuck together.

They cared about the younger soldiers for sure. But they had been the only two veterans remaining.

And what did you ask me back then? Levi asked silently as he watched Hange move the boxes one by one, lining them along walls from one corner all the way until the entrance.

Hange looked as if she were in a trance. But if their eyes had met at that moment as he thought of the question, would she have read his face, would she have known what he was asking then? Probably not. But Hange was perceptive and she had made some good guesses on his thoughts a few times already.

Maybe we should just live here together? Right, Levi? Levi wrote those words, somewhere at the bottom of the page, under descriptions of trees, stars and a glowing campfire. He wrote under it descriptions of the pain of fresh stitches, half opened wounds and the beginnings of a fever.

“You know, Hange. There was a war. This anti military faction took over, and we ran away to the woods and ----”

“Don’t tell me!” Hange interrupted. She dropped one box on to the wall, much harder than usual. “I haven’t reached that part. I wanna enjoy your story.”

“Sorry.”

Hange approached him and sat next to him on the wall by the window. Her voice was much softer as she spoke up again. “No need to apologize. I just wanna be in the best mood when I read it. Maybe I’ll catch up after final exams before winter break,” Hange said. “Besides last time I checked all you had were unfinished sentences and bullet points.”

“It’ll be finished way before then.” Even as he spoke, he was typing and Levi found himself marveling at his own ability to keep two conversations at once.

“Really? Don’t you have studies to deal with?”

“I know how it’s gonna end already.”

Hange gave a hum of approval. “Then I’ll hold your word to it. I look forward to reading it then.”

If we keep running and hiding, what will that get us… I know you’re not able to stay out of the action.

Levi had ended up writing those last few lines to the disturbed rhythm of the thumps as boxes were dropped one on top of the other.

Yeah. That’s right. I can’t. He capped off that final paragraph with Hange’s one final response. Even fully wide awake with the afternoon sun illuminating the well ventilated condominium, even with the sound of the traffic down below only made louder by the windows left open, Levi still saw her, so vividly as if she were a dream. He memorized her face then, everything from the way her brow knitted, her forehead puckered. The way her glossy eyes showed nothing but a faded glimmer.

Yet it was a glimmer and in that, Levi saw desire. A desire for something else.

And then what happened? It couldn’t have ended there. He had filled in many of the gaps himself already. He had already found the missing pieces and pushed them into place. The story had ended so anticlimactically though and Levi found himself scraping the recesses of his mind for anything he may have missed, a futile attempt.

And maybe it was futile because Hange had interrupted him a second later. She had his two plump overnight bags slung over her one shoulder. She turned her chin slightly towards the entrance. “Let’s go.”

Levi pulled himself up from the window sill. “Give me one of my bags. You shouldn’t be carrying all that.”

“You shouldn’t be carrying all this,” Hange argued, looking pointedly at his leg. “Let’s go.” She went ahead, not looking back. Along the way, she had stopped, gesturing for Levi to make the distance towards the door and out into the hallway.

Levi looked back at her to see she was still standing at the entrance leaning on the door frame, leaving one hand on the open door swung inward. She made no movement, no explicit intention to leave just yet. He felt no need to hurry her either. Moving out was no easy task after all.

“I know you don’t like messes Levi ” Hange spoke up, her voice once again the lifeless drawl that never failed to hurt Levi even a bit.

“Really?” It was obvious, Levi had acknowledged that he had hated it. But he never remembered explicitly telling Hange about it. He was lodging in her place for free after all.

“You wrinkle your nose every time I leave something lying around. And you don’t think I noticed the way things magically cleaned themselves while I was away?”

“If you don’t want to, I won’t. I’m sorry about that.”

“No, I appreciate it. I think you did a lot of good for my space. Honestly, I’m more sorry that I couldn’t provide you anything cleaner…” Hange trailed off. It seemed like she was ready to say more. She looked back at him and took a deep breath, opened her mouth but stopped herself midway. ”And for a while I was a bit self conscious about it but I think I get it now.”

“Get what?

“I get now why I like messes and clutter. And I guess I just wanna point it out now, so maybe you’d understand?” Hange moved away from the doorway and out into the hallway. “Look, it’s clean.”

It was easy for Levi to put the scene of her condominium from a few months ago and the scene in front of him side by side in his mind. There were too many things he could have pointed out at once though. The room in front of him then, was much larger and more spacious than Levi could have ever imagined, especially with the boxes all lined up towards the wall. It was immaculate, any other day he could have used the picture of the room as a blank slate, something to calm him in between stressful situations.

But side by side with the room from weeks ago, hell back to the room months ago before he had started to stain it with his own brand of cleanliness, Levi wasn’t thinking of words like clean or immaculate.

It feels lifeless. But he wasn’t telling her that. Not just yet, when the fastidious side of him was still trying to process such an opinion borne out of his cleanliness-loving mind.

It was as if Hange was giving him no time to process though. “Do you get it though? Why I like my rooms with a little clutter?”

Levi gave up on processing, instead submitting to whatever tirade was coming out of Hange then.

And she was getting a little more emotional and a little more attached as she spoke. Because when everything's scattered everywhere, I always feel like I’ll have to fix it soon right? And when I have to fix it, I’m reminded that I’ll be coming back. But now…”

Levi jumped at the crack in her voice. He went forward and closed it, and it had felt like ripping off a band-aid. “Let’s go Hange.”

“I don’t have anything to return to now. It’s gonna be dorm and motel hopping until I get a job and can afford to find a new place,” Hange continued.

The two walked towards the elevators. Hange had kept her strides so slow and steady it had been a little too easy for Levi to catch up. With that, he had a little more time and space to reflect, come up with something more comforting than ripping of a band aid.

That part was easy at least. “You don’t have to have anywhere to return to.” Levi spoke up. “I think, what’s important is that people have someone to return to...”

“‘Someones’ like that are hard to find.” Hange looked at him. Then, Levi had a good view of her, her eyes glistened with what looked like unshed tears, the lines under eyes only told of pent up exhaustion, an all too familiar expression, almost a reflection of Hange that night in the woods.

It had been too easy to assume he had heard those same words as she looked at him expectantly then.

Maybe we should just live here together? Right, Levi?

But that wasn’t the time for a yes nor was it a time to echo the invitation or the words she had mentioned right there in the forest. It wasn’t a time either to tell Hange what had happened in the woods many a lifetime before.

But Levi still spoke up, his own reply tweaked for that situation alone. If he had been any more aware, any more hesitant, he would have pulled back, discouraged already by the many other arguments his mind was able to conjure.

She doesn’t remember about that time in the woods.

She’ll think you’re crazy.

Aren’t you comfortable with where you are already?

He clocked it then as a risk. A risk he was still very much willing to take. It came out of him as something spontaneous, as an explosion inside him raring to go out despite all the doubts glomping down on him.

It had been powered by something, that was for sure. But was it frustration? Regret?

“You know Hange, if you don't want me to, I won't leave. I’d gladly stay here by your side. ”

He didn’t think too much of the motivation though, what mattered was that it did come out. And in its own way, it had left him a little lighter, and maybe a little relieved.

*******

“So what happened after?” Shela asked soon after she had scrawled another few words on her clipboard.

Levi shrugged. “That’s it. That’s how the story ended.”

“Really? With a half confession in the woods? You didn’t even say yes.”

Levi had spent the past week since they moved out of the condominium trying to write in between fixing paper work for Hange’s move to the dorm, cramming school assignments and studying for finals that was looming in the month ahead. He would have loved to blame his inability to write on his shitty schedule.

But I had more than enough time to write. He had at least an hour a night to write before bed. On good days, that had been more than enough to get something written.

“Is school getting busy? Physical therapy?”

“No.”

“Then why can’t you write a more satisfying ending.”

“That’s how it ended.”

“With a half baked confession?”

“Captain Levi was suffering from wounds after an explosion. It’s a miracle he even lasted that long.”

“So you think he died?”

“Maybe.”

Shela looked out the window, her expression unreadable. “What if you two did run away to the forest?”

“That would have been a nice ending.”

“Then why not make that the ending?”

“Because that didn’t happen.”

Shela shook her head in disbelief. “This doesn’t seem believable to me. Please try to continue writing.” She turned his laptop back to him and Levi found himself blankly staring at the open google document.

And the more he stared, feeling Shela’s observing eyes boring into him as he did, the more he realized how ridiculous that last sentence was.

I know you’re not able to stay out of the action.

It sounded like the awkward dialogue that preceded a horribly placed commercial break or ad, something Levi would have scoffed at as any other viewer or reader.

“But it’s not like I’m sharing this to anyone else,” Levi said.

“You’re sharing it to me and I’m not satisfied. There should be more to this.”

Levi looked up at Shela and back at the document a few times before deciding on his next plan of action. Shela’s glare was uncompromising and she didn’t look like she would take no for an answer. The document in front of him though, that tiny blinking cursor on the screen was calling to him, the bottom part of the page was blank.

And maybe there was something, albeit little, that can be done flogging a horse that was just almost dead. There were still a few more lines of dialogue that made its way to the pages and Levi was surprised he had enough of that clearly etched in his mind for it to so easily flow into the pages in front of him.

Shoot or listen. It’s up to you.

The last few lines had all been dialogue. But as he turned the laptop back to Shela, the latter seemed at least willing to accept that. “This still looks a little too abrupt...” she commented “ You sure this is how it ends?”

“Captain Levi could have gotten shot. Maybe he died.”

Shela dropped her shoulders in defeat. “Progress is still progress. Do me a favor and please think long and hard about what happens next.”

“I really think it ended with the conversation in the forest.” Levi turned the laptop back to himself, closed the window and shut down his laptop. “But I can try to get something else written out… Maybe a few more scenes?”

“Don’t try." Shela gave Levi a knowing look. “I want you to do it.”

And that look bore holes into him, Levi could have sworn she was a mind reader with the way she followed the laptop with her eyes as he placed it back into his bag. He wouldn’t have been too surprised if she could tell the contents just by looking through the hardware.

Levi had to admit though, what Shela was suspecting, was right. There was more to the story and these scenes nagged at him from the deepest pits of his mind, pleading for their own time to let loose.

They were terrifying though. They were unsettling and Levi was in no position to entertain them.

Not just yet.

Or maybe he never would. Maybe he would be happy never entertaining them again.

So maybe captain Levi died? Maybe they ran away in the woods? There were questions that had been echoed by Shela, questions that had been so easily answered by dreams that he had forced himself to forget soon after he woke up.

The complex emotions though, were very much answerable with a simple question, a simple explanation that Levi was in no obligation to expound on.

“But… Endings don’t have to be satisfying right? What if I just don’t wanna write anymore?”

#levihan #levihan fanfiction

[ggukkiereads]

Hey I was the anon who asked for your ao3, totally fine that you don’t want to share your username so I will gladly accept any tips on how to navigate ao3 🥺🥺 bc I try navigating by just using the guys name or the group name and yeah most of the fics that appear aren’t really my style. ao3 it’s a really overwhelming space 😔 so please help this dumb girl

🌷 hello, AO3 anon! It’s not that I don’t want to share, I just feel like it’s going to overwhelm others (with my 1K bookmarked fics). I am not an expert on AO3 and I’m trying to recall how I navigated through it. Though to be honest, I don’t recall much. I just remember visiting ao3 years ago to check yoonia’s Carousel fic and some other fics I got from those twitter fic recs threads. I sort of took note of the fics separately (like a note app where I list down fics I was monitoring) but AO3 actually has this feature and it should be easy breezy once you get the hang of it! 

I tried to make it as understandable as possible. Please see below the cut

🌷 So there are ways to navigate through fics: 

1) through the filters per fandoms, per member - this is usually the sidebar portion if on desktop

2) through the tags themselves - just click on any tags you like 

3) by subscribing to the author or fic

First, do you need to create an account?

It depends on you. Personally, I tried both. Not having an account, you can still comment but it’s kind of hard for me to keep track of my favorites or fics I’ve already read. Plus if you have an account, you can subscribe to fics or to authors so you get notified every time there is an update. You can also bookmark fics you like or fics you want to read. All up to you how you want to use the bookmarking tool.

I use my secondary email, the one I use for random subscriptions to stuff like games, netflix, etc. I feel more comfortable using secondary or dummy email as I call it. 

1) NAVIGATING THROUGH filters per fandoms, per member

I screenshot below the sidebar which allows you to filter content. If you prefer reading FxM fics, then choose that. If you’re in the mood for member x member scenarios then choose MxM. 

Additionally, you can adjust settings too for what to exclude. In my example below, say I don’t feel like reading multi-member fics and I just want FLUFFY fics. I can also adjust in the “exclude” settings.

You can also sort them per recent post, per hits, or per comments. I personally mix this because I also like discovering new fics. So, daily or every other day, it’s set to “date posted” so I get to see new fics. Earlier I had an ask re: a fic on AO3 and that was something I was able to read right away and commented on upon its drop (because the filter settings allowed me to see it right away way before it got popular). 

The Hits or Kudos or Comments filter allows you to see which ones are already popular among readers and I guess initially you want to try this settings to help you get started. Not all of the choices will be according to your taste though. It doesn’t mean it’s popular that it’s going to be to your liking 

🌷TIP:

Once I figured out the filter settings I want (which was more of the recent fics, mostly FxM), I  saved or bookmarked the url. I just clicked on the link and it directs me right away to pre-made filter settings (then I’d get to see new fics for the day)

2) NAVIGATING through the tags themselves

So this is helpful when you’re in the mood for certain tropes or genres. Like there was a time I was  in the mood for roommate AUs and I just binge-read all the fics in the results

So, for example this particular fic has well-defined tags ( I am reading this fic by the way. It’s rockstar Jungkook lol). Example you want to just read “friends with benefits” fics, you can click the link and it will give you ALL FICS that are under the same tag

This will give you ALL RESULTS (screenshot below shows you all fics from various fandoms, AUs, etc).  Repeat after me: the SIDEBAR is your friend. You can filter the results further by choosing the settings you want. 

Same process as #1, use the filter and use the settings you need. You want FxM, filter it to BTS fandom only, maybe for relationships you’re in the mood for just Yoongi x Reader? 

Take note that sometimes you have to apply the settings first before you can set another filter. For example, I set it to FxM and then BTS fandom first then clicked SORT and FILTER. That’s the only time these relationship filters will show (it’s like funneling. Once you’re in the “BTS fandom filter”, it will show you the other filters available to that category.. So for relationships there will be Jungkook x Reader, Yoongi x Reader, and so on and so forth): 

I read all members so I don’t really filter it to any specific members. I really go by the summary of the fic and the tags if they look interesting to me at the moment. 

3) Last, NAVIGATING  by subscribing to the author or fic

So, I actually subscribed to a lot of authors but they are usually on TUMBLR too. I guess, I read more series on AO3 since it is easier to navigate? 

Plus there are authors whose fics are available on AO3 but not on Tumblr. koyamuses for example, has their old fics like River Run (sea serpent!yoongi) and Mangata (pirate!jungkook) on AO3 but I remember their more recent ones are housed on tumblr. Obiwrites, a reader’s favorite, actually started on tumblr but they decided to use ao3 as a sole platform. I think she reposted some of her olds fics (but not all, still waiting for hoseok’s fic depaysement and that yoongi cinderella fic 😭)

There are also authors who have pseuds on AO3 and they post different content. gukluvr, for example, has an ao3 and the fics are different from her tumblr fics.

The beauty of subscribing to an author (say you like their body of work), is you get to see updates as they come. You get an email notif that [ _____ posted  fic title ] - I highlighted those with tumblrs too. It’s easier because with tumblr you search for fics manually but here ao3 does the work for you and just send you the email.

Even if they don’t post anything new, it’s just fun to see all the authors you like in one place in case you want to binge read per author. You can access it through your AO3 profile (if you set up an account)

You can also subscribe to a series only (meaning you don’t feel like subscribing to the author yet). If you subscribe to the author, you get notifs on EVERY FIC they will post. So if the author posts for other fandoms like Harry Potter or Star Wars, then you’d get these notifs too. So, it’s upto you

This is me subscribing per fic/work: (though this is not updated, some of these fics are already completed and I should start “unsubscribing”)

per series (though take note some of these have been completed). I am also subscribed to the authors so it’s kind double but you only get one email notif, don’t worry. 

ONCE YOU GET USED TO the navigation, you can bookmark the fics you like or mark them for later. Some bookmark fics they want to read while others bookmark their favorites. 

In my case, I bookmark all fics I’ve read and categorize them under collections like favorites, etc (but you don’t have to do this; this is just my method to remember fics), I haven’t really updated my bookmarks/collections so 🤷‍♀️. But that’s okay, it’s my own organized chaos so I can easily navigate through it.

For fics I want to read or re-read, I just mark them for later which you can access on the HISTORY page. 

Best to try all these on desktop. Once you get used to it, you can just play around on mobile. Sometimes, I just wait for notifs from my subscribed accounts/series; I just read it right away and mark them on my email as done once I’ve read or bookmark on AO3.

Don’t forget to give kudos to writers you like the stories of! I love giving kudos and I comment sometimes =) 

Okay, whew! I can’t believe I just wrote down a pseudo tutorial on AO3 navigation 🤭. I really hope it’s an easy tutorial for you to go through. Otherwise, I don’t know how I can further explain it. You can use the search bar of AO3 too! Just type, say “friends with benefits” and it will give you all types of fics. But, I just used this so I can click on the FWB tag (see #2 process)

There are so many fun stories or fics on AO3 too! And there are writers you won’t see on tumblr. 

I wish you good luck on your AO3 journey. It might be overwhelming, but it’ll get easier once you get used to it 🌷🧚‍♀️🥰

Enjoy!

#🌷 chats #tutorial: AO3 #lol I hope this is helpful #AO3 anon #anon #asks