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teaandgames · 4 years

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The Tea Times - November 2019

Ah, November. For you folks in the United States, this signals a day full of turkey, relatives and drunken conversations. For us over in Blighty, it signals the last warning before that other day full of turkey, relatives and drunken conversations. The wallet’s looking bare, the temperatures dropping, it can mean only one thing - Christmas is coming. Before we begin the panic though, let's look back at the previous month.

At a glance:

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Death Stranding, Pokemon Sword and Shield, Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires’ Conspiracy and Planet Zoo released.

Everwild, Age of Empires IV, Half-Life: Alyx, Knights of Light, Arise: A Simple Story, Nine Witches: Family Disruption announced.

Google Stadia announces its launch line up.

Someone’s making Silent Hill in first person

New Saints Row to be announced next year

Project C becomes Life Beyond

The Releases

I’ve never followed Star Wars too closely, being more into classic fantasy than sci-fi, but the thrill of lightsaber battling is not lost on me. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order seems to have captured that pretty well, with lots of lightsaber waggling and force powers that come together to make a pretty exciting action game. It’s been awhile since a good single player Star Wars game has been on the market and this one seems to fit the bill. It came out on November 15th.

Death Stranding, the premier package delivery game (if the internet is to be believed) came out on November 8th. It being a Kojima game, it’s pretty confusing from an outsiders perspective (and not necessarily straightforward for an insider) but what is clear is that it’s a polarising game. It seems to be about ninety percent walking simulator, which is a divisive genre full stop. Add Kojima into the mix? Then God only knows.

Pokemon Sword and Shield is the release this month that I’m most excited for. Despite being twenty-six, I was transported back to my youth as I added it to the top of my Christmas list. It’s been getting mixed reviews from the community, largely centered around the lack of the National Pokedex. Makes sense. Less pokemon can hardly be a good thing. Either way, it seems to hold the same, good, clean fun that the series is known for. The pair came out on November 15th.

Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires’ Conspiracy wins the award for longest game title I’ve ever typed out. The next in the disarmingly charming puzzle series came to the Switch on November 8th. I mark it here solely because I didn’t realise it had come out on 3DS two years ago. Still, I hope the series finds a welcome home on the Switch.

Planet Zoo, labelled the ultimate zoo simulator, came out on the 5th November. Made by the people who made Planet Coaster and Zoo Tycoon, there’s a good chance that it’ll be a good follow up. After all, they seem to know what they’re doing. Going by the screenshots alone, it looks like it’s pretty in depth too. One for the hardcore simulators, perhaps.

The Announcements

Everwild is a new project from Rare, the Banjo-Kazooie lads, and it looks absolutely gorgeous. That’s about as much as we know, to be honest, other than it’s likely going to be Xbox exclusive. The trailer shows a group of humans timidly interacting with a number of animals. Some, like the deer, seem friendly. Others… less so. I don’t have any more details on it, at the moment, but it’s worth keeping your peepers on.

Age of Empires IV has been long anticipated since Age of Empires III failed the light the spark in the hearts of die hard fans. I rather liked it but the guns and cannonballs didn’t go down too well. You might be relieved to learn that they’ve been thrown out the window for IV. It’s back to swords, arrows and big chunks of masonry. Hopefully, Age of Empires has gone back to its roots now. No concrete release date yet.

In a fairly shocking move, Valve has revealed the next entry in the Half-Life series. There are two things to note with that. Firstly, it’s a prequel featuring Alyx. That’s not so bad as she was a rather good character. The bigger, second thing of note is that it’s a VR game. Therefore cutting off most of the market. Still, Valve is one of the biggest champions of VR, so it perhaps shouldn’t be so surprising. Half-life: Alyx is coming March 2020.

Knights of Light is a game inspired by Mount and Blade and its trailer and screenshots contain much the same sort of feeling. Horseback combat that looks as exciting as it is terrifying and lots of hitting people with swords. The plot centers around Iraq and the battle of Al-Qadisiyyah, which I absolutely didn’t copy and paste in. I know nothing about that battle but that almost makes it better. It’s a chance to learn while hitting people. Looks like it’ll be hitting early access first, but I’m not sure when yet.

Arise: A Simple Story is a game with an awful title that caught my eye simply because of how pretty it is. The trailer opens with an elderly chap’s funeral pyre, only for him to wake in a snow covered world. As he explores, he seems to enter a forest-like area. I probably won’t be able to tell you much more, as it looks to be a PlayStation 4 title, but it’s coming out on December 3rd.

Nine Witches: Family Disruption is a quirky looking adventure game about an alternate history involving Nazis and supernatural forces. It’s done in a retro pixel art style and seems to be trying to emulate the older school of adventure games. The humour in the trailer seems very hit or miss (mostly miss), but if it’s your cup of tea, check it out in Quarter 2 2020.

Google Lines ‘Em Up

Google has revealed its line up for its launch, which will take place on the 19th November. The list is this:

Assassin's Creed Odyssey

Destiny 2: The Collection

Gult

Just Dance 2020

Kine

Mortal Kombat 11

Red Dead Redemption 2

Rise of the Tomb Raider

Samurai Shodown

Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition

Thumper

Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition

A rather odd choice to include three Tomb Raider games on launch, but it’s a fairly impressive line up. I rather like Thumper being in there. They’ve also promised to add the following before the end of the year:

Attack on Titan 2: Final Battle

Borderlands 3

Darksiders: Genesis

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2

Farming Simulator 19

Final Fantasy XV

Football Manager 2020

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint

Grid

Metro: Exodus

NBA 2K20

Rage 2

Trials Rising

Wolfenstein: Youngblood

A mixed bag of games there but, for all of its faults, Stadia is at least coming out swinging in its first year. Whether it’ll be enough, however, remains to be seen.

The Hills Have (New) Eyes

A quick part here to point towards an interesting development. Someone is remaking the original Silent Hill in first person. It’s only a concept at the moment, but check it out. It looks great. I can, however, hear the terrible siren noise that can only mean the arrival of a cease & desist. Still, Konami may have chucked Silent Hill aside in favour of a pachinko machine but it’s nice to see that people are still carrying the torch.

Even outside of that context, this video looks pretty damn creepy. If nothing else, this might prove that there’s more to the original Silent Hill than awkward controls. It proves that it’s scary full stop.

The Prez is Back!

Didn’t want to stick this one in the announcements because it feels more like a pinky promise than an actual announcement. Still, the current big bosses that own the Saint’s Row franchise, Koch Media, have said that they’ve got a new game in the making. They don’t want to release too many details now and start colouring people’s expectations but more details are going to coming next year.

Saint’s Row IV came out about six years ago and was nothing but crazy, ridiculous fun. It’ll be interesting to see where the series can go from here, to be honest. Once you’ve reached the point of being an actual overpowered superhero, is there anywhere up? I guess we’ll find out next year.

C To (L)B

Project C, a pretty looking social MMO, has gone through a name change, to reflect its core idea. It’s been changed to Life Beyond. To be frank, I had never heard of it, mostly because MMO’s aren’t really my bag. Still, I do like the idea of social MMOs. The idea of trying to bring people together to build communities and make friends is great. It doesn’t always work, mind you, due to the caustic nature of internet communities.

When it does though, it’s great. I’m reminded of that sprawling Minecraft villages where everyone builds their fantasy architecture together. Not sure if I’ll get it myself, but it’s bright colourful graphics make it one to watch. That’s all for November, see you in December!

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zoo-the-saint · 4 months

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They're in love

#i am so unserious #saints row #saints row oc #saints row fanart #saints row boss #saints row zoo #zoo #oc: zoo #zachary zoo denver #zachary denver #moo #saints row matt miller #zoo x matt #i just drew this in like 20 minutes

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masschase · 3 months

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"Did you know Julius almost picked green for the Saints?"

I officially have too many villain AU Casey designs but I'm just glad I managed to draw something again honestly! 😊

This one's from a roleplay with @/iamkinzie and @/zoo-the-saint and Casey functions as an antagonist to the Saints.

She's not "evil" per se or even that unpleasant as a person but she's certainly looking to take back what she feels she deserves had Julius left the Saints to her as she did co-fulfil the Playa role at first.

I'd be happy to talk more about this AU if people are interested 🙂

#at first i was just going to use the green as an allusion to the original saints colours #and bc emerald green is my favourite colour #but then i decided to make it an in-universe explanation #the rest of the gang is in green she's just a show-off #this casey isn't as great for money so sacrifices need to be made with guns and stuff and everything is very fake #zoo is the boss here so the contrast between their hair and clothing is more noticeable than usual #and i was having a little play with textures and line weight #sr boss: casey clark #saints row #stuff i drew

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samuraiyuki · 6 years

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Trying to sell these games. PM me if you’re a interested. Uh, also the Corpse Party art book. We can talk about pricing. And I take PayPal.

#dogz 5 #return to mysterious island #Jules Verne #resident evil 5 #resident evil 6 #dead island #motor storm #saints row the third #birth by sleep #kingdom hearts birth by sleep #mass effect #blue dragon #ATV offroad fury 2 #Wallace and gromit in project zoo #Pitfall the lost expedition #Pitfall #Corpse party #art book #doko demo isshyo

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handeaux · 3 years

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17 Curious (And Occasionally Famous) Cincinnati Dogs

Early Aeronaut

Richard Clayton, proprietor of a watch shop on the corner of Sycamore and Second streets in Cincinnati, gained international fame in 1835 when he flew a balloon from Cincinnati to Monroe County, Virginia. Shortly after liftoff from an amphitheater on Court Street, between Race and Elm, Clayton released a parachute which descended slowly to earth. Suspended from the parachute was a little (and unnamed) dog, who was returned safely to its owner. The owner refused large sums of money to part with his pioneering aeromutt.

Lusus Naturae

Cincinnati witnessed the birth of a most unusual dog in 1858. A bull terrier owned by Smith Betts of Western Row (today’s Central Avenue) gave birth to a litter including a puppy with three normal legs and a foreleg from which, where a paw should have been located, was a perfectly formed puppy head. According to the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune [17 May 1858]: “The little curiosity was as lively as a cricket, but Mr. Betts procured the service of a lad, who, for a dime, drowned it in the canal.”

Dog Days At The Zoo

In its early days, the Cincinnati Zoo offered displays of dogs. On the Zoo’s opening day in 1875, visitors could view a Newfoundland, two mastiffs, some poodles, “Danish hounds” (Great Danes) and greyhounds. Some of these dogs were trained performers, but others merely illustrated unfamiliar breeds. Cincinnatians could purchase dogs from the Zoo if they wished. The Zoo advertised Saint Bernard dogs especially as “docile . . . but a terror to tramps and evil-doers.”

A Canine Con Artist

Attorney John J. McCarthy had a friend who owned a dog. The dog preferred the company of Mr. McCarthy to that of his actual owner. As the Enquirer [27 January 1891] told it, the dog, on command, would sit up, wear a hat and smoke a cigar while displaying the “most sage look.” McCarthy turned down multiple offers to sell the dog, repeatedly explaining that he did not own the mutt. Some buyers persisted, however, to the extent that McCarthy took their money and turned over the dog. After every purchase, however, the dog was back at McCarthy’s feet within the hour.

A Dog With A Job

Willie Theobald was a clerk at the American District Messenger Office on Vine Street in 1894 and he owned a dog named Purp who followed him to work. In the days before email and faxes, a lot of business communication traveled through the city by messenger and Willie supervised a troop of young messengers – and a dog. While Willie sat at his desk, making assignments, Purp accompanied messengers on their rounds and often delivered messages on his own. Purp waited patiently until the receipt book was signed, then trotted back to Willie to await his next task.

A Vet’s Pride

Veterinarian L.A. Anderson was known throughout Cincinnati because of his dog, Jeff, esteemed to be the smartest canine in town. One day in 1894, Jeff was, as was his habit, holding the reins of his master’s horse while Dr. Anderson attended to some business. When a rainstorm blew up, Jeff led the horse onto the pavement and under the awning of a nearby store. As the rain abated, Jeff led the horse back into the street to await Dr. Anderson’s return.

It’s Not easy Being Green

Oscar A. Stuckenberg, a clerk in the city engineering office, donated to Cincinnati’s Natural History Museum the freshly deceased body of a greyhound pup which had died 36 hours after birth, 23 February 1897. The color of its coat was distinctly asparagus green, except the head, which was the ordinary grey color. Museum curators scrubbed the corpse with soap, then soaked it in alcohol for several hours, but were unable to remove the color. “Mr. Stuckenberg's assurance that the pup was born with the green color can not be doubted,” they concluded.

Pug In Lieu Of A Ring

Margaret Harrison was one of the most sought-after young ladies in Cincinnati, if not for her own charms then for the riches of her father, Learner Blackman Harrison, president of the First National Bank. She accepted the proposal of Ezra Howard Child, son of a wealthy Massachusetts manufacturer but, it being 1900, thought engagement rings were too old-fashioned for a modern couple and requested a dog instead. Margaret’s fiancé complied, and a pug, decorated with a white satin ribbon, accompanied her throughout the ceremony, attended by one hundred guests, at her parent’s house on Grandin Road.

Cincinnati’s Most Intelligent Dog

Word got around in 1902 that Prince, a white and brown water spaniel owned by Mr. and Mrs. Walter M. Wirthwine of Evanston, could do anything except speak. The Wirthwines talked to Prince continually as they trained him and this, it was believed, educated Prince to understand every word spoken, so that he followed every command to the letter. Although 10 years old, Prince was described as frisky as a puppy, and much beloved by the neighbors on Harvard Avenue.

Cincinnati’s First Police Dog

Visitors to the Greater Cincinnati Police Museum are greeted by the stuffed remains of a scruffy mutt in a display case. This is Handsome, beloved companion of the Cincinnati Police who patrolled Rat Row, Sausage Row and the other unsavory neighborhoods that constituted what is now The Banks but was once known as The Bottoms. Handsome’s feats of investigative skill spread far and wide. On his demise in 1915, the cops chipped in and had Handsome preserved through taxidermy. For a while, he decorated police headquarters, but he’s now at home in the museum.

An Extra Leg

In 1926, somebody dropped off an unusual dog to Hamilton County Sheriff Richard Witt who, back then, also served as the county’s dog catcher. There was nothing wrong with the little puppy except that it had five legs. Witt turned the little fellow over to his deputy, Charles “Buck” Hauser, who promised to take care of it. Hauser had a history with freak animals; he also provided a home to a three-legged rooster.

Danny Dumm’s Greyhound

Cartoonist Harold E. Russell inked daily sports highlights for the Cincinnati Enquirer over a 52-year career that ended only with his death in 1966. Along the way, Russell is credited with inventing mustachioed Mister Red and the Cincinnati Royals logo. He also created a miniature alter ego named Danny Dumm who provided commentary on Russell’s cartoons for decades. In 1928, promoting racing meets at a Springdale greyhound track, Danny adopted a dog and the Enquirer ran a contest to name the pooch. Inundated with thousands of entries, Russell got two assistants to help him pick the eventual winning name – Big Swig – submitted by Miss Evelyn Klopp of Norwood.

Big Jon & Sparkie’s Pooch

For a decade, beginning at WSAI in 1948 and later on the ABC network, the most popular show on radio, “Big Jon & Sparkie,” was produced here in Cincinnati. Big Jon was the show’s host, Jonathan Arthur Goerss. Sparkie was an elf from the Land of Make Believe who wanted to become a real boy. Most of the characters were based on writer Don Kortekamp’s Cincinnati childhood, including Sparkie’s mischievous dog, a Boston toy terrier named Bunny.

Uncle Al’s Dog

From 1950 to 1985, it seemed mandatory for every kid in Cincinnati to appear at least once on WCPO’s Uncle Al Show. In addition to host Al Lewis himself and his wife, Wanda, aka “Captain Windy,” the show featured a multitude of supporting characters. Many of the subsidiary roles on the Uncle Al Show were created by artist and set designer Thomas York, including Ringo Rango the cowboy, Lucky the Clown, Chief Red Feather, Charley the Horse, the Merry Mailman and, of course, Pal the Dog.

Hattie The Witch’s Hound

At least two generations of Cincinnati children grew up with the Larry Smith Puppets, from his days on the Uncle Al Show on WCPO-TV through his decade-long run as the host of Larry Smith’s Cartoon Club on WXIX-TV. In addition to “Batty Hattie from Cincinnati,” Teaser the Mouse and Rudy the Rooster, the central canine character in this puppet menagerie was Snarfy R. Dog.

WEBN’s Program Director

When radio station WEBN first went on the air from a small, blue Considine Avenue house on “Price’s Mountain,” the owner and chief on-air personality, attorney Frank Wood Sr., was meticulous in crediting the talents of program director Miles Duffy. Visitors to the station may have suspected something funny about a dog bowl labeled “Miles.” In fact, Miles Duffy was a cocker spaniel, drafted into that significant position to give the impression WEBN’s employee roster was larger than it was. When Miles went to doggy heaven, the Woods had him taxidermied.

Cincinnati Reds In The Dog House

No review of Cincinnati dogs could be complete, of course, without featuring Marge Schott’s Saint Bernards, known as Schottzie and Schottzie 02. Reds managers were subjected to rubdowns with dog hair in often-vain attempts to attract good luck, groundskeepers had to pick up dog poop off the field, players had to dodge the beasts during pre-game warm-ups and the dogs sat front and center in the team photos during Schott’s ownership of the team.

#cincinnati dogs #danny dumm #marge schott #uncle al #larry smith #big jon and sparkie #cincinnati zoo

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vs-redemption · 3 years

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This is the sixth piece out of seven written for the one year anniversary collaboration event for the @konoblog-simps discord. I encourage everyone to check out the masterlist for today's prompt and support the other creators. Some content might not be suitable for minors so please pay attention to the warnings.

Prompt: Places (Jean Kirstein x GN!Reader)

Word Count: 800+ Warnings: None

Jean figured he must’ve been something remarkable in his past like, like a hero or a saint, because there was no way he’d done enough in his current lifetime to deserve you. In fact, it still amazed him that you’d actually agreed to go on a date with him at all. But here you both were, several years later, walking hand in hand up to the rickety wooden entrance to the first place he’d ever taken you.

“You would think they’d at least apply a new coat of paint or something once in a while,” He huffs while reaching into his back pocket to pull out his wallet.

“I think it adds to the nostalgia to come back and find it just the way it always was,” you titter happily, looking up at your boyfriend with a sweet smile. The stern look on Jean’s face softens as he takes in the sight of you, cheeks and nose slightly pink from the cold despite being bundled up so adorably in your puffy jacket and scarf.

“I think it probably wouldn’t even pass a safety inspection,” he grumbles even though he knew his complaining was pointless. There were plenty of other places he would prefer to take you that were much nicer, but he could never refuse to bring you back here when it made you so happy to revisit the place where your journey as a couple had begun. It was enough to know that your relationship meant as much to you as it did to him, so he would continue to bring you to this shabby little apple orchard for as long as it kept putting that heartwarming smile on your face.

“What attractions do you want to do this year?” He asks once you get to the front of the line.

“I want to do them all!” It was the same answer you always gave. Jean hands over the correct amount to pay for two passes before sliding his hand back into yours and heading into the main area where a few people sat around on old wooden picnic tables, eating their fresh donuts and apple cider.

“Let’s do the corn maze first?” he suggests and you nod eagerly.

“After that, let’s check out the petting zoo!”

Despite the run down state of the place, Jean always ended up enjoying the annual visit. Somehow, he always ended up leaving feeling even more in love with you than when he’d arrived. The way you gasped and immediately grabbed onto his arm when rounding a corner in the maze to find a particularly frightening scarecrow showed him just how much you trusted him to protect you. And watching you get so excited about petting and feeding a bunch of baby animals, as dirty and smelly as he thought they were, never failed to remind him of your softer, more nurturing side. He adored everything about you.

“Jean, can you try to reach some of the ones at the top?” You ask him as you hop on your toes to try and reach an apple hanging on the branch above your head.

“Babe, I don’t know if you should eat these,” he admits after the apple basically falls off into his hand at the slightest touch. “They don’t seem like the best. We can always go to another orchard.”

“No, it’s fine!” You assure him while taking the overly ripe fruit he hands you and putting them gently into the bag you’d purchased before entering the rows of apple trees. “We can make pie with these. It’s going to be so yummy! Promise!”

Jean wasn’t going to argue with that. He had no idea how you could find the silver lining in almost any situation, but he was glad that you did. After all, you saw more positive aspects in him than he had ever been able to see in himself. He was a little like the withered apples you were carrying in that respect. After falling into your care, they would be given new purpose and transformed from something off-putting into something truly enticing. He could definitely relate to that. Through the years he’d spent on the receiving end of your care and love, he’d slowly become more confident and optimistic about life. It was just another reason he’d fallen head over heels for you. You made him a better man.

“Did you want to do anything else before heading home, love?” Jean asks once it seemed you’d done everything you could possibly do.

“No, let’s get back so we can warm up and start on dinner,” you tell him while looping your arm into his. He smiles and leans down to press a kiss to your forehead before directing you toward the exit. Although he often made a fuss about always visiting the same run down orchard, deep down he knew he wouldn’t really want to take you anywhere else. As you both meander out the same rickety gate you’d entered from, Jean was already looking forward to the next year when he could bring you back.

#Jean Kirstein x reader #snk x reader #aot x reader #Jean Kirstein #snk #aot #Discord Collab #Cindy's Writing

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agentofscifi · 4 years

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Success is the Best Kind of Revenge

I didn’t want to feel smug, I really didn’t, but I just couldn’t help the pin prick of smugness. My entire classes sat around, horribly disappointed in our Lycée classroom. Many of them had gotten responses for Universities jobs, and internships over the winter semester. They hadn’t turned out well.

Alya had applied to a job at a newspaper, applied to three internships and sent four university applications out. She lost every one of them. Nino hadn’t gotten his internship either nor did he get into the music school he wanted. Kim had a scholarship and college acceptance revoked, and the two other Universities who had been offering swimming scholarships pulled their offers back too. Ivan and Myléne had both been under investigation over the break for charity fraud. Though they were cleared, no other charities wanted their help and their university had pulled their acceptance out.

Rose’s eyes were still red and raw looking. Prince Ali had cut all contact with Rose and she was denied from her music schools. All of Max’s scholarships and every since school he applied to, all fourteen of them, pulled back their acceptance. Nathaniel’s comic strip was no longer being printed and there was a pending copyright suit. Sabrina was under investigation too, for theft, breaking and entering as well as illegal photography. Her university denied her as well. She assisted Lila and Alya in harassing me over the past few years. Adrien was sitting in his seat, a numb sort of look over his face as Nino patted his shoulder. Lila, however, was the only happy one in the class. She had a firm grip on Adrien’s arm as she chatted to an unset Alya about how she helped catch Hawkmoth with Ladybug.

The only reason I knew all of this was because of their parents. Despite their children no longer speaking to me, my classmates' parents and siblings were still in good relations with my family. Their parents had described their disappointment and confusion to my parents after all of the university issues.

I was sitting in the back with a sad looking Juleka, an annoyed Alix and an over smug Chloe. A weird sort of girl group that formed as the rest of the class refused to grow up. I wanted to feel bad, I really did, but honestly, they made their own graves. I tried to warn them, I tried to keep them from this. They choose the fool’s gold.

Alix, Chloe and Juleka came to the light. Chloe figured it out the quickest, many of Lila’s lies had holes in them. Chloe saw the holes quite easily. Juleka became wary of Lila after Luka met her. Apparently, Lila’s inner song is like nails on chalkboards and dying kittens. As for Alix, she had asked Lila about the Rabbit Miraculous only for Lila to tell her that it was wielded by a man in the future. Either way, they all saw what was really going on.

Mrs. Bustier walks into the room just as the bell rings, a large smile on her face. “Hello everyone. I hope you had a good break. Did everyone do their homework?” Most of the classmates looked down at those words. Our winter break homework, making a list of options for after Lycée this year. Normally we’d have private meetings about all of this today, while the rest of us worked in the library. Mrs. Bustier decided that our class would share our options with everyone else.

“Well, would anyone like to start? Alya?” Mrs. Bustier gives a big smile to my former best friend.

Alya’s face pales and she mumbles for a second before clearing her throat. “I, ahh. I’ve decided to take a year off, to do a year of work. There’s a grocery store that has some openings for me and the Zoo where my Dad works is hiring summer people for the gift shop and concessions.”

Mrs. Bustier’s smile drops. “Alya, what about your internships at the newspaper, or the one at TVi?”

Alya looks down. “I didn’t get them.”

“What about Goldsmith University in London? Or Cardiff University? Of the University of Amsterdam? Or ESJ Paris? You were looking forward to all of the programs these schools offered.”

Alya’s hand on the desk clenches. “I didn’t get in.”

Mrs. Bustier’s smile was completely gone now. “What?”

“All four Universities denied me. I didn't get into any of them.”

“Oh.” Mrs. Bustier blushes a deep red and looks around to the room before settling on me. She nudges her head towards Alya, telling me to comfort my classmate.

I raise an eyebrow at her, causing her blush to deepen. She did that everytime I reminded her, either subtly or not, that she couldn’t put all of her responsibilities onto a child. Regardless, I spoke up. I really did feel some pity for the class. “I’m sorry about that Alya. Try again next year. A job or something might help boost your application.”

Alya whips around and glares at me. “I don’t need your pity! I’ll be fine! Unlike you, you’ll just be a nobody. I bet not a single University in the whole world wanted you!” I sigh and glance over at Mrs. Bustier. She remained silent as Alya rips into me. Typical.

Chloe lets out a small laugh. “You’re one to talk.”

Alya’s face heats up again and Mrs. Bustier finally cleared her throat. “Well, let’s move on. Nino, what about you? What about that school in America?”

Nino rubs the back of his head. “I, uh. I heard back. They don’t think I’m ready to start at Musicians Institute in Los Angeles. I didn’t get the internship either, the one in Hollywood. My parents are letting me keep my DJ work up next year, but I have to find a job.”

Mrs. Bustier’s smile is obviously forced now. She’d spent the whole break bragging about her classmates on social media and in an interview. So far, the class was not doing so well. “Rose? How about you? What music school are you going to?”

Rose immediately starts to tear up. “None of them! Julliad didn’t want me! Neither did the Royal Academy of Music or Royal College of Music in London. They said my music wasn’t good enough!”

Rose was just about sobbing at this point in front of me. Juleka looks even more sad and I agreed with her. Rose’s lyrics were actually pretty good, until Lila got a hold of her. Now the music was less inspiring and unique.

Mrs. Bustier looks up at me. A desperate plea in her eyes. I look away almost instantly, pulling out a small thing of tissues. I pass them over to Rose’s shoulder, getting a soft thank you in response. Juleka pulls out her phone and starts to text. More than likely offering a shoulder for Rose to cry on after class.

Mrs. Bustier fumbles with her hands for a minute, looking around the class. “Sabrina, what about you? Do you still want that social justice degree?”

Sabrina drops her head into her arms. “No. I’m not going to University next year. My father wants me to stay in Paris with him until next year. He’s...worried about me.”

Mrs. Bustier’s eyes are a little more frantic now. “Myléne! Ivan! How about you two? Where do you hope to go to University next year?”

Myléne sinks in her seat. Ivan glances around the room like he’s hoping someone will help. No one does. “We’re ah, taking a year off too. Our summer volunteer trip in Africa fell through also. So, we’re sticking around for a while. Looking at our options.” Myléne nods.

“Oh, good for you.” Mrs. Bustier looks around the room again. She avoided us. No surprise. Unlike the rest of the class, we really didn’t get much time to discuss our future with Mrs. Bustier. She seemed to be focusing on the students she believed would be going somewhere. “Kim! How about that swimming scholarship?”

Kim flushes red too. “I uh. I’m not going to be swimming in the fall. I’m thinking about some basic classes at a local university.”

“What about the scholarship?”

Kim’s eyes darted around, briefly looking at me, before continuing on. “I lost it. There were some issues, I didn’t qualify anymore.”

“Nathaniel! What about you? Did your new comic strip kick off?”

Nathenial’s head drops to his desk and he moans. The whole class stares in shock. Nathenial shakes his head on the desk, another moan emitting from below the red hair.

“Max!” There’s a look of comfort in Mrs. Bustier. Her smartest pupil would come through, wouldn’t he. “How about you?”

“I got denied. All fourteen schools denied me!” Max had a slight crazed look in his eyes. As I looked closer I could see how unkempt me was. His suspenders were a little askew, his hair wasn’t quite as controlled as usual, and his glasses weren’t straight. “Me, the kid who made an AI was denied from MIT, Stanford, Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard, Berkeley, University of Tokyo, ETH Zürich, California’s Institute of Technology, Technical University of Munich, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Nanyang Technological University, Princeton, and Grenoble Institute of Technology. All of my scholarships, gone!” A hysterical laugh rips through Max as he sits in his seat.

Mrs. Bustier franic look was back as she scanned the room once more. She briefly looks up at the four of us then shakes her head. Alix rolls her eyes from across the row. Obviously Mrs. Bustier thought we’d all be failors too. Instead, she looks at Adrien and Lila.

“Adrien, what about you? Any University plans?”

Adrien’s mouth opens and closes a few times. “I’m moving in with my Aunt. I plan to teach piano to some kids in the fall. I have some… stuff to do with my father’s company this summer. I don’t think I’ll be going to a University anytime soon.”

“Lila!” Mrs. Bustier’s voice is high and cracking. “What about you? Still doing charity work? Going to University?”

Lila gives a huge smile to the whole class. “Yes. I’ll be working in Achu for a little bit this summer. I got into a few schools in the U.S, France, England and in Italy. I’m not sure where I want to study yet, but I’m sure I’ll be the next best thing in Fashion. Opps!” Lila looks up at me. “I’m sorry Marinette! I didn’t mean to offend you.”

I give a small, fake smile. “Don’t worry Lila. It’s fine. Maybe I’ll see you next year? What schools did you get into?”

Lila’s fasade drops slightly. “I, uh. Parson’s in New York, and um, Central Saint Martins in London, and um Accademia Costume e Moda in Rome. I decided to go to Central Saint Martins.”

“Impressive. I didn’t send anything to the Accademia in Rome, but I’m happy to see someone else got into Parson’s and Saint Martins.” My smile is a little sharp. I could afford to fake my congratulations when I knew that Lila’s tower was about to collapse underneath her.

“Marinette, you got into Parson’s and Saint Martins?” Mrs. Bustier’s smile was back and slightly crazed. “Which one of those will you be going to?”

“Neither. I did get into Parsons school of design in New York, as well as Central Saint Martin’s in London, but I’m not going to either of those.”

“What school will you be going to?” Mrs. Bustier’s eyebrows are furrowed.

“The London College of Fashion. I got into ESMOD in Paris, Istituto Marangoni International in Milan, as well as Parson’s School of Design and Central Saint Martins. I thought about staying in Paris, but I just wanted a little distance. You know, spread my wings. I didn’t feel like going to New York either. It’s pretty far away. I almost agreed to go to the school in Milan, but I think I’m going to hold off on that school until I go to get a Master’s Degree. So, it was between London College of Fashion and Saint Martins and I just liked the London College more.”

“Oh, that’s fantastic Marinette!” Mrs. Bustier’s enthusiasm returns in full swing.

Alya snort ruins the moment. “If she’s even telling the truth.”

Lila blinks and then looks back up at me. “Yah, that’s true. How do we know you’re not lying. You’ve been doing that alot the last four years.”

Mrs. Bustier smile turns into a frown and she instead gives a glare meant for a child. “It’s not nice to lie, Marinette.”

A smirk earns its way onto my face. “I’m not lying. I don’t care if you believe me or not, but I’m not lying. I’ll be in London, come Fall, studying to be a world class fashion designer.”

Alya snorts again. Mrs. Bustier gives me an exasperated look, but freezes as she meets my gaze. Any sort of appreciation or respect for my teacher was gone, replaced by annoyance and I hold Mrs. Bustier’s gaze for over a full minute, causing the woman to fidget.

Chloe finally nudges me and clears her throat. “Well, I finally decided where I’ll be going in the fall. I even have a roommate picked out.” She nudges me with a smile.

“No way you’re going to University.” Alya’s teeth are bare as she all but growls at Chloe. “Who would want you?”

Chloe shrugs. “Oh, you know. Harvard, Stanford, Cambridge, Oxford, INSEAD, Bocconi University, and the London Business School. I’m going to the London Business School. It’s ranked third in the world for Business studies. The only places above it are Harvard and INSEAD, but I don’t want to move all the way to America quite yet and I was not staying in a town less than an hour from you all.”

The whole class looks at Chloe in surprise. That was something they never realized. Chloe didn’t put work in when she was younger because she didn’t have to. Everything was given to her until Lycée when our teachers finally started to push Chloe. Now, she was a budding business woman already helping me with my MDC company.

“No way!” Max looks up at Chloe. Anger in his eyes. “How did you get in and not me?”

Chlor rolls her eyes. “I’m fluent in French, English, Italian, Spanish, Mandarin, as well as Portugese. I have a 4.00 GPA and perfect grades in all my classes. I got all A* grades in my A level exams to get me into the Schools in London. I even took the ACT and SAT for the Universities in America. I got a 33 on the ACT and a 1520 on the SAT. I have been helping my Daddy with the hotel for over three years and I’ve had three different internships.”

The whole class is staring at Chloe. They wanted to argue, but Alix cuts them off first. “Well, if we’re done arguing about how Chloe got into top Universities. I’m attending Cambridge in the Fall, just like my Dad and brother. I’m also tagging along on a dig in China this summer. There’s this old temple the Louvre is investigating with several other museums and colleges.”

The class just stares at her, completely complex. Alix shrugs and looks at Juleka. “Juleka, your turn.”

Juleka pulls her hair back and clears her throat. “I’m attending Guildhall School of Music and Drama, in London. I’ll be studying music and production arts. I’ve also been signed to a modeling agency in London, so I'll be doing that too.”

“So, you’ll all be living together?” Myléne looks at us curiously.

I shake my head. “No, Alix and Juleka will be living on Campus this year, in the dorms. Chloe and I will be sharing an apartment however. Our schools are only 30 minutes apart when walking.”

“We’ve already found a place. 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and a large kitchen. Mari gave me the Master Bed and Bath so she could convert one of the extra bedrooms into a studio.”

Alya scoffs. “You doing anything else this summer?” She tries to sound strong, but it comes off a bit flat.

“We’re all doing a Graduation trip to Italy, you know, because we couldn’t go on the class one. Juleka’s mom and Marinette’s Grandmother are chaperoning. We’ll be touring all of Italy over a month.” Alix gives the class a smile as someone knocks on the door.

Mrs. Bustier gives us a small smile and goes to the door. There’s a gasp and Mrs. Bustier slowly backs up. There’s four police officers just outside the classroom door along with a small collection of people. Two of the people have a strong resemblance to Lila, and another person has an Italian look. Another three people all standing together, looking over the class. Principle Damocles is present as well, looking very pale. More people are filtering in and I realize it’s the parents of most of our classmates. Each set of parents comes and stands next to their child or sits on the bench with them. Juleka’s Mom gives me a little wave as she sits next to her daughter.

Principle Damocles clears his throat. “Students, if I could have your attention please. There have been some... issues over the break that need to be addressed.”

Alya perks up. “Have you finally come to deal with Chloe and Marinette? They’ve been bullying poor Lila for years.”

“No.” One of the women who had been surveying the class turns to look at Alya. “We’re here for a variety of reasons. First of all, several students in this class are under investigation for a variety of charges. Second of all, almost every single one of you has ended being denied from every college you applied to. Lastly, We’re here to deal with the improper and naive mindsets that your Principal and Teacher have. Especially considering Ms. Rossi. Speaking of which.” The woman turns to Mrs. Bustier. “I’m not even going to touch your bluntly stupid way of dealing with bullies. That will be handled after all of this. Right now I’m going to ask why you threw every single rule about parental contact and special privileges out the window. You do not give students special privilege for medical conditions if they do not have doctors notes. You do not just ignore the fact that you can’t contact one of your students parents by anything but email. You don’t ignore when one of your students disappears willy nilly when every she feels like it.”

Mrs. Bustier opens and closes her mouth. “Who are you? I’ve been in contact with all of my students' parents.”

“I am Amelia Vaux, the Superintendent of Education in France. And no, you have not been in contact with all of your student’s parents. The email Lila Rossi gave you is an email she set up. Mrs. Rossi has never spoken to you, received an email or signed anything for the school. The woman is still operating under the assumption that your collége closed down for months at one point.”

“I, what?” Mrs. Bustier looks completely lost.

“Lila Rossi gave you a fake email and a fake phone number for her Mother. Lila Rossi’s father is not asstrange, despite what she has been saying. Lila Rossi has a clean bill of health according to a doctor's visit over break. No tinnitus, no arthritis, no sprains, no breaks, no vision issues, no hearing issues at all. The worst thing she’s had was a bad case of influenza when she was 11. Of course, this is ignoring the fact that the girl was diagnosed as a pathological liar and with antisocial personality disorder when the girl was 13 years old. It’s in her medical file and her student file, along with a warning about the girl’s bullying habits.”

Everyone was staring at Mrs. Vaux up front, the parents looked sick and my classmates were staring in disbelief. “No,” Alya is shaking her head. “This can’t be true. Marinette is the liar.”

Mrs. Vaux turns from Mrs. Bustier and look at Alya. “Actually, Mrs. Dupain-Cheng was telling the truth and has unfairly suffered for it for years. From what I understand, most of this class had vandalized Mrs. Dupain-Cheng’s belongings or stolen things from her. All on the words of Ms. Rossi, who’s lies could have been proven false by a google search. Jagged Stone is allergic to cats. Prince Ali only runs children’s charities. I could continue.”

One of the women in the room clears her voice at this point. “If I may, I am here on the behalf of several people of various nationalities.” She sets a pile of papers before Lila and Alya. “These are cease and desist orders for the both of you. The Ladyblog must be shut down and deleted on the ground of libel, slander, and a violation of rights. As for Ms. Rossi, you have multiple charges of libel, slander, illegal photography, and a variety of charges you order to be sent to famous people who don’t know you.” Lila was paling quickly. “You also have a case of breaking and entering, theft, copyright violation and assault.”

“I have diplomatic immunity. All you can do is kick me out of the country.” Lila stands up from her seat, a smug look on her face.

“No!” A woman with a heavy Italian accent frowns at Lila. “We have revoked your diplomatic immunity. You will be charged here, in France, and will serve out your sentence in a French Prison. Italy already made a mistake when they let you have therapy for your original incident instead of time in a juvenile detention center. We will not make that mistake again.”

A police officer clears his throat and looks over at Lila. “Lila Rossi. You are under arrest for breaking and entering, theft, copyright violation, assault, destruction of property, libel, slander, charity fraud and terrorism. Hawkmoth had a camera in his lair. We have videos of you visiting his lair. He also confirmed that you willingly took akumas, helped him akumatized people and a variety of other things.”

Lila stands frozen as the police officer cuffs her hands behind her back. She finally snaps out of it as she looks towards the other two Italian people. “Mamma! Pápa! Do something!”

The woman takes one look at Lila and then bursts into tears. She’s full on sobbing into her hands. The man simple lays a hand on Mrs. Rossi and levels his daughter with a deadly stare. “No Lila. We cannot help you out of this mess.”

Lila gaps and then glares at her father. “Why not?”

“You’re not a child anymore, Lila! You’re over 18! There’s video evidence of your crimes! That blog is filled with your lies! You can’t lie your way out of this. You can’t get off scot free! You’re being charged with terrorism!”

Lila gaps for another minute then screams. A blood-thirst, angry scream as she whips around and glares at me. “You! This is all your doing Dupain-Cheng! You stupid bitch!”

I level with Lila’s glare. “Yes. I got the ball rolling. You see, when you broke into my room before break and stole my designs so you could add them to your portfolio for University, you didn’t realize that I had a video camera set up. I got on camera, breaking and entering, theft, and copyright violation. I gave the evidence to the police. I didn't expect all of this, but I’m not sorry.”

Lila screams again and starts to fight the police, forcing the second cop to help grab Lila and drag her from the room. Lila’s parents follow them out, with the Italian woman giving the class a nod before following. The lawyer gives Mrs. Vaux a nod and follows after them.

The other two police officers exchange looks before one clears his throat. “When investigation Ms. Lila Rossi, all of you were brought up. Most of you have broken a variety of laws at the behest of Ms. Rossi. Whether you knew that you were breaking the law or not doesn’t matter. Most of you destroyed the property of one of your classmates, more than once. You also physically assaulted her on more than one occasion. We have the video footage to prove it.”

Several parents were moaning now, forlorn looks on their faces as they started to realize the consequences of their children’s actions.

“Oh, my god!” We all look over at Max who looked a second away from hyperventilating. “I wrote my University admissions paper about a project Lila worked on. She gave me all of the data!”

Max’s mother moans. “You didn’t look up any of it!”

Max flushes. “She said it hadn’t been published yet.”

Max’s mother mumbles under her breath. “This is why all those Universities denied you! This is why you lost all our University acceptances and scholarships! Because you took the word of some Italian classmate above your own common sense.”

“Max thought that a napkin could cut his eye.” Chloe starts to file her nails, ignoring Max’s mother, who was now staring at her. “And he wears glasses.”

Max’s mother moans once again, and slumps onto the steps next to Max’s seat.

The police officers exchange looks once again. The first one continues his speech as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “Due to the fact that most of your crimes were committed when you were a minor and were against the same person. There will not be any fines or jail time for any of you.”

There’s a large collective sigh through the room. Nino’s mother looks like she’s praying. Mrs.Vaux clears her throat. “While that may be true for legal terms, you are all on probation. One step out of line and you will be expelled from this school. You will also all have to complete anti-bullying seminars to graduate. Mrs. Bustier is also no longer your teacher. Mrs. Aveline will be your homeroom teacher for the rest of the year.” She gestures to one of the women behind her. “Mrs. Fortier is your temporary principle for the rest of the year. Mr. Damocles is no longer your principle.”

Rose hesitantly raises a hand. “Why are you firing Mrs. Bustier and Mr. Damocles?”

Mrs. Vaux’s frown deepens. “None of this would have happened if the two of them had done their jobs. Ms. Rossi’s habits were clearly outlined in her student file. If either of them had bothered to do their job correctly four years ago, we wouldn’t be in this position.” Rose nods meekly, sinking back into her seat and leaning into her mother.

The police officer clears his throat again. “Now, while none of you will be fined or be serving jail time, you do have to serve a certain number of community service hours to complete within the next six months. If you don’t complete the service hours, you will be fined for the crimes. Your parents have already agreed to the terms we will lay out for you. However, because all of you are over 18, you can try to bring this to court.”

Alya turns and glares at me. “This is all your fault!”

Alya’s mouth grabs her by the shoulders and jerks her around. “Alya. You will complete these service hours. If you get convicted you’re looking at thousands in euros of fines and almost a decade of jail time.”

Alya gasps. “What did I do?”

The second policeman glances down at a clipboard. “Libel, slander, damaging of property, theft, and assault.”

Alya stares at the man, going slack in her seat. It was like the consequences of everything she’d done of the past four years were finally hitting her.

The second policeman clears his throat once again. “Alright. Rose Lavillant, Ivan Bruel, Mylène Haprèle, Nathaniel Kurtzberg and Max Kanté, you will have to serve 50 hours of community service over the next six months. Nino Lahiffe, Lê Chiên Kim, Alya Césaire, and Sabrina Raincomprix, you all will be serving 100 hours of community service.”

“Ms. Césaire, by court order, your Ladyblog will have to be deleted as well.” Alya gaps at the officer and goes to stand, but both of her parents hold her down.

Mrs. Vaux sighs, and moves her gaze up to the four of us at the top. “Ms. Dupain-Cheng, Ms. Bourgeois, Ms. Couffaine, and Ms. Kubdel, you will be switched into Ms. Mendeleiev’s class for the remainder of the year. I believe it would be best for you to be out of this environment.”

All four of us nod and start to pick up our things. The rest of the classmates stare at us. “But, who’s going to be class representative now?” Rose looks close to tears again.

I shrug, pulling my bag over my shoulder. “The job goes to the deputy now.”

The whole class shifts to look at Alya, who pales once again. The four of us walk down the stairs to the near silence of the room, our parents trailing after us. As soon as we were out the door several people started yelling in the room.

I knew I should care, and part of me did, but I just felt happy that most of this was all over. It took four years, but finally, everyone knew about Lila. I hadn’t felt this light in years.

Ch. 2 ~~~~ Ch. 3

#lila salt #alya salt #ml salt #bustier salt #class salt #miraculous ladybug #lila exposed #success is the best kind of revenge

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