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kookie-doughs · 3 years

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Y/N L/N AND THE HALFBLOODS

Percy Jackson X Reader

-Y/N L/N met Percy Jackson and everything was now ruined.

CHAPTER 13: I Have Trust Issues But Okay

We spent two days on the Amtrak train, heading west through hills, over rivers, past amber waves of grain. We weren't attacked once, but I didn't relax. I felt that we were traveling around in a display case, being watched from above and maybe from below, that something was waiting for the right opportunity. We tried to keep a low profile because Percy and I's name and picture were splattered over the front pages of several East Coast newspapers. It seemed like when they saw me with Percy they realized me and my family are gone. The Trenton Register-News showed a photo taken by a tourist as we got off the Greyhound bus. Percy had a wild look in my eyes. His sword was a metallic blur in his hands. It might've been a baseball bat or a lacrosse stick. I was holding his hand with my knife on the other hand. The picture's caption read: Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson, wanted for questioning in the Long Island disappearance of his mother two weeks ago, is shown here fleeing from the bus where he accosted several elderly female passengers. The bus exploded on an east New Jersey roadside shortly after Jackson fled the scene. Based on eyewitness accounts, police believe the boy may be traveling with three teenage accomplices. It has been found out one of which is Y/N L/N, a twelve-year-old girl who went missing with her family during a trip. Percy Jackson's stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, has offered a cash reward for information leading to his capture.

"Don't worry," Annabeth told Percy. "Mortal police could never find us." But she didn't sound so sure. The rest of the day we spent alternately pacing the length of the train (because I had a really hard time sitting still) or looking out the windows. Calm Once, I spotted a family of centaurs galloping across a wheat field, bows at the ready, as they hunted lunch. The little boy centaur, who was the size of a second-grader on a pony, caught my eye and waved. I looked around the passenger car, the adult riders all had their faces buried in laptop computers or magazines, Percy and I saw an amazed look. Another time, toward evening, Percy said he saw something huge moving through the woods. He swore it was a lion, except that lions don't live wild in America, and it was the size of a Hummer, then it leaped through the trees and was gone. I told him he might have been seeing things and Annabeth agreed. Our reward money for returning Gladiola the poodle had only been enough to purchase tickets as far as Denver. We couldn't get berths in the sleeper car, so we dozed in our seats. My neck got stiff. I sat between Percy and Annabeth. Grover kept snoring and bleating and waking Percy up. Once, he shuffled around and his fake foot fell off. Annabeth and I had to stick it back on before any of the other passengers noticed. "So," Annabeth asked me, once we'd gotten Grover's sneaker readjusted. "Who wants Percy's help?" "What do you mean?" "You heard it too didn't you? When he was asleep just now, he mumbled, 'I won't help you.' Has he told you what he's dreaming about?" "Gossiping about me?" Percy yawned. "Pretty much everyone is. So I think we'll join." I said. "Annabeth wants to know about your dream. I could tell he was reluctant to say anything. It was the second time he'd dreamed about it. Then he finally told her. Annabeth was quiet for a long time. "If you think it's Hades, that doesn't sound like Hades. He always appears on a black throne, and he never laughs." She pointed out. "He offered my mother in trade. Who else could do that?" We could. If you bring us together we could trade. "What?" Percy and Annabeth looked at me in worry. "Something on my face? Is there something close?" "Y/N, you did it again." Percy said. "Did what?" "You... Talked. Differently. Like weirdly." "Your definition of weird doesn't describe me. I did nothing wrong. I haven't even given an in put on your topic. Which we should get back on." I don't know why I had no idea what they meant by me talking weirdly, but I felt like I should stay away from that topic. "I guess ... if he meant, 'Help me rise from the Underworld.' If he wants war with the Olympians. But why ask you to bring him the master bolt if he already has it?" She explained looking at me as if I was the one that needed convincing. I shook my head, wishing I knew the answer. I thought about what Grover had told me, that the Furies on the bus seemed to have been looking for something. Where is it? Where? Maybe Grover sensed my emotions. He snorted in his sleep, muttered something about vegetables, and turned his head. Percy readjusted Grover's cap so it covered his horns. "Percy, you can't barter with Hades. You know that, right? He's deceitful, heartless, and greedy. I don't care if his Kindly Ones weren't as aggressive this time-" "This time?" I asked. "You mean you've run into them before?" Her hand crept up to her necklace. She fingered a glazed white bead painted with the image of a pine tree, one of her clay end-of-summer tokens. "Let's just say I've got no love for the Lord of the Dead. You can't be tempted to make a deal for your mom." "What would you do if it was your dad?" "That's easy," she said. "I'd leave him to rot." "You're not serious?" Annabeth's gray eyes fixed on me. She wore the same expression she'd worn in the woods at camp, the moment she drew her sword against the hellhound. "My dad's resented me since the day I was born," she said. "He never wanted a baby. When he got me, he asked Athena to take me back and raise me on Olympus because he was too busy with his work. She wasn't happy about that. She told him heroes had to be raised by their mortal parent." "But how ... I mean, I guess you weren't born in a hospital...." "I appeared on my father's doorstep, in a golden cradle, carried down from Olympus by Zephyr the West Wind. You'd think my dad would remember that as a miracle, right? Like, maybe he'd take some digital photos or something. But he always talked about my arrival as if it were the most inconvenient thing that had ever happened to him. When I was five he got married and totally forgot about Athena. He got a 'regular' mortal wife, and had two 'regular' mortal kids, and tried to pretend I didn't exist." I stared out the train window. The lights of a sleeping town were drifting by. I wanted to make Annabeth feel better. I don't know but the only way I could think of was a hug. So I wrapped and arm around her shoulders. She stiffened unsure of what I'd done. "My parents, they loved me all the same. The closet I got to talking about Gods was when they thought me. Not a single hint was dropped about me being a halfblood. I mean if you count my grandma Hestia. Which I think is just named after the goddess. I mean yeah, you had a not so wonderful life... But at least you're who you are now." I smiled at her. Eying Percy I gave him a nod towards Annabeth telling him to comfort her since he'd started it anyway. "My mom married a really awful guy," he told her. "Grover said she did it to protect me, to hide me in the scent of a human family. Maybe that's what your dad was thinking." Annabeth kept worrying at her necklace. She was pinching the gold college ring that hung with the beads. It occurred to me that the ring must be her father's. I wondered why she wore it if she hated him so much. "He doesn't care about me," she said. "His wife-my stepmom-treated me like a freak. She wouldn't let me play with her children. My dad went along with her. Whenever something dangerous happened-you know, something with monsters-they would both look at me resentfully, like, 'How dare you put our family at risk.' Finally, I took the hint. I wasn't wanted. I ran away." "How old were you?" "Same age as when I started camp. Seven." "But ... you couldn't have gotten all the way to Half-Blood Hill by yourself." "Not alone, no. Athena watched over me, guided me toward help. I made a couple of unexpected friends who took care of me, for a short time, anyway." I wanted to ask what happened, but Annabeth seemed lost in sad memories. Luke had already told me some of these part where he went here with Annabeth and Thalia. So I gazed out the train windows as the dark fields of Ohio raced by. Toward the end of our second day on the train, June 13, eight days before the summer solstice, we passed through some golden hills and over the Mississippi River into St. Louis. Annabeth craned her neck to see the Gateway Arch, which looked to me like a huge shopping bag handle stuck on the city. "I want to do that," she sighed. "What?" I asked. "Build something like that. You ever see the Parthenon, Y/N?" "Only in pictures." "Someday, I'm going to see it in person. I'm going to build the greatest monument to the gods, ever. Something that'll last a thousand years." Percy laughed. "You? An architect?" Her cheeks flushed. "Yes, an architect. Athena expects her children to create things, not just tear them down, like a certain god of earthquakes I could mention." "Percy! I think she'll be incredible." I pinched his arm. We watched the churning brown water of the Mississippi below. I took Percy's hand in fear that the water would just grab me and drag me down. "Sorry," Annabeth said. "That was mean." I nudged Percy to apologize as well, "I didn't mean to make fun of you. I'm sorry." "Can't you two work together a little?" I pleaded. "I mean, didn't Athena and Poseidon ever cooperate?" Annabeth had to think about it. "I guess ... the chariot," she said tentatively. "My mom invented it, but Poseidon created horses out of the crests of waves. So they had to work together to make it complete." "Then you two can cooperate, too. Right?" We rode into the city, Annabeth watching as the Arch disappeared behind a hotel. "I suppose," she said at last. We pulled into the Amtrak station downtown. The intercom told us we'd have a three-hour layover before departing for Denver. Grover stretched. Before he was even fully awake, he said, "Food." "Come on, goat boy," Annabeth said. "Sightseeing." "Sightseeing?" "The Gateway Arch," she said. "This may be my only chance to ride to the top. Are you coming or not?" Grover, Percy and I exchanged looks. I wanted to say no, but seeing the stars in Annabeth's as she watched, she was too adorable to say no to. Grover shrugged. "As long as there's a snack bar without monsters." The Arch was about a mile from the train station. Late in the day the lines to get in weren't that long. We threaded our way through the underground museum, looking at covered wagons and other junk from the 1800s. It wasn't all that thrilling, but Annabeth kept telling us interesting facts about how the Arch was built, and Grover kept passing me jelly beans, so I was okay. I kept looking around, though, at the other people in line. "You smell anything?" Percy murmured to Grover. He took his nose out of the jelly-bean bag long enough to sniff. "Underground," he said distastefully. "Underground air always smells like monsters. Probably doesn't mean anything." I took a peek at my knife and saw there was a very weak glow, or maybe a sunlight reflection. Somewhere in between. "Guys," I said. "You know the gods' symbols of power?" Annabeth had been in the middle of reading about the construction equipment used to build the Arch, but she looked over. "Yeah?" "Well, Hade-" Grover cleared his throat. "We're in a public place.... You mean, our friend downstairs?" "Um, right," I said. "Our friend way downstairs. Doesn't he have a hat like Annabeth's?" "You mean the Helm of Darkness," Annabeth said. "Yeah, that's his symbol of power. I saw it next to his seat during the winter solstice council meeting." "He was there?" Percy asked. She nodded. "It's the only time he's allowed to visit Olympus-the darkest day of the year. But his helm is a lot more powerful than my invisibility hat, if what I've heard is true...." "It allows him to become darkness," Grover confirmed. "He can melt into shadow or pass through walls. He can't be touched, or seen, or heard. And he can radiate fear so intense it can drive you insane or stop your heart. Why do you think all rational creatures fear the dark?" "But then ... how do we know he's not here right now, watching us?" I asked. Annabeth and Grover exchanged looks. "We don't," Grover said. "Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better," Percy said. "Got any blue jelly beans left?" Someone else could be watching. Hades isn't the only one to blend in the shadow young vessel. But worry not, all in the darkness, shall be your ally. So Hades will also be my ally? As air and water refuse, land and all there is shall be your ally. Can't I be allies with all? Hades, Zeus, Poseidon. Everyone. The three of them looked at me in surprise. "Don't say their name!" Grover whispered loudly. "Whose name? I haven't said a name!" I could talk through you young vessel. Is this the first time this happened? How can you forget about our conversation? Talk through me? Who are you? I am one of which that'll make sure you become one with yourself. "Y/N!!" Percy yelled. "What? Geez, you're too loud." "We've been calling your name for three minutes." Annabeth said. "Are you... Okay?" "Yeah why wouldn't I be?" When the tiny elevator car came. We got shoehorned into the car with this big fat lady and her dog, a Chihuahua with a rhinestone collar. I figured maybe the dog was a seeing-eye Chihuahua, because none of the guards said a word about it. We started going up, inside the Arch. I'd never been in an elevator that went in a curve, and my stomach wasn't too happy about it. "No parents?" the fat lady asked us. She had beady eyes; pointy, coffee-stained teeth; a floppy denim hat, and a denim dress that bulged so much, she looked like a blue-jean blimp. "They're below," Annabeth told her. "Scared of heights." "Oh, the poor darlings." The Chihuahua growled. The woman said, "Now, now, sonny. Behave." The dog had beady eyes like its owner, intelligent and vicious. I said, "Sonny. Is that his name?" "No," the lady told me. She smiled, as if that cleared everything up. At the top of the Arch, the observation deck reminded me of a tin can with carpeting. Rows of tiny windows looked out over the city on one side and the river on the other. The view was okay, but if there's anything I like less than a confined space, it's a confined space six hundred feet in the air. I was ready to go pretty quick. I could see Percy was too. So I took his hand and gave him a reassuring squeeze to calm him down despite my breakdown. Annabeth kept talking about structural supports, and how she would've made the windows bigger, and designed a see-through floor. She probably could've stayed up there for hours, but the park ranger announced that the observation deck would be closing in a few minutes. I steered Annabeth while Percy with Grover, toward the exit, loaded them into the elevator, and we were about to get in myself when I realized there were already two other tourists inside. No room for me. The park ranger said, "Next car, sir." "We'll get out," Annabeth said. "We'll wait with you two." But that was going to mess everybody up and take even more time, so I said, "Naw, it's okay. We'll see you guys at the bottom. I'll keep an eye on him." Grover and Annabeth both looked nervous, but they let the elevator door slide shut. Their car disappeared down the ramp. Now the only people left on the observation deck were me, a little boy with his parents, the park ranger, and the fat lady with her Chihuahua. Percy and I smiled uneasily at the fat lady. She smiled back, her forked tongue flickering between her teeth. Wait a minute. Forked tongue? Before I could decide if I'd really seen that, her Chihuahua jumped down and started yapping at Percy. "Now, now, sonny," the lady said. "Does this look like a good time? We have all these nice people here." "Doggie!" said the little boy. "Look, a doggie!" His parents pulled him back. The Chihuahua bared his teeth at me, foam dripping from his black lips. "Well, son," the fat lady sighed. "If you insist." Ice started forming in my stomach. "Urn, did you just call that Chihuahua your son?" "Chimera, dear," the fat lady corrected. "Not a Chihuahua. It's an easy mistake to make." She rolled up her denim sleeves, revealing that the skin of her arms was scaly and green. When she smiled, I saw that her teeth were fangs. The pupils of her eyes were sideways slits, like a reptile's. The Chihuahua barked louder, and with each bark, it grew. First to the size of a Doberman, then to a lion. The bark became a roar. The little boy screamed. His parents pulled him back toward the exit, straight into the park ranger, who stood, paralyzed, gaping at the monster. The Chimera was now so tall its back rubbed against the roof. It had the head of a lion with a blood-caked mane, the body and hooves of a giant goat, and a serpent for a tail, a ten-foot-long diamondback growing right out of its shaggy behind. The rhinestone dog collar still hung around its neck, and the plate-sized dog tag was now easy to read: CHIMERA-RABID, FIRE-BREATHING, POISONOUS-IF FOUND, PLEASE CALL TARTARUS-EXT. 954. I immediately pulled out my knife. And waited for the moment to jump in front of Percy who was ten feet away from the Chimera's bloody maw, and I knew that as soon as I moved, the creature would lunge. The snake lady made a hissing noise that might've been laughter. "Be honored, Percy Jackson and Y/N L/N. Lord Zeus rarely allows me to test a hero with one of my brood. For I am the Mother of Monsters, the terrible Echidna!" Percy and I stared at each other for a second stared at her. All he could think to say was: "Isn't that a kind of anteater?" She howled, her reptilian face turning brown and green with rage. "I hate it when people say that! I hate Australia! Naming that ridiculous animal after me. For that, Percy Jackson, my son shall destroy you!" The Chimera charged, its lion teeth gnashing. I managed to take Percy's arm to pull him aside and dodge the bite. We ended up next to the family and the park ranger, who were all screaming now, trying to pry open the emergency exit doors. I couldn't let them get hurt. I positioned myself able to parry any oncoming attack. Percy uncapped his sword, ran to the other side of the deck, and yelled, "Hey, Chihuahua!" The Chimera turned faster than I would've thought possible. Before he could swing my sword, it opened its mouth, emitting a stench like the world's largest barbecue pit, and shot a column of flame straight at him. Percy dove through the explosion. The carpet burst into flames; the heat was so intense, I could feel it where I stand and it was like I was in a sauna. Where Percy had been standing a moment before was a ragged hole in the side of the Arch, with melted metal steaming around the edges. Great, I thought. We just blowtorched a national monument. As the Chimera turned, Percy slashed at its neck. That was a fatal mistake. The blade sparked harmlessly off the dog collar. I saw the serpent tail lifted it whipped around and with all I could I ran and raised my knife to block it. Percy tried to jab Riptide into the Chimera's mouth, but the serpent tail wrapped around his ankles and pulled him off balance, and my blade flew out of my hand, spinning out of the hole in the Arch and down toward the Mississippi River. I pulled a weaponless Percy behind me and raised my small one. We backed into the hole in the wall. The Chimera advanced, growling, smoke curling from its lips. The snake lady, Echidna, cackled. "They don't make heroes like they used to, eh, son?" The monster growled. It seemed in no hurry to finish us off now that we were beaten. I glanced at the park ranger and the family. The little boy was hiding behind his father's legs. I had to protect these people. I couldn't just ... die. I was facing a massive, fire-breathing monster and its mother. And I was scared. There was no place else to go, so I stepped to the edge of the hole. Trust our hero. Jump with him. He had sworn to save us. Far, far below, the river glittered. Percy and I shared a reluctant and fearful look. If we died, would the monsters go away? Would they leave the humans alone? "If you are the son of Poseidon," Echidna hissed, "you would not fear water. Jump, Percy Jackson. Show me that water will not harm you. Jump and retrieve your sword. Prove your bloodline. Maybe your small friend could survive with you." We both knew the water hated me. But I trusted Percy. I'd jump if he told me. The Chimera's mouth glowed red, heating up for another blast. "Either you have no faith," Echidna told me. "You do not trust the gods. I cannot blame you, little cowards. Better you die now. The gods are faithless." Percy took my hand and backed up, he looked down at the water. Percy looked at me and smiled. I knew what he wanted. Holding his hand tighter, I got closer to him. "Die, faithless one," Echidna rasped, and the Chimera sent a column of flame toward our faces. "Father, please," I heard Percy say. "Don't hurt her. Help us." We turned and jumped. Our clothes on fire, we plummeted toward the river.

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royalcordelia · 4 years

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Summary: Anne and Gilbert embark on their journeys, but stay close to each other at heart. Courting across 1000 miles isn’t easy, but they’re more than willing to step up to the task. (A post s3 story).

Note: Much love to @withlovegilbert and @js589 who gave me their thoughts about this chapter. You guys rock! ♥

At first, Gilbert thought he was dreaming of feathers—silky feathers trailing down his nose with effervescent softness in long strokes. Once, twice, three times...He scrunched his nose at the tickling sensation, unwilling to move away from whatever warmth he was encased in. The feather smoothed over his brow, trailing down in deliberate slowness to his upturned lips.

“Gil,” a familiar voice whispered, breaking into his dreamless slumber. “I’m loath to wake you up, but I have to get ready to go.”

Gilbert’s eyelashes fluttered on his cheeks as he stirred awake. His dopey grin was sunshine in the dawn-less room when he peered down at the young lady sharing his pillow. For a moment, he could forget that just an hour from now Anne would be gone. Her fingers still caressed the apples of his cheeks, lingering for a long moment. When her touch vanished, she tried to push out of Gilbert’s arms, only to be held against his chest.

“Anne, it’s four in the morning. Lay with me awhile,” he said, his voice hoarse with sleep.

“I have to make the five o’clock train,” Anne replied softly. “Thirty minutes to get dressed. Twenty to walk to the station. Leaves me a few minutes to spare to buy my ticket and board.”

“Take a later train,” suggested Gilbert.

“If I don’t arrive home at a decent time, Mrs. Blackmore will think I’ve been killed, or worse, eloped. Even then, she believes I’m visiting a female cousin on family matters.”

“It’s not too late to elope,” he teased, his lopsided grin finding its way to her jaw. His breath was warm against the morning chill, nearly enticing enough to convince Anne to throw caution to the wind and slide back into bed. Instead, she pressed a good morning kiss to his waiting lips and moved in search of her luggage.

“You should rest a bit longer. I’ll wake you before I leave.”

“If you think you’re walking by yourself to the station, then you are sorely mistaken,” grumbled Gilbert. He dramatically swung his legs out of bed and grimaced at the cold air.

“I don’t mind going to the station by myself. You’re probably still exhausted from the party,” Anne argued, but Gilbert heard none of it.

He grabbed some trousers and a fresh shirt from his dresser, then spoke in a gentle voice, “I’ll wait downstairs for you. Take your time.”

When he was gone, his essence still lingered about the room in the way it smelled and felt. Lovingly, she caressed the soft surface of his quilts, then the smooth wood of his table and dresser. The mirror hanging on the wall had already collected a few month’s worth of dust, but instead of wiping it away, she drew a heart and labeled her initials with her pinky. There might never come another time she could return to the comfort of this room, and as she crossed the threshold, she gave it one last indulgent look.

By the time she was presentable, Gilbert had cracked open one of his textbooks, reading it with sleepy eyes. When he heard her footsteps creak down the stairs, he gently closed the book and smiled wistfully. Anne fell by his side, giving his hand a squeeze.

“Can’t keep Queen Anne away from the island too long, can we?”

Gilbert was quiet the entire walk to the station. Any light topics Anne tested out failed miserably to lighten his mood. He met each of her hopeful smiles with unconvincing attempts of his own, every time turning his face away to the street lamps. The sky was still obsidian in the fresh hours of the morning, unpleasantly starless and cloudy, making Anne glad Gilbert had insisted on accompanying her.

He waited on the platform as Anne purchased her ticket, shoulders slumped. With the ticket in her purse, she came to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder. Anne’s heart dropped when his heavyhearted eyes met hers. His strong facade had finally fallen, leaving a troubled frown unveiled.

“Gilbert?” Anne asked gently. She couldn’t bring herself to ask what was wrong, unsure if she’d be able to leave if he told her. Gilbert’s gaze fell down to where she was reaching for his fingers.

“I haven’t been entirely honest with you,” he admitted. Despite the bitter taste in her mouth, Anne schooled her features and nodded in encouragement.

“That’s okay. You can tell me now.” She meant it.

Behind him, a high whistle resonated within distance as the train slowly screeched began to screech to a halt. Gilbert caught Anne looking over his shoulder and a flash of panic washed over him. He followed her gaze where a handful of tired passengers boarded the train, but when he felt a soft caress touch his cheek, he whirled back to Anne.

“Go ahead,” Anne prodded gently.

“I really miss you,” he confessed breathlessly. Anne scrambled for something to say to ease his heart, but he rambled on before she could find the right words. “Bash asked you to come because he figured out how homesick I’ve been. It was never so bad because I’d always traveled to escape the realities of home. But now, with Bash and Delphine in Avonlea, and you in Charlottetown…”

Anne’s stomach twisted. “I...had no idea.”

“I tried really hard to hide it in my letters,” Gilbert muttered. “But one of them to Bash was too vague. He made me tell him what was wrong.”

“I should’ve been able to tell,” Anne lamented.

“No, Anne, I made sure you wouldn’t be able to tell. I didn’t want to worry you. You’ve got too much going on.”

Anne felt like she was caught in the undertow, floundering desperately for something to say that would take the cracks in his heart and mend them instantly. Yet she knew that nothing she said could change the fact that in a few moments they’d begin another month and a half of painful separation. She wished she had thought to bring a token of home, anything from the island that she could’ve stuffed into her luggage. All she had was a parting embrace, one that she wrapped around him like an old heirloom quilt. As Gilbert’s desperate arms came around her, she hoped that her warmth would linger enough to give him the strength he needed to see his heartsickness through. Anne could feel Gilbert’s breath on her throat as he heaved a sigh of relief, dissolving into her touch and allowing her to hold him up.

“Remember what I said, alright? You’re intelligent and brave. You’ll get used to life here. If last night was any indication, you already have,” she said, determined and kind.

He nodded against her shoulder, running his fingers over the softness of her hair with tender reverence. Behind him, the train master gave her the Time’s Up glare.

“I have to go,” Anne lamented. Gilbert squeezed his eyes shut.

Instead of asking her to stay, as he so desperately wanted to, he pressed his lips into a thin line and nodded. “Alright.”

A month and a half suddenly seemed like an insurmountable mountain, the end of which was deathly out of reach. Even though her limbs were weary with lack of sleep, she found the strength to pull away from him to memorize the lines of his cheeks and jaws. She’d never forget the way he looked the day she met him, or the day when he first kissed her, but she wanted to burn today’s Gilbert into her memory and save it for days that were stormy and punishing. Gilbert seemed to be doing the same.

Ever so slightly he tilted his face to her, and she met him, crashing a month’s worth of kisses to his lips until the feeling of it was unfading. His hands were under her cheeks, holding her to him until he had tasted enough of the sunshine on her lips to hold him together.

When they broke apart, Anne leaned down to grab her carpet bag and gave Gilbert one last beaming smile.

“How’s two letters a week sound?”

Gilbert let out a chuckle that was rough with stifled tears. “That sounds perfect.”

She took one step away, then two.

“See you at Christmas.”

“Safe travels.”

As she boarded, the door closed behind her blocking away the fresh air for the duration of her day long journey. When she found her seat, though, she found Gilbert was still there, watching and smiling.

Anne watched her beloved until the sight of him turned into a silhouette of shadow against the train station. Her eyelids grew heavier and heavier, but hope sparked in her chest as Gilbert heaved a sigh and stepped off the platform with a renewed strength in his shoulders. She imagined him trailing up the Toronto streets like they were Avonlea hills, sheltered in warm dew and residual moonlight. And then, she fell asleep.

It was the last days of November and several love letters from Anne later when Gilbert began to feel like he could actually imagine a future for himself in Toronto. It could never be a permanent future, but it seemed less daunting to imagine another four years in the city—maybe even seven if he wanted to obtain his licensure here. It also meant that he decided to stop living like each day was a battle to survive until Anne and Bash’s next letters arrived. He would have to start doing things here that he liked and turn this loud, boisterous city into a home away from home.

Gilbert went to explain all of this to Dr. Sullivan, who bid him to sit in a stiff leather chair upon seeing the young lad in the doorway. November had brought with it many dreary days of cold and early snow, but today the sun made a much needed reappearance. It filled Dr. Sullivan’s office through two small windows, drowning away the light of a small electric lamp.

“I bet you caught a few perplexed stares on your way here, a medical student wandering the humanities hallway,” Dr. Sullivan teased. He pulled his glasses from his nose and folded them into his breast pocket, peering at Gilbert curiously.

“That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. I was wondering if I might beg your help for something?” Gilbert replied, dropping his leather bag onto the ground beside him.

“No begging will be necessary. Your visits are always welcome. Besides, I’ve been marking freshman essays for nearly two hours and could use fresh company. What has you on the wrong side of school?”

“When Anne was here in October, you told her about the Women in Literature class you’re offering next semester. I wanted to add it to my class schedule, but the registrar refused. She said the class is already full, and even if I got you to sign me in, she’d refuse to forward the application to the dean of the humanities college.”

“That’s absurd. Did she give a reason?”

“Only that with fifteen medicine and biology credits, the last thing I’ll want to do is spend my nights reading George Eliot and Jane Austen.”

Dr. Sullivan leaned back in his chair.

“She does make a valid point. The class is a lot of reading—one or two texts a week. Emily tells me you’re already studying more than any other student she’s had. Are you sure you’re prepared for the extra coursework?”

“Anne is back home taking on two fields of study. What good would I be if I couldn’t handle one extra class? I’m determined to do it. I only came because there’s the matter of the class being full.”

“And Miss Eaglen in the registrar’s office taking your fate into her own hands.”

“That too.”

Pushing himself back from his chair, Dr. Sullivan ambled over to his filing cabinet and pulled open a raggedy drawer. He retrieved a stack of type-written pages and turned them toward the sunlight so that he might see more clearly.

“The class is indeed full, but half the seats will be free by the time we finish introducing the syllabus. If you come on the first day, you’ll have nothing to worry about. I’ll speak with Miss Eaglen.”

Gilbert blinked. “Pardon, did you just say that half the class is going to withdraw?”

Dr. Sullivan didn’t look up from his roster. “I did.”

“People can’t hate reading that much.”

“No, but they can and will despise a black professor enough to drop the class.”

Gilbert’s face fell. He couldn’t imagine being accepted into the University of Toronto, only to reject a member of its faculty based on such...asinine prejudice. A faculty member with a PhD, campus wide acclaim, and a kind disposition, at that! How could anyone claim to have gotten the fullest extent of their UofT education if they closed off their minds and only listened to viewpoints of people just like them?

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a student so upset on my behalf,” noted Dr. Sullivan, interrupting Gilbert’s mental tirade. Gilbert looked up, only to feel his cheeks locked in a tight scowl. He straightened his chair, expelling his frustration with a small sigh.

“It just hits a bit close to home.”

Dr. Sullivan sat back down at his desk, waiting patiently for Gilbert to elaborate.

“My entire family is black,” Gilbert clarified softly. “My brother, my niece, his mother, my late sister-in-law, her son. It’s not the same, but it breaks my heart to watch them struggle in my hometown, the home that I shared with them. I had hoped that the cruel behavior they encountered could be blamed on the small-town mindset of our community. I didn’t expect to cross the country and find it here in the city too.”

“Every corner of the world has its own brand of enmity and unfairness. You won’t be able to escape it. You could take your brother and his family across the Atlantic and you would find this to be true.”

“I have,” Gilbert chuckled bitterly. “The states, Cuba, Trinidad, Spain. And you’re right, in each country they looked at Sebastian like he was living on the wrong planet.”

“I know the feeling.”

Gilbert wasn’t sure what to say next. Part of him wanted to apologize, but for what? What was some fruitless apology supposed to fix after a lifetime of enduring injustice? It wouldn’t make Dr. Sullivan’s students stay, it wouldn’t make it easier for Delly to go to school, it wouldn’t erase a lifetime of service from Bash or Hazel.

He shook his head. If Anne was here, she’d know what to say.

He must’ve looked particularly defeated, because Dr. Sullivan only smiled and said, “Alright, Gilbert. How about a proposition?”

“A proposition, sir?”

“I propose an independent study. You’ll complete the same assignments as your peers, but will report for class with me in my office twice a week. You’ll have to come prepared with topics for discussion and you won’t be permitted to cut class. And no asking Anne to summarize the books for you. You must complete all the reading yourself.”

When he was done, he extended a hand across his desk and waited for Gilbert’s approval.

Gilbert only had to ponder his options a moment before a grin blossomed on his face. He shook Dr. Sullivan’s hand more excitedly than was permitted for a gentleman and said, “Yes, I think that arrangement sounds wonderful. Thank you so much!”

“Don’t worry about the registrar. She’ll only change her mind with your advisor’s approval, but I’m sure Emily will be more than happy to give it.”

Hurriedly grabbing his things, Gilbert clutched his bag to his chest.

“I’m thrilled, sir. Thank you again.”

Dr. Sullivan chuckled, sliding his glasses back onto his face and leaning forward over the stack of freshman essays before him. As Gilbert rose to leave, he called out, “Gil, one more thing.”

Gilbert paused in the doorway, glancing over his shoulder.

“Yes?”

“What’s the real reason you wanted to take the class?”

The lad shrugged. “You know I love to read.”

Dr. Sullivan was not wholly convinced.

“And?”

“And it’ll give me something to talk to Anne about in my letters,” he confessed. Dr. Sullivan threw his hands in the air and Gilbert let out a loud laugh. “She’s an English major, I have to stay on my toes! But I really do like to read, I promise!”

“You better. You’ve got a lot of it next semester!”

There was no other explanation, except that she was in trouble—so much so, that she was about to be reprimanded by the oldest and sternest professor in the entire English department. Professor Wood was due any second and would no doubt deliver a fierce verbal lashing. Why else would this particular group of schoolmates be summoned into this dim classroom so late in the day? Anne scanned the room, counting three faces that she had...stated an opinion at. Sternly. Perhaps a bit loudly. It had only been a matter of time before her classmates banded against her and the day had finally come.

But who could blame her? It had long been established that Anne was anything but timid and demure, so certainly if they said obtuse things in class, it had to be someone’s job to correct them. If her professors were planning on merely nodding and humming “Hmm, yes, interesting point,” the task would just have to go to her.

“Do any of you know what this is about?” murmured Janie Paul, the only person in the group Anne hadn’t corrected in class. Mostly, though, this could be attributed to the fact that Janie Paul rarely said...well, anything

“We all know what this is about. Or who, ” lamented another classmate.

Four sets of eyes slowly turned to Anne, who leaned against one of the desks with crossed arms.

“It could be about anything!” argued Anne. “Unless you all have been conspiring.”

“Oh please,” scoffed Anne’s worst nemesis. “Like we’d even need to. I bet right now the entire faculty is gathered in the conference room deciding whether or not they want to allow you to remain enrolled at Queens. We’re only here because they want witnesses.”

“That’s preposterous!” Anne snapped.

“Why? You’re a disturbance to class and detrimental to the distinguished education we’re supposed to be receiving.”

“Having a bright mind and a quick wit is not a detriment, Georgie Beckham. Nor is having your opinions challenged. In fact, I’d say it’s rather good for you.”

Anne wondered that there were many things that would do Georgie Beckham some good. A change of heart, a swift kick to the behind, a bath. He was a shortish young man with flat yellow hair that stuck his head with sweat, grease, and dirt. The bottom of his chin was tan from always walking around with his nose pointed up, and he glided about as if he were Queen Victoria herself. Anne had decided with a fury that of all the disagreeable people she’d met, Georgie Beckham was by far the worst. She hated him more than she hated Gilbert the first time she met him, and Georgie wasn’t nearly as handsome or charming.

Georgie’s snobbish nose crinkled when Anne spoke, as if her very essence smelled too strong, like stale perfume or a full garden.

“When they kick you out of Queens, you’ll have to get married to escape ruin and there’s no way you’ll find someone who’ll want you,” he sneered.

For the briefest of moments, Anne wondered what would happen to her if Georgie was right. She supposed she wouldn’t have the money or credibility to attend a different school. Instead, she’d just help on the farm until Gilbert graduated college, then they’d get married. For an even briefer moment, Anne pondered what it would mean if Gilbert decided not to marry her. Such imaginings were too painful, and she pushed aside her doubt.

“I suppose I’m fortunate you’re full of hot air, then,” Anne stated bitterly.

Just then, the classroom door swung open and in walked Professor Agnes Wood, a creaky woman of ninety who still had the energy to teach British Classics and Senior Shakespeare twice a day. Upon stepping into the room, she sensed the restive atmosphere and gave Anne a wary look.

“Stirring trouble already, Miss Shirley?”

“No ma’am. We were just anxious to uncover why you’ve called us all today.”

“All will be revealed presently. Take a seat.”

The five wary students did as they were told, Georgie taking the seat furthest from Anne. Professor Wood moved to the front of the class, commanding attention in its rawest form with a domineering scrutinization.

“Thank you all for arriving in a timely manner. I’m sure receiving this summons has made you curious to the reasoning.” She paused, as if waiting for nods of agreement, but was met with five frightened faces—one especially freckled and pale. To prevent further trepidation, she continued.

“It is my pleasure to inform you of a potential opportunity that has befallen you. You five have been chosen from the entirety of the Education program’s long list of pupils. As you know, Queens is a traditionally education focused college. Many of Canada’s greatest educators have earned their teaching certificates within these walls, though the best of the best were granted this offer. Anne, you look as though you’re a second from keeling over.”

Anne’s head snapped up.

“Oh, I’m just full of suspense,” she admitted eagerly. “Please, continue!”

“Two of you will be granted the opportunity to assist real teachers in their classrooms for the duration of a month. As student teachers, you’ll be expected to aid the instructor in their daily lessons and perhaps lead a few exercises yourself. The assignment is planned for September of next year, however the application process may take some time. The chosen candidates will be announced finals week in May. ”

“If we’d be teaching in the fall, won’t that put us behind in credit hours?” the classmate at Anne’s right asked. Anne rolled her eyes. What were credit hours when there was real actual teaching to be done?

“As a full time hands-on assistant, you would be granted nine credits of your recommended fifteen. Your remaining two classes would be completed via correspondence until you could resume them October 1st. Though only two of you will be chosen, the rest of you needn’t fear. Other opportunities may arise in the coming years and you all are model candidates. I’m sure you have questions, however, and I’ll endeavor to answer them.”

Questions exploded out of the students the way volcanoes erupt after years of boiling. Yet, of the students bursting at the seams with questions, there were two who remained painfully silent. Anne was one, lost in the whirlpool of her thoughts. But in the madness, she realized with narrow eyes there was one more person who was just as quiet and determined as she was—Georgie.

My dear man, who is here with me in spirit and heart,

I would like to begin with a disclaimer: Your last letter had me blushing as much, if not more, than you surely intended. I see through your little tricks, Gilbert Blythe, and let me say, I delight at turning to mush upon reading your words. I will acknowledge them in due time, but first, a matter of utmost importance.

I. HATE. GEORGIE. BECKHAM. I can’t recall if his name has snuck its slimy way into one of my letters before, but here it has made a most unwelcome appearance. And yes, I know hate is a term that Marilla would reprimand me for, yet it cannot and will not be denied that he is the worst person I’ve ever met. Gilbert, I cannot emphasize this enough. I know that in the past, I have not been an excellent judge of character of the male sex, but Georgie has done more than tug my braid and call me carrots. He’s bitter towards women, worships himself in class, and once, I heard him say the most atrocious things about the people of the Bog. Billy Andrews has met his match. And worst of all, Gil-est of Gils, we’re competing for the same student teaching position!

I see I am getting quite ahead of myself. Allow me a moment to compose myself. There.

I have been chosen along with four other students to compete for an opportunity to assist a teacher in an actual school. Professor Wood even thinks that if our progress is satisfactory enough, that we’ll be permitted to lead exercises all on our own. Think of how much I could learn, how ahead of my classmates I’d be! Anne Shirley-Cuthbert, a bona fide teacher! Or, very nearly one!

Of course, there is the chance that Georgie could win the other slot if I receive the first. Oh, this troubles me almost as much as if he were to get the position instead of me! I would fail at the assistantship miserably if he were there, always criticizing every little thing I did. It can’t happen, Gilbert!

It isn’t entirely up to chance. I’ll just have to work very hard to put forth the best application Queens has ever seen. It’s quite involved too—essays, interviews, observations of my character. I’ll have to be on my very best behavior from now until May. Oh, and could I send you my first application essay? I’m writing about integration of community and its positive impact on children. I know you have plenty of reading of your own, so please don’t put yourself out.

Now! That is quite enough about schoolmate nuisances. How are you, my darling love? I’ve had the most peculiar feeling that you’ve had a very pleasant week since your last letter. Is that because Christmas holiday is very nearly upon us and it’s a mere fortnight until we’ll be reunited? That means we have precisely one week to devise our disguises, and I don’t mean fake mustaches and hats! My brand of deception is the flirtatious sort, involving carriage rides with you and promises to Marilla to not wander from Lover’s Lane. Except! We’ll wander off the road and find a place where even the most wandering eyes cannot amble. The falling snow will cover the evidence and I will have some much needed quality time with my ever-captivating suitor. How many kisses shall I reserve for you?

Oh, how easy it would be to spend the rest of the evening writing the world’s longest letter to you. Ten pages on the sweetness of your eyes, another twenty on how divine it is to be wrapped in your warmth, tucked tightly into your arms. Instead, I must direct the vigor in my hand to many drafts of this application essay and begin planning on the second. When the application process is over in May, I’ll have all summer to venerate every ounce of you. And remember, sweet one, I don’t do a thing half-way.

So for now, I’ll sign off. As always, I miss you dearly. I feel like Mr. Rochester did when he thought Jane was going to leave him. If I tug this cord around my rib, will you feel it in Toronto, tugging on yours? Are we still connected in heart, mind, and spirit? I believe we are.

Reader, I love you.

Anne

The two weeks until winter holiday passed with surprising ease. The winter sun, which had gained a habit of suspending over the sky for long hours at a time, seemed to make the days pass at a bearable rate. Anne was relieved to find that finals week wasn’t nearly as dreary as the sophomores had cautioned. She studied long hours by her window, and found her concentration honed to perfection under a bright sun. Exams came and passed, and though she was confident she’d championed them all, she couldn’t feel complete freedom until she was home at Green Gables. When the Carmody-bound train screeched off toward home, Anne leaned her head on Diana’s shoulder and let out a soft sigh.

“Tired, Anne?” asked Diana, leaning her head onto Anne’s hair.

“A bit. That sigh just now was one of relief. American Literature and Geometry may distract one from the strains of homesickness, but college is nothing compared to being home.”

“I daresay I could weather any sort of sickness if you were beside me. I’m so glad I’m only taking a forty minute train ride and not a forty day trek across the ocean.”

Anne hugged Diana’s arm, bringing Diana’s piano-playing fingers to her lips.

“If you had gone to Paris afterall, I’m certain I would have perished. Now we have all month to revisit our old haunts and relive at least some of our youth.”

The train pulled into the Carmody station, pulling Anne out of her light sleep. The world outside moved by slowly as Anne nearly leapt across Diana’s lap to look out at the train platform. Among the many faces of the waiting and leaving, Anne couldn’t find Matthew or Marilla. For a moment, she wondered if something had gone wrong.

“Is that Sebastian?” asked Diana, pointing to the far left of the platform.

Anne grinned. Sure enough, there was Bash talking to Diana’s father in a casual manner. He wore two scarves wrapped around his face to block out the chill, but his eyes were unmistakable and he was wearing one of Gilbert’s old hats.

Knocking into some disgruntled passengers, Anne scurried as fast as she could off the train and over to Bash. He caught sight of her fiery hair among the crowd and stopped what he was saying mid-phrase.

“Now there’s a sight for sore eyes! Hello Anne,” he beamed.

Before she could think better of it, she jumped into his arms and pressed a warm kiss to the scarves over his cheek.

“My, Anne, you’re still quite public about your displays of affection,” commented Mr. Barry, who glanced nervously around the scowls of nearby travellers.

Anne pulled back with a chuckle.

“I do wish you would forget you ever saw that, Mr. Barry. Your family is far too close to Rachel Lynde.”

“Forget what?” Bash asked, but Anne waved her hand.

“Nothing! Nothing!” Before he could argue, she picked her bags back up. “Are you here to pick me up?”

“If you need a ride back home to Green Gables, I’d be happy to drive you, but no, I’m not here for you. I’m here for Gilbert.”

Anne’s heart jumped into her throat.

“Gilbert isn’t due back until tomorrow,” she stated, failing miserably at getting her hopes up.

“No, you weren’t due back until tomorrow. Gilbert was due back today.”

“But I marked my calendar as soon as I got his letter. I wrote to Matthew and Marilla and told them today.”

“Your calendar can say what it wants,” interrupted Bash. His gaze drifted behind her shoulder. “But he’s right there.”

And he was. Marching through the crowd was a young man with snowflakes crowning his curly head and a blush from the chill on his dimples. The sight nearly brought Anne to her knees. She hadn’t realized how desperately she needed to see him, how dull the ache in her heart had grown in their separation. Because she was a woman of very little self-control, she cried out his name above the noise of the chatter with a delighted laugh. His attention snapped to her and he fumbled with his bag. He matched her elated laughter, walking as fast as he could through the web of people.

Anne shoved her bag into Bash’s arms and rushed to meet Gilbert halfway. When he was within reach, he made no greeting or polite salutations. Instead, he grabbed her face in his hand and kissed her in front of the entire train platform. He must’ve felt Anne’s knees go limp the second he tasted her bottom lip, because he quickly wrapped his arms across her back and held her to him.

Claiming the last bit of propriety she could, she pushed his chest and forced herself away. Gilbert chased her mouth, but sighed in resignation when she stuck a finger to his lips.

“Sorry, can’t help it,” he murmured. His breath was steam against her lips. “You just grow more beautiful by the day. Takes a lad off guard after a month.”

“Gilbert!” Anne chuckled, blushing.

“I’m serious! Exponential growth. I may have to start writing my will.”

“Stop,” reprimanded Anne, but her sweetheart knew she meant quite the opposite. “Where did you come from? You said you were coming tomorrow!”

“No silly, I said I was coming today . You were the one arriving home tomorrow. I even planned to pick you up tomorrow and surprise you.”

“Well, you’ve done that.” She froze. “Does that mean we were on the same train the entire time and didn’t know it!?”

“Probably,” Gilbert smiled, kissing her knuckles and earning a few doey-eyed looks from passing ladies. “We have nearly all month to make up for it. I was promised disguises and secret trysts.”

“So far, you’re getting the secret part all wrong,” a voice chimed in behind her. Gilbert rolled his eyes at Bash’s knowing smirk. “Say Anne, is this what Mr. Barry meant about public displays of affection?”

Anne tugged his hat clean over his eyes, making Gilbert laugh so loudly, someone beside him jumped.

“Alright lovebirds. Let’s fly on home to our separate nests.”

Christmas was a jubilant affair, the Cuthbert dinner table growing by two members for the third year in a row. When they realized that Hazel and Elijah filled the last available seats, Anne wondered who would stumble into their family this year and if they’d mind sitting at a separate table. With a child, a courting couple, and a spirit of song, the home was filled with endless moments of noise and joy.

But there were some quiet moments too. Anne and Gilbert particularly tried to find as many as they could together, but often found themselves interrupted by the baby, or by Bash’s halfway-intoxicated teasing. By the end of the night, Marilla had sensed her daughter’s frustration and taken her guests into the parlor where they could sit and converse. Anne stayed behind, tugging on Gilbert’s sleeve before he could walk away. He turned around, a happy smile on his face.

“Could you give me my Christmas present now?” asked Anne timidly. Gilbert’s face fell. His eyes focused on the cracks of the floorboards, as if he couldn’t bear to look at Anne’s disappointment.

“Love, I uh...I spent all my money on the ticket to come home. I don’t have anything for you, I’m sorry.”

But Anne shook her head, lifting his chin with a few fingers.

“I didn’t mean like that. You know I don’t mind if you don’t have anything for me.”

“Then what—?”

Anne revealed a small velvet pouch from behind her back. For a split second, Gilbert’s heart stopped, thinking that it was his mother’s ring she had found. For an even shorter moment, he realized if she had asked him to propose to her, he would’ve done it without hesitation and against his logical reasoning. There was a different swell in his heart when he realized that the bag didn’t contain a ring, but several scraps of paper.

“My letter,” he realized.

“What’s left of it, at least. Do you suppose you could piece it together?”

“I think so. I may not remember it verbatim, but the sentiment is impossible to forget.”

He spilled the torn pieces onto the floor, sorting out the words so he could see them all at once. Anne waited eagerly at his side, her hand finding its way to his hair as he began to piece the fragmented letter together. She tried not to read it as he strung sentences together, but couldn’t help but be drawn to the words affection and desire.

“You really did a number on this, didn’t you?” teased Gilbert when he found a few pieces with a stray letter or two, detached from its word.

“Whatever you did to mine must have been worse since it disappeared. ”

“Hey now,” protested Gilbert, smirking. “I can hardly be held accountable for something I never knew existed.”

“For all you know, it was on the bottom of your shoe, trekked into the mud and turned to mush.”

“Good thing it was short enough for you to remember it. I keep the second edition in my bedside drawer and read it before I go to sleep.”

“ Second edition ,” laughed Anne, leaning her head onto his shoulder. She turned her face to the fire and let her eyes fall close. Beneath her, Gilbert’s arm moved as he worked.

She didn’t realize she was dozing off until she heard, “Alright, Anne-girl. All finished.”

Rubbing the haze of sleep out of her eye, she peered down at the letter before her. It was pieced together like a puzzle with careful consideration with a few pieces from the sides missing. A quick surveyance of the writing told Anne that she’d still be able to read it, regardless of its inadequacies. With a steadying breath, Anne moved her eyes to the first line.

Dear Anne…

Gilbert pressed his lips to her cheek and rose to move into the other room.

“Where are you going?” asked Anne. Gilbert gave a small smile.

“I mean every word of that letter, but I’m still a bit embarrassed to watch you read it.”

“You write me love letters all the time.”

“But this is the love letter. The first. The ones I write you now are different because I’m well-practiced at it. But this one...It was my swan song, a last move of desperation.”

Anne bit back a smile at the rosy blush on his cheeks, anxious to finally see what all the fuss was about. Still, she mustered up some patience and reached out her hand to him.

“You don’t have to watch me read it, but stay by my side, will you?”

She didn’t have to ask twice.

“Alright.”

He settled beside her and took her hand in his, running his fingers over her knuckles and palm while she read. Anne, on her part, moved through the letter deliberately, letting every wash of emotion and reaction occur as it would. She’d forgotten that Gilbert had been longing like this, even during his involvement with Winifred. When the words became blurry with her tears, Anne read even slower and squeezed Gilbert’s hand in hers.

With love, Gilbert.

She read that line over and over, before glancing briefly at the postscript, then bringing herself back to the top. Gilbert was quiet beside her, letting her take the time she needed.

Anne’s heart was heavy, saturated with a million feelings she couldn’t quite place. She wanted to say that things would’ve been so different if she had read the letter when she’d found it in the first place, but what-if’s didn’t do her any good now. What mattered in this moment was the person beside her, whose heart seemed to beat in unison with hers. A person who was waiting very patiently for her reaction, even though it left him vulnerable and exposed.

Her palm found his face, and the second his hesitant eyes found hers, she kissed him slow and purposeful. She hoped that he could feel the years of longing she’d felt for him, the same way her letter had made her feel. She hoped it was electricity from the top of his head down to the soles of his feet, long and warm, unrelenting in its ensnarement.

When they broke apart, Anne gazed intently down at her hazel-eyed boy and counted the freckles around his nose. His heart was wide open on his sleeve, in his eyes, in his smile—beating and loving on full display without fear.

“I feel like I could take on the world just now,” Gilbert admitted blissfully.

“There’s two of us now,” noted Anne lovingly. “Let’s do it together.”

I hope you enjoyed! ♥ Thanks for reading!! Below are those individuals who asked to be tagged upon updates. If you’d like to add your name to the list or remove it, please let me know!

@pterparkcr @be-feminine-be-unique @firehaireddeamer @annabel-lee23 @beinmyheart @forcordelia @ladyofhousewaters @brookie-cookie3 @peculiarly-deactivated @mrs-shirley-cuthbert-blythe @lexfangirls @amoraeternusforyou @pastaismysignificantother @spellsandbells @instantknightartisanwagon @noctislightning @lonelyscreaming @lbhmoon @findurhappy @mynameisbluenotjane @sarahisatotalgeek @takemetoavonlea @shrillrule @doodlesfan @noctislightning @awaeforlife @neomikaha @cresmix @miacherries

#anne with an e #anne of green gables #shirbert #shirbert fic #tessa writes

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tres-fidelis · 4 years

Text

Disclosure - Part 1

Part 2

8 months.

No other contact since. Just one small note and a cursed token. Both items resided in her office, stowed inside one of her desk drawers and buried underneath office supplies. There’s perks to keeping something so dangerous and troubling hidden away. She could forget it’s ever there. Anyone could if you busy yourself enough with other work.

Even so, Jayden knew it. She knew for a damn fact keeping it out of sight, attempting to keep it out of mind, wouldn’t relieve anything. It’s still a problem. A problem put aside until someone procrastinated enough for it to evolve into something more dangerous.

No one must know...no one can know about this…

Almost a year later Jayden kept this secret out of the public and private eye. Shaska, her mom, Axl, she sealed her lips even to them. Their own worries and troubles mattered more than her own state of mind. Why burden them more with this trouble when she’s experienced plenty of it already? Why should anyone know when it’s “family matters?”

“...why…”

The heavy coin reflected a bright shine from the afternoon sun. A precious item to anyone whose curious eyes caught a glimpse of its sheen, but an emblem of destruction for those who knew its origin.

ES.

The Emerald Spears.

A long since “dead” terrorist organization born from the wrath and hatred of all things robotic. Jayden first heard about their existence in some old texts recovered by the museum’s archeology team. Apparently before the Cataclysm, many humans loathed the existence of AI robots and their rapid progression in society. They saw them as a threat and began preaching humanity’s downfall at the hands of this AI intelligence. Robots grew, they evolved in their own way, they’d outsmart their human creators, and bring about a genocide. A beaten, burned document recounted an attack from the Spears at a robotics expo long ago, however there were no recorded names on such. The Cataclysm seemed effective in wiping out most of their information including other reported terrorist attacks, several listed names and company contributors, and other criminal records.

Yet here in 21XX…

Not much is known of their resurgence. Locals say they spotted hooded figures breaking into reploid repair shops, criminals under guise holding reploid centers hostage in exchange for police information, and of course influencing protesters in public areas. In most cases the suspect never admitted or even spoke of the Spears’ guidance in their plan. There’s some who don’t even believe the Spears are working from behind the curtains. Some are just flat out saying they all died off with the Cataclysm.

‘It’s just the nature of humans to fear something greater and more powerful than themselves. Something that can easily control their free will or restrict their freedom? Of course humans had a reason to be afraid, to be terrified of mechanical beings built to outlast them.’

Jayden knew…

No matter what others believed. If they thought the Spears couldn’t exist in this day and age, Jayden knew it all.

She saw it.

She saw from first-hand experience. The absolute terror of what these people could undertake. Not just from the encounters as a news reporter, civilian meetings with a potential member in her presence, or even during her own participation in pro-reploid civilian protests. It traced back to her own beginning. The start of her own life.

Jayden remembered the fights, verbal abuse, and control of her own ‘father figure’ since she was a little girl. Restrictions on anything reploid related suffocated her and her own mother. Neither could speak a word about their work or school life if it involved ‘those hunks of junk.’ Home wasn’t home for them. Her mom found quiet solace in the museum or, in Jayden’s case, a small cafe not too far from her home. Most of her memories from middle school centered around the friendly encounters inside the cafe. A young girl’s face glued to the TV watching the news and the staff treating her to some pastries after her tests. Jayden cherished the safe space, and of course the food.

The ‘real home’ for Jayden was the Abel City Museum. Staff treated her like she was their own daughter. At that point, they could’ve used her as a mascot for the museum just to draw in more business. Everyone loved seeing the girl with the two different eyes greet them with an award winning smile. Jayden equally loved welcoming the guests, giving them their tickets, and wishing them well through their adventure in the museum. Sometimes she managed everything all on her own! Some staff members were baffled seeing a nine-year-old kid handle money so accurately. Then again, they too saw the delight in something so innocent. Jayden grew to be one of the main attractions in the museum aside from the “real” ones.

The end of the day brought on the dreaded reality she and her mom embraced. No talk of mom’s work and of course no talk of any kind of news. Especially if stories centered around the Hunters. Dinner always led to extreme outbursts about ‘father’s’ own work day, snide comments about her mother’s workplace, and Jayden having to ‘man up’ against the bullies at her school.

‘No one else will fight for you! You never know when one of those walking scrap metal corpses will get the jump on you. Then you’re dead! You’re gone! It’s about self defense! You have to be stronger than them!’

It wasn’t self-defense. It was pure torture.

Punch after punch, kick after kick. Jayden couldn't keep track of how many new bruises appeared after each ‘training’ session with her father. Her mother had to purchase new bandages almost every week just for her own daughter. Of course mom brought up this horrible treatment with her father but it was met with a slap across the face and an derogatory, loud opinion. The only solace her mom could give was tending the new wounds and giving warm comfort.

All for what? Getting her stronger for an eventual, yet highly unlikely reploid takeover? Just so she could fight against them?

........What good did that do her?.

.............................What good did it do to her now...

...........................................

................................................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“..............................................miss lady?”

“!!!”

A young girl around the age of 12 stood in front of Jayden. Short straight brown hair, brilliant blue eyes, and freckled skin. A small flower hair clip swayed by a few strands of hair holding on for its dear life. The child perked up soon as Jayden caught her attention. “Oh! Sorry...uh...were you asking for me?”

“Mmhm! You’re the one who’s on the TV right? The lady with the colored eyes, reporting on the Hunters yeah?”

Oh, right…

Just...put that eyes comment off to the side…

“That’s right. I’m the one you see on the holocasts. I’m...guessing you’ve seen my broadcasts before?”

“Yeah! Mom and Dad always put the news on when they come home from work. Say they enjoy the stories and other stuff they hear from you. Never really watched news much until you came on. They say they like your writing and how you...present yourself? I don’t know, I just like hearing you talk and seeing you talk with the Hunters!”

“Oh…” An admirer. She’d gotten used to some fan mail coming to the office and the brief encounters with other citizens in her work travels. It’s not uncommon to be recognized out in the public here and there, but this kid had some guts coming straight up to her. Did she want an autograph?

“Well it’s very nice of you to come up and tell me this. It affirms I’m doing my job right.” Jayden smiled pleasantly making the girl share the same sentiment.

“I wanted to ask. Actually...if...if you get scared out there. When there’s bad things going on, you’re there with the hunters. Isn’t it scary when you’re so close to those bad Mavericks?”

What a brave question. Melancholic too. She had to be in middle school yet she’s already recognized the threats. Of course everyone, at least hopefully everyone at this point, knew the difference between those kinds of threats and the ones who fought them.

A deep breath and a warm hand sat on the girl’s shoulder.

“It is. It’s very scary when I have to report in those areas. However, I don’t do it just because it’s my job, or because I’m told to do it. I do it so I can keep the people informed, so people are safe and so no one else gets hurt. In a way, I’m...almost like a human version of a Hunter. I don’t necessarily keep the people physically safe, but...I do my best for Abel City to know what’s going on. So no one’s hidden in the dark, so no one is lied to about current events, and...hopefully to make people smile too. Just like you!”

“Heehee~” The small girl bounced in place. “Thank you miss reporter!” Someone called across the street catching both of their attention. A taller boy, broad shoulders, and much older than the little girl.

“Hailey! I’ve been looking for you! Come on, we have to get going!”

“Okay bro!” One last turn, one last big smile and thank you, then off she ran straight into her brother’s leg. A little wave from her and soon they melded into the evening word crowd. Such a pleasant exchange...

Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep!

A small alarm beeped on Jayden’s watch. Right, she promised her mom she’d be home for dinner tonight. A home cooked meal waiting for her, as soon as she stepped into the door. Anyone working the kinds of shifts she undertook would take this as a special treat, yet Jayden couldn’t feel any warmth or longing excitement. Tonight would be the night. She’d come clean about the note and the…

Right...the Spears.

....was this really the right time? Her mother already had too much on her plate considering her work at the museum. It’d been months since she received the threat so...maybe they just wanted to scare her. That’s all. But...in another way she had a right to know. After everything she did for Jayden though...all that heartache, pain, suffering...after all the troubles of her own life…

...does she really deserve more heartbreak?

The crunched note slipped out of her inside jacket pocket.

‘...little canary…’

“I’m going to be late…”

A deep breath in then pushed out. This exhaled some of the weighted stress out of her system. The reporter rose off the bench fixing the folds in her jacket. No bike ride tonight. She’d take it easy and walk back to the apartment complex. A calm, steady pace at that. There wasn’t any need to rush home when her mother already expected a late start.

#ic update #ic drabble #ic plot #plot progression #blog progression #part 1 of 3 #((DEFINITELY putting this under a read more because of the length #but I hope you guys get a good read!!#just wait for the next 2 parts coming up!!!))#((The two images at the beginning come from the RWBY Manga Chapter 2))

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soooldout · 4 years

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The Star interview with Sunggyu April 2020

Just highlighting a few (ok most) things from Sunggyu’s interview for The Star’s 7th anniversary issue, it’s a long interview, the translations for the full are here, thanks to justsunggyu on Twitter:

- Sunggyu said he feels awkward and shy since it’s been a long time to do something like this

- He gained a lot of weight in the military but is starting to lose weight again now

- He said people said he’s become more mature but he seems to be more fearful of things and has more worries and is more cautious

- He was very grateful for the younger soldiers coming up to him and telling him they were his fans in the military. He is still in contact with his military juniors and he will treat them to a meal after their discharge

- He said he had lost confidence in the military while doing the Shinheung Military Academy musical but he overcame it. He misses the time he spent then, with Kang Haneul and Ji Changwook.

- He wants to have some free time to travel and at least visit his family in Jeonju his hometown. If possible, he would like to visit Hawaii as a token to give some time to his 30s. He wants to swim and rest and enjoy the moment there.

- He is in contact with Infinite members and wishes them all to be healthy, he also feels bad for them. He misses them a lot. He was reminded of the old days when Woohyun and Sungjong came to his solo concert last month and they chatted in the waiting room. He wants Sungyeol to stop sharing his concerns with him as he is a corporal now and knows he will do well by himself.

- He talked about how the members always made fun of each other and fought and were loud. They were too honest sometimes and would hurt each other without intending to. He misses all of that. Even though they diss each other, it’s because they are close.

- He had a meal with Myungsoo and they talked about the old days

- He was so nervous for his solo concert last month and thought ‘What if I cry?’ He loosened up on the second day and he was very thankful and happy to see fans’ faces.

- He is very grateful to fans, and says it is all thanks to Infinite and he will make sure to repay them

- He was nervous to take part in variety shows but the hyungs took so much care of him. He said he never thought he was good at variety shows or a good speaker and that he is always timid and daunted, it’s all thanks to people around him that everyone finds it entertaining. He keeps doing variety shows because fans like them and he wants to repay them, even if he gets nervous

- After being asked about being a successful fan of the band Nell, he said that he loves Nell a lot and talked about them releasing an album while he was enlisted. He recently covered their song, a song that consoled him when he moved to Seoul alone before debut. He is very lucky to have worked on an album with them and to be covering their songs. It is beyond imagination to the pre-debut Sunggyu

- He talked about Bomin and Jangjun of Golden Child being his big fans, he said he hopes Bomin is not saying things that he doesn’t mean and he might be exaggerating. Jangjun asked him to train him and was watching his vlive broadcast. He thanks the juniors for liking him and he wants to be of help to them and make an effort to be a senior that they’re proud of

- He plays a lot of games and watches dramas in his free time. He liked Stove League and Money Heist.

- He enjoys listening to Sing Street OST To Find You, and Coldplay’s songs. He doesn’t have too much time to listen to songs these days because he is busy recording for his album and getting caught up with work.

- He has become a more emotional person lately, he cried while watching a video of Carles Puyol’s (football player) retirement. He said he’s becoming more emotional as he grows older

- He said with solo schedules, everything is done faster and he can control things the way he wants and gets to try a lot of things too. Back then, he prioritized the team and held himself back. But now that members are on duty, he wants to listen to their opinions too

- He said he would say that he wouldn’t regret everything that has happened but it was a bit arrogant. Now, he feels like he should have enjoyed more of the moments in his 20s and not been so hard on himself. He wishes he could tell himself it was ok to make mistakes and it doesn’t have to be perfect. He couldn’t enjoy the process because of trying to avoid mistakes and the responsibility as a leader. He wants to take things more easy now.

- He can’t picture himself in his 40s and wonders if he’ll be married or still performing or doing something else. In 10 years, he hopes that he will still be standing on the stage

- About his album release: “I can’t say the specific date or time but I’m currently working on it. I also want to cover another song because fans seem to like the last cover video.”

- Message to Inspirits: Thank you very much, lately a lot of comments from fans are saying that I’ve liked you since 3rd grade and now I’m also an adult. They can now buy their own tickets to concerts. It makes me proud and I’m grateful. I will make sure to repay you back. I hope all our fans become rich in the future. To all fans who are still students, I hope you get to do what you want and find your dreams. When you feel tired with life, come to my concert and enjoy it to feel refreshed. i hope you can do your best in your life and for your life. I will become a singer who can be your source of strength everytime

#LONG POST BUT WORTH IT IM CRYING #if theres any typos pls lmk I'm too tired to proofread #sunggyu #infinite #interview #the star

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sarahtaylortraveladventures · 5 years

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Week 18 (May 6 - 11)

I can’t believe I’m writing my final post about my semester in Berlin! I have a special reflection for my last post :)

5 things I learned in 5 months abroad:

To say that studying abroad was one of my most rewarding experiences would be an understatement. Wandering the streets in cities and countries I’ve never been to, trying the most delicious cuisines, and immersing myself in a foreign culture are memories I will never forget. As wonderful as it all was, there were also plenty of opportunities for learning and growth. Studying abroad isn’t always a whirlwind of fun adventure - I got a lot more homesick than I thought, became frustrated when there were snags in plans, and was sometimes overwhelmed trying to balance everything. I considered myself pretty open-minded prior to this trip, but being abroad has taught me so much about accepting newness and embracing unknowns. I wanted to write my final post to reflect on what I learned during my semester because I think it highlights what I really gained from this experience.

1. To Pack Light. I pride myself in my ability to pack light, but this semester has taken it to a whole different level. Since we usually flew on budget airlines for weekend travels, we could only take a bag that would fit under the seat in front of us on the plane. So everything for the weekend went in a backpack and if it didn’t fit, it didn’t come with. Honestly, I really enjoyed living out of a suitcase and only having a select amount to choose from. It made everything easier. It’s freeing to only have what you need and can carry with you, and it was eye-opening to see how little “what I need” actually is.

2. To Have Patience. I think this is probably the hardest one for me on this list. Sometimes we were really hungry after exploring for a long time and got annoyed at the slower, European way of taking a long time during meals. Or we’d think we had the right tickets for public transportation but realize we needed a different version. There was no way for us to control these things, but it’s frustrating when you’re trying to enjoy yourself and do as much as possible. Traveling takes a lot of deep breaths, and a lot of going with the flow, and I think spending a whole semester on-the-go has really helped practice having patience. Most importantly, I learned to have more patience with myself. It’s not always easy to navigate in new cities or get around when you don’t know the language, and sometimes I didn’t give myself enough grace when something went wrong. But the thing about traveling is you’re kind of stuck in whatever situation you get yourself in, whether that’s a 2 hour lunch or realizing you went the wrong way on the U-Bahn, and thankfully I had friends to laugh about how crazy everything can be after it was over.

3. To Live in the Moment. It was easy to get caught up in upcoming weekend and travel plans and lose sight of where we were or what we were doing in the present. As I’m ending my semester abroad, I completely underestimated how fast the time would fly and how much I would wish I was back watching the boats go by in Lisbon or eagerly waiting in line for my Curry36. I tried very hard to take in every experience and not wish away the time, but it was also harder towards the end when I was ready to be done with finals and see people I’d missed. But when I look back at my favorite memories, most of them were the spontaneous moments spending time with friends in a cool beer garden we found or just exploring without a plan. And I think those are the moments that are easiest to take for granted while they’re happening.

4. To Catch-Up. I didn’t realize how hard it would be to spend the semester without my friends and family. I made some really great friends while here, but I also found myself really missing people back home. I’m not the greatest at keeping in touch, so I had to make an effort to reach out to friends from home and catch-up. Luckily we live in a world with FaceTime and texting, so it was easy, but sometimes weird to hear about things going on at Elon or feeling like I was missing out on people’s lives. I know it sounds crazy because I was living my best life in Europe, and I wouldn’t trade those experiences for anything, but I still missed being with the people I am close with. I’m am so fortunate to have such supportive friends and family, and if anything being away from them allowed me to realize how much they mean to me and how important it is for me to keep in touch in the future.

5. To Embrace Discomfort. I don’t think I will ever forget the feeling I had when I walked into the grocery store on that first weekend and tried to buy food. I didn’t know the German words on the packaging, I didn’t know how their über-fast and confusing check-out procedure worked, and I didn’t bring my reusable shopping bag like you’re supposed to. As trivial as this situation seems, I remember walking out and just feeling out of place. I don’t think that’s a feeling most of us are accustomed to, because we naturally gravitate towards places of comfort. There were so many times this semester where I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, what I was ordering off the menu, and carefully following the little blue dot on my google maps but really having no idea where I was. We didn’t always know what we were doing, but I can officially say that for the most part everything worked out. And I think it usually does. The discomfort, the newness, and the unknowns are what make traveling meaningful and how we learn from other cultures. Standing in the check-out line showed me a small but unique aspect of German culture, and the best way to experience that uniqueness is to embrace the differences wholeheartedly.

I have enjoyed writing these blogs so much, and I appreciate you all following along despite my need to post a picture of everything I ate and extreme overuse of the phrase “it was really cool.” :)

And finally, I am so grateful to my parents for providing for me to study abroad. Most importantly, I hope you’ve seen these blogs as a token of my gratitude.

“The purpose of life, after all, is to live it. To taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” -Eleanor Roosevelt

^my friends and I in front of a wall near our dorm (CIEE is the name of the program, and the G27 above is the nickname for the street we lived on)

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danganronpalife · 7 years

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Danganronpa V3: Building a Good Post Game Team

(POST GAME SPOILERS BUT NO V3 STORY SPOILERS)

So recently I’ve been working on a guide to build a good team for the Post Game modes in Danganronpa V3 for a friend. In the end, this became so long that I decided it would be better to just post it publicly to help anyone else who needs it. This is not a full guide on the Dungeon Mode but more so how to craft the ideal team in preparation for it. Please keep in mind that this is just my personal way of crafting a team, there are many other methods that can bring about the same level of success. The guide is under the read more! If you spot any mistakes, please feel free to contact me so I can correct it.

You will usually alternate between modes you play. First you will create a character in the Ultimate Talent Development Plan which you will then take into Despair Dungeon: Monokuma’s Test, and then you will take the currency earned from the dungeon into the Ultimate Death Card Machine to earn cards of other characters that you will take back into the Ultimate Talent Development Plan and restart the process. Since this guide is in preparation for the Dungeon (the late game of the dungeon specifically since the first half will mainly just be alternating between whichever cards you have at that time,) we’re going to start with the Ultimate Death Card Machine and work our way down.

Ultimate Death Card Machine The Ultimate Death Card Machine is a gachapon that is to be used alongside the Ultimate Talent Development Plan (Board game mode) and Despair Dungeon: Monokuma’s Test (RPG mode). You pull cards using the currency of G (obtained in Monokuma’s Test) and there are 3 different gachapon’s you can pull cards from; one for DR1, one for DR2 and one for V3. For each character, you can pull an N Card (The most common and weakest card), an S Card (Rarer than an N card) and a U card (The rarest type of card). At the beginning, you will only be able to pull N cards, with the probability of getting rarer cards increasing as you progress further in Monokuma’s Test, you will also begin to find S-Ticket and U-Ticket collectibles as you progress in the RPG, which guarantee the type of card that is pulled. This mode is all about luck and probability, so you will find yourself getting duplicates often. Duplicates are traded for materials that can be used in Monokuma’s Test.

Ultimate Talent Development Plan The Ultimate Talent Development Plan is where you are going to spend time levelling and optimising the cards won from the Ultimate Death Card Machine as you choose to. When you first begin, you will only be able to pick characters from V3, the first step is to create four of these and take them into the dungeon, from there you will be able to start earning G which you can use to unlock characters from 1 and 2.

Specialties Characters come in three different specialties; Sport (Red), Intelligence (Blue) and Variety (Green.) Sports characters specialise in Physical Damage, Intelligence character specialise in Magic damage and Variety characters specialise in Support. You can take four characters in with you to Monokuma’s test at a time, but I would highly recommend making a mix of characters with different purposes. Though, for a general main team, my personal recommendation is two reds, one blue and one green. While I made other characters (which I will go over later), these were my go to characters for general dungeon exploring.

The Board Game The goal of the Ultimate Talent Development Plan is to make it through 3 years at Hope’s Peak Academy. There are numerous courses set for different ways of optimising your team and each year gives you the opportunity to change course. Each year is 12 dice rolls around the board with an end goal that you need to hit before your turns are over. The key to the mode is travelling around the board efficiently and trying to get the boosts you want, while keeping focus of the distance you are from the end goal. At the end of the year you will have an exam. The exams are boss battles that will earn you talent fragments to be used for skills. Failure to hit the end goal by the end of the year results in no exam for that year and you will be forced onto a despair course for the next year to make your run more difficult. Luck can be quite heavily involved in this mode since having bad dice rolls will affect your stat gain, but there are ways to work around these which will be explained later.

Options For each roll of the dice, you have a number of options that you select when choosing your role, these are as follows: Small Move – The result of the dice roll will be between 1 -3 Large Move – The result of the dice roll will be between 4 – 6 Card – You will earn cards from the Monokubs as you play as well as earning them by landing on other students, you can use these cards here to affect your game in different ways. Check Course – This allows you to look around the entire course, it’s a good way to plan your rolls. Obtain Skill – There are various skills that you can obtain that are to be used in the dungeon, you can have up to five at a time and are obtained using Talent Fragments that you earn during your game. You can also obtain skills at the end of each year before your exam. Check Talents – View your current stats, skills and Talent Fragments Quit – Go back to the menu. Your game will be saved when you do this so that you can resume play at the same spot in the future.

Stats One of the biggest goals of the Ultimate Talent Development Plan is buffing your characters stats through either: Level up, Event Squares, Friendship Squares, Surgery or Exams (More on these further down). Stats you earn will likely be different each time since it is all dependent on the rolls you get during your run on the board game. Here is a list of stats along with what they mean:

Influence – Your HP; if your characters runs out, you will die. If all 4 of your characters die at the same time, you will get a game over. Focus – Your MP; If your character runs out, you’ll no longer be able to use special moves so make sure to conserve this for times when you need it most. Strength – The higher the number, the stronger your character’s physical attack will be. Defense – The higher the number, the less damage you will take by opposing physical attacks. Intellect – The higher the number, the stronger your character’s magic attacks will be. Fortitude – The higher the number, the less damage you will take by opposing magic attacks. You will also have less chance of being affected by status conditions if this stat is high. Agility – This is used to decide turn order; the highest number will go first in battle, having a high number also makes you more likely to avoid opposing physical attacks. Luck – This is used to decide how often your attacks will become critical hits, or how often you will successfully run away in battle.

The difference between N, S and U Cards As mentioned above, you will be starting with N cards and progressing your way through the dungeon to start unlocking more, U Cards will be your saviour during the second half of Monokuma’s Test. The type of card affects the growth rate your character will have, with the rarer cards getting the larger stat, level and skill buffs. As such, rarer cards will have higher stats and be able to hit level 99 which lower type cards will not. As an example, I am going to show you each type of card in my personal file and the stats that they have after a full boards game worth of training. (I have chosen 3 variety types as they have similar stat growth, e.g. Magic users will gain intellect quicker while variety users will gain stats in a balanced way, so using the same type here showcases the difference in stats more effectively.)

Mikan Tsumiki – N Card Level: 27, Influence: 76, Focus: 106, Strength: 16, Defense: 32, Intellect: 33, Fortitude: 73, Agility: 23, Luck: 44 Hiyoko Saionji – S Card Level: 64, Influence: 126, Focus: 250, Strength: 58, Defense: 81, Intellect: 62, Fortitude: 172, Agility: 50, Luck: 67 Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu – U Card Level: 99, Influence: 334, Focus: 294, Strength: 160, Defense: 108, Intellect: 172, Fortitude: 155, Agility: 177, Luck: 250

(Each run of the board game locks your character at the level you ended with, if you wish to get a higher-level version of that character, you will need to create the character from scratch, you can save up to 3 cards of each character.)

Board Courses As mentioned before, there are several different boards you can play, these consist of: Normal Course – This course has a lot of Growth Squares to level up your character. Talent Course – This course has many Talent Squares to help you collect Talent Fragments and set the abilities you want on your character. Friendship Course – This course has a lot of Event Squares and Friendship Squares; this course is a good way to get some high stat boosts. Future Course – This course must be unlocked by earning 100,000 casino tokens and purchasing the Super Lucky Button from the Casino (I would recommend playing the Salmon Fishing game to get these tokens, getting an S Rank on Mean Mode will quickly gift you the tokens you need if you bet in 5000-10,000 tokens at a time.) The Future Course is full of Event squares with the characters from DR3 Future Arc, it’s a lot of fun seeing these events with the characters from the anime, but it’s not a board I’d recommend playing to boost your stats. It has a lot of Despair Squares and while it can be a matter of risk vs. reward, as the skill and stat buffs you can get from this course are large, I still wouldn’t recommend it as even using the large roll each time won’t guarantee you making it to the end goal in the roll limit. I didn’t use this board once for optimising my characters so it’s definitely not necessary. I’d advise just playing this board separately to view the fun events without worrying about your stats. Despair Course – This course cannot be chosen from the regular course choice and is instead forced onto you as a punishment if you fail to get to the end goal by the end of the year, the Despair Course is full of Despair Squares, making it a dangerous course to spend a year on. My advice for using the boards effectively is to only use the Normal Course while you still only have N Cards, move onto 2 years of the Normal Course and one year of the Talent Course with S Cards (though levelling up is still a priority so if your level is low, do the Normal Course for the third year too). When you have U Cards, your choices in course are going to play a much bigger role in how effective your cards are, I personally use the Normal Course on the first year to get a head start in levels, the Talent Course on the second year to build up a good number of talent fragments and the Friendship Course on the third year for more stat boosts. While doing these, I will also make sure to keep an eye on my level as after the first year I likely will not be at Level 99, so I will try to gain these levels in the other course while I focus on my other targets. Another piece of advice I’ll give is to try your best to stick to your courses specialty (for example, on the normal course, prioritise the growth squares, the other squares can be prioritised on the later courses.)

Squares Each course will have a variety of different squares that will affect your character in various ways, while courses generally have a focus on a certain type of square, you will often see a variety on each. Growth Square – The blue square; this square will give you level ups and stat boosts, once you hit Level 99 these squares become useless so be careful about that, you don’t want to waste turns. Talent Square – The orange square; you will be offered a choice for the colour of Talent Fragment you want out of red, blue and green. The best way to decide which one you should choose is to look through the skills that you want and to see which fragments you are lacking. (More on skills further down.) You will then be given a dice roll to determine how many fragments you receive. Friendship Square – The pink square; these squares begin interactions with the character you chose and various other characters from the franchise, each one earns you stat boosts and then when you have completed all 5, any further Friendship Squares result in you talking to a Monokub and getting a small boost to every stat. (Equivalent to stat buffs you would get from regular level ups, making this a good way to continue to increase your stats even after you are max level, this is the main reason I recommend doing this course on the final year, spend the first two years getting the levels and skills and use any remaining time to buff your stats further.) Event Square – The Green Square; you will be put into small events where you will often be given a choice, the choice you make determines which stat of yours gets a buff. Despair Square – These squares will force your stats to decrease if you land on them, a Despair Square can be countered with a Hope Card.

Cards Randomly throughout the course of your game, you will get stopped by the Monokubs, who will give you a card at random. These cards have different effects and can be used strategically to land on the squares that you want. You will also get a set card each time you land on a character. The cards you can get are: 0 Move Card: Stay on the square you were previously on. – Obtained by landing on Touko Fukawa, Chiaki Nanami and Himiko Yumeno 1 Move Card: Advance by one square – Obtained by landing on Makoto Naegi, Kazuichi Souda and Angie Yonaga 2 Move Card: Advance by two squares – Obtained by landing on Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Hajime Hinata and Rantaro Amami 3 Move Card: Advance by three squares – Obtained by landing on Kyouko Kirigiri, Shuichi Saihara and Kaede Akamatsu 4 Move Card: Advance by four squares – Obtained by landing on Aoi Asahina, Ibuki Mioda and Tsumugi Shirogane 5 Move Card: Advance by five squares – Obtained by landing on Sayaka Maizono, Teruteru Hanamura and Maki Harukawa 6 Move Card: Advance by six squares – Obtained by landing on Hifumi Yamada, Mahiru Koizumi and Kirumi Toujou Success Card: Guarantees a successful surgery – Obtained by landing on Byakuya Togami, Mikan Tsumiki, Izuru Kamukura and Miu Iruma Double Move Card: Doubles the amount that you advance based on your roll – Obtained by landing on Sakura Oogami, Junko Enoshima, Mukuro Ikusaba, Nekomaru Nidai, Monomi and Tenko Chabashira Double Square Card: Doubles the stat boosts you obtain from the square you land on – Obtained by landing on Celeste, Monokuma, Imposter, Usami and Kokichi Ouma Hope Card: Counters a Despair Square if you land on one - Obtained by landing on Nagito Komaeda and Kiibo Straight Card: Forces you to advance in a straight line until you hit a corner – Obtained by landing on Mondo Oowada, Peko Pekoyama, Akane Owari and Gonta Gokuhara Encounter Card: Forces you to advance until you encounter another character – Obtained by landing on Chihiro Fujisaki and Gundam Tanaka Goodbye Card: Forces the placement of other characters on the board to change – Obtained by landing on Yasuhiro Hagakure and Ryoma Hoshi Course Change Card: Forces you onto a random different course (this includes the Despair Course so be careful.) – Obtained by landing on Leon Kuwata, Hiyoko Saionji and Korekiyo Shinguuji High Jump Card: Forces you onto a random square on the course you are currently on. – Obtained by Genocider Sho, Sonia Nevermind, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu and Kaito Momota

Events When you land on event squares you will be given a random event, sometimes you will only have to watch the event play out and other times you will be given a choice, with the choice you make buffing a stat. Below is a list of all the Events that give you a choice in the answer, and which stat each choice will buff:

It’s really hot out because of a freak heat wave! Let’s do something about it! - Lock yourself in your room: Luck - Research the Mystery of the Heat Wave: Intellect

It’s a toy vending machine…Was this always here…? What do you do? - Give it a spin: Randomly picks between Influence, Strength and Defense - Give it a spin: Randomly picks between Focus, Intellect and Fortitude

You’re given a survey about how you want the sports festival to be. What will you choose? - A dynamic sports festival: Strength - A quiet, reserved sports festival: Intelligence

You saw a shooting star! Make a wish! (You will be given two of these options to choose from) - To be strong: Strength - To be smart: Intellect - To be tough: Defense - To be patient: Fortitude - To be faster: Agility - To be lucky: Lucky

You can’t find the motivation to do anything…what do you do? - Try feeling even more terrible: Fortitude - Play with a clacker: Strength

You got the idea of writing a message in a bottle. What will you write? - A cry for help on a deserted island: Influence - A message to a potential lover: Luck

You find a voice changer that lets you speak in different voices. Which one do you choose? (You will be given two of these options to choose from) - Monokuma: Strength - Shirokuma: Fortitude - Monomi: Defense - Kurokuma: Intellect

You overslept! What should you do…? - Go back to sleep: Strength - Run to the classroom at full speed: Agility

You meet someone who looks exactly like you! Who is this person…? - They’re an imposter: Strength - They’re a doppelganger: Fortitude

You’re at the library! What would you like to read? (You will be given two of these options to choose from) - The Big Book of Zoo Animals: Strength - Tips and Tricks: Intellect - VQ Men’s Magazine: Influence - Danganronpa IF: Focus

Let’s play the stock market! Which company’s stocks will you buy? - Towa Group: Fortitude - Sea King Industries: Luck

You won the lottery! It’s a pretty good amount…How will you spend it? - Use it to polish your talent: Influence - Buy another lottery ticket: Luck

Let’s go for a long distance run! - Run at full speed: Agility - Run at your own pace: Defense

Let’s cook today. What should you cook…? - Curry: Fortitude - A bento box: Agility

You’re taking a walk…Then, suddenly, a mysterious box comes falling down from above you! What do you do? - Avoid it: Agility - Catch it: Focus

Oh no, a “bad luck” chain letter! If you don’t send it to 10 people, you get bad luck! What will you do? - Rip it up and throw it away: Strength - Burn it and throw it away: Focus

Out-of-place artifacts have been found on school grounds. What do you do? - Study them: Intellect - Sell them off: Luck

Hm? It seems like someone is at your door, late at night… - Open the door: Agility - Pretend like you’re not at home: Focus

You got hungry for a midnight snack! There should be some snacks in one of the cabinets. Which cabinet will you open? - The left one: Strength - The Right one: Intellect

You got a package from an online shop! But you don’t remember ordering anything. What do you do? - Ask the others: Fortitude - Open it: Luck

It’s nice out, so let’s have a picnic! Where will you go? - The beach: Influence - The mountains: Focus

Ever since you performed a seance, you’ve been seeing strange things…What do you do? - Punch it: Strength - Say a prayer you heard in a movie: Intellect

You feel like it’s bad to be cooped up on campus all the time. Let’s train! Where will you train? - Seclude yourself on a mountain: Intellect - Go Abroad: Defense

You have a quiz tomorrow! What to do… - Who cares? Go to bed: Defense - Stay up late, study hard: Intellect

One morning, after waking up from a weird dream, you realise you’ve turned into Monotaro! What do you do? - Go meet up with the other monokubs: Agility - Eat honey: Defense

“I’ll give ya whichever one ya like!” …this is clearly suspicious, but which one should you choose? - The big box: Defence - The small box: Fortitude

You’re taking a walk…You get run over by a rampaging Monokid. Monokid runs off…You want revenge…What will you do? - Forgive him with a big heart: Fortitude - Make him pay…in cash: Influence

There are also different events with choices on the Future Course, I am not going to include these as this is really not a course I would recommend for stat building. You may get success out of it, but so much of the course is luck dependent that I don’t find it reliable enough for building a good character.

Seasonal Events During each year, you will be placed into an event like the Friendship Squares. You will be given a choice between three options and depending on what you choose, you will interact with a different character. These events are helpful as depending on the choice you make, you will receive a certain colour of Talent Fragment. I am not going to list every character and who gives which fragment since I don’t want to make this longer than it already is (listing out over 50 characters and 3-year events for each would make this ridiculously long), just keep in mind that with experimenting and note taking, you will learn how to get them quickly. There are only three options to choose from each time and it stays the same so it won’t be as random as events. If you are planning to build a character and you desperately want to know what options to choose for the appropriate fragments, please feel free to send me a message and I can give you the answers for that individual character.

Types of Character While I have mentioned before that each character falls under one of three specialties, there are a number of sub-specialties for each, these are as follows:

Sports Characters: High strength – Sakura Oogami, Peko Pekoyama and Maki Harukawa, High speed with slightly less strength – Leon Kuwata, Aoi Asahina, Mukuro Ikusaba, Akane Owari Tenko Chabashira and Ryoma Hoshi Tank (high HP and defences) – Mondo Oowada, Hajime Hinata and Nekomaru Nidai, Kaito Momota and Gonta Gokuhara

Intelligence Characters: High Intellect – Byakuya Togami, Chihiro Fujisaki, Touko Fukawa, Sonia Nevermind, Chiaki Nanami, Miu Iruma and Shuichi Saihara Mixed attacker (higher in intellect, but also decent in strength) – Junko Enoshima, Imposter (who has an exception in being the only one of these characters to actually have intellect as high as the first set of characters, as well as decent strength), Kazuichi Souda, Kirumi Toujou and Kokichi Ouma High Speed with slightly less intellect – Kyouko Kirigiri, Celeste, Mahiru Koizumi, Tsumugi Shirogane and Korekiyo Shinguuji

Variety Characters: Extremely high Luck – Makoto Naegi, Nagito Komaeda and Rantaro Amami Tanky Support (decent Defense and very high Fortitude) – Yasuhiro Hagakure, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Hiyoko Saionji, Mikan Tsumiki, Himiko Yumeno and Angie Yonaga Speedy Support (high speed and fortitude) Sayaka Maizono, Gundam Tanaka, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu, Ibuki Mioda, Kaede Akamatsu, Kiibo

Skills Collecting Talent Fragments are important as collecting enough of them will allow you to obtain skills. Instead of listing out each skill individually, I’m going to use the character varieties I listed above and give examples of skills I’d recommend putting on them. (Remember that you can only have 5 skills at a time, so while I may be listing more, please keep in mind that you can only choose 5.)

Skills I’d recommend for any type of character: Intelligence Skills – Absorb Focus (absorbs the MP of the enemy and restores it back to yourself) Variety Skills – Recover Influence (Restores HP) and Fighting Spirit (Revives a fallen ally), these two are more helpful on variety characters but I find it good to use it on multiple members of the team in case of emergencies like running out of MP on one character.)

Skills I’d recommend for dungeon crawling (not battles): Variety Skills - Fog (Avoid enemy encounters for a while) Other Skills – Drop Rate Up (Gives you a higher chance of collecting materials in the dungeon) and G Gain Up (the amount of G you obtain for defeating enemies increases).

High Strength and High Speed Characters: Sports Skills – Sword Stab (deals heavy damage), Summer Rain Fist (attacks all enemies), Falcon Kick (attacks consecutively, great for high money dropping enemies that flee from battle), Zeal (powers up the next turn). Other Skills (other skills will not show up in your moves, it instead gives a buff to the ability mentioned) – Attack Power up, Skill Power up, Awakening Up

Tank Characters: Sports Skills – Sacrifice (a priority move that shields an ally), Ultra Defense (allows you to take reduced damage for that turn and protect you from status conditions) Variety Skills – Ice Barrier, Electric Barrier and Wind Barrier (all barrier moves have priority and result in you taking reduced damage from the respective magic ability for a few turns) Other skills – Defense up, Endurance up (lowers chance of receiving status conditions, this is ideal for support characters as having them ineffective for even a turn can mess up your strategy)

High Intellect and High Speed Characters: Intelligence Skills – One of either Ice Freeze, Electric Paralyse or Wind Jet, (focus on one instead of all as using all will waste slots. Different enemies are weak to different types of magic so my recommendation would be to build three of these characters with each one focusing on a different magic ability). one of either Ice Freeze All, Electric Paralyse All or Wind Jet All (This is similar to the last one but it hits all enemies, it’s up to you if you’d like to use less characters and mix magic but my personal recommendation is to keep all ice on one magic user, all electric on another, etc.) Other Skills – Skill Power up and one of either Ice Power Up, Electric Power Up or Wind Power Up (this is another reason I recommend sticking to one ability for each magic user, you can just focus on one of these as opposed to multiple.)

Mixed Attacker Characters: Sports Skills – One of either Sword Stab or Summer Rain Fist Intelligence Skills – One of either Ice Freeze/Ice Freeze All, Electric Paralyse/Electric Paralyse All or Wind Jet/Wind Jet All Other Skills – Attack Power up, Skill Power Up, One of either Ice Power Up, Electric Power Up or Wind Power Up

Variety Characters (I would generally recommend the same for all types of Variety characters, this is a good lot to split between multiple variety type characters): Sports Skills: Ultra Defense Intelligence Skills: One of any Magic Move (so that the support character has options is nothing is needed of them). Debuff, Poison, all other status conditions are worth considering but I find poison to be the most useful. Various enemies are weak to different kinds of status so it’s good to use trial and error. Variety Skills: Recover Influence and Fighting Spirit (I did mention these as considerations for every character but I find it especially important on variety characters.), Cure Condition (I’d recommend putting this on a speedy support character so that you can heal status effects before your allies move.), Strength Up and Intellect up (these are to buff ally’s) Other Skills: Defense and Endurance Up

Ultimate Talent Development Plan Tips Now that I’m winding down, I’m going to add some smaller tips here that I didn’t find a place to put anywhere else: - If you get a High Jump Card, save it for when you start your next year. Use it immediately on the first turn and get a good head start, this makes the end goal less daunting and allows you to use the smaller dice more often, allowing you more freedom in getting the squares you want. - The Monokubs will occasionally ask you if you want a surgery, definitely say yes to this if you have a success card as a successful surgery results in huge stat gain. Without a success card it’s random whether the surgery succeeds or not, with a failure resulting in huge stat losses. My advice if you don’t have a success card would be to still agree to the surgery if you’re still early into your game (so that you can just start over if it fails) or you haven’t had the best run so far in your game. - If you get a Course Change Card and you don’t have a huge need for Talent Fragments, then it’s okay to fail reaching the end goal for that year and simply warping out of the Despair Course on the first turn of the next year, the course you get given will still be random, however. - Getting a skill up to Level 10 comes with huge benefits, for example, obtaining a Level 10 Recovery Influence will allow you to heal all of your allies instead of just one, make sure to prioritise skills that will be most valuable to get Level 10 at. I like to write down the skills I want each run and the Talent Fragments that I need for the first level up. Throughout the game whenever I get more Talent Fragments, I will immediately use them if possible on the skills I want to get a better idea of which Fragments I need to prioritise next. - The exams will get easier as you get higher ranked cards, if you get an S Card in an ally character, they will appear at Level 45 during the exam, and U Cards will appear at Level 99. The best way I would recommend defeating the exam bosses are a mix of Summer Rain Fist and a Magic All attack, you don’t have to worry about your MP since these enemies will fall quickly, so go all out!

Despair Dungeon: Monokuma’s Test Tips While I am not going to be writing out a full guide for Despair Dungeon, I am also going to offer a few small helpful tips to get started. - Every time you find an elevator (every 5 floors) you can save your progress and restore your health, you can also go back and visit these past floors at any time with treasure chests that were left behind still available. If you want to take a fighting team in to clear the way first and then go for a treasure hunt run later with more dungeon crawling optimised characters, that can be a really good idea. - Your team is going to change constantly, I’m going to go into more detail below about the types of characters you can expect to be switching between. A quick example of this is that Tank characters are great for boss battles but much less effective in the regular climb, I would usually take a fighting team in first and then when it was time to go for the boss, I would start the climb again with the tank and conserve the team (I would recommend conserving the team by either using fog, or having high luck so that you can run from battles easily). - Keep in mind that the layout Floors are not randomly generated, they will always have the same layout and the second half of the game reuses the first 50 floors on a higher difficulty. Making notes of the layout on each floor (for example, stairs in the top right corner, treasure chest near the bottom of the map) can be really helpful when you hit the second half of the game. - If you are struggling to earn G and you are still in the first half (first 50 floors) in the dungeon, I found a good strategy was to just start a completely new game (from the menu, not by just returning to the entrance), you keep all equipment and materials you had previously, but treasure chests will reset, allowing you to earn G all over again, and collect multiples of helpful equipment to use on all your characters. This isn’t helpful after the first half of the game as the G and equipment you get won’t make much of a difference anymore but this is really helpful in the early game. -There are exisal bosses located around the floors with a horde of treasure that they’re protecting. Hitting them with all your strongest attacks is a good way to defeat them but each one also has a weakness that you can use to your advantage (for example, one is really weak to poison and while it took 1 damage from every attack we hit it with, it took 14,999 damage from poison each turn.) Fortunately, they are usually located on the same floor as an elevator so make sure to go save first, and then come back for them after. - While most bosses can be defeated with regular hard-hitting moves, the boss on 40F has blind which can severely damage your team by making them likely to miss attacks. Make sure to bring someone with Cure Condition (preferably Level 10) to this fight.

There is a secret final boss after completing the 100th floor, I am going to offer tips for this boss below, as well as the team I used to defeat it.

Characters I alternated between in the dungeon I created a character for almost every type of specialty I listed way above (except for the lucky variety specialty). I’m going to give a list of characters and skills I brought with me in most instances, and then characters who had more secondary roles (I would bring them in if they had something I needed for those 5 floors, but otherwise would sit in the back).

My Main Team (I would use as close to this team as possible with N and S Cards but since they were weaker, some skills would either be left out or be a much lower level): (Red High Attack) Peko Pekoyama – Skills: Sword Stab Level 9, Summer Rain Fist Level 10, Attack Power Up Level 10, Skill Power Up Level 10, Fighting Spirit Level 8 (Blue Mixed Attacker) Imposter- Skills: Recover Influence Level 10, Ice Freeze Level 10, Ice Freeze All Level 10, Skill Power Up Level 10, Ice Power up Level 10 (Green Speedy Support) Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu – Skills: Recover Influence level 10, Fighting Spirit Level 10, Cure Condition Level 10, Poison Level 10, Wind Jet Level 10 (Red High Speed) Aoi Asahina – Skills: Sword Stab Level 9, Summer Rain Fist Level 9, Absorb Focus Level 10, Attack Power Up Level 10, Skill Power Up Level 10

Secondary Members (Blue High Intellect) Chihiro Fujisaki (Has the same skillset as Imposter but with the electric magic alternatives). (Blue High Speed) Mahiru Koizumi (Has the same skillset as Imposter and Chihiro but with the wind magic alternatives). (Red Tank) Nekomaru Nidai – Skills: Fighting Spirit Level 10, Sacrifice Level 10, Ice Barrier Level 10, Wind Barrier Level 10, Electric barrier Level 10 (Green Tanky Support/Dungeon Crawler) Hiyoko Saionji – Skills: Fog Level 10, Drop Rate up Level 10, G Gain Up Level 10 (in hindsight, I should have put Recover Influence and Fighting Spirit in here too).

The Final Boss Once you have cleared all 100 floors and seen the credits for a second time, you will find out that there is a Monokuma on the final floor who is the real final boss. Below I am going to show the team that I used to defeat it and then go into strategies after that. I completely remade all my cards (even the ones with characters I already used), in order to focus on this boss and its weaknesses.

My Team

Peko Pekoyama

Level: 99, Influence: 753, Focus: 646, Strength: 999, Defense: 180, Intellect: 189, Fortitude: 144, Agility: 664 (I could have had this at 999 but I needed Kuzuryuu to have the agility priority), Luck: 999 Equipment: Katana Impact, Hat of Legend, Uniform of Victory, Shoes of Courage, Champion’s Talisman Skills: Sword Stab Level 10, Falcon Kick Level 10, Attack Power Up Level 10, Skill Power Up Level 10, Endurance Up Level 7

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu Level: 99, Influence: 999, Focus: 804, Strength: 360, Defense: 246, Intellect: 242, Fortitude: 672, Agility: 967, Luck: 193 Equipment: Staff Strike, Hat of Courage, Uniform of Legend, Shoes of Legend, Ultimate Hope Proof Skills: Fighting Spirit Level 10, Ultra Defense Level 10, Cure Condition Level 10, Wind Barrier Level 10, Defense Up Level 10

Chiaki Nanami Level: 99, Influence: 417, Focus: 939, Strength: 70, Defense: 71, Intellect: 999, Fortitude: 426, Agility: 883, Luck: 79 Equipment: Sickle, Hat of Overflowing Talent, Uniform of Atua, Champion’s Shoes, Ultimate Talisman Skills: Ice Freeze Level 10, Skill Power Up Level 9, Ice Power Up Level 10, Influence Up Level 7, Endurance Up Level 7

Nekomaru Nidai Level: 99, Influence: 999, Focus: 673, Strength: 168, Defense: 999, Intellect: 121, Fortitude: 285, Agility: 345, Luck: 194 Equipment: Shield Impact, Champion’s Hat, Champion’s Uniform, Shoes of Courage, Hard Worker’s Talisman Skills: Recover Influence Level 10, Fighting Spirit Level 10, Sacrifice Level 10, Cure Condition Level 10, Wind Barrier Level 10

Strategies The scariest weapon that this boss has is the ability to confuse your entire party, making them hit each other for huge damage. Because of this, I prioritised speed on Kuzuryuu, so that I could get a Cure Condition off and heal the team before they started attacking each other. (The boss also has a status called Despair it can inflict onto you, I always healed it before it became a concern so I’m not sure what it’s purpose is.) This boss also has a powerful spread wind attack so Wind Barrier is a must, I put this on both Kuzuryuu and Nidai just to be safe. Wind Barrier is a priority move so I used Nidai for it more often since he’s naturally a slower character. This boss also has Summer Rain Fist which is the spread physical move, this can be scary so I put Sacrifice on Nidai since he was very strong, defensively. Keep in mind that if your characters have high enough agility, they can completely dodge this move (my Pekoyama, Kuzuryuu and Nanami dodged it every time). The main strategy I used was to Pekoyama and Nanami use their respective most powerful move on the boss each turn, while Nidai would either set up a wind barrier, heal the team if they needed it (Pekoyama and Nanami would usually be one shot if an attack landed so this was more to keep Kuzuryuu healthy). Because Nidai was slower most of the skills I put on him were for emergencies, for example, if Kuzuryuu was defeated, I would have Nidai ready to bring him back and heal him while Kuzuryuu used the skills a lot more because he would always move first. If I had nothing for Nidai to do, I would just defend with him. Kuzuryuu was the star of this team, if any character was defeated during battle, he would bring them straight back on the first turn with Fighting Spirit. Most of the time I had him use Ultra Defense so that if the boss tried to confuse the party, he would be protected from it and able to use Cure Condition to heal them all in the next turn before the confusion even had a chance to be a problem. I had Wind Barrier on him but I rarely chose him to use it over Nidai, it was mostly just for emergencies. Having the highest agility on him was necessary to stop confusion from being an issue. The only big trouble we ran into was if Kuzuryuu used a turn healing everyone and the boss chose to confuse then, since it would then affect every member of the team. The way I’d recommend countering this problem is to give Nidai Ultra Defense too (I wish I had done this, if I had, I would have swapped it for Sacrifice since the physical attacks would hardly hit the other 3 and Wind Barrier destroyed the threat of Magic Damage.) By doing this, you would be able to ensure that at least one character had Ultra Defense up on each turn (Prioritise using it on Kuzuryuu, but if Kuzuryuu must cure or revive the team, then use it on Nidai while he does this). There would still be a risk doing this, since all the characters would have to survive a turn of confusion with Nidai’s low speed, but it’s still a lot more doable than having nothing at all.

I think that’s about all the tips I can think of for these modes, it became a lot longer than I expected in the end so I apologise for the long read. I hope this is a helpful guide to building a good team to tackle the dungeon.

#ndrv3 #ndrv3 spoilers #danganronpa #long post

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94andsizzling · 4 years

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divesting from whiteness

is something that is going to be very difficult for me. totally against the grain. i’ve built all my ideals and goals based on it. i grew up with looking a magazines and learning names of models in a world that put european beauty standards on a pedestal and does not want color in their books. i memorized the names. if brands showed people of color in ads or runways, then and now, it’s probably from an absolute need to or to escape ridicule. if they showed an incredibly dark skinned black person on an ad with accessories, i thought they must have done so to grab someone’s attention by showing a huge visual contrast. not because they wanted to be inclusive, but because it’s a play on eyes. i still think this today. i wished i looked like the models i was seeing on tumblr and magazines. it’s one thing to address that i don’t look like them, but i thought i was flawed and, i need to say it, ugly. i wanted be pretty. and i wanted to look white. it’s no secret to anyone who knows me well that i have an asian complex. i tell them. i say it with a tiredness from repeating myself and having to explain because they don’t relate (or simple can’t, because of who i’ve chose to surround myself with) but even with all that repetitiveness it still makes my heart well up sometimes. i say it and in those moments i think that i am aware. but i’m really not. i’m still learning. but it’s hard because i’ve normalized it. always ending with something like, “yeah, i know, it’s just how i am.” almost as if to say: just accept it; i already have.

i am a product of an environment that promotes whiteness and sees emulating whiteness as an achievement. i want to say i’ve practiced self-love and that i’ve come a long way. but it’s complicated. i think i made room for self-love after there was validated from others. it started with compliments that i didn’t really believe, but kind of started to due to where they were coming from. white people telling me i looked good gave me validation. i feel more comfortable today than any time in the past, in my body and with my face, but i still have a long way to go.

i think today is probably the most honest i’ve been with assessing my core and answering questions like: where my mind goes, why it go there and why i do things. some things that immediately come to mind:

assigning judgments to people based on their color/looks,

organizations i join (or more notably the ones i dismiss) and circles of people i try to make my communities,

what i think about the area i live in,

where i plan on locating myself (this pertains to both life and travel).

1. i judge strangers by the color of their skin and vilify people as being shady and potentially dangerous especially at night when i’m by myself. if i speak to someone who’s black or poc and they turn out to be amazing, i’m humbled and tell myself to be better. i made a conscious decision to stop making these judgments. but it’s hard to change a habit and i constantly catch myself reminding myself to be better - more than i’d like to admit.

2. i’ve always had asian friends growing up and i don’t think i connect as easily with white people. or maybe it was my mind playing me down. joining an organization like a sorority was not what i ever imagined for myself. i never thought about it before living at school, but after meeting an acquaintance who was in one, it just became this thing that i wanted so badly to be a part of. i wanted to be in a panhellenic sorority aka og sororities that are primarily white. i wanted to be part of a fun, cool and pretty group that mixed with other fun, cool and pretty groups. this is greek life in a nutshell. i dismissed the idea of an asian sorority or a business fraternity, which would have come in handy for career advancement, but those were heavily asian and we know how i feel about that. these other organizations were pretty much non-options for me from the start. i didn’t want that label and i didn’t want to be in that crowd. i wanted to have fun. the most fun. my whole teenage life, i felt like i was this closeted person that was meant to be social, but didn’t know how to get there and get those fun friends that i wanted. i was a sheltered and shy and i hated it. being accepted into the sorority was my ticket to this big, social fun fest. i loved being in the organization. it made me feel important and special, like i achieved something great. i don’t like tokenism but didn’t mind it in this context, because it crowned me as this asian person who is cool and pretty. cool and pretty for white sorority standards is a huge deal for someone like me who’s grown up with white ideals. this validated my worth ten fold.

3. i don’t like where i live. it has an overwhelmingly large asian presence. while diversity is a good thing, living in this town feels like drowning in a culture that i don’t want any part in. i really judge asians and their culture (i just realized that i used ‘their’ instead of ‘our’) and i despise asian people’s lack of awareness and spinlessness. i hate the image of a dumb, meek asian so much. so naturally i’ve tried to become the opposite of it. i don’t want anyone to even have a chance at labeling me as that. i’ve also categorized asians as uncool and in effect have put whiteness on a pedestal.

4. i plan on locating myself if communities that are diverse but not flooded with a minority such as my home. i value diversity in a place for the food culture it brings. i don’t worry so much on how i might feel more included or safer in a diverse community than one that has strong white presence. i don’t worry about the racial bias i might face if i move to a new city and i’ve wondered why. i’ve proximated myself to whiteness and perhaps i feel like that has to show for something. outside of daily life, i want to travel to places that i like that i think look beautiful in photos. i’m biased against traveling to some asian countries because i don’t have an appreciation for the culture (sometimes a dislike) and have formed a huge opinion on normative spacial distancing in different countries.

i’ve always thought of asians as being second class to white people and i think the only way to change that narrative in my head is to find super educated and well spoken people who are asian, that i admire and listen to the conversations they’re having about racism and the asian american experience. introducing a different narrative and putting it on loop is probably the only way to divest from whiteness in a lasting way. i realize i’ll be reluctant to seek out these new people and show resistance to whatever they’re putting out or only absorb it at surface level, so i’ll have to set some intentions with how i go about it.

for starters, these questions ellie yang camp wrote are a really great place to start and i’m grateful for them.

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alwaysinairplanemode · 6 years

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Baby’s First International Overnight

Over the 2+ years of my regional airline career many countries have been traveled, but almost every one of these has been in my spare time as a passenger, until this month, when I got to spend 18 glorious hours in Toronto, ON!

Growing up in Rochester, NY, I could see Toronto on a cloudless day at Lake Ontario. This fact didn’t rob me of any of the joy I experienced going through customs, or waiting on the hotel shuttle or bracing myself against the cold night air to grab some wings from the Anchor Bar and Grill (that actually originated in Buffalo, NY and not Canada). As much as I don’t want to be jaded in what’s a really unique job, travel has become my baseline, and I’ve been to every overnight we have-the novelty of this wasn’t lost on me!

Plus, the last time I visited Toronto I was 13 years old with my dad as a chaperone on my 8th grade class trip. Drake was still just Aubrey acting in a wheelchair and I had no idea who the hell Justin Trudeau was. I took my ready quiver of Canadian culture and set out to see what Toronto had to offer the adult version of myself!

The train from the airport took about 30 minutes, was insanely clean and the ticket takers exceedingly courteous. Everything as expected so far...

Union Station drops off right next to Rogers Centre (notice the re vs. er, very exotic), the home stadium of the Toronto Blue Jays. I don’t understand why every major US sports league has one token Canadian team (maybe so they don’t have to put an asterisk next to “World Series”?)

From here you can see the CN Tower, which I knew from prior pubescent experience included the standard glass floor all tall for tall’s sake structures seem to include at the top, on which one could stand and become afflicted with vertigo, nausea or a fainting spell if one felt so inclined.

You can see the tower all over the city, and it quickly become the majority of my camera roll as we trekked around downtown in search of the thrift mecca, Black Market, and post shopping asian feast.

I started sweating as soon as we got in the store, it wasn’t just because I was in a turtleneck and we’d walked 10 blocks, or that I needed to use the bathroom, it was because I realized how vastly underprepared I was to shop this store to justice. I started rapid mental calculations on how much could fit in my already packed suitcase, then said fuck it, I can just buy a supplementary tote bag.

A wall of store made graphic t’s greeted us, and with every degree I turned my head I saw more racks of righteous vintage that I could rescue and bring to my sweet lonely clothes at home so they could all play together.

The kicker? Everything in the store is $10 (except one rack of extremely dirty t-shirts that’s only $1. There’s nothing there, I promise, I scoured it).

There’s also a record store and a barber shop inside making it an all day hang if you wanna kick back and recharge your style all around.

After spending as much time as we could (with an impending departure and growing hunger), we set out to find some grub and peep a crazy building we’d seen on our walk. We were in the Grange Park neighborhood which is home to an Ontario College of Art and Design, so naturally the neighborhood has artistic tendencies like vegan restaurants, greenhoused plant stores and wafts of other greenery blowing out of second floor windows. That wasn’t surprising. But what was surprising was how immaculately clean the entire city was! My fellow flight attendant pointed it out to me, and my surprise didn’t diminish all afternoon.

Toronto is freaking clean...

This is what happens when people are incentivized to recycle, or consumerism isn’t the main thing driving the city’s economy so there isn’t copious amounts of needless waste everywhere. I don’t know at all really, maybe Canadians just know how not to litter?

I wish I could include pictures of our spontaneous trip to a Korean BBQ restaurant, but I was too hungry and we had a train to catch to get ready for our return flight. So I’ll just say that while the kimchi wasn’t as spicy as I would have liked it, The Korean Grill House was a welcome diversion from a chilly winter day. It also gave me mad nostalgia about other cold days I’ve spent perched over a tabletop grill on another continent.

Getting paid to take this little Canadian excursion made it even more enjoyable, and I’m keeping my eyes peeled for more long overnights across the border. “Au revoir”, Ontario!

#toronto #ontario #canada #travel #flight attendant life #always in airplane mode #where in the world is emilie #international #drake #justin trudeau #black market #black market clothing

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watchrenmoviereviews · 4 years

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Spirited away

“Spirited away” is a 2001 Japanese animated coming-of-age fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki the co-founder of Studio Ghibli the company who animated the film. This animated master piece was said to be the most successful film in the Japanese history. Ranked among the greatest animated film ever made, this film set a high standard which can never be achieved. Bringing you nostalgic memories of the past let’s find out more about this film.

“The young ten-year-old female Chihiro Ogino and her parents are traveling to their new home when her father decides to take a shortcut after running late with their house movers, leading them to what appears to be an abandoned amusement park that Chihiro's father insists on exploring, despite his daughter's consistent wailing. They find a seemingly empty restaurant still stocked with food, which Chihiro's parents immediately begin to eat. While exploring further, Chihiro finds an exquisite bathhouse and meets a boy named Haku, who warns her to return across the riverbed before sunset. However, Chihiro discovers too late that her parents have metamorphosed into pigs, and she is unable to cross the now-flooded river.”

During the first scene, I myself got mesmerized by how fantastical the animation right away. I never watched this film because I never knew about it until this year because this film was published on the same year I was born. The sunset scene where Sen or Chihiro (in the real world) was standing on the bridge leading to the magical bathhouse where she first met Haku the dragon spirit gave me chills and made me more engaged while watching. Digging in more while the story progressed I got amazed on how the spirit world changed into much more fantastical place than what I saw earlier. In that moment I said it to myself that I’m already in love with the film. It made me interested and excited every time an event is being added to the story.

“Haku finds Chihiro and has her ask for a job from the bathhouse's boiler-man, Kamaji, a yōkai commanding the susuwatari. Kamaji refuses to hire her and asks worker Lin to send Chihiro to Yubaba, the witch who runs the bathhouse. Yubaba tries to frighten Chihiro away, but she persists, so Yubaba gives Chihiro a contract to work for her. Yubaba takes away her name and renames her Sen (千). While visiting her parents' pigpen, Haku gives Sen a goodbye card she had with her, and Sen realizes that she had already forgotten her real name. Haku warns her that Yubaba controls people by taking their names, and that if she forgets hers like he has forgotten his, she will not be able to leave the spirit world.”

Few moments after the intense scene at the bridge, Chihiro finds herself in a “no choice” situation. Her parents were turned into pigs and she had to stay in that world. In order to survive, Haku helped her to find a job so that no one will harm her. Two new characters was introduce in the story, one being Kamaji the one who’s responsible for the irrigation of water and medicine around the whole bathhouse and Lin the latter character who will help Chihiro along with Haku all throughout her stay in Yubaba’s bathhouse. Chihiro who is now Sen had a contract with Yubaba the witch who runs the bathhouse. Her name taken away from her, Sen bravely stayed and did her job while finding out a way to free her parents and turn them back into their human form.

“Sen faces discrimination from the other workers because she is still a human and not a spirit; only Haku and Lin show sympathy for her. While working, she invites a silent creature named No-Face inside, believing him to be a customer. A "stink spirit" arrives as Sen's first customer, and she discovers he is the spirit of a polluted river. In gratitude for cleaning him, he gives Sen a magic emetic dumpling. Meanwhile, No-Face imitates the gold left behind by the stink spirit and tempts a worker with gold, then swallows him. He demands food and begins tipping extensively. He swallows two more workers when they interfere with his conversation with Sen.”

During her first few days, Sen’s co workers discriminated her and treated her as if she’s not welcome to the place. She experienced a lot including serving the dirt monster who turns out to be a high spirited who granted her a token. Another problem she faced is when she entertained a spirit called “no face” who will cause the whole bathhouse a riot while Yubaba is not around. “No face” will demand a lot including foods and the workers will grant his wishes in change for golds. It was all good until the spirit started swallowing the other spirits as well. Everything was a mess until Yubaba and Chihiro came.

“Sen sees paper Shikigami attacking a Japanese dragon and recognizes the dragon as Haku metamorphosed. When a grievously injured Haku crashes into Yubaba's penthouse, Sen follows him upstairs. A shikigami that stowed away on her back shapeshifts into Zeniba, Yubaba's twin sister. She mutates Yubaba's son, Boh, into a mouse, creates a decoy Boh, and mutates Yubaba's harpy into a tiny, flylike bird. Zeniba tells Sen that Haku has stolen a magic golden seal from her, and warns Sen that it carries a deadly curse. Haku attacks the shikigami, which eliminates Zeniba's hologram. He falls into the boiler room with Sen, Boh, and the harpy on his back, where Sen feeds him part of the dumpling she had intended to give her parents, causing him to vomit both the seal and a black slug, which Sen crushes with her foot.”

While there’s a lot going on inside the Bathhouse, Haku, Yubaba’s apprentice was on a verge of fighting flying papers. Wounded while on his Dragon form, Sen still managed to recognize the boy. Yubaba controlled Haku to steal a golden seal from her twin sister Zeniba which carrie a deadly curse. Knowing that this will cause him harm, Haku got no chouce but to do so because his original name was taken away from him by the evil witch who runs the Bathhouse, Yubaba. Yubaba discovered about what happened to Haku and decided to just let him die. Sen, afraid that she will lose Haku, she used the medicine that the high deity gave her. In this scene everything was highly emotional. I got a little bit teary eyed afraid that Haku might die and Sen will end up being trapped inside that world her entire life.

“With Haku unconscious, Sen resolves to return the seal and apologize to Zeniba. Sen confronts No-Face, who is now massive, and feeds him the rest of the dumpling. No-Face follows Sen out of the bathhouse, steadily regurgitating everything he has eaten. Sen, No-Face, Boh, and the harpy travel to see Zeniba with train tickets given to her by Kamaji. Yubaba orders that Sen's parents be slaughtered, but Haku reveals that Boh is missing and offers to retrieve him if Yubaba releases Sen and her parents. Yubaba agrees, but only if Sen can pass a final test.”

Sen having a nice heart, decided to go to Zeniba’s place and personally apologize to her so that she can help her heal Haku. She traveled long using a one way train just to meet her. I was again mesmerized by the next scene because they showed more about the world. All throughout the film the story set on the bathhouse and everything revolved around there. Me seeing new into the story got interested and i got excited again after seeing an emotional scene.

“Sen, No-Face, Boh, and the harpy meet with Zeniba, who reveals that Sen's love for Haku broke her curse and that Yubaba used the black slug to take control over Haku. Haku appears at Zeniba's home in his dragon form and flies Sen, Boh, and the harpy to the bathhouse. No-Face decides to stay behind and become Zeniba's spinner. In mid-flight, Sen recalls falling years ago into the Kohaku River and being washed safely ashore, correctly guessing Haku's real identity as the spirit of the Kohaku River. When they arrive at the bathhouse, Yubaba forces Sen to identify her parents from among a group of pigs in order to break their curse. After Sen answers correctly that none of the pigs are her parents, her contract combusts and she is given back her real name. Haku takes her to the now-dry riverbed and vows to meet her again. Chihiro crosses the riverbed to her restored parents, who do not remember anything after eating at the restaurant stall. They walk back to their car, which is now covered in dust and leaves. Before getting in, Chihiro is shown to still be wearing the hairband No-Face spun for her at Zeniba's home.”

And that’s how the story ended. I watch this for around five times and story never gets boring. I never got tired watching it many times because everything in the story harmonized well. The animation was really pleasing and the colors are completely and amazingly matching. I wound strongly recommend this animation film to everyone. Of all old animation films i watched this is really my favorite and will always be my favorite. I want to see more on what happened to the characters so I am still hoping that there will a part two that will show more about the magical world of the spirits. Now if you’re going to ask me on what score i will give this film, well, there is no exact number could rate it. No film could ever top this film. Hope you enjoyed!!

#Spiritedaway #watchrenfilmreviews #watchrenmoviereviews

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ohwellhelloblog · 4 years

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Noob’s Guide to Traveling

About 3 years ago, my grandmother died. The last time I spoke to her, a few days before she passed, she made me promise to take trips outside of the country. So when an out-of-the-country trip opportunity came knocking on my door I snagged it in a heart beat. I told my self it was a way to remember my beloved grandmother.

Preparing for this trip was not a walk in the park. I had no clue how physically and financially draining it was for an entry job level working girl, but I was determined to do this trip WITHOUT TAKING OUT A LOAN. After months of planning and saving, my co-workers and I got into a plane to Taiwan. So from one noob traveler to another, here are a few tips and tricks that I picked up from this adventure

Do your research

You have got to ask yourself the tough questions.What places do you want to visit? How will you get there? How long will you be staying? Where’s the nearest convenience store and is your hotel near it?

Binge watching Youtube videos from people who either visited or lived in the country you wish to visit is the best way to learn how to get to places and the culture the place has (Shout out to John Saboe and his very helpful videos).

Allocate you funds

I didn’t take up any loans from banks when I went to Taiwan. I only collected money enough to make the trip but - I’m not gonna lie, I was almost penniless when I got back home. I didn’t foresee that I needed to have reserves so when I got back home I still had money to spend on my basic needs.

How did that happen? Well, it was due to the lack of financial planning.

I didn’t foresee a natural calamity hitting when my co-workers and I planned our trip.

Which is why when planning a trip, you should bring twice the amount of pocket money you initially intended to bring. Another is collecting money for a longer period of time. For instance, if you plan to take a trip to Singapore summer next year start allocating funds from your paychecks this month. Look for an amount that won’t leave you begging for scraps.

Apps will help you

Among the many things I installed in my phone where the Klook app and the Google Translator. They helped me talk with the locals and plan for trips that my co-workers and I would not have been able to go through by ourselves.

Old-fashion asking also helped. It’s best to ask in establishments where you know the workers are knowledgeable with the English language, like Starbucks. We were fortunate that Taiwan’s younger people spoke English and asking conversation wasn’t so hard. Plus, Taiwanese are ready to help tourists out however they can.

Book ahead

Booking your flight early would help you save a lot of money. You get the chance to pick the early bird tickets and the prices for hotel rooms aren’t surging up yet. You get to stay on your choice hotel!

Pack less clothes, more money

Packing light helped me save on space luggage and helped me carry things with ease, especially since we needed to move as quick as the locals. Rolling up clothes Marie Kondo style then putting them in small pouch bags gave me enough space to even put another pair of shoes in my luggage.

For women, you can never go wrong with dresses and a coat or two. Just make sure they are light weight. I bought a heavy coat thinking that the weather in Taiwan would be cold on April. I was so wrong. Good thing I packed a light jacket.

Mind the exchange rate

I learned a trick that some currency are actually hire than others when you exchange on the country you’re visiting. For instance, (and this is a hypothetical scenario) if I brought my PHP pesos and exchanged it on USA for USD I would have less pocket money because of the exchange rate than if I, let’s say, exchange Euro for USD on USA.

Train Cards are a MUST

Taiwan is known for its fast and efficient train system that gets you go to places with ease. One can purchase train tokens by waiting inline in the ticket booth, or they can get a card. Just load it up and swipe it whenever you with to take the train. It also works on buses.

I’d like to point out that the Taiwanese call there money dollars, more specifically Taiwanese Dollars. Much like my co-worker, you might confuse it with USD since machines in convenient stores like 7 eleven uses the USD sign ($) to indicate Taiwanese Dollars.

AND Most Importantly

It’s not where you go, how many tourist spots you get to visit or how many pictures you take, it’s who you’re with that makes the trip memorable. The company you’re with make the trip worth while - even if it’s just your company you’re with.

I’m posting a breakdown of where I went and how much it costs (here) soon - so stay tuned.

#jetset #taiwan #firsttravel #firsttrip #JohnSaboe #begginer #guide

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aqais81 · 5 years

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The hottest new board games from Gen Con 2019

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A sea of gamers prepares to storm the hall to snatch up the most coveted games before they sell out at Gen Con 2019.

Aaron Zimmerman

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INDIANAPOLIS—If it's early August, you can count on one thing: we're gonna be in downtown Indianapolis with 70,000 other board gamers, forgoing sleep, food, and general wellbeing to play a truly ridiculous amount of new tabletop games at Gen Con, the self-described "Best Four Days in Gaming." Gen Con is America's largest and longest-running tabletop games convention. 2019 was the con's 52nd year, bringing with it a record-breaking 538 exhibiting companies and a truly impressive 19,600 ticketed events. (If you want some sense of what that cardboard chaos looks like, our Gen Con 2019 image gallery is a good place to start.)

And then there are the games—more games than you could play in a lifetime, all being released at once. We sifted through the chaos to bring you a big list of games we think you should be paying attention to going into the last few months of the year. With such a massive amount of games on offer, we couldn't get to everything we wanted to—your correspondent is just one man!—but we think our list has something for everyone on it. Roleplaying games were sadly outside the scope of this article, so be sure to check out our coverage of perhaps the most anticipated roleplaying title at this year's Gen Con: Pathfinder. Developer Paizo debuted the game's second edition at this year's conference more than a decade after the beloved RPG debuted.

But back to our list—these games should largely be available soon. If a specific title catches your eye, make sure to check in with your favorite local or online game store in the near future for info on when they'll be getting it in. And if you're really one to plan out your play in advance, it's never too early to consider it: next year's Gen Con returns to Indy and runs July 30 through August 2, 2020.

Parks

Henry Audubon, Keymaster Games, 1-5 players, 40-60 min, age 9+

Parks: for my money, the best-looking game at Gen Con 2019.

Players travel along the bottom path to collect resources and special abilities.

Cute little hikers.

Gorgeous artwork from the 59 Parks Print Series.

More!

If Parks were a bad game, I’d still be tempted to recommend it based solely on the strength of its stunning presentation. Thankfully there's no need for such silliness; the underlying game is also great.

Parks is a game about US national parks that's a little like Tokaido, in that players all move along a path to pick up various rewards from each spot. But whereas Tokaido is a set-collection game, Parks focuses on resource management. The resources here are sunlight, water, trees, mountains, and wildlife—or, I guess, the memories of those things that you collect as you go along your travels. When you reach the end of the trail, you can “visit” a national park by trading in the correct resources and securing a beautifully illustrated card of the park (the thematic underpinnings get a little shaky here, but just go with it). You can also take pictures, fill your canteen up with water to get special actions, and pick up gear cards that give you ongoing bonuses.

The game features gorgeous art from the Fifty-Nine Park Print Series, and the rest of the components are equally handsome. An all-around lovely little game that could easily serve as a gateway game for newbies or a chill night-ender for seasoned gamers.

Pandemic: Rapid Response

Kane Klenko, Z-Man Games, 2-4 players, 20 minutes, age 8+

Pandemic: Rapid Response is a frantic, real-time dice-game version of the co-op classic.

Each character has a special ability, just like in Panemic.

The box.

Do you love the panicked feeling you get trying to save humanity from a world-ending epidemic in Pandemic but wish the game was more hectic? Friend, have I got a game for you.

Pandemic: Rapid Response, a new Target-exclusive game, puts a “real-time” spin on the co-op classic, trading Pandemic’s globetrotting card collecting for frantic, desperate dice rolling. Players in Rapid Response are an elite team of scientists, doctors, and specialists traveling around the world in a specialized plane while cooking up cures to the diseases popping up in the world's major cities. Each turn, players roll six dice—and can then reroll them Yahtzee-style—in order to generate resources that are used in the cures. Resources are then moved to the plane's cargo hold and are ready to be dropped off in the cities around the board containing outbreak cards (assuming you can roll enough plane icons to get you to the desired location). Watch out, though, as generating resources also causes waste—create too much waste and you lose.

Of course, you're doing all of this under the watchful eye of an always-depleting two-minute sand timer. Every time it runs out, you add an outbreak card and lose a time token. Lose all your time tokens, lose the game. Cure a city to get back a time token; cure all the affected cities to win. Pandemic is a cooperative game that's notorious for its potential for "quarterbacking"—an alpha gamer telling everyone else what to do on their turns—and while that element could still be present here, the game's fast pace makes it less of an issue. If you're ready for a 20-minute panic attack, this is your game.

Black Angel

Sébastien Dujardin, Xavier Georges, & Alain Orban, Pearl Games, 60-120 minutes, age 12+

There's a lot going on in Black Angel a new Eurogame in the vein of the designers' previous game Troyes.

Aaron Zimmerman

You also get your own player board.

The Black Angel: savior of humanity?

Adorable little robots in adorable little spaceships.

Well, we’ve gone and done it. Humanity’s reckless ravaging of Earth has reached its inevitable conclusion: a spent planet and the end of human habitability. But before we go, the nations of the world have gotten together one last time to load our genetic heritage on an intergalactic frigate and send it on its way to Spes, the planet most likely to sustain life for a new human civilization. Who’s crewing the ship on this long journey? You are, of course, and you’re an AI.

Black Angel is semi-cooperative in the sense that if you and your opponents succumb to the aliens attacking your ship and never make it to new-Earth, things will go badly for you. But every player is competing to prove that he or she is the most worthy AI to head up operations on the new planet (the other AIs will be summarily shut down). There are a ton of interlocking mechanics here; you'll be going on missions, fending off attacking aliens, upgrading your technology, and grabbing end-game scoring opportunities.

The game bears some similarity to a game that two of the designers previously worked on, the well-loved medieval France sim Troyes. But man is Black Angel's theme cooler. The game was one of the most hyped-up of the con, and it's the one I'm most looking forward to exploring in the coming months.

Marvel Champions: The Card Game

Michael Boggs, Nate French, & Caleb Grace, Fantasy Flight Games, 1-4 players

Marvel Champions: The Card Game is a new co-op living card game from Fantasy Flight.

You have to defeat the big bad—but also keep an eye on thwarting his or her schemes.

Your character card can be flipped between hero and alter-ego sides.

When I first heard that Fantasy Flight Games was releasing a new Marvel living card game (a somewhat wallet-friendlier collectible card game), I was instantly bored. But when I heard it was going to be a cooperative game, I knew I had to get a demo in. Co-op CCG-type games are few and far between, and the ones that FFG has released in the past (

Lord of the Rings: The Card Game

and

Arkham Horror: The Card Game

) have been generally excellent and a nice change of pace from the countless two-player card battlers choking the market.

Marvel Champions seems to take inspiration from both of those earlier FFG games while injecting some Marvel thematic flair into the mix. The base game—which for the first time in an FFG LCG includes a complete set of cards—comes with five heroes (Spider-Man, Iron Man, She-Hulk, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel) and three villains (Rhino, Klaw, and Ultron). Scenarios pair a villain with a deck of scheme cards, and you and your friends can pick from among the heroes to try to save the world yet again. The villains use their turns to advance their evil schemes and attack the players; the players, of course, use their turns to thwart the schemes and fight back through the usual card-game combo-rific antics. Once per turn, players can flip their character card between hero and alter-ego sides to gain access to different abilities, a cool little thematic and mechanical flourish.

The game looks like it might be a bit lighter than some of the other FFG card games we're used to (understandable, given the broad appeal of the subject matter) but we're hoping it will still be a fun, continuously updated co-op (or solo) romp.

Listing image by Aaron Zimmerman

https://arstechnica.com

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karlosharrison-blog · 5 years

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As far as trips of a lifetime are concerned, well, I think it’s possible to have many of them to be honest! But certainly one of my most memorable trips was taking the Trans-Mongolian train from Beijing to Moscow. To go through three countries, through different climates, surrounds, encounter different cuisine, meet different folk, see Asia turn into Europe bit by bit, is a special experience, and to do it by train is extra special.

Beijing Train Station Interior

The train invokes a sense of community with your cabin mates, and those you meet. It’s like a small, long, thin town shifting its way across the planet. You can marvel at the way it’s run, the way they change the gauge at the Mongolian/Chinese border, be impressed by the fact that people managed to lay track along such a long path (and maintain it!) and all while you sit back, relax and take in the scenery, a book, or indeed a new TV series on your iPad if it so takes your fancy. Yes, it IS 2019!

You’ll meet plenty of people – some, like these cabin mates on my last leg to Moscow, shared their vodka!

Choosing Your Trans-Mongolian Route and Direction

From Beijing to Moscow, or Moscow to Beijing there are two main routes. Then there are options that only stay within Russia, taking you all the way east to Vladivostok, as well as another option now possible that takes you further north in East Siberia. The Trans-Mongolian is the only one to take you through three countries. And that’s great, but also presents challenges because you’ll need three visas.

So you’ve chosen to go through Mongolia. The direction is the next question. I’m Australian, and it seemed to make most sense as I was heading to Europe to travel Beijing to Moscow, that is east to west. However, either way requires a flight back home, and also will if you’re departing Europe or the Americas.

Unless of course you are travelling around the world and keep going in one direction, or plan the unlikely return trip by train as well. From Europe you may want to train it all the way to Beijing and then fly back. This has the advantage of starting the journey in Russia, which may make visa formalities a touch easier. I think every tourist on the train was worried crossing into Russia that there might be a visa issue, and you’d then be stuck at the border for… the rest of your life! Having said that, I doubt many do have visa issues.

All aboard! – Beijing

A Trans-Mongolian Tour or Not a Tour, that is the Question

Some companies will book you in as a tour. This has a big advantage because everything will be – or should be – looked after for you and a lot of the planning will be eased from your mind. However, travel independently and who knows what you might discover, and you will certainly be able to afford yourself more flexibility. Which brings me to the next topic –

To Stop or Not to Stop?

And this will greatly depend on the time you have to take this amazing journey. And what you want out of it! Some people actually choose to take the entire journey – Beijing to Moscow or Moscow to Beijing, in one hit. This takes around six days in total. As a sense of achievement and survival, well you’ve certainly put yourself through a challenge. And you will have probably met others doing the same thing and had a real sense of comradery at the end of it all.

On the official ‘Trans-Mongolian’ train.

However, you have missed the chance to discover some of the world’s more remote and potentially interesting places along the way. When I was planning there was no way I was going to miss out on the chance to stop in Mongolia or make at least one or two stops in Russia east of the Ural Mountains.

Now what this means, if like me you wish to cut the trip up into legs, is that you’re not going to be on the same train the whole way through. There is a weekly train that is the official ‘Trans-Mongolian’. But there are other trains that connect you through as well if you get off And you won’t be on the official ‘Trans-Mongolian’ train if you spend a few days in Ulaan Baatar and then move on because the next Trans-Mongolian is a few days away yet. I broke my trip into four sections – Beijing to Ulaan Baatar, Ulaan Baatar to Irkutsk, Irkutsk to Ekaterinburg and Ekaterinburg to Moscow. Two of the legs were on the ‘Trans-Mongolian’, the other two on Russian trains.

How to Book Individual Trans-Mongolian Legs Independently

Then you have to book the individual trains. If you are coming FROM Moscow to Beijing with stops along the way, you can probably do it all with one online Russian company. I booked with a company called Real Russia who were great, but there are others out there. In Russia you take a printed voucher/receipt you have emailed to you and exchange it at the railway station for a ticket. You should be able to do all your tickets inside Russia at once.

They also provided my ticket from Ulaan Baatar in Mongolia. In this case, I had to pick the ticket up from a travel agency in the Mongolian capital.

As I was starting in Beijing though, I had to buy the first leg through a Chinese company, of which there are fewer. But it was relatively simple and they sent it to my hotel in Beijing three days before the train was due. But if you have no trains starting in China, you won’t need to book through the Chinese system.

I like a challenge and so I booked it all myself. With the bookings I had made, Real Russia could organise the invitation letter for the Russian visa. The other two were relatively simple to organise through consulates in Australia.

20-Day Trans-Mongolian Itinerary

So, if you’re looking at around 20 days/3 weeks Beijing to Moscow, here’s the itinerary I recommend. Of course, if you’re looking to go Moscow to Beijing, reverse it.

Days 1 & 2 – Beijing

Beijing is a huge city, needless to say. If you want to really explore Beijing, give yourself a week. For the purpose of a two-week itinerary, lingering and exploring anywhere is going to be difficult. The best part of half of the fortnight is going to be spent on the rails.

Beijing has a couple of absolute must sees though, and if you haven’t been there before it would be a pity to go to the Chinese capital without taking in the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China.

Days 3 & 4 – Beijing to Ulaan Baatar

And so it’s time to hop on board the Trans-Mongolian Express! Well, it’s not quite an express but it moves well enough. It’s the train entitled ‘K3’, and it leaves just before 1130am. You’re on a Chinese train at the moment, although some carriages make it all the way to Moscow. There are coupons or tokens for meals, lunch and dinner. There’s only one dining car, and so you may need to wait. It’s simple fare, noodle soup, some vegetables and the like. But this is the only time the food is complimentary.

Beijing Train Station

Otherwise, little stalls on station platforms are your best bet, and that’s probably going to mean noodles anyway if you’re looking for hot food. You may find a place that serves hot food that you don’t need to cook, if you’re lucky, but all in all you’ll be heading to the samovar at the end of the carriage to fill up your noodles cup plenty of times.

The Chinese countryside whizzes past you. It’s pretty impressive. It gets sparser and sparser as you get closer to the border with Mongolia at Erlian. You hit there in the middle of the night. There are border formalities to go through, and the changing of the gauge. The Chinese gauge is slightly thinner than the Mongolian gauge (the Russian gauge is the same as the Mongolian). Gauge being the width of the tracks.

The incredible bogey change at Erlian.

So the carriages are raised in a big shed and one set of wheels is replaced by another. It takes a bit of time, and it’s not until after 2am or even later that the train finally rolls on into Mongolia. You wake perhaps a few hours later and it’s all desert either side of the desert. It’s just incredible – you are in Mongolia!

Alighting at Erlian.

Beijing from train

You don’t see cities, the towns are quite small. The dining car has been replaced with a Mongolian one. No more free meals, and the décor is quite different. More decorative, more colourful. Somewhere around lunch time or just after you arrive in Ulaan Baatar, the Mongolian capital, and the first stop on this Trans-Mongolian itinerary.

Here is a short video I compiled of the journey from Beijing to Ulaan Baatar.

youtube

Days 5 to 7 – Ulaan Baatar and Mongolia

Taking a few days to get a little taste of Mongolia was for me the biggest of many highlights on this incredible journey. If you are afforded more time, take it because I can only imagine the more you discover, the more fascinating Mongolia is.

The capital Ulaan Baatar is a strange place. Mongolia has experienced the rural abandonment more than most countries in the world, and Ulaan Baatar is taking in thousands and thousands and thousands, and it is struggling to keep up with apartment blocks going up everywhere these days. Its certainly an interesting place, with a few worthwhile things to see. The Palace of Bogd Khan for example, Ghandan Khiid Monastery is also worthwhile, and the main square is grand too.

Ulaan Baatar – Parliament House

You are in the land of Ghengis Khan and so you will find statues aplenty. City tours usually include a drive out of the city to this giant statue of him, which you can climb the inside of and walk out for a view of the steppe.

View of Ulaan Baatar

Then there is Terelj, a place where you can stay in a ger, also known as a yurt, and experience a somewhat traditional life on the steppe. You get fed by a local family, and there’s an interesting temple to visit too. Yes, they have been taking in tourists for quite a while now, but for an overnight getaway from Ulaan Baatar it’s a good deal.

Terelj Valley

Days 8 to 10 – Train Ulaan Baatar to Irkutsk and Irkutsk

It’s onto the train, and one of the most interesting journeys of the lot from Ulaan Baatar, Mongolian capital, to Irkutsk, Siberia (Russia). Once you’re in Russia you’re done with the borders, the passport checks and the formalities. Yes, in many ways they are a hassle and an annoyance, but they are also an interesting experience.

Following the route I took [Train 263 И], you leave Ulaan Baatar at 2030 for the second longest journey of the adventure – taking two nights and arriving early in the morning on the third day. After speeding off across Mongolia in the evening, a night of hopeful sleep awaits. Until you hit the border that is in the early morning. It’s a Russian train, and the compartments are much more comfortable on this train.

Our carriage at Naushki

My experience was a series of people getting on and off the train, checking passports and visas. I think some bags here and there were searched. Naushki is the town on the Russian side of the border where we all got off the train, after the passport control etc was finished. You alight to the surprise to find you are just a train of one carriage.

Then you have a few hours to kill in this little border town. And there’s not much to do to keep you entertained. The roads are all dirt bar one, and there might be one restaurant in town, which is more of a café. The carriage is joined to a new train (I believe the journey is still known as 263 И) and it speeds off mid to later afternoon. The sun goes down. Night has fallen when you pull into Ulan-Ude for a stop. And then the next morning, quite early – around 7am.

Naushki Station

Irkutsk is actually pretty nice. From here take a day trip to Lake Baikal, Russia’s biggest lake. Plenty of interesting cathedrals in town, historic houses, an interesting ship-cum-museum as well, it was darned cold but you could fill a couple of days.

Angara Ice Breaker, Irkutsk

Karl Marx Ave, Irkutsk

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Days 11 to 14 – Irkutsk to Ekaterinburg and Ekaterinburg

A little over two days on the train makes this the longest journey of them all, all across Russia. From Siberia we head eastwards to this interesting city on train 33. Ekaterinburg also has a number of churches worth seeing, an Icon Museum (which again is quite church related), and also has a high view on top of a tall building of the city. But it is most known for the location of where the Romanovs – the last Tsarist family of Russia, were taken an executed in 1917. There is a museum to them here. If you’re on the ball and prepared one day may be enough to take in all that’s worthwhile here.

High view of Ekaterinburg

Church in Ekaterinburg

Russian train cabin

Days 15 to 20 – Ekaterinburg to Moscow

The final journey on Train 109MA is to the final stop, the finish of the journey, and the incredible Russian capital. You cross through the Ural Mountains on this final leg which has you leaving in the early hours of the morning and arriving the next day at 1030am. It’s a picturesque leg, although I think the best views are probably passed at night.

The final video of the journey:

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The Russian Capital is deserving of as long as you can give it. Really, it’s a brilliant city, with great shopping, sights and entertainment. You have the Kremlin, Red Square with St Basil’s Cathedral (you have probably seen its image before and might have wondered what it was), you can catch a glimpse of a waxy Lenin too as his mausoleum is there at Red Square too. There are a host of museums in Moscow too worth checking out – the Gulag Museum is one I highly recommend. Then you have famous Gorky Park, the impressive Moskva River, the somewhat ghoulish statue of Peter the Great, and so much more. It’s one of the world’s great cities, and it doesn’t disappoint.

Arrival in Moscow

And now your journey is done. You have covered some 7,621 kilometres through three countries since departing Beijing, and no doubt had on heck of an adventure. And if you’re like me, you’ll look back and it will feel like it all happened so quickly. No train ride feels like it’s as long as the time you actually spent on the train.

And you’ve gone from the ‘Far East’ to Europe! It’s a journey that is rewarding, exciting, inspiring and everything that goes along with those words, and personally one of the most satisfying travel experienced I’ve ever had.

Resources for Planning Trans-Siberian Itinerary

Some websites I found to be invaluable –

Seat 61 Trans-Siberian Page.

This website is incredibly detailed and has so much information on trains around the world, it is usually my first stop for any information when planning a rail journey in another land!

Real Russia

So this is a travel agency, and I’m not pimping for them or anything! But they were helpful and useful and seemed to have a good booking system. Will take care of tickets for journeys beginning in Russia or Mongolia.

China Highlights

One company in China recommended to me, I booked my first leg through them from Beijing to Ulaan Baatar. For booking trains beginning China.

You may also find the Lonely Planet Website and it’s Thorn Tree Forum helpful, and I travelled with the Lonely Planet guide book to the Trans-Siberian (which covers all routes) which was helpful from time to time.

So, if you love rail travel, if you have an interest in Russia, Mongolia and even China, this might just be the journey for you!

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