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The card maker has been updated, so it better integrates with the design of this site. You should still be able to access any automatically saved card you were working on, by heading over to the "old" site.

That's right, we've been an open site for a year now! Isn't that crazy? We've come so far in such a short amount of time... We have a card maker with updates coming steadily now, a site with a quiet, but pleasant, feel to it, and a lot to do in 2020! I can't speak for the rest of the team, but I would like to see a bit more branching out. With how relatively small our community is, there's no reason we can't try and mesh a bit more, right? No one's going to bite... unless they like that sorta thing. I dunno. Not my place to judge. Of course events will exist for this sort of thing, but outside of the status bar, it doesn't really happen that much otherwise. Even Misc kinda has its own subset? I dunno, I just wanna... make a warm environment for more people to come to and join in. I've met people and seen quite a few leave this year... but I want the people who do show up to feel like it's okay! That it's not some exclusive community! We're not just people fleeing another site now. This attempt worked, and it's still going strong. We did something great! We struck out on our own and made it! We are our own community, even if it required being reborn from the ashes. So, as we say goodbye to the year of the community's rebirth, let's look to the future with excitement and hope!

As soon as Melissa got home, she tried to go to sleep. Like, really really tried. It didn’t take, though; her heart was beating too fast. Between every breath, she replayed moments of the night one after the other like a highlight reel, and when she ran out of moments they just started back at the beginning of the day and played all over again. Actually getting ready for bed -- taking off the dress and the makeup and putting her corsage bracelet away and even taking a shower -- didn’t help much either. Her heart was beating too fast. One breath, she was standing before Student Council President Ashley Rendleman as she chatted away at her before casually dismissing her the moment someone more interesting came along, the next, Elizabeth was leaning on a bathroom wall telling Melissa how Ashley wouldn’t even hurt a fly. With every loop, though, Melissa found more and more comfort in reminiscing. While some of the individual events had been concerning, hadn’t she succeeded in her goal? She’d been asked out on a date, asked to handle all the specifics that she could manage -- which turned out to be quite a few! -- and to show her date as nice a time as she could. And she had! Sure, there were hiccups, but of all the plans in all the world, how many didn’t go wrong at some point? One breath, she had her hand outstretched, offering her wrist to her kickoff date in anticipation of wearing a bracelet she’d picked out herself, the next Gabby was calling her “little lamb” in a way Melissa had never heard her say it before. Gabby… The nickname pinged around in Melissa’s mind, searching for a bell to ring. Jun had said it before, but she shortened everybody’s name, right? Meanwhile, when Melissa had said it right before they’d danced in each other’s arms, well, she’d used it because it seemed like the right name to use just before something so intimate. It wasn’t like she’d been specifically asked not to- Oh. Oh no. Melissa rolled out of bed and crawled over to her phone like a girl possessed. Fumbling around for it didn’t take long at all only because of how swiftly she swept it up into her hands and started scrolling through old messages. “Please don’t please don’t please don’t,” Melissa muttered over and over. She wasn’t sure if she was going to wake anyone up or not, but at the moment, she didn’t really care. And then she found it. Because of course she did. It was only a few days old, after all, and failing that, it was right at the top of the message chain, before anything else had been said between them: Greetings! I am sending this missive as I had said I would. It would be best if you responded post-haste. The first message read like the calm before the storm. This is gabby Gabriela Not gabby Dont call me gabby A DOOM sound rolled throughout the room. Melissa was the only one there to hear it, but its vibrations could be felt in the floor just beneath her knees and while that could also have been only her imagination, it still managed to crawl its way up into her legs until they were shaking as well. Crawling back into bed was a much more difficult task once that had taken hold, not to mention that Melissa’s eyes refused to move from those four ruinous messages. No, that phrasing didn’t give her enough agency in the whole affair. “She refused to take her eyes away from her phone” was better, not to mention truer. When she pulled her covers over her head, she did so with one hand so she could keep eye-contact with her screen. And there she wallowed for quite a while. It had been such a simple request, but at the same time, it had been simple enough that it had somehow slipped through the cracks. She’d ruined the moment, probably. Actually, she hadn’t only done that, she’d probably ruined everything. Everything! It sounded so dramatic in Melissa’s head but wasn’t it the truth? One breath, and she was all the way back at Elizabeth and Hitomu’s duel. “My name’s Gabriela,” Gabby (no!) said. “Gab-ri-el-a.” The next Melissa was just outside Gabby’s (why‽) dorm room and she was leaning in to… Melissa was lifted her non-phone hand up to her cheek. The moment she touched the spot she felt a wave of relief wash over her. It meant so many things to her, some of which she hadn’t realized at that moment, but the feelings were just as strong now as they were then. And the timeline of it all, it meant that her dreadful, horrid mistake had either gone unnoticed or had been wiped clean after that single act. She turned her phone off and poked her head out from under the covers, though she didn’t take her hand from her cheek just yet. No, she liked holding onto that memory for as long as possible. And even when Melissa closed her eyes and her consciousness drifted away, she dreamed of herself and Gabby, dancing under the stars.Have mercy on me, Oh Lord, a sinner Wipe away my transgressions, and let me be reborn anew in your glory Help me turn away from sin and move towards your eternal light. Oh Lord, how loving you are! You give and you forgive in equal measure though I always feel like I am asking for too much Even now, I dare not ask for anything for myself out of fear of being too wanting when all I have is because of you Instead, I thank you, again, for all you have given me and pray that you continue to be my guide. In the name of The Father, and of The Son, and of The Holy Spirit, Amen September 25, 909 PD Feast of Saint Ceolfrid “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” -John 15:12 (NIV)Monday arrived, and with it the lack of Kickoff magic that Melissa had never thought she’d ever experience, yet somehow had. She even took a longer route to class, just to walk by her spot again. As she suspected, it was different in the morning light, and not just because, well, not just because it was morning. It was that little extra indescribable something, too, that could have only come from that night. She still could smile remembering it. But she couldn’t linger for too long. Her first class was sooner than she’d like to admit, and the alternative path she’d taken was already longer than her normal one by a not-insignificant amount. Melissa allowed herself one final look at her perfectly-normal-yet-secretly-wondrous surroundings before she adjusted her backpack on her back and hurried off down the path. She opened up her phone along the way and scrolled through the Community Service Club group chat, as was her wont. All they did really was share unfunny image macros and only the occasional meaningless club update, though. In one instance, there was a picture of someone Melissa didn’t recognize shunning the words “Community Service Club Group Chat” while in another frame they were smiling and pointing to “Community Service Power Hour”, and that was when Melissa realized someone -- probably Connor -- had changed the name of the group chat. The other group chat -- the Entertainment Duelist’s Club -- seemed to have the opposite problem. Not much had happened since before Kickoff, and some of the participants, especially Akari, didn’t seem to post much at all. Still, rereading messages that involved her directly not only felt better than whatever was going on in the other group chat but also was probably a good idea in general. Especially when it caused her to remember she hadn’t actually met up with any of them like she’d told Gabby she would. It probably wouldn’t hurt to send out a message now, would it? It took a few rewrites, but she ended up with: To: Souji, Sai, Kyouko, Hoshiko, Akari From: Melissa Sorry! I meant to look for all of you at Kickoff but it slipped my mind. Hope you all had a great time. After that, well, there wasn’t much else worth looking at on her phone, so she put it away and kept going. She had History first thing, and unless she wanted to be history, she had to get a move - Oh? Sitting on a bench just off the pathway was someone that Melissa a) had never seen before, on-campus or off, and b) was looking rather sullen, or sullen enough for her to notice while simply walking by (though that was something she liked to think she was good at). And now she was already approaching him. It was an instinct, she realized, and she was more than willing to let it take its course. The first few minutes of class were probably just going to be attendance, anyway. “Excuse me,” Melissa said once she was sure she was in earshot. “I don’t mean to presume, but, um, you look like you need someone to talk to? I’m sorry if I’m wrong, but um…” And just like that, she sat down next to him. “I’m not the best talker, but I like to think I’m a good listener, at least.”

I voted for you as I had no idea who you really were before NCM but you've come into your own and have become a big part of the community. That was my reasoning anyhow.

The results of the awards are out! Thank you to everyone who voted, and I hope this can put a smile on people's faces!

The woman assailant let out a noise, and certainly not one of aggression! Vivian turned only briefly to see what was up, to find... she was gone? Then she heard something from the man's direction. And... he was also gone? Vivian didn't let her guard down. If anything, it was more up than ever right now. And then she heard a voice. It was hard to make out, but not impossible. She looked at the source, to be met with a man she'd never seen before. "Kids should be careful. Shouldn't go run off on your own like that. Scum like that are all over. Hard to clean the streets up with them multiplying like they do. But they won't bother you. You got friends? You should find em and stick with them." "Th, That was my plan now, yes..." "Name's Stone, Glenn Stone. People call me Massasauga I'll see you around the school, kid. Stay out of trouble." Mr. Stone then. The man - who had abruptly been replaced by a trash can that started walking away - must have been a teacher! Was it just her, or was this school's staff full of weirdos and Mr. John? Oh well. Wasn't it the case that weird people were the best at what they did? In that case, this school clearly had the best teachers! And Mr. John. For now, reuniting with her friends was a good idea. But first, Vivian had to check her purse! So engrossed was she in ensuring that nothing was stolen, that she didn't even register Stella & Kellz's presence at first. "Keys, wallet, mhm, mhm, so far so good... oh man. That was my only one. Well, I can just buy a new one anyway." Well, aside from one very replacable item that didn't really have any sentimental value, it seemed everything was there and accounted for. Good thing she kept the cheap stuff on the top of the pile of items in her purse, after all. It was then she remembered, her friends were here! Zipping up her newly-recovered purse, Vivian gave the pair a warm smile and a friendly wave. What was it Stella had asked, again? Something like... "There was some commotion and well, was that you? Are you alright?" That. Yes. "Oh, I'm just fine! Had a bit of trouble with somebody trying to run off with my purse, but I got it back a-okay. With a bit of THIS!" she exclaimed, springing off one of the walls and demonstrating the kick she'd led off her fight with to the pair. "And some of THAT!" she continued, showing off the move she'd used to break the man's arm just moments ago. "And then someone showed up and made them both disappear. I could have handled it though." They weren't impressive or anything, but all the same, Vivian held out an arm to flex it, putting her other hand on her bicep. "Remember that compulsory service I told you about when we first met? I got some CQC training in before it was time to catch my flight here, and coupled with all that exploring and climbing I do, I'm pretty capable of holding my own in a scuffle. Would've had even more training if my birthday was earlier in the Colian year." The boys were laughing. Did they think she was funny or something? "Are you serious? Kaiser, where'd you get this chick? She's a RIOT." He also seemed surprised to be met with metal when he poked her shoulder. Sammi's gaze didn't falter as she continued to stare down up to the boy's face. "What does it matter if I break some rules? We're gonna be mech pilots right? The people on top of the food chain. What's some rules to us huh? So why don't you just skip on back to your flower patch girlie and let me and Kaiser have a nice little man to man talk, eh?" Still unblinking, still unflinching, Sammi replied "You don't seem like much for conversation. By 'talk,' did you perhaps mean your fists will do the talking instead of your mouth? That would be the assault I talked about just now. I really don't care what happens to Kaiser, but people who can't follow basic rules or take action themselves irritate me. And you would probably split a knuckle if you tried to 'talk' with me, right? Why not actually talk this out, perhaps over a cup of tea with some herbs from my flower patch? I've heard foxglove is really good for a daring man's tea." And an incredibly stupid man's tea.

Lana looked at the girl, still unsure if she was actually listening to most of what she said. However as Anna seemed to ramble what was amazing about adventuring, albeit to the sky, Lana did indeed think that some of those things sounded cool, but were neither what she was going for nor did she think that what they were going to accomplish. After all, she didn't really know how "evil" the monsters in the dungeon were, or the dungeon itself, and she didn't really think there were any princesses in there that needed saving. Though, if there were, that would probably help her in her financial stability, as well as the treasure that they would likely find as well. Unless they were an evil princess. Then she supposed Anna would be right on at least one account? Lana was confusing herself and thus was simply mulling in her own thoughts, which seemed to be perfectly fine as Anna seemed to constantly be in hers. As the girl looked back to Anna, to resume the conversation about adventuring, she paused as she wasn't quite sure if she would be interrupting Anna in doing whatever it was she was doing. Or thinking about. And so she awkwardly stood there, just looking at the girl. Again. She then felt some kind of breeze brush against her face, accompanied with a deeply unsettling feeling. Startled by this, the girl looked around the graveyard but saw that there was no one else around. Aside from Anna of course. But the feeling of someone else being there was still there, and she was certain there was a pair of eyes trained on her, having the creeped out feeling of being carefully watched. And she knew it couldn't be Anna because the girl was clearly not looking at her. Seeming to be clearly spooked by this feeling, Lana turned around a few more times, checking to make sure if she was just imagining things or not. Though there was no one she could see, it wasn't as if the feeling disappeared, so nervously Lana looked over to the red haired girl. "Hey uh, Anna. There wouldn't happen to uh, be anyone else here right?"

The first thing Christopher noticed when he followed Leo outside was how bright everything seemed to be, like, the contrast between the dimmer Drooling Dragon bar and the outside world was more than he expected. The second thing was how weird that was, you know, because of how that same sunlight had been what had woken him up in the first place. The third thing was Leo, who really wasn’t taking things as seriously as Chris had hoped. What was with this waving stuff? What was with not paying attention to the one person who was most likely to do him harm if he wasn’t careful? Even when he was talking to Chris, he kept doing it with that devil-may-care attitude that was one of the reasons Chris had brought them both outside in the first place. “I don’t intend to fight fair,” Leo said. Chris stared at Leo’s weapon like he didn’t understand how it functioned, which was a good look, he figured, because he really didn’t. Like, it had a hole at the end, so maybe something came out of it and that was probably bad, but the thing paled in size to a shortsword or even some daggers. And it was still at Leo’s hip. That was just bad practice for someone who said they didn’t fight clean, because neither did Christopher, and he wasn’t about to start now. Leo had shown a weapon, and even if Chris didn't understand it, it meant he had to act fast. His perception of time slowed as he started his rush forward. One second, maybe two, and he’d closed the distance between them. Three, four, and before Leo had even fully drawn his weapon, Chris had landed a punch right to his stomach. And when Leo doubled over (five, six) Chris met his chest with a knee. Leo grunted as the attacks made contact. He seemed shocked that Christopher had charged in. Despite his threat before he didn’t draw his weapon. Instead, he hooked an arm under Chris’s knee and pulled back, attempting to throw the younger man off balance. “Scrappy one aren’t you?” Leo muttered with a small grin. “Yeah,” Chris grunted. His first impulse was to resist Leo’s tug, and he tried to pull the other way, but if Leo wanted to go on the ground, who was Chris going to disagree? He hopped on his one leg, shifted his weight, and down he went. All he had to do now was make sure Leo came with him. It was easier said than done, of course. He’d accepted the fall, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t off-balance because of it. Leo -- who’d been more prepared, of course -- seized the opportunity and twisted around, throwing Chris onto his back. The move very nearly knocked the wind out of him, but he wasn’t out of it just yet. Leo still had a hold of one of his legs, but with his other one he sent a kick aimed straight at Leo’s groin.