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Quinn flinched the moment when Route One Oh Two became the smallest bit wet. It was not enough to keep from carrying on, but she kept thinking about it as it took further and further steps. Quinn was intimately familiar with mud, for reasons they rather kept to hirself. As Route One Oh Two became a full-on bog, Quinn spent more time looking for the safest places to step than zir stated goal of hunting for Pokémon. Cassiopeia had to help with a few of those jumps, putting all her effort into pulling upwards, giving Quinn just a few extra moments of airtime to navigate safely. It did not always work, and every piece of clothing below Quinn’s knee suffered the consequences, but there was still entertainment in the process, so Quinn did not mind. There were wild Pokémon to encounter, of course, and for those, Quinn did faer best to stay in place. Normandie did not seem to mind the environment fighting with her trademark ferocity, and Cassiopeia was unaffected by most terrain in general. The Pokémon that truly caught Quinn’s eye, however, was a Bearble standing stock still and facing away from her as it approached. Quinn recognized it immediately. “Peat? Where is your friend Nathaniel?” Quinn asked. But the Bearble did not respond, still looking ahead and growling under his breath. “Ahead, then? What is he doing without you?” Quinn made a move to continue, but Cassiopeia suddenly jerked its hand back, pulling the rest of the young ghost back with her. “Oh!” Quinn said, in more of shock than actual pain. “What is with you, you silly balloon?” That was when xe heard the whispers. In all likelihood, they had always been there since first stepping into the marsh, but it had taken breaking focus to notice them, and now they were impossible to ignore. The whispers in the back of Quinn’s mind were incomprehensible, but in the sort of way that promised comprehension if one only listened harder. Quinn tried again to approach the statue -- the whispers had to be coming from there, right? -- but Cassiopeia once again refused. “Do you want to go back into your Pokéball?” Quinn asked. That seemed to be an acceptable compromise for Cassiopeia, who practically opened her ball for Quinn as ze took it out. Approaching the statue alone made staying clean a practically impossible task, but Quinn no longer cared. The statue’s aura was awesome in the literal sense, with all the terrifying implications that that implied. It was no wonder that both Cassiopeia and Peat were not interested in such a place. Nathaniel was also there, hesitating just before placing his hand on the edifice. Quinn did likewise but overcame that final mental barrier to find out what the statue felt like. The statue was warm, but not in a way where the rock had absorbed sunlight all morning and was now radiating excess heat, nor was it warm because Quinn’s skin, as a ghost, was naturally cooler. No, it felt warm because it felt like it was alive, an impossibility in itself, but that was what it felt like. Even more, it felt like it was breathing, too. There was a pulse of energy in the statue. Its rhythm was slow, but it was there and it was consistent. Quinn could tap along with it if they didn’t feel compelled to keep his hand on the rock. “Material or Astral, I have never encountered anything like this,” Quinn said, Quinn’s voice soft. The voices in her head got louder, and faster too. And yet, Quinn still could not understand it. “What secrets do you hold?” Quinn mused. Still keeping faer hand touching the rock, Quinn began walking clockwise around the base, searching for more phenomena to experience -- an irregularity in the rock, perhaps, or a change in the statue’s beat.

“Does being an aspiring professor mean you know a lot about caring for Pokemon? Is there any advice you could give me with Peat? I make sure to brush and oil his fur every night, and I help him pick his teeth and claws clean too." "Weeeell..." Not really... Now that he'd mentioned it, it was probably best to double-check Arthur. He'd just been recovered from a kidnapping, after all, and Bridget wouldn't forgive herself if she was so caught up in having him back that she overlooked some sort of injury on the Trapinch's part. Thus, as the team continued along Route 102, did Bridget pop open Arthur's poke ball and give the creature a good, thorough inspection. And, like the impudent toddler it could very well pass for when not playing, Arthur resisted her every step of the way. "What kinda stuff do you have to do for Artur?” "'E's real fussy about 'is care, actually," Bridet answered, as she tried to part-coax Arthur into opening his mouth, part-pry it open herself. "Won't let me do anyfin' for 'im, 'side from feedin' and playin' wiv 'im. C'mon Arfur, open up, I'm makin' sure you're not hurt!" After several defiant chirps and chitters, and no small amount of trying to wriggle out of Bridget's grip, the Trapinch finally relented, and opened his maw of a mouth for Bridget to investigate. As she confirmed there was nothing of concern inside his mouth, and continued checking the rest of his body for anything that could be a possible concern, she remarked "See what I mean? Best I can do is force 'im to take a bath when he's dirty, and that should be its own category of battle." As if to prove her point, the mere mention of the word "bath" elicited a growl of obvious protest from Arthur, and further attempts to escape Bridget's grasp. The Trapinch only settled down once it seemed to process Bridget was just talking about baths, and not saying it was time to take one. "Pokemon care isn't really somefin' I know much about though. And I 'aven't seen that species until gettin' to Korova, either. Sorry. Peat looks healfy 'n' happy though. I'm sure anyone who knows more about care stuff would say you're doin' a good job." The bog up ahead was, as bogs went, certainly a bog. Nate and Quinn went on ahead into the marshy wetness with varying degrees of effectiveness. Bridget followed suit, taking to the marsh with a sense of familiarity gained from some field research back in certain parts of Galar. Which isn't to say she was just at home in a marsh as on dry land, but between having put up with this sort of terrain before, and having the appropriate footwear for the job, it was safe to say Bridget was faring better than her peers right now. Of bigger concern to her was the statue in the middle of it all. People could be fickle creatures sometimes, but Bridget was always willing to trust a pokemon. And as she eyed the statue's surroundings, she couldn't help but notice almost all of them were avoiding the statue. Peat even refused to follow Nate right up to it, which was an immediate red flag to her. She wasn't an art history major, or a geologist, or anything else that could potentially pertain to identifying a statue, but if all the local wildlife was avoiding that thing, it couldn't be anything but bad news, as far as Bridget was concerned. As much as she wanted to get up close and inspect the statue for herself - really wanted to, more than usual - Bridget made a point to keep her distance, and to keep an eye on the other two in case some sort of timely intervention was needed. Plus, somebody had to make sure Arthur wouldn't get into trouble. Bridget looked down to Arthur... only to find that while she was keeping a watchful eye on Quinn & Nate, her pokemon had slipped away, and was now proudly trotting about in the bog. Gonna have to give him a bath later. Might as well make something of this! Not keeping her attention away from her teammates for too long at any point, Bridget followed her Trapinch companion through the water and mud, then pointed at the first pokemon to cross Arthur's path. A Solosis that was otherwise minding its own business. "Let's blow off some steam, Arfur! Give it a good Bite!" Arthur, for one, seemed all too happy to oblige, charging up to the stray Solosis as best it could, jaws wide open and ready to snap shut on its new quarry.

Nate and Peat rushed into the water of the marsh without hesitation. The water went up to Nate’s ankles, soaking into his sneakers and socks. The mud beneath clung to his shoes like it was reluctant to relinquish him. Nate bulled forward. Peat, beside him, cut through the water with far more grace than he usually had on land. He barked and smiled and raced past Nate. “Oh no ya don’t!” the trainer shouted, pulling a burst of speed he hadn’t had a moment before. Wild Pokémon scattered into cover as the two raced by. Nathan was not a perceptive man on his best days, but even he might have noticed how the amount of Pokémon dropped severely the closer they got to the statue, if he hadn’t been so distracted. “Ha! Caught ya!” Nate was winded when he caught up to Peat. “Not as fast as ya thought, are ya, bud--bud? Peat?” Peat had stopped running. His teeth were bared and he was staring ahead at the statue in the marsh. It was probably only a few yards in front of them now. It was much more interesting up close; towering over the area and chiseled with the skill of someone that had obviously been a master of their craft. Nate felt the sudden urge to touch the statue. Which wasn’t that weird. His Mom had told him a thousand times throughout his life that he didn’t need to touch everything when he went to the store, but he lived in the physical world. His senses were driven by touch. He hadn’t ever felt the need to touch a statue though. He could guess how they felt. Smooth. Cold. Wet, in the case of the statue before him. Still, his Pokémon had stopped for a reason. Peat seemed unwilling to move even a step closer. “Wait right there, bud,” Nate said, moving toward the statue. “I won’t be long. I just… I just need to look. To get my hands on it. What if it has something to do with that rare Pokémon we heard about?” Peat gave him a look that he interpreted to be uncomfortable, skeptical, but he barked again and took a fighting stance. Nate usually trusted Peat. He trusted the instincts of Pokémon more than he did his own. They were connected to the world in a way that humans could never hope to be; more than one trainer had lost their lives by not listening to the Pokémon around them. But something was calling him forward. A tugging in his thoughts that demanded he investigate. “I’ll be right back.” Nate jogged toward the statue.

As Fen got out of the ring, she thought about the options that Kelsey had laid out to her, before hearing her last comment. Looking at herself, the girl gave a brief sniff before not finding anything too out of the ordinary. She was a bit blind to her own smell, working with a wide variety of seafood as well as being an adventurer for a primary profession but if Kelsey had thought things were fine they probably were. In addition, despite the fact that she did have fun with the match she could hardly say that she had worked up a real sweat from it. As such, the girl smiled and said, "oh, I wouldn't mind going for another match. Oh and uh, if you wouldn't mind I think I'd like to, um, "box" you." It seemed that Kelsey didn't expect that. "Oh, me?" She pondered that. "Well, I dunno, It feels kinda weird to get in the ring with you after we talked. Specially since..." She shook her head and smiled. "Ah don't mind me, if that's what you wanna do then sure why not?" The girl smiled and let out a small laugh, "I'm uh, not used to picking fights with my friends either." Feeling the need to clarify she added, "oh, I'm not used to picking fights with people in general, too. But you looked great against Adonis and well, I figured if I was going to do this again I'd uh, well, like to see it up close. So, thank you." "Aw shucks, flattery will get you everywhere you know...alright then let's do this." The two of them waited for a ring to be free before putting on their gloves and getting to either end of it. Tapping her gloves together, Fen took a deep breath before psyching herself up for their friendly bout. And once it began she took her stance and moved in. Fen tried a quick jab as she had done so with Adonis, though Kelsey was pretty quick to react in blocking. As the girl threw a punch back Fen had managed to side step the attack before moving to go for yet another swing only for it to be blocked once more. The two continued this back and forth in the same way for awhile, Fen paying attention to Kelsey's stance and foot work as she tried to adopt it to her own. However, with each punch that was thrown she started to realize something was off. Kelsey's offense wasn't as relentless as she would've expected and, from first hand experience, she knew that the punches that Kelsey was throwing weren't nearly as hard as they could've been. After yet one more exchange Fen backed off a little before asking, "hey, um, Kelsey...would you happen to be well, going easy on me?" "Oof...busted." Kelsey said. "Maaaybe a little bit." She admitted, seemingly embarrassed to have been caught. Her expression souring as she formed a pout, her suspicions being confirmed. She had wanted to see Kelsey at her best and experience it first hand so she could learn more about this new sport, as well as take anything practical she could from it elsewhere. Fen was well aware of how inexperienced in hand to hand combat, and more than that she was painfully aware of how frail and gentle she must've appeared on the outside. But she was a hunter and an experienced fighter in general, having even fought Kelsey herself already, and certainly didn't want to be seen as either helpless or like someone needed to walk on eggshells around her with something like this. "You know, what I said to Adonis is true here too. Just because I'm a beginner doesn't mean I want you to hold back." "No it's not...it's not that. Obviously not, if that was the case I'd be more likely to hold back against Adonis than you." She frowned and looked uncomfortable. "It's just...something else." Fen narrowed her eyes for a moment, pout still on her face, asking, "is that so?" The girl continued to analyze Kelsey, staring at her face as she was noticing that the girl was becoming uncomfortable as she pressed the issue. The two of them were supposed to be having fun now and Fen didn't really want to pry any further into the girl's discomfort, so she decided to retreat from the conversation for now. After all, Kelsey wasn't actually looking down on her, though she still couldn't help but feel upset by the whole thing. "Alright," the girl said before taking a deep breath. Forcing a smile on her face the girl said, "shall we continue the uh, bout then?" After a few more exchanges, neither side really putting their all into it, the two exited the ring. While Fen still felt a bit awkward she said, "well, um, I think I'm a bit boxed out or uh, yeah. So I suppose now would be a good time to uh, shower and well, yeah." Feeling like their activities were winding down for the day Fen said, "thanks for showing me around the city today though, I uh, I had fun..." trailing off, still feeling like it would be a bit awkward to just leave it like that, an idea popped into her head as she said, "oh, as uh, thanks would you like to come over. For dinner, that is?"

There had been so much to take in. The voice in the back of their head was a constant presence, of course, but there were so many other qualities of the statue that deserved exploration. The touch of the statue, for example, was a special kind of unevenness that Quinn had just gotten used to while on her circumnavigatory journey, and the young ghost could not help but wonder what the stone tasted like. All of that was lost, gone completely from Quinn’s memory, when the Malamar appeared. He had gotten about three-quarters of the way around the statue by that point, and Quinn rushed around the last portion to reunite with Nathaniel. This was on instinct. Fae knew it needed help with this one. That only required one of the six senses to tell. “Cassiopeia, forgive me,” Quinn whispered to her Pokéball. “You are going to have to bear this for just a moment. Please, come to me in this time of need.” It was a request Cassiopeia was all too willing to oblige. Even with the ominous aura and incomprehensible static, with her trainer in danger, Cassiopeia came out of her Pokéball charging forward, an Astonish at the ready for the approaching Malamar. “Drif!” the balloon shouted as soon as she was close enough, and a Gust to blow the Malamar back the second the wild Pokémon flinched. Even as Quinn instructed her Pokémon on the specifics of the strategy, she recognized it as Cassiopeia’s tried and true. Next would probably be a Minimize, to take advantage of the ensuing chase, and then- Whatever further battle strategy either Quinn or Cassiopeia had developed was cut short when the Malamar recovered from its shock quicker than they had anticipated. Instead of giving a direct chase, the Malamar simply stared at the retreating Drifloon, and its eyes glowed. The space around the Malamar distorted and shifted colors, which grew brighter in intensity until the colors shot out as a psychic beam that struck Cassiopeia dead-on. Quinn could not help but call out, “Cassiopeia!” as her Pokémon shuddered against the attack. Quinn could even see her eyes unfocus for a moment there, though thankfully it was just for a moment. “Well, if that is how you would like to play,” Quinn said. “Cassiopeia, get back here. Go, Normandie!” The swap had the misfortune of placing Normandie right in the middle of another of the Malamar’s Psybeams, but she took the attack much better than Cassiopeia had. In fact, she charged right through it with barely a misstep, that tell-tale ferocity in her eye. Perhaps the purple glow of her Pursuit protected her, an idea that flickered into Quinn’s head even as it dismissed the idea as making no sense -- the planes of interaction simply did not line up. Normandie’s attack landed, and, taking advantage of her close proximity to the Malamar, the Ratffian started lashing the squid with its tail. Quinn hadn’t told her to do this, but it made sense. Both ey and Normandie wanted her to hit as hard as possible, and Normandie had been brushing off the attacks so far. That changed, though, when the Malamar battered itself into Normandie, an attack that sent her back aways, and it started to glow purple, matching Normandie’s Pursuit from before. No, that was not quite right. Quinn realized with dawning horror that only parts of the Malamar were glowing purple: the parts Normandie had struck with her tail. And even from her vantage point, Quinn could tell those parts had not only recovered from their thrashing, they had tightened up, and gotten even harder, more resistant. Normandie did not seem to care, launching herself into another attack, and sure enough, a Tackle did not do nearly as much damage as expected. She went for another one, but Quinn put a stop to that. “Normandie, get back here!” she said, “Cassiopeia, let us try not to get hit this time.”

Carmen was unsure of what to make of the entire discussion on relationship values, though she looked visibly panicked at the words "confession event," and moved further against the wall. She didn't really want to think about how that would go, but seemed to be pulled out of the horrid suggestion when Brian reaffirmed his goals to their employer. Carmen hadn't really thought about his situation, though she couldn't really help but feel like the two's situations were similar. After all, she knew what it was like to go through something like both of their recent incidents without the ability or know how to fight against it. Carmen always felt helpless and like every shadow around her was creeping in for the kill. But if nothing else she found it easier to deal with walking directly at it that just sitting at home worrying all day that some ghost was going to try and kill her. Of course she also figured her employer wouldn't want her to do that anyway and Carmen couldn't help but be terrified of the person who seemed to know the ins and outs of everything they were experiencing, while also being something of a mystery themselves. Come to think of it she was still terrified at home, even despite this resolution of hers to face them head on...maybe it was just better sitting back and waiting for it to happen? Well, she just had to fool herself into thinking nothing bad could ever happen there and maybe things would work out for the best. The girl didn't say much more, only letting out a simple, "geh," as she was wont to do when Shiki had mentioned a day off unless there was a world ending calamity. While she was obviously happy that she had a day where she didn't have to peer into some building in the middle of the night to fight a demon that eat her within seconds, the fact that a world ending calamity could happen at all was cause for concern. After Brian had gotten off, Carmen's stop was next. And once they reached her house the girl looked to the food still in the van and grabbed a few more burgers on her way out. As she got to the door she stopped for a moment, and looked down at the food in her hands. She had always been terrified of Shiki, but they did save her life. They even got her McDonalds, which she couldn't help but be in the mood for after her encounter with Ghost Brian. She still couldn't make heads or tails of this person, truthfully, but they had helped them and had given her a job that paid well enough that she didn't have to worry about being murdered at a convenience store anymore. So, after a few more awkward seconds passed the girl looked back and stammered out a, "uh, um...thanks..." Before scurrying out of the car and making her way back home. "Carmen, I have something to tell you." "Hm, what is it Mickey?" The girl asked the man with her. He had asked to meet her at the back of the school, with an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face as he furrowed his golden arched eyebrows. "Listen, the two of us have been meeting every so often. And I know you've come to understand me and all that I am. And I you as well. So, well..." As the man trailed off the girl couldn't help but let out an, "eh? W-wait, I- um..." "Would you make me the only place that you buy burgers from?" Stunned for a moment, the girl couldn't help but feel her gut instinct to run away from the situation. To simply retreat and then act like it never happened, pretend that all was normal. That would be the easiest thing of course, but she knew that wouldn't be fair to Mickey, who had poured his heart and soul out before her. Yet still, unable to immediately return and answer she could only stammer out an, "uh...ummm..." "Ahahaha! Of course such a paltry tactic would never work on a maiden like herself!" The boisterous laughter of the crowned man had pierced into the scene. "King!?" "Of course you would be here," Mickey grumbled. "Of course my destitute farmer! Now Carmen, do not be swayed by this charlatan's words and follow the truth of your heart. It is I who you will choose in the end, correct?" "Uhhhhhhhh..." "How cute," a third voice entered, belonging to the scarlet haired queen of the school, the derision in her words all too evident. "As if you squares ever had a chance." "Who's she calling a square?" "Obviously, in the end Carmen will pick me, right? Now come on, we've got shopping to do." The girl walked over and grabbed Carmen by the wrist, beginning to forcefully take her out of the scene before the other two grabbed onto her other arm. "I...uh...." Carmen was powerless to do anything as the trio continued to argue over her, until finally she was saved by the ring of the school bell. With wide open eyes, Carmen stared at her ceiling as she had woken up from her night's rest. She had no idea what she had just dreamed of, barely able to remember any details, but part of it made her wonder if she actually had been haunted once more. As slowly moved herself out of bed, lunch time already upon her, the girl went over to her refrigerator and saw the leftover burgers from last night still in there. Staring at them for a moment, Carmen said, "m-maybe I'll get tacos tonight." And closed the door.

I will add one last one, Final Fantasy VI since I noticed there weren't any FF games nominated, and will cut it off at 32 then. Will gather up images and randomize and put up first wave sometime this week

As Lana had managed push her axe through the acid weakened chest of the zombie, the girl just as quickly pulled the blade out and got ready for the creature's counterattack. However, though it tried to stumble towards her to try and keep its attack up it eventually fell back to the ground and stopped moving. Seeing the skeleton in front of her now, covered in webs and unable to move forward, Lana smirked. The girl brought up her axe and, being unable to properly move, the skeleton soon had the blade crash straight through its skull and splitting down the neck and part of the spine before it finally stopped. Pulling her weapon back again, the skeleton soon clattered to the ground in its second death. As it did, though, Lana looked further north to where she was, seeing yet another one of those weirdly wrapped zombies come out of it. "Oh come on, another one?" Letting out an annoyed sigh, wondering why the enemies she saw at the start of the floor couldn't just be everything she had to kill, the girl looked around to her right. Chris was engaged with two skeletons with a third coming to flank him. She wasn't exactly worried about his ability to handle himself but knew that he did a lot of hopping back and forth from place to place and if that thread thing was in an area that was already surrounded that wouldn't be good for him. Besides, she was starting to feel like all of these coffin boxes were holding more of these zombies, so getting rid of the skeletons before they all sprung out and overwhelmed them would be for the best. Gripping her axe Lana nodded in the direction of the zombie, calling out to Ziun, "watch out for that guy," before rushing to the skeleton on the eastern side of the room. Seeing her come it raised its weapon, aiming to strike her, and so in turn Lana raised hers. In the past she might've tested her luck and seen if she could simply kill it before it managed to properly hit her. But Estelle wasn't with them and Joan's chiding of her carelessness had come back to her. In her last attempt in the dungeon she felt like she tried to apply what she learned from the brawl but ultimately still relied on being healed up at the end. So this time, she would aim to not be hit in the first place. With confidence in her strength and the weight of her weapon, the girl brought down her blade clashing with the skeleton's. True to her expectation she managed to win the clash of weapons, pushing the skeleton back, only for it to swing its weapon by the hooked end and pull on the blade of her weapon to try and seize it from her. The girl instinctively grabbed her weapon with both hands, pulling on it in a clash of strength. As the girl tugged, unsure of the outcome as she did, she looked down to her hands and realized something. Releasing one of her hands from her axe, Lana let herself be pulled closer by the skeleton as she shouted, "let go!" Clenching her gauntleted fist, the girl punched the skull of the skeleton forcing it back and alleviating some of the pressure on her. A sense of exhilaration as she had never quite punched a monster like this before went through her as she decided to go for another one. Reeling her hand back, she crashed her metal fist into the creature's skull again, this time cracking it. However, she could feel her hand start to lose the tug of war of weapons which pushed enough sense into her to not go for a third. After all, "I just got this axe!" The girl grabbed it with both hands again, pulling back against the skeleton's sword.

Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. -Titus 2:3 (NIV)Melissa was sure she was being paranoid, and yet the look she got from the waiter as she and Natasha entered Eating For Two felt like one of the meanest looks she had ever gotten. It was like a “You don’t belong here,” type of look, which she supposed was technically true, but seemed weird in the context of two people entering an establishment called “Eating For Two.” They were seated without an issue, though, so the moment passed without too much discomfort, even if it remained on Melissa’s mind as the conversation turned elsewhere. “Have you been trying to get into this place for a while then?” Melissa asked. “They knew your name, and it didn’t seem like a Guardian thing. Did nobody else from your group want to come with?” Natasha shook her head and got to typing. “Hasn’t been open long. Tried to get in before just myself. It was the first place I thought of.” By the time she’d finished typing all that, the waiter was back and waiting expectantly for their drink orders. Melissa nodded a measure of understanding of Natasha’s situation up to this point and then nodded at the waiter. “Um,” she said, still thinking about the look she’d gotten and wanting to fit in. “Do you know what a Bloody Mary is?” The waiter just stared at her. Melissa wilted in her seat a little. “Like, tomato juice and I think vodka, but with a bunch of garnishes. I don’t know what all goes in -” “Yes. I am familiar with what you are describing, but we do not call it that here. And I would need to see some form of identification indicating-” Melissa quickly waved away the question with a frantic gesture. “No no, um, I wanted to order a Virgin Mary, actually. Like, without the vodka. And not bloody either, um, so I was wondering if that could be replaced with something else like a spicy ginger beer or something.” The fact that the waiter had to repeat her order back to her was a bad sign. Melissa was entirely inexperienced in the world of cocktails. Communion wine was her only real experience with alcohol, of course, so she wasn’t sure how “ginger beer with lemon juice, lime juice, pickle juice, horseradish, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, and a celery stick” was going to taste, but the waiter said that they would have it right up and Melissa didn’t want to take it back at that point. Natasha, meanwhile, simply pointed at the drink menu, and a holographic image appeared on the table indicating her selection. “That’s nifty,” Melissa said as the waiter walked away. She tried it with a few other drinks, all of which looked much more appetizing than what she had just concocted. “I should probably order some water too, when the waiter comes back,” she said. “I just wanted- this seemed like the place to be fancy, and I know who the Virgin Mary is, obviously, so I kind of just defaulted to that. This keeps happening to me. I- One time, I somehow made a friend put honey in her coffee, and I don’t think I’ll ever get over myself for that.” Natasha seemed confused. Melissa worried that she might have gotten lost somewhere in that whole ramble, but Natasha simply typed out a single word: “Mary?” Did Natasha know that that single name could cause so much strife? Melissa nearly launched into another whole ramble simply on instinct, but she just managed to catch herself with the reminder that evangelizing a woman she had met only twice was not a thing that would get her to meet for a third time. Unless Natasha was genuinely curious, of course -- and why shouldn’t she help a wayward soul find her way to the light of Jesus? -- but that would require at least a bit more clarification, which seemed rude when Natasha had asked for clarification first. Melissa made some sort of involuntary gurgling sound, but she decided to split the difference. “So, um, ‘Bloody Mary’ was a person -- a queen, I think -- but the name is mostly used now as a children’s horror prank. The Virgin Mary, meanwhile, is a prominent figure in my religion as the mother of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” She intentionally left out the parts there that Natasha probably would have found distasteful, unless Natasha was okay with fourteen-year-old pregnancies, which was not something Melissa wanted to get into. Natasha just smiled, a bit sheepishly. “I know of Jesus,” she typed. “Sofia says that when she’s surprised.” “Sofia” was not a name Melissa had heard before. She had met Salvo and she knew that she and Salvo shared a religion, and she knew Salvo and Natasha were in the same group, so it could have been Salvo’s real name or something, but the possibility of a third person excited Melissa. She just hoped Sofia was not one of the denominations that had irreconcilable differences with Catholicism. Not all of them had survived the dome, but there were still pockets. Instead of prying into all that, Melissa just said, “You should try and get more out of her, like a ‘Jesus, Joseph and Mary!’ and maybe an ‘And all the saints!’ for good measure if it’s a real surprise.” Natasha’s smile changed to one of bemusement. “Perhaps I will,” she typed, and just in time, as the waiter returned and asked for their order. Melissa looked down at the menu and realized just how much of it she hadn’t read yet. She put her finger on a random item and a massive bowl of noodles materialized in front of her. “Oh, that’s… I wouldn’t be able to eat all of that,” Melissa said. Maybe that was why she got such a look from the waiter as she’d entered the restaurant. She wasn’t such a serious eater after all. But until such a time happened that she was thrown out for such an injustice (or at least the injustice of the drink that was now sitting in front of her, with its thick sauce bubbles on top of the soda), Melissa did try to persevere. “Um, there’s no leftovers, so did you want to share something, Natasha? I get the feeling I’ll get stabbed if we try and get an extra serving bowl, but I can just eat out of yours or you eat out of mine or, um… I don’t have any dietary restrictions, so whatever looks good to you…”

[2638]

The Last Stardust

I tried looking this up like a dummy before realizing what you meant

Ryia had picked herself up, catching her breath as the others had moved in to attack Lucas next, gripping her sword tight. Looking over to Cym as the girl asked what she was made of, definitively Ryia answered. "Stone." Looking over to see that Pan was now nearest Lucas, the Earth Chosen didn't bother to chat any more and instead ran towards the werewolf, making her presence known to grab the Lycan's attention. However, Lucas seemed much more interested in what was perhaps the much easier prey that was right before him, instead lunging towards Pan. Quickly, Ryia stomped on the ground during her charge to create her wall to block Lucas's path, the werewolf outstretching a hand to stop himself short from crashing full into the wall. With his charge stomped and his attention now fully shifted to Ryia, he brought out his other hand as if to beat away her oncoming attack. Ryia knew that fully charging into him would spell her end, and that simply stopping short wouldn't be enough to feint him. As such, as she dug her feet into the ground to slow her charge the spirit of Earth appeared behind her, firing off a volley of rocks to distract the wolf man. The rocks themselves did to confer actual damage to him, but during the volley Ryia swung her blade into his hand, catching him off guard and making a large gash in it. Snarling, Lucas clenched his hand into a fist before going for a punch against Ryia. The Earth Chosen knew that there was no way to dodge in time and similarly that taking a direct hit from him would be out of the question. Even if she had to put more pressure and burden on her shield arm, it didn't much matter to her anymore. This was a fight where she was to give everything she had to win. No matter what pain she had to endure or how broken her body might've become, so long as she could take one more hit for everyone else that was all that mattered. Stepping to the side Ryia brought up her shield to defend against the punch, gritting her teeth and grunting in pain as every part of her arm screamed out once more. As Ryia stumbled back, the force of the punch knocking her off balance, she heard Cym call out for Pan. Looking over she saw the elven girl jump, being assisted by a gust of wind, before driving her blade between the Lycan's shoulder blades as part of her descent. Snarling as the attack went through the man thrashed about before Cym finally let go of her sword and was knocked off of him, the blade still sticking out of his back.

Still Making It Rain

W.I.P. ...And the Story Closes

it's only a train if it comes from the train region of germany otherwise it's just a sparkling bus anyway what's your favorite playing card in your standard 52-card deck (no jokers)

vegetables aren't real they were made up by big chef to force-feed kids brussels sprouts before brussels sprouts were cool look it up if someone says "hey that's a carrot you're not allowed to eat that" i'd just be like "um actually this is a root"

Hmmmmm I do like this name in general still but I suppose the one downside is the roblox guy who used this name and I always wonder if people think that's where I got it So I suppose maybe I would and it'd probably be my favorite animal because why not 139

...okay, color me interested...I'll be dropping into the Discord shortly

Anima couldn’t help but feel her smile try to falter, for a moment, as she heard about this ‘ghost’. Of course, it was likely that they existed; but the meat of the story was… Something else. It was almost ominous sounding, the way one of their servants offered to ‘show them’ what happened, only to never be seen again. And then, for her parents to have told her she had to let go… Perhaps, then, was the Servant the ghost in the story, and not the grandfather? Or had the parents been responsible for the Servants’ grandfather’s death? Or, perhaps even more... had the servant been planning to kill Anneliese…?! Only the first concept seemed remotely… Interesting, from a supernatural perspective. The other two aspects, however… Anima was only taken from this state of mind, as Jacklyn arrived to greet them… And immediately mentioned the man in the mask. She frowned, for a moment; visibly, before nodding. “...Actually, I will… Definitely believe you,” Anima chuckled lightly, rubbing at the side of her neck. “His name was Brady, and he was weird as…” she trailed off, letting the others carry on the conversation for a moment as she set to softening her expression. It was then, of course, that Jacklyn suggested they take a photo of them with the ‘first major landmark’ of their journey… The weird, half-sunken statue. “Oh, er... Right, of course, I can take your photos!” Anima almost immediately jumped in, voice a bit more enthusiastic than it should have been, as long as she didn’t have to… "Oh, I'll take one for you guys if you want too!" “Huh?” Anima paused for a moment, before shaking her head slightly. “No, you, um, you don’t have to do that,” she murmured, grip on Confi tightening ever so slightly as she gave an apologetic smile. “I, er… Confi’s camera-shy,” she tried to excuse herself; even if it was a flimsy lie, it was one that couldn’t easily be contested… And if she didn’t want to admit, or didn’t want to voice that she wasn’t comfortable having her photo taken, she didn’t have to. Instead, without waiting for any further prompting, she knelt down and put Confi down. She then rummaged through her backpack for a moment, to pull out her PokeDex. It was scratched up, been repaired, had buttons replaced and had been bashed several times… All by people who had owned it before Anima, and before she had gotten it, but it was hers; and the camera, at least, functioned well enough to take some pictures of her friends. It stalled for a moment as she opened the camera, but after a second, she saw a reasonably clear picture come onto the screen, and set about lining it up to catch both Anneliese and Jacklyn… Even as their faces scrunched up. “Ah… Right, that thing...” she murmured, before spamming the picture button roughly ten times in quick succession. It was always best to go for quantity, and then pick out the best one to have printed, she had been told. After that moment of repeatedly taking photos, she quickly folded the PokeDex back closed, before stuffing it back in her backpack. “Well then--” she began, acutely aware of the pounding headache the statue was likely giving her friends, and hoping to alleviate that pain for them. “We should move on now, we, uh, we don’t want to burn too much daylight on this leg of our, er, adventure, after all!” she explained, already beginning to move on herself. Hopefully, if she was lucky, they’d follow without questioning the strangeness of the statue-- For as long as they didn’t question it, she didn’t have to question it.

Sekibanki (Beach Dullahan) [universe C3]

"Eh? I- I see..." Carmen trailed off, now certain that she never wanted to meet a demon if she could help it. Of course, the thought of what the building was didn't really sit well with her either. A ghost haunting a building was simple enough to understand, it came from a dead person so all she had to do was avoid places where people died or try not to do specific things to anger it. A cursed object? Sure she didn't know where those things came from but if she saw some grotesque looking severed monkey hand lying around she just had to be sure to never speak any of her desires around it and leave it be. A demon? Simple, avoid Hell. But buildings could just become possessed for no particular reason. The girl shuddered at the thought that at any moment her very living space could turn into an infinite corridor of which she'd never be able to reach the bathroom and then kill her with some apparition of her disapproving mother. The girl was snapped out of the thought spiral as Shiki asked their question. Relationship value? Event? "Eh..." The girl was certain that every dialogue choice that she had picked with Brian so far only served to lower his opinion of her. And what they were doing was more akin to a main story, after all it wasn't like they went out shopping together or bumped into each other on the side of the road while it was raining and desperately needed to share an umbrella or anything like that. Unless this was just the common route. Did Shiki plan on bringing more men to go aid the two of them? The mere thought nearly sent Carmen into shock, she was already terrible at dealing with strangers and men more especially and having all three of them pay any amount of attention to her and force a spotlight on her made her feel as if she would just wither and die immediately. She already had a hard enough time dealing with Brian but she wasn't sure if she could deal with someone aggressively nice either. In fact she was sure they'd be just as forceful but try to spin it as "for her own good" while also making her go down roller coasters that could derail and fly off into the ground at any time or give her food that she didn't ask for - well Shiki just did and she liked that so perhaps that wouldn't be too bad - but the sheer radiance of a person like that would only serve to drive her further into her home base. And then some kind of smug rich know it all would only remind her of her poor status and general inability to accomplish anything, making her wonder if perhaps entering society at all had ever been a mistake. Or maybe Shiki was planning the opposite? Two other girls would certainly be more welcome. After all that would get the attention from Brian off her and they would be able to do more in her place. Besides she was always better at talking with other girls after all. Though if one of them were the sporty athletic type she knew she'd only be reminded of her past in school and see the social divide between the two of them even more. And those kinds of girls were always looking down on others that weren't her type so Carmen knew that if such a woman were around she'd have to tip toe around every line of dialogue she tossed out lest she be socially murdered for all to see. But if it were a cute and innocent type of girl perhaps it'd be easier to get along with them. Though she was a gloomy and utterly creepy creature so she was certain that she'd call the police on herself just for being in that kind of girl's presence. Actually, was she even better at talking to females? “I don’t know,” Brian said. “I don’t hate her, I guess. Somehow, despite watching whatever that was in that building dance around in her body.” Brian speaking up, using a rather disturbing turn of phrase, had once more pulled out of her spiral as she thought on his words. The girl didn't realize she had gotten to the point of not being hated, unless his loathing of her somehow transcended the word hate and he just couldn't figure out how to put it to words. As for her opinion of him. "Eh?" A mortified look crossed her face at the thought, shaking her head violently to reject the idea. "Taking a nap here?! No no no no, I don't want to close my eyes in a haunted building that'd be the worst! And," the girl gave Brian a side eye, nervously taking a step back and shaking her head. "...I definitely can't sleep here..." Her last mission made her well aware of what kind of man she was dealing with. As the man reached down and grabbed for her hand, the girl's terror that the monster was coming for her again was soon abated as she realized he was just dragging her through the building. With the man's forceful nature pushing the both of them forward the girl let out a sigh of relief, knowing that if he were a fake he would've asked anything about her well being or need to take a break first. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Diiiiiiiiiiiiiie!" Sweat on her brow, wide eyed yet not looking directly at either of them she said, "I um...I think...we're um, maybe near our next rank...ehehe"

From Dance with Devils

the only PC-98s in lostword are Mima & Shinki, and even then they got sewn by the hip to the sealing club Alice Margatroid (Skilled Droid Engineer) [universe B5] remilia my beloved Kogasa Tatara (Beach Umbrella Castaway) [universe C3]

As Ziun walked over the girl simply nodded and returned his greeting. However when he asked if she was ready she simply looked to the side saying, "I could do without any of the horrors from yesterday. But, if you must know," a look of pride crossed her face as she pointed to the axe on her back, "I'm all freshly armed and ready to take this whole set of floors on." With Chris coming next the girl's expression soured at his question. Her instinct to his question was to say, "no I was haunted," but that would've both been tattling out Farah and it also wasn't really true. Though, it did make her morning much less pleasant then it needed to be but that was less the ghosts fault. Lana couldn't help but wonder if Anna was actually the one doing the haunting between the two. All the same, the girl shrugged and said, "I just hope nothing tries to eat my ace again." A frown was across Lana's face as they went in without Estelle to the next floors. It was a bummer to her for sure, both losing a friend and capable mage to help them out, to no longer go down deeper into the dungeon with. She couldn't dwell on it for long though, and thankfully the fact that there were more skeletons on this floor already had her irritated attention. Hardly paying attention to their new choice in weaponry, the girl raised an eyebrow at the incredibly suspiciously basic, not foggy and almost empty looking room. After having something fall from the ceiling and try to eat her head, rats hiding out in tunnels and skeleton dogs running endlessly out of fog that this was so simple looking both made Lana feel greatly at ease and incredibly on edge all at once. Lana, however, decided to err on the side of it being a much easier floor then the last. As such, when Ziun went to use his magic, she had brandished her great axe and was ready to get into the fray as well. With Chris charging ahead to take down one of them, Lana decided to go after the skeleton that Ziun had just attacked. The man didn't have a great track record with undead being on top of him and Lana would much rather take of it immediately then have to run back and forth across the room. Charging with her axe overhead, the girl brought it down smashing against the skeleton, its already brittle and now melting bones giving way under the weight with no effort. With the skeleton having been defeated the girl turned her attention towards the center of the room, getting ready to aid Chris next when she noticed that the coffin next to her slid open. "Huh?" The girl looked on with trepidation as the lid came off the coffin fully, revealing a husk of rotting flesh covered head to toe in bandages. It wasn't her first zombie of course, but the girl grimaced at the sight saying, "oh gross." At least it had the decency to mostly cover up. Still, with a new enemy appearing right next to her the girl raised her great axe and went to smash in the head of the newly risen creature.

Brian was in the middle of peeling off the pickles on his second burger, considering between throwing them in the sink or yanking open the door and throwing them onto the open road, when Carmen asked her question. Was whatever was in that building a ghost or a demon? It wasn’t any sort of ghost that Brian had heard of, so the answer was obviously the latter. Besides, it sure seemed like the whole building had been possessed, which sure seemed like something a demon would do. Once he was satisfied his burger was pickle-free, he opened his mouth to respond and set the record- “If it were a demon, you would have had a much harder time.” …and thankfully he was in a position to eat some of his burger instead of his words. “That’s what I was going to say,” Brian said in between mouthfuls. Thankfully, Shiki kept talking before anyone had time to interrogate that. Not that the follow-up question was any better, though. What the fuck was a “Relationship Value?” “What the fuck is a Relationship Value?” Brian said, still chewing. His focus shifted between Shiki and Carmen, trying to determine any further clues as to what was going on. “Like, have I gotten to know Carmen better? Shiki, until like ten minutes ago, I was dealing with a fake Carmen, and she with, well, I don’t know if Carmen was dealing with a fake me or not, but I assume she was. You think I know Carmen any better because I had to wrestle a demon version of her to the ground tonight?” He sized the real Carmen up. “It was even weaker than you are,” he said. Having said that, and looking at Carmen more closely. If she had been stuck in that room with a demon or whatever it was, she did manage to get out of it all by herself. She’d even managed to get out at about the same time Brian had, like, yeah, he’d spent a lot of time going through some really stupid potential solutions that went nowhere, but he hadn’t taken that long, had he? And like he’d told the fake Carmen, hell, like he'd told Shiki late last night, she’d been almost okay when they were dealing with the school. Two times in a row reduced the chances of a fluke significantly. It was some measure of respect. Some. It still had to be couched in, you know, the rest of her whole deal, though, and he wasn't about to admit anything out loud anyway. “I don’t know,” Brian said. “I don’t hate her, I guess. Somehow, despite watching whatever that was in that building dance around in her body.”

close enough Yuyuko Saigyouji (Tiny Ghost Mistress) [universe R2] it is the 2024 Kasen Ibaraki (Oni Gate Abou Yaksha) [universe W5]

There's only one choice \ Sparkle

Lynx

the video's back up on youtube again so let's try this again

With the next stop being a "boxing ring," Fen looked around to see that as far as things that she had seen thus far this one actually had a little of familiarity to her. Combat sports weren't exactly uncommon where she was from, though this specific one seemed to be entirely about punching one another only and having to face off in a rather small arena. While the girl was looking at each of the people currently fighting, trying to understand just a bit better any other rules of the sport, a large muscular individual had promptly entered her field of view. The girl looked him up and down as he explained who he was and examined his body as per his invitation to do so to see that he was in fairly good shape overall, figuring that he was both a regular here and perhaps a sporty individual in general. But raising her hand to wave off his earlier comment the girl said, "oh, um, well that's quite a kind offer, I think. But no, I'm here to um," Fen looked towards Kelsey saying, "box? Was it?" Adonis followed her gaze and when he saw Kelsey, "Gah!" he suddenly exclaimed. "I, uh, did not see you there!" Kelsey ignored him and responded directly to Fen, "Yup that's the plan. Maybe I should show you how it's done with that punching ba- that guy over there?" She said, indicating Adonis. Putting her hand to her chin the girl said, "oh well, I do learn well by watching first, so if you'd be so kind to." Fen looked over and innocently smiled to Adonis saying, "and then maybe we can box too after." Adonis coughed awkwardly. "Ah well that, you see. My, uh, my hip! My hip has been acting up and I wouldn't want to step into the ring without showing my best..." "Oh that won't be a problem this won't last long enough for that to matter." Kelsey said in a falsely sweet voice before grabbing Adonis and half-dragging him to the ring. Fen marveled at first at Kelsey's display of skill, her technique and sheer power behind her fists with each strike she made. She then started to wince a bit as the fight continued and a look of growing concern crossed her face as the fight continued. Yet all the same with the match finished between the two, Fen looked thoughtfully about what she had just saw and nodded to herself. "I see, so that's how it's done. I think I have a good grasp on the rules now. Oh and um, well I knew you were strong but I didn't realize how good, er well, skilled at punching you were." Looking at Adonis she asked, "is he um, alright for more though? I didn't realize a person's arm could bend in that way when taking a punch." "Oh him? Yeah I'm sure it's fine! He isn't good for much but he sure can take a beating." Kelsey answered for him as Adonis seemed to be dazed still. Her expression was still a bit concerned about the well being of her opponent yet decided to still trust Kelsey's words. "If you say so. Well, um, if you don't mind." Getting into the ring and putting on a pair of gloves herself the girl said, "well, um, whenever you're ready, Adonis." Once Kelsey left the ring life seemed to return to the man as Adonis refocused. Seeing it was not just Fen in the ring he cleared his throat and stood taller. "Ah, so it's you now! Well I'll have you know I was taking it easy to let you learn! But now that you have I suppose you won't mind if I take this seriously right?" "Oh, please, go ahead. I know I may be knew to this but the last thing I'd want is, well, for you to take it easy on me." Shifting her feet, posture and arms into a stance similar to what Kelsey had just had she said, "so um, uh, put 'em up?" "Forgive me if this hurts too much, feel free to cry if you must!" He then ran forward to take a heavy swing. Seeing the man take the initiative to attack, Fen realized how one sided the match against Kelsey and Adonis had been as she didn't actually know what was allowed for defense. Given his large musculature the girl didn't really want to attempt blocking the attack, and instead opted to duck under the swing, striking him in the gut with a swift jab. Backing off, not hearing anyone complain about what she had done she thus inferred that dodging was legal in this sport. Still, the girl remembered her friend's form and strikes and seemed dissatisfied with her own. She was never much of an unarmed fighter to begin with so all the technical aspects of it weren't ingrained in her body, and so she could do was keep improving. Each time Adonis went in for a swing Fen would dodge the punch, either by ducking, or stepping back or to the side, before going in for yet another punch of her own. And each time she did she would mumble something to herself, before trying to shift around her footing or the positioning of her arms. The fight didn't last very long and Fen had gotten through it without too much difficulty, her opponent being KO'd for the second time in a short time frame. Taking a deep breath, getting herself out of her combat focus, the girl gave a bow to Adonis. "Thank you for the match." Then looking over to Kelsey she smiled saying, "that was pretty fun."

It took Carmen a moment to realize that she hadn't just looped back into the previous room. Only when Brian mentioned the time did she look at her own phone again. She had used it as evidence to figure out that she was in some kind of fake room but she didn't even realize how long the whole thing had gone on for. It was at this moment that Brian started taking a step towards her and the girl's instinctive response was to back away, though on the floor she could only hope to shuffle her position without moving very far. As the man reached down and grabbed for her hand, the girl's terror that the monster was coming for her again was soon abated as she realized he was just dragging her through the building. With the man's forceful nature pushing the both of them forward the girl let out a sigh of relief, knowing that if he were a fake he would've asked anything about her well being or need to take a break first. Wordlessly following along, the girl's silence was only broken with a small, "geh," in surprise as she saw Shiki. As it turned out her night wasn't over yet, though that was clear enough from how the last mission she and Brian had been on ended. As Shiki introduced themselves, Carmen's eyes widened as she pointed to herself saying loudly, "I- I'm Carmen!" She looked back and forth between Shiki and Brian as if too say, "you have to believe me," before her attention turned to the burgers. The girl's face lit up with excitement at the sight of the fast food, only to then drop and blink several times. She was positive she had just mentioned McDonalds not a moment ago...the girl looked back towards the driver's seat, before looking back to the burgers. Oh well, it was free food. The girl's hunger was enough to at least keep her paranoia from getting in the way, as she grabbed a burger and began to eat. After a brief period of choking, having eaten her first burger at an alarming speed, the girl looked back to the driver's seat and said, "u-um...thanks...." After a moment longer the girl then asked, "do you uh, think it was a ghost or demon?" To the both of them.

So as for the "we'll be interacting with AI bots" thing...unlikely. Even if a bot gets so close to human speech as you're worried there will always be things it can't do. Plus even if bots become more frequent on social networks then people will simply move on. And once that happens the people in control will realize "oh I'm not making money actually" and it'll get cracked down on. AI can't take over because once it has "taken over" then the bigwigs on their golden thrones will notice their precious numbers decreasing and they can't have that. AI is self-defeating. Which brings me to humanity.... Do you know what would most likely make an "AI Takeover" possible? Freaking out too much about it. The more people panic the more people will start to think that it's pointless to make things ourselves. I see plenty of artists wanting to give up because of AI but the thing is....actual art usually gets more praise than AI regardless. Same for music and so on. As long as there are people willing to keep creating and to do things without AI it can never take over and will eventually turn into a niche fad that people wave off. Companies will start to lose money as less people are awed by the "cool new tech". Speak up about how AI creations suck and you don't want to pay for it sure but there's no reason to dive down into pessimism. And now to be cheesy here's one of my favorite quotes. “I believe that the human spirit is indomitable. If you endeavor to achieve, it will happen given enough resolve. It may not be immediate, and often your greater dreams are something you will not achieve within your own lifetime. The effort you put forth to anything transcends yourself, for there is no futility even in death.” - Monty Oum

So I got curious and decided to give this a looksee. I'm not gonna watch a 30-minute youtube video just to reply to a forum post because there's no topic on or beyond this earth that I'm that invested in, but from what I gathered reading your post on the matter... Seems kinda silly, don't it? Much as I'd love to make a nice beefy post about this, I know I'm not gonna be able to do so without going into several sidenotes that have nothing to do with the matter at hand, so I'll keep this nice & concise. The notion that we'll be mostly interacting with AI in the future is frankly absurd. We are social primates after all, and if a robot that can mimic language is all it takes to change that, we would have fallen apart as a society long ago. I want to say AI used for creative purposes will ultimately end up as a fad - albeit one that stays in the spotlight a fair bit longer than it should, much like NFTs did - but it's just as likely they become a long-term problem like the many -isms and -phobias out there. The future is, after all, infamously unpredictable, and I'm not one to speculate on real-life unknowns like that. I don't really have a satisfying bow to tie this post off with so uh... yeah.