The PLC Journals

[jkBAKURA]

Hello. Yes, I know I had mentioned my retirement, and as far as traditional Yu Gi Oh fiction, I stand by it. Those who are looking for Magic, Science, and monsters throwing people to the ground will indeed be disappointed.

This is an attempt to look into the lives of all of us REAL duelists out there. Where cards are cards, and Yu Gi Oh is just a TV show, and we can look up Pokemasters to view our favorite fanfics.

This is heavily inspired by my own life. In fact, I've asked permission from several of my friends, as it was getting too true to life for comfort. Keep in mind, that this will probably be an "R" rated fic. I'm not going to pull language where it's appropriate, so there may be some F-bombs, or worse (thoughat this points I have no plans to need them)

Why? Because life IS "R" rated. People are mean, irresponsible, and rude, but it does not make them bad people.

I have read the rules carefully, and will not violate them, but I may use some uncomfortable things, because they can and do happen.

Another warning, and this time I will be fair. I have no idea how long this fic will last, or how long the inspiration will hold out. I am being very open with this work, meaning that if you have an idea of something, a setting, an event, anything, I won't be annoyed no matter how many PMs I get.

In fact I expect to get them, because the fic, as real the tone is, starts slow. The fantastic is more exciting, but I'm trying to bring that draw through characters, and relatability.

For the duel fans, I won' there will be card games, but the tabletop variety. (there may be some expansion here later on, but don't expect full holograms)

However long the story is, I hope that it it worth the read.

I think that covers everything. Thank you for donating your time.

The PLC Journals

A personal fiction by Eric Jikarn


You know, it never did feel like moving away from home. It felt just like a week at summer camp. It wasn’t until a few weeks later that it began to feel a little more permanent. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

My name’s Arron. Nice to get a chance to talk to someone on the outside. I have a few friends here, but most of them are crazy, or as my friend Marco would say, “I’m not evil, I’m dark dammit!”

I guess it’s easy to start at the beginning and get everyone up to speed. It’s now been a few weeks since I started at Paputz Learning Campus. It’s not much of an academic school at all, and it doesn’t come cheap either. Luckily my folks haven’t really had that problem, their income is on the highest side of middle class. My wardrobe is a constant reminder.

It’s a campus that focuses on the real stuff for college age kids like me whos high school never prepared them for real life. Trust me, it took a year of crashing and burning at a real college before I finally cracked down. I thought stuff like cooking and cleaning was easy, you know? Why bother?

Turned out I’m liking stuff here, but you know, why don’t I just let you see for yourselves?


“What a day!” Arron told himself exhausted as he finally was able to collapse on the emerald green comforter that covered his bed. For once, the smell that came from the mess on the other side of the room didn’t bother him. He would have to get on Mark’s case again.

Sloppily he adjusted his glasses, keeping them from slipping off his nose as he rolled over, and looked at the mirror on the other side of the room.

He couldn’t help but snicker a bit, as he wondered for the umpteenth time if he wanted to get an earring. It might go well with the longer, Devon Sawa-like style of his blonde hair.

Even exhausted as he was, too much was going through Arron’s mind to just sit still. He was kind of glad that Marco and he had gotten along so well during orientation. He kind of hoped that Joey, Marco’s apartment mate, wouldn’t be around though. The guy was fun, but a bit tough to take in large doses.

“Oh come on!” came a naturally booming voice from downstairs.

“Figures,” Arron grumbled, rolling onto his back in hopeless frustration as his stress level began to spike. “Mark’s on his video games again, as usual, and Ross just reads a book in his room and ignores it.”

Ross Jones was a second year, like Mark. Arron got the feeling that they were sharing the apartment because no one was willing to put up with him. Mark was a fun guy once in awhile, but he always seemed to say about two sentences more on a subject then anyone really wanted to know. That, and he had one of those naturally booming voices that didn’t seem to shut off.

Ross was a quiet one that seemed to keep to himself, or at least to his own friends. Arron had a feeling he might be a cool guy, if he ever got a conversation out of him. “I’ll have to find something in common one day.” Arron muttered his train of thought out loud.

All in all though, it wasn’t a bad living arrangement. Everyone was a bit messy, but at least there weren’t any health hazards.

One thing Arron knew for sure, he probably wasn’t going to be able to recharge here. He bore through the noise for a little while longer, thinking he’d invest in a walkman when he had the time, and then, after thinking he’d crash in relaxation for the night, he grudgingly put his shoes on again, and headed out into the hallway.

OOOOOOO

Paputz had a fascinating arrangement. The school had pretty much taken over the entire second floor of an apartment building. About half were student apartments. The others were classrooms, student hangout spots, computer lab, staff offices, and after hours assistance. Most of that second half had been extensively remodeled with the building’s permission; as long as the school put it back should they ever move.

“Hi Cami,” Arron muttered, as he passed a fellow first year in the hall, with her current apartment mate, also a first year, Lily Manders.

“Hey Arron,” Cami returned with a smile, made all the brighter contrasting with the baby blue sweater she had knitted herself. She immediately walked closer to the opposite wall. Lily only waved shyly as the girls made their way to the computer lab.

There was a slight ratio in favor of the guys as far as students went, and Cami Kost had been bombarded with offers, so she made it a point to keep her distance until she was ready. Arron himself wasn’t interested in her, but he had heard the gossip enough to give him headaches. Mark had been the most forward, and probably the one who scared him off. Marco was head over heels, but with all of the fuss, thought it was a better idea not to add straw to the camel’s back.

Arron did have to admit though, she had a cool name.

OOOOOOO

It took a couple knocks, but Marco was home, and let Arron in quickly with a smile.

“Hey, is Joey here?” Arron asked with a slight hint of nervousness.

“No,” came the reply, “were you looking for him?”

“Nooo thank you,” Arron chuckled. “I’d just as soon not have to put up with the pup.”

Marco rolled his eyes and let out a disgusted sigh to his ceiling. “Tell me about it. At least you don’t have to listen to him sing.”

“Or try to.” Arron finished.

Joey Mutz, Marco’s roommate, had an unhealthy obsession with wolves. Not just t-shirts, plushies, and posters, but a tail from a Halloween costume attached to his jeans. Plus there was howling, whimpering and panting whenever he was halfway not in public. The irony of his last name didn’t do much to help. The staff tried to curb it; he was 19 years old for Pete’s sake! But for now, everyone just put up with it. It seemed Marco was the only person it didn’t annoy to no end.

“He’s with Cori again,” Marco reported. Arron was not surprised. “What she sees in him, I’ll never know.”

“My theory is still that carefree, ‘the hell with it’ attitude coming as a breath of fresh air for someone as easily stressed as her.” Arron repeated. They had had this discussion several times already, “There’s probably something beneath it, somewhere”

“Still, I’m glad you came over,” Marco told him relived. “James is still working. I know he’s a third year and all, but it gets lonely with just me and the mutt.”

“Bond, James Bond.” Arron chuckled, deepening his voice.

Marco forced a chuckle himself. “Hey, it’s not his fault that was his Mom’s maiden name.”

“Well he still didn’t need to change it after the divorce!” Arron shouted, with humorous exaggeration. “There’s loyalty and there’s dignity.”

“Dude, we are never going to have a serious discussion in this apartment are we?” Marco chuckled, getting very close to a belly laugh at this point.

“I guess not,” Arron admitted, getting control of himself, “But at least it’s not getting filthy.”

“You love those,” Marco defended, “Otherwise you wouldn’t talk about how you hate them so much.”

“My philosophy is thus,” Arron started, again repeating himself, “I always want to know, whether I want to remember or not is a different question entirely. Besides, I bet less then half of the school are virgins.”

“And we all know what half we fall into,” Marco grinned. These stories had indeed come out quite quickly for a couple of friends who had only known each other for about five weeks.

“Hey,” Arron laughed, blushing slightly, but not truly embarrassed, “So I used psychological warfare, let it go already.”

“I had beaten you three times!” Marco shouted between laughs. “You start telling your cabin story, and of course my game goes to hell!”

Both guys were near tears by now, but a knock on the wall told them to keep it down.

“Maybe I was just making something up to make you lose your concentration,” Arron offered.

“Please,” Marco held up a hand, "let me think that, and lets move on. I need a kick.” The dark skinned young man began rummaging his pockets for a dollar or two. “You want one? I’ll buy.”

“If you’re offering,” Arron admitted, very comfortable in the armchair. “Orange please.”

“Fine,” he waited by the door for Arron to get up, but he showed no sign of moving. “Well? You can’t be here unless one of us is.”

“Comfy,” Arron pathetically whined as he snuggled into the comfy chair, glasses now settled on the end table. “Besides, it’s like 6:30, rounds aren’t for another hour-and-a-half.”

Marco rolled his eyes, and brushed his arm about twelve times. “There,” he relented, “That’s a few thousand skin cells that should count for a couple minutes.” He then walked out the door for just a few moments, leaving Arron actually quite bored.

The sound of a key in the lock followed, and a cheerful “Hey,” crept into the room.

“Hey Joey,” Arron responded politely, though half-heartedly. “At the park again?”

“Yeah,” The sandy haired student responded with a mischievous laugh leaving little doubt to the mind what was going on.

“Sheesh,” Arron straightened up with more then a hint of disapproval, “You work fast, especially to get a second year.”

“She likes dogs, what can I say…” he said with a turn, letting the attached tail sway a little, “she likes to play with me all day, I like Cori, yes I do…”

“Please no rapping Joey,” Arron pleaded. He didn’t have the energy to deal with this. “Besides, why do you tell me this, when you know I told the Deuces what you’re doing?”

“Because I haven’t gotten caught yet.” Joey reasoned. “I’m going to the computer lab. See ya.”

“See ya’” Arron repeated, watching the door reopen right into Marco. Joey didn’t even bother to apologize as he left.

“I hope for their sake, it’s just making out,” Arron relayed, as his friend brought the sodas from the machine. “He’s already been banned from Cori’s apartment.”

“Yeah, pregnancy scare in the first two weeks was a record James told me,” Marco replied worried.

“I’m not a stickler for all the rules,” Arron mused, lost in thought, “But I know when to bring the Deuces in.”

The After-Hours Assistants had their office in room 222, leading to them affectionately being called Deuces by the students. Most came and went as they were scheduled, but one, a heavy, but friendly woman named Carla, had her own apartment on the second floor to be available 24 hours a day, though it was made clear that early morning calls for things less then critical were not her favorite thing to respond to.

“What’s the activity tomorrow?” Arron asked, changing the subject.

Aside from classes on cooking, laundry, job skills, public transportation skills, and the like, Paputz had several activities throughout the week to keep students from sitting around on the computers. As a bonus it helped them learn the surrounding areas to get out on their own.

“East Great Mall I think,” Marco guessed. “I’m still looking for that card shop you said Ross told you about.”

“The 3Cs,” Arron confirmed. “Cards, Comics, and Collectibles. I’ll have to ask Ray to point it out. As fun as Yu-Gi-Oh is to play with you, I am looking for another challenging opponent. I bet there are tournaments and everything.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t ask Ray before,” Marco pressed, “I mean, you’d think someone as smart as you would at least think to ask the Transportation Expert, but what would he know?”

“Shut up,” Arron retorted, being just as sarcastic as his friend. “Speaking of which, you mind if I look through the cards again?”

“Sure,” Marco jumped up to head into his room, “I’ll go get ‘em.”

Arron took his own deck out of his pocket, admiring the sparkle of his ruby colored protectors. Most of them were bending, as the holographic foil of several of his cards were curving. Most of the time he stacked a couple hardcover books on top of them when the stack was on his dresser.

“I can’t believe we’re the only two Yu-Gi-Oh players here.” Marco pondered, as he brought out his deck in neon pink sleeves, his own form of psychological warfare, each and every one with a white sticker on the front, labeling them as “Property of Marco Verback.”

Arron looked with respect as he came across the top card, Cosmo Queen, super glued into the sleeve, unlike any of the others. “Here,” he held out the card, very carefully, “you hold this one.”

Marco’s dark brown eyes looked touched, but he shrugged the feeling off. “Dude, it happened like seven years ago, I’m over it. It’s ok, thanks though.”

Arron still set the card down as if it was made of mika thin crystal. He had asked why Marco had the card, even though it seemed out of place. Arron had been shocked at how deadpan Marco was when telling the story, and in fact, Arron had to press for details, many of which Marco didn’t even share under pressure.

Marco’s family had been on a road trip, and stopped at McDonalds, where of course, the Happy Meal prize had been a Yu Gi Oh card. Marco’s younger brother, Diego, drowned in a hotel pool later on that same trip. It wasn’t a burden that seemed to weigh down on his everyday life. There were no tears or deeper reason for using the rare Spellcaster. It just seemed to be something that Marco needed to do.

“And I never get tired of looking at this,” Arron nudged, picking up what was undoubtedly Marco’s most powerful monster.

“Ah yes,” Marco mused, “I never get tired of that one. Telecifica, The Living Planet. Attack 2000, Defense 2000, Level 8, Water, Aqua, This monster can only be Special Summoned by the effect of ‘Ocean Star’s Orbit’ Monsters whose level star are equal to the number of WATER monsters sacrificed for the effect of ‘Ocean Star’s Orbit’+3 cannot attack or change modes white this monster is face-up on the field. This monster gains 500 ATK for each WATER monster sacrificed for the effect of ‘Ocean Star’s Orbit.”

“You would know that effect by heart,” Arron jabbed, admiring the picture of a stunning blue ocean planet taking up most of the picture space on the card. An elegant feminine face bulged from the surface though, like something out of “The Mummy,” or “Terminator 2” The holographic shine made the deep colors all the more impressive. “Man I’d kill to see this think in a hologram duel.”

“Yeah, like that’s ever going to happen,” Marco responded, rolling his eyes as he fell back onto the hardwood floor. “But I guess if they can get cards on a TV screen, they’re getting closer.”

“Hey,” Arron protested, blocking his own field of vision with his right hand at arm’s length, “keep your shirt over your waistline than you very much.”

Marco adjusted his clothing, but didn’t seem to be paying much attention as le leafed through Arron’s deck. “I still can’t believe you named the attacks for everything in here.”

Arron blushed guiltily. “Well, most of them. A lot of them I got from fanfiction, or the anime.”

“Yeah, I even recognize some of Cyber Commander’s stuff in here. ‘Imperial Inferno’ for example.”

“Ok,” Arron admitted, “I stole that one, and need I remind you, I was the one who pointed you to Pokemasters. You’d be a couple stories behind if it wasn’t for me.” He let out a slight exasperated sigh. “And for my sake, could you please call him Dark Sage?”

“Give me a break,” Marco countered, deciding not to pursue the argument. “So I found the guy on FF.N. Who knows, maybe we can post a story of our own.”
“I was thinking about it,” Aaron admitted, noting the time slipping by. It was almost time for rounds, if he was going to check all of his usual web sites for updates, he’d have to go soon. “We’d have to decide which site first. Anyway, you got any new dirt?”

“Just the usual,” Marco replied, setting down the deck and making a move for the almost forgotten sodas. “Orange was out by the way. I got you a Cherry Coke.”

“Thanks?” Arron said with a pinch of distaste, and left the can alone.

“Yeah. Couples switching partners more then a square dance. I slipped a note into Cami’s mailbox though.”

“Score,” came the sarcastic reply. “I bet after the Cori fiasco, everyone’s too scared. Besides, these walls are paper thin.”

Marco gave a slight nod of defeat. “The only other thing is that Joey kind of wants to pick up the game. I said I’d help him.”

Arron groaned. “Must you?”

“It may get the mutt off the wolf thing,” Marco insisted before thinking, “or get him deeper into it I guess.”

“I can just imagine,” the boy with glasses groaned, before picking up on a guilty look. “You invited him to the 3Cs didn’t you?”

Marco took the moment to stare at his shoes. “We share a bedroom, it’s not like he wouldn’t find out.”

A knock came at the door with precise timing, followed by the sound of another key. Just by the sound of the turning, Arron already knew it was James, followed by Molly, one of the Deuces, sticking her head in the door.

“Hey James, how was work?” Marco asked politely.

“Sucked,” was the only reply, as James went straight to his room and slammed the door with quite a bit of force.

Molly tensed up a bit before looking at the boys. “Eight ‘o clock rounds, just the three of you?”

“Yep,” Arron responded, as Marco nodded beside him.

“Ok,” she smiled making the notes. “Mr. Verback, Mr. Rystel, I’ll see you in a couple hours for curfew.”

The door shut, and Arron got to his feet. “I’d best be off. Thanks as always.”

“No problem,” came Marco’s usual response. “Catch you tomorrow.”

Nothing much to say about the computer lab. Another day with no new updates. Not that I’m really surprised, the best fanfiction always takes the slowest. I know not much happened in this entry. But that’s life for you. Nothing interesting ever really happens like in the stories. But the journeys, and the challenges, and the love and hate, that’s all real.

Yes, I love the game of Yu-Gi-Oh, but I refuse to let it dominate my life. The most danger I’ll ever be in in a card game is the danger of a paper cut.

The real dangers, the ones that affect my future, that’s the stories I’ll be telling. Success and failure at the simplest things, and maybe the question isn’t ‘can I do it?’ at least not on a physical level… and with that I’ve completely lost myself.

You want a story. I admit I’m not good at telling them. What do you want to know? What about my life is you curious about? Tell me, and I’ll tell you.

Paputz has plenty of stories. It’s a running joke that it’d make a good sitcom.

But until then, I’ll sleep, and plan, and tell Mark to keep down the God Damn video games!

Tomorrow Night Journal,

Arron Rystel

[Dark Sage]

Yay! First reply!

I must say, I'm intrigued. The sort of Degrassi situation with the characters playing trading card games is very original. And the fic being set in the real world (and thus being unrestrictive about what cards can show up) gives you more oppurtunities than most people.

I look forward to reading more of this truly unique fic. I'll support you all the way. And you know where to turn to when you need help.

[MeLoVeGhOsTs]

Although I don't know alot by reading the first chapter, it's got me interested to say the least. Seems something I'll like, or I hope so. Not saying much for now.

[Gavin Luper]

Good to see you're still writing. I'm certainly not a YGO fan, but I think it's a very novel idea that you're bringing it into the real world in your fic. Sort of melting the surreal into the blandly real. It's a concept with heaps of potential.

The James Bond reference made me laugh, too.

Good luck with this fic's progression, man.