forum The Three Strike Rule // a reboot // oxo // open

Started February 23, 2020 by @croccin-champagne

tune

There's one thing everyone in the town of Sweetwater, Georgia can agree on. And that is baseball.

To them, baseball is the most important thing ever. And that means the private high school's baseball team are, in the simplest terms possible, gods. And as gods, they have a book. Not a bible, but a list. Of every player's name, and the name of each girl they've dated. Because there's a rule they follow, so closely it could near be their own religion.

The three strike rule.

Three dates. Each girl. Then she's out, and the player is on to the next girl. The rule, it's rumored, was put in place to keep each guy focused more on playing, and the team, than a flame. And so far, it's worked.

That is, up until Kiara West.

She's the only person, that she's aware of, who doesn't worship the ground the baseball players walk on. In fact, she hates them with every fiber of her being, even though her twin brother is one of them. Unfortunately for both her and one unlucky baseball player, class projects aren't always a one person thing. Fortunately for them, the two are more alike than they thought.

But the three strike rule is a looming shadow everywhere, even when they aren't dating. Amidst town secrets, a thieving mallard, and the constant reminders that should they give in to their mounting spark, the whole town is rooting against them, they're stuck trying to make it through.

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1. No OP characters, or I will yeet your ass outta here before you can say 'this bitch empty'. I can't stand invincible characters, man. Mary/Gary Sues/Stues are a hard nope from yours truly as well.

2. Proper grammar, punctuation, and capitalization, please. I can get making a few mistakes, when you're tired, or English ain't your first language(It's mine, and even I have my issues), but if it's too common a thing, it irks the hell outta me. Call me a bitch, but hey.

3. Slurs, homophobia, transphobia, rascism, sexism, anything that ends in -ism and that harms or promotes the harm of other people will not be tolerated. See my first threat. However! For plot devices, it might be considered, if you talk to me about it first.

4. Detailed-ish responses, please. Think three or more sentences. To keep it going.

5. Please, be on fairly often. Vacations, school, and jobs are all things I can get, but I'd like for this to have a regular pace!

6. Rated Spicey for just that, Spicey things. Whether it be mature topics, smexy things, or, gasp, blood, this is the only warning I'll remember to give.

7. Please keep the plot going! It's really hard for me to be invested in a roleplay if the other person reacts more than acts, and I'm excited about this premise and would love to keep it going as long as I can.

8. I have the full right to add and edit this list. I also have the right to boot you if you're causing too many problems.

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Name:
Nicknames:
Age:
Gender:
Sexuality:
Appearance:
Hair color/style:
Eye color/shape:
Skin tone:
Height:
Build:
Scars:
Piercings/Jewelry:
Tattoos:
Casual clothing:
Uniform/How they wear it:
Talents/Things They're Good At:
Other:

Name: Kiara West

Nicknames: Key(family only), West(most people call her that). Often goes by her number on the wrestling team.

Age: 16(junior)

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Pan, maybe? She doesn't give a shit.

Appearance:

Hair color/style: Golden blonde, cut to the bottom of her shoulderblades and wavy.

Eye color/shape: Pretty ocean blue eyes, an almost almond shape.

Skin tone: Well tanned, part her heritage, and part just loving the sun.

Height: 5'4, usually in heels though.

Build: Decently muscled from wrestling at the rec center, and cheer, but still can't shake the curves she gets from her mother.

Scars: Has a long and wicked looking scar starting just under her right breast, and ending on her left side, kind of where her leg meets the rest of her torso. Smaller scars, including burn scars, are scattered around her skin. Scar across the bridge of her nose from a break in to the bakery.

Piercings/Jewelry: Wears a necklace with a silver pendant of the north star on it. Her hoop earrings, a couple studs in other parts of her ears, and two eyebrow studs. Wants a tongue piercing.

Tattoos: She has a tattoo of a sort of abstract watercolor thing on her left shoulder blade and covering a good bit of her back.

Casual clothing: Black skinny jeans or shorts, depending on the weather. Muscle tanks, or band tees and tanks, often oversized so that she can tie them up with a hairtie. Her black ankle boots with two to five inch heels, or cheap flip flops if it's warm, and her leather jacket, of course. Large silver hoop earrings, and blood red lipstick. Her makeup is always perfect, and her eyeliner looks sharp enough to kill a man. Will sometimes randomly decide to dress up even more.

Uniform/How they wear it: Definitely wears the skirt a bit too short, and refuses to wear the tights. Instead wears really short shorts under it. The button up shirt might unbuttoned a little too much, especially considering she doesn't wear a tank top under it, like she maybe should. Rolls the sleeves up. Loves her heels. Had the school blazer at some point and lost it on the first day, but did manage to keep the tie, which is unfailingly strung loose over her shoulders.

Talents/Things They're Good At: Wrestling, kicking ass, singing and playing guitar. She's a great baker, but isn't allowed to cook in her house, after the last 'incident'. Weirdly good at making friends, even though she's kind of an ass.

Other: Hates people using her first if she hasn't okayed it. One of her brothers is trans, something the rest of the town knows, and the only reason she hasn't literally stabbed any of his bullies is because he begged her not to. Her mom owns the town bakery. She's a musician, but won't tell anybody and tries to keep it secret.

*school colors are red and black

Hi, this looks interesting and cute and would you mind if I joined?

assuming you read through the rules and understand the type of character dynamic expected, yeah! fill out the temp and post it!

Cool! I'll fill it out asap, but I'm in school atm ^^

Name: Lucas Mulbright
Nicknames: Luke
Age: 16 (Junior)
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Bisexual
Appearance:
Hair color/style: Lucas has blonde, medium/long (in the front, not the back) length, fluffy hair that he spikes up smoothly with gel. He doesn't do this when wearing a baseball helmet, of course
Eye color/shape: Large baby blue eyes, doe-eyed
Skin tone: Very pale. He burns pretty easily
Height: 5'7
Build: Lithe. He's very thin, but playing baseball keeps him fit and relatively healthy, though he clearly doesn't eat enough.
Scars: Many small scars littered across his body, localized around his forearms, ribs, and upper thighs. A few glass wound scars are scattered around as well, though most are hidden under his hair. Almost all scars are hidden under his clothes most of the time.
Piercings/Jewelry: N/A
Tattoos: N/A
Casual clothing: Lots of hoodies, jeans, and tennis shoes. He'll wear just about any color, but seems to favor red, dark colors, and pastels
Uniform/How they wear it: He wears his tie as intended, his shirt tucked in and buttoned properly, and his shoes shined. He sometimes wears the sweaters when it gets cold, but no matter what he wears, he wears it in dress code.
Talents/Things They're Good At: Baseball, of course. He's a better batter than pitcher, but he's fair at both. He's also good at art, chemistry, and studying in general.
Other: He likes working with his hands. Also loves dogs. He's a bit of a goody-two-shoes and is generally well liked by his teachers and classmates. He tends to be a little shy and socially awkward, but he's friendly once he finds his confidence. Secretly super insecure.

He works! I just hope he’s prepared to be an ass back to kiara, who is definitely the queen of mean. I’ll have to get a starter up at home, cause I don’t get much opportunity to use my iPad at school and it’s almost last block

Lucas can get super fired up when he's pissed lol. It takes a good bit to get him there, but he can be super bitchy. At first, he'll probably just try and make friends so it's not miserable, and then he'd eventually get to "What the fuck is your problem, I've been nothing but nice to you, just because you hate baseball doesn't mean you have to be a fucking twat" and yeah, he'd probably feel a little guilty, but it'll probably happen regardless

i think i might make an addendum to kiara's character sheet real quick. i'm working on a starter, i just keep picturing kiara as a cheerleader too? it seems like something she'd do, balancing cheer and wrestling and work all at once.

she's a worker, the type of person who works and doesn't stop until she burns out

"….West and Mulbright, as our last pair. Go ahead and partner up, everyone. Pick your topic, keeping the theme of Sweetwater of course, and get to work brainstorming. The project is due in two weeks, and I'm not accepting lates after prom. Try not to kill each other." Mr. Jameson said, plopping with an exaggerated huff into the chair behind his desk. He was one of the best teachers at the school, a favorite of nearly every student that passed through his class, and even students who'd never had him. He was Kiara's second favorite teacher.

Though, she was definitely not happy with him after this.

Mulbright. Star player for the Rennington Drakes, and by affiliation, someone she couldn't stand. Was it prejudiced? Yes. But if you asked her, it was fair.

Kiara wasn't in the mood to deal with any Drakes. She'd been up late last night, carried away watching the stars, and then was woken up by her family's pet mallard stealing her phone charger. Yes, mallard. As in the duck. That wasn't exactly her point, though. Or her problem. Her problem was that she'd had five coffees today—four of which had been acquired from the staff lounge—and was on her sixth. Which meant she was cranky, tired, and stuck relying on a baseball player for a grade.

"Hey." Lucas was suddenly standing before Kiara. As far as baseball players went, he really was rather chill. Many of his teammates were very intense, and despite being the star player, Lucas didn't like to force his hobbies on other people. Even if baseball was basically his life and he loved talking about it, if someone else didn't want to, he'd let it alone.

"Kiara, right? I don't think we've really talked before. I'm Lucas." He held out his hand to shake Kiara's, smiling cordially. As for the "Three Strike Rule", Lucas didn't really agree with it. But again, as the star player, he was expected to follow it. He'd only dated one or two girls, and he felt awful for practically abandoning them, but they did know about the rule when they entered the relationship. He hadn't dated anyone since, which he often got shit for from his teammates. He didn't let it bother him too much. He had bigger things to worry about.

((sorry! im a bit busy during the weekdays, so my responses are iffy, especially with a bunch of stuff going on. and i dont respond during school cause i don't have time so im a mess lmao))

Kiara looked up at the boy in front of her, eyebrow arched as she sipped her coffee. Her eyes traveled up and down him, slowly, and she had to admit he wasn't bad looking. And he seemed friendly. It's an act, Key. You've met plenty of guys like him. They pretend as long as they have to, before they've got you where they want you.

She reached out, taking his hand and shaking once. Her grip was firm, belying what would make a great business handshake. "It's West. Only my family calls me Kiara." And friends, but she was careful when it came to those. "And yeah, I know who you are. Kinda hard not to." It wasn't that what she was saying was bitchy, but something about the way she said it, eyebrow still arched and ocean blue eyes dark. Harsh.

"Well, take a seat. We've got to figure out something to do, and I'm not failing this assignment because I was too busy chatting."

(No problem)
Lucas's smile fell a bit, but he nodded and sat down agreeably enough. "Alright, West. Do you have any particular ideas on what you want to do the project on?" He asked, drumming his fingers on the desk as a small anxious habit. He'd never really liked projects, and they were made a little more difficult when he was with the one person in Sweetwater who utterly despised baseball and, by extension, him.

Oh, well. He was going to do his best to get through this project anyways, and hell, maybe he could convince Kiara that he wasn't a piece of shit for playing baseball. He liked other things too.

"We could do something about the state park, I guess?" He suggested. "Cherokee getting forced out and stuff… I don't know. Sweetwater's pretty quiet."

"Sweetwater's not quiet, it's boring." Kiara said, setting her coffee down to pull out her phone. She had quite a few unread messages—way too many, in fact—but headed straight for one contact. Alex, her little brother. He mentioned their other brother ditching school, and her twin skipping class to makeout with a girl in the hallway just outside his class. Ironic. "As shit. But the Cherokee-ban could be interesting. Or the old lighthouse, maybe. I've heard a story or two about that."

Her boots were kicked up on the desk, ankles crossed and skirt luckily not slipping too much as she texted. "They say it was a hide-out for some old pirate. 'nother one says a woman was murdered, pushed off the top of the lighthouse. Funny enough, the lighthouse is in the state park, ain't it? That place is one helluva mess."

"Yeah…" Lucas thought for a few seconds. "If the park is literally the only interesting thing in Sweetwater, don't you think everyone will be writing about it?" He asked. No. Some people will be writing about baseball, but that's besides the point. "Should we try to be more original, or is it not that big of a deal?"

Honestly, Lucas was getting a bit frustrated with Kiara already. They were trying to come up with an idea on their boring as shit town so they could do a project, and she was… what, texting or something? He didn't let it affect him too much, but it did definitely annoy him a little bit.

Kiara glanced up from her phone, gaze sweeping the room for a moment. She lifted a hand, one finger pointing at a group in the front. “Baseball.” Next group. “Baseball. Baseball, the old stadium, baseball, baseball, that one player who got famous and then died in a shootout, baseball, the mill, and my guess? They’re gonna do the state park, but specifically the mountains and the gold deposits up there.” She said, finally looking at him. The distrust in her eyes wasn’t hard to see.

“They’re predictable, for the most part. The other group there in the corner might be a wild card. Mostly because one of them is, well, one of you, and the other…” She didn’t exactly have to explain. Gage Evans was a friend of hers, and well known for not getting along with the team after his sister had become one of the conquests. “Frank Riley is a dick, and Gage already hates him.” In fact, it was clear things were already starting to go horribly, judging by the sneer on Frank’s face and the scowl on Gage’s.

Lucas nodded, his eyes following Kiara's finger with every group she pointed at. "I guess you're right…" As the star player of the baseball team, of course he would likely enjoy the project more if he wrote about baseball. He was sure all of his teammates expecting him to. However, he knew how much Kiara hated baseball, and he didn't want to make someone suffer like that for a stupid project.

"So, we'll do the park then?" He asked, snapping himself out of his thoughts. "Seems like it won't be a problem, if a bit dull…"

“Boring’s the best you can get in Sweetwater.” Kiara said, eyes not going back to her phone, instead staying on Gage and Frank with a calculating glint. Her finger still flew over her screen, typing with a quick and practiced ease. Then she set her phone on Lucas’ desk. “Put your number in, so we can talk about meet up times. I want to get this done as quick as possible, and carrier pigeons probably wouldn’t work for that, unfortunately. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I gotta go end a fight.”

And right then, Gage threw a punch that landed on Frank’s face with a ‘thwap’. Kiara’s grin was sharp as she stood fluidly from her desk, leaning against it and letting each boy get a couple punches in before she stride over. Mr. Jameson shot her a look that she waved off, then rolled his eyes and reached for the phone to call campus security.

“Really, Gage? Middle of class? He’s a baseball player, just meet him on the pitch.” Kiara called, earning a grunt from Gage, who had lost his leg up on Frank when he bumped into a desk. He was pressed into it now, locked in a chokehold as Frank muttered something that had him turning even more red out of anger.

“West, if you’re going to get involved with a fight, do it to end it, now instigate it.” Jameson said, dragging a hand down his face in exasperation. So she did. With a textbook to the side of Frank’s head, so hard the crack of his jaw could be heard around the room. And then Mr. Jameson’s sigh following it.

Lucas quickly typed in his number before standing up to try and break things up. It would be pretty obvious to the teacher that he wasn't trying to join in considering how nonconfrontational Lucas usually was. "Christ, Frank! Knock it off!" He tried to pull Frank away from Gage unsuccessfully. "If you get suspended, Coach'll be furious!"

He then ended up in the middle to try and push the boys apart. After a few seconds of struggling, he ended up taking a punch to the face, he wasn't quite sure from who, and stepped back. His heart started racing and he seemed to be a little distant as he stood silently.

A bruise was beginning to blossom on his cheek and his ears were ringing loudly. This was a feeling he knew well. Oh God… not now. Memories flooded his mind and he started trembling slightly, his face growing a bit paler. He was holding his breath by now, and still wasn't fully there.

Frank managing to punch Lucas at all was somewhat of a miracle, based in the fact that his jaw was swelling and he was obviously barely able to keep any sort of balance. He let out a snarl, before seeming to realize that he'd just decked one of his teammates. His mouth opened, but Gage cut him off with another punch, right before Kiara had hold of both of their shirts and was hauling them away from each other with a strength only someone with training could manage. She looked pissed.

And maybe it had something to do with the glance she'd shot Lucas' way.

"Listen the fuck up, you lettuce-brained parameciums. That's enough. Fighting each other is one thing. Fighting in class, and getting other people caught in the middle of it is a whole different thing." She said, jerking Gage back when he moved as if to go after Frank again. The look she shot him was positively venomous, friend or not. "Now, y'all are gonna apologize to Cal-" Mr. Jameson. "-to Mulbright, and then to the whole fuckin' class. Take this outside after school, if you gotta do it." It was minorly hilarious, the commanding tone she had, and how quickly both boys ducked their heads and muttered apologies to everyone listed. Having three brothers, two of whom tended towards trouble and spats with each other, really payed off sometimes.

She let them go, shoving Gage towards his desk and saying something to him in a low tone. Then she turned to Lucas, arm moving around him but not actually touching him, and guided him out of the classroom. No one stopped her. "Two beats in, four out. Breathe for a second."

Lucas drew in a shaky breath when instructed, closing his eyes and leaning back against the wall. He had a sinking pit of fear growing in his chest and stomach, and he hated it. One stupid punch shouldn't do this to him, right? He ran his fingers through his hair to try and calm himself down, focusing what was left of his conscious thought on Kiara's voice telling him when to breathe.

Calm down… you have to keep this shit at home. You can't do this at school. What will people think? He told himself. "I-I'm sorry…" Lucas whispered, hesitantly opening his eyes to look over at Kiara. His gaze kept shifting in and out of focus, and would occasionally flinch a tiny bit when a particularly harsh memory hit him, but he was clearly trying his best to get back to the present.

She's led him to a corner, out of view of any classroom windows. It was quiet, somehow secluded from the school, as though they had been transported to an entirely new place. Kiara had always been good at finding spots like that.

"Don't. Just breathe. That's all you gotta do right now." She said, voice steady. Like she'd done this before. And to be honest, she actually had. Danny used to get panic attacks before games, and Alex before his bot shows. Even Reese had, when he'd called her late at night or early in the morning, high or drunk or in jail. She'd talked teammates through them, other cheerleaders, her coach on one occasion. And no one's ever been around to help you through yours. "In and out, right? Try in for seven, out for eight. Nod or shake your head when I talk." She started speaking, rambling one about nonsense and things like what she had for breakfast—a protein bar—, a movie she had seen the other day that she hated. Sometimes, she would sprinkle in a question or two, pausing to give him time to shake his head.

Lucas nodded and breathed as instructed, not attempting to speak again. He'd never actually had someone to help him through panic attacks before. He just suffered through them alone every night, but god was he grateful for the help right now, even if it was from the girl who hated him.

Considering his father and all, he did actually have panic attacks every night. He got used to having them, but in a way, he could never actually get used to them. It seemed like every time he was doing better, the attacks would get worse, and he'd be right back where he started.

It was all he could hope that Kiara wouldn't tell anyone, honestly. This would be excellent dirt on him, and he wasn't exactly looking to get beat up by anyone else. He kept fading out, but Kiara's simple questions dragged him back to reality. He nodded or shook his head respectively to answer every question.