#Event: And Then There Were Four

[thedeadthree]

-ˋˏ .·:·. ⊱ 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐕𝐄𝐈𝐋𝐆𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐛𝐲 @pavus — day one: 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞.

— 𝐈𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐄 𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐕𝐀𝐑 . 𝐕𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐈 𝐃𝐄 𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐀 . 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐀 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐄.

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐃𝐀𝐒. 𝐄𝐍𝐉𝐎𝐘 𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐈���� 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐒.

— 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 (mutuals can opt in/out via 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 <3):

@loriane-elmuerto, @carrionsflower, @auricfog, @girliefailure, @sunsofdawn

@risingsh0t, @griffin-wood, @lilywatt, @full---ofstarlight, @grapecaseschoices

@tommyarashikage, @shadowsofrose, @shadowglens, @weisshaupts, @queennymeria

@deadrlngers, @d-esmond, @courtana, @gothimp, @wlwaerith

@unholymilf, @aezyrraeshh, @socially-awkward-skeleton, @shellibisshe, @florbelles

@celticwoman, @neonshrike, @cloudofbutterflies92, @adelaidedrubman, @carlosoliveiraa

@pinkfey, @spookyrares, @yharnams, @aceghosts, @confidentandgood

@theelderhazelnut, @leviiackrman, @ellierenae, @anoras, @lavampira

@dialdrunk, @full---ofstarlight, @imogenkol

[ndcgalitzine]

too much handsome in one place, I'm surprised the place didn't catch fire 🔥🔥

[sleepyorchidmonster]

Once upon a time, NRC's Board Game Club decided to organize a chess competition. Thanks to Azul's marketing genius, the event became really popular, with plenty of students from outside the club participating.

However, due to an accident (Floyd was bored and Grim annoyed him, everything is now on fire), most of the club's chess sets were destroyed. To solve the problem, contestants were encouraged to bring one of their personal sets.

This idea made for an ecletic set up, especially since most students are crazy rich. Idia brought the set Leona gave him for his birthday, Malleus found an old heirloom from Briar Valley, Kalim isn't even a competitor, but he still got a set made of solid gold and encrusted with precious gems from the Scarabia storage room, and so on... (Cater took a bunch of pictures of all the different styles).

In an effort to make up for Grim's mishap, Adeuce also decided to help, remembering that Heartslabyul has a room filled with different games that students often used.

There were dozens of chess sets, but they just HAD to choose the pretty one atop of a pedestal, with a sign saying "NO!!" in bold letters (in their defense, Heartslabyul is nonsensical, also they were in a competition with Sebek and that was the best set).

A few days later, right before the event, the game club students began to organize the space for the matches.

Only for the Heartslabyul set to come to life and start fighting people, that is...

Apparently, the Queen of Hearts left a small contingent of her best soldiers to protect the school, just in case. Hidden as a deck of cards and a chess set, those soldiers can be summoned by simply opening their cases/boxes, though they shall only answer to the Heartslabyul housewarden.

She also forgot to tell anyone else about the plan, trusting that a single rule of "When in trouble, get the chess set or the playing cards" would suffice.

So now we have a bunch of gigantic marble statues wandering around campus, looking for hostile forces or their leader...

After a few fights, a statue crashing a dormhead meeting and kidnapping Riddle, and plenty of discussion, the students FINALLY manage to calm the statued down, explaining how it was all a misunderstanding.

All's well that ends well, but now the chess pieces want to watch the actuall chess matches.... something about wanting to know the prowess of great warriors and future leaders...

And that is how we get an chess event in twst, with a few extra cards and special outfits, since this just became a formal event, what with the piqued interest of a bunch of ancient royal guards.

The main event cards would be Leona, Idia, Azul, Malleus, Lillia and Jamil, since they're the actual contestants for the competition, while Riddle also gets an SSR, since he is supervising the gigantic chess soldiers, in a role similar to the Queen of Hearts.

Since the statues insisted on participating in the competition's finale, the last match is held in the school's Coliseum, with a cute twstune to wrap things up.

Then the victor gets crowned and the chess pieces leave.

[akkivee]

the pivotal points in bat’s past 🤔

kuukou

age ????- his best friend moved away

age 14: attained a higher level of asceticism than his father, met hitoya who helped clear an assault charge on some good will that went awry

age 15: left home to flex his talent, got humbled quick lol but met ichiro and vowed to grow stronger

jyushi:

age ???? (presumably 6)- received amanda from his grandmother

age 13- started middle school where he ‘befriends’ iyogi

age 14- has been a victim of bullying for a year and the bullying escalated to the point his grandmother was killed. met hitoya who made sure iyogi ain’t seeing the light ever again and a little later helped jyushi find the will to keep living

hitoya

age 14- loses his brother

age 23- upon receiving a tip, he decided to change majors from being a doctor to a lawyer in order to jail the guy that bullied his brother. broke up with jakurai after a disagreement

age 31- meets kuukou and jyushi for the first time and we see the fruits of his lawyer efforts

[cerealmonster15]

Oh my godddd I said I was going to sleep but then I thought about jamiazu again

[⚠️ nightmare before Christmas event spoilers]

[source]

This flashback scene keeps making me LAUGH like azul can’t help himself trying to butter up Jamil any chance he gets!!!!!!!!!! And what tf does he mean “no matter how many times I see it” bitch how many times have u seen it… he was hiding it until book 4… then again I guess Jamil used it a bunch in book 4 meltdown mode + again in book 6 - which azul also applauded him for in book 6 and remarked how incredible it was in book 4 that he could use it on so many people and keep control of them. So I guess that answered my question LOL he’s Jamil’s biggest fan for real….

And riddle making my favorite Riddle Face ever. I still can’t tell if that face is being aimed at Jamil for how thrilled he was to hypnotize children, or azul for being annoying LOL. I love the second years they’re so funny 😭

Actually while I’m here

[source]

Dude 😭☠️ he’s just Standing There Watching LOL

[source]

My fave was the first team up tho LOL Jamil and riddle are like This Is The Worst Day Of My Life I Don’t Want To Hang Out With Azul Specifically!!! And azul is SMILING SOOOO CHEERILY

I’m too tired to lol for other TLs to screenshot lol these I knew where to find immediately but god the way azul always seeks out Jamil to try and pair up with him for stuff 😭 this boy is RELENTLESS‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

Jamil openly and loudly: you are so annoying. I do not want to hang out with you EVER!!!!

Azul for some reason every time: haha ur so funny anyway are you free later-

[mccromy]

Sure sure, ooc-ness is natural and normal in fandom, as it is ignoring canon elements that you disagree with or plainly dislike.

But you are aware that that wildly inaccurate interpretation and despiction of your favorite character, with little to no basis on the canon material, that ends in creating a version of said character that only lives inside your head, means you don't actually like that character at all? Surely you realize that?

[wesavegotham]

I think I would be more interested in stories that try to explore Bruce's mind if writers didn't use the same few memories over and over and over again.

[burinazar]

my trip to Akotoma (abyss fanworks event) yesterday was entirely successful ^ -- ^ i'd love to make a longer post about it soon, as well as some of my thoughts on doujin culture in general, because i think my perspective could be informative and interesting to people.

like, sure, there's entry-level misconception-dispelling like "hurhur did you know not all doujinshi are porn" (or, slightly less hurhur, "did you know doujinshi products include many many things besides comics"), but it's 2024 and i feel like every weeb and their mother knows that by now; there's also stuff like the fascinating differences of ethos regarding things like pricing and accessibility, content, fandom socialization, etc., some of which i see discussed but generally not in a level of detail and nuance that satisfies the depth of my interest; and then there's also the stuff that almost nobody or relatively few people seems to discuss like the culture of handing out gifts, candy, and fanletters (which i could find literally zero people talking about in english online when i first heard about this and looked for info on it in the past). it's all really neat to me. also i do want to talk about akotoma and abyss specifically and what it personally meant for me to finally make a trip there, because as many of u can tell this fandom is both a) very important to me and b) something of a source of consternation, so it was kind of a personal triumph to have it go well when i went, and i'm looking forward to each subsequent event and hope i'll be able to be even more involved and social ^^

[mymarifae]

if you're wondering how i'm taking mizu5

the answer is "badly"

[batsplat]

casey also talks about sepang 2015 what do you think of that

oh in that podcast? uh... lemme listen again...

yeah idk it's not really anything new I'd say? he's said basically all the same stuff in more interesting and extensive ways elsewhere. I think casey inevitably has a very 'well feuding is bad and helps nobody' point of view, has expressed that before in the past, does it here again, and he's also drawn a parallel between himself and marc on several occasions. which... well, of course there's similarities in terms of public discourse or whatever, but the parallel really falls apart whenever casey argues the feuds cost valentino. like, I do think it's sometimes important to just. keep in mind. it's interesting that casey draws this comparison in his mind but that doesn't necessarily means he's right about this. I'm not sure how you'd argue that starting a feud with casey cost valentino anything competitively? you can argue it didn't help him I guess, and then we can have a debate about the ins and outs of the 2008 season. we can also have an argument that in a hypothetical world where casey isn't ill in 2009, valentino doesn't break his leg and casey isn't on a piece of junk in 2010, and valentino isn't on a piece of junk in 2011-12, then actually maybe valentino sparking open animosity with casey COULD have cost him. but we don't know that! didn't happen! I wish we could have found out, but we never got the chance! as it stands, the tally on this is pretty straightforward: casey won the title when things were reasonably civil between them in 2007, and valentino took control of the following season at the exact moment he worsened the relationship between the pair of them in 2008. obviously, it's all more complicated than that and casey would of course argue laguna didn't negatively affect his subsequent performances... but it certainly didn't help them. like, at the very worst valentino escalating tensions in 2008 is a complete net neutral. after 2009, them being bitchy to each other every other tuesday was completely competitively irrelevant beyond maybe affecting how they approached occasionally fighting for a podium position. hey, maybe casey used that feud to fire himself up through sheer spite throughout the later stages of his career, but that doesn't actually support his anti-feud stance - it's basically the exact same thing as what valentino does. they're both quite similar in that regard! always so hungry to prove a point, to show how someone else is wrong. kinda half the point with this feuding business is to get yourself going, get yourself motivated, yeah. he straight up openly admits to using yamaha's repeat rejection of him as a way of giving himself motivation, and at the end of the day that's really not all that different?

anyway, what else does casey say... oh yeah, that him and the other aliens were already kinda prepared for this and had learned vale's tricks. that valentino had only been able to get into the minds of the previous generation. welllllll *wiggles hand* sure, I mean, he did clearly have to change his approach... he couldn't just use the exact same playbook to get to them, either on-track or off-track. but that's why he did change up the playbook... again, whether you want to believe valentino won his final two titles 'in the head' rather than just through pure pace kinda depends on how you assess the evidence, but it is at the very least a debate. and, y'know, it's always worth remembering that valentino's most important mind games with casey didn't happen in a press conference... it was on the track. and the on-track stuff really is just embedded in how valentino approaches winning. speaking of aliens, this is what dani and jorge have said:

like, valentino's entire approach to his riding, even to the way he's setting his bike up, is deliberately about directly fucking with you... he's not actually always trying to be faster than you as much as he's trying to give himself the tools to make your life miserable, to pressure you into mistakes, etc etc... and again, especially with casey (if anything because he was so mentally sturdy), the off-track stuff was really just window dressing. (I know they bicker a lot after 2009 but it's just so fundamentally irrelevant to actual on-track competition.) so you can be aware of those tricks, but it also doesn't necessarily help you when someone's being nasty to you on-track in a way you just fully do not enjoy. which is what it was like for casey! for casey, a lot of this comes back to the truly unpleasant context of how he was perceived by the public, how he was treated as mentally weak or 'broken' or whatever partly because he had the misfortune of coming up against a bloke who had the reputation for breaking rivals. I think it's quite natural to end up with a bit of a hardliner 'actually I've never been mentally affected by a result in my life' stance - and of course casey is a lot tougher than a lot of people give him credit for. that being said. sometimes your rivals affect you, shit happens, it's part of the game. it's fundamentally a nice idea to think that valentino's tactics weren't just morally wrong but also ineffective, which is kind of the appeal of this narrative, right? you want to believe you're above that, you want to believe you were adequately prepared and wise to valentino's tactic. it's unsurprising and understandable that casey does tend to tell the story that way, but again it's *wiggles hand* also hard to describe it as completely factual

uh. what else. oh I'm thrilled casey does canonically know valentino and marc were friends, he has said he wasn't following motogp too much during that time period so you couldn't be sure of that. does this mean anything? does it tell you anything? well, no, but it's just a pleasing thought to me. I like that. oh also 'provoking particularly aggressive riders isn't a good idea' is kinda a funny take from casey? like, he of all people would hate the idea of being cowed by someone's reputation like that... casey's right that provoking fast riders can potentially be dangerous, but y'know I do think that's probably not news to anyone almost nine years later. um. that's all I've got I think

[expressionless-fr]

rude.

[your-fave-isdoomedbythenarrative]

okay how about the actual triplets (i wanna say quagmire?) from a series of unfortunate events cause. it’s funny i dunno

The Quagmire Triplets from A Series Of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket are doomed by the narrative and can't escape.

[tainted-esau]

Lmao??

[strinak]

y'know, the world is on fire and my brain wants to kill me, but. I did get to see a pack of papillons today. one of them was deaf and trained to do tricks via signed commands.

[akkivee]

there was also this segment in the event and i’m glad they know lmao

[moe-broey]

What if I told you this is only half of ehat I drew today. My Oops! All Ratatoskr pile. My hand hurds so bad

(for reference: All of these are concepts/to get a feel for dynamics and how I wanna draw her!!! Esp that doodle dump at the end!)