#I've really enjoyed running this tournament so far!

[sanji-outfit-tourney]

All the matches for Part 2 Round 1 are queued up and ready to go! They'll start posting tomorrow at 10:00am (GMT-5)

[hypnagogics]

THE WAY YOU WRITE IS JUST SO YUMMM so yeah🧍🏻‍♀️can you write something about streamer ellie <33

☆: IM SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT. definitelyyyy hasn't been...months...anyway. positive this is one of the worse things i've written, but didn't wanna leave you hanging forever! ngl it's pretty filthy..heh.

◇: 18+ pretend those twitch guideline things don't exist. remote control vibrator use, orgasm denial, sub-ish!ellie?? plot twist at the end bc i think im so funny. 1.6k wc. don't mind the layout of this idk what else to do...

You watch your girlfriend stream her game from your fluffy and comfortable spot on your shared bed—you observe how focused she was on her screen, how her skilled fingers were flying across the keyboard and mouse. It would certainly be a shame to disturb her in such a high tension moment but you think it over, running your finger over the small buttons of the sleek little remote in your hand.

"Yeah, yeah, got 'em! Look at that guys, I fuckin’ aced that!" Ellie rejoices in her victory, and gleefully boasts to her viewers, adjusting her microphone closer and leaning back in her chair.

You're glad you were far off camera, her fans didn't even know she was in a relationship—Ellie made it clear she wanted you to be separate from her hobbies, not because she wanted to keep you a secret, but because she wanted to keep you safe. And you enjoyed watching her stream from the sidelines like this, you saw how her personality captivated viewers and how much fun she really was. But you also enjoyed messing with her on the occasion. Like today.

"Can I watch tonight's stream again?" You asked her eagerly. "Yeah, why not? I'll be doing some tournaments and stuff though, so no distractions." Oops. You bit back a laugh. Ellie immediately sussed out the mischievous look on your face and she sighed, expecting the worst.

Then you showed her the box you've been hiding, "Please let's try, I won't click it too much, I promise." She stared at you for a whole minute, maybe more, before sighing and reluctantly agreeing, rubbing her hands all over her face. "God, fine. Just 'cause I love you. Damn you're evil."

Fast forward to now—the device was snugly inserted inside her pretty pussy, tested out to prove it does in fact work, and works well at that.

So off Ellie went to play her game, getting so caught up in everything she seemingly forgot about the device entirely. In between games she was talking to the viewers, reading the chat and joking back and forth. You decided it was a good enough time to click it so you pressed the button, only for a miniscule zap.

She jerked in her seat, gasping, but quickly recovered with a strategic cough. "Phew sorry guys, something got caught in my throat." You saw a bright berry blush spread across her face, and the way she fought to turn and throw a glare at you. This was going to be fun.

"Alright, the next round’s gonna start, we gotta lock in! Hopefully nothing pops up and this goes smoothly. I can taste the win already.” She put a certain warning tone to her voice in the last part of her sentence, you knew it was meant for you, but were you going to listen? Absolutely not. "Oh yeah chat fun fact, this old area of the map was inspired by ancient ruins just of—ah!" As if her body had a mind of its own, she squirmed in her seat and she clapped her hand over her mouth to stifle a moan when you hit it again, but this time you didn't turn it off right away. You kept it going for a few more seconds, to prolong the terribly delicious sensation.

She screwed her eyes shut tightly and held her breath until you turned it off, mumbling to her viewers about "having hiccups". "The game is starting now, so we really gotta get serious." Her voice had an unsteadiness to it only you could hear, she was keeping her composure rather well so far. But likely wouldn't be able to keep up the act for much longer. Even she has her limits.

As her match went on, she got quiet when she was focused, mashing the keys with a speed fast as sound. Of course, you hit it again, just a short one, causing a choked "guh" to escape from her lips and she twitched when you did so, her facade starting to crack. The effort to keep her voice stable was showing, she was huffing and struggling to get her words out clearly, they were laced with obvious irritation.

"Fuck missed the shot, dammit. Yeah I don't know, somethings up today, sorry guys...off my game." You decided to be nice to her until the game ended, not pressing it further or adjusting the intensity. She played for a little while longer before losing the match, leaning forward on the desk with her face in her hands. This was the perfect moment, so you cranked it up, increased the intensity to maximum, and held the button for the longest time yet, making her whine—a low, drawn out sound she couldn't stifle this time.

You could hear lots of messages being sent, pings in rapid succession, they were probably clipping that moment. Perverts, you thought. 

Her chest was noticeably heaving up and down, her legs spread as she rocks her front against the chair, and she kept her head lowered until you decreased the intensity but didn't turn it all the way off. Her hands were shaking, and her face was a vibrant cherry red, the screen even reflected the sparkle of a couple tears in her eyes.

“What? Oh, I'm just so sad about the loss guys, we were so close—hnn- so…so closeahh—I mean, we should've gotten that…” She trailed off, chewing on her bottom lip and tapping her fingers on the desk’s wooden surface. “Y’know what, I'll be right back.” She paused the stream, made triple sure her camera and microphone were turned off, then whipped around in her chair to face you, glaring silver daggers your way.

You just giggled innocently and turned the device off again. “What the fuck is wrong with you, this shit is not- not light on you at all.” Her voice was breaking, her pretty features contorted in a beautifully needy expression, eyebrows furrowed and eyes all watery. Nearly as wet as the mess in her pants. You feigned innocence and shrugged at her, “Well I didn't know it was that strong.” “You knew damn well.” She's fed up with your antics, but you have fun playing with her. She covers her face and leans back in the chair, the embarrassment in her voice the only thing you could hear, “Fuck you...turn it up again, wanna cum.”

You couldn't contain the laugh that burst forth from your chest, then said, “Only if you stream it.” The shock that flickered across her face was priceless, you wish you could have snapped a photo.

“What the fuck do you mean by that, nah forget it.”

“Hey, you gotta finish your stream either way, they're waiting. Would you wanna be so awful and deprive those darlings of your presence?”

You flash her a sugary smile, and she shoots you a murderous look again, before wordlessly scooting back to her setup, fanning herself briefly and readjusting her coppery hair.

Then she turns the stream back on. “Sorry guys, I had to get up for a second. Anyway, let's play one more game. I'm getting kinda tired today. Let's make this one count, lock in like never before.” She takes a deep breath, cracks her knuckles, and begins smacking away at the keyboard buttons. You're able to see the way she looks tense, on edge, anticipating your devilish interruption.

You debate whether you should torture her, but the answer quickly becomes clear. Click.

“Ah—fuck!” She sputters, and roughly slams her fist on the desk. The pleasure was hitting her with full force, she was in her own, lewd, world now. Her head is thrown back, back arched and hips stuttering, the release was about to sneak up on her.

You watch the scenario unfold, licking your lips and pressing your thighs together to deal with the pressure between them. Her unapologetic moans get louder, but for a second she snaps out of the trance to sit back upright, turn the stream off, before the peak hits her like a truck.

“Holy, fu—hah!!” With a squeal she cums, not caring about how fucking loud she was being, wanting to be selfishly absorbed in ecstasy.

She started to jolt around in her seat, the throes of overstimulation making her whimper like an animal in heat, it truly was a sight to behold. You wish you were in between her legs, lapping up her sweetness straight from the source, but in a way, just watching from the sidelines was satisfying enough. You'll clean her up afterward.

Finally you turned it off once and for all, and gazed at her, she was panting heavily, the post-orgasm glow making her rosy skin shimmer in the low light.

“Hmmm, thanks babe, that was so good…” She tried to talk, her head was in the clouds, but she looked at peace.

“You're a whore.” You chortled, and you two shared a laugh.

Although, a flurry of shrill sounds brought you both out of the fantasy. Ping, ping, ping.

Unfortunately she wasn't able to enjoy the aftermath of a mind-numbing session, because her eyes shot open and she began scrambling to find the source of the sound. Your stomach dropped as you watched her panic, her neuroticism infectious.

She looked at you, her eyes wider than saucers, nothing but fear in her voice, “I wasn't able to turn my mic off…”

What was she going to do now?

if you'd like to be tagged in my fics, click here! thank you for reading. asks, reblogs, and comments are appreciated more than you know. ♡

tags: @andersonfilms @ch6douin @aouiaa @sapphic-ovaries @astro-cat2 @paqerings @r3starttt @littlefallenangel111 @sinfulprayerss @lvlymicha @sunnsh1ine @anniee333 @pinkcwake @marsworlddd @caszzine @saturnsdrafts @ashaynep @mascdom @xysbree @liddysflyer @fortune777 @brunaedn @bunnitewsilly @mimasroom2 @deliriousrn @infiniteinquiries @thekill3randthefinalgirl @kissyslut @elliesapple

[konnosaurus]

happy pride month everyone!!!!! have a small selection of little headcanons i have for some of my faves :3

this definitely isn't a full list of all of my personal headcanons, just a few that i really like. i've put the flag names/some thoughts under the cut! these are just my personal thoughts and it is perfectly wonderful if you disagree with any/all of them!

from left to right:

rosie: the rainbow flag. she is an enjoyer of women and everyone woman-adjacent!

henry: bi and nonbinary. i have such a fond spot in my heart for he/they henry!

james: genderfluid and biromantic. collects all the pronouns, with a preference for he and she depending on the vibes of the moment! i enjoy headcanoning james as biromantic and a big enjoyer of romance and flirting, but he is sooo bad at it. he tries out all of his best pickup lines on his friends and they just laugh in his face (with affection and care, mostly!) because she's just so terrible at them. she has never successfully flirted with anyone in her life and i love that for him < 3

emily: lesbian. professional enjoyer of all women. she fits so well with almost every single woman she meets and it is splendid. i really love in the great race how she has little chats with ashima and seems to really like her, it's a really sweet little bit of background interaction i enjoy. also, best engine ever is wonderful and her n caitlin are so sweet. give emily her women!

ryan: aroace. i honestly don't think i have much to say about this one, i just really like it.. though i also like ryan/thomas and ryan/daisy hehe. eh, those can all live in harmony in my brain :3

oliver: gay. professional enjoyer of men and those men-adjacent. i have a little comic planned that i will be making soon with him and douglas hehe

rebecca: omnisexual. i used to have rebecca as pan in my mind, but @togetherness23 (who has loads of gorgeous flags colourpicked from screenshots and is currently running a ttte sapphic ships poll tournament, go check them out if you haven't already!!!) has influences me with a gorgeous colourpicked omni rebecca and now i have to admit i can't think of her as anything else, omni tracks soooo well for her i love it!

anywayss, thanks for reading this if you get this far and have a wonderful day (and wonderful pride month!!) everyone!

[itsjaywalkers]

laurie, aside from being a number 1 fan of your fics, i've also read all the fics you bookmarked on your account, and gotta tell you they are all masterpieces, and i want to know if you have any more fic recs, and what your current favorite wips are?

this is so very sweet, thank u darling <3 and it always makes me so excited when ppl ask me for recs and like my taste in stories!!! all my bookmarks are really good if i do say so myself so i'm very glad you've enjoyed all the fics i love + hold close to my heart

hmm i feel like most of my recs are already on my bookmarks but !! current wips that i'm reading and following and that absolutely brighten my day whenever they update are:

hide your fires by @starsworth !! i'm reading it slowly because i wanna take my time and absorb everything properly but i'm . fucking loving it so far, i really can't recommend it enough, it's so insanely good (and i'm in love with kingsley..)

the art of getting off by @just--vi !! such a fun and lovely story, this james has me biting my fist and running laps around my flat. every chapter is like a boost of serotonin

cupid's chokehold by lollipopluna on ao3 !! i've talked about this one before but it's just one of my fav wips rn, i'm fucking obsessed with it and it's so devastating but . in the best way

lovely bitter water by @alarainai !! this fic has made me laugh out loud . several times . most insufferable and embarrassing james potter i've ever read but i love him and i love him dearly. but then again i think i've read every single one of fen's works <3 he never disappoints

get him back by @sixlane !! always ALWAYS thinking about this fic.. this regulus is so special to me and also Peak Denial. it has some of the best tension i've ever read. lane's writing is out of this world

deep the water by @mothbart !! one of my fav james ever.. the amount of happiness this story brings me is INSANE im not ready for the heartbreak that i know it's coming but also . i can't wait .

i'll be home for the summer by @carniferous !! not only one of my favourite current wips but also one of my favourite stories in the whole world. everyone should read it. this jegulus is Everything . to me . i would die for them..

once every few lifetimes by cozypancakes on ao3 !! read it recently and i fucking loved it. saved me during my terrible weekend. it's a triwizard tournament au and the jegulus dynamic in this one has me SCREAMING they're so sweet and so very obsessed with each other

our sun bleeds red by @athymybones !! insane writing insane plot and insane dynamics. it just started and it's already SO GOOD.. i'm always searching for some bartylily and this one caters to all my tastes

and im probably reading more wips but these . are my main ones . i think (hoping i didn't miss any.. i read way too much fanfiction..)

[historical-fashion-polls]

Hello,

I want to thank you for running this blog and especially the Halloween polls! I've enjoyed it since I first came across it, but I'm especially appreciative right now.

I'm working in Emergency Management (which is not my usual job) this week and in the direct path of Hurricane Milton. Which means I've had 12 hour workdays since Monday with each one getting progressively more stressful (and honestly, a particularly scary one today, with multiple tornadoes on the ground not far from us). But these polls have been something help to take my mind off of things for a few moments. Getting to zoom in on two outfits and consider whether I would rather wear the one with the big skirt or the puffy sleeves? So good for my brain rn. Seriously, thank you so much.

hi dear anon! 💕

thank you so much for sending in this incredibly sweet and heartfelt message – it really means a lot! ☺️☺️ I'm so sorry to hear about the stress you're under at the moment – I can't even imagine how scary that must be ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹 but I am really happy to hear that even in the midst of everything, the polls can be something that brings you a moment of levity and joy! 🥰🥰

and thank you for the work you're doing! I sincerely hope that you and everyone in the path of the storm are able to stay safe and well! ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

thank you so much again for this message! ☺️💕 I wish you all the best, and I hope the tournament and polls are able to continue to provide even a little bit of relief and whimsy in spite of everything! 🥰🥰

[michiviv]

flufftober, day 1 : lost pet meet cute, t. kuroo > kuroo is jealous of cute girls with cute dogs

warnings: fem! reader, two mentions of Miju, dogs, so many dog mentions

authors note: i've rewritten this like five times (dramatic) (this also does infact go down in quality)

it was a crisp autumn afternoon in the neighborhood park, with golden leaves crunching underfoot as Kuroo Tetsuro strolled casually, enjoying the fading warmth of the sun. His mind was occupied with thoughts of the upcoming volleyball tournament, but he found solace in the serene surroundings.

the orange leaves, the cold but not too cold weather and the people strolling along the park. as he himself wandered through the park he walked past the dog park area, seeing all the dogs run back and forth forth while chasing a ball and trying to prevent the other dogs from taking it.

it was no secret that kuroo loves dogs, specially big dogs. if he could he would have at least three. he already had them named too; apollo, cinnamon and orion. one would be a huge fluffy dog, the other two a more short haired athletic dog.

he could already imagine his life with them. he'd adopt the fluffy dog, maybe an elder and spend his time doting for him and caring for him. taking him on walks along the park, perfect for this weather. however he'd go on runs with the other two, knowing as they were younger they'd need more activity to be content. when they went to play in the park he'd throw one really far for them to chase while the elder dog got a ball much closer to them; he was getting weak.

yaku was tired of hearing it too, he always went on and on that when he was in college he'd get a dog, and how during the weekend he went to the shelter and the dogs were the cutes and he pitied not being able to do more for them.

however, it was a secret that he was quite jealous of those who had the luxury to have big dogs. hell— even if they weren't big dogs he was still jealous; he wanted a dog to dote on. someone to accompany him on his morning runs, to greet him when he got home.

suddenly, a blur of flash dashed past him, startling him out of his reverie. "wait! max!" a voice called out behind him, he turned around to face the voice and all he could see was a beautiful brown golden dashing towards him at full speed; behind the dog he could see, you, the dogs owner, running after him.

suddenly there was one thing he was more jealous than people with dogs: beautiful girls with beautiful dogs.

at his lack of attention the dog jumped on kuroo, causing him to stumble back but not fall.

"max!" you called again, your voice verging on a scold, however the lack of breath made your voice lack the bite it needed to have effect. his eyes couldn't help but wonder from the dog now in his arms to you— your cheeks flushed slightly from the chase, yours eyes midly exasperated but equally affectionate.

"i'm so sorry!" you apologized, grabbing the leash and pulling on it to pull max off kuroo. "he's not usually like this."

kuroo laughs a little and shakes his head, "no worries, he's a friendly guy, isn't he?" kuroo cooed, kneeling to scratch behind his ear.

you sighed and shook your head, "yeah, he can be a handful... but he likes making new friends."

kuroo chuckled, brushing his knees before standing up. "i can tell. he's a cutie."

he could tell from the look on your face that you were relieved he wasn't mad at you for your dog's behavior. "thank you, for understanding. i'm Miju, and as you already you know, this is max." you introduced both of you, max barking in response to his name causing you both to laugh.

"kuroo, kuroo tetsuro." he introduced himself, his usual confident smile now adorning his face. "it's a pleasure to meet you both."

"likewise." you smiled, "do you have a dog?"

"Not yet, but I plan to be," Kuroo admitted, his eyes lighting up at the thought. "I've always wanted a big dog, actually three of them. I've already got names picked out—Apollo, Cinnamon, and Orion."

"Those are lovely names... and a lot of dogs" you remarked.

"what can i say, i'm an overachiever." kuroo gloated, crossing his arms.

"athlete?"

"yep! volleyball player."

"i can tell. you carry yourself with the same confidence as one i know."

kuroo grinned, intrigued. "Oh really? And who might that be?"

"A cousin of mine, he's also a volleyball player. You all seem to have that same determined aura," you replied with a chuckle.

"Well, we do have to be pretty focused and driven," Kuroo admitted. "Especially with tournaments coming up."

"oh yeah, you're all competing for a ticket to nationals, right?"

"yep. we're still doing preliminaries right now though." kuroo clarified, "it's nice to take a break and enjoy the park, though."

"yeah, this park is great for unwinding," you agreed. "max loves it here, too."

Kuroo glanced at Max, who was now sitting calmly at your feet. "I can see why. It's a beautiful place."

You both stood there for a moment, enjoying the tranquility of the park and the unexpected pleasant conversation.

"I should probably get going," you said reluctantly, giving Max's leash a gentle tug. "It was really nice meeting you, Kuroo."

"Nice meeting you too, Miju," he replied, feeling a bit of disappointment as you turned to leave. "Maybe I'll see you around here again sometime... or during a tournament?"

"I'd like that," you said, smiling warmly. "Good luck with your tournament!"

"Thanks," Kuroo called after you. "And take care of Max!"

As you walked away, Kuroo couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation. the park, the leaves, and even the volleyball tournament seemed a little less significant now compared to the chance of another encounter with you.

*** bonus:

"suguru!" a familiar voice called out to the man in front of him, however kuroo also turned to look, recognizing the voice faintly. surprised by the person now infront of him.

"someone is going to steal your phone." you reprimanded, handing him his phone back.

"Miju?" kuroo asked, bewildered but also amused to be seeing you at the preliminaries. "didn't think i'd be seeing you so soon again. how's max?"

you turned to face him, a warm smile grazing your features as you recognized him, "kuroo. max is good, jumping on less people now." you joked, causing him to chuckle softly.

the face on daisho's face was currently worth a million bucks as he saw his cousin interact with his rival with such familiarity. "this wasn't the guy?"

"this was him," she confirmed, meeting kuroo's gaze. "i told you he jumped on a volleyball player."

kuroo's eyes glanced to daisho and back to you, a mischievous smirk on his face now, "hey, if i beat your cousin in this match will you go on a date with me?"

christ, seeing daisho choke on his saliva was worth all the embarrassment he was feeling right now. he could feel the eyes of everyone, but was relieved when you laughed and nodded, "sure, but only if you beat him."

"you can't go out with him!" suguru argued

"don't worry, daisho, i'll treat your cousin right. i'll bring her home before 10."

[kairisea]

🌊𓈒𓏸Confessing to Luka Strongarm𓏸𓈒🌊

SUMMARY: After spending lots of time with Luka, you finally decide it's time he knows how you feel.

NOTES: gn!reader, Reader is Trailblazer, takes place sometime after the events of Mo Cuishle

WARNINGS: May be ooc, I'm learning writing and Hoyo needs to give us more Luka content like please I wanna learn everything about him.

COMMENTS: Finally got this out! I maybe had a little inspo as to what to do for my first fic from a friend, but I enjoyed writing this! The intro was a little long, but I think I just really enjoy writing a bit of background for the situation, this isn't the first time! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this! I hope it's good for my first fic, fingers crossed! Any feedback is appreciated!

In the time you've been on Jarilo-VI, you've gotten to know all the residents pretty well, as you prepare to go to the next stop on your journey. However, staying here has made you get closer to some of them than you had expected... Sure you had made plenty of friends, even invited them to visit the Astral Express! But there was one who you'd felt like you'd gotten even closer to. Luka Strongarm.

From the moment you met him, you were drawn to him. He was strong, smart, and you had to admit his looks were going for him too. Your time spent with him was invaluable, and he made you feel invaluable too.

On this particular day, you were watching him in the ring, watching him spar for fun against some robots. He hadn't been in any tournaments or anything since you met him, so his victory number was still at 28. A number you drilled into your memory, or maybe it just stuck out to you because it was him.

You were lost in thought, watching him smile as he beat up the bots. Before you knew it, he was done with the fight, and had come out of the ring. He headed your direction as soon as he saw you, a smile on his face as always.

"Hey there, trailblazer!" You could hardly hear him over the sound of the crowd cheering. Perhaps it was because it was even more impressive to beat up a bunch of bots, than it is to beat up a person that they were so worked up over his victory.

You gestured outside, indicating that you wanted to talk to him, without the cheering crowd. He promptly nodded in response, and turned to the crowd, saying a goodbye to them as you started to leave. You barely paid attention to what he said as you looked at him before he turned back to you and nodded for the exit.

As you both stepped outside, you asked a seemingly innocuous question. "Could you follow me?" You outstretched your hand to him, just waiting for fans to try to follow you.

"Yeah, let's try to lose them." He agreed, taking your hand almost by instinct.

Your heart pounded as you held his hand, leading him not too far from the fight club, in the direction of Rivet Town. The place had little meaning, but the abandoned town was quiet, private, and you didn't want anyone overhearing what you had to say.

"This place certainly is a lot quieter than the fight club. I gotta hand it to you, you picked a good place for us to chat!" He said, oblivious to the pounding of your heart. You had been mentally preparing all day to face him, to finally speak what's been on your mind for a while, and now was the time to let it out.

"L- Luka," You stammered, trying to build confidence.

"Yeah? What's up?" He looked at you, a smile on his face. That damned smile that gave you butterflies every time you saw it.

You cleared your throat before continuing: "There's... something I've been meaning to tell you."

He waited patiently, starting to notice how you would fidget, and avoid his gaze, hoping it wasn't anything bad. And yet, despite his fiery spirit, he was so patient, just another thing you liked about him.

You let out a nervous chuckle. "Well, the thing is... I-" you took a deep breath. "I like you, Luka. I... like like you." Aeons this was embarrassing to say. You just wanted to run away and never show your face to him again. And yet- you stayed, and you looked up at him slowly as you contemplated telling Pom-pom that you could never go to Jarilo-VI again.

He looked at you, a shocked expression on his face. This definitely wasn't what he expected, and yet you could swear there was still a smile. That damn smile.

You heard him chuckle. You thought you had screwed things up royally, but before you could overthink too much, he spoke. "You... like me?" He rubbed the back of his neck. "I didn't expect you to feel the same way about me." He smiled at you and you couldn't help but look at him in return.

As your eyes met, he held out his hands to you as you subconsciously took them, the difference in temperature momentarily shocking you. "So... does that mean..." You started

"I like you too." He finished. "I just thought that, as a Nameless, you wouldn't reciprocate my feelings. But I'm glad you do." He smiled at you, so softly and gently. You couldn't help but smile back.

The thought of your Nameless duties pulling you away from him entered your mind for a second, but you quickly dispelled them. You can cross that bridge when you get to it. "So... does this mean we're... together now?"

Luka thought for a second. "Well, I mean if we both agree, I guess it does." He looked down for a second, gripping your hands before quickly softening his grip. "Well... if we've both said our piece... do you want to, I don't know, celebrate? I could take you out on a proper date?"

"That sounds great." You chuckled as you went by his side, grabbing his arm. Yes, his arm. It was his organic arm, and you could feel his hand warm in yours. "Well then, 28 time champion," you lightly teased, "where are we off to? I'll follow your lead."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised you remember that number so well at this point." He chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll take us to the best place the Underworld has to offer!" And with that, he gently led you out of the abandoned area, your hands intertwined.

So that's it! I had a lot of fun writing this! I may end up making 2 other things bc of this. I wanna do a follow up bc reader is trailblazer and trailblazing needs to happen, so that's prolly gonna lead to some angst... I also want to write a version where the reader isn't the trailblazer since I feel like that's a completely different type of relationships...

If you enjoyed this, feel free to learn more about me and what I do here! You can also see if my requests are open there if you want something yourself!

I talk too much... anyway, I hope to see you around! Pce!

[undertale-ost-tournament]

Welcome to the UNDERTALE OST TOURNAMENT

I'm probably not the first person to do this, but I decided I wanted to, and so I will.

Tournament Layout

The tournament will be split into two stages.

In the first stage, polls containing 4 songs will be posted. Each will last a week, and there will be 25 polls in total, one posed a day. This means Stage 1 will take about a month to complete.

The winner and second place in each poll will move onto Stage 2. The top 14 third place songs (as decided by the proportion of the votes they recieved) will also move on.

I've tried to partially seed the groups, placing one of the 25 most popular (to me, you may disagree with the choices) Undertale songs into each group.

In Stage 2, there will be several rounds of single elimination, going from 64 to 32 to 16 and 8 and 4 and 2 and finally the best Undertale song.

Feel free to send in propaganda for your favourite tracks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where's Megalovania!?

Megalovania is by far the most popular Undertale song, and we all know it would win the whole tournament if entered. Hence, I've removed it from the list. This also has the additional bonus of giving exactly 100 tracks to work with.

I also may or may not run a quote-unquote "thug finals" after the winner is crowned, to see if MEGALOVANIA really would have beaten it.

Where's Mad Mew Mew/Wrong Number etc.?

This tournament is being run using only the tracks from the official Undertale OST. However, I may eventually do a tournament for ALL Undertale and Deltarune (and Homestuck) songs, and if so, Mad Mew Mew will definitely feature.

Who are you?

I doubt many people will ask this, but my main is @airprime7. I don't really post Undertale content there, but I enjoy the game and especially the music.

Tagging other Tournament blogs, because that seems to be general etiquette for this?

@tournament-winners-tournament @tournament-announcer @who-do-i-know-this-man @autismswagsummit @overworkedblorbobattle @ao3femslashtop100-tournament @characterswithgodsnamesbattle @queerplatonicshipshowdown @best-transgender-character probably a bunch of others i cant find, someone please tag the sexyman and sexywoman tournaments too I can't find them either.

Also @doyoulikethissong-poll because they're a song-related poll blog.

[radioshackraider]

My thoughts on the Commander Ban List Discourse

Gonna get this out of the way and say I largely support the bans as a casual player who dislikes pubstomping. Banning these high impact mana accelerants is a generally positive thing for the format at a casual level, which I shall remind you, is the concern of the Rules Committee when making bans. Mana Crypt never should have been legal in the format and banning it now is finally fixing a long-standing issue in the format. Sol Ring should have been banned too, but the time to do that was before the first Commander precons were being designed. Dockside is just far over the line on what's reasonable in a multiplayer format, and c'mon, Black Lotus but it can only cast the card your deck is built around is still Black Lotus. It's a mistake and yall know it. But none of this is even why I wanted to make this post. No, I what I want to discuss is the absolutely horrendous takes I've been seeing from people about the Rules Committe, cEDH and Rule 0 and the Ban List.

First of all, I want to make it clear in no uncertain terms that I am no fan of the Rules Committee and the Commander Advisary Group. I disagree with them from a structral stance. The Rules Committee is simply not large enough and not diverse enough to be running Magic's largest format. It is a very small group of people with no accountability and no democracy. You do not get to be on the Rules Committee or the CAG if you are not in the Cool Kids Club. It's structually rife with nepotism and favouritisim that is very easily corrupted and abused. I am in not at all saying that this means that the RC and CAG are actively taking part in corrupt behaviour, simply that the way they are currently run gives them the ability to behave in incredibly ethically bankrupt ways. And until more people have a say on who actually sits on the Rules Committee and CAG, then it's going to continue to be this way. But that does not mean that I think WOTC should be running Commander either. They can barely run competitive formats as it is, and Commander is an entirely different beast. Current tournament rules simply do not work for Commander. And the reality is that if WOTC did take over the running of Commander as a format, the people they hire to maintain it are going to be... The Rules Committee. Because of course they would hire them. So the "fix" people have been demanding does nothing. Bans in Commander aren't really data drive, because data doesn't really exist for Commander. Sure, we have EDHRec data to tell us how many decks are running X card, but that doesn't really mean anything when applied to the whole format. And using tournament results doesn't work because Commander is not a tournament format. The only data that really exists for that is cEDH, and that brings me to my next topic.

CEDH is Commander. You cannot split cEDH off from Commander, because at it's roots, cEDH is people playing the most powerful decks they can within the constraints of the Commander ban list. CEDH decks look radically different to even High Power Commander decks, because they're built on completely different axes. But it's still Commander. And as a result, there is always going to be people who want to play Commander with the idea of turning everything to 11. So many people are saying cEDH is ruined because some high power staples are banned are missing the point of cEDH. And as a result, I view these bans as an incredible opportunity for cEDH to adapt and change like any other competitive format. I am not at all a cEDH player, but I absolutely love watching formats like Standard, Pioneer, Modern and Legacy change and adapt as a response to bans. It keeps formats fresh. I would honestly like to see bans like this happen in Commander more often. I'm a pretty big fan of banning Tainted Pact and Demonic Consultation currently as I think they're highly impactful for cEDH while removing a 2 two card combos at the casual level that many players do not enjoy. Some masy ask why not just ban Thassa's Oracle? Aside from the fact that it's my personal favourite card, I alss just don't think it's a problematic card at the casual level. When you aren't using highly mana efficient two card combos to win with it, it poses a fun challenge to win with. I'm also a fairly big proponant for banning Etali, Primal Conqueror as I believe it has largely the same impact on the format as Primeval Titan did, in that it warps games around it. It's always the number one choice to be reanimated, clones or stolen when it's in play. Just like Primeval Titan was. It provides overwhelming advantage when it's played and catapults it's controller ahead, just like Titan did. I feel it very much represents the RC's current inconsistency with it's ban philosophy.

I think the format has been far too static due to chronic mismanagment. The reality is that Commander's ban list should be probably a couple hundred cards longer than it is right now. Pre Game Discusions, Rule 0, Casual Ettiquet, the Social Contract, call it what you will, dictates that certain cards should not be played at the casual level (looking at your Armageddon). But these fail. You cannot account for the Human Factor, in that some times people just suck. There are always going to be people who simply do not participate in the Social Contract and just do whatever they want, even if it's social unacceptable. It's why Commander has a ban list. I don't think the ban list is doing it's job well enough, but I think that's something that can and should be fixed. If people want to play a No Ban List variant of commander, which is what I suspect most of the "cEDH" players complaining about these bans would enjoy more, then I think that should very much be something people should try. I'd be into it. And it might actually be a way for cEDH to splinter off into it's own format. But the ban list is a highly important tool for cultivating the casual experience. And for that I do commend the Rules Committee for it's work in shaping it, even if I think they're not doing a very good job at it.

I've made a lot of complaints about the RC in this post (I largely haven't spoken on the CAG because they're pretty solidly just a group of the RC's favourite content creators who have little to no impact on their decisions, as seen by this weeks bannings) But I've offered no solutions. Personally, I think that the Rules Committee needs a serious restructure and expansion. It is simply too small a group of people, with too regional a focus, to be running the largest format in Magic: the Gathering. Said expansion needs to be publicly visible and there needs to be some amount of public participation in the selection of it's members. Something akin to regional subgroups that function like the how the CAG are supposed to (Be eyes and ears on the larger community and be their voice in great RC discussions) may be the best way to work it. I also think the ban list needs a consistent philosphy that is publically visbale and held to. This one is much harder to do in a casual orientated format, but I believe the Ban List is already doing a decent enough job at it's goals that just cracking down a little bit more would do the trick. Though if the RC were expanded in the way I'd like to see, a complete restructure of the Ban List should happen after the new group has sorted it it's philosphy on bans and it's vision for the format. Which should largely look the same but with more cards, but it's better to start fresh in this scenario. With all of this said, I full well acknowledge that none of this is likely to ever happen, simply what I'd like to see happen.

Well I wasn't expecting to write and essay when I started this post, but I guess I did. You notice I didn't talk about the financial aspect of these bans. And that's largely because I don't view bans through the financial aspect at all. Most of the people playing with these currently either weren't gonna sell them or were playing with proxies and didn't care anyway. Yeah, it sucks to have something you spent a lot of money on lose that value, but that's a lot of things. You spend money on your hobbies because you want to have fun. Think of it like going to the movies. You spend the money for a few hours of entertainment and then it's done. You don't try and turn around and sell your ticket stub afterwards.

TL;DR I think the Rules Committee is well meaning but structurally unfit for purpose, cEDH players who are complaining about these bans are missing the point of cEDH and Rule 0 fundamenatlly doesn't work, and that's why we need a ban list that is orientated to the casual experience.

[sexiestpodcastcharacter]

okay, i have to ask.

if the finals for the unscripted and scripted brackets were boring for you, then how did you feel about how that changed into the absolute explosion that was the championship round between the brackets?

I enjoyed it! Yeah a couple people went a little too far or were a little too harsh in my judgement, but besides the one person who said "vote for ___ or I'll kill myself" no one went past my personal limit.

Also, general reminder, please do not threaten suicide on these polls. Even if you (general) think it comes off as a joke, it is going way too far. I know when I was in high school people were frequently actively suicidal on social media, and I can't read that as a joke anymore.

And while I'm on the topic, while I can take some disparaging comments and joking threats towards me as the mod, I really need everyone to be nice to the other voters on these polls. If you have a Tumblr account to make a mean comment with, then you have your own blog you can make that mean comment on.

Anyways, that aside it was a great time! I know some people saw others as annoying but like, I've been in fandom spaces and online for a while now. Being annoying is how this works.

I cannot believe you (iersei) has fulfilled over 200 drawing requests in the like, two months this tournament has been running. I am in utter awe.

Also I know I've said this in the tags but somebody offering nudes for Lovelace votes? A) Proof that Lovelace voters were doing bribery just like Glenn voters. B) Was so far beyond what I expected. (They were very nice in their messages asking permission but that was an unexpected series of messages to read in the middle of the night. Especially since I read their DMs before their asks even though their asks were sent first.)

I also wasn't expecting everybody to feel so bad about voting for Carlos in the Cecil vs Carlos poll! If you go through those tags it's just a series of "It's what Cecil would want. :(:(:(:(:(" Babes! Cecil does not have a gun to your head! You could have voted for him if you think that fashion disaster is sexier!

So yeah, I wasn't bored at all. <3

[the-real-rain-world-confessions]

Oooooohh, where do I even begin?

I think the one I wanna give shout-outs to the most is Jadzio/Zeraorarb, the runner of the Room Showdown blog. The effort and dedication they've put into that thing is incredibly impressive - as it was by far the longest running, and most consistent RW poll blog you can find on Tumblr. The room tournament has actually ended a few weeks ago, but it lasted about a year, and god, was it a blast to follow!

Next are creators who have given me (and many others) opportunities to voice act in their high quality works - the two most notable being Northflowo and Uranium Eater. Their videos are also just generally really good, so it was an especially huge honor to contribute to them (it also helps that they were real pleasant to talk to).

Speaking of really good videos, Opsiian has undoubtedly become my favorite RW YouTuber to follow. I never really interacted with her, but the sheer quality of her videos is insane - especially the ones dedicated to her OCs. Love the freakish art style, and the writing of the dialogue as well.

Something that's a bit on the less serious side is the Splitmind AU Askblog. It may not be for everyone, as neither its lore, nor its iterator dialogue is particularly canon-compliant, but it's still a charming little blog with a very fun premise and some neat character designs for the Slugcats.

Then there's the people I interacted with on Artfight - either through attacks or defenses. There are a few too many people to individually note each (about like, 10, I think), but they were all incredible. I loved the reactions, I loved the art, and I loved working with their OCs!

And lastly, I gotta give huge props to the people who I've got to interact with on Discord VCs - people that still stuck around with the SC community with me. Areon, Kuz, Floof, Byug, Herr Sten, Squeekles, Fay, Snovi, and a few others who I might be forgetting (apologies if you're one of them): You're all amazing people that are really fun to hang around and talk with, and I thank you so much for spending your time, on watching me fumble around in Expedition Mode. You guys (along with Jadzio) have certainly done the most to keep my sanity intact during these recent times, and I appreciate that a lot! ^-^

Oh, and the few who have rambled about Nightcat x Spearmaster with me are pretty cool as well (I believe they were Dingo, Stargazer, and Ooph, but I could be misremembering/forgetting). I'm not really much of a shipping kinda guy, but it was still a ton of fun, and I appreciated their art too :)

Apologies for making this so long, but there are many people here who I really enjoyed spending time with, or whose content I really adore. There's still a couple folks I skipped, I just felt like they were the most noteworthy ones, so yeah.

.

[solitaryandwandering]

Get to Know Me Tag :)

Tagged by @telomeke, thank you!! :)) My answers are not going to be as wonderfully detailed but I will try not to be boring, at least!!

Do you make your bed?

Every morning! It's the second thing I do (after cleaning my glasses, haha). I've found it to be a pretty big part of managing my depression so it's something I have to do, regardless of how tempting it is to leave blankets ready for me to crawl into

What's your favorite number?

I don't have one (numbers are my sworn enemy, after all) but it has been a bit of a thing since I was a kid that 6 is "my number" lol (for reasons I can't get into since that's way too personally identifying). 4 has been a thing, too. Maybe my OCD just likes even numbers? Don't ask.

What is your job?

Frustratingly, I've been unemployed going on four years. I'm in the midst of yet another round of job searching (which has become pretty desperate, to be honest). Discrimination against deafblind people is no joke. I do a lot of volunteer work in the meantime, running a support group and social media for a nonprofit organization.

If you could go back to school, would you?

I would like to go to graduate school for my career. Otherwise, I totally would go to school for media analysis or to take sociology classes again. But without crushing deadlines! I can imagine it now... doing projects and taking tests on my own time... the literal dream

Can you parallel park?

If you feel like risking your life and the lives of every creature and plant in the vicinity and witnessing considerable property damage, yeah I'll do it! Just put a sighted person in the passenger seat so I don't kill myself in the process.

A job you had that would surprise people?

I don't think my jobs would really surprise people? I've had a lot. My first job was as an assistant soccer referee when I was around 14. I was not very good at it but reffed a lot of games. I also was center ref for a couple tournaments (for kids, no older than ten). I looked good in the uniform but that's about it hahaha

Do you think aliens are real?

Absolutely. I'm not sure if I believe they're sentient (at least not in the way we would conceive of it) but the universe is VAST. There's no way we're the only ones. We definitely have not been visited by any, that's for sure.

Can you drive a manual car?

I understand the general theory of it, so again if you want me risk life and limb, I will. The one time I drove I think it was a semi-automatic if not fully automatic transmission.

What's your guilty pleasure?

I have OCD, I feel guilty about everything I like. But I guess right now it would be Kit Kats and Reese's, both of which I have been munching on all week. I am morally against Nestle and know Hershey's is by far inferior to properly-sourced, better-tasting chocolate but... it's not as expensive as the good stuff and... I like when things are pumpkin-shaped :(

Tattoos?

Love them!! Just not on me. I think if I didn't have the skin concerns I do (primarily, keloids run in our family) I may be way more tempted to get one or two smaller ones (and my brother has tats and is totally fine) but as I've said... I have OCD. I think in reality I would be really really freaked out by having something permanent inked into me. So I just live vicariously though everyone else, especially my best friend. They have great taste so their tattoos are very very cool and well done.

Favorite color?

I love oranges and greens, especially tangerine or a deep green.

Favorite type of music?

I have extremely eclectic taste, so it's basically whatever I'm in the mood for. My Spotify Wrapped never reflects the music I really gravitate to when I want to legitimately sit down and listen. Usually it's just on in the background as I do something else but I really enjoy intentionally focusing on a good album. Overall I'm definitely more into rock (very general, I know) than anything else, though that's not necessarily what I listen to most often. I'll listen to indie, punk, hard metal, folk, pop, electronic, hip-hop, R&B, jazz, soul, show tunes, alternative, classical, you name it. Lately I've been listening to a lot of film scores, ballads, and lighter more instrument-heavy stuff. This month's playlist had Dome Jaruwat, Howard Shore, Martin Nievera, Florist, Jewelry, T-ARA, Kim Jung Mi, TRACE & Ariel Loh, and Sade Adu, among others.

Do you like puzzles?

Yes and no. I find that dyscalculia makes certain puzzles more tedious and difficult than they should be, and that combined with ADHD makes things I should ostensibly be good at (Scrabble, for example) more frustrating than not. I don't mind jigsaws or logic puzzles though. I did Deaf Academic Bowl in high school, so I'm super into things like that (trivia, Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, escape room kinds of things).

Any phobias?

Not too many. When it comes to specific phobias, I'm pretty phobic of stink bugs though that's lessened over the years, replaced by a phobia of cockroaches. I'm neutral about bugs in general but as my eyesight has declined I've become less fond of the flying ones. Same thing goes for other small creatures difficult to track. I've noticed some agoraphobia developing in the last year or so as my vision has declined so I am working on managing that along with my social anxiety.

Favorite childhood sport?

Definitely soccer. Did nineteen seasons, despite bullying!

Do you talk to yourself?

Literally all the time. Always having a conversation with myself. Caught myself on the bus earlier today having a bit too animated of an internal conversation hahaha

What movies do you adore?

This is literally the worst thing to ask me. So many movies, so little time. I do love It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! which I watch every Halloween. I say it every year, but it very well may be my favorite film score. And it's technically a TV special so... I also adore The Florida Project, Eighth Grade, Anatomy of a Fall, Bound, Minding the Gap, Rocketman, It Happened One Night, Shoplifters, Blindspotting, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse... I could go on and on and on.

Coffee or tea?

I LOVE coffee but I've been gravitating more and more to tea, probably because of the hell coffee sometimes wreaks on my digestive system.

First thing you wanted to be growing up?

I was very specific: an Olympic gold-medalist figure skater. Only because I loved watching this event so much. To be honest I don't know what the first real ambition I had was? I did wonder what it may be like to be a journalist, professional soccer player, lawyer, that kind of thing.

I am tooooo tired to tag anyone but if you want to play, here's your chance (and tag me so I can read it!!)

[amechyofsorts]

Alright, I wanna write a bit about Garouden the Way of the Lone Wolf, because since watching a few days ago it hasn't left my brain, but also because i've seen a good bit of negative reactions to it's story so far, particularly the ending.

Now im not going to say that the plot of the show is particularly deep or super well constructed. The whole thing has a pretty fast pace to manage it's entire story in the 8 episode runtime, with a lot of characters and scenario's being left pretty threadbare as a result.

That said, I did really enjoy how the story set things up, full of familiar and expected things from a "dude show" like this, with it's big burly men beating the shit out of each other because that's just what men do setup, only to then lead in a wholly different and even tragic direction. Fujimaki is set up in every way to be basically your standard macho badass. Ruggedly handsome, ludacriously built, tortured loner, the works. Hell, the first thing we see him do on screen is fight a bear and kill it barehanded. Him being in run from the law for an act which seems pretty bad, killing a burglar who sexually assaulted a woman he loves, but could be seen as justified or at least righteous by most, as well as him being the last student of a legendary martial artists whose style is consider by some one of the strongest in the world. With all these elements one can already see the standard course for a story like this. The odds are stacked against him at all times, but with his awesome fists and big balls Juzo fights his way up to be the strongest, getting back his love Saeko and honoring his recently lost and shamed master.

But instead... Going into spoilers here. Anyone who hasn't watched the show yet, it's on Netflix and only 8 episodes. Statistically you aren't likely to like it as much as me, but I would reccomend giving it a shot.

Instead, Juzo fights his way through an underground bloodsport tournament and wins. He's right there, at the finish line, being given an out from the crimes he's charged with, so he could after a bit return to his previous life, back to the woman dear to him and to his master. But he can't, because he let loose the beast in him once more, and he can't quell it anymore, not even for the relatively short time needed to clear his name and get him his freedom anymore.

In the last few episode, all the expectations of the sort of stock martial arts badass are broken apart one by one.

Juzo's master? Not a wise old master who espouses peace despite his strength, but a somewhat frustrated and even bitter old man for having learned to perfect a killing art all his life, but being unable to every utilize to it's fullest against other humans.

Saeko, the love interest? She wasn't afraid of Juzo for the crime he had commited, but rather was only glad that he killed the man before her, which scared Juzo into running away in the first place. She's revealed to only care about the strength of men, rather them as a whole, and chooses to be with a man stronger then Juzo, seemingly holding no affection to Juzo at all anymore.

His fighting style thaught to no one but him by his master, in particular the legendary technique that he has mastered? His master just takes on other students who are about as strong as Juzo, and they master the said legendary technique in fairly short order.

And lastly, in the finale, Juzo returns to fight. It's a pretty contradictory fight on his part, as he claims to be fighting for the sake of preserving his style by seeing if Himekawa is worthy of baring it, even as his master tells to his face that he already chose him, and Saeko flat out tells to Juzo that she's chosen to be with the man instead of Juzo. It feels like Juzo is the only one who thinks that winning the match will solve anything or give any kind of closure, and frankly it all comes off as rather phony. He just wants to fight. And then he loses, because Himekawa is just stronger then him.

The place where the beasts duke it out mercilessly ruined Juzo, just like he at the start of the series thought it would if he ever let his loose on human beings again. And what makes it worse is that everyone around him wanted him to return to it, just because he is strong. The underworld tournament management people forced him to take part, Saeko promised him that they would marry if Juzo was the strongest man in the world, and even the cop who is after Juzo really only wanted a rematch with him from back when Juzo first beat him. Seemingly everyone but Juzo believe he belongs among the beasts as one of them, and when he return there it ruins him. That final battle is awesome, with everyone in awe watching and cheering, but it's a tragedy from only Juzo's perspective.

There's a glimmer of hope, of sorts though. Matsuo does invite Juzo back to among the strong once he's done his time. He truly belongs there now, for better or for worse.

It's good. it's entirely different from the philosophy about martial arts and "being strong" then present in the Itagaki Garouden and indeed most martial arts manga and anime, but it was refreshing, and im sad that most people seem to be reacting very negatively to it, because I suspect they just wanted the more standard rise to the top story and just have a strong aversion to a more tragic ending. It's some of that "subversion" shit that people like to throw out to say that a show they like is better then most because it goes against expectations, which is usually a snooty and pretentions dickhead stance, expect in this show case (because I like this one).

After he gets out of jail though, the first thing Juzo better go do is go for a trip. He has a bartender gal, an old monk and his pal Joze who are all waiting to see him again!

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 23/03/2024

Balcony Cruise

Season 4 Episode 2 Featured on: SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume D

Ripped by Helpful Salad

Requested by an anonymous reader! (Request Form)

Hey, remember yesterday's post on Viva La LOWAS: the rip of a track quite prominently paying tribute to Cave Story? Well, the Cave Story love isn't ending quite yet, and if ripper Helpful Salad has anything to say about it, the game is going to continue showing up on the channel no matter what. Though today the focus is indeed specifically on Balcony Cruise, the guy's made a bevvy of Cave Story rips just as good as this one - 39 out of his 63 contributions, to be precise! - that I think are all well worth checking out.

Funny enough, there's unintentionally been a sort of running theme with the posts as of late starting with Poké Village. That theme being that, these are all rips I love despite them paying tribute to sources that I'm far too unfamiliar with, be that Monster Hunter, Homestuck, or in this case - FTL: Faster Than Light. And I'm able to love these rips because, as I've said many a time before, SiIvaGunner is as much about appreciating the things you already love as it is about being introduced to media that someone else loves far more. I know myself already that Cave Story's music is incredible, yet despite my endless playthroughs of the game I'm never going to grow tired of hearing all the many ways SiIvaGunner's rippers share their own affection for the soundtrack, not just in the Balcony Fusion Collab, but in the continued amount of rips the game receives to this day. There's emotion packed into efforts like Balcony Cruise, emotion that shows how Helpful Salad truly understands the Cave Story sound, that makes me thoroughly enjoy his rips with or without the needed context for whatever joke he's attaching to it.

And well, after hearing Balcony Cruise, I did feel the need to go listen to FTL's music as well - and indeed, it's just as incredible as I'd suspected! The solemn yet beautiful atmosphere of Balcony can be felt in much of FTL's whole soundtrack, befitting a game about surviving a cruise through space, and so Balcony Cruise being a melodyswap to the game's main theme feels like a natural fit. Yet...I can't shake the feeling that there's also more theming relevant to the rip beyond the shared atmosphere of the two games. Though FTL isn't exactly an "old" indie game in the same vein that Cave Story is, 2012 was still only two years removed from the release of Super Meat Boy, it was still quite early on in the indie game resurgence of Xbox Live. Cave Story is a landmark game for the indie world as a fully self-made release all the way back in 2004, made by one Daisuke Amaya in his free time out of a desire to express his love for games like Metroid and Castlevania into something playable. Eight years later, the spirit of indie gaming in the Independent Games Festival, the legacy shaped in large part by Amaya, was what directly inspired Matthew Davis and Justin Ma to pursue independent development full-on to create FTL.

What I'm saying is - mixing the two games together as Balcony Cruise does, two games that are on the surface completely disconnected, yet feel ever so connected at the same time...feels all too right. And if we REALLY want to go the extra mile: a rip as solemn and atmospheric as this, feels truly befitting of Quote's journey in the King for Another Day tournament from the year prior. Losing before truly getting to do anything, outdone by the big dogs, yet providing an unforgettable experience and giving us incredible arrangements like Lifelike Waterway. Months after the tournament finally ended, after so many SiIvaGunner viewers had grown yet more attached to Quote, and many were reminded of just how impactful Cave Story in general was...Balcony Cruise feels like the perfect tribute to the game. And more Cave Story is never something I'm going to turn down.

[tommys-little-writing-corner]

Fickle Fate ║ Chapter I: Second Chance

》 They say fate is a fickle mistress, playing cruel tricks with the help of Lady Fortune and Destiny. However, they also said she throws problems on purpose before achieving something great. What could come out of a fire god visiting your uncle with Naruto cosplayers? And what's with the yakuza man? 》 Chapter I: Second Chance 》 General Notes: Gender Neutral!Reader, Teen!Reader, No Romance, Platonic Friendship, Slight Canon Divergence, First Person Writing, Found Family, Canon Violence 》 Chapter Notes: Initially I wrote this with an OC of mine I had, but then it just sorta spiraled into this! Hopefully, everyone can enjoy this as much as I did 》 Trigger Warnings: Brief Mention of Child Abuse, Abusive Parent Mentioned 》 Word Count: 1.2k Words

The crowds surrounding me and my opponent, Liam, were loud.

They egged us on, cheering us on as the fight continued. Neither one was letting up or giving in, swinging punch after punch. Kick after kick. Liam swung with a right kick, but I ducked down, going in to sweep him off his feet, he jumped up in time, but it left him open...

Open for the ultimate combo from my character.

I dared not to take my eyes away from the projection of our battle on Street Fighter 6. We were both in sync with our respective characters-- Luke and Juri -- who responded to the actions that were being inputted in the controllers we held in our sweaty hands. They are a part of us, representing our soul, and our desire to represent our fighting spirits. The desire to fight, our spirit of competitiveness, could never fade.

The world seemed to slow down as if to take a deep breath, going quiet as Luke's fists connected with Juri's body. Color splashed across the screen as each fist, each hit, landed successfully before everything went back to normal.

"AND THE WINNER IS DAMMECAGE!"

I let out a breath I wasn't aware of holding back, wiping the sweat off my brow as I looked at Liam and smiled. He looked defeated before shaking his head, putting the controller down before offering his hand to shake mine.

"I lost to you again," Liam spoke my name before I shook his hand back.

"Hey, there's always next season." I chuckled, pulling him into a one-armed hug before pulling away. The tournament host and his friend walked on over, talking loudly on the mic, praising my skills in the game. But yet, despite this moment of joy... I couldn't really find myself to be happy in this moment.

Just because I won the game didn't mean I won at life-- my life as (Y/N) Carlton was shit. 17 years old and have been living with my uncle, Jonathan Carlton, for the past two years. My home wasn't safe with an absent mom and an abusive dad. His father, my grandfather, wasn't a good dad either, so I guess it just sort of ran in the family. He didn't seem to care if anything happened to me, but once my uncle saw what was going on, he didn't seem to hesitate to help the family out. Uncle Johnny, along with his wife, took me in as my legal guardian, and since then I've just been living life in sunny Malibu, California.

"I'll see you around, Liam! Catch ya later!"

I waved goodbye to my friend, pocketing the trophy in my backpack before running out of the arcade. Once I got out the doors, I grabbed my skateboard and took off to ride the streets in style, headphones on to listen to tunes to celebrate my victory. My head bobbed to the beat, lightly tapping my foot as I swerved past people, swinging around a pole to go right before I continued on heading home. Today felt like it was a good day so far, and surely nothing could go wrong, right?

Well, 30 minutes of skating home proved otherwise...

I wasn't standing anywhere near the driveway before I heard arguing through my headphones. I pulled them off, raising a brow in curiosity before frowning. It made me grimace at what could be going on in there... and neither did I enjoy the sound of arguments. The sounds brought me back to my old home and I did not want to think about that.

"-ou alright?"

I felt a hand on my shoulder and jumped, almost slipping off my skateboard before steadying myself to see who it was. An Asian man with short, dark hair in an off-grey and red suit and... is that a sword on him? Does he have tattoos on his hands? Why does he have tattoos? Is he a member of the Yakuza or something? Or are they just nice tattoos?

"Um, uh, yeah, I'm good..." I nodded, hopping off my skateboard before picking it up. "I just don't do arguments, I don't know what they could be arguing about." I walked on the pathway to the large mansion with the businessman walking a few steps behind me. Curiosity itched me and I couldn't help but ask, "You here to see my uncle?"

"Um... yes, yes I am." He answered, almost sounding hesitant for a second. Was he scared or something?

"I get it, my uncle can be--"

I heard the door slam open before it slammed close, Aunt Cris looked furious with her bag and keys in hand before getting into her car and driving off, leaving me in awkward silence with a stranger. The air felt awkward before I cleared my throat, looking at the man before I continued speaking, "My uncle is an interesting person, as you may know. A little... egotistical, but he means well, honestly. I didn't get your name," I offered my hand to him and he looked, questioning his decision, before shaking it.

"Takahashi Kenshi."

"Oh, Takahashi? That's Japanese if I remember correctly... You do stuntwork in movies?"

"I do." Kenshi seemed to answer rather quickly, standing by the door before I opened it and let him in. At the time, I didn't think much about it, closing the door quietly as I could.

"Living room's down that hall, that's where my uncle will be. I'm just... uh, gonna go eat in the kitchen." I gave an awkward smile before I let out a sigh, shoulders dropping as I put my skateboard down to the side before making my way to the kitchen, dropping my bag to the floor before raiding the fridge to reheat day-old pizza and open a can of my favorite drink. It took a while for the pizza to reheat, allowing me time to scroll on my phone on social media.

You know what's really weird? Finding thirst edits of your own uncle... kinda gross. I mean, I can admire their editing skills. But if I had to hear "International Love" one more time, I was going to lose it. The microwave then beeped loudly, snapping me out of further doomscrolling to allow me to eat the pizza while it was still hot on the plate.

"God, I love whoever invented pizza," I muttered to myself, not hearing the brief sound of something crashing when I took a sip of my drink. I figured it was either whatever went down with my uncle it was another one of his "bright ideas" or sudden acting improvision. I didn't think too much of it before hearing the doorbell ring, but that wasn't for me to deal with. I just wanted to relax a little, enjoy intimacy in the form of a good slice of pizza, and read fanfiction. Who doesn't read those? Kinda a guilty pleasure of mine, really. Especially a good rivals to lovers--

CRASH!

A loud crash scared me, making me jump and setting my heart at a fast pace. I put the can down, hand shaking a little as I took deep breaths, calming myself down.

"I'm no longer there... I'm no longer there... I'm no longer home... This is my home now..." I repeated to myself quietly before shuffling to check out the scene. My heart was still racing as I peeked around the corner. While I intially looked fearful about the situation morphed into confusion at what I saw before me, and I had only one thing to say.

"What in the actual fuck..."

TO BE KONTINUED...

[dash-n-step]

I've played tcg before but I'm just starting master duel what deck should I build.... So many options and it's not freaking expensive as hell...

This is a rough one cause I haven't played MD in forever, but:

First off, remember to get the "tax" cards (the cards they usually put aside that you can purchase with gems directly alongside master packs because EVERY DECK just about needs them, i.e Ash Blossom, Max C, etc), now for decks?

1. To be blunt, Swordsoul or Swordsoul/Tenyi

Even if they're not still doing the "friend invite campaign" like duel links is, it's a deck that's relatively easy to build, it covers a decent amount of mechanics in special summoning, negating, and protecting your monsters, and for a ladder format like master duel it should carry you far enough to get familiar with more decks or at least do the solo modes for more rewards. You also want to be careful not to look into *too* many decks, or else you'll find the gems running out like I did.

Campaign Code: 070436f6

My ID: 050-624-246

If this event's still going, if you need me to log in to accept your friend request so you can get the deck, send me another ask and I can, I still have it installed even though I haven't played in forever.

Now if you don't mind a longer post, here are a few other suggestions

2. *some* of the other structure decks are actually relatively decent (others are noob/nostalgia traps)

Blackwings (from 5Ds) has enough support and a tight enough strategy that getting the structure for it isn't a bad idea

Galaxy Eyes (from Zexal) is also pretty good and I enjoyed playing it. It's a strong OTK strategy that can also be used to expand into a general rank 8 strategy, which can get you used to Xyz summoning

Salamangreat (from Vrains) is also a decent one and was meta for a while, but link summoning spam decks can be difficult to pilot if you aren't used to it.

3. My Biases

Now, if you want decks that are "okay" but I personally found fun?:

Spright - This deck centering around level 2 Thunder monsters is weird, but their ability to spam the field is strong, and they splash well with a LOT of decks, some of which I'm going to list. Because of this, starting with them already gives you half of a lot of decks to try out. One notable mixture is Live Twin/Sprite, the vtuber archtype, which were also pretty strong when I last played

Fur Hire - The Fur Hire cards aren't just cute, but they're STRONG if played right, and they're a straightforward main deck strategy, and can be splashed with Spright thanks to their level 2s. As well, thanks to one of their newer starter cards they can be splashed with another deck I found fun

Dinosaurs - Yes, just the type, the general dinosaur type is incredibly strong, and, thanks to their level 2s, paired with Spright/Thunder cards, they can create powerful boards, and you can mostly just craft the main cards, IIRC they're spread out in boxes. It's great if you want a bunch of cool looking monsters that hit hard and mess with your opponent

Plunder Patroll - Another set of cute and strong cards, these come in the same pack as Fur Hire, AND they have a solo mode, so you can do that, get gems, then go into a decent strategy/back-up. Their gimmick is weird and might be hard to get, but it comes with a deck that interacts with your opponent in a fun way, can set up negates and can slowly build up a large hitting power

4. Current Meta Choices

Currently, the best decks that I regularly see youtubers talk about are split between three, but I have NO IDEA how expensive they'd be:

Tenpai - A relatively simple deck, this deck is all about attacking attacking and more attacking, and it's STRONG, people bring this to tournaments so it'll help you in a Ladder setting

Yubel - recently buffed with support, Yubel is also a very strong deck that might be awkward to try to get into

Snake-Eye - another deck I'm not really familiar with, but its cards are incredibly splashable and their ability to remove cards unconventionally makes them a solid choice.