#Re-entry tournament

[perfectwastelandsuit]

Betting A-Z: R – The Ultimate Encyclopaedia for All Your Betting Needs

Betting A-Z: R – The Ultimate Encyclopaedia for All Your Betting Needs Rabbit hunting – The act of a player asking to see the cards that would have come on subsequent streets after they have folded in a hand. Racing form – A document that provides information about each horse or participant in a race, including past performances, jockey, trainer, and odds. Racing post – A publication that…

[corrodedbisexual]

It's just pixels

Steddie | T | ~5.1k | AO3 link

Dumping this incredibly self-indulgent thing as my free space entry for @steddie-week, Day 7. (What a week this was! 🥰)

Featuring: Fluff and Humor, AU - Modern Setting/Video Games/Twitch Streamers/Online Dating, Streamer Steve Harrington, Gaming, Online Romance, Pranks, Banter, Flirting, Chatting & Messaging, Eddie Munson Has a Crush on Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson is a Little Shit, Getting Together, Time Skip, Open Ending, POV Eddie Munson

Famous horror game reviewer Eddie Munson lurks incognito on Twitch out of boredom and comes across BabysitterSupreme's livestream. The guy's playing the new zombie shooter, and he's absolutely terrible at it. His aim is disastrous, his reflexes even worse. He died four times over the span of fifteen minutes, on goddamn Easy mode, and wasted half of his bullets on a measly crawler that’s easily taken out with a machete. And yet… Eddie keeps watching. Because the guy is just so damn cute.

Eddie’s never understood the appeal of gaming livestreams.

Review videos, like the ones he regularly makes, are short, on-point, highlight the best and worst aspects of the game, and help players make a decision whether the game would be worth their money or not. But livestreams?

Like, okay, it kind of makes sense when celebrities do it; their fans would probably watch them read a goddamn phone book. Or people actually involved in the production, they can at least offer some cool commentary on what’s going on, how they designed that particular level and stuff. But who on Earth wastes hours of their life watching— not even speedrun record breakers, not tournaments, but Just Some Guy (Gal) casually playing a game? And not even talking about the game itself half the time but about their cat, or their annoying co-worker, or a goddamn sinus infection they had last week, or— ugh, gag him with a spoon. Why is this a thing? Why do they have millions of viewers and subscribers? What’s the point when instead, you could just spend that time… actually playing?

Eddie would never make his opinions public, obviously, he prefers being civil, ‘cos a bunch of the streamers are rather influential people in the industry and he needs to maintain good working connections. Which is the only reason he actually has a Twitch account.

So… yeah. There’s definitely a rational explanation why Eddie’s spent the past half hour watching goddamn BabysitterSupreme, a streamer with a mere 87 subscribers, playing last year’s hotshot zombie shooter.

He was bored, alright? His computer was taking ages to update, and he found nothing noteworthy on YouTube, so his thumb just automatically went to the next app in the row. And he’s not even sure how this stream ended up on his feed, or why he clicked it in the first place, but fact of the matter is… it’s been 30 minutes, and Eddie’s still here.

The guy’s absolutely terrible at this game. He died four times over the span of fifteen minutes, on goddamn Easy mode, judging by amount of health the zombies ate away before he respawned at save point. He wasted half of his bullets on a measly crawler that’s easily taken out with a machete.

And yet… Eddie’s still watching. And only partly because the whole thing has a ‘train wreck you can’t look away from’ vibes.

He’s cute. He’s really cute, okay? And in the most endearing way, because despite having an objectively handsome face, it’s like he’s not even trying. He seems to genuinely not give a fuck about getting views, there’s no proper lighting setup or an obligatory ‘look I’m such a cool gamer’ background of collectibles behind him; the camera is low-res, like an inbuilt laptop one. The guy looks like he’s just genuinely having fun, despite having disastrous aim and even worse reflexes.

He shrieks like a banshee at every little jumpscare and then laughs at his own overreaction, scrunching up his nose in the most adorable manner.

He’s chewing on a bunch of salty sticks as he plays, occasionally brushing crumbs off his light blue hoodie, and leaving one sticking out of his mouth, half-eaten, when there’s suddenly an intense moment he has to focus on.

He’s got little specks of moles on his cheeks and down his neck. Eddie wonders if there’s more.    

Steve. His name’s Steve.

Read on AO3 | Divider credit

[leveloneandup]

Christen Press’ long journey back from injury: ‘The last six months have been the best of my life’

On Tuesday, Christen Press returned to team training with Angel City FC, exactly two years to the day from when she tore her ACL in a 2022 match against Racing Louisville. While her involvement in training is still limited, with her only taking part in the warm-ups and a passing drill to start, it’s one of the many milestones Press can celebrate on the arduous journey she’s undertaken for a full return to the sport.

As she noted in a call with The Athletic, most of those milestones have been reached in private. At first, she wanted this moment to be private too — well, as private as it could be with a full team and staff around, but in a closed practice where she could evaluate how she felt. With further thought, she changed her mind: this milestone was one that could be celebrated, and with so much uncertainty still left about what milestones remain, she might as well embrace this one.

“If this is something we can all celebrate, let’s just go for it, because this journey has been really, really long,” Press said on Monday, a little more than 24 hours out from the return to training. “When you don’t play, you do have a different relationship with the fanbase, and it’s nice to see this as the re-entry point. People are going to get videos of me in team training, and I’m just going to be around.”

Back in February, Press referenced her “relentless optimism” that has helped her on this wildly unpredictable recovery process, which required four surgeries and resulted in her missing out entirely for competing for a 2023 World Cup roster spot. Her fourth surgery was timed right around when the USWNT was heading to New Zealand, which released her from being tied to a recovery timeline and feeling the pressure to return.

“When I found out I had to have the fourth surgery, I was like, well, I’m not going to the World Cup because I’ll be in surgery during the World Cup,” she said in February. “So that was the moment I actually exhaled. I had to grieve that.”

The release from external timelines has extended to another tournament, the Olympics, which Press said on Monday she’s never really focused on in terms of a potential return. Despite the standard recovery timelines lining up from her fourth and final ACL surgery, last summer’s World Cup experience wasn’t something she wanted to repeat.

“There’s no way your mind can’t start doing the math, right?” Press said this week, saying she’d catch herself counting down the weeks to this summer’s tournament. She doesn’t want to turn off the part of herself still dreaming and striving for a roster spot or any accomplishment on the field, but it’s all a balance.

There’s also a delicate emotional balance in other ways through the recovery process. She’s been in with the team at their training facility, watching the rest of the players train; she’s been at games supporting Angel City, too. Injuries can be isolating, but there’s a weight to being around the team, unable to participate.

“Some of the hardest days of my week are game days when I watch my team play, and there’s a lot of nuance to that. I do feel part of the team. I’m very loyal and dedicated to my teammates and to the club, but it’s actually really hard and painful to watch,” she said.

Having her own space at her physical therapy clinic provided a healing environment. One that lives outside the specific pressures and stresses of the week-to-week grind of the NWSL season, one where the coaches turn from a Friday night result to the new outlook of Monday morning.

“It was a huge blessing to be able to be outside of that, and then the re-entry has been just so great because I have been in a bubble. I’ve been saying, I’ve been bubble-wrapped for so long and now to get in and experience the shift in moods, the shift in energy that comes with preparing for a game and dealing with the results is really important,” she said, now having been more integrated with the team over the past three months.

She’s adjusted now, but shifting from the PT clinic, where she saw the same three people every day, to the full Angel City experience was a bit of a shock.

“It was so social,” she said, laughing a little, recalling just how many people were suddenly talking to her on a daily basis. “Oh my god, I am so introverted. I can’t be around 23 people that are asking me about my life. This is wild! I kept being like, I want to wear a shirt that says, ‘Please don’t ask me about my knee today.’”

With the integration underway and the public milestone achieved, Press has also been busy with the return of The RE-CAP Show, which she hosts with Tobin Heath. Now into their third season, they’ve already recorded with guests like former USWNT player Abby Wambach and Glennon Doyle (who both are in the Angel City investment group, too).

Press and Heath were among the first players to balance active careers with stepping into the media realm, a path shared by the likes of Sam Mewis, Becky Sauerbrunn, Lynn Williams, Midge Purce and others. But still the far more common path is for a player to retire, then start talking about soccer for a living. Press and Heath embrace the tension and perspective this provides.

“Neither Tobin nor I are retired, and neither Tobin nor I have put that chapter behind us,” she said. “We always say it’s a very unique insider/outsider perspective with the USWNT.” As she noted on Monday’s call, you can’t get cut from the national team — a player can always get left off a roster, but they’re also always in contention for the next one. “With the national team, we’re both like, ‘You never know.’ If we can play, we’re going for it right?”

Press noted that discussing the NWSL felt different to her on the show — she’s actively contracted to a team, after all. But either way, her and Heath approach the show with an “active eye” rather than two players who are looking back. But they’ve also focused on building a community along with their foray into the media space. Press has been providing videos with an intimate look into her recovery process for paying members of RE-INC, something that she didn’t think she’d want to create in a more public forum.

“We’ve been able to stay inside the women’s soccer community, having a relationship with our community and our fan base through it all,” Press said.

“We’re simply having the same conversation that we have on our living room couch. I carry a weight of being thoughtful and careful and intentional all the time, inside my own home, so it’s easy for me to translate that. So when we have our banter back and forth, we can stand in a place where we’re challenging each other, and that makes the show more of a provocation than an answer,” she continued. “It’s a question. It’s not an answer.”

Press’ reputation is built in many ways around that thoughtfulness, but it’s not an act either. And sometimes, the way she approaches the world in her “cerebral” fashion means that she wants things to make sense, like her ACL injury and all four surgeries. “I want this fairy tale story where I come back, I’m delightful — that’s actually what I want. ‘I went through all of this, and now you all find me delightful.’”

Press is also all too aware of another reputation, one earned because she’s not afraid to ask for what she wants. She’s fought for everything she wanted. She knows her value.

“Before, you called me a diva, and now I’m delightful. It’s not going to be like that; that’s not what life is. But I will say, the last year of my life — maybe even shorter, the last six months — have been the best of my life because of the space that my ACL created for me to heal as a human. I’m still on that journey, and I intend to stay on that journey.”

Press said this time has allowed her to process and work through all the things she wanted to work through when she actively took a break from the national team, following the previous Olympics. That was the last time she put on a USWNT jersey, after all, and it was and still is a big part of her identity. There have been chapters of her life since then though, and through the recovery process she has asked herself time and time again not when she wants to come back, but how.

She acknowledged there will be fear and pressure with this milestone and the ones yet to come, but the simple goal is for her to be delightful as a human being, for others to be around. Someone that can mentor or be good on the field, laugh at themselves and tease a little too. That doesn’t feel like too much to ask.

“Getting that role in the team where I can be happy and joyful and chasing excellence, really appreciating what I’m doing and what I’m able to do.” That’s what’s important, after a stretch when she did not enjoy the sport itself. “Because if I go back, and I go back and feel the same way that I did about soccer and winning and scoring, then that will feel like a bigger failure than not making it back at all.”

“The competitor in me and the perfectionist in me and the Capricorn in me and the Enneagram three in me just wants to be this delightful, great soccer player that has so much fun and scores all these goals and can totally deal with stress and is always laughing,” she said.

That’s the dream part. The real answer is simple.

“With delight.”

[sonic-oc-ship-showdown]

Hey everyone! It's the 16th, and.... there still aren't enough entries to proceed as planned, or to create an even bracket for either tournament.

So - what's your preferred next step?

If the tournaments are combined, then seven more entries total will be accepted for a total of forty double-elimination slots; if they are kept separate, there will be two more allowed entries for OC x OC (for a bracket of sixteen) and twelve more for OC x Canon (for a total of 32), both single elimination.

Cast your vote, and we'll see where we are when it ends!

As a reminder:

OC x OC Entry Form is here!

OC x Canon Entry Form is here!

The current entries are here!

(If you have filled out the form but are NOT among the entries, it's probably because you did not provide refs. Feel free to re-enter!)

[dc-polls]

"That Really Happened?!" DC Comics Tournament Entry #4

Sentient Music Note Saves The Day With The Power of... Gay Love?

[ID: A series of comics panels featuring Pied Piper, The Trickster, and a gigantic sentient music note. Pied Piper is gesturing at the music note as he shows it to Trickster. Piper says, "*Swhooh* I know, I know..." Trickster asks, "So what gives?" Piper replies, "That! I've been trying to get rid of it for over a week and it just won't dissipate! I used a vacuum cage, the cone of silence - tried bombarding it with lots of smaller notes...! Well, you saw how that worked out." Trickster says, "Sounds Bad." To which Piper replies, "Does it ever. And worse, it seems to have formed an, er, unnatural affection for me! It tries to follow me everywhere! Which you'll have to admit could be pretty embarrassing. You got any bright ideas on this one?" /END ID]

What Happened?

Short story: Pied Piper accidentally summons a giant music note that becomes obsessed with him, escapes containment, and conveniently arrives to the main plot just in time to beat up Gorilla Grodd and save the day.

Long story: Summoning sentient music notes sounds like Golden Age silliness, but this particular story actually comes from 1989. In this Rogues-focused oneshot, a mysterious amnesiac man approaches Paul Gambi (Central City's go-to supervillain tailor) and tells him that his memory is stirred by seeing the Rogue's costumes in the window (because not only is Gambi cheerfully making costumes for supervillains, but he actively advertises this fact and has somehow not been booked as an accessory to any of their crimes.) Gambi suggests that perhaps the amnesiac man is one of the Rogues in question and begins telling their origin stories in hopes of sparking more memories. In a parallel storyline, we see Trickster (James Jesse) rushing to the apartment of the Pied Piper (Hartley Rathaway) where he finds Piper unsuccessfully attempting to subdue the Giant Music Note named Blatt which has gained sentience and become… attracted… to him. Notably, the issue doesn't even try to explain how this happened. Piper's sonic powers, according to the origin story given in this very issue, are entirely scientific and gadgetry based. How did he give sentience and form to a non-literal concept at all, much less accidentally? Who knows! Who cares! We have a plot to develop! A mysterious “he” is back in town and Trickster is here to pick up Piper to come join the Rogues team-up to get the drop on “him.” (After they stop for breakfast, of course.) The rest of the rogues join the group as their origin stories are introduced via Gambi’s storytelling. Shortly before the group arrives, our mysterious amnesiac finally remembers who he is and demands Gambi make a special costume for him. When the Rogues arrive, they are attacked by… Gorilla Grodd! Or, as Trickster soon discovers when the beast goes down in one punch, a de-powered Grodd who has been turned human and is wearing a gorilla suit. They get the suit off Grodd and tie him up (and yes, he is in fact wearing red and white polka dot boxers and nothing else under the gorilla suit.) The Rogues mock their adversary, despite Gambi’s warnings, and rage finally breaks the mental block keeping Grodd de-powered and allows him to return to his superpowered gorilla form. All seems lost, when Blatt re-appears, having escaped from Piper’s apartment and followed him here. The sentient music note easily defeats the giant gorilla with psychic powers and all is well. The Rogues celebrate and head home, with Trickster suggesting that Piper should marry Blatt in gratitude. When they’re gone, we see... a second Gambi? It is revealed to the reader that “Gambi” has actually been Grodd’s (not evil) fellow gorilla Solovar in disguise as Gambi to recapture Grodd. Just as one final ???? in a long line of ?????

Oddly enough, Blatt has never been mentioned since. I can’t imagine why.

(Source: Secret Origins volume 2 issue 41. It's a great standalone issue and a nice introduction to the Flash Rogues for anyone unfamiliar with them.)

--

Tournament polls will be posted after all entries are up. As always you can find all posts related to the tournament using #dc-polls-trh

[ac-liveblogs]

Inazuma Rewrite - Act I

Late, but finally out of my head - this is part of an ongoing project in which I rewrite Genshin Impact as a more traditional party-based RPG (not a live service gacha game, so a more contained and character driven story experience)!

This entry is part 1 of an overview of how I would handle the Inazuma Archon Quest, most of which has been in my head since it originally released back in 2021. This one is first because I've technically been thinking about it the longest.

The current party consists of the Traveler (still player choice, but I will be using Lumine), Venti, Paimon and Xiao. By the end of this AQ, Kazuha will also become a playable main character.

What To Expect:

Liberties are taken with just about everything (though supported or influenced by the source material for the most part), especially re; character history, relationships and personalities.

Rampant speculation about unconfirmed plot elements, or mildly altering/streamlining the lore.

Ei/Raiden Shogun is portrayed as an antagonist. A sympathetic one, probably, but still.

Lumine is treated as a full character, not a self-insert. If Aether were the chosen MC, there would be slight differences to dialogue/their overall character arc to reflect the change. She's still the main playable character, but Venti is considered the deuteragonist and gets some playable segments.

Major character deaths: Raiden Shogun/Ei, Kamisato Ayato (off-screen backstory event). Signora will survive Inazuma to be fought another day. Some minor named NPCs may die, but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

A long read. Sorry about that... hopefully I can knock this out in 3 or 4 parts.

Timeline Notes:

Unreconciled Stars, AKA Scaramouche's limited introductory event, is non-canon. Scaramouche has been stranded in Inazuma since the Sakoku Decree was enforced almost a year ago, and boy is he mad about it.

Zhongli doesn't notify Venti that Makoto has passed on and Ei has replaced her as Shogun. I doubt he saw much of her after the Cataclysm, so he probably just didn't know.

Please refer to the bottom of the post for additional notes to provide context for certain changes. [number] indicates notes at the end. My original draft was a lot longer... Act 3 still got away from me though.

Prologue - Prologue to the Storm

Lumine, Paimon and Venti try to find a way to get to Port Ormos, and decide to compete in Beidou's fighting tournament to barter passage. Lumine fights Kazuha, who is participating to try and find someone that can light his dead friend's Vision. Kazuha gives a brief overview of the situation in Inazuma, but no details on his own backstory.

It's established that Kazuha is a very competent swordsman, as he had defeated most of the other competitors before Lumine's arrival.

Beidou definitely wasn't supposed to be hosting a fighting tournament and has to convince Ningguang to let her off. Xiao joins the party as the group are leaving Liyue Harbour to learn more about what happened during the Cataclysm.

Act 1, Part 1 - Ritou Escape Plan

The journey to Sumeru goes predictably astray, and thanks to a sea beast and Inazuma's storm wall the Alcor shipwrecks on Ritou Island. The crew is forced to register with the Kanjou Commission, and Kazuha admits he's a wanted ronin[1]. Needing to repair the ship but unable to leave the island to find a capable shipwright, Kazuha conspires with his old friend, Hiiragi Chisato[2], to get passage for himself and the Travelers to sneak out of Ritou to find Beidou's shipwright friend, Naganohara Ryuunosuke[3].

The Sacred Sakura Ritual has yet to be completed - angry spirits and accumulated 'filth' roam the land, stretching the Shogunate's forces thin. Kazuha is perturbed by how bad things are - he's never seen Inazuma in this bad a state before. While wards are in place to protect settlements, travel is heavily restricted for civilians. And so, this plan involves staging a fake kidnapping attempt - holding Chisato hostage to force the soldiers to let them leave.

Act 1, Part 2 - A Shadow in Konda Village

As night falls, the effects of the 'filth' in Narukami become stronger and the Travelers decide to stay the night in Konda Village, who believes them to be answering their request for aid in dealing with a spirit haunting them. They also encounter the masked shrine maiden Kazari/Hanachirusato and the masked shinobi Tsubaki[4] who both claim to be representing Narukami Shrine (like liars do), who Kazuha realises is a member of the Shuumatsuban.

While Kazuha is cautious of Tsubaki, who seems to have taken an interest in him, the group comes to realise the spirit isn't harming anyone. After investigating the situation in the morning, they realise the spirit is Tejima, a victim of the Vision Hunt that took his own life and was unable to rest in peace. With Kazari's guidance, they help Tejima pass on.

Increasingly disturbed by the situation in Inazuma, the party moves on the next morning. On the way out, they run into a priestess from Narukami Shrine. She's surprised to hear the situation has already been resolved, and is confused when the party mentions Kazari and Tsubaki - surprise, surprise, she has no idea who either of them are.

Note: Tsubaki is Ayaka in disguise. Mentioning that now - definitely not an OC. She's wearing masculine clothes, a blue kitsune mask and a hood, so while she recognises Kazuha, Kazuha super doesn't recognise her.

Act 1, Part 3 -

When the party arrives at Inazuma City, the preparations for a week-long summer festival[5] are in full swing. The party purchases festival masks to blend in and search for Naganohara Ryuunosuke. (Xiao refuses to use the mask he already has... he and Venti hide their Visions, too.)

Word on the street is mixed - muttering about the dangerous state of Inazuma outside of the main city, the Vision Hunt Decree and disparaging comments about the Watatsumi Rebels, as well as excitement for the festival.

Ryuunosuke is unwilling to help, claiming he's retired and won't defy the Sakoku Decree. Increasingly agitated by the situation in Inazuma, Venti decides to seek an audience with Makoto. That starts a minor argument with Kazuha, who thinks it would be reckless.

The group splits up - Lumine, Paimon and Kazuha try to find another shipwright and Venti and Xiao head to Tenshukaku.

Neither are successful, though Lumine, Paimon and Kazuha are approached by a member of the Arataki Gang[6], who has heard they're looking for a way off Narukami and 'knows someone' who can help. This turns out to be a clumsy sting operation, where Itto accuses the group of being Shogunate plants trying to arrest Yoimiya and challenges them to a fight.

Lumine and Kazuha dispatch him quickly. Yoimiya + Shinobu appear and scold Itto - they clear up the misunderstanding and share some information while Itto sulks 'watches for potential threats'. Turns out Yoimiya and the Arataki gang teamed up to help Vision Holders escape Narukami, to meet with the Watatsumi Rebels - the gang is convinced the rebels are good people.

Venti and Xiao catch up with the group. Itto picks a fight with them. This one ends so quickly it isn't even really a fight. Venti complains that they got kicked out of Tenshukaku (literally, in Venti's case), but had learnt the Shogun was meant to be making appearance at that night's festival.

Yoimiya wants to help the group, and Itto is enthused by Venti's plan to confront the Shogun. The pair are planning to smuggle some refugees out of Narukami during the festival that evening. Venti agrees to help, Kazuha doesn't want to get involved. Unfortunately, pan the camera a bit - they're overheard by someone.

You'd ideally be able to wander around the festival for a bit - interact with the party, Arataki Gang shenanigans, Yoimiya playing with local kids, etc. One of the girls would mention seeing a pretty lady wearing a cool black mask that looked like a crown[7].

The late night events begin, starting with a cutscene introducing Kamisato Ayaka as the Shirasagi Himegimi (her fan-dance). Kazuha tells Lumine who she and her brother are, though he sounds pretty subdued. Ayaka seems to notice Kazuha in the crowd mid-dance. Interspersed with the dance animation, Itto & some Arataki gang members sneak away during the performance.

Lumine sees Tenryou soldiers following Itto and takes off. Meanwhile, everyone else gets their first glimpse of the Raiden Shogun and her companion - La Signora. Venti is stunned (that's not Makoto, what is she doing here), and listens to the start of the Shogun's speech.

She thanks everyone for their bravery and resilience during tough times, but their hardship is necessary. The Vision Hunt, and the Sacred Sakura Cleansing Ritual not having been completed - are necessary, but will be over soon. She vows to ensure Inazuma's prosperity and their safety - forever. "Heaven, hell and the outside world will, soon, be unable to reach them, and Inazuma shall live in this moment forever. With one slash, I shall remove all outside elements from Inazuma. With one slash, we will be eternal."[8]

At this point, Venti's heard enough and confronts the Shogun directly, accusing her of just planning to lock everyone up forever - this isn't what Makoto would want. This shocks the crowd, but the Shogun acknowledging Venti as Barbatos, God of Freedom, makes things a lot worse.

What ensues is pure chaos. Lumine and Yoimiya fight off the soldiers while an unhappy Itto follows Yoimiya's instruction to get the refugees to safety. Kujou Sara[9] appears - cutscene fight, Yoimiya is defeated and arrested but Lumine fights her to a draw.

Kazuha is pointed out by the Tenryou soldier that had overheard the Travelers talking with Itto and Yoimiya earlier; he tries to flee but crashes into Ayaka, who has ended up in his path. Kazuha tells her to move, but he is quickly grabbed and arrested.[10]

Signora heads off to subdue Lumine. Xiao and Venti try to help her, but Ei blocks them - she, Xiao and Venti trade blows, but they're obviously struggling. Very one-sided boss fight (Lumine vs Signora - extremely short, no special phases).

The soldiers search Kazuha for his Vision, but both are are missing - they deduce he's not a Vision Holder.

Lumine is defeated by Signora and blacks out.

END ACT 1.

Note: Part 4, which was previously here, has been moved to the start of Act 2.

[1] Kazuha, Criminal - his official charges are avoiding the Vision Hunt, obstruction of justice and theft of government property (his friend's Vision).

[2] Hiiragi Chisato - Being of a similar age to Ayato and the daughter of the head of the Kanjou Commission, Chisato has met Ayaka and Kazuha before.

[3] Naganohara Ryuunosuke - I changed the Naganohara family business from fireworks to shipbuilding. Yoimiya is still a skilled pyrotechnician, though this is something she's learning for herself. He really is retired - Yoimiya has taken over the business, but he didn't tell them that. When he refuses to help the Travelers, he's trying to protect her. He's probably the one that tipped off the Arataki gang, actually.

[4] Tsubaki/Kamisato Ayaka - This is Ayaka in disguise as a Shuumatsuban shinobi. She and Kazari aren't working together - they assume the other is legit and are acting as such. The blind leading the blind, truly. The name 'Tsubaki' was her mother's alter-ego, from Ayaka's character quest. She took up this identity when her brother died under mysterious circumstances to investigate what's happening in Inazuma.

[5] Unnamed Summer Festival - the same one from Ayaka's quest. I don't believe there's a canon name for it, but I've taken a bit of inspiration from Gion Matsuri and tied it to the end of the Sacred Sakura Cleansing Ritual.

[6] The Arataki Gang - Teamed up with Yoimiya to help Vision Holders escape Narukami. They also try to protect people from vengeful spirits where they can (well, Shinobu does, and the gang cheers her on). They're still delinquents that the majority of Narukami looks down on, and Itto and Yoimiya bicker constantly. Itto calls the gang a 'super secret underground resistance movement!', but its a wonder they haven't given the game away yet.

[7] Signora Cameo at the Summer Festival - "I saw a pretty lady with a cool black crown! I asked her where she bought it, but she said I couldn't have one. She gave me some weird candy though!" NPC dialogue from a child to foreshadow Signora's presence. References Arlecchino's line about Signora liking when kids compliment her. The weird candy are Snezhnayan sweets, nothing malicious - the kids just haven't seen them before. (Speaking of cameos at the festival, that guy selling masks that wants to meet the Conqueror of Demons should be there too. I think that'd be funny.)

[8] Ei/The Raiden Shogun's Plans - to literally sever Inazuma from the rest of Teyvat, including Celestia and the Abyss, permanently. The Storm Wall isn't the same as untethering Inazuma from reality. She'll use the accumulated power from the stolen Visions and the energy stored in the Sacred Sakura to empower her Musou-no-Hitotachi so that she can literally cut through space.

[9] Kujou Sara - an Archon's favoured servants gain a lot of buffs and special abilities within their Archon's domain (country), but lose them when they leave. This accounts for Xiao's loss of teleportation etc. outside of Liyue, but to put it bluntly - Sara is a lot stronger than in canon.

[10] Uh, Kazuha, do something? - Kazuha is traumatised by his friend's death. Kazuha also fled Inazuma instead of trying to rebel, and happily escaped the responsibility of being his clan's head and tries to avoid conflict/doesn't care for the past. I'm tying a lot of this together - Kazuha's flightiness and avoidant personality is a character arc for him to be overcome during the Inazuma quest. He doesn't want to get involved because he genuinely thinks its a bad, dangerous idea. He Will Get Better. This is all out of love, I promise.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Party dynamics; Lumine and Venti get along fairly well, but have conflicting morals that sometimes cause conflict. Venti and Paimon argue like cats and dogs (they do not get on at all lol). Xiao is awkwardly respectful around Venti and struggles to interact with him, but is much more comfortable with Lumine and talks to her fairly easily. Gets along fine with Paimon - he's a bit bemused by her, Paimon thinks he's Cool and Reliable. No-one quite knows Kazuha yet; dynamics still evolving. That said, whenever Kazuha talks about 'the wind knowing him' or anything about how in tune with nature he is, please imagine Venti's initial reaction when asked what the deal is as;

Ayaka and Kazuha are childhood friends of the 'well our families hang out a lot and you're the only kid here my age so...' variety. They got into some misadventures as kids, including discovering Ayaka's mother's secret (Ayaka's Character Quest), which is why Ayaka thought Kazuha would recognise "Tsubaki". They lost contact when the Kaedehara clan fell.

Yoimiya and Itto are not friends. Yoimiya stops Itto from bothering the neighbourhood all the time and the two often bicker. In the face of the Vision Hunt, they decided to work together, though they do still argue sometimes. Shinobu is the peacekeeper and the brains of the operation.

Each new party member brings with a new gameplay mechanic or two along with them. The party's Serenitea Pot is actually Xiao's - totally unfurnished and collecting dust for centuries. He lets Lumine do what she wants with it. Pretty homey, for a realm belonging to the Conqueror of Demons. Kazuha would bring custom blacksmithing and the Starskiff (it's Beidou's). Lumine cooks.

Xiao and Venti are somewhat nerfed. Xiao is weaker outside of Liyue, but still much stronger than the average human, and Venti is weaker without his Gnosis and [censored plot spoiler]. Xiao is heavy hitter, Venti is a magical support/buffer/minor healing unit. Lumine is a mix of the two. Paimon cheers on the sidelines! Harbingers are just OP as hell no matter where they are.

Oh, Kazuha still yoinked that instrument from that one Adeptus' realm. Xiao is horrified.

Lumine, Venti and Xiao don't advertise their ages or that they're not human (Lumine HCs will apply). None of them are perceived as adults and none of them can buy a drink. Kazuha, just barely 20, has no issues at all. Very irritating.

[badass-queer-couples-battle]

Welcome to the battle of badass queer couples!

Here, we determine the best powerful queer couples through Tumblr democracy- make them fight in a poll! Here are the general rules:

1.  Battle couple in this context means any couple that fights together- if they aren’t physical fighters, this might mean working together to take down an enemy through hacking, spy work, scheming, anything as long as they’re badass and working alongside each other! Moral alignment is unimportant- evil couples count too.

2. Couples don’t have to be explicitly canon, but please only submit couples with enough canon basis to qualify as implied! More on this under the cut.

3. There’s a reason this is called the queer, not gay battle couples poll. M/F couples can qualify if one or both people are canonically queer, badass polycules also count!

4. I reserve the right to disqualify a couple on the basis of the source material and/or creators being very problematic (transphobic, racist, etc.)

5. Deadline for submissions is June 30!

6. Guaranteed entries so far!

Here’s the link to the Google Forms!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScEn2pukSqHrCupxcNjHRaAs7lrtC5SB3l6QCOrZgSUBWQzkQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Inspired by @most-canon-non-canon-ship-poll @redandbluegaycompetition @mosthomoeroticenemies ! Here are some other cool tournaments to check out! @unlikely-adversaries-bracket @indigenous-character-tournament @cringefailloser-tournament @transgenderswagcompetition @tragic-duo-showdown @top-fictional-unhinged-women @i-mustache-your-opinion @gentle-giant-swag

Re: Implied couples- this means any couple with significant queer subtext. If I’m unsure about where your couples stand in terms of canon basis and they got enough submissions to potentially get in, I’ll do more research and ask the fandom for further information on them.

[bluehairlaunch]

7 Dragon Ball Villains that could've carried their own arc

Honorable mention, Sorbet. So I enjoy Frieza as much as the next guy, but his wacky and colorful Frieza Force is what firmly places the Namek Saga over the Cell Saga in my mind. Like they're all such memorable characters that I even like Cui ffs. However, let's be real, none of these guys could carry their own arc. At their heart, they're all followers (all except good ol' Geets). Maybe before their recruitment they had more ambition and determination, but when faced with Frieza's insurmountable power, they ultimately all bent over and bowed.

Sorbet is an odd example, because he is definitely a follower as well, although when the power vacuum that is Frieza and King Cold's death opened up, he didn't turn away. He instead took charge and kept the Planet Trade Organization afloat for DECADES, despite being a koala-man with a power level that I'm sure rivals Appule at best.

The only reason he's not on the list proper is because when we finally get to see Sorbet in action, he's trying to pass the torch back to Frieza. He still gets major points tho for leading as long as he did

Spoilers: no one else from Super is on this list, even though a filler character is

Monster Beast Giran

Look, I'm not saying Giran could've carried his own saga, but if Dragon Ball had been written by a more traditional shonen mangaka instead of a gag artist, he probably would've been the Big Bad of the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament. And yes, I'm using his added characterization from filler scenes in the anime to make my point.

A milk drinking brute with a voracious appetite and a deep-seated hatred of heroes, this absolute unit was unfortunately no match for Goku in canon, but his hulking appearance and quirky personality (at least in the anime) always stuck out to me. In my generic re-write of this arc, a majorly buffed Giran faces Jackie Chun instead, and defeats him. He then faces and almost defeats Goku in the final, but Goku transforms into a real monster beast for the win, and that's that

Yea I won't be trying to retell the story for the rest of these entries

Raditz

It says a lot about the quality of Toriyama's villains that Goku's evil brother from space is a mere speed bump on the road to the real top dog of the Saiyan Saga. This dude is so fucking sexy and such a piece of shit that I can't help but imagine what he could've gotten himself into if only he had more screentime

Staff Officer Black

I know Toriyama loves subverting expectations and that's one of the things I so greatly enjoy about Dragon Ball, but c'mon. Commander Black of the Black Ribbon Army would've been... so so sooo cool. The dude's a true believer, actually loyal to his men, and idk what Red did to become the leader over him, but he seems to have been the real brains behind the operation. Dragon Ball Online brought back Commander Red as a cyborg and all I'm asking is why not Staff Officer Black instead?

Turles

Aight so Tree of Might isn't the greatest movie, I'd even say it's mid at best, but it also has amazing ideas. The Tree of Might? Neat, inspired, scary, and also drawn from Journey to the West lore. Turles? Sexy tan Goku, what's not to like? His Crusher Corps? Don't get me started on his Crusher Corps, because they all have their own story, which was included in extraneous material, but not the movie itself.

Amond, the big guy? Yea he was an intergalactic criminal that was arrested by the Galactic Patrol until he was freed by Turles. Daiz was the Prince of the Pukimpa Dynasty that led his planet's army against Turles, but was defeated, then recruited for fighting so bravely. Cacao was a cyborg built to fight an interstellar war before he fucked off to become a bounty hunter and eventually join the Crusher Corps. Rasin and Lakasei were fossils resurrected by Turles using extract from the Tree of Might.

Fuck, Turles himself is a low-class Saiyan warrior that somehow found or stole the holy Seeds of Might, which were reserved for Kai. When I was a kid my older brother told me (read, lied to me lol) that Saiyans were all test tube babies grown from different strains and that's the difference between low medium and elite saiyans and why he and Goku are almost identical. Like, that's not true, but there's a lotta fleshing out you could do with Turles to make him and his potential saga more compelling

Demon King Dabura

Ruler of a shadowy demon realm for thousands of years with a power level that equals Perfect Cell, Demon King Dabura is also... the bitch of a tiny bitchy wizard? Yup, that's Toriyama all right.

So lemme start by saying that this guy gets so little credit he's not even in Fighterz, despite having a cool sword and a huge canon moveset. He also looks... well tbh, he doesn't look as awesome to adult me as he did to kid me, but he's still neat looking. I like his horns and his funky glamrock outfit. He also probably had his own Dabura Force filled with edgy evul henchmen (including Shula from that filler episode, who I'm pretty sure inspired Dabura's creation) that could've easily filled an entire saga.

It says a lot that Raditz isn't the lead of his saga, but imo it says way more that Toriyama created an entire evil universe opposite the regular universe ruled over by this baritone Satan and he's just a footnote. It also says a lot about Dragon Ball Heroes that instead of trying it's own thing, it digs up Toriyama's fossilized spittle and creates Mira, Towa, and Kabuto from Naruto.

Mercenary Tao Pai Pai

Ok so I'm biased, because this flamboyant bastard is easily one of my favorite villains, and that's including everything, not just Dragon Ball or comics. He oozes so much style that I'm not even sure how you could stretch him out into an entire arc, but it doesn't matter, because he could make it work. The dude can make watching someone else shop for clothes compelling ffs, so as far as I'm concerned, Tao could've been the villain for the whole of Dragon Ball and it'd be just or almost as good as what we actually got

His shirt says Kill You! he's seriously the best don't @ me

Dr. Gero

Mustache

Yes, I know he was supposed to be the Big Bad, but Toriyama's former editor didn't think an old man in baggy pants and a fat clown could carry their own arc, but they're wrong damn it! Just look at him

[basedkikuenjoyer]

I found these when I was doing the Dragon Quest meandering. They alone were worth all of that. The early NES games don't really get to make the most of having Akira Toriyama doing character designs. Tech wasn't there yet. But apparently there was a lot of official art made. Bet these made it into promotional material, Nintendo Power, etc. Recall I only got into the series through the Game Boy re-release. Because of Nintendo Power actually but they were short features.

Left is the DQ2 trio arriving on the icy plateau of Rhone, you can see Hargon's castle in the distance. DQ4 on the right is showing us the climax of Alena's chapter, the Tournament at Endor. A novel battle for the NES era. There were quite a few of these, but I was glad to find two favorite moments from the early entries. If only we had a good one for DQ3 and Orochi.

[80s-movie-tournament]

Lilac?

Lilac -> funniest submissions?

Ooh...this one's hard. Some highlights from the notes section:

"It’s the perfect Christmas movie!" (The Thing)

"Screw Die Hard, *this* is the best Christmas movie ever." (Lethal Weapon)

"gay with blood" (Re-Animator)

"It's about an angel who falls in love with a trapeze artist and Columbo is there" (Wings of Desire)

"2 dollars.....2 DOLLARS...." (Better off Dead)

"It’s totally excellent, dude" (Bill and Ted)

"Mandy Patinkin" (The Princess Bride)

"Miss Piggy walked so James Bond could run" (The Great Muppet Caper)

"Cause my Mum said so tbh" (Flight of the Navigator)

As always, here are the questions:

Lilac -> funniest submissions?

Iridium -> how many submissions did you get?

Lime -> participant(s) you’re rooting for the most?

Yellow -> most annoying part of running your tourney

Coral -> participant(s) you did not expect to make it this far

Azure -> what/who inspired you to run this competition?

Sage -> showdown you’re most excited for?

Sandstone -> any question you’d like, doesn’t have to be related to the polls :]

I'm also going to add

Carmine -> what submissions did you want to include but didn't make the final cut?

Ochre -> what is your favorite (or least favorite) entry?

Mulberry -> what do you want to do once the tournament is over?

Viridian -> who do you think is going to be the winner of the tournament?

Thanks for the ask!

[understandableparadox]

Lollie Gravez

64.media.tumblr.com

lh7-us.googleusercontent.com

Your name is LOLLIE GRAVEZ and you use ne/nem/nir, sh3/h3r/h3rz and h3/h1m/h1z. You are a SCENE KID first and foremost, and a troll second.

You love COMICS, CARTOONS, and SHIPPING, and listen to way too much ALTERNATIVE MUSIC. You send a lot of your spare time SEWING CLOTHES, both for yourself and your PLETHORA OF PLUSH FRIENDS. You spend way too much money on VIDEO GAMES, that you never get around to playing. When you aren’t hiding in your room away from the world, you love watching shows with your friends, then making self inserts for all your friends. Your squad loves the troll anime SUGIO QUEST FOR KOKORO, despite it being outlawed for rebel imagery.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Soyuka Detoxa

64.media.tumblr.com

lh7-us.googleusercontent.com

Soyuka was a former escort in a corrupted church, with the help of Taluco (First Character Entry), she was able to turn the once brothel into a proper place of worship. She managed to be quaded with a Death God and a Rebel Leader...so...bonus bragging points for her. She speaks Alternian Spanish.

[aislamxnto]

for: @ironforged

the joust -- a victory lap

Faithful to Wylla? It could not be doubted. Their favour adorned his person, the colors of House Manderly bade to bend to the ebbs and flow of the warm breeze; astride his beloved steed, Edric rode out to meet them, to ordain them the queen of love and beauty. War had robbed Edric of many things; security, levity, his kin. His venture into the tournament had been a tepid re-entry into the world of sword and shield --- to win for Wylla, his guiding light. A victory Edric would have found hollow (though he could not deny the pride that swept him), was made wondrous and anew, as he approached them. He knew few could contest their appointment, as he neared; the seven gods who ruled their faith, and the gods of old who steadied his course, had convened to divine them --- Edric was proud to call someone in possession of features which rivalled statues of heralded beauties, his dear friend. "For you, dearest Wylla; my liege. I could think of no other to reign as personification of love and beauty." At last, a poor spectacle himself (clad in armour now blackened by earth and sweat, the hair beneath his helmet fit only for a family of birds), Edric was before Wylla --- he felt the sun was smiling upon him now, and he no longer felt sunshine a slight upon his person. "For you, and for the North; shall we now be even for the time I stole your sweets? I was seven, but I have carried such a crime against your person with me for all these years."

[animanga-bc-tournament]

THE TOONAMI CARTOON NETWORK/KIDS’ WB ERA (1997-2008) ANIME SMACKDOWN WILL SOON COMMENCE!!

In this tournament we will determine which series that aired on the Toonami block from 1997-2008 that tumblr users enjoyed the most. The one you always made sure to watch or that left the biggest impression on you. And if you didn’t watch Toonami, then vote for the series you liked the best! When vote then  vote in the name of nostalgia over what series you think is best *today*. 

How was each series chosen? 

I sourced the anime included in the bracket based on the well documented Wikipedia page for Toonami. However in order to keep the bracket manageable and even the playing field some decision were made: 

Pokemon, Dragon Ball, Cardcaptors, Sailor Moon, One Piece, Yu-Gi-Oh [GX], and Naruto are excluded due to their overwhelming popularity, so to even the field Yuyu Hakusho will be the only series with its high level of international fame to participate. These series will be included in another bracket [TBA]. However I chose to keep Dragon Ball GT due to how polarizing it was among fans.

For the sake of simplicity series that are in some way chronologically connected will go under the same entry. For example: Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki, Tenchin Universe, and Tenchi in Tokyo are entered together Tenchi Muyo! in the bracket. Zoids: New Century and Zoids: Chaotic Century are entered together as Zoids. Transformers: Armada, Transformers: Enegron, and Transformers: Cybertron are entered together as Transformers Trilogy. Gundam is excluded from this ruling as just about every entry are stand alone stories or exist within separate canons. 

Japanese-international co-productions will be in a bracket of its own [TBA]. However an exception will be made for Voltron, G-Force, and Robotech. While technically considered adaptions because of the reworked scripts and footage, they’re re-broadcasts of early attempts at anime distribution in the US, rather than an attempt at making something for an audience who are already familiar with/fans of anime. The Transformers trilogy is also exempt from this ruling despite being produced by Hasbro as I view them the same as a Bandai produced anime.

 Hamtaro is not seeded but is in fact going up against G-Force: Guardians of Space. (I accidentally wiped the whole bracket 3 separate times while making it and i am not redoing it at this time, sorry)

Every series in the bracket are listed below the cut!

Voltron (An adaption of Beast King Go-Lion with some episodes using footage from Armored Fleet Dairugger)

G-Force: Guardians of Space (An adaption of Science Team Gatchaman)

Robotech (a frankensteined version of The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber Mospeada)

Ronin Warrios (Known as Legendary Armor Samurai Troopers in Japan)

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing

Tenchi Muyo! (Tenchi Muyo: Ryo-Ohki, Tenchi Universe, and Tenchi in Tokyo all go under this entry)

Blue Submarine no. 6 (1998 OVA)

Outlaw Star

The Big O 

Mobile Suit Gundam (1979)

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team

Zoids (Zoids New Century and Zoids Chaotic Century both go under this entry)

Gundam 0080 War in The Pocket

Hamtaro

Mobile Fighter G Gundam

.hack //sign

Yuyu Hakusho

Cyborg 009: The Cyborg Soldier (2001)

Superior Defender Gundam Force (SD Gundam)

Dragon Ball GT

Duel Masters

Astro Boy (2003)

Transformers trilogy (Transformers: Armada, Transformers: Energon, and Transformers: Cybertron all go under this entry)

Gundam SEED

Rave Master

Zatch Bell!

Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo

MÄR

Prince of Tennis

Mega Man Star Force

Bakugan 

Blue Dragon

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 22/06/2024 (uh... the Kid LAROI?)

Sabrina Carpenter has an even more impressive second week than her first, as “Please Please Please” strides up to the top spot for her second #1, dethroning Eminem’s “Houdini”, now at #3, and joining her own “Espresso” at #2. Welcome back to a relievingly dull episode of REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

Rundown

As always, we start this slow week with our notable dropouts - songs exiting the UK Top 75, which is what I cover, after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. This week, we bid farewell to mostly long-runners or current bottom-feeders. This time around, our obituaries contain “Forget About Us” by Perrie (Edwards), “obsessed” by Olivia Rodrigo, “You & Me” by Disclosure featuring Eliza Doolittle after its return last week, “End of Beginning” by Djo (just as I start to really like it), “Never Lose Me” by Flo Milli and, of course, thank goodness, Vance Joy’s “Riptide”.

As for our returns and gains, we have Sabrina’s residual gains from her biggest moment yet: “Feather” returns to #75 after peaking at #19 earlier this year. Our notable boosts end up being more varied, with “Pedro” by Jaxomy, Agatino Romero and the late Raffaella Carrá at #67, “Nasty” by Tinashe at #66, “Set My Heart on Fire” by Majestic, The Jammin Kid and Céline Dion at #54, “PICK UP THE PHONE” by PAWSA featuring the late Nate Dogg unfortunately at #49, more Chappell Roan gains with “Red Wine Supernova” at #46 and “HOT TO GO!” at #39, “As it Was” by Harry Styles at #33, and naturally, given it’s the Euros, “Three Lions (Football’s Coming Home)” by comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner and Britpop group The Lightning Seeds is back at #32. It’s topped the charts several times since it first charted in 1996 and routinely re-enters based on different football tournaments and events. I’ve discussed it pretty in-depth on an episode from years ago, so I won’t elaborate as much as I probably would otherwise here, but I suppose we’ll see it rise on the charts in accordance with how the England team’s performance shakes throughout.

As for our top five, well, I already ran through a lot of it, and it’s largely a stable week - “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey at #5, “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” by Billie Eilish: both songs that haven’t moved since last week. As mentioned prior, we then have the trio of “Houdini”, “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” in the top three, and without further ado, time for our uneventful little batch of new songs.

New Entries

#69 - “NIGHTS LIKE THIS” - The Kid LAROI

Produced by Clams Casino

Now, I’m not saying that just because there are very few new songs and generally a not a lot of bigger stories, we will have a nearly entirely unremarkable group of new tracks. It just happens that this week, that is indeed the case. There are little quirks, of course - this may just be a Kid LAROI album cut from last year because, well, that’s just what we’re doing this week, but it’s good to see legendary cloud rap producer Clams Casino on the chart. You probably know him from his work with Lil B and A$AP Rocky, and he brings a similar sampled ambiance here, though the main lead is so distorted it almost sounds like it would fit a hexd record amidst all the stuttering and pretty minimal drum patterns but the drums themselves hit really heavily. It’s very much a modern-day rendition of a more typical Clams Casino beat from the early 2010s. It’s a really good beat. So what does Mr. LAROI do? Uh… like a minute of vocal riffing. This isn’t even a minute and a half, it’s practically an interlude with some of his nicest, or really, least awkward, falsetto performances, but outside of some vague breakup grovelling, this does not have much to it other than a really good instrumental… which does it wonders, but I struggle to really call it a fully-formed song. I assume TikTok is behind this, but an extended version would be a smart move here.

#58 - “Kisses” - BL3SS and CamrinWatsin featuring bbyclose

Produced by BL3SS, CamrinWatsin and Punctual

I’m quite tired, I have a bit of a headache and I’m looking forward to being able to publish this episode and take a good rest. Thanks to these guys I’ve never heard of for making that much easier. Over half of BL3SS’s discography on Spotify consists of versions of this song, which is only two minutes. BL3SS is a production duo from London, Watsin’s an Irish DJ, and this is vocalist bbyclose’s only song, with professionals Punctual here to iron out the creases on a pretty standard house track. bbyclose goes for a bratty, Caity Baser-esque cadence that leaves a lot to be desired, especially since it seems to just be a take that’s been copied and pasted over some basic albeit catchy synth bass and four-on-the-floor beats. I appreciate the frenetic drums midway through and the clashing breakbeats earlier, making it feel uniquely tense considering how minimal the melodic elements are, but again, it’s just a bit of an idea rather than a fully thought-out song. The fuzzy synths in the final drop are a good enough pay-off, but it feels like way more could have been developed upon. There’s nothing wrong with a good basic dance tune but the atmosphere isn’t there, there isn’t really a second hook to latch onto, and the remixes are even shorter, including a remix by rapper Kak Hatt that is barely longer than the Kid LAROI interlude. None of them effectively improve on the original or go for a drastically different approach. It’s just all perfectly cromulent dance music.

#55 - “KEHLANI” - Jordan Adetunji

Produced by Prodbyli

Okay, so let me get this straight: not a single Cash Cobain-produced song will chart, but a rando with basically no credits will replicate the sexy and/or slizzy drill sound identically and get a viral hit. Kehlani won’t chart with her lead single from her album that just released today, but a song named after them to garner clicks, which actually samples Summer Walker instead, specifically her 2019 track “Potential”, will magically appear at #55. Then Kehlani will end up on a yet to be released remix of it in spite of the fact they’re just one of six women mentioned in just the chorus, because they can’t get a hit otherwise. Sigh, I mean, it’s got everything you’d expect from sexy drill, a subgenre I’m… very well-versed in if you want a full-on lecture at some point, I’d be glad to share. It’s got damn near every sound you’d be familiar with, even the occasional dripping sound effect which I thought was absent until the second chorus, it’s building tension constantly but also has the stop-and-start feel of a Jersey club track because of the busy but tedious percussion. The high-pitch rapper is about as nasal as the chipmunk R&B sample, he’s talking about a sexy woman amidst basic, fast-paced flows and occasional pop culture references. It’s all textbook and unfortunately, that’s all it is. And once again, it’s barely two minutes but, if you look at the lengths of better and more interesting sexy drill songs, that’s not exactly a complaint. My personal favourite song from the genre is shorter than that Kid LAROI interlude yet feels like a complete track, it’s just kind of how this subgenre works. Hopefully something more interesting or closer to Cash, Chow Lee or wolfacejoeyy from this genre can break out soon, because they have more character than this and genuine hit potential that has so far gone somewhat unnoticed in the UK. I have a full playlist of my favourite sexy drill songs, and not only do so many of them deserve this spot more, they sound like they’d make more SENSE as a hit than this. They’re actually catchy, and funny! I love this sound on principle hence why I’m spending more time on this than I need to and also hence why I don’t hate this, but this is still far from a good impression if you’re a UK chart-watcher opening your ears to this genre for the first time.

#51 - “Choppa” - Byron Messia and Lil Baby

Produced by Rvssian

Byron Messia, a dancehall artist from St. Kitts and Nevis, probably best known for his top 20 hit “Talibans” that peaked at #12 in 2023, is finally back with a single of his own on the charts, enlisting the seemingly go-to crossover rapper of the day Lil Baby for a largely onomatopoeic single about shooting down opps. There’s a simmer to the dancehall groove for sure, especially with the way the subtle tropical drums are mixed to the left, but the higher-pitch vocal loop feels a bit too cheap and robotic to really play off it very well. Messia himself is a bit less reserved, coating himself in his own ad-libs and harmonies in a way that isn’t as interesting as it seems to be covering up some lyrical deficiences - the body drops like a Netflix series? The chopper sings sweetly like it has diabetes? Okay, well, Lil Baby is a complete non-presence lyrically and matches Messia’s vocal tone to some extent, meaning that his slightly off-beat flow renders his verse as a waste of time that was added in post-haste, especially given the structuring: it interrupts Messia’s second verse, splitting it into two, and he only ever returns for a weirdly-mixed recitation of the lead artist’s outro. Not even any ad-libs in the chorus. Once again, production isn’t bad, but as a full song… at least the performances might be finalised? It’s closer to three minutes?

#48 - “DEVIL IS A LIE” - Tommy Richman

Produced by Jonah Roy, Max Vossberg and Kavi

I think Tommy Richman could have a relatively successful - albeit brief - hitmaking career in R&B. He’s got a unique voice mirroring really only one artist - Brent Faiyaz - and even then, he’s not got the same production choices and he goes for a flow closer to rap. I also respect how he didn’t go for the exact same vibe as “MILLION DOLLAR BABY”, deciding to switch his 2000s rap influence from Memphis to almost a New Orleans vibe. I’m assuming he’ll do chopped and screwed for the third one. There is an undeniable funk here for me, but once again, both the beat and Richman’s performance feel pretty half-baked and perhaps rushed. What was special about “MILLION DOLLAR BABY” was how its brevity contained so many hooks and earworms, even with just the one verse and infectious chorus. This is a cute throwback jam, I suppose, and it seems to be rising on streaming pretty well, but it has one-hit wonder follow-up written all over it: a different sound, perhaps one that fits his unique style more than his slight left turn of a big hit, some vocal inflections reminding you of said big hit, a title that cashes in on the song of the summer famously losing that same phrase. It’s completely serviceable, but it stops right there and fails to take any risks or even construct itself in a way that distracts you from how barebones it really is, considering its typical verse-chorus-verse-chorus-vocal-riffing-outro structure that barely rakes up to two minutes once again. I can’t help but think that if all five of these songs are not reaching any kind of interesting development or ambition, it can’t be purely for any thematic reason and might just be laziness or, probably worse, marketing. But this was a slow week. Naturally, we’ll get clunkers that just aren’t good enough to find themselves debuting as high on any other week. This Richman fellow though, he’s sticking around… for now.

Conclusion

Clams Casino gets Best of the Week for that beat on “NIGHTS LIKE THIS”. As for the rest… it’s the mid-off of the century, pick your own. As for what’s on the horizon, it may be an exciting week but once again, like this week, the levels of fame from those actually dropping a substantial work are not that consistently high, so we may end up with just more filler. Regardless, thank you for reading, rest in peace to James Chance, and Stephen Spencer of Dario G, and I’ll see you next week.

[doamarierose-honoka]

The prospect of bringing Elena back was a scary one for players who spent a lot of time in Ultra Street Fighter 4, but that's a reality we'll all soon be living in — though the developers appear to be keenly aware of fan concerns.

Following the reveal of Season 2 DLC also including M. Bison Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui, Street Fighter 6 Director Takayuki Nakayama and Producer Shuhei Matsumoto recently had an interview with Japanese publication Famitsu where they talk about the first Street Fighter 3 character coming back to the roster and her infamous healing powers.

Thanks to the talents of our own Nicholas 'MajinTenshinhan' Taylor, we now have a full translation of their discussion to provide more insights on the team's thought process for the upcoming DLC.

Famitsu: You're also adding Elena from the Street Fighter 3 series. Was there any particular reason for bringing her back?

Nakayama: First of all, we didn't have a capoeira user at the moment and we also wanted to have someone who was from Africa, which were two big reasons for including her.

We were thinking about making a brand new African character, but we felt like if we did that'd leave no room for Elena later so we chose to bring her back instead.

Famitsu: You're working hard to not have overlapping nationalities and fighting styles, then?

Nakayama: That's right. We're always trying to bring in nationalities or martial arts that aren't represented yet. In Street Fighter 6, we added Snake Kung-Fu on our poison user A.K.I. and Drunken Fist with Jamie when we made new characters.

Although the interviewer brings it up, the Director himself doesn't specifically mention her being a SF3 representative as part of the reasoning to bring her back.

This is quite interesting since SF6 is the first entry to fully take place after Third Strike, but it seems we won't be getting caught up with basically any of the New Generation era cast until almost two years after the game came out.

Famitsu: As usual, she'll be mostly fighting with her legs?

Nakayama: Yeah. We're right in the middle of developing her right now, but please look forward to further news down the line.

And then there's of course what all USF4 players were wondering about.

Famitsu: I'm quite curious about Healing... ?

Nakayama: During Ultra Street Fighter 4, I saw a tournament which had Rose, Yun and Elena and the matches became extremely long.

We're very aware of this in our development, so please don't worry about Healing.

Everyone: Hahaha.

Nakayama: For some inside info, the idea of "how about she heals her opponent instead?" was raised, but obviously this was rejected, haha.

This does certainly make it sound like Elena does have Healing again in SF6 though they don't plan on it being quite as strong.

Back when she was re-introduced in Ultra Street Fighter 4, Elena became something of a menace at most skill levels because of her Ultra 2.

She could easily and consistently knock the opponent down and send them flying basically full screen with moves like Spin Scythe and Scratch Wheel to give her an opening for Healing on their recovery.

Most characters didn't have a consistent punish to this tactic, so she'd often get it off for basically free and force the opponent to do enough damage to basically KO Elena 1.5 times to get a win — and then she could just do it again the next round (or sometimes twice in one round if she recovered enough).

It also certainly helped that it only took her Revenge Meter, so she was still free to use her EX moves and Super without a tradeoff.

As the Director mentioned, this could slow down and draw out matches longer than basically any time in SF4's history, which of course drew some ire from the playerbase.

If we had to take a guess, Healing will most likely be Elena's level 2 Super Art in SF6 judging by how the developers tend to set up the characters in this game. And maybe it'll refill her Drive Gauge instead or at least give her the option to.

On top of that being a fairly expensive cost, SF6's mechanics like Drive Rush and almost no hard knockdowns presumably would make healing much riskier than SF4.

Elena already had Healing in SF3 too and wasn't really good there, so it was largely how Ultra SF4 was set up that led to her being more of a menace.

Famitsu: In the trailer, she really gives off a kind of a big sister vibe, so are we to take that as her growing up from her previous appearance?

Nakayama: Of course, time has passed for her just like the rest of the characters, so she has grown. She pets a hippopotamus in one scene, and that's also going to be related to her story.

Previously, the Director talked about how players would probably be surprised and say things like "what are you doing?" in regards to SF6 Season 2, and he certainly seems to be right by bringing Elena back plus the series' first guest characters.

Players will likely be waiting many more months until we actually learn more about Elena in detail and see her in action considering she's the last character scheduled to release in Year 2 all the way in Spring 2025.

[dc-polls]

They Would Not Fucking Say That!

Tournament Bracket

Hello everyone! The preliminaries have all closed, and the bracket has been seeded based on the results (see below for more info). Polls will release twice per day starting tomorrow! Each will include the character and incident, and will link to the relevant preliminary polls for full details. As always, go off in the poll reblogs with your propaganda, justifications and rants!

Edit: View all entries in #dc-polls-twnfst-prelims

[Image ID: A single elimination bracket flow chart with the first round of sixteen entries filled in as follows.

#1 Jason Todd Prevents Vengeance vs #16 The Source Doesn't Exist Beyond the Wall

#8 Orion Breaks Lightray's Wrist vs #9 Lightray Spanks Wonder Woman

#4 Batman Makes Robin Eat Rats vs #13 Mikhail Arkadin Shows Loyalty to Russia

#5 Donna Calls Jason "Re-Todd" vs #12 Maxwell Lord Shoots Ted Kord in the Head

#2 Booster Gold Saves the Waynes vs #15 Batman Doesn't Believe the Riddler

#7 Batman Kills Police with a Car vs #10 Mad Hatter Acts Like a Pedo

#3 Vic Sage Kills the Suicide Squad vs #14 Vic Sage is Constantly High

#6 Anarky Causes Violence with Fascists vs #11 Guy Gardner is Pro-US Nukes

/End]

Seeding info below the cut.

The preliminary poll data was used in three ways. The first was to evaluate raw popularity. A character or incident that is well known or more popular is always going to get more overall votes, and this should indicate a more accurate consensus than a poll that had a small number of votes. Taking this into consideration helps guard against an entry that most people didn't really care about making it further in the tournament than say a very infamous incident. Since the most popular poll had 226 votes, all were divided by this amount in order to do a quasi normalization of the values relative to each other. The resulting number is weighted at 25% in the final seed calculation so that it doesn't overpower the way that people voted in the prelims.

That brings us to the second data point. The percentage of people who agreed that the incident was out of character accounts for the other 75% of the seed value. This ensures that if voters were overwhelmingly in agreement, even though only a few people voted, their voices were still heard.

The last data point was if there were any outliers. This is actually three data points sort of rolled into one, and is the most subjective part of the final seed order. For the percentage of people who disagreed on a poll, called out the write up as being incorrect, and felt more nuance was needed, I did a visual scan for outliers and adjusted the order manually. There were a few that seemed to be above average in these areas, but in nearly all those cases the calculated score was high enough away from the next seed that it didn't make sense to swap them. One had a very large percentage of dissenting votes, but it was already near enough to the bottom that it also did not make sense to swap positions. In the end only one was manually swapped to move it one rank lower because of these votes.

For transparency and completeness, here are the rankings by total votes, by percentage of voter agreement, and using the calculated normalization and 25/75 split described above.

Total Votes

Jason Todd Prevents Vengeance

Booster Gold Saves the Waynes

Batman Makes Robin Eat Rats

Batman Kills Police with a Car

Vic Sage Kills the Suicide Squad

Batman Doesn't Believe the Riddler

Lightray Spanks Wonder Woman

Guy Gardner is Pro-US Nukes

Orion Breaks Lightray's Wrist

Mad Hatter Acts Like a Pedo

Vic Sage is Constantly High

Donna Calls Jason "Re-Todd"

Anarky Causes Violence with Fascists

Mikhail Arkadin Shows Loyalty to Russia

Maxwell Lord Shoots Ted Kord in the Head

The Source Doesn't Exist Beyond the Wall

Vote Percentage that the Incident was OOC

Anarky Causes Violence with Fascists

Vic Sage Kills the Suicide Squad

Jason Todd Prevents Vengeance

Donna Calls Jason "Re-Todd"

Orion Breaks Lightray's Wrist

Batman Kills Police with a Car

Lightray Spanks Wonder Woman

Booster Gold Saves the Waynes

Mad Hatter Acts Like a Pedo

Batman Makes Robin Eat Rats

Guy Gardner is Pro-US Nukes

Maxwell Lord Shoots Ted Kord in the Head

Mikhail Arkadin Shows Loyalty to Russia

Vic Sage is Constantly High

The Source Doesn't Exist Beyond the Wall

Batman Doesn't Believe the Riddler

Normalized 25/75 Split

Jason Todd Prevents Vengeance

Booster Gold Saves the Waynes

Vic Sage Kills the Suicide Squad

Batman Makes Robin Eat Rats

Donna Calls Jason "Re-Todd"

Anarky Causes Violence with Fascists

Batman Kills Police with a Car

Orion Breaks Lightray's Wrist

Lightray Spanks Wonder Woman

Mad Hatter Acts Like a Pedo

Guy Gardner is Pro-US Nukes

Maxwell Lord Shoots Ted Kord in the Head

Vic Sage is Constantly High

Mikhail Arkadin Shows Loyalty to Russia

Batman Doesn't Believe the Riddler

The Source Doesn't Exist Beyond the Wall