#last year i got maybe 8 attacks in and i want to ramp it up

[deerteatime]

hey guys, if any of u have an artfight do u mind dropping it in the comments/tags/reblogs? idc how often we interact i'm drawing everyone art this year goddamnit

[btsslowburnfic]

The Arrangement Chapter 8

Series Summary: Desperately in need of money, you answered the questionable ad. AKA-Arranged marriage AU featuring Y/N and Yoongi.

Chapter Summary: First day on the job.

Previous chapter here

------------------------ You received a text message at around 8 am telling you the car had arrived to take you to BigHit. Your aunt had already left for work and took your sister and niece along with her. Your brother had left hours ago so there was no big “goodbye” or anything. You took a look around the small apartment and sighed. It had been really nice of your aunt to take the three of you in. You hoped that you had made the right decision. You put on your backpack, grabbed your suitcases, and headed out the door.

The car was easy to spot. Your apartment complex was not fancy so there weren’t usually vehicles with chauffeurs waiting out front. The tall man waved at you, “ Ms. [Y/L/N]?’ he asked.

You nodded and he walked over to take your bags. “You don’t have to do that,” you politely declined.

“I insist ma’am.” He responded and put the suitcases in the trunk. He moved over and opened the door for you. Fancy. 

“Thank you,” you said as you sat your backpack down on the seat and slid in. This was a definite improvement over the bus or walking, you thought as the car began to head towards the middle of the city.  After a short drive the car pulled into what you assumed was the back entrance of the building and down a ramp into an underground garage. The driver scanned a badge at an outer gate and then had to show an id card at a second guard station a few meters further. Wow, security around here was tight, you thought. Good. 

The driver pulled up next to an elevator and got your bags out. “Alright miss, I assume you’ll have messages about where to go next. Take care.”

“Thank you!” You awkwardly waved as you rolled your bags next to the elevator and took out your phone.

NJ: When you get here, head to the 18th floor and someone will assist you.

Ok. You stepped onto the elevator and pushed the button. Your breathing had started to increase. You found yourself suddenly nervous, remembering that you were starting a new job today, and moving in somewhere new, and you were supposed to marry some basically random dude. Deep breaths. You should have refilled your prescription, you found yourself thinking as you started to become dizzy. Fortunately for you, the doors to the elevator opened and a person got on, pulling you out of your panic attack. 

“Hey! Moving in?” The voice was clear and cute. You looked up. It belonged to a girl either younger than you or with a better skin care routine.

“Oh, yeah. It’s my first day.” You added shyly.

“Nice to meet you!” She bowed politely. “My name is Alice. I moved in last year around this time.” She smiled. 

“[Y/N], it’s nice to meet you as well,” you returned.

“I’m a make-up artist.” She added.

“Oh, how fun. I suck at make-up.” You said before you could stop yourself. 

She laughed. “I don’t know, I think you did a pretty good job for a more natural look,” She said while assessing your face. The elevator dinged at the 14th floor. “This is me. I hope I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah, thanks!” You said, grateful for the distraction. A few seconds later, you arrived at your floor.  You stepped off and found yourself in a very fancy hallway.  It looked like it belonged in a luxury hotel.It was very different from the floors you had seen so far. You scanned the hallway and saw a man in a checkered suit sitting on a chair, leaned over and looking at his phone. You checked your phone again, no new messages. You cleared your throat slightly, unsure if maybe Namjoon had mis-typed the floor or something.

The man in the chair looked up, “Oh. Hello there,” he smiled and stood up. “Jung Hoseok at your service.” He quickly walked over and put out his hand. His suit was quite loud, but it worked on him. 

“Hi. [Y/N]. Nice to meet you.”

“Oh. This will be fantastic. Come with me.” He turned before you could ask him what he was talking about. You grabbed your bags and followed.  He walked quickly as though he was on a mission. You didn’t see any other doors as you followed him.

“Alright, you are in unit 1802. Here is your key card.” He stopped in front of a door and handed you a key fob. “Get settled in. Get cleaned up. The rest of your schedule should be in the App. Security is expecting you in 45 minutes to get your badge. Good luck!” He smiled and turned away quickly, chuckling to himself.

You stood there confused for a minute. What the hell kind of dorms were these? You shook your head and swiped the card. You were expecting a small foyer that would be covered in other people’s shoes. Instead you immediately noticed how quiet the space was and were greeted by a large sunken room with benches lining the perimeter. You stepped down into it, pulling your suitcases behind you. There were a few pairs of shoes neatly stored under the seats. You slipped yours off as well and left your two large bags in the foyer. As you walked further into the apartment,  it quickly became clear to you this was no ordinary dorm. 

The place was massive with gleaming marble floors and glass windows running along the entire length of the large living room. On the left side of the living room was a fireplace, situated next to a large staircase heading up to a loft area. A kitchen was to your right. A few bowls and cups sat in a drying rack. A rice cooker was on. Other than that, there were no indications that people actually lived here.

"Hello?" you called into the space. The living room was sparsely furnished with a couch, coffee table, and TV. You walked through the living room and down a hallway. You found a bathroom, an empty room, and a bedroom. The bedroom had nothing other than a bed, night stand, and wardrobe. You furrowed your brow. Was this your room? Was the empty one yours? Ugh. You imagined Namjoon smirking at you as you walked back into the living room. 

You were looking down at your phone as you entered and paused only because you heard a slight dragging sound. You looked up and saw Mr. Min wearing only grey boxer shorts and shuffling towards the kitchen. His body was lean and pale and he had the tiniest bit of a tummy and wow you felt like a pervert all of a sudden. 

Your face grew red and you didn't know if you should say something or slowly back down the hallway or run for the exit to never return. Unfortunately you didn't get a chance to decide. Yoongi looked over at you. He slowly blinked his eyes as though trying to assess if you were really there or not. "Why the hell are you here?" he asked, his voice deep and gravelly like he had just woken up. 

Your mouth gaped open as though speaking was a new skill. "Umm… I am. I am so sorry. Mr Jung gave me a key and told me I would be staying here." You averted your eyes from his half-naked body, slightly surprised that he didn't seem to be bothered by that at all. 

Yoongi scratched his head, fluffing his hair and let out something like a growling sound. He picked up a remote from the kitchen counter and hit a button, causing the curtains to close halfway and darken the living room. 

"I'm sorry if there's been some sort or mix-up." You tried not to stare. "I'm supposed to get down to security for my badge. I'll talk to Namjoon and get this straightened out, ok?"  You heard a noncommittal grunt and the refrigerator open and a drink tab being popped. You looked over to see Yoongi pounding an iced coffee. He sat it down on the counter and looked at you. You did your best to maintain eye contact. 

"Want one? " He asked. 

'Uh yeah sure." you walked closer still trying to not check him out. 

He pulled another drink out of the fridge and handed it to you. It had a picture of V on it, causing you to laugh. These fucking models were everywhere. 

"Don't worry. I'll kill Namjoon and Hobi myself. You can leave your bags here for now." He said, grabbing his can of coffee he headed out of the kitchen and up the staircase. You stared at him the entire time while sipping the coffee. There's no harm in looking at your future husband you laughed at yourself at how weird this fucking thing was. 

---

You refreshed your make-up in the bathroom before leaving the apartment and then opened the BigHit App to see where the security office was. The building was massive and had its own gym and grocery store. Jesus.  

You exited the elevator and saw Namjoon waiting in a chair. "Oh, so you're still alive?" you asked. 

"Funny. I was going to say the same thing to you." He countered, standing up. "Are your new living quarters acceptable?" 

Your jaw dropped. "It seems like you dropped me into Mr. Mins house" you whispered, looking around. "I don't see how that's very discreet at all. And it seemed like he was surprised by it as well." 

Namjoon shrugged. "Eh it can't be helped. You two will eventually live together anyways right? Why make you move twice? And besides, only Jin lives on that floor and he thinks it's hilarious. He doesn't know about the dating thing but he does think having Yoongi live with his assistant is some kdrama level shit."

You rolled your eyes. *Yeah well Yoongi hates it. You should have told him first." 

"Yoongi hates everything I do so I don't really care. Let's get your badge ready and then you have to start posting. First day on the job selfie, tweet, whatever it is you kids do these days." 

You rolled your eyes at him, "I'm older than you." 

"To the security office Noona! Jesus why didn't you do your make-up? This badge has to be worn at all times." 

"I did do my make-up today, asshole," you responded as the two of you walked around the corner to the security office. He opened the door and ushered you in. 

"Gentleman, here is Ms. [Y/L/N] ready for her badge and photo." Namjoon plastered on his smile, causing you to scowl. 

The men walked you through another set of paperwork, fingerprints, and a photo. Twenty minutes later you had a fancy security badge clipped to your skirt. 

"Stay out of trouble. Stay on top of the App. If you need anything text Jimin. And start posting" Namjoon said, exiting the security office. He headed in front of you and around the corner,suddenly stopping. 

"What the hell is wrong with you?" You heard Yoongi's voice. It sounded like his voice but you hadn't heard him get angry yet. 

"Not now Yoongi, I have a meeting in 15 minutes." Namjoon sighed. 

"You just dropped a girl into my house without telling me and think I'm not going to have something to say about it?" 

"You knew she was starting today. You agreed that the two of you were going through with all of this. What did you think that meant? Huh?" Namjoon said, almost bored.

"Why don't I get a say in any of this?" Yoongi raised his voice, exasperated. 

"You did. You picked her." Namjoon said calmly as he pushed the up button on the elevator. 

"This is such bullshit!" he yelled. You walked around the corner, surprising him. 

The elevator for Namjoon arrived and he got on it, not bothering to look back. 

You walked closer to Yoongi. "Hey. I'm sorry this was a surprise for you. It was to me too. I thought I would be in a dorm with a bunch of other girls." You gave him a sympathetic look. 

He took off his hat and ran his hands through his hair. "I'm sorry it's not you. It's just...ughhh…" He put the hat back on.

"Really. It's fine. It seems like Namjoon isn't interested in our opinions though, huh? I'm a good roommate. I'm quiet and I clean up after myself. And I can cook." 

Yoongi wasn’t angry at you, so his feelings had morphed into pouting at this point. "It's fine I put your bags in the guest bedroom." He pushed a button on the elevator. He sighed 

"Thanks Yoongi." you said, standing next to him. 

“And I can cook too. So don’t think that’s part of your job or anything.”

“Now what kind of wife would I be if I didn’t cook for you,” You teased as the doors opened up. You were surprised to see him blushing. He hit the button for the 12th floor, keeping his head down the entire way.  NEXT CHAPTER

@lidda  @anpanman-sonyeondan  @firefairy1  @cuteipat  @sugaslittlekookies  @janeelizabeth1216 @deeepvibes @gxldenhunny

[hey-hamlet]

BNHA FIC PROMPTS

A collection of all of the fic ideas from that ask game, as of now. I’ll throw in new ones if i get any and when I remember. Feel free to use any of them, I’d love a link if you did!

with hands to the sky, I beg (what will save us?)

Izuku is a god who asks to be reborn as a human to try and help. He is warned he can’t return to being a god and will join the mortal realm, ever reincarnated. He agrees.

Izuku is a child with faint memories of a life he never lived, who knows too much about the world but not enough about the people around him. He’s not listed as having a quirk but he’s never gotten sick, never been hurt. He scares the other children and the adults don’t like his precocious nature. Inko loves her little miracle.

 My Soul is Like a Supernova

Things happen around Izuku. Always have. Everything from earthquakes and villain attacks to miraculous healing and lottery wins. He’s always attracted big events like this - as if even the universe can see how important he is and it warps itself around him.

He sees this as perfectly normal. 1A is begining to notice a stressful pattern.

This one regret of mine

Character study of Inko and how she deeply regrets so many things she’s done in her life, from her husband, to giving up on her carrier, to telling Izuku he couldn’t be a hero and then letting him keep going to UA.

But no matter what she’d never regret her son.

Of souls and lost causes

A good ol’ Izuku sees dead people AU, focused more on his younger years when he’d wander around the city helping as many spirits as he could, only to return home at the end of the day exhausted and dirty to an increasingly worried mother who believed the doctor when he said seeing ghosts as a quirk would be impossible.

my life.your choice

Underground heroics AU (i dont think ive ever posted that au huh): Izuku is the well-known son of japan’s immortal emperor, All for One. Born quirkless, he’s been emotionally abused but violently protected his whole life by his father, his mother killed before his eyes for trying to take him away. He’s never been able to make a choice for himself save for his bodyguard - his childhood friend, Bakugo Katsuki.

Katsuki made a pledge to protect him when they were in kindergarten and he’ll be damned if he breaks it now. And if it takes the two of them joining the resistance, meeting a vigilante by the name of All Might thought long dead and Izuku receiving a near-mythical quirk? Well, that just makes it more exciting, doesn’t it?

I forgot that you existed

Izuku gets hit with a quirk that not only makes people forget him, it prevents them from seeing him as well - all but erasing him from reality for everyone he knows. He can still interact with things but all it manages to do is just UA shut down under fear of villain infiltration. They find Izuku 18 hours later when the quirk wears off - a motion tracking gun trained on his forehead.

certain uncertainties

No one can predict the quirks trapped in One for All or when they’ll show up. Anthology fic of Izuku discovering each of them, some being rather helpful, and at least one piece of merch being sent into a low orbit.

Sometimes goodbye is a second chance

Set in the same universe I wrote console reset in; during the two heroes movie: they never defeat Nine and he slaughters the whole island and his class, leaving Izuku till last. He comes back at the start of their first day on the island and doggedly makes friends with every islander he can because while it hurt seeming them die, it hurt even more knowing he’d never even learnt most of their names.

They win this time the first time they meet him, even if it’s a marathon fight of 8 hours with him and Bakugo doggedly wearing him down. No one dies. Izuku thinks it’s worth dying as many times as he has to to keep the people he loves smiling.

The immortality of the heroic spirit

One of the quirks in One for All is determination: if you have something you desperately want to do, you can’t die - no matter how much blood you lose or home many pieces your body is crushed into - you’ll just heal back to where you were before you died. All Might and Aizawa find this out to horrifying effect during a brutal villain fight they are stuck watching on the news with the rest of a terrified UA.

In hindsight this makes a lot of sense to Izuku. Aizawa wants to scream. All Might has coughed up more blood than is probably healthy and all of 1A bruised hands from where they were clutching each other’s when it got too tense.

Shine on you invincible legacy

Izuku becomes a top 10 hero before hes even out of high school, hitting No.2 the second he graduates and taking No.1 from Hawks literally the next time the ranking is counted. 1A will not stop throwing him parties each time he moves up in the ranking, even if in 3rd year it was every other week. All Might comes to ever one of them.

Shake the Dirt from Your Shoes

Izuku will be a hero and no one will stop him - an AU a fair bit like the beginning of canon except Izuku fights back, remains unending optimistic and maybe engages in a light bit of technically legal vigilantism, accidentally befriending a vast array of heroes and a student or two.

To his horror, they recognise him out of costume as soon as he speaks to them, resulting in a very eventful first day at UA.

do you feel with a heart of steel

Original Sin AU, young Izuku finding feeling emotions difficult and not knowing why. He finds a dying animal on the way home and sits with it, patting it until it passes away. He doesn’t think he feels anything, but his cheeks feel wet.

all you want is milk and honey

Villains have been trying to use Izuku his entire life, much to his annoyance and confusion (I wonder who in his family might make him known to villains? hm). He’s gotten very good at being intimidating, even as a child.

When he gets kidnapped with Bakugo on a primary school field trip he decides to hell with it and breaks out all the stops. Turns out villains don’t tend to want a 10-year-old who can describe in great detail how they would hang you with your own intestines.

Bakugo decides that fuck Izuku being quirkless, he’s kind of amazing.

Even the stars

Izuku dies young and no one but the stars cry for him. They bring him back, but his body is cold and he has a nova burning where his heart should be. A four-year-old who has known death and walked among the stars is a terrifying thing. His skin has a shimmer to it, his eyes look like planets with no visible pupil, and he knows far too much.

The stars still speak to him, and they see everything.

bitter dreams and optimistic nightmares

Bakugo and Izuku grow up good friends, until Izuku is taken by villains age 9.

Bakugo’s determined to be a hero to save Izuku, even if it hurts to be at UA without him.

Izuku hates hurting people but he’s determined to make the most of his horrible situation by leaking information to heroes whenever he can. He’s given to All for One to serve as a lab hand to the doctor when All for One finds out this rag tag outpost of his had been hiding a valuable resource.

They meet at the USJ.

Mind Games for Two Shinsou and Izuku are both gen ed students in the same class, but with Shinsou stubbornly refusing to make friends and Izuku being the vice president they are almost strangers. UA has a no quirkless students policy and Shinsou has accidentally discovered that he student in his class with an analysis quirk, doesn’t, actually, have one. Izuku is aware Shinsou knows. They both want to get into the hero course but are under the impression there is only one spot.

It’s tense.

The Melody Stuck in My Soul

Izuku has an empathy/emotional control quirk that hears other’s emotions like music. He uses this both to read people, to defend himself, and, because hes Izuku, to ramp up his adrenaline/motivation/anger to kick ass. He and Bakugo are friends because baby Bakugo was lowkey impressed Izuku managed to weaponize his tears.

Advantage of the musical element: it gives him something concrete to latch on to and change, and it was very easy to work out which emotions were which. Also he has his own theme song, even if he’s the only one who can hear it.

Disadvantage: He cant turn it off. The stronger the emotion the ‘louder’ the music (it doesn’t cover up natural sounds because its not technically there, you get me?)

Error 404, childhood not found

A Hero’s Son AU, snapshot’s of Izuku’s childhood with No.1 Hero All for One as his abusive father.

Age 4 when his quirk never comes in and All for One abandons all pretences of loving him. Age 6 when he realises his son is intelligent and has a use as a lab assistant for the doctor. Age 8 when Bakugo first realises something is wrong. Age 9 when his father is almost killed by the No.1 villain All Might. Age 9 when he’s made to work in the labs with the doctor.

Age 14 when he meets All Might. Age 15 when he makes it into UA.

Darkness Growing (The Light Ever Smaller)

Villains take over Japan after the current arc, leaving all heroes and students that don’t switch sides on the run. 1A is instantly separated with a few of them  being killed, most of the living students with Aizawa and Izuku and Bakugo by themselves, both too stubborn to leave the other.

Aizawa is desperately trying to get to Izuku and Bakugo in an attempt to keep them safe, while the two of them are avoiding Aizawa to keep the rest of their class safe(er), all while avoiding the villains, turncoat heroes and police out to get them. Public support is spotty at best with anyone found ‘harboring a criminal’ given the same punishment as the hero.

Lost soul of last hope

The first wielder has been Izuku’s imaginary friend since he can remember. He’s not very imaginary.

Featuring Izuku with the world’s strangest older brother, Inko coming to the realisation her son can see a ghost, but only one ghost and no one will believe them, Izuku’s quirk being listed as Inko’s because the first wielder can help him fake it, and Izuku wondering why first looks so much like that picture of his father on his mother’s bedside table.

The kids the system failed

100% The 1A run aways au with 1A, Aizawa and Mic being runaways kids of various ages that band together to stay alive and maybe do a little vigilante work on the side.

Izuku has All for One and uses it like you’d expect a traumatised kid to - cautiously at first but when he gets the hang of it there are suddenly no more criminals with quirks in their area, and it looks suspiciously like Uraraka can fly.

Just a second to soon? For the Fic thing?

Aizawa struggles and gets knocked out just before Shigaraki lunges at Tsuyu. She and Izuku are left horribly injured by his quirk with massive facial scarring, and in Tsuyu’s case, the loss of an eye.

Daze

An illusion/fear quirk makes his teachers look like villains and convinces him he’s in danger. They try and stop him without hurting him but it’s difficult considering Izuku is convinced he’s protecting his friends, considering he can only see them broken and bloodied with villains he thought were locked away loaming over them.

Even as Aizawa cuts out his quirk Izuku still tries to shield his friends, snarling ferally.

Morning Glories and Forget-me-nots

A memory quirk of unknown duration hits Izuku, leaving him remembering none of his life. 1A starts to fall apart without one of their pillar’s.

hopeless but not broken

The Long Con au where Izuku asks All Might if he could be a hero without a quirk - he’s really asking if he can stop pretending to be a villain, if he’s worth anything without the quirks he’s been given, if he’s worth something as himself rather than the limited use he can provide. He doesn’t know how to say all of that, so he just asks if he could be a hero.

All Might says no. And Izuku basically decides right then that the only way he’ll ever be able to help people is by being a mole for the heroes like he’s been since he was 10 - that he isn’t worth anything because he’s quirkless and to be considered just as valuable as the people around him are he needs to give his life and more.

He shows up to the bar crying because of All Might and Shigaraki moves his murder plot forward a few months.

Sunflowers and Summer Gardens

All Might starts a garden on campus and 1A like to help. He uses it as a nice place to chill and as physical therapy. He likes to give the different classes bunches of flowers when they sprout.

For Dos and For Donts

Izuku runs into some of his old bullies when out with some of his friends. Uraraka, Iida, Todoroki, Shinsou and Asui intimidate the fuck out of them, and Izuku realises hes not scared of them any more. Then they get frozen yoghurt!

your mistakes, my unbecoming

Aizawa assigns a project on quirk related issues, Izuku ends up with quirkless discrimination, Aizawa assumes his discomfort is just him being upset he doesn’t get to talk about quirks. He doesn’t realise his mistake until he finds Izuku dissociating on the roof.

one and one into the vast

Original Sin AU, All for One and Izuku seeing the vestiges together. One for All sees his brother for the first time and Izuku learns a lot about the voice in his head.

All for One has a mini-crisis about his not son learning he’s a horrific villain, especially considering he has the power to cast his soul out at any time, killing him at will. Izuku doesn’t kill him. He admits its probably not right of him to let AfO remain considering the things he’s done, but All for One is a part of him now and it would be like killing a friend.

All for One quietly decides to hold off on the villainy until all of 1A is dead, for Izuku’s sake.

between the stars of our souls

Izuku and All Might are old gods who keep getting reborn into human forms with their memories regained when they turn 4. Normally finding each other takes a while, and their last reincarnation they never found each other, so this time he resolves to make himself as easy to find as possible, all while saving as many people as he can.

Izuku, aged 4, memories fresh in his head, makes it his mission to get into contact with the man he knows is his father/mentor’s reincarnation. All Might’s agency was not expecting a 4 year old to repeatedly try breaking in to their office, and they especially weren’t expecting him to be so good at it.

you really should have thought this through

Different (and ill-advised) attempts at special moves or team up combo moves. Featuring:

Izuku managing to break Kirishima’s nose.

Uraraka sending Bakugo so high he broke the sound barrier coming back down to earth.

Kaminari and Shouto managing to electrify ice.

Izuku, Todoroki and Bakugo levelling a whole suburb (at least it was condemned???)

I'll Break Anything You Give Me

Different times Izuku desperately tried to repair his relationship with Izuku over the years and the one time Bakugo fully grasps how much he fucked up and reaches out his hand to try to fix it for the first time. Probably includes a lot of screaming, Bakugo learning how to say sorry, a field trip and them having a conversation on Aldera’s roof.

Sinking

One for All kind of possesses Izuku during a quiet night at the dorms. One for All, made of 8 people, 7 of which are dead and had their last experiences in life be rather painful and violent, breaks down, Izuku alone not enough to drown them out. They lash out at anyone who tries to touch them, their quirks tearing Izuku’s body apart.

All Might’s vestige reaches out a hand to Izuku to keep his mind from being torn apart as 1A set about both trying to protect Izuku and get Aizawa who was off campus on patrol.

Feat. Bakugo and All Might being the only people with any idea about what’s going on and getting more and more stressed each second that passes. Iida, Uraraka and Todoroki being good heroes and even better friends. Blood King deciding he’s never watching 1A for Aizawa again, and Aizawa deciding he’s never leaving 1A alone ever again.

A Long Way From Home

Shirakumo wakes up in Kurogiri’s body in Tartarus with only shadowed memories of his time as a villain. He’s scared and alone and he just wants to see his friends again, even if he’s scared they hate him because at least that’s something he knows.

Too Far Gone

The other side AU, it comes out Izuku is a villain with (knockoff) All for One and he has a showdown with Mirio. He and Izuku trained together under All Might and Mirio tries to plead with him but Izuku has to basically tell him to go to hell to not ruin his placet as crown prince of the underworld.

Of course, he’s not only doing this to save people, he’s also doing it with All Might’s blessing - taking over from All Might himself serving as a villain after he killed All for One to prevent a power vacuum.

Doesn’t mean that his friends in 1A know that.

Snowy hills and sunlit peaks

Probably an AU about All Might being a mountain spirit with a little shrine that Izuku is the only one who visits - Izuku gets in trouble and All Might manifests himself, saves him, and tells everyone to keep their hands off his human son.

Wilting

Izuku gets sick and he tries to hide it because he’s scared its something serious but he just gets worse and worse. His friends are the ones who eventually step in and comfort him.

I’d probably write two endings with one being a bad end and the other a good end.

My wish came true without me realising 

Izuku wakes up one morning, comes downstairs and just starts crying. Everyone panics and he reassures them they are happy tears and that he's just glad to be here. They all call him sappy and give him a hug. Later in the day he and Bakugo chat and Izuku reveals he never even expected to live this long, let alone become a hero. Bakugo grumbles that he’s too stubborn to die, and not to get too cocky. Izuku promises he wont.

[ladylaguna]

Goddess Risen: 8

I never finished it but I did write a couple of pages, two years ago. I'm working on the Original Adaptation now but I figured if anyone wanted to see this, here it is. Vermeil, of course, was going to reappear and share a few longing looks at Megami. Then Gaz was going to show up. Maybe. I never definitively decided. Verm would have probably jumped in front of her for Meg's sake and make his crew members very angry at him.

As always, thanks to everyone that's supported me all these years. I appreciate it so much. Beware there is mention of post-coitus nudity here but nothing naughty.

The sound of an explosion woke Dib with a start. With a curse, he rolled off of the foot of the bed and into his pants before his bedmates even stirred. In seconds he was in the hallway, gunning for Megami’s room.

She lay on her own bed, naked, atop a pile of Vortians of various sexes, sleeping peacefully.

“Christ. Like father, like daughter,” Dib sighed. He poked the pads of her feet and she blinked into wakefulness. “Get up and get dressed, Megami. Fast! I think we’re under attack.”

Squeaking in alarm, she tumbled off the mounds of purple flesh and grey horns into the floor. As she groped around for her clothing, Dib went to the windows and threw the curtains open.

The sky was a beautiful deep crimson, the sun shining in the distance. Workmen were sweeping up ticker tape and shooing drowsy revelers out of the streets. A peaceful morning.

“What… the fuck?” He turned to find Meg had quickly tugged on her dress from the night before. Taking her hand, he jogged back to his suite.

Zim and Seven had awakened. Spread-eagled on the bed, his crotch covered by a pillow (mercifully), Zim rubbed his eyes slowly. He seemed to have the closest thing to a hangover that Dib himself had ever witnessed.

“How can you just be sitting there?!” Dib cried. “Didn’t you hear that sound--??”

“It was just a test fire,” Zim said, holding a tablet up for Dib to see. It was Seven’s, apparently, and a public service announcement about the explosion flashed across the bottom of the screen.

The Vortian, however, seemed panicked. He frantically pulled on his own clothing, hopping across the room in a stuck pant leg as he crammed his belongings back into his pockets. “I totally missed a summons from Lard Nar. He’s going to slaughter me. Some Irkens arrived this morning. I’m supposed to be the welcoming committee!”

“...Irkens?!” Dib replied, his hair standing on end. Zim’s antennae jumped up as well, and he realized he should probably put some clothes on. Dib managed to spin Megami in the other direction before the pillow left his partner’s thighs. “What’re they doing here?”

“No idea, but I’m assuming it has to do with the weaponry they’re shooting off.” Seven straightened his collar and gave them all an awkward little wave. “I’ll see you later? Breakfast will be served soon.” And he dashed out the door.

Dib grabbed up his shirt and quickly began to button. “I don’t like this.” He looked to his daughter, currently fidgeting as she stared at the corner of the room. “We’re getting the hell out of here, right away, Megami. I hope you’re okay with that.”

“What about the Atomizer?” Zim asked, as his Pak zipped his suit up the back. “Seven said he’d talk to Lard Nar.”

“You want us to hang around and play tennis with these Irkens while we wait for him to grow a pair of balls?”

“Why would he grow tennis balls? Honestly, Dib--”

“I’m scared,” Megami breathed. “My stomach feels funny.”

Dib turned to her, cupping her face between his hands. She looked up at him with shining eyes. In the quiet, he realized he felt it too. The Meekrob in their blood was telling them something.

“Don’t be scared, sweetheart. I’ll protect you to my dying breath.”

“He’s not planning on dying. He told me so last night. So you won’t, either. Worry not, smeetling.” Zim approached them both, and Dib thought he might cry in that instant.

Instead, he shook his head with a smile. “No, baby. I’ve finally got my family here. I’ve worked too hard for this, and I’m too damn mean to die.”

She only looked half convinced, grabbing her belly with four arms. With a sigh, Dib took her hand. “Let’s go back to the ship. I bet you’ll feel better when you see GIR.”

Once they were back on the street, Dib looked cautiously about for wayward antennae.

“Are you afraid to meet these Irkens?” Zim asked, a bit incredulous.

Pursing his lips, Dib replied, “I haven’t been afraid of anything for a long-ass time. But don’t forget that they, generally, don’t like us very much.” And he needn’t expose Megami to any more drama than necessary. But, in a lot not far from the landing pad, he spotted a familiar silhouette.

“A Viral Tank,” Zim observed. “I haven’t seen one of those since before the Fall.”

“I’d know that fucker anywhere,” Dib said. “Head back to the ship with Megami--”

“No,” Zim hissed. “You just said we’re a family. And you’re not going alone.”

“But, Megami--”

“I wanna see,” she insisted, though she still looked nervous.

Hopeless, Dib looked between them. The Boss Kharna from several months ago would’ve snarled and told them to do as bid. But the truth was that he was sick of being alone. And he knew that Zim would worry.

“...it’s probably nothing,” he sighed, hoping his words rang true. And the three of them changed course.

They arrived to find a crew of Vortians pushing crates out of the Viral Tank on hoverpads. At the bottom of the ramp leading up to the ship, Lard Nar stood, holding a rifle that was almost twice his size. Dib immediately recognized it as Plookesian tech.

[imagines-for-the-fangirls-soul]

Return to Me - Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve: The Night I Held You

A/N: Happy Valentine’s Day, my loves! To celebrate, here is the next, very smutty, chapter of Return to Me! Your comments lately have been making me so happy, so thank you so much! I love you all! I haven’t written smut in so long, so bear with me if it’s bad. Lemme know what you think! And if you wanna be tagged. I haven’t mentioned this in a while, but a few people on the tag list don’t have the proper settings to be tagged, so if they want to get the notifications, they’ll have to change their privacy settings. Anyways, enjoy and let me know what you think!

Oh! I forgot. This chapter includes a scene inspired by one of my favorites from How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days, and a Britney Spears lyric. It’s really got it all. Alright, now go read and enjoy!

Pairing: Poe Dameron x Reader Word Count: 6,217 (I’M SORRY IT’S SO LONG) Synopsis: Poe returns home to Yavin-4 to ask his father for some much needed help. Reunited once more, the reader and Poe find some time to be together again. (Warning: it’s smut, guys.)

Tag List:  @xeniarocks, @too-many-baes, @araceli91103, @idocarealot, @treblebeth, @treestarrrrrrrr, @thescarletknight2014, @charlottie2998, @ibikus, @mellow-f1, @mrsdaamneron, @trustme3-13, @missjess71, @ella-solei, @minelskede, @gleigh42, @usuallyweepingnacho, @givemethatgold, @and-claudia​, @constantdisgrace, @wordsinwinters, @readingvogueonprivetdrive, @trshbb, @kaitlynw011, @ihave2muchtimeonmyhands, @fairytalesforever, @thanos-jeep, @mixedfandxms, @pastelbunny1501, @emotionalcal, @daniellajocelyn, @getyourselfaunicorn, @spider-starry, @jimhalpertcanbuymelove, @angelicaxhouston, @roserrys

Previous Chapter - Next Chapter

“Alright, Black Squadron, best behavior. This isn’t just my dad we’re visiting, he’s a rebellion hero, don’t forget.”

“How could we when it’s all you remind us of?” Jess teased, her voice vibrating through the intercom of Poe’s borrowed ship. He laughed and shook his head as he flipped off the speaker. He could see the outline of his childhood home as they approached, and couldn’t help but take in a deep breath. It has been quite some time since he had last been home, and with the news he was bringing, he wasn’t too excited to be back. 

He received a transmission from Leia earlier that day, informing him that she and a small group from the Resistance would be meeting him down on Yavin-4. The goal of this visit was to secure a temporary base at Poe’s father’s home, as well as start mounting their return. Although he was excited to see his father again, and to have the Resistance back together, Poe now had to face the arduous task of convincing his father to help. 

After the Battle of Endor, Kes Dameron and his wife, Shara Bey, decided to start a different life on Yavin-4. They planted their Force Tree in the back yard and watched it grow as their only son did, too, far away from the fighting within the rest of the galaxy. Shara Bey continued to fly to protect Yavin-4, and when Poe was eight years old, she died. Kes was a strong man, but Poe knew that his father worried about Poe finding the same fate as his mother. Kes never joined up with the Resistance again, but supported Poe through everything he did. Poe just hoped that this was one of those times, too. He hoped that he could convince his father that he still had some fighting years left in him yet.

Poe landed his ship a couple yards from his home and took a few moments before he even opened the hood of his ship. BB-8 asked what he was doing, forcing Poe to face his task. He climbed out of the ship and landed on the soft mud of the jungle, his boots sinking slightly into the ground.

“This is home?” Suralinda asked. Poe laughed nervously and looked around. As always, there was a stream of smoke coming from the top of his house. The Force tree was visible from around the side of the house, its massive branches challenging the hundreds of years old trees around it. Scattered on the front porch were pairs of shoes and a few farming and gardening tools. It was as if nothing had changed since he was last here. 

He made his way forward and Poe didn’t have to get more than four feet away from the house before the front door swung open and Kes Dameron ran to embrace his son.

“Hey, Dad,” Poe said, hugging his broad frame just as firmly.

“I see you’ve brought friends,” Kes said, clapping him on the back when he pulled away. Poe smiled and nodded his head.

“Yes. Dad, this is Black Squadron. Black Squadron, this is my father, Sergeant Kes Dameron.”

“Stop it with that Sergeant shit,” Kes said, walking towards Black Squadron, giving each of them a firm handshake. “Call me Kes. You’re all welcome in my home.” They all greeted him back warmly and began to file into the house. Poe brought up the rear and touched his dad on the back carefully, pulling his attention away from hosting duties.

“Think you can welcome a few more?” Poe asked.

“Something you want to tell me?” Kes asked, stopping on his front porch.

“Yes.” Kes motioned to the chairs in front of the house and took a seat next to his son.

“Are you alright? You look pale,” Kes said, studying his son’s face closely.

“The Resistance is on its last leg, Dad. The First Order took out our base on D’Qar. We just barely escaped with our lives. We’re down to almost a quarter of what we had before and the First Order just seems to be getting stronger. Hell, they were able to track us through lightspeed.” Kes shook his head and frowned back at Poe.

“I heard about the Hosnian System. A weapon of that power . . .”

“I know, which is why it’s such a good thing we took it out when we did. But the First Order is getting stronger every passing minute, and we’re losing steam.”

“Well, there’s always a light, you just can’t see it all the time. Don’t lose your hope, son.”

“I won’t. I never will,” Poe said, smiling a little. “But I need some help.”

“Coming to your old man for advice?” Poe laughed and shook his head.

“A little more than advice. General Organa will be here later with a few other members of the Resistance. She wants to set up a temporary base here.”

“Here?”

“Yes. We have plans to set up base on Serenno, but Leia doesn’t fully trust their count yet.”

“I didn’t realize she had any kind of relationship with Serenno.”

“She doesn’t,” Poe sighed, throwing his arm over the back of his chair, “It’s Y/N’s connection.”

“Y/N? As in your Y/N?” Kes asked. Poe laughed softly and nodded his head.

“Yes, although, she’s not mine.”

“Not anymore,” Kes said with a frown. Instead of divulging into that with his father, Poe continued on.

“Leia doesn’t trust him just yet and wants to set up a more secure base here until a better, more permanent location can be found.”

“But we already had a base here,” Kes said with a shake of his head, “The First Order knows that.”

“She wants to run operations here, right here. Nothing too big. We just need to start rallying the troops for a big fight, whenever that’s going to happen. Hopefully, we’ll be out of your hair fairly soon, but as it stands now, this is our best bet.”

“Alright,” Kes said after a long pause.

“You mean it?”

“Yeah, I do,” he said with a smile.

“Thank you,” Poe said, clapping his father’s shoulder. The Dameron men stood up and started walking towards the front door, going to find their forgotten guests. 

“I didn’t realize Y/N was working with the Resistance again,” Kes said as he opened the door.

“She was going to do some campaigning for us, start to get us some more help, right before everything went to shit. She was on base when the First Order attacked.” Kes nodded as he followed his son into the kitchen to get drinks for everyone.

“And how’s that going?”

“The same,” Poe said, glancing at him briefly.

“What about tall, dark, and blue-skinned out there? Just by one look, I can see that she cares about you a great deal.”

“Sura? No, we’re friends, just friends. We’ve always been best like that,” Poe said, shaking his head, “I met her in the navy.”

“So, you’ve got a history,” Kes said, carrying a tray of drinks to the living room.

“Yeah, you could say that,” Poe muttered under his breath.

His friends looked tired as he took them all in, spread out along his father’s couches. Suralinda looked like she was about to fall asleep on Jessika’s shoulder. Jess was bruised and had dried blood all over her but was somehow still managing to keep her head up. Snap had his arm firmly around Karé, as if he was never going to let her go again. They were all exhausted, but when he came into the room, their spirits lifted.

They thanked Kes for the drinks and went on telling him what happened, including Poe’s daring rescue. Kes nudged his son with his knee, and Poe knew that he was thinking of his mother. Once they had a chance to catch their breaths and catch up, Poe got to work with his squadron on unloading the few supplies they were able to take from Ikkrukk. As they worked, The Millennium Falcon landed near their ships an hour later.

“Welcome to Yavin-4, Dameron properties,” Poe said ceremoniously, jogging to the ramp as Leia exited the Falcon. She rolled her eyes and took his outstretched hand.

“How’s your father?” she asked, walking with him towards the house.

“Good. Ready to help.”

“Good,” she said, patting his cheek.

“Leia.” Both Poe and Leia turned to the front door and saw Kes standing with a sad smile on his face.

“Hello, Kes.”

“It’s good to see you, Leia,” he said as he stepped down the few steps of his home. He wrapped Leia in a tight hug.

“You too,” she said, smiling up at him. “Can I see it?”

“Of course.”

Poe followed them around back where Kes led Leia to the Force tree he and Shara Bey had planted when Poe was young. The seedling had turned into a giant tree, much larger than the one that was tattooed on Poe’s back.

“Oh, I miss her. I wish she could see all of this,” Leia said, touching a hand to her chest. “Well, maybe not all of it, but the good parts.”

“I know,” Kes said, looking thoughtfully up at the tree, “But she’s here. Part of her will always be.” Leia nodded and looked back at Poe. She gave him a smile as he wiped away a tear that had dared to fall from his eye.

“Come on, there’s no time for sadness right now. We’ve got planning to do. Kes, I want to introduce you to a few of our new friends.”

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The flight to Yavin-4 had been a smooth one, but the entire ride your stomach had been in knots. It wasn’t every day that you saw your ex-father-in-law for the first time since breaking your ex-husband’s heart and the thought of doing so had you in a puddle of anxiety. As you departed the Millennium Falcon, you peered around the all too familiar farm, looking for a trace of either Dameron. Even though you had seen him only a day or so ago, you really missed Poe and needed to see his face.

Everyone who had come to Yavin-4 had begun to move around, talking with the rough looking Black Squadron and getting acquainted with the jungle. You looked at the house, unchanged from the last time you had been here years ago. Even with everyone coming in and out of it in a hurry, it was as warm and welcoming as ever. You smiled gently looking at it, and as your mind wandered to some happier memories, you didn’t notice Kes Dameron come up behind you.

“Well, well, well.” You turned slowly, the sleeves on your dress brushing on the jungle floor as you did. If Poe had grown a few inches taller, he would have been the spitting image of his father. He had the curls of Shara Bey, and her spirit for sure, but his looks were only Kes.

“Kes,” you said, smiling sadly.

“Y/N.” He started walking towards you, and you clenched up, worried he was going to scream at you for breaking his only son’s heart. But as he got closer, he matched your smile and embraced you tightly. “It’s good to see you again.”

“You too,” you said breathlessly. You relaxed in his arms and hugged him back, taking in his warm scent of leather and cinnamon, and his strong arms that were so much like Poe’s. He pulled away first, and when he did, he held you out at arm’s length.

“Unsurprisingly, you look beautiful,” he said with a kind smile. You could have cried.

“Thank you. It’s so good to see you,” you said again, your voice cracking a little. He nodded in agreement and smiled.

“How are you?”

“I’m alright.” You looked into his eyes for too long; the eyes that were so much like his son’s. “I— I’m sorry for . . .” you trailed off, unsure of where to start, “For everything.”

“I know,” he said, frowning. “Me too.”

“Dad?” You both looked to the house and saw Poe looking at the two of you wide-eyed. You nodded his way and Kes left you to speak with his son. As they did, Poe kept glancing over at you.

It was so strange to be back here with the way things were. Once so sure of it, you had no idea what your place was here. Poe clapped his father’s shoulder as the elder Dameron walked inside and Poe strolled across the grounds.

“Hey,” you said, wrapping your arms around yourself. “I’m so glad to see you safe.”

“Me too,” he said with a smile, “They’re getting ready to start the debriefing in there.” He nodded towards the house and when you didn’t respond, he started to walk towards it. But when he saw that you didn’t move, he stopped. Your eyes were trailing over him, checking for any signs of injury. “You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” you said, taking a step towards him, “My parents are alive.”

“What? That’s great,” Poe said with a smile.

“Yeah.”

“How?”

“They were on Serenno when the Hosnian System was destroyed.”

“That’s great, Y/N,” he said again. You nodded, swallowing the lump in your throat. “What is it?” he asked, taking a step towards you.

“Nothing,” you said, feeling a tear streak from your eye. He touched your forearm, standing a few inches away from you. “Just— When your dad hugged me, he really hugged me,” you said. Poe frowned as he pulled you into his chest, kissing your forehead. He hugged you tightly, tighter than his father had.

“What’s wrong with that?” he asked, looking at you seriously. You scoffed and shook your head, pulling out of his arms.

“He should hate me.”

“Y/N,” he started. He brought you back in his arms, holding you firm to his chest as he looked in your eyes.

“You both should.”

“No one can ever hate you, Y/N,” he said, looking at you seriously. “And it’s a good thing, him hugging you, that’s a good thing.” You wiped at your tears and nodded. “Why were your parents on Serenno?”

“You know why,” you said with a sigh. He nodded sadly. “We should probably get to that meeting.”

“We know what they’re going to say.”

“We shouldn’t be the only ones missing,” you said, taking in a breath as you broke from his arms and walked towards the house. Poe followed one step behind you. As the two of you entered, you found your friends gathered in the living room. Nové was now sitting next to Jessika, with Jess leaning against her shoulder this time. They both smiled at you and you took a seat on the couch next to them. Poe went to stand by his father, whispering something to him as Leia began her debriefing.

Everyone agreed that they couldn’t put their faith in Lin Ral. You tried not to be hurt by that, but the fact that they didn’t trust your judgment stung. Tomorrow, the remaining ground troops would head to the old base of the rebellion, led by both Damerons. You needed to head back to Serenno as soon as possible, Leia instructed, to get started on rebuilding the Republic, but also to squash any suspicion the rest of the Resistance may have.

You argued for checking on Naboo, but Leia confirmed your worse fear. Without the Resistance’s supplies and the lack of contact from Naboo, they couldn’t risk a blind reconnaissance mission. Leia encouraged you and Nové to keep reaching out, but until a connection could be made, you were stuck with the Resistance.

As she wrapped up her debriefing, Poe and Kes told everyone about the schematics of the house and instructed where the supplies could be held. The ranch would make a good base for the small number of people that were still with the Resistance, but if their numbers grew as they hoped, it couldn’t hold everyone. That problem was soon actualized as night fell over the jungle. 

The day had been spent mapping out strategies and establishing the base around the Dameron homestead, and when night fell, no one wanted to fly back to Serenno. Rooms were divided up amongst the group, but it was clear that there wouldn’t be enough. Poe offered up his old room to Leia, who by all accounts needed the most rest. She argued for a moment, but eventually conceded. Snap and Karé took one of the guest beds, and Sura and Jess offered to sleep on the couches in that room. Eventually, all inhabitable places were taken up, including some back on the Falcon, until the only two left were you and Poe.

“My lady, we need to find somewhere for you to sleep,” Nové said, coming to stand by your side.

“I’ll be fine wherever. I can just take a space on the—”

“You know, I think there’s still that cot up in the attic,” Kes said, stepping up to join your discussion.

“Perfect,” you said, a little reluctantly. Kes had a similar glow in his eyes that Poe got when he had a plan that usually ended up getting you into some kind of trouble.

“It’s up in the attic, behind some boxes, can’t miss it.”

“Thanks.” You looked to Nové, who had also yet to be assigned a sleeping place. “What about you?” She smirked and pulled you aside as everyone left in the room started to clear out.

“Jess and I were thinking about camping out tonight,” she said.

“Oh my god,” you said, part excited, part worried. “Is that safe? Are you a thing now? I— I have a million questions, but you’ve got a date it seems like,” you said, stopping yourself as she frowned at you.

“You’ll be alright?” she asked.

“Yeah, I think I can find my way around the house.” She smiled and gave your hand a squeeze. Jessika appeared in the doorway and looked at Nové lovingly. You gave her a shove towards the door and made your way upstairs. You walked past Poe’s old room and stopped in your tracks.

“Y/N.” You took a step inside and found Leia sitting on the edge of the bed. Her eyes were heavy, like everyone’s hearts. She waved you inside and you crept in carefully, taking in the room that hadn’t changed in years. “Find a place to stay?”

“Yeah, there’s a cot in the attic with my name on it.”

“A cot for a queen?” she questioned with a laugh.

“I was never a queen here,” you said, walking back towards the door.

“No,” Leia said thoughtfully. “If you see Poe, thank him for the room. It was very kind of him.”

“I will, but I’m not sure I’ll see him before you,” you said, crinkling your eyebrows. Leia smiled and nodded her head.

“Perhaps not. But if you do, let him know.”

“I will. Sleep well. I’ll see you tomorrow,” you said, walking back out of the room.

“Goodnight.”

You found the ladder that led up to the attic down the hall. You gathered your skirt in your hands and took a step on the first rung carefully. You got six rungs up before you slipped. Just as you saw the flooring of the attic, you started to fall back down to the floor, only to have a strong hand wrap around your wrist, pulling you upright.

“You okay?” You looked up into Poe’s dreamy eyes and smiled.

“Yeah.” He slid his hand up a little and grasped yours as he pulled you up into the attic. You straightened your dress and looked around the room. The cot had been pulled out and covered with a blanket and pillow from the couch downstairs. “What are you doing up here?” you asked.

“I just wanted to make sure you found everything,” he said, running a hand through his hair.

“I don’t think there’s much to find,” you said, motioning to the cot.

“Did you check behind the boxes, though?” Poe asked, a mischievous smile on his face. You raised an eyebrow as you walked around the boxes to find the small fort of pillows and blankets that Poe had laid out for you.

You took in a breath and looked back at him. He took a step forward, wrapping his arm around your lower waist. You looked up into his eyes and tilted your chin just slightly. He laughed gently and leaned in, closing the gap between the two of you. He put a hand on your cheek as he deepened the kiss and pulled you in closer. You stood entwined for the next few minutes, slowly and passionately letting your mouths get reacquainted.

He pulled away, looking at you with a sexy smile on his face.

“I know we were going to find a bed,” he said, looking down at the fort of blankets he had made, “But I did the best I could with the time.” You laughed and gave his hand a squeeze.

“It’s perfect. I’m just not sure now is the right time,” you said. He frowned at you and let out a sigh. “I mean, everyone is in the house—”

“And they won’t hear us,” he said, looking into your eyes. “You have to go back to Serenno tomorrow. I don’t know when we’ll have a better chance.” You smiled gently and nodded your head, tilting your head to kiss him again. “It’s really comfy, too,” he said, pulling away a second later, smiling at you.

“Well, I guess I’ll have to check it out to see if I believe you,” you said, looking at him flirtatiously as you sat down carefully on the bed he had made on the floor. He laughed at you softly, smiling down at you as he sat down across from you.

“So, what do you think?” he asked, leaning in closely.

“I think it’s great,” you said, touching his cheek as you pulled him in for a gentle kiss. The soft orange light of the room cast shadows on his face, highlighting some of your favorite features. The only light in the room was a lamp in the far corner, leaving the two of you in moody, romantic shadows.

“I’m glad you’re here. That we’re here together,” he said.

“Me too,” you said, kissing him again. He wrapped an arm around your waist, pulling you in close. He kissed you delicately, but there was an urgency in his lips. He nipped at your lower lip as his hands played with the fabric cinching your waist. Your hands found their place on his broad frame, holding onto his shoulders as he pulled you in closer, right into his lap.

You laughed about the awkward position you found yourself in and looked into his eyes. They were dark, darker than they were normally. There was a fire in them, beckoning you forward. Just before you leaned in to kiss him again, giving yourself to him fully, you pulled away, looking at his eyes which were already shut. He opened them again and cocked his eyebrow just slightly.

“What?” he asked.

“I’ve missed you. Missed this,” you said airily. He smiled out of the corner of his mouth, his perfect mouth, his perfect smile.

“Did you ever think about me?” he asked huskily.

“Baby,” you said, biting your lip, “Thinking of you kept me up all night.” His tongue crossed beneath his bottom lip as the smile from before spread across his face.

“God, come here,” he said, gripping your waist tighter. You laugh and found his lips again, your arms wrapping around his neck as you entwined. He leaned into you, making you relax onto your back, slowly backing up until you were on the pillows. He pulled away from you once you were laid down, making you whine.

“Just, hang on,” he said with a grin. You rolled your eyes, watching him eagerly as he threw his shirt across the room, giving you full view of his muscular chest and back, including the giant Force tree tattoo covering his back. Poe had a couple of tattoos. The biggest was the Force tree on his back. On his left forearm he had his parents named tattooed in small Aurebesh letters. On that same arm, on his bicep, he had the Galactic Republic logo. As he threw off his shirt, he flexed his arms beautifully.

“Poe,” you complained, making him laugh.

“I’m right here,” he said gently, crawling back towards you. He found your lips again, eagerly waiting for his as you again cupped his face. He pulled away before you would have liked, making you complain again. “Hang on,” he said, his hands trailing down your body until they rested on your hips. You looked at him curiously as he gave you a mischievous look. He slowly started to pull up the fabric of your dress, until the skirt was gathered around your hips.

“What are you doing?” you asked as he thumbed at your underwear.

“Just want to make sure you have something to think about at night,” he said, pulling them off quickly. The draft of the attic sent goosebumps across your skin as Poe came back to you.

He made you spread your legs, giving him a perfect view of you. He smiled at you as he locked his fingers in yours, laying down on his stomach. He looked at you devilishly before his lips found the folds in between your legs. You let out a sigh as he slowly started to work his magic. He licked one stripe up your core, eliciting a loud moan from you.

“Hey, they might hear us if you’re that loud,” he said, pulling away with a grin. You nodded your head and watched him as he went back to his work, his eyes never leaving yours. He was going to make you wait for it as his tongue started to dash around your clit. He knew what he was doing as he laughed delicately between your legs at the sounds you were trying and failing to keep in. He sucked on your clit for a few seconds, loving as you thrashed beneath him and whined his name. 

“God, Poe,” you moaned, your hips bucking slightly as you approached your end. 

“I know, baby,” he said, pulling away from your warmth. You frowned at him, your hands still clenched in his. “But I’m not done with you yet.”

Before you could ask what he meant, he stuck a finger inside of you, dropping your hand at your hip. You moaned when he added another finger and started curling them in the way that absolutely drove you insane, and covered your mouth with your hand. His fingers were continuous, pumping into you as he brought his glorious lips back to your center. His thick eyelashes nearly shadowed his eyes as he went back to tongue fucking you, but never quite hid his dark eyes from yours.

“Look at me, Y/N,” he said when you started to close them. Your orgasm was coming soon, and it was hard to keep your eyes open. But watching Poe between your legs, his fingers so deep inside of you, and the sexy look in his eyes, you absolutely were not going to disobey him. 

His moves were continuous, driving you crazy with each flick of his fingers, or touch of his lips. You squeezed his hand as the pleasure began to take hold of you. You could feel him smile in between your legs as he squeezed your hand back.

“Oh my god, Poe,” you moaned, your legs twitching around him as you neared your end. His hand moved from yours, gripping your thigh to keep your legs spread as he continued to eat you out.

“That’s right, baby. Say my name again,” he said, pulling away for a second to  leave a few kisses on your inner thigh.

“Yes, Poe,” you said breathlessly, smirking back at him. “Please.” 

“Say it,” he said, cocking an eyebrow at you.

“Poe, please.” His nose scrunched in a smile as he bit down on your thigh before going back in between your legs, licking and sucking and fingering you until you came with a  loud cry. You completely forgot about staying quiet, and Poe quickly put a hand over your lips. You came down slowly, biting his palm to keep from crying out as he finished you off. He came back to your lips, smiling as he did so, and kissed you. You could taste yourself on his lips and it only made you kiss him longer. 

“Fuck,” you muttered, pulling away for air. He shrugged humbly, making you laugh. “It wasn’t always like that, was it?” you asked.

“With you?” he asked with a gentle smile. “Always.” You shook your head lovingly as you kissed him again. He started to kiss you deeper, but you pulled away. “What?”

“Hang on,” you said, standing. He repositioned himself on the blankets, leaning up against the wall as he watched you. Locking eyes, you dropped the silky dress from your shoulders, letting it fall at your feet. Poe’s eyes shined hungrily as you walked back towards him.

“Take off your pants,” you instructed. He nodded and quickly did, tossing them over with his shirt. You giggled as you sat down in his lap, looking at him softly.

“Hi,” he said, putting his hands on your waist. You could feel him hard beneath you.

“Hi,” you said with a laugh.

“Have I ever told you how fantastic you are?” he asked, pulling you in close.

“Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet,” you whispered in his ear, keeping your body close to his. “And if anyone is fantastic, my love, it’s you.” He looked at you, his eyes warming at your words.

You smiled and repositioned yourself, letting him slide into you. You let out a gasp, making Poe beam. He let you get situated around him before gripping your waist. Your arms went around his shoulders, your fingers resting on the large tattoo covering his back. You started grinding into his body slowly, keeping your eyes locked on his as you did. He bit his lip, daring you to pick up your pace. You started going faster, still keeping your eyes locked as you moaned at the feeling of him inside of you, knowing that it was getting to him, too.

You clawed at his back as your body started to heat up, feeling him fill you up so fully. He planted a kiss to your lips every few thrusts, and as your hand trailed up to his curls and pulled gently, he let out a beautiful moan.

“Fuck, Y/N,” he said, pulling you into his chest. He licked your neck and as you let out a gasp, bit down. Your breath got caught in your throat and with his lips on your neck, you forgot what you were doing. “Come on now, don’t stop,” he whispered in your ear. 

You nodded as you moaned, thrusting your hips back into his. He always loved the sounds you made, and this time was no different. He gripped your hips harder, taking over control as he felt you start to lose rhythm. His thrusts were much harder, much more deliberate as he bit your shoulder to keep from crying out with you. Every moan you made incited one from him. You had to keep quiet, knowing that there wasn’t much keeping you from the people sleeping downstairs, but it was difficult to do with the way you were both feeling.

His hand gripped your waist impossibly tight as color rushed into his cheeks. His skin was hot against yours as he forced your movements, making sure to keep you doing exactly what he wanted you to do. He was nearing his end, holding onto any part of your body, squeezing tight as he let out a cry. He came inside of you, slowing his rhythm. You laughed once he had come down, watching his face react to the changing feelings.

“Alright, now you,” he said, quickly flipping you over. Your back landed on the blankets surrounding you, making you let out a gasp of air. Poe’s lips found yours again, leaving hot, passionate kisses as he slid back inside of you. Again, you gasped, his mouth trailing over your jaw as you did. He started pounding into you, not caring about going slow this time. You gasped and moaned and called out his name at each thrust, sending him into another wave of pleasure as you finished around him. You both cried out, holding onto each other for a few more minutes.

Once you were done, you both fell back onto the blankets, catching your breaths. Poe’s hand found yours before you even looked at each other. They laced at your hips, where he drew circles on your skin. You looked over at him, his hair in messy curls. He actually took your breath away.

“Hi,” you said, making him laugh gently.

“Hi, Y/N,” he said, moving in closer to you. He kissed your forehead, pushing back your own messy locks.

“That was—” you stopped, clearing your throat which was scratchy from gasping and crying out Poe’s name all night. “That was amazing.”

“I know,” he said with a grin, pulling you into his chest. You hummed and kissed his chest, looking up at him. “What?” he asked with a laugh.

“Nothing,” you said, shaking your head, “There’s just so much to do.”

“That’s what you’re thinking about now?”

“I can’t help it,” you said with a gentle laugh and a shrug. “This was a good distraction, though.”

“I could distract you some more, if you’d like,” he said with a smirk.

“Poe.”

“I know,” he said, putting his hand over yours on his chest.

“I need to know what happened on Naboo,” you said quietly.

“What, are you going to fly yourself out there?” he asked. It was a joke, but you recoiled a little. His smile dropped as he gripped your shoulder tighter. “I know you want to know, but we can’t risk it now.”

“But if we could save Naboo, they would be one of the greatest allies we could get,” you said, taking his hands pleadingly.

“I know, but there’s nothing we can do right now.” You sighed. He pulled you into a strong hug and tenderly kissed your shoulder. You looked up at him, your fingers tracing over the scruff on his chin. He had the most beautiful pout on his lips. You were falling in love with him all over again.

You took his face in your hands, holding him carefully as you looked into his eyes. He smiled out of the corner of his mouth and leaned in to bring his lips to yours. He hummed as he deepened the kiss and his hand traveled down to your thigh. It was like he needed every part of your body on him, right now and always. He pulled away for air first, but never took his eyes off of you. You resettled in his arms, staring off at the pile of boxes blocking you from the entrance of the attic.

“Is this where you used to take your romantic conquests back in the day?” you asked, running your hand up and down his chest.

“You know, I don’t even remember what it was like to be with anyone but you.”

“Poe,” you said gently. He rolled you onto your back and looked at you lovingly, a small smile tugging at his gorgeous lips. He lowered himself to kiss you. You cupped his face and kissed him back, taking him in. The scruff of his cheeks, the brushing of his nose against yours, the gentle hums he made as he kept you guessing his next movement. Everything about him was perfect and you would have let him do anything in that moment until a sound made you pull away.

“What was that?” you asked, pushing him off as you heard a buzzing come from the opposite side of the room. Poe’s face was slightly smushed by your hand on his lips, but he still frowned at you.

“Ignore it,” he said, kissing your fingers and coming back to your lips.

“Just, hold on,” you said into his lips, pushing him up. He sighed and sat up straight, reaching for his pants. You grabbed your dress off the floor and quickly pulled it back on as you walked back to the entrance of the attic. On the floor was the commlink you had forgotten when you got into the attic. It was vibrating against the wooden floor, and not for the first time that night, your breath was taken away.

“What is it?” Poe asked, walking over towards you.

“Naboo.”

[self-proclaimed-chaotic-good]

Survivors of Unfair Choices (9) | FirstOrder!Poe Dameron x Reader

Words: 1345

Warning: SW-verse typical violence, minor swearing

A/n: I’m a bit behind in writing and although I try to type out a few chapters in advance, I just wasn’t feeling it the past month or so. Again, I am grateful for my readers and the people who comment on it. Just know that I do read them and appreciate every one of them, even though I don’t comment back. I always feel bad when I’m unable to and I don’t know why I’m sometimes just not in the mindset to fully show my gratitude through replying and I don’t want to keep repeating the same thing over and over. Also, I want to let you guys know that there might be a indefinite break in a few weeks as I am moving again.

-

The plan was to release the poisonous gas again and hide. Rey and Finn quickly ducked under a grate with BB-9 while BB-8 insisted on being with you, hiding in the cockpit with a blaster held up at the ready. A familiar voice began to fill the corridor, followed by a guttural sound. You shifted your position to see two figures lift the grate where your two companions were.

“Wait,” you said, stepping out from hiding, BB-8 following close behind.

They swung their blasters around until they recognized you. “Kid?” the man asked in surprise.

“General,” you addressed him with a small smile. You slid your blaster back in its holster and approached them.

“I told you to stop calling me that. You with these guys?” Han asked, waving a blaster at them.

“Yeah, they helped me fly the ship,” you said, helping them out. BB-9 used a magnetic arm to help hoist themselves up. “In fact, Rey was the one flying.”

“You?” Han asked Rey, who nodded, “Where’d you get this ship?”

“Niima Outpost,” she said.

Han raised an eyebrow. “Jakku? The junkyard?”

“Junkyard! Thank you!” Finn said pointedly.

“Anyways!” you said, trying to get to the point.

“Told you we should have checked the Western Reaches,” Han said to Chewbacca before turning back to Rey, “Who had it? Ducain?”

“Guys,” you pleaded, giving Chewie a pleading look. He patted your head, having missed you.

“I stole it from Unkar Plutt. Who stole it from the Irving Boys. Who stole it from Ducain,” Rey said.

“Who stole it from me!” Han said, clearly upset. “Well, you tell him that Han Solo just stole back the Millenium Falcon for good.”

Rey’s jaw dropped as Han made his way over to the cockpit. “This is the Millenium Falcon? You’re Han Solo?” You sighed, rubbing your temples.

“Isn’t he a war hero?” Finn asked Chewie who shrugged.

You followed Han and watched as he looked around with a small smile on his face. How long has it been since he’s seen this ship? You hated to break the nostalgia, but there was no time.

“Han, we need to get back to the Resistance. BB-9 has the map,” you said, walking up to him. He shook his head. “The map to Luke Skywalker.”

Han looked up from the console at the mention of his old friend’s name and frowned. “Is that why you’re out here, kid?”

“Yes, and we need your help. Please, Han.”

He sighed, having avoided going back there for years. His eyes landed on the ring hanging around your neck and tilted his head towards it. “Who’s the poor person that met your high standards?” he said with a smirk.

You rolled your eyes. “Would you be surprised if I said he’s a pilot?”

“Of course he is. Does Leia know? Do I know who it is?”

“Um…” A metallic crash sounded down the corridor.

“Don’t tell me a Rathtar has gotten loose,” Han said, hurrying out of the cockpit.

You blinked at the spot he was just standing in. “What? Rathtar? Why is everyone in this ship a disastrous wreck?” And suddenly you missed the peaceful bliss of that planet, with you, Poe, and your little droids.

-

Poe took in a deep breath once they landed on Yavin Four where a small group of Resistance members were stationed. Ohn Gos had given him a small bag of basic supplies for the road and wished him luck. Poe thanked him and made his way over to the village cautiously. This will be the first time he would encounter Resistance members after defecting, if they’d believe that he had.

Being surrounded by the tropical greenery were bringing back memories. He remembered the force-tree that his parents planted outside of the house. He remembered flying with his mother in her ship and learning how to fly. He remembered when she passed. He remembered when his father went to work and never came back, then the news of him being caught up in an attack. Then his grandfather got sick. When Poe joined the fleet, he received the news that he also had passed. There was no one left but his fleet squadron with him.

Then the First Order got them, too.

“You better hold it right there,” a voice calls out.

Poe stops in his tracks and slowly raises his hands up. Three figures emerged from every side, surrounding him with blasters. One man stepped up, wearing an orange and white uniform, the symbol of the Resistance on his vest.

“What’s a First Order officer doing out here by himself?” he asked.

Poe sighed. “Look, pal, I’ve left the First Order, alright?”

The man scoffed. “Just like that, huh?”

“Well, it’s not as easy as it looks,” Poe said, taking a step forward. They all shifted in their stance, raising their blasters again. “Let’s just say that I finally found something worth fighting for and I’m looking for them right now. Your Commander (Y/n) (Y/l/n).”

Their eyes narrowed. “You took our commander,” the man said.

“I helped (Y/n) escape, but we got separated leaving the Finalizer. I know how to find her, but I need a ship.”

A woman walked up to them and whispered, “We need to notify the general about this.”

The man nodded to her, then turned back to Poe. “How can we take your word for it?”

“I’m outnumbered, aren’t I? You can take me as a prisoner if you want. If my sources are correct, your commander managed to find BB-9 again who has the map everyone’s looking for.”

“So we take you with us to find them, then you’ll know of the map’s location, too.”

Poe sighed, losing patience. “You wanna cuff me? Search for any trackers on me? Do it.” He stuck his hands out in front of him and placed his wrists together.

“Come on, Snap,” the woman said.

The man grimaced, but lowered his weapon, signaling for the others to do the same. He pointed at one of them to search Poe before turning away. He paused for a second, before turning his head. Poe waited expectantly as the person searched his person.

“That ring… they think no one’s seen it, but I managed to get a glimpse of it. I don’t think they got it before that mission. They kept saying that they weren't alone, but we all assumed they were talking about BB. Now that I think about it, you were the last one to see them that time. It’s far fetched, but…”

“Let’s talk once we start looking for them,” Poe said as he was pushed forward.

“He’s cleared,” one of them said.

“Thanks, L’ulo. Come, Dameron. We’ll wrap things up here and head back to base,” Snap said.

This was not how he thought his plan would go. He thought that he would be able to get the Tie-Fighters distracted long enough for you and FN-2187 to escape before he could join you and then follow you to wherever your mission took you next. He never thought that he would be arriving at the Resistance base without you. Certainly, not in a U-Wing surrounded by your squadron’s watchful gaze.

He kept his chin up, focusing on planning his next move. If he was allowed access to any of their ships, he could continue to track BB-8, then find you. Or maybe they would take the tracker off of him and search for you themselves. He needed to prepare for all those possibilities. While the Resistance is no longer an enemy, they’re not his friends, either.

“We’re here,” the woman, who introduced herself as Jessica, said.

She answered a commlink and identified the ship before lowering the U-Wing onto the runway. The other members of the squadron prepared for landing, gathering their belongings before standing up. Poe stood as well and waited until the ramp lowered.

“Stick close to us,” Snap said, grabbing his things before moving next to Poe.

“Where are you taking me?” Poe asked.

“To see General Leia.”

-

Taglist:  @megzdoodle @psychoticobsession @thescarletknight2014 @marrypuffsstuff @theoralpha @daniellajocelyn @badwolf-212 @gleigh42 @ella-solei @roserrys

[gamersonthego]

Chase Koeneke’s Top 10 Handheld Games of 2019

With the Switch in full gear and the debut of Apple Arcade, 2019 was another solid year for handheld games. Sequels to many of my favorite games were plentiful, but very few absolutely blew me away. And a few games I really loved (Slay The Spire, Return Of The Obra Dinn, Super Mega Baseball 2) were handheld ports of previous games I didn’t feel super great about adding to my list. So instead, I left this final year of the decade feeling content, and that’s perfectly OK too. So here are 10 games I liked this year, even if I didn’t love them.

10. Tetris 99 (Switch)

I love pretty much all iterations of Tetris. From the iconic Game Boy release I would play in the car, to the Facebook-based Tetris Friends that kept me company through many boring lectures in college, to last year’s gorgeous and powerful Tetris Effect, Tetris is A-OK with me.

Battle royale games on the other hand? Not so much. Despite enjoying shooters in general, I’ve yet to play a single match of PUBG, Fortnite or Apex Legends, and I’m not itching to change that anytime soon. But I found the mechanics of the battle royale genre to translate rather brilliantly to Tetris. It’s a thin experience (even with the expansions made to the game), but it’s an addictive one. And the fact I never quite crested the mountaintop – even if I did get a second place finish to video game Santa himself, Wario64 – is one of my biggest 2019 gaming regrets.

9. Mini Motorways (Apple Arcade)

Dinosaur Polo Club’s previous game, Mini Metro, made my top games of 2016 list, so it’s not surprising to see their latest game show up on this year’s list. What is a little surprising is how much of what could be said about Mini Metro can be echoed here on Mini Motorways. From my 2016 write-up:

Mini Metro wins my heart for its amazing ability to be serenely relaxing and nail-bitingly stressful simultaneously. Watching the train cars move back and forth around the sharp, minimalistic map brings a calming sense of satisfaction, but when the ever-growing amount of train stations hits critical mass, there were few experiences more harrowing this year. The basic strategy is smart and layered, preferring to let you experiment rather than tutorializing you to death up front.

You could remove the word “train” and get yourself a pretty accurate Mini Motorways review. But unfortunately, it’s not quite that simple. While I love a lot of what’s new in Mini Motorways – being able to create partial roads to better plan out cities from the start, colorful and sprightly graphics – the strategy and variety on display here actually pales to the previous game. One Mini Motorways upgrade, the traffic light, doesn’t even seem to function correctly. And the fun modifiers in Mini Metro’s different locations like Tokyo’s shinkasen are nowhere to be found here. Every city has a body of water to deal with, it’s just that some are slightly more of a pain than others. That’s not variety.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Mini Motorways and have put a lot of time into it. It’s my #9 after all. But if I had to pick just one to take up space on my phone, Mini Metro is getting that spot every time.

8. Risk Of Rain 2 (Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC)

The first Risk of Rain also appeared on my games of 2016 list, and like Mini Motorways, the sequel is good, just not quite as good…and also feels a bit unfinished. But unlike Mini Motorways, Risk of Rain 2 made a bold change, ditching the two-dimensional world and sprite-based graphics for 3D polygons.

Bringing the z-axis to the tried and true roguelike mechanics of the original Risk of Rain makes for a new experience, for better and worse.

The worlds of RoR2 are bigger and more awe-inspiring. The 3D nature makes some classes and items feel more viable (like the melee Mercenary class) and it’s much easier to dodge incoming enemy attacks.

But the shift in perspective is anything but perfect. Just as enemies miss you more, so too will you often miss your own targets. The camera is both too close and yet also too far away, depending on the situation. The levels, after your inspired awe has left you, are barren, and the main objective of hunting for a teleporter to take you to the next area can be a frustrating venture as they are much more easily camouflaged in the polygonal zones.

It’s also just…not done. As of this writing, there’s no final boss fight, just a shrine that lets you sacrifice yourself to say you’ve “won.” There are missing classes on the menu and the artifact modifiers tab says “coming soon.” Last time I checked, the Switch was not an early access machine, and the fact that this version also gets a “Switch tax” makes it go down even more bitterly.

So why would a deeply flawed game like this make my list? Because the core loop of Risk of Rain is still better than most experiences out there. Stacking power-ups to near omnipotence is a blast, and running around with a friend or three in co-op is more fun than ever. Risk of Rain 2 may eventually become a great game someday, but for now, it’s a good game. And despite its issues, it’s still good enough for me.

7. Baba Is You (Switch, PC)

Sokoban meets coding logic; Baba Is You layers these puzzling elements to create something that feels familiar, yet fresh. It’s a simple concept: You push physical words around the self-contained areas to manipulate the level’s rules and collect a flag…or a different win condition if you’re clever enough.

Take the screenshot above for instance. “Baba is You” means you control Baba. “Flag is Win” means you need to touch the flag to win. But say you push the words “is Win” to vertically align with “Baba.” Now Baba is both you, the player and also the win condition, so you can forget the flag. You win automatically!

The puzzles continue in that fashion, ramping up the challenge very quickly (or maybe I’m just not very good at it.) I’m nowhere near mastering it, but for its highly inventive mix of environmental and logic problems, I’ve got an incredible amount of respect for it.

6. Assemble With Care (Apple Arcade)

I’m kind of down on Apple Arcade as a concept (I’d rather just pay for the few games I want and be done with it), but if games like Assemble With Care keep coming out, I might have to soften my stance. Assemble sees you repairing broken objects like rotary phones, cassette players and watches by using the touchscreen to pull objects apart, replace their busted components and piece them back together. It’s wonderfully serene: There’s no time limit, no logic-defying puzzle box qualities, no Operation-style buzzer if and when you make a mistake. It’s just nice.

A lesser game would leave it at that, but Assemble goes a step further, wrapping the repair mechanics with a short, satisfying story with solid writing and voice acting. It’s this year’s Florence, and while it may not be as impactful as that game, it’s a must play for anyone with an Apple Arcade subscription (or a good reason to burn your free trial if you’re not a subscriber).

5. Untitled Goose Game (Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC)

Like Assemble With Care, Untitled Goose Game does not hang its hat so much on its mechanics as what it chooses to do with them. There are no fail conditions to Goose Game and what challenge it holds is relatively minimal. But it’s a true sandbox game in that it’s loaded the small town you inhabit with lots of little things to play with and discover. It’s Grand Theft Auto, except they’ve replaced carjacking and shooting with taking an old man’s stool or honking at a kid until he hides inside a phone booth. You’re an asshole, you’re just not a malicious asshole.

A list of tasks helps to keep you focused, but it’s more of a nudge in the right direction so you can discover something else to mess with or people to bother. And once the game is “over,” you get a new, more inventive list of tasks, all with the benefit of the entire sandbox available to you. It might not be the most complex game, but when it comes to the enjoyment of play, it’s one of the best this year.

4. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Switch)

I’m well known for my aversion to finishing Zelda games. I’ve played almost all of them and have finished exactly two of them (Oracle of Seasons and A Link Between Worlds, probably not the two you’d expect). And despite enjoying it, even the original Link’s Awakening eluded me, so seeing it get an overhaul in the form of a Switch version excited me. Not only was this a second chance for me to play a classic, but it was also another opportunity for the world to see how great handheld games have always been.

Outside of the really well done tilt-shifted graphics, the remake is mostly made up of small quality of life improvements. The overworld isn’t as rigidly screen-based anymore, allowing the player a little more finesse in dealing with enemies. Some equipment, that on the original Game Boy version must be switched in and out ad nauseam, now has dedicated buttons on the controller (never again must you be without your sword). All these decisions allow for the charm of the design to shine through even easier than its original version.

Would it be nice if the frame rate were more consistent? Sure. Is the Chamber Dungeon a completely extraneous and half-baked idea? Totally. Does it tarnish the fun that’s there to be had here? Not in the slightest.

I’m proud to say Link’s Awakening has joined the pantheon of Zelda games I’ve actually finished. Now maybe someday I’ll finish that “Link to the Past” that everyone keeps talking about…

3. Super Robot Wars T (Switch, PS4)

Super Robot Wars X made my list last year despite me having only played the PS4 version. So it feels a little more legitimate to have played the Switch version of Super Robot Wars T this year. It’s still not available in the US (you have to import a copy of the Asia version that comes with English subtitles,) and it’s still an extremely flawed game with its repetitive and uninspired level design and overly complicated systems, but man, I love this bad game so much.

I love tinkering in T’s dense mechanics, upgrading my anime mechs for perfect turn-based strategy synergy. I love jumping through hoops to find the right way to recruit new units. And I still love the over the top battle animations – seriously, if you’re bitching about Pokemon’s weak animations, the video above will show you Super Robot Wars has your back.

Plus they’ve added Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop this time around, so there’s at least one recognizable character from a non-Gundam anime you’ve probably seen in here. That’s…progress.

Look, this game probably isn’t for you, but it is totally for me. And Christmas came early this year in that Super Robot Wars V (which came before last year’s X – the naming conventions are not here to make sense) got ported to the Switch, and last year’s Super Robot Wars X will get ported soon too. That’s a lot of anime turn-based strategy to play, and I couldn’t be happier.

2. Pokemon Sword/Shield (Switch)

After much Internet handwringing from an extremely vocal minority, the new Pokemon games came out. And, what do you know, they’re good. Really good. They continue the slow evolution (I’m so sorry) of the franchise with small quality of life enhancements, a few new features and a little trimming of the vestiges. I appreciate the renewed focus on gyms and gym leaders and the single connected world, even if it basically two circles with a straight bit in the middle.

The new Pokemon are…fine. Very few that I detest, but also very few that I’d be willing to write home about. The new Max Raid Battles are generally pretty cool, but they all take advantage of the gimmick I’m least thrilled about: Dynamaxing. Making a Pokemon bigger for three turns is not all that compelling to me. And the Gigantamax variants with their special appearances are neat, but it’s basically just a worse form of Mega Evolution.  

So yeah, it’s a good entry in the series. And a good Pokemon game is pretty hard to top in my book.

1. Fire Emblem Three Houses (Switch)

Hard to top, that is, unless you’re Fire Emblem. But despite being a new game in my favorite franchise, I was actually dreading Three Houses. The pre-release coverage did not leave me optimistic. Old features I hated were making a comeback (cough, weapon durability, cough). The art style couldn’t hold a candle to the jaw-droppingly gorgeous previous entry, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. And whether Intelligent Systems was admitting it or not, there was a strong Persona-fication at play here (don’t get me wrong, I love Persona, but if you’re going to get your Persona chocolate in my Fire Emblem peanut butter, I’d rather you just make a sequel to Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE.)

So the hopes, they were not high. But Three Houses exceeded my expectations with a cast of characters I really grew to love. My loveable loser Golden Deer crew went from zeroes to heroes, and the ability to recruit students from other classes meant I got to make my dream team (Hilda, Petra, and Lysithea were my undisputed MVPs) when saving the world.

The story was deep and complex, and hearing how it changes based on which house you align with is pretty cool. I enjoyed the control I had in molding my students, and appreciated seeing them have a breakthrough in something they used to struggle with, and it becoming one of their best qualities. Turning a lazy, valley girl like Hilda into a front line tank and hearing her bitching about it every step of the way was especially enjoyable.

It’s not my favorite in the series, but I’m glad it’s seen pretty universal appeal and sales from the community at large, cementing its status as one of Nintendo’s premier franchises. Someday I will play through all four of its routes, but for now, I’m content with it comfortably sitting as my favorite handheld game of 2019.

[hazyheel]

NJPW G1 Climax 2019 Day 5 Review

Our night kicked off with Lance Archer vs. KENTA. A first time matchup, given that Kenta has never been in New Japan before. Archer had a genuinely startling height advantage here. He is 6′8, while Kenta was 5′8. That is huge. Archer pushed Kenta to the ground to start things off, just a sign of disrespect. Kenta started to kick at the legs and midsection, which quickly brought Archer to his knees. However, whenever Archer wanted to take Kenta down, he would just give him a shoulder tackle and put him on the mat. Early on, Archer tried to give Kenta a chokeslam to the outside, only for some Young Lions to catch him, so Archer wiped them all out with a somersault senton. The ref started to count as Archer beat down Kenta on the outside, so he attacked the timekeeper to stop the count. Archer then started to mock Kenta by referring to him as Hideo. Archer was very violent towards the ref during the match, constantly threatening him and throwing him around, so Kenta was not the only one who found Archer challenging. Kenta kept trying to soften Archer up with kicks wherever he could land them, but Archer just refused to stay down. Archer tried for the EBD claw, but Kenta nearly reversed it into an armbar, so Archer opted for a huge lariat instead. Archer then went for blackout, but Kenta countered into a sleeper hold, lowering Archer to the mat and hitting a pique kick to the chest. Kenta then went for the Go to Sleep, but Archer reversed into the EBD Claw submission, and then even a muscle buster for a near fall. Archer then hit a last ride, but Kenta still kicked out. He then went for a chokeslam, but Kenta reversed it into a triangle choke. He transitioned the triangle into a game over for the submission win. Kenta: 6, Archer: 4.

Grade: B. Pretty good match. It was really fun to see how Kenta would deal with his much larger opponent. The answer was a lot of kicks to the midsection and legs, and finally wearing him down with submission holds. It was a gritty win, but Kenta made it to six points, still in the lead of the block. Good match that showed a different side of Kenta, and Archer had his first loss. Big stuff here. 

Next up was EVIL vs. SANADA. These two have only fought once before, with Sanada coming up with the win. Evil has been anticipating this match a lot recently, as he felt like he wasn’t given the same opportunity as Sanada, due to his championship match back in May. He wants to break out of the stable with this match, and create a new name for himself. Sanada started out with several dropkicks, and quickly went for the moonsault, but Evil got out of the way. Evil actually grabbed a chair after avoiding the moonsult, sliding it in and distracting both Sanada and the ref, using that to take down Sanada early. The two then battled for position, with Sanada looking for the paradise lock and Evil looking for a scorpion deathlock. Evil was able to lock Sanada in a paradise lock, posing with his foot on Sanada’s back before giving him the glut dropkick. The two were actually vicious here, totally ready to beat the living crap out of each other. They both know each other’s moves so well that they were constantly reversing and countering each other’s moves. Sanada quickly ramped up his attack after he realized that Evil wasn’t pulling punches and started to focus on Evil’s base. He constantly attacked Evil’s knees, which was mixed in with some of his usual offense. Evil opted to target the back of Sanada, throwing him into the barricades and generally assaulting him mercilessly. Evil even bent the rules a little bit, such as shoving the ref into Sanada, and even using the ref as a tag partner to hit the magic killer. It took the entire match, but Sanada was actually able to lock in skull end, but Evil reversed it into a skull end of his own, which prompted Sanada to drill Evil with everything is evil for a close near fall. Sanada again went for the moonsault, but was thwarted again when Evil got his knees up. Sanada was again able to lock in skull end, throwing Evil around but getting caught in a small package as he did. Evil went for everything is evil, but Sanada scored an inside cradle for a near fall. Evil then began to destroy Sanada with lariats, eventually nailing Sanada with everything is evil for the win. Evil: 4, Sanada: 2. 

After the match, Evil offered the fist bump, which Sanada answered. So the two are definitely staying together, both as a stable and as a tag team. 

Grade: A-. A great match between two teammates who know each other incredibly well. They had an interesting clash of styles that blended perfectly, along with the fact that they just kept countering out of each other’s signature offense. Evil had a huge chip on his shoulder coming into this match, so I think it makes a lot of sense for him to get the win. Maybe they are giving Evil a decent singles push, who knows? We will have to see if he is able to beat Okada again this year, we could see evil in the world championship picture.

Into Bad Luck Fale vs. Kazuchika Okada. They are 4:3 in favor of Okada, so very close, but it is interesting to note that Okada has never beaten Fale in a tournament. Before the match, as he was making his entrance, Bad Luck Fale attacked Okada on the way to the ring. Fale was beating down Okada even before he came out. It took Okada a while to get his wind back, and the second he started to beat down Fale, Fale distracted the ref and Chase Owens and Jado beat him down on the outside. Okada continuously tried to slam Fale, it worked as both a central theme of the match, and as a contstant downfall for Okada, At one point, Okada tried to hit the bodyslam, but he couldn’t keep him up and ended up eating a splash from Fale. He was finally able to give Fale a body slam, and then followed it up with a tope con hilo to Fale, Owens and Jado when Fale rolled out. Okada kept up the attack from there, focusing on the neck and chest. Okada had it won with a rainmaker, but Fale threw Red Shoes into him before Okada could complete the move. That allowed Chase Owens to run in and assist Fale in hitting the grenade. Even after Okada was able to dispatch Owens, Jado nailed Okada in the back with the kendo stick as he ran the ropes. He held Okada in place as Fale ran at him, but he dodged and took out Jado. He tried to give Fale a neckbreaker, but Fale rolled through, only for Okada to sit down on him and steal a pin. Okada: 6, Fale: 2. 

After the match, Fale tried to attack Okada, but Okada put him down with a dropkick and gave him a salute as he layed on the outside. 

Grade: C+. These guys always have a slow match, and while it was okay, it just didn’t really do it for me. For whatever reason, Bullet Club interference bothers me a lot more than Suzuki-Gun, so I guess they are either effective heels or just annoying. Okada deserves this win, and I like that it came in a non-dominant form. It keeps up the story that Okada cannot seem to beat Fale in the tournament, although he did score a victory here. I’m glad Okada won here. And Fale is untouchable, no losses actually hurt him.

Then we had Zack Sabre Jr vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi. These two have gone back and forth with wins, but Sabre leads their series with 3:2. As Tanahashi entered the ring, Sabre made sure to kick the young lion Tsuji off the ropes, just being a dick in general. Neither man has won a match yet, so both were battling for their first points. The two started to grapple early on, with Sabre starting the match off with the cravat, but quickly transitioning into a heel hook where both were jockeying for postiion. The interesting part of this match was the Sabre has two spots that he can focus on: both the formerly injured elbow and the ever decaying knees. However, as the match progressed, Tanahashi was really going hold for hold with Sabre. Both are great grapplers, but Sabre is considered the best at it in the world. The two then traded flash pins for a while, until Tanahashi was able to convert one into a twist and shout. The two then battled over a crucifix to a stalemate, with Tanahashi breaking it by hitting a slingblade. Tanahashi tried to get in a backbend pin, but Sabre kicked out and was able to lock in an armbar. He then transitioned into a sort of grounded octopus, targetting the repaired arm. Tanahashi sold it it great, like he was in too much pain to go on and barely made it to the ropes. Tanahashi fought back with Dragonscrew leg whips, a slingblade, aces high and almost the high fly flow, but Sabre got the knees up and locked in a triangle. While still in the triangle, Tanahashi stacked him up and got the pin. Tanahashi: 2, Sabre: 0.

Naturally, after the match Sabre threw a tantrum because he lost. I love this side of him, he is such a dick. 

Grade: A. This was leaps and bounds ahead of their match at the MSG show. I thought that match was much less smooth and didn’t have much of a story, while this showed the very entertaining grappler side of Tanahashi. He was in there showing the submission master what he could do, and actually nearly tapped him out at a couple of points. Sabre looked great here too, totally selling the frustration both during the match and after his loss. His story is certainly an intriguing one in this tournament. I’m happy to see Tanahashi finally get a win, because his story of going from the winner to the loser would not have been nearly as entertaining. 

And in the main event, we had Kota Ibushi vs. Will Ospreay in a Wrestle Kingdom rematch. That match earlier this year was their only match, and Ospreay came out on top. That was the match that I was most looking forward to at Wrestle Kingdom, and here in the A Block as well. The two traded clean breaks early on as they felt each other out. They started with some grappling, and the two of them actually looked pretty good on the mat. They then got into tests of strength, with Ibushi being much stronger. As the two started to pick up the pace a bit, Ospreay started to work over the ankle, a great strategy to both neutralize Ibushi’s kicks and to soften up his base. However, that did not stop Ibushi from delivering a blistering kick to Ospreay’s chest. When Ibushi had control, he targeted the neck, the subjuect of several injuries in the past. The two then traded signature moves and some counters, with everything looking way better with the two of them doing it. The two then traded both strikes and kicks in the center of the ring, at inhuman speeds. As Ospreay went for the stormbreaker, Ibushi countered with almost a deadeye variant on a piledriver that was very scary to see. Ibushi followed it up with an insane last ride for another near fall. Ospreay later tried for stormbreaker again, only for Ibushi to counter with a package piledriver, but Ospreay even countered that into a rollup. Ibushi kicked out and Ospreay nailed him with the high angle powerbomb of his own. Ospreay then peppered Ibushi with kicks and tried for the super os cutter, only for Ibushi to push him back into the post, leaving him hanging in a tree of woe and lighting him up with both kicks and hard slaps. The two jockeyed for position on the top rope, with Ibushi eventually hitting the second rope german, but Ospreay actually flipped out of it! Then he fucking rocked Ibushi with the hidden blade to the side of the face, but Ibushi barely got his hand on the rope. Ospreay then nailed Ibushi with a stiff kick to the face, and hit the os cutter for an incredible near fall. Ibushi then fought back into the match by sliding out of the stormbreaker and hitting a scary Michinoku driver for a near fall. Ospreay tried for another hidden blade, but Ibushi saw it coming and hit a back elbow, a great lariat and the bomaye for still another near fall! Ibushi finally hit the Kamagoye for the win after a war of a match. Ibushi: 2, Ospreay: 2.

Grade: A+. This was an incredible match and an incredible main event. For a relatively low stakes match in the tournament, they killed it in getting people invested. They absolutely destroyed each other in the ring and hit the biggest moves that they could think of. I hope that both of them were okay after this match, because it looked like a goddamn murder in that ring. The counters were off the charts, every move was smooth as glass, and every kickout had me changing my mind for who I wanted to win. This was my favorite match of the tournament so far, and possibly my favorite match of the year, regardless of promotion. They tore the house down, and they so deserve every push that they are getting. Ibushi finally got his first two points and can get on the road to winning the tournament, while Ospreay had a fantastic showing that proved he can hang with one of the best wrestlers in New Japan. Five stars, Match of the Night, match of the tournament, match of the goddamned year so far. If you couldn’t tell, these are my two favorite wrestlers in the world. 

[sailor-cresselia]

The Great Ex-Aid Rewatch: Ep 09

Oh no. This took ages to write. I planned to get two episodes down in this update, but nope.

Episode 09 OP update: the shot of the four riders lined up from episode one’s cold open was replaced with them transforming into level 3.

–––

…For all that Hiiro goes on about not taking unnecessary risks, he’s kind of terrible at following his own advice. The bugster hasn’t emerged from Secretary Hinata yet, so he’s just going to make it come out – shoving Emu to the ground in the process. This isn’t even Emu’s clumsiness in play; Hiiro actually shoved him. But since someone rushed the process, they’re all caught completely unaware when the bugster ‘union’ starts differently than usual.

Maybe if he had waited just a few moments, he could. You know. Find out that the symptoms were the same as the readings that they got off of Graphite.

Just saying, Hiiro.

This is the first time that there wasn’t any sort of bugster union, too. The dragon just straight up separated completely. Even Graphite was implied to have formed from a union – Taiga was surprised that the bugster separated from Saki back when all that went down.

–––

…oh my Gaim.

I just thought of something. Gamedeus Cronus was technically an overpowered bugster union, right?

Could… could Emu and Parad as the OG Genius Gamer M have been considered a Union?

Okay that got a little off topic there, back to the show.

–––

...Graphite, I have a couple comments for you.

One, I can’t believe you didn’t catch that Kuroto was tempting you into taking the proto gashat.

Two, please stop looking like you’re enjoying the blatant pain you’re in when you shove that thing into your chest.

Three, did your base character have a habit of shoving power sources into his chest? Because you do that a lot, and it’s a little concerning.

–––

Here’s the thing about Parad and his not being worried about Graphite here. We later find out that he knew all along that since Graphite was complete, he could come back at any point, even though Graphite didn’t know that.

Which raises the question, which will never be answered, of just how Parad knew that when Kuroto didn’t, but oh well.

So, when Parad hears that they just need the battle data for Drago Knight to complete phase one, he smiles.

In a far more menacing manner than when he was gushing about how ‘terrifying’ Kuroto was just a few moments ago.

–––

Back on the battlefield, Hiiro is focused entirely on defeating Graphite to avenge Saki. He didn’t even know that Secretary Hinata was infected specifically with the Drago Knight strain until Graphite showed up, because he didn’t take the time to get any information on the situation before leaping into battle. But Graphite showed his face, and oh no, Hiiro is not having him around.

Emu, meanwhile, is focusing on the actually time-critical task of. You know. Defeating the dragon that emerged from Doctor Kyotaro. Because he’s keeping his cool way better than the supposedly level headed surgeon.

–––

Taiga you can’t just hide out in the sitting room in front of the CEO’s office, that’s rude. Thanks for the reminder that that’s the tenth gashat, though.

–––

Emu rightfully calls Hiiro out on his recklessness. For the genius surgeon to act without any knowledge of the situation is a bad sign for his judgement and objectiveness. And yeah, Hiiro’s right that Emu’s getting a little too personal in this case, but that’s kind of who Emu is, and he does have a genuine personal involvement in this case, but the point stands. Hiiro got distracted, and really was just fighting for revenge there. The intern is being more logical than the surgeon.

One is fighting for someone who’s already gone, and the other for someone who is still here.

Nobody is truly objective here, but… well, Emu’s priorites may be strained and a little off balance, but they’re still more in order than Hiiro’s.

…Ah. Interesting.

When Emu say’s that he’ll show them that it doesn’t matter if it’s a four player gashat or not, that he’ll show them he can clear it? He’s still using ‘boku’.

This is entirely Emu speaking.

–––

At least Hiiro seems to have realized that he was being irrational.

And then proceeds to ‘confront’ the director about the compatibility surgery. Apparently Hiiro had it performed 5 years ago – which doesn’t seem right to me, since he was still a student then, but fine. Excite and RTA both seem to agree that’s what was being said, so. Fine. I still don’t think he’s actually been using a driver that long, though.

I also still think there’s got to be more to it than ‘introducing a sample of the Bugster Virus to produce antibodies’, but since canon never elaborates any more than that… fine. Whatever.

Hiiro asks why Emu doesn’t know what Taiga was talking about the other day with ‘what it means to be a compatible user,’ and yet is still somehow surprised when the director says that Emu hasn’t had the surgery.

–––

Kiriya. Kiriya this is not the way to earn someone’s trust.

You do not go around saying that someone died in order to get their medical records.

Or, well, you’re not supposed to. I know you only have so many avenues for information gathering, but really.

I somehow doubt you ever corrected this bit of misinformation in the three weeks between this and Christmas.

But still… well, it does look a little suspicious. A person who isn’t supposed to be able to transform can, and only has one surgery on his record. Which does happen to imply that the compatibility surgeries for the others are on their medical records, but that’s just an aside thought. And when the person who performed the single operation is the one in charge of the department that uses the compatibility surgery…

Well. It does make sense that Kiriya would be willing to doubt the secretary.

–––

Asuna’s right to point out that Emu’s acting strange. He’s being hasty – less so than Hiiro was earlier, but he is still running off on his own a lot. He’s so desperate to prove himself, to prove that he can be a good doctor, that he’s losing track of quite how to do that.

I don’t think he’s forgetting how dangerous this is – even though he doesn’t quite have the proof of how fatal it can be for the riders. Not for another few weeks.

But he wants to prove himself so badly that i’m not sure he entirely cares at the moment.

Even when he’s saying that he can’t lose at games, when he’s saying that he’s the only one who can perform this operation… he’s getting cocky.

But Emu is still using ‘boku.’

–––

Seeing this many people collapsing is scary. I’m sure it must be even worse for the people with no context, for the civilians – from their perspective, there is no cause. Emu knows… and. Ah. Interesting.  Every now and then, when he’s out trying to figure out where Graphite is going to strike, they play that ringing sound that they usually use for certain types of bugster headaches. The bell-like one, not the static-y screeching.

–––

Emu didn’t use ‘ore’ up until on the roof with Graphite, when he triggers the gashat.

Basically, aggressive Emu isn’t always M, or his acting more like when he was M isn’t always because Parad’s exerting a little bit more influence.

I don’t think that Parad’s even putting that much into Emu/M/Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, honestly. Just using enough of his control over the bugster virus to keep Emu transformed, to keep him from getting hurt by it. Maybe a little extra, to keep him more coordinated.

(Also, I high-key think that by the end of the series, Emu’s less clumsy because he started subconsciously adopting some of his movement patterns as Ex-Aid into his normal life. Just picked up that little extra sense of balance, now that he’s experienced it. He just doesn’t even notice he’s doing it.)

...okay, yeah, the transformation cutscenes are absolutely happening when they’re shown, because Ex-Aid just transitioned straight from his level two upgrade sequence. Like, he went through the usual spiel of bouncing, and then descended, with the background dissolving into pixels as he landed back on the roof, fading between the pink space and reality.

–––

See, this is what Emu gets like when he’s frustrated. He gets sloppy, and rushes, and turns cold. he’s never been this selfish in his desire to save people.

I kind of think he feels he has to be the one to do this not just because the other three riders are a tad… unreliable. Not just because he wants to prove that he can be a doctor. But because he wants to prove that it was worth it 16 years ago.

For the record, even if we run with the novel backstory, I don’t think Emu was actively trying to… well. I figure he just… didn’t really care. He was 8, and lonely, and in pain – both from the growing virus and from just being alone all the time. He just sort of… didn’t really think.

But I also think that he isn’t always sure that his still being here is worth it. Not when he’s struggling to get even just a scrap of respect from his alleged peers, and from his patients. And now he has a chance to prove that it was worth the effort, that he does have value, despite being told over and over that he shouldn’t be a rider, that he fails as a doctor.

Parad looks awfully disappointed in how sloppy Emu’s being today.

And even though Emu’s not in a good place right now, he’s still showing some great tactics, even if he’s being a jerk about it. Grabbing Hiiro’s sword – which was already prepped for a finisher – and using it to make a path to the dragon is inspired. We’ve seen that the ice mode can make a trail on the ground, but never a ramp before. And using that to both get in range and hold the dragon still? Clever. Especially since the only one there who could have gotten close up until now was Taiga, because Jet Combat. Emu and Hiiro only have close range attacks right now, and even if they had their level three forms available, the attacks still wouldn’t be able to keep up with the flight and distance. We saw that in the fight against Taiga just last episode.

Emu manages to get the dragon armor… but he can’t control it.

It doesn’t even look like Emu’s ‘home’ right now, as the armor just sort of… takes over, causing him to attack indiscriminately, with no tactics at all, just flailing and throwing energy everywhere. it’s strong enough to knock Graphite down, yes, but the transformation sparks out almost immediately after. He was at half health when it force ejected. Usually that doesn’t happen until their on their last reserves.

–––

So, that’s episode 9 recapped and theorized! I have to say, I’m having fun doing this. Doing a rewatch-live-blog is interesting. I’m not stuck speculating on events that may or may not be cancelled out the next week like I am with Zi-O. I get to go off on whatever tangent I find relevant, which can lead to new realizations about, say, Emu and Parad occasionally functioning like the Union forms. (Which is a thought that I am not actually completely okay with having come up with, but it sure is one I thought of.)

[bontu-the-fabulous-side]

Reki, the History of Kamigawa - As Casual as a Competitive Deck Can Get

FULL DECKLIST

Hi there! My name is Bontu-The-Fabulous, or Mereth. I’ve been playing EDH for about 5 years now. Reki, by far, is not only my favorite deck, but by far my best.  It started when I first got into the game. Our school had an unblocked deckbuilder site, called tappedout, and while browsing it I found an early version of this deck. it was simply called Mono Green legends, and it had Reki at the helm. 

Essentially, Reki was the first ever commander I wanted to build. However, it ended up being eight and a half tails, as Reki as a deck is actually a bit pricy for a 15 year old freshman. 

Last year, however, I decided I finally had enough to start building, and around a year and half later, Reki is 99% complete, and it’s time to share why I love this deck so much, along with my list. I will remind you- This isn’t a cheap deck. I’ve never put more effort into a single MTG deck in my life, and this deck is my pride and joy. You can easily build a much cheaper version on a budget, and hile it won’t be as consistent, it worked for me for a while!

WHO IS REKI?

Reki, the History of Kamigawa is a 1/2 Human Shaman legendary that draws you a card whenever you cast a legendary spell. On the surface, this ability seems alright, nothing too special- And that’s what I initially thought. Then, I tested the deck, and immediately understood what Reki was. Reki is not only one of the best draw engines in the entire game in my opinion, but the way you play him in a deck is so fun and different than other decks that it creates a unique, interesting deck. Think Azami, but for Legendary Green spells. Reki himeself becomes a card that makes sure you always have a full hand. When you cast a legendary, you draw a card. If it’s legendary, you cast it again. And again. He gets out of hand fast. 

WHY NOT SISAY? This is the first question people ask me about this deck. Sisay is probably a better version of this deck, however, Reki is actually better and much diferent than you would think in a few different ways. Firstly, he costs less- This is important, as it means you get your engine up a full turn sooner. Secondly, Reki as a commander works differently- Sisay searches for Paradox engine and then wins. Reki? He draws his entire deck out in a turn or two. While Reki is searched out in Sisay, it takes an extra two turns- One to cast Sisay, and one to search for Reki. Reki, this time, is here sooner and the engine is harder to get rid of, as he can simply be recast. If he dies in Sisay? Too bad. Finally... I think he’s more fun. More variety, and the deck is much different- Mono green legends is a fun ass deck!

THE STRATEGY The strategy of this deck is quite fun. Your goal is to ramp and play big legendary spells every turn, normally at least two or three until the mana you are producing hits such a level that you can draw literally around 20 cards in a turn, and play every single one of them. Around 40% of the deck is legendary spells. 44 cards, to be precise, not including Reki. That means around half of the cards you play immediately replace themselves, and that’s including other sources of mono green draw in the deck. 

WINCONS Now this is a fun part. Originally, there was only one win con in this deck, and that was get a big enough board to kinda jut murder everyone at the same time. While that is still a major win con, everything changed when the fire nation attacked. 

This card make Reki viable in competitive play, if only a little bit. This deck runs a LOT of mana rocks, and things that aren’t technically rocks that use this very well. Essentially, this LEGENDARY artifact gave Reki a fighting chance in competitive places. This card will be the easiest and quickest way to win, though not the funnest. 

This is the funnest. I own a FOIL ONE (It looks so pretty), and Helix Pinnacle is no joke. I spoke before about how much mana this deck produces, and I wans’t kidding- I’ve been able to get this card consitantly. I’ve been able to generate this much mana in a single turn. Without going infinite. A mix of Nykthos, mana doublers, and a very specific and powerful mana rock I will speak about soon. This card can snatch a game before anyone sees it coming. Only 100 mana. 

Why go infinite (Near) with Paradox engine, why go big and play a pinnacle, when you could just generate so many big cards in a turn and drop this baby to punch everyone at the same time? Akroma’s Memorial is a card that once it hits the board ends the game. In a time where you’re just playing cards and drawing them, this card ends the chain with a GG. 

The same effect as Akroma, however, this card just makes your board massive. not only that, but it’s a great mana sink. 

THE LEGENDARY CREATURES I would love to sit here for the next 2 hours and write about every legendary in the deck. Maybe I will, one day, but there’s 44 legendary spells in this deck. I’ll list all of them, with the most important ones at the beginning. Each and every legendary in this deck has value, meaning, it’s not just a vanilla creature. Here we go! I’ll list the most important ones with text on why it’s busted. 

Hope of Ghirapur Ghalta, Primal Hunger Hazoret’s Monument Hua Tuo, Honoed Physician Jolrael, Empress of Beasts Sachi, Daughter of Seshiro (8 mana on a four drop creature. Remember, Reki is a Shaman. One of the best legends in the deck because of this.) Yeva, Nature’s Herald Heroes’ Podium  Jugan, the Rising Star Hall of Triumph Oath of Nissa Rhonas’s Monument Rishkar, Peema Renegade Selvala, Heart of the Wilds (Strongest mana dork in the deck, can provide draw as well) Sword of the Animist Predator, Flagship Mox Opal (Literally 0 to draw a card and a mana rock. Hands down the best card in the deck due to the sheer... Holy fuck it’s a 98 card deck.) Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter Planar Bridge Sakiko, Mother of Summer Nissa, Vital Force Hammer of Nazahn Nissa, Vastwood Seer Skyship Weatherlight Dosan the Falling Leaf (Play this first on your big turn and you win.) Bow of Nylea Skysovereign, Consul Flagship Polukranos, World Eater (Mini win con with enough mana.) Helvault Alhammarret’s Archive (This doubles your power. One of the best cards in the deck.) Akroma’s Memorial Growing Rites of Itlimoc Garruk Wildspeaker Omnath, Locus of Mana (Don’t have enough mana this turn? You will next turn, along with a dead player!) Garruk, Primal Hunter Paradox Engine Nylea, God of the Hunt Patron of the Orochi (Doubles your mana) Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger (ALSO doubles your mana) Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger (Oh) Kozilek, the Great Distortion (Oh no) Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre (Oh no...) Kozilek, Butcher of Truther (Please no more...) Emrakul, the Promised End (Dear god why) And that’s that. You’re probably either done skmming over the list and missing half of the cards, or you’re in shock of how much this deck was. Now then, I will remind you, I’m missing a few cards. I don’t ACTUALLY have a Mox Opal, as it’s 80, but I’m working on it. Not only that, but an Azusa, Lost but Seeking as well.  That list is preeetty intense. I encourage you to read over it again, because there are some scary things in that list.  God, what about the Non-Legendary Spells? Glad you asked! There’s a total of 21 spells that aren’t legendary, and all of them are either draw, remval, or ramp. Most are ramp. Let’s talk about the most important ones... Starting with, hands down, the best and most important card of the entire deck. 

This card is nucking futs. In a single game, I’ve hard this 3 drop artifact produce more than 5 mana by turn 5 by itself. Late game? Upwards of 10, 15, even 20. It’s too powerful. Think about it. Legendary permanent... Well, there’s Reki. Your planeswalkers. Your legendary artifacts, enchantments... 44% of yoru deck just became tap, add 1. Have fucking fun. So, basically, eery legendary card in your deck, is now: Tap add 1, when you cast this draw a card. And I’ll remind you... This doesn’t care about summoning sickness. Everything you cast adds a mana to your pool. 

Cloudstone is fantastic in this deck. In the legendary pool, there’s actually a lot of low cst cards that do things- This card essentially allows you to return them to hand to cast again to draw a card. Hope of Ghiraur is the best in the deck for this. Going Oviya Pashiri and Hope is utterly busted,as it becomes 1 to draw a card. You can, also, of course, recast an Ulamog or Kozilek. 

This card not only is a mana doubler, but it ALSO draws you cards. Reki just got even better. 

Wow, a card that protects Reki, AND increases your mana for a turn? NICE!

Who needs things like Akroma’s Memorial when you got this baby?

What else? That’s pretty much it! I didn’t mention a lot of the random ramp or removal in this deck as it’s self explanatory. Go ahead and grab the tappedout link below to test this deck out for yourself, and see how wild it is! Once again, my name is Mereth, and this is my favorite commander of all time. I hope you enjoyed reading about this random commander. 

Have a nice day!!

FULL DECKLIST!!

[jesusintheleast]

My Covid-19 Scare

   So I recently returned from a trip to Wisconsin, and that Monday evening started feeling sick.  I went to bed not feeling so good, and ended up shivering, and shaking all night.  

   In the middle of night, I began to think seriously about the possibility that I really might have been infected by Covid-19.   I even had a dream that confronted my status head on.  The dream said, “Hey Chris, what if you do have Covid-19… are you ready to go?”  

   Finding myself this ill I began to examine my thoughts, and I thought of the apostle Paul’s reasoning in Philippians 1:21-24:  “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.  If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me.  Yet what shall I choose?  I do not know!   I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.”

   I thought of my wife, Sandy, and my two sons and their families.  And then I reasoned that they would miss me and maybe, just maybe, God did have some more work (living for him) for me to do.  

  Tuesday morning rolled in, and I was getting worse.  I was feeling just awful ,  hacking, and breathing hard.   Seeing this my wife said that we had better go over to our CCO shelter for a quick Covid-19 test.  So we did.  

   In about an hour,  our friend Andrew called, telling us that we both tested negative.   But since he had seen me hacking, and breathing so hard, he advised me to go the emergency room to really find out what was going on.  

   So my wife, Sandy, drove me to the emergency room.  I stumbled in and they started asking me the regular questions like “So why are you coming in, today?”  “And could you please show me your medical card?” in the midst of my throwing up, and dry heaves.  About all I could do was nod my head… and then they gave a plastic throw-up bag.  

   The medical staff was great. They took me right in, and they gave me another Covid-19 test. It was one which gave very quick results.  And in minutes, they were delighted to tell me that it was negative.  

   It was then what was it that had “attacked me?” I stumbled into the rest room to get some more relief  where they fed me with intravenous fluids, and checked everything else out and said I was fine.  

   Getting together with the doctors and nurses, I figured that it must have been something I ate, i.e. food poisoning, since I had stopped at a Subway on the way home from Wisconsin. 

   The doctor prescribed Zofran to help with my dry heaves, vomiting, and diarrhea. Once I got home and started taking this medicine.  And then things started to get really bad. Throughout the night, I couldn’t really sleep and I just kept on vomiting, dry heaving, and having diarrhea. You know, time goes so slowly, when you’re feeling as bad as I was.

   Wednesday morning rolled in…and then things just ramped up to another level. I was having nausea so constant and unrelenting that all I could do moan and groan-- and loudly, all thru out the day. It was so bad that all my wife Sandy could say, “I’m so sorry that you feel so bad. You sound just like you’re being tortured.”  

   Let me tell you I began to have lot of talks with the Lord. I was asking questions like, “Why, Lord, why does this have to be so grueling?” Of course, I was crying out with an untold number of supplications which all boiled down to… “Please, Lord, please have mercy on me.”      

   Then about noon on Wednesday, I had a brilliant… and also “humbling” idea. I needed to send out an email to the community that I lived in for the past forty-five years clearly stating that “Hey, guys, I’ve never felt so sick in all my life.  And so I’m begging you to ‘Please pray for me….right now.’” Within the next couple of hours, I noticed that there were so many folks who had readily responded to my pleas.  And I had to ask myself, “Why was it so hard for me to ask for prayer? “  

   I felt the Lord speaking to me, “Aren’t you a part of this community?  Guess what, you have so many folks that would be happy to pray for you in all your misery, but there is one requirement, “You do have to ask.” Now, of course, I know this basic truth… and I’ve even believed it for the past forty-five years! So what was the big deal?  I reasoned that I’d just fallen into that just “cruising along spiritually” mode for the past few years.  In other words, I wasn’t going to ask for prayer from everyone and anyone… unless I was in a really, bad scary place.    

   That’s when I noticed that was exactly how I feeling right then. I was feeling  so bad that I didn’t care what anyone thought about me. And I told myself that I would be “stupid” not to ask for all the prayer and mercy I could get. I mean, what did I have to lose? Still, I continued feeling awful throughout the rest of that afternoon and into the evening.  And I forged on with my talks with the Lord. Some of those talks went like this: “Hey, Lord, I know you said that you would never leave me or forsake me, and you know I’ve believed it… but now, right now, it sure doesn’t feel like it?”

   The Lord’s response: He began by reminding me of the “oh so many people” that were in hospitals and prisons right now, and facing so much more pain and suffering than I could ever imagine… along with the truth that their misery was lasting a whole lot longer than a couple of days.  

   My response: I was prompted to pray “a little” for them. And it made me think of how “little” I pray for others with any kind of real “heart’ or deep compassion for those who are going through such all-consuming suffering. I thought of the Psalms where David was “moaning  and groaning,” really crying out to God to deliver him.    

   You bet, I hopped right on that wavelength. I wanted this nightmare to end.   “Lord, have mercy on me…and why, oh why, does this have to be so  excruciating?”

   I heard the Lord whisper to me the Scripture in Hebrews which says, “The Lord learned obedience through the things that he suffered.”  (Hebrews 5:8)

   Me:  “What?  You mean, Jesus , himself had to “learn” obedience through the things he suffered?”

   Holy Spirit:  “Yes, that’s what I mean.”  

   Me:  “So are you saying that since Jesus himself had to learn “obedience” by the things he suffered… why would I be exempt?”  

   Holy Spirit: “That’s exactly, right.”  

   And then a few more thoughts started to bounce around my head.  Thoughts like, “Hey Chris, if you’re really following me, well then, you need to listen to me, first and foremost, right?”

   Me: “Yeah, that’s true.”  

   Holy Spirit:  “So when I hear you say you still want to be used by me, well then, I have a couple of questions for you. “Are you really ready to finish your race?”  “And if you are…are you still willing to give of yourself to me, to really serve others and continue to care about the things I care about?”

   Me: “Ah, yeah, I believe so, Lord. “

   Holy Spirit:  “Well, that’s good. But I just felt that I really needed to get your undivided attention. And I did get it, didn’t I? “      

   Me: “Oh yeah, you got it, alright. But I still have question for you?  Why does all this sickness and disease ‘stuff’ have to be so torturous?”  

   Holy Spirit:  “Hey, do you think I like it?  All this suffering, this pain… of course not. But I did want you to see—ONLY A LOT MORE SO---that, guess what, you live in a fallen world, and circumstances are not all that good for so many folks across this world.  And so, all I’m asking of you is to continue to stand with, and pray for, and care about, and serve, and speak up for the least.”

   Me: “Oh, alright…I think I get it.”

   Holy Spirit: “I mean, after all, you wrote your book, ‘Discovering Jesus in the Least,’ and I’ll admit that you had some good stuff to say in it.  But I also believe that you know that if you hadn’t ‘hung in there’ and served all those years at the shelter, well then, you wouldn’t really have much to say at all.”

   Me: “Yeah, I do have to agree with that.”

   Holy Spirit: “So all I’m asking of you is to keep on going, keep on caring for the least in whatever way I put in front of you. But there is one thing that you ought to have learned by now… your work will never make headlines.  And you should also know that that is perfectly alright.  All I’m asking you and your brothers and sisters is to shine a light in a dark, dark world.  And you are already have been doing that for many, many years.  You’ve been a part of your Jesus People community for so many years.  And they’ve been shining their light in so many ways , through Cornerstone Magazine, through Rez band and all the GRR records bands, through the Cornerstone Festival, through  Lakefront Roofing Supply, Cornerstone Community Outreach, and through so many other ministries and services…too many too mention, and none any better  than any of the others.  And so, all I’m asking of all of  you is to just keep on doing  the plain, simple, but  dedicated work that I’ve called you all to.”    

   Me: “Whoa! I think I’m seeing a little more clearly what you’re calling all of us to.”  

  So what was the message that I needed to hear once again?

   Well, I must admit that I really do have to be honest with myself about where I’m at with the Lord ,now.   For you see after going into a sort of retirement from  our Cornerstone shelter world  (accelerated by Covid-19),  I did kind of  look forward to an easier, more laid-back life-style.   I even had thoughts like, “Hey, I gave it what I had all those years, and now I can sort of relax and just pray for my co-workers to continue on this amazing ministry.   I mean, we’ll never solve all the problems of the homeless… and didn’t Jesus say that the poor will always be with you, anyways?  (Matthew 26:11, Mark 14:7, John 12:8)

   But then I recalled two different interpretations of that saying. The first was like Jesus was saying, “Hey guys, the poor will always be with you… meaning there will be always be poor folks in this world. It’s just a fact.” But the second interpretation of this verse could be construed to mean that the true followers of Christ will always have the poor around them. I guess there’s much truth to be found in both interpretations. But then I had a few more thoughts flood my mind… like I was just so in so much pain (physically and mentally) that I just started to shed a few tears.  

   All this this brought to my memory something that I had heard from a “Transformation Intensive” class that I had just recently completed.   Our teacher, Valerie McIntyre, had told us that we could even “pray for the gift tears”  if we wanted to during our intimate times with the Lord.  But she cautioned us to not “overly seek it” because if you were granted this gift, well then, it was truly a gift… and you weren’t “working something up” on your own power.

   My experience made me come to a place where  I believe the Lord did give me “the gift of tears” during this night.   I have to  freely admit that it was a gift… because at the time I really didn’t want to be shedding tears in the midst of my misery.   I just wanted this “thing” to be over.

   But then I began to see a just “a touch more” of how much compassion for a lost and hurting world that the Lord was calling me to.  I mean, he’d always been challenging me throughout my last 45 years, and now he was simply saying that he did not want me to abandon that “calling.”

   It was like God was saying, “Hey, just cause some your outward duties have changed, that doesn’t mean your heart or your caring should “lessen” for the least of these.  On the contrary, it ought be continually expanding. And guess what, I’m still asking you to give “everything “ you have my purposes and plans”.  

   Me: So what ought my life look like now?

   Holy Spirit:  Hey Chris, if you feel I’ve led you all these last 45 years ---well then, what’s got to you to think that I’m going to stop now?    Don’t worry so much.   You know like the Mark Heard song says, “Somebody told me that I worry too much.”  

   Me: Yeah, I guess I can see that.  I mean, Mark did have so much penetrating insights to life on this planet,  but I’d have to agree with that someone that both he and I worry too much.

   Holy Spirit: So what, in heaven’s name, do you think I’m expecting of you?   Hey, here’s a brilliant idea… Why don’t you just leave that up to me.  Because if I’ve led you this far, you ought to know that you don’t have to worry that I won’t be doing my job.”

   It was about 9 PM Wednesday evening that some relief came…finally...and I started to take a turn for the better. And believe me, I was grateful… really grateful.  

   So what now?  Who knows?  And did I really learn anything?  I’m not sure. Only God knows. But there is one thing I learned… and that is not to be bashful, or embarrassed to ask for prayer. Why is that?  It’s because you see I’ve just realized once again… that I can use all the prayer I can get. Just pray that I’ll make use of all the love and care and prayers from my brothers and sisters around me. I was never meant to walk this road alone. Pray that I keep being reminded of how much Jesus loves me… whether I’m doing well or if I’m hanging my head over a toilet.  

Thanks for stopping by!

   - Chris

[mynarcissticex]

How it all begun... part of chapter 1.

Chapter 1 - The Megalomanical man.

I️ remember the first time I️ looked at him with admiration, the first of many butterflies. I realise that was just my defense mechanisms telling me he’s toxic...

I️ remember the first time our lips touched each other’s like he was the only man in the world for me.

I️ remember the first time we expressed our love for each other, and how perfectly in sync we were as we said it.

I️ remember the first time I️ met his mum and how nice she was until she started enabling her son.

I️ remember so many great firsts during the lovebombing stage, but went onto less and less great memories and the abuse just got worse as time went on.

but what I️ don’t remember is The first lie.

The first sign of him cheating the countless times and red flags I missed From the start because I knew then But I chose to ignore them,

The first time he verbally attacked me a month into dating when I told him I was previously sexually abused and he kicked off and degraded me rather than understanding and left me in a hotel room crying inconsolably.

The first time he would stand over me and talk down to me.

The first time he started ramping up his verbal abuse.

When he begun sexually abusing me which I had no idea back then. the first time he forced anal sex onto me in our suite on my 30th birthday, the first time he tried shoving his manhood down my throat, when he pulled my hair hard during sex, slapped me round the face during sex, Spanked me until my arse was red roar and told me not to be a “pussy” about it so I complied to keep the peace trying to satisfy him but he would still complain I wasn’t good enough in bed but looking back he wasn’t and I was blamed for it, each of his ex’s I know and have spoken to all said he was shit in bed and they was right, he treated us like meat not humans. He was extremely rough and hard there was no compassion and mutual connection he withheld sex, always was on his terms, he never made me orgasm I had to pretend in the fear of upsetting him as of course he asked me how many times did I orgasm and sometimes I’d say 8 I mean He really believed that and he would feel so damn superior and smirk and do this grin of I’m so “godlike” it was cringe to say the least.

He was The first person who made me feel inferior whilst wanting me to make him feel superior.

The first time he told me I’ll kill you and disguised it as an joke Or the first time he said he would/shouldve.

The first public fight where’d I️’d whisper begging him to stop to not start a scene as he followed me up the road laughing and smirking at me and belittling me late at night on the street as I threatened to leave and go home.

The first scene he made outside a hotel whilst we were smoking because his mood swings were always so insidious and I asked him why he always had to ruin What was meant to be quality time together.

The first time he broke my Expensive and some of my sentimental possessions because I called him out for being nasty to me for no reason.

The first time I realised his love was all a lie in year 3 when his mask slipped and he told me he was “incapable of loving” “I never loved you” and he was right and I failed to listen.

The first time I️ begged him to stay with me over the woman he left me for.

All the times he gave me the silent treatment as punishment for his wrongdoings.

The breaks we had and me keep fighting for him when I should of left

The times he would use pity stories to prevent me from leaving him.

The guilt tripping.

The taking me for granted from the offset making me pay for everything, food, clothing, when I was struggling financially.

The first time he told me I️ wasn’t good enough fit enough and I was an ugly fat bitch.

The first hole in the wall I️ had to patch or the first electronics I️ had to replace that he smashed up.

The first time I️ lied for him to protect everyone from the truth......etc.

When he just came back to me to manipulate me out of a motorbike and all the money he could get his grubby little paws on, in total about £80k of my inheritance was wasted on changing my life around for him.

I spent the last 6 years of my life only seeing what I️ wanted to see, despite living the abuse and toxicity. I️ painted the most beautiful picture of him to everyone whilst living the horror.

Never once did I️ label myself in another domestic Abuse relationship. I thought abuse was only ever physical...

For every first, there was countless seconds, thirds and so on. I️ didn’t see him as an abuser at first just an immature crazy guy who lacked experience and maybe needed to grow with time, I️ saw him as my partner, someone I️ needed and someone who needed me. I️ thought I️ could fix him.

That he just needed someone there for him to truly care for him. I️ blurred out those memories every time and continued with the picture of our future. I️ thought if no one knew, it wasn’t a big deal. It was just one of those relationship problems we work on together But he never wanted to because he was only banging me for the cash all along.

For five years I️ tried to help create a better version of a “man”, or at least better than what he started out as. A better image. I stood by his side through every battle imaginable financial & emotional abuse, sexual abuse, pure misogyny countless cheating with now what I believe to be women/transgenders, pathological lying, manipulation, and the list Just could go on. I️ tried to love him every second of those five years.

My love was deeper for him than it was for myself. I️ only saw what I️ wanted to see then whilst battling another nightmare that nobody knew about, Just to lose everything I suffered for but for what? He proved in the end that he never loved me when he discarded me twice in 2019 in the most unceremonious ways... no remorse no empathy just left me in the grave he dug for me...

That’s a question I’m still trying to find an answer for. Towards the end of it all, I️ finally for once in those five years had a feeling of safety, maybe I thought he was the one to save me not destroy me, That maybe there was going to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Just to learn he was probably still cheating on me during our time living together, as he gives me reassurance about the same woman I️ was worried about. Still the same person he was from the start, but I️ kept convincing myself that he would be different After all I sacrificed for him. The sense of safety was just because he got better at playing me. But I finally saw the Megalomanical man whilst we lived together his disorders were so crystal clear...

People don’t understand why people stay in domestic Abusive relationships. That’s because there is no understanding. It’s deeper than the surface, unconditional love is a horrible thing. Love should be conditional. Otherwise you could find yourself like me. 6 years ago I would say it could never be me not again I already suffered at the hands of 2 narcissists on different spectrums beforehand. I’ve defended and tried to help others leave abuse in the past. It’s not something comprehendible until you find yourself living it, and even still than it doesn’t make sense. It’s like you’re blind to you’re own life. Never again will I️ ignore a red flag, think I️ can change a man or love someone more than myself.

Everyday for the last 7 months post discard I have recognized the reality that I spent five years covering up. I️ want to heal, but in order to heal one must hurt. I️ wanted to skip that process, not acknowledge all that truly happened the past five years and only look at the good. I️ won’t do that to myself anymore. The good was only there because of me, because I️ put my everything in and never once did he deserve an ounce of my love.

I’ve kissed this man with a face of tears he caused, I’ve reassured my love for him after he’s hurt me. I’ve been his friend to fight his own demons, despite the amount of hurt it caused me inside. I’ve set aside my own feelings to always care for his. I’ve helped build every part of him while he continued to destroy each part of me. I’ve begged and pleaded for him and watched him be with another woman whilst my heart was breaking to pieces, when it should of been a blessing that he did leave me that time and I should of never of taken him back, trauma bonded or not.

The feelings I had never made sense. I would love this man even after I was terrified of him. I would love this man, but still hide away drinking myself to death every time I felt I knew an argument was coming. I would love this man, but I never trusted him. He showed why I should never trust him. He showed me why I should be afraid of him. He showed me so many things, except a reason to stay... but I still did. This was a man I️ would’ve gave my last breathe for, but chances are he’d be the one taking it from me.

The intent of this book isn’t to just expose him but rather expose the truth behind every cute post or picture I️ splatted for years. For me to acknowledge the truth and the reality. To shed light on domestic violence and how easily it can go unnoticed. Even by the person living it. And for me most of all, to stop protecting my abuser when he chose to be that way and stay that way despite the help I wanted to get him.

I️ am ready to start a new chapter of my life, the only way to do that was to stop skipping over the lines of the last one.

[cyberwolf1989-blog]

Top 10 Games Of 2017

Almost the end of the year, YouTube is making people cringe with YouTube Rewind, so why not release my list of top 10 games of 2017? Thing is, I’m taking a Dunkey approach and one of the games on this list isn’t from this year, but I’ve been messing around with it. Also, I have not played anything on Nintendo Switch, or Cuphead, so don’t rage at me, I’m sure they’re good.

10: Injustice 2

Fighting games have always been fun for me, but hard to stick with. I lose interest and move onto something else. Injustice 2 found a way to keep players like me coming back, with its wide array of customization for each of its 24 (maybe more) characters, not including the DLC characters. It's also one of the most visually impressive fighters I've seen to date.

9: Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number

Several years later, I still find myself going back to this game, wanting to better myself. It's a love/hate relationship, but it's wrapped in this strong vibe, that I try to capture in my own life, with the colorful environments and the amazing soundtrack, using music from some of synthwaves biggest names, covering action movie-esqe shootouts, hazy drug fueled massacres, and can go from making you grin, to a dark, atmospheric song that makes you squirm in your seat, unsure of what's next. The ending? Yeah, it's a easy cop out, but the ride there is all good...except for the reporter levels.

8: Destiny 2

I don't care what anyone says, this was a step in the right direction. The free roam maps are so much larger than in the first, and the story has more presence (I don't even remember what we were doing in 1). But, what's most important, is how it plays. I'm glad to say it's very well done, if not meant to be enjoyed with friends. I'm currently waiting for my paycheck so I can get the expansion and play some more with my friends again.

7: No Man's Sky

Oh...you think I'm joking here? "You like No Man's Lie?" First off, wow, what an original comment. Bet you watch your Rick and Morty every night. Second, time to face facts: NO MANS SKY IS A MORE COMPLETE GAME NOW THAN STAR CITIZEN WILL BE IN A YEAR. You can build bases, get a vehicle, even roam with other explorers (if, you know, you can find them, so many planets), take jobs, there's factions, freighters, and there's an actual story now. It's still got a bit to go before it becomes that god tier game we heard about, but the team has shown they're committed to fixing their mistakes, so, can we STOP using the same cringey dead memes? Just go on spotify, throw on a playlist, and go out exploring.

6: Fire Pro Wrestling: World

When I found out this game was available on Steam, it was an instant buy. At first glance, this game seems lackluster. The roster is either japanese wrestlers you probably wouldn't know unless you were a hardcore fan, or some characters the dev made up. But, before you boot up the game? Check out the Workshop for the game, and you will find yourself in heaven. If someone created the character, you can download them into the game. You also could make one yourself...but come on, that system is way too complicated. Hell, even if the fighting system frustrates you, it's fun to set all the fighters to AI and watch Shrek vs Big Smoke vs Hulk Hogan vs Filthy Frank.

5: Uncharted 4: A Thief's End 

I finally got to play this game, finding it for 20 bucks at Gamestop. Uncharted is probably one of my fave Playstation franchises, and it's amazing how close all the games were released, but not one is a slip up. That said, 3 was the series weakest leg. The story was ok, but the villains were lackluster. This? This ramps up all the action to 250%, brings some of the most stunning visuals I've seen on the system TO DATE, and is a fitting end for the story of Nathan Drake, as well as a great cast of characters, old and new. I can't really describe it in text, you just gotta go play it. Also, you can dab in multiplayer.

4: Middle Earth: Shadow Of War

If you see me on facebook, you know this was coming. I'll be honest, story-line wise, this game is not great. If you're a Tolkien lore nerd, you'll prolly rage jizz 8 times in the first act. Hell, playing the story is a bit boring as well. They try, but the story missions STILL feel like shit you do to get the next ability unlocked. When it comes to playing the main missions, it feels like every basic free roaming games missions, where it's linear, the objectives range from go here to kill this. When you're just killing captains, though...that's where the stories start. You'll build armies, suffer betrayals, play orcs against one another, and build these intense rivalries! Some of these I will never forget, and I'll suffer through a bastardization as long as you make it fun.

3: Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus

This game...is just pure video games. You know how people describe video games in TV Shows, like they live a different life?  That's Wolfenstein 2. I'm not me. I'm BJ Blaskowitz, gunning down Nazi's with the dual wielding power of god in the form of the most devastating weapons known to man! The story, much like one, is better than what you would expect out of a gory violent shooter. I could go on, but honestly, I couldn't do it anymore justice. I'm going for a 100% with this game. Go pick it up, sit back, and embrace the primal side.

2: Yakuza Zero

I have always loved this series. I was in a nice place when I played the first on PS2 about 10 years ago. I think I didn't hear much about Zero prior to its release, but I saw Angry Joe review the game, and I remember how much I loved playing Yakuza 3. With my next paycheck, I picked up the final copy at my local Gamestop. You play as two characters, one being the series protagonist, and the other, a fan favorite secondary character. The first is framed for a murder, and the other is asked to carry out a hit, but complications arise. It sounds generic, but only because I don't want to spoil you, as this game is a trip. Think of it as if anime existed in real life. There's dramatic situations, with some serious themes, but at the same time, you and your enemies have goddamn fight auras, and can dish out these attacks that you say "Ok, that killed him." only to see him either get up or just be knocked out. I won't even get into the various side quests for each character. The downsides is it's not for everyone. Japanese only audio with english subs, the free roam is more akin to a town in a Final Fantasy game than GTA, although it fits.

1: Horizon: Zero Dawn

I didn't really start digging into this game until a month back. I bought it shortly after E3, Gamestop had a promotion knocking the price to half. I also bought a new computer monitor I needed to make my graphics card compatible. HZD languished a bit as I explored a bunch of new games. Then, last month, a few friends were getting into a talk about their game of the year. I said Shadow Of War, and a few others went against me, with this. I said that while it was decent, it felt like a generic overstuffed free roam game. I'm a fucking idiot. Upon replaying, I was treated to a beautiful open world that actually MAKES you want to explore it. I didn't get involved in too many side quests, sticking to those that branched off the main plot, and I was surprised with my progress. When a free roam game doesn't make me want to use a fast travel, it's a W, man. I'm nearly done, and look forward to picking up the DLC. There's other stuff too, but this list is gonna be too long to hold people's attention as it is.

[wickedwitch1997]

Katara, of the Fire Nation - Chapter 5

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4

Sokka’s POV, and introducing Kiki

Sokka is fishing with the neighbour’s daughter, as he lines up a shot to spear a fish, he doesn’t see Kiki start to bend water behind him.

Inside Kiki’s water orb, a large fish swims around.

“Sokka, look!” Kiki says, smiling as she drops the fish into the boat.

“You’re a bender?” he gapes in disbelief, “Since when?”

“Since I was born?” Kiki says with a smile, “I kept it hidden, especially after Katara was taken.”

Sokka falls silent at the mention of his sister.

“When I saw Katara bending in the open, some part of me knew that I had to keep my gift hidden,” Kiki says as Sokka kills the fish.

“Great,” Sokka says, sarcastically, “you got to play with magic water while my sister was dragged away, betrayed by your grandmother.”

Suddenly they become caught in a rift, their canoe is pushed around and slammed ice burgs. Kiki and Sokka are dumped onto an ice burg and Sokka becomes snarky.

“You call that a left?” Kiki snaps as Sokka hugs his knees to his chest.

“You don’t like my steering, well maybe you should have water bended us out of the ice,” Sokka says, exaggerating his arm movements.

“So it’s my fault?!” Kiki asks.

“I knew I should have left you at home,” Sokka says, “Leave it to a girl to screw things up.”

“You are so sexist!” Kiki snaps, starting to throw accusations at Sokka.

As she becomes more enraged she starts throwing her hands back, causing the ice burg behind her to crack and split.

The broken ice burg shatters and another burg surfaces, Kiki and Sokka stare at the burg in shock, it looks like there is someone inside.

Kiki and Sokka break open the ice and a beam of light shoots into the sky.

Out of the ice comes a boy and a large, hairy beast.

Kiki greets the boy and he takes them back to their tribe, much to the distain of Sokka.

Once back at the tribe, Kiki and the boy, named Aang, become close, they go explore and have fun while Sokka is left behind, he tries to train the younger boys in the tribe, so that if the fire nation attacks again, they’ll be ready.

Sokka sees a flare shoot up into the sky and his heart begins to race, he and the rest of the village go to the entrance when Kiki and Aang return.

“You’ve put us all in danger!” Sokka shouts, “You knew the ship was forbidden.”

Kiki’s family comes to her defence.

“There hasn’t been a Fire Nation raid in over three years,” her grandmother says, “I doubt anyone will ever see the flare.”

“We don’t know that,” Sokka’s grandmother snaps back, “I am the matriarch of this tribe, he has to go.”

Kiki snaps at the tribe and decides to leave with Aang, but in the end Aang leaves alone and Sokka returns to the tribe to prepare for an attack. His mind flashes to the last attack he endured. 

It was a day just like this one. Katara and Sokka were playing in the snow when the snow turned black. Katara ran to her mother while Sokka stayed to fight with his father. As quickly as they came, they left. When Sokka and his father returned to their hut, Katara was gone and their mother was laying outside the door, her blood staining the snow read as she cried out for Katara. 

The ground begins to rumble and Sokka hears his people start to panic, they flee into their homes and scream in panic. Kiki is told to run, to hide and she does. Sokka is the only one standing on the wall as the ship finally comes into view.

The ice beneath them starts to crack and a large shadow falls across their tribe.

The ramp is lowered and out steps a small raiding party, led by a young man with a scar over his left eye. Sokka attacks, holding his machete over his head as he screams out a war cry.

But the leader just kicks him aside, Sokka lands in the snow on his back which has him staring up at the ship. Over the railing on the deck, a face appears, a young face with big blue eyes.

“Katara?” he says, recognising the girl’s blue eyes.

“She is no concern of yours,” the fire bender snaps, grabbing Sokka by the back of his shirt and throwing him away.

Sokka draws his boomerang and throws it, the bender dodges it easily but is hit when the boomerang turns back around.

The bender becomes enraged, he commands his men to begin searching.

“Tell me where he is,” the man orders, standing in front of the tribe, he grabs Sokka’s grandmother and pulls her towards him, “He will be about this old.”

“We have no more waterbenders!” an old lady shouts, Sokka looks over his shoulder to Kiki’s grandmother, “You took the last on years ago!”

“We are not here for waterbenders,” the leader says, throwing Gran Gran away, “Tell us where the avatar is or we will burn down your village!”

The man throws fire at the tribe, the fire goes over their heads and not a single hair is singed.

“There’s no avatar here!” Sokka says, stepping forward.

The bender summons fire to his hands as his face hardens, Sokka’s eyes flick up to the girl on deck of the ship, though she is dressed in red, she looks water tribe, she looks like his mother.

“Katara!” Sokka shouts, the girl responds to the name and Sokka tries to race past the fire bender. The bender grabs him and again throws him away.

“I said, she is no concern of yours!” the leader shouts, he throws an arch of fire at Sokka, the fire doesn’t hit him.

Suddenly Aang reappears, riding on the back of a penguin, he knocks the leader off his feet and then stops in front of Sokka.

“You’re the airbender?” The leader asks in disbelief, “You’re the Avatar?”

The leader and Aang spar for only a few moments, but when the avatar sees the fear within the tribe he stops the fight and surrenders.

“NO!” Kiki shouts, coming out of hiding, only to be held back by Sokka, “No, Aang, don’t do this!”

“It’ll be ok!” The avatar shouts back.

“Wait!” Sokka shouts running forward, “What about my sister?”

The young leader turns to look at Sokka.

“Who?” he asks.

“Katara,” Sokka says, “I know you have her prisoner, give her back to us.”

Sokka looks up to where Katara stands on deck.

“Katara,” the man shouts, “Do you wish to return to the tribe that betrayed you?”

Sokka watches as the girl stands up straight and takes a deep breath in.

“No,” She says, turning away from the railing and walking away.

“As I said,” the leader reiterates, “she is no concern of yours, she is not our prisoner, but our ally.”

The tribe gape in shock as the ramp is lifted and the ship reverses out of the tribe.

Once the ship is gone, and the tribe is rebuilding, Kiki stands, staring at the horizon.

“We have to go after that ship,” she says, as Sokka walks behind her, “Aang saved our tribe, I know you don’t like him but-”

“Are you going to talk all day, or are you going to come with me?” Sokka asks, gesturing to the packed canoe.

“You’re going to help me rescue Aang?” Kiki asks in disbelief.

“I couldn’t care less about your airbender boyfriend,” Sokka snaps, he interrupts Kiki’s response, “I’m going to get my sister.”

“But she said that she didn’t want to come back,” Kiki points out, “She’s not a prisoner.”

“I don’t care what they made her say,” Sokka says, throwing the last few things into the canoe, “She is my sister and I am bringing her home.”

“We’ll never make it in the canoe,” Kiki says, then she looks up and sees the Avatar’s beast coming over a snow mound, “Appa!”

Kiki and Sokka ride Appa through the water, then Sokka says the magic words and in no time, they’re flying.

Soon they spot the Fire Nation ship, and the commotion happening on board, what interests Sokka most, is that his sister is fighting against Fire Nation soldiers.

@squishysuho @pepewntz @the-weird-fob-fangirl @thegaang6 @zutaraturtleduck @auzlon

My own book: Wolf’s Blood

The Painted Lady chapter list under the cut.

1.It’s the Painted Lady 2.The Blue Spirit 3.The Painted Spirit 4.The Blue Lady 5. The Water Bender 6. The Fire Lord’s Heart pt 1 7. The Fire Lord’s Heart pt 2 8. The Painted Lady and the Blue Spirit 9. The Fire Lady 10.The Blood Bender 11. The Family Reunion 12. The Water Bender’s Baby 13. The Avatar 14. The Lie 15. The Ice Heart 16. The Uncle 17. The Water Bender’s Heart pt 1 18. The Water Bender’s Heart pt 2 19. The Son of Aang 20. The Air Temple

[waqasblog2]

How to Do an SEO Competitor Analysis [Template Included]

If you’re planning a new online venture, or are simply sick and tired of losing to competitors in organic search, then you need to do an SEO competitor analysis.

Your competitors are a goldmine of information that can inform every aspect of your SEO strategy and help to skyrocket your website’s organic traffic.

In concrete terms, performing an SEO competitor analysis lets you:

In this post, I’ll run through a simple SEO competitive analysis process for a hypothetical new infographic design tool—Minimagraphic.com.

Minimagraphic.com—a hypothetical new infographic design tool launching soon (maybe).

#makeInfographicsGreatAgain

I’ve also included a competitive analysis template so you can follow along with your site.

Getting started

You can do this whole process with only two tools:

It’s also worth making a copy of the completed sheet for our hypothetical website, as that may come in handy for clarification if any of the instructions below feel unclear. (Hopefully, they won’t!)

You can do that here.

Got it? Let’s get stuck in!

1. Identify Competitors

Before we do anything else, we first need to identify our main competitors.

These are the websites that are competing for our desired keywords in organic search.

For our hypothetical infographic design tool, some competitors that spring to mind right off the bat are Canva, Piktochart, Infogram, easel.ly, and Visme. However, our organic search competitors may not be the same as our direct business competitors.

So let’s first look at how potential customers might search for our service.

I figured this would be something like “infographic design tool,” but it seems I was wrong as when I search for this in Ahrefs Keywords Explorer, it tells me there is no search volume.

So let’s check the “Also rank for” report and see if we can find a better keyword.

It looks like “infographic maker” is the most popular way people search for such tools.

Now let’s check the SERP overview to see who currently ranks in the top five.

Not an Ahrefs user?

Run a Google search instead.

Looks like our top five competitors are Piktochart, Venngage, Canva, Visme, and Infogram.

Interestingly, Easel.ly didn’t make the cut as they don’t rank in the top 10.

That’s why it’s important to not to rely on your instincts for direct business competitors. To reiterate, they’re not always competitors when it comes to SEO.

To give a more vivid example of this, imagine you’re a butcher in a small town. The business that keeps you awake at night is the other small butcher down the road. However, in terms of SEO, they’re no threat. They don’t even have a website.

I’ll add these five competitors to my spreadsheet.

PRO TIP

If you’re trying to find competitors for a blog or ecommerce site, then finding the sites that rank for a single keyword may not be the best way to go about things.

That’s because you’re likely targeting hundreds or thousands of keywords and topics across many pages.

So it’s better to see who’s competing with you across the board.

For that, you can use the Competing domains report in Ahrefs Site Explorer.

Site Explorer > enter your domain > Organic search > Competing domains

2. Analyze the competitive landscape

Next, we need to get a high‐level view of the competitive landscape.

To do that, we’ll pull a few key stats and SEO metrics which should give us an idea as to how entrenched the competition is.

Let’s use Ahrefs Batch Analysis tool to do this for all competitors websites at once.

Batch Analysis > Enter competitors’ domains > Analyze

Batch Analysis will return tons of useful stats for each site, but for now, I’m interested in:

Let’s add them to our spreadsheet.

To explain these SEO metrics a bit more:

Domain Rating (DR): A high DR score indicates that a website has a solid backlink profile. You should judge DR relative to your site rather than in absolute terms. For example, if your site is DR30 and your competitor’s is DR50, that’s a fair bit higher. If your site is DR30 and a competitor’s is DR90, that’s like comparing your mom and pop store to Walmart—they aren’t your competitor.

Ahrefs Rank (AR): A low Ahrefs Rank is indicative of a “strong” site. AR tells you the same thing as DR but with more granularity. For example, if you have two competitors with DR33 websites, you can use AR to see which is the strongest of the two sites.

Referring domains: A high number of referring domains can also indicate a strong site—provided that those links aren’t low‐quality. Note: This is why it’s also useful to grab DR, as this takes into account both the quality and quantity of links to a site.

Organic traffic & keywords: This one’s pretty obvious—the higher these numbers are, the better the site is performing in organic search.

In simple terms, the more distance there is between yours and your competitors’ stats, the more catching up there is to do.

However, these metrics don’t tell us everything about our competitors’ SEO progress.

QUICK NOTE

In steps #3, #4 and #5, we’ll delve deeper into competitors’ link profiles.

3. Study backlink growth

Link popularity is a clear SEO “ranking factor” according to our study of ~930 million pages.

Sidenote.

This is the result of a correlation study. It doesn’t prove causation.

So we need to learn more about our competitors’ link building efforts.

Let’s begin by checking the rate at which they’re acquiring new referring domains (linking sites), as that’ll give us a rough target to shoot for with our link building.

To do this, we’ll use Ahrefs Site Explorer.

Site Explorer > Enter domain > Overview > Referring Domains graph > Set to ‘One year’

The 12‐month cumulative referring domains graph for visme.co.

For each competitor, we’ll take the number of referring domains they have today minus that same number from a year ago, then divide by twelve to get a monthly average.

Here is the calculation for Visme:

(7,603 — 5,599) / 12 = 167 new referring domains per month (on average)

Sidenote.

This is the cumulative growth or decline in referring domains. For example, if a competitor gets links from a

Let’s also check the growth trend for our other competitors.

In other words, do their link profiles show consistent or inconsistent growth or decline?

For Venngage, aside from a small blip earlier this year, their growth has been relatively consistent.

The 12‐month cumulative referring domains graph for venngage.com.

This could be natural, or it could be the byproduct of long‐term link building efforts.

Either way, it’d be well worth following these two articles to delve deeper into their backlink profile to see what we can learn… once finished with the basic competitive analysis, of course.

For Piktochart, their growth seems more inconsistent.  

The 12‐month cumulative referring domains graph for piktochart.com

They experienced “hockey stick” growth between May and July last year, which may be indicative of a specific piece of content performing well, or them ramping up their existing link building efforts. It could also indicate a negative SEO attack.

To get a sense of which, we can check the New referring domains report.

Site Explorer > Referring domains > New > use the date range to filter for that period

It’s likely a negative SEO attack if most of the domains look like junk. (Hint: Confirm this by looking at the New backlinks report for the same date range)

It’s likely down to a particular piece of content doing well if most of the links point to the same web page. If the spike happened recently, use the Best by Link Growth report in Site Explorer to help identify which piece of content attracted the links.

It’s likely the ramping up of existing link building efforts if you see lots of links from a specific type of content—e.g., guest posts, resource pages, etc.

For now, I’ll add some growth‐related stats for each competitor to my spreadsheet.

4. Find superfans

Superfans are those who’ve linked to our competitors on multiple occasions.

These are people with whom it may make sense for us to build relationships because they tend to link out to websites they like regularly.

To find these people, we can check the Referring domains report in Ahrefs Site Explorer.

Site Explorer > Referring Domains > add a “dofollow” filter > sort by “links to target / dofollow”

Let’s start by skimming the list for industry blogs.

Here’s just one that stood out for Canva:

If we hit the caret, we can see that this site links numerous times across many blog posts.

Five seconds looking at the site tells us this is a single author blog by a woman named Elaine—she’s definitely someone with whom we may want to build a relationship and introduce to our product.

Let’s find five superfans for each of our competitors and add them to our sheet.

5. Find broken pages

Ever heard the saying that one person’s junk is another person’s treasure?

That rings true on the web too.

So now we’re going to see if our competitors’ websites for a specific type of junk: broken pages.

To do that, we’ll use the Best by links report in Ahrefs Site Explorer.

Site Explorer > enter competitors domain > Best by links > add a “404 not found” filter > sort by the Referring domains column (high to low)

Sidenote.

I’m searching for content on a subdomain here so that I only see dead informational pages—e.g., blog posts, infographics, etc.

If we can find broken pages on our competitors’ websites, that have backlinks, and are also somewhat relevant to our business, then we may be able to take advantage of such pages by:

Learn how to execute this strategy in our broken link building guide.

For now, as the focus of this guide is competitive analysis and not link building, let’s just add any relevant broken pages from our five competitors to the spreadsheet.

QUICK NOTE

The following steps (#6, #7, and #8) focus on organic traffic.

6. Study traffic breakdown by country

Knowing which countries our competitors get the bulk of their organic traffic from can help us to understand where the opportunity lies in this niche.

For this, we’ll use Ahrefs Site Explorer.

Site Explorer > enter competitor’s domain > Overview > Organic search tab

Let’s add the top five countries along with their traffic percentages to our spreadsheet.

I’ll then do the same for our other competitors.

Here’s what we end up with:

Looks like United States is where the bulk of the traffic opportunity lies in this niche, as this is where our competitors get ~31% of their traffic from on average.

There’s some opportunity in other English‐speaking countries like the UK and Canada too.

So we now know that we should almost certainly prioritize content creation for folks in these countries, as this is where we see the bulk of search demand.

Hardly surprising.

However, the fact that there’s traffic potential in Latin America and Asia has got me thinking: perhaps it would make sense to translate our hypothetical landing pages into Spanish, Indian, and possibly Indonesian?

We could even launch a multilingual blog to maximize traffic from these countries.

That’s what we did here at Ahrefs—we have a Spanish blog and a Chinese blog.

The Spanish version of the Ahrefs Blog.

The Chinese version of the Ahrefs Blog.

Many of our landing pages are available in multiple languages too.

The Spanish landing page for Ahrefs Site Explorer.

PRO TIP

Looking solely at organic traffic numbers can be misleading because it’s not always representative of traffic value.  

For example, Visme gets roughly the same amount of search traffic from the UK and Mexico.

The estimated value of Visme’s organic traffic from the UK.

The estimated value of Visme’s organic traffic from Mexico.

… we see that UK traffic is worth 700%+ more!

So it likely makes sense for us to prioritize UK traffic growth.

7. Spy on competitors’ organic keywords

Next, we want to find out which keywords are currently driving organic traffic to our competitors’ sites.

We can do that by running the Organic keywords report for each domain.

Site Explorer > enter competitor’s domain > Organic search > Organic keywords

Above we can see that visme.co currently ranks for 133,667 keywords in the US.

By default, the Organic Keywords report shows keyword rankings for the country that generates the most search traffic. That’s fine for us, but if you want to see keyword data for a different country, hit “more” and choose from any of the 150+ countries in our database.

Now let’s look for some juicy keywords that might be worth targeting.

There are a few that jump out right away such as “infographic maker,” “infographic creator,” etc. But there are also a lot of irrelevant results muddying the waters.

So let’s first exclude all branded keywords with the “exclude” function.

I’ll also filter only for keywords for which our competitor ranks in the top 10 so that we only see the most relevant keywords.

I’m going to keep things simple for now and note down the top five relevant, non‐branded keywords sending the most traffic to our competitors, and their search volumes.

Here’s what that looks like:

Some of those keywords would be a good match for our homepage. Others would make better blog posts (e.g., “what is an infographic?”).

Sidenote.

If you’re following along and are only interested in finding keyword ideas for your homepage, use the “

PRO TIP

Some of the keywords I noted down have high Keyword Difficulty (KD) scores, which means they’ll be tough to rank for without building lots of links.

For example, “infographic maker” has a KD score of 73…

… and will require backlinks from an estimated ~235 domains to rank in the top 10.

I’m not too concerned about this right now because I’m looking more for “ultimate goal” keywords.

If you’re following along and would prefer to find keywords that you stand a chance at ranking for in the short‐to‐medium‐term, feel free to filter for keywords with a low KD score.

8. Spy on competitors’ featured snippets

There is one more important thing you should pay attention to while analyzing your rival’s organic traffic:

SERP features for which your competitors rank.

Featured snippets alone show up for ~12% of search queries, as per our study… 

… and they get ~9% of clicks from the results on the first page:

So let’s keep things simple and focus solely on those.

First, I want to know which featured snippets our competitors own and for that, I’ll use Ahrefs Site Explorer.

Site Explorer > enter competitors domain > Organic search > Organic keywords > SERP features filter > Featured snippets > Only linking to target

Piktochart owns 87 snippets in the US right now and gets a fair amount of traffic as a result.

Visme owns 216.

I’ll add these numbers to my sheet for each competitor.

Generally speaking, if our competitors rank for a lot of featured snippets, there could be an opportunity for us to do the same.

This can even be easy traffic because it’s not always the #1 ranking page that owns the snippet.

59.2% of featured snippets come from pages ranking in positions 2–5.

In other words, even if the SERP is competitive, there’s still a chance of owning the snippet provided that we can make it to the top 5.

QUICK NOTE

In the few steps (#9, #10, and #11), we’ll delve deeper into competitors’ content.

9. Find content gaps

Content gaps are keywords for which your competitors rank, but you don’t.

Needless to say, that’s a gap you’ll likely want to fill.

To find content gaps, we can use Ahrefs Content Gap tool.

Site Explorer > enter your domain > Content gap

You can see that this prefills the “But the following target doesn’t rank for” field with our domain.

Now we need to fill the other fields with competitors.

I’ll then set it to “Show keywords that all of the below targets rank for,” tick the “at least one of the targets should rank in the top 10” box, and run the search.

You can see that this returns some quite relevant keywords above.

Sidenote.

If you’re following along and don’t see any relevant keywords, feel free to loosen the settings a little and find keywords for which two, three, or four of your competitors rank, rather than all of them.

Now, as we don’t have unlimited resources, targeting all these keywords is an impossible task.

Let’s use the filters to focus in on low/medium difficulty, high‐volume opportunities.

The low difficulty score means they will be easier to rank for, while the solid search volume means that ranking will give a nice bump to our search traffic.

However, some of these keywords look to be ones we already found in the previous step.

So I’m just going to add the five most relevant new keywords to my sheet.

10. Find competitors’ most popular content

Keyword research is still a critical part of SEO but these days, Google’s understanding of the intent behind searches is arguably better than ever.

For that reason, one page can easily rank for hundreds or even thousands of long‐tail keywords.

By finding our competitors’ top pages, we can figure out which of their articles are:

Then we can write about these overarching topics and earn some sweet long‐tail traffic.

For this, we can use the Top Pages report in Ahrefs Site Explorer.

Note that we’re interested in finding blog posts here so if possible, we actually need to search the blog folder URL/subdomain as opposed to the entire domain.

Site Explorer > enter competitor’s domain > select “prefix” mode > Top pages

Not sure where your competitor’s blog is located?

Check the Top subfolders report in Site Explorer and look for their blog path.

If you don’t see anything, check the Top subdomains report instead. Some websites host their blog on a subdomain.

Either way, make sure the traffic percentage for the subfolder/subfolder is in the doubt digits. If it isn’t, then it’s likely that their blog posts aren’t nested within that URL structure.

In which case, stick with a domain search.

Now one thing to note about this report is that the pages on sites with the most organic traffic often tend to have a lot of referring domains. That’s hardly surprising, as backlinks are a strong ranking factor.

So let’s skim this report for each competitor and eyeball the RD column.

What we’re looking for are pages with lots of traffic but not too many referring domains, as these are likely to be much easier to compete with.

I’ll add five relevant pages that fit the bill to my sheet, plus their traffic.

Sidenote.

If you’re curious about the individual keywords for which these top pages rank, click the caret in the keywords column.

11. Find competitors’ most linked content

Links mean referrals, “buzz,” and often as a result, more organic search traffic.

So we know we need to build links, but where do we start?

We find out what’s working for our competitors.

The Best by links report in Ahrefs Site Explorer shows competitors’ most linked content. If it worked for them, then something similar will likely work for us.

Site Explorer > enter competitor’s blog subfolder/subdomain > Organic search > Best by links

Sidenote.

If you’re doing this for a competitor whose blog posts

From here, I’ll add the URLs of the five most relevant top pages from each competitor, the number of referring domains to each page, and what “type” of content it is to my sheet.

Now we can see at a glance what types of content work best for each competitor and in general.

For example, 60% of the most linked pages articles from Venngage are listicles, and it’s a similar story for Visme too.

Sidenote.

Not every niche is the same. You may find that a different type of content is more popular in your niche.

So it’s probably worth focussing our efforts on creating that type of content if we want links.

On the flip side, gaps can also present opportunities.

For example, Canva has a lot of links to text‐heavy content. Such content could be simplified as an infographic and possibly attract even more links.

We could also use what’s commonly known as the ‘skyscraper’ technique to attract links:

If you’re wondering how we can find out who links to our competitor’s content, all we need to do is click the number under the Referring domains column, and we’ll see all the sites linking to that page.

In other words, our competitor has kindly created a list of prospects for us. 😉

QUICK NOTE

In the two steps (#12 and #13), we’ll delve deeper into competitors’ PPC advertising.

12. Find competitors’ PPC keywords

Analyzing competitors’ PPC activity can be unbelievably insightful when it comes to planning an SEO strategy for one simple reason:

If they’re paying for traffic from a keyword, then that keyword is most likely profitable.

To find our competitors’ PPC keywords, let’s use the PPC keywords report in Ahrefs Site Explorer.

Site Explorer > enter competitors domain > Paid search > PPC keywords

It looks like Venngage is bidding on a lot of infographic‐related terms.

Which brings me to another point:

Looking at competitors’ PPC data can unearth low‐volume, high‐converting keywords that are easy to skip over when conducting keyword research.

For example, a keyword like “make an infographic online” (70 searches/month) will likely have a much higher conversion rate than something like “free infographic creator” (600 searches/month).

If the conversion rate for the 70 searches/month keyword is 20%, and the conversion rate for the 600 searches/month keyword is 2%, then which keyword do you think it’d make the most sense to rank for?

I’m sure you’ve already done the math. That low‐volume keyword will make more money.

So following that logic, I’m going to add five PPC keywords for each competitor to my sheet, but I’m going to purposely choose keywords that I think are likely to convert well.

DISCLAIMER. Take this idea with a pinch of salt. Just because a competitor is spending money on PPC doesn’t necessarily mean they know what they’re doing. It’s worth testing any keywords you find using PPC yourself before you go all in trying to rank for them.

13. Learn from competitors’ PPC ads

Looking at competitors’ PPC ad copy can help with writing title tags and descriptions that increase CTR.

That’s because competitors are paying cold hard cash to attract customers from specific keywords, and Google rewards more relevant ads with a lower CPC.

So it’s in their interest to make sure their ads win the click!

Let’s use the PPC keywords report once again to look at our competitor’s ad copy for a keyword for which we want to rank, “infographic maker:”

Site Explorer > enter competitors domain > Paid search > PPC keywords

To preview an ad for a keyword, hover over the yellow ‘Ad’ icon.

It looks like they’re using speed, cost (or lack thereof), and simplicity to entice the click.  

These are all things we could incorporate into our meta titles and descriptions to generate more traffic from organic search.

Final thoughts

Everything above is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to competitive analysis for SEO.

If you’re familiar with Ahrefs, then you’ll know there are a treasure trove of additional reports where we can delve deeper into our competitors’ entire marketing, content, and link building strategies. However, that can be an overwhelming place to start.

My advice? Run through the process above, then use the other reports in Ahrefs (and possibly even other competitive analysis tools) to delve deeper into any areas of interest.

Ready to get started? Sign up for a 7‐day trial of Ahrefs.

Finally, here’s a link to my spreadsheet template (and the one I worked on throughout this guide) if you want to use the format for your own analysis.

This content was originally published here.

[radramblog]

Every Mono-Black Commander Part 1: Oh right, old magic design

A while back, I did a couple of articles regarding every single (at the time) Boros legend available to helm one’s commander deck. It was a long, slow process, but it’s a color combination I care about a lot, so I think it was worth the while.

I kinda felt like doing this again, so I was wondering what colours would be best to do this about. And it turns out the colour combo I care about the most after Boros is…mono-black. I mean, I have 2 mono-black decks at time of writing with a third half-built, so it stands to reason that I’m clearly an expert in this field.

Now…this might be a mistake. This might take a while. Because as it turns out, there are almost 3 times as many B commanders as RW ones. But, we’ll figure it out as we go. This is: Every Mono Black Commander. Part one. Of I don’t know how many. Once again I’m not including the partners because that’ll take too long, but to be fair, it’ll be a hot minute until we get there.

Baron Sengir (12 decks, 88th most played)

Oh right. Homelands. Part of the upside with doing Boros last was that I got to skip this entire phase of Magic’s design, since Enemy colour pairs weren’t allowed to have cards until, like, Apocalypse. There wasn’t a Boros commander until Ravnica, so the cards I was talking about were at least functional.

Baron Sengir is an old, old classic at this point. The original Vampire tribal commander, it’s an 8-mana flyer with two basically shite abilities and has been pretty heavily outdone by, among other things, himself. But, he’s still Baron fucking Sengir, so you can’t help but appreciate him. Just read that flavour text, it’s so unbelievably edgy but still so cool.

 Grandmother Sengir (4 decks, N/A)

For some reason, EDHREC doesn’t list anything below a card we’ll get to later on the list, so I don’t know how Grandmother Sengir stacks up against such powerful competition. Look, she’s an overcosted creature with a bad ability, I know I love jank but this is just uninteresting. Next.

(Also if she’s part of the Sengir family why is she a Human not a Vampire?)

 Ihsan’s Shade (32 decks, 69th most played)

If I had to guess, Ihsan’s Shade has such a nice position on account of its reprint at Uncommon in Masters 25, letting it be one of the 15 commanders available for the colour identity in Pauper commander- though most of those are fairly new cards, so for a while the Shade was probably one of the better options. And that’s just sad. But hey, still dodges White removal and most of Red’s, so eh. He’s the only Legendary Shade (barring changelings), so I guess he’s got that going for him if you want to build that deck.

 Irini Sengir (6 decks, 102nd most played)

Legendary Creature- Vampire Dwarf is a fun typeline, but that’s about the best Irini has going for her. I guess she’s a Black card that messes with Enchantress, so if you’re really struggling with like, 4 Estrid decks in your meta, why not. Or just play a deck with Fracturing Gust.

 Veldrane of Sengir (9 decks, 94th most played)

…holy shit this card is just awful, isn’t it? Looking at what’s below it on the decks list, some of these cards are a lot more interesting and I have no idea why you’d play this idiot over any of those. I’d rather build Irini, man.

Aight are there any other Sengirs I should know about? No? Good, thank fuck.

 Purraj of Urborg (3 decks, N/A)

Well we’re through Homelands, but it’s still early Magic design. Purraj at least does A Thing, where she gets bigger if you cast black spells. I can actually envision a decklist built around Purraj in a way that I couldn’t with half of these Sengir dorks. She’s still comically underpowered, and I of course understand why people wouldn’t build her, but you could do something here.

 Shauku, Endbringer (16 decks, 83rd most played)

Shauku is the first of these cards that is like, actually kickass. It’s kind of unfortunate that she’s been overshadowed somewhat by similar murder commanders, but she’s still the original. Not only that, but she exiles things too, which is honestly a pretty decent effect in the zone. Shame about that drawback, though, because you’d love to attack with your big flier. Oh well, guess you have to keep exiling things.

Oh right, 7 mana. Yeah ok fair enough moving on.

Spirit of the Night (16 decks, 82nd most played)

Spirit of the Night has the same number of decks as commander as Shauku, but I assume its slightly higher because more people are playing it in the 99? Either way, here’s your first Big Daddy Demon to ramp out. 9 mana, huh? It’s one of the first Keyword Soup cards, and it’s art is absolutely phenomenal- gotta be one of the genuinely scariest pieces of art from that era of Magic, maybe all eras- but it is kinda let down a bit by the statline. Legitimately, if this card had 1 more power (and therefore could 3HKO people with commander damage) it would see so much more play.

 Gallowbraid (5 decks, 106th most played, the bottom of the list)

This is the card I mentioned earlier, the lowest thing that EDHREC has deigned to put on its list. I can see why people wouldn’t want to run it, though. Not only is it basically a French vanilla creature, it also actively hurts you for playing it. No one likes cumulative upkeep, and I cannot imagine wanting it on your Commander. This thing isn’t worth the skin it’s made of, apparently.

 Morinfen (11 decks, 92nd most played)

It’s Gallowbraid but it traded the Trample and a point of toughness for Flying, making it substantially better and yet still completely useless. Next.

 Commander Greven il-Vec (4 decks, N/A)

I’m… actually surprised to see Greven below Gallowbraid, I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the case a couple years ago. Don’t ask me why I remember these things. Considering, however, that his only real claim to fame is his story presence, and people who like him now have a better card with his face on it, I guess it isn’t much surprise his numbers would drop off a bit. He’s at least got some flavour, I guess, considering he’s apparently a very outlived-your-usefulness kinda leader, but that’s not going to make up for being yet another overpriced card with a downside and a mediocre evasive ability.

 Crovax the Cursed (7 decks, 97th most played)

Hey look, they spent an entire line of text on this guy making sure you know he’s a Vampire because Summon Legend Vampire was to complex a technology for 1998. Wait, 1998? I thought Stronghold was way older than that, huh. Regardless, like a bunch of these cards so far, Crovax pretty much just a dude, except he has to eat other dudes to stay relevant. Can’t relate, frankly.

 Cao Cao, Lord of Wei (33 decks, 66th most played)

Oh fuck, we left the Homelands zone and ended up in the Portal: 3 Kingdoms zone. For the unaware, P3K was the third “starter” set Magic released, this time targeted towards the Asian market- hence the whole set is a reference to the famous historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms.  Considering the book in question, a lot of these cards were probably real people at some point, which just makes me feel weird.

Anyway, Cao Cao is actually one of the more interesting ones. He’s the first Discard commander on this list so far, and tapping to Mind Rot is actually pretty solid. Cao Cao walked so Tinybones could run. He’s also one of the less expensive ones, owing to having been reprinted in From the Vault: Legends, but the price tag he commands is still comical for the card you’re getting. It’s fine.

 Cao Ren, Wei Commander (5 decks, 105th most played)

Oh horsemanship. Literally just flying but for the historical fiction set where things aren’t allowed to fly. Cao Ren is literally just a draft common, man. I’m not paying $200 to put a draft common in my deck.

 Sima Yi, Wei Field Marshal (5 decks, 104th most played)

Sigh. Wait, this might have been the biggest Human creature in Magic for a while, that it’s this random old strategist is kinda hilarious.

 Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed (77 decks, 53rd most played)

Wait, this guy is the most played so far? Xiahou Dun? I mean, I know he was in the MTGO cube for a bit, but really?

Ok alright fine. He’s probably the least bad of the P3K commanders (at least in black) because he can replace himself with a card or just swing in, his stats aren’t completely unreasonable. But still, this is silly, there are some genuinely bonkers cards that are seeing less play than Xiahou. What am I missing here? I just don’t know.

 Xun Yu, Wei Advisor (2 decks, N/A)

I distinctly remember once looking at the total commanders on EDHREC with no decks. I don’t remember if I saw this guy. I do remember actually being able to see the bottom of the list, so what the hell man maybe I want to build Zuo Ci.

…someone has actually built Zuo Ci, now, huh. Anyway point is Xun Yu is both bad and boring so next.

 Zhang He, Wei General (3 decks, N/A)

…he’s better than Xun Yu, at least? He’s still a hundred-ish dollar bad card, but you know. Technically speaking, you could do worse.

 Zhang Liao, Hero of Hefei (1 deck, N/A)

While a lot of P3K cards are just reflavoured vanilla magic cards, in this case they decided to just take flying off Abyssal Specter and…not put Horsemanship back on it. Shoutout to the one guy apparently playing this deck, but I’ve got to ask why.

I don’t know if there even are any 0-deck commanders left at this point. I should look into that…

 Ascendant Evincar (34 decks, 65th most played)

Finally free of P3K, we’re closing off today with yet another meh card that has been overshadowed by newer ones, great. Shrinking your opponents stuff down one is a super good effect in limited, not so much in Commander- two, of course, is nuts, Elesh Norn is a very good card, but -1/-1 just isn’t worth your time most of the time. And you can’t even really abuse it on your own stuff. I guess he’s aight with Heartless Summoning? I’m really grasping at straws here!

 Okay, so, that’s the first 20. Sick. Now at this pace, I’ll be done after another….5 articles? Holy shit, I forgot how many bad magic cards WOTC has put out, didn’t I…

Next time (whenever I continue this series), we enter a substantially more interesting, if longer, zone- the Kamigawa Zone. Ta-ta for now.