#like i did not have birding on my 2023 bingo card

[zeawesomebirdie]

@steine-druff @tnc-n3cl @unmaskedcardinal

Japanese wagtail on lotus plant | Ohara Koson

[rel312]

What I loved about the last 2 episodes of WWDITS S5 (SPOILERS!!!):

Episode 9:

“The intoxicating elixir to the weary mind” everything Laszlo says is mesmerizing

Nandor using a book as an excuse to not go to The Guide’s art gallery

They have a car???

The vamps being carried around in a pet carrier as bats

Colin Robinson’s mustache

Perdita not even being there

“Six?”

This is all just set up by The Guide right?

The little moment between Guillermo and The Guide

Laszlo’s fencing joke

Laszlo not even moving while The Guide is going crazy

Everything about Laszlo’s fencing scene

His little “oh shit” at the end

Nandor and Colin Robinson playing chess but neither of them know how

The Guide making paintings of the vamps and wanting to show them off to her new friends

None of the vamps caring about the art

The Guide very clearly leading Nadja to the wrong place

Nadja calling Laszlo her best friend 🥹

Nadja pushing The Guide in front of her and The Guide just going “let me go first to keep you safe”

Nadja running away as she says she’s coming to help

The hunt being humans

Nandor thinking college athletes are the “most challenging prey”

Nandor’s impressed “look at him go”

Guillermo just chilling in the house

Nandor bird calling to hunt humans

Nandor literally treating Guillermo like a dog

Nandor actually trying to help The Guide by finding a stick

And then immediately running away from her when the humans come

Colin Robinson’s facial hair

“Predict-ament”

Colin Robinson being convinced everyone disappearing is Guillermo’s fault until he has like 2 seconds to think about it

Guillermo being so gentle with The Guide

The Guide ignoring Guillermo cause she’s trying to make a point

So it was The Guide!

“Glad onion”

Nandor still not understanding what’s happening

All of The Guide’s grievances being with Nadja in the flashbacks

Nadja still making it about her

We were right! The Guide did set up the hex!

I did not have Colin Robinson saying “Did not have that on my 2023 bingo card” on my 2023 bingo card

Nandor sticking onto “taking matters into his own hands” and everybody being like “what???”

“I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t wanna hurt you”

Nandor’s sad voice asking to make sure he heard it right

“You could’ve asked me” stop it stop it stop it

Babygirl is so sad

The fact that Nandor knew right away what was wrong with Guillermo’s turning

Also whoever called it being the Van Helsing thing was right

The fact that Laszlo knew exactly what date they all said nice things about The Guide

The way Laszlo draws out that “loveeeee”

Guillermo being so proud he turned into a bat for the first time

And then Nandor being upset that he’s rubbing it in

Laszlo protecting Guillermo from Nandor

Nandor’s scream for Guillermo

The way the nice conversation was just to set her up with Colin Robinson so he’ll move out

Episode 10

Guillermo going to Derek

Guillermo telling the crew to come in

Derek not understanding it was the crew that followed him

Nadja tracking Guillermo down

Or… I guess Derek just telling her lol

Wait she went to find Derek specifically to find Guillermo!

Nadja telling Derek her name was Detective Policeman

Nadja trying to protect Guillermo

Nadja going to stop the couple but then joining them

That was… a very personal way of describing Guillermo’s death Nandor

“I have been watching the one place he will return to eventually… Panera Bread”

“He can run, but he cannot run very far. Because he has very short legs”

Patton Oswald????

“Do you know John Slattery?”

Nandor not realizing there’s more than one Panera Bread

Colin Robinson asking Nadja where Guillermo is to find him

Colin Robinson doing an exit interview

“Mr. De la ‘Cruzz’”

“At times almost articulate” the awkward handshake

Nandor going to eat with Payton Oswald at Panera Bread

Laszlo coming to Guillermo too

“I must apologize, Gizmo, I feel like I’ve let you down” he cares

Laszlo starting to be sweet but getting distracted by the tv

“I’m just more afraid of losing the vampires. My friends” STOP he loves them so much

Nandor bringing Patton Oswald to the rooftops

And Nandor kicking him off for suggesting he doesn’t kill Guillermo

The Guide even coming to see Guillermo

Also the animal clones coming to see him

Guillermo telling them there’s no room at the “farm”

Nandor going to Guillermo’s mom to get to him

Nandor deciding not to kill Guillermo because he didn’t like killing Patton Oswald

Nandor’s word as a warrior

Guillermo hypnotizing his mom not to kill Nandor

Nandor telling the others he’s making Guillermo an equal and all of them hating it

Colin Robinson being so concerned on Guillermo possibly taking his seat

Laszlo being so upset that he didn’t think of giving Guillermo human blood

Also Nandor being smarter than Laszlo

“Drink bitch”

Guillermo fully turning and being so excited

Colin Robinson’s “FOMO”

The vamps draining a while restaurant

And Guillermo not wanting to kill anyone and genuinely getting so emotional about it

Nandor having heard the whole convo

Oh my god Nandor was never waiting cause he was fucking with Guillermo or some messed up shit, he was waiting for Guillermo to be ready

THE DJIN!!!!

Of course he ran out of wishes

“I wish I could help you”

Nandor really wanted to fix it though

Nandor tenderly tying Guillermo’s cape

The Baron and the Sire coming to the ceremony

Guillermo wanting to be a human

Did… did the Sure just say “thank you”??

Everyone except for Derek taking off their hoods

Guillermo just… turning back

And growing facial hair in a second

And Nandor carrying around Guillermo’s real glasses

Nandor pronouncing the t in Home Depot

Laszlo offering to Guillermo

Them bringing Derek to the necromancer

Derek having only spent $270 from Guillermo’s money on “vampire clothes” from hot topic

Derek coming back as a zombie

TOPHER????

[flydotnet]

Bad Things Happen Bingo! The event where you send me requests according to this marvelous card! (Red cross is the completed prompt, character headshots are prompts I’ve already filled).

Stairs, a taser, Yuto's fist, and more stairs. What do they all have in common?

Oh look, this is my yearly Arc-V fanfic where I'm ignoring most of canon because who gives a fuck about the Arc-V canon past, like, the Synchro arc (YMMV) lol. Anyway, this is a catharsis fic where I combine all of my other vague changes to the canon so that stupid ship only me still cares about in 2023 A.D. and also where the stupid parasites are easily removable by a good dash of Raidraptor magic. This fic can also be called "the floor is actually writing the Duel" because I didn't want to burden myself with how godawful the Parasite archetype is, especially since I can't just copy-paste a Duel from canon. The one I'd have to plagiarize really... isn't that good too, we're just all biased because Yuto is badass.

The title is a bilingual pun between the English "volatine", which is a synonym of "explosive" or "unstable", and the French "volatile", which is a term used for birds. Y'know, like Shun. He's the two meanings of the word "volatile". The word was, in fact, invented to trip my foot over during translation classes and also for Shun Kurosaki from hit "lowest ratings on Nico Nico Douga" anime Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V.

Speaking of my favourite bird-wielding edgelord, post-Xyz Shun is always kind of weird to write too. He's not the same abrasive bastard I keep remembering as, but then I'm afraid I'm writing him too soft. I kind of tend to forget he's that angry, that destructive in huge part because of his bonds to other people. I don't want a Draco in Leather Pants situation, God knows I've bitched about when it was happening with Revolver VRAINS. Just... think that in this timeline I'm never describing Serena and he stuck around for much longer, like at least through Synchro, character dev' happened, or something, idk

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

Volatile

Summary: Serena snaps back to reality in the middle of a Duel, only to quickly realize her spirit is fighting herself(?) and her body is fighting a rib-clutching Kurosaki. Nothing about this adds up, yet there she is, not even in control of her own body anymore.

Or: Shun came across a possessed Serena before his sister after losing her track back in the Xyz Dimension, this is the consequences of that forced encounter.

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V Characters: Serena, Shun Ship: Peregrineshipping (pre-rel)

Wordcount: 3K words

Event hosted by @badthingshappenbingo​

AO3 version.

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

Serena wakes up on both her feet to the smell of gunpowder and the heat of a reactor.

 Recent wartime experiences as a well-groomed doll turned soldier turned renegade have shaped her in a way that she doesn’t question how she got there, let alone why, and only on what’s in front of her.

She’s in harm’s way, so she sidesteps to avoid a chunk of shrapnel.

She’s near fire, so she steps backwards to avoid getting burned, or worse, outright set ablaze.

She’s in the middle of a Duel, which means she’s in the middle of battle, and needs to focus. Alas, no experience has prepared her for what she sees on the blade of her trusty Disk – and decidedly feels like a stranger to her own deck.

 She doesn’t recognize most of the cards she’s playing. Most of them are bearing garish bugs clad in colours that only push her eyes far away, which she don’t quite pay a mind to. They’re mostly Monster cards, with the exception of a set Trap card and a Spell one that’s still active. It seems to affect an archetype known as “Parasite”, which she’s never played nor even heard of. Why the hell did she play that, before seemingly going to sleep? How did this even happen to begin with?

It only dawns on her then to look up, only to see a semi-familiar face that, if it had organic eyes, would have absolutely been staring daggers right into hers. Mechanic wings, reactors, the smell of ruin and gunpowder. No, there’s no mistaking it, she’s watched it ravage through opposite fields before, in person, on a screen… No doubt about it, it’s –

 “Rise Falcon,” an even more familiar voice tells in a hoarse but firm tone, “reduce those bugs to—”

“Wait!”

Arm already risen in front of him, the individual on the other side of the field stops with a frustrated frown.

“What is it? Afraid of defeat?”

Her head hurts.

“What’re you doing, Kurosaki?! We’re on the same side!”

He tilts his head backwards just a little, one of his eyes twitches. He’s almost showing teeth now.

“I asked you that before you forced my hand into this bullshit.” He sounds so hurt, in a way that she hasn’t heard in so long, and her chest starts choking her too. “Don’t take me for stupid, asshole.”

It’s a downright migraine that she’s now stuck trying to shove back.

“What do you mean? I just… Why would I do that?”

His expression immediately softens.

“You were under the control of that… thing,” he points to the Parasite Queen in front of her, “and almost pushed me off that tower. Then you challenged me to a Duel.”

This sounds like an utter fantasy; but if there’s one thing Kurosaki doesn’t do, it’s lying, even to those he doesn’t trust, so there must be a rational explanation for this.

“What para—”

Don’t resist, Serena. Be a good girl.

She clutches her head now. What’s this voice? How did they get inside her head?!

“Serena?”

You’re my slave, now. Be a good girl and fight the Xyz remnant in front of you.

“Shit, Serena, snap out of it!”

And just like this, she loses contact with her own body.

 It’s an awful feeling of dissociation, drowsiness and loss of control. Her foot don’t touch the ground anymore, leaving her floating inside her own consciousness. Her eyes don’t look where she wants them to go, more fixated on the cards than on the guy in front of her, for worse and no shade of better – because even through the haze of her controlled mind, Serena hears it, the wheeze and the rasp of his voice.

 “You little pest,” her voice groans once even her cords have given back into the parasite’s clutches. “Back to you it is, bird boy.”

Kurosaki remains silent, the deep-set frown on his face enough to speak for him. Only now does she see, through the haze of glazed eyes, how battered he truly is, an arm wrapped around his chest and a trinkle of blood going down his cheek.

“I’m not leaving you in this state, not again, so don’t go thinking you’re out of the woods.” He clenches his teeth, spits back venom, “I’m not letting any of this fly by.”

He makes it sound like he’s here to save her – which doesn’t make sense. Kurosaki wanted to save Ruri, his other friend and his homeland. She wasn’t on the list. (Although Serena would’ve given her all to save him would have their places been the opposite, because she seeks redemption, because she wants to be a heroine, because she cares for Kurosaki less like a brother and more like a—)

“Oh, charming knight in armour, here to save the damsel in distress!” It chuckles. “You sound so full of yourself, for a miserable bug! You’re not the big bird of prey you think you are! Or did you abandon me back there? Didn’t just you faint from some small debris?”

“Tch.” He settles back into a deadpan. “I detach one Overlay Unit from Rise Falcon…”

 It wasn’t small debris – it was a lot more than that. She watched him run to save a girl he knew from her trauma and whatever her own homeland was trying to pull off in the middle of a Tag Duel, and only thanks to Kaito’s help was she able to finish them off before it was too late. She was scared beyond her mind’s comprehension, back there, but unable to realize until much late how much that had been; because there was no time.

No wonder why Kurosaki was so volatile. He hadn’t processed much of anything. Even now, she doubts he has.

What’s also no wonder to her is why she got so scared back then and a part of what’s grounding her to her body despite the phantom pain. She wants to do the right thing and stop this Duel from continuing any further. She doesn’t want to continue being a puppet for whomever infected her in Academia, her first and alleged only home for so long. She can’t hurt Kurosaki. She’s supposed to reunite with him and help him.

 And yet the Duel continues on without her, card after card sent to the Graveyard, Life Point after Life Point lost. Her “other self” has resorted to continuously bringing Monsters back from the dead to slap parasites on them, despite being unable to actually get a let up on Kurosaki despite having the upper hand in terms of cards on the field. He’s using all of his tools, constantly switching gears.

“You cheat,” that voice says. “You can’t beat me all on your own, can you!”

Kurosaki doesn’t reply, doesn’t even look like he’s hearing her.

“Action Magic: Miracle.” He smirks. “You could use them too, if you weren’t a coward.”

“You’re the coward, using you Lancers’ precious cards. You’re only delaying your oh so pathetic demise, Xyz remnant.”

To her surprise, even if it feels like it shouldn’t be anymore, Kurosaki chuckles at that.

“Oh, yeah, you’re definitely not there. The Serena I know wouldn’t say crap like this.”

“You don’t know me.”

“Obviously.”

 The other her destroys Kurosaki’s field with Magic, builds its side with more parasites, all summoned in various ways her dizzied mind can’t keep up with. The Queen squirms, ever so content with the suffering on the field, and she has to watch the one person she’s gotten attached to pay the price for what’s absolutely, by now and without question, her own rash decision making. She was made prisoner and now tortures other people.

She wouldn’t have wanted to put anyone through this to begin with, let alone him. No, of course Kurosaki isn’t the only friend she’s made along the way (that’d erase Yuzu, and Tsukikage, and Yugo…), but she’d lie if she said they hadn’t gotten strangely close to each other, the Xyz renegade and the former golden child of Academia turned against them. The groomed soldier and the one who had to become one to survive. It’s awful, it makes all too much sense.

 Another turn ended and he’s back to kneeling on the ground, hanging on by a thin thread of 200 LP.

“Oh-oh, having trouble standing up now, are we?”

“Shut it.”

“Hmph, I see you’re as unpleasant to talk to as always. You build yourself up so much yet struggle to do anything of substance once confronted. How does it feel, to be so useless, in the end? To be so powerless in the face of adversity?”

Kurosaki doesn’t respond, once more, only getting back to his feet.

“Tch. I set one face-down card and end my turn.”

 Serena’s heart skips a beat when she sees what card it is, as brief as it is. The name is blurry, so is the picture, but the chuckle of self-satisfaction that escapes her is enough to be weary of what’s about to happen; and if that wasn’t enough, then knowing it’ll absolutely decimate both of their fields but at the cost of his LP first would do more than the job.

She has one turn to get control of her body back, if not less. It’s a Magic card, so it has less chance to be activated on Kurosaki’s turn, but it’s not enough reassurance in this game of minds and prediction. If she doesn’t do something before it’s too late, he’ll suffer the consequences; and that she simply cannot let happen. He’s already struggling to breathe as is.

 “I activate from my hand Rank-Up Magic, Absorbing Soul Force. I pay half my Life Points to Special Summon Rise Falcon back to my field.”

“Then I’ll just destroy it again! You can’t win!”

“Shut up, I’m not finished. I Overlay Rise Raptor as Xyz material to summon two Ranks above its four.”

“Oh, of course, you Xyz users can’t get enough of your stupid Ranks. Come at me, I’ll just bury it six feet underground if need be!”

“Prideful falcon, spread your wings dyed in the blood of heroes, advance through the path of revolution! Xyz Summon, come forth! Rank Six, Raidraptor Revolution Falcon!”

“What’s the difference between that and the previous one? None, they’re all scum! Low filth of the Earth!”

Oh, a lot, but she’d rather let Kurosaki explain – who remains unfazed, if silently furious.

“I activate Revolution Falcon’s effect. By using one Overlay Unit, it can attack all of my opponents’ Monsters, once each.”

“Its Attack is inferior to Parasite Queen’s! Are you birdbrained?!”

Is he going to pull off the same thing he did back then?

“When this monster battles one that was Specially Summoned, that monster’s Attack and Defence become zero!”

But it scoffs and laughs, oh so amused by what’s in front of it, and she won’t have it let have its way. She’s putting an end to this battle that wasn’t meant to be now, no matter what. She’ll get back in control, at long last.

“Too bad for you, I’m ready! I activate—”

If she doesn’t do anything, this is going to be the bitter end—

No, I won’t let you!

“It’s over!” Serena screams with her own voice, finally, back in her body. All she has to do now is to…

Give it back to me!!

The pain is searing and it’s hard to think clearly, but one though is strong enough to pierce through it all.

“I’m not going to let you take over!”

“Serena?!”

She rises her hear to see an obviously concerned Kurosaki.

“Do it!” She yells at him, about to throw her own cards to the ground. “Finish this off!”

The voice screeches and burns inside his mind, claws its way out of a bottomless pit, everything burns burns burns.

He nods, takes a breath, and screams, “Revolution Air Raid!”

 And like it did the first time they saw each other, exchanged what could barely qualify as words, bombs explode to destroy their common enemy. Every single parasite on her field disappears in a blaze, the sky turns white. She almost loses consciousness, doesn’t withstand the knockback of the wind; but gets up soon enough, ignoring tremors in her legs, to at least realize something has moved inside her head.

She can’t quite worry over that yet however, because as soon as Cross-Over disappears, he falls to his knees.

 As if she hadn’t spent so long in her own pain, she rushes to his side, legs lighter than a feather. She doesn’t catch him per say, but decides to support him, concern tainting her every thought. From up close and through her own eyes, it’s evident that he’s taken quite the beating, a bruise already blossoming on the side of his neck and leftover hints of half-healed injuries speckle the few parts of his skin he leaves visible.

“Are you okay?” She asks, frantic, afraid she’ll lose him again.

Kurosaki doesn’t reply, exacerbating her pulse, but she soon feels something getting pulled from her ear. To her shock and disgust alike, through another dizzy spell, she watches him splatter an enormous bug under the sole of his shoe.

“You’re back, Serena?” He asks, his voice even raspier than it was before.

“Y-yeah. I was… controlled by that thing, wasn’t I…?”

“I think so, yeah. Scared the shit outta me.”

 She too has trouble getting her breath back, but before she loses all strength, she drags the both of them to lean against the nearby wall. Exhaustion is sitting heavy on her limbs, despite an urge to keep on – and she can only guess Kurosaki, because he’s struggling to get up yet trying so hard to, is feeling the same.

It’s always been difficult to know what he thinks, because he’s so quiet, so closed-off and so off-limits to everyone but two people he hasn’t found again yet. What is even going through his mind, right now?

Wait, did he just say he was scared?

 “You didn’t seem like it, though… Scared, I mean.”

“Only when you pushed me off the edge. After that, I was just focused on getting you back.”

His voice is gravely, his head is lulling on his shoulder, and it’s all too close to her, too warm, too welcoming. They’re soldiers in the jaw of the enemy, goddammit, is she this tired—

“Why didn’t you give up on me? I almost killed you, Kurosaki.”

He gives her one long, tired stare.

“You weren’t yourself.” He looks to the side next. “I wasn’t going to lose someone else again.”

“Am I really this important to you…?”

“What do you think the answer to that is?”

Dumb question… but it’s such a hard thing to believe. God, he surely sees her as his sister, or as a placeholder for her until Ruri is safe and sound again, that’s got to be it. She isn’t naïve enough not to know that now, that the world has never revolved around her and especially not his. (If only it didn’t hurt to think about).

“It’s hard to know, with you. I was your enemy at some point. You hate Fusion.”

“You’re not responsible for my homeland’s destruction, nor for Ruri’s disappearance. That doesn’t matter anymore.” He smiles a little, sends her back to flutter. “Plus, you did save me before. I was only paying you back so I don’t owe a debt.”

“We’ve talked about that, didn’t we? I was only seeking you for my own selfish gain. I said awful things to you, parading them as truth. I wasn’t exactly doing you a favour.”

He frows so, so deeply.

“Can’t you accept that I give a shit about you, or do I need to break a rib again?”

 Her blood immediately ices over, adrenaline replacing it shortly thereafter.

“Did I break something?!”

“I don’t know,” he says with an undignified uncertainty that doesn’t sound like him and stabs her as a result. “It’s not like I was in that good of a shape before coming here.”

Right, the debris, the rushed recovery process, the turmoil of questions never answered… No rest, all stress. It’s taken its toll on all of them.

“I’m sorry. It’s my fault if you’re in that state.”

“Skip the apology. I don’t want to hear it.”

“If I had been stronger, I wouldn’t have been infected by that… parasite.”

Vague memories she wants to ignore of a crazed man inserting something inside her mind, shivers that follow. It only ends when she feels pulled to him.

“I’m just glad you’re not gone.”

She nuzzles closer, for a moment uncaring of the dimensions, the Professor, the Lancers – all that matters is that they now breath together, that she doesn’t hurt him anymore, that they’re companions once more. It’s selfish. It’s insane. It’s easy.

“I’m relieved to see you again,” is all she replies. “We should… get going, though, shouldn’t we?”

“We should, yeah.”

She gets up, still dizzy and dazed, but nonetheless stable enough to give him her hand with a smile of her own. To her relief and joy alike, he gives it back to her as he takes it, gets to his own feet… and tilts forward just enough for her to catch him in her arms. If their worlds weren’t at stake, at the moment, she’d have relished in it, or let herself get overwhelmed by so much touch, so much closeness.

“I’ll support you,” she says, unsure of the extent to which she means it.

“I guess it’s fine, if it’s you.”

 She doesn’t comment on it, yet in silence can barely contain all of the thoughts that dance through her mind. Instead, like the level-headed companion she wants to be, she pushes that aside and focuses on the way his arm sits on her shoulder, of the one she has wrapped around his wrist, and not to aggravate his breathing. She can decide what to do with her feelings once everyone is safe and back home, when she won’t have to feel bad after a moment of reprieve. For now, they have a world to save.

And there’s nobody she wants to do it with more than the guy who’s just saved her.

[unmeiokaemasu]

CYL 7 results reaction time!!

✨Congrats to darling Soren✨, he’s high up on my personal list of fictional characters that have moved me the most and this’s a dumb little thing that’s making me very happy :’)

1 - I have no strong feelings about Robin (and Corrin), good for them, I know they’re beloved by many

2 - Genuinely...not sure who was voting for Gullveig? Like she hasn’t...done anything yet. But ok.

4 - I do genuinely send condolences for people who wanted Felix to get a spot, he’s even in top 4, and actually he’s another character I like an awful lot. I’ve just spent so much time actually playing Three Houses I care less about 3H characters getting spotlit in FEH. But I’ll bet out of everyone he’ll hold his own next year against the new Engage characters.

9 - Azura’s the next highest up character I’d actually want to have win, but she’s already got a bunch of good alts, her winning cyl doesn’t feel urgent

12&13 - will the Askr sibs ever get their due

16 - ...yeah I do actually care about Yuri too

25&26 - I felt like Shez had a real shot at taking a top spot. Their success might bode well for the FEW twins tho? Maybe? I can dream

27 - I’d be pretty chuffed in Lyon won next year, but he’s been consistently in a spot like this

34 - Nino hangin in there, nice, nice

41 - (Bingo pick) SHOCKED this is the highest of my bingo picks on the list, but I do think Sonia’s a very well-written and compelling character, so, yay? I put her on my bingo card cuz I want a resplendent to replace the art I don’t care for, but...an alt would be cool too I guess. Morph rights?

49 - Mercy made it to top 50!

54 - Lin not doing too bad. Honestly if he were a bit higher I might vote for him...

57 - Ok I do actually have strong feelings about Ninian, I wish she were higher

79 - Pouring one out for the Scarlet stans. We just got a Fates banner that was all characters we already had, but I think this is the year Scarlet gets in.

80 - Was Desaix a meme? Did I miss something? Does this have to do with us running out of Echoes characters? Where’s Jesse??

94 - If we get Tormod we have to get Muarim, right?

95 - A not-bad Seth would be good ngl

100 - Let’s see who’s at 100...oh Sakura, cool.

104 - (Bingo pick) I think I put Stefan on my 2023 bingo card, but in retrospect I would’ve swapped him for Roland

107 - I’m still pretty fond of Henry and he doesn’t have a unit that I love to use yet

123 - (Bingo pick) Vanessa! Glad she’s even this high

128 - Again would love a Niles unit that’s actually fun to use

168 - Florina does already have a nice alt but I wouldn’t say no to another

172 - (Bingo pick) Not bad Lucius!! I might vote for him next year, just to boost his numbers, since I’m not trying to have anyone else win :’)

186 - Would REALLY like a viable unit for Kaze, wish he’d been on that new Devotion banner

194 - As much as I despise Nergal, it’s in the fun is-a-good-villain way, so I’d be pretty excited if he got in

196 - Abysskeeper meme dropping, you love to see it

199 - I like Dagr a lot, I hope she hangs in there

204 - I defo want Janaff in feh, the more bird units the better

211 - *waves at Canas*

224 - you know me I wouldn’t say no to another Naesala alt

227 - (Bingo pick) Ismaire! I want all the unrepresented moms to get in

227 - gee an alt for Cormag would be nice...

229 - Is this the year that Xane gets a base? almost certainly not

238 - (Bingo pick) if Cormag got an alt at the same time his brother gets in, that’d be pretty cool...

239 - (Bingo pick) Izana...my bingo picks are pretty low down huh

257 - (Bingo pick) Not bad for an NPC, Uther

258 - So Jesse, your thoughts on the Desaix situation?

262 - (Bingo pick) I guess this isn’t so far down for Elffin...

272 - (Bingo pick) And here’s Edain

273 - Wait Valter is lower than Cormag AND Glen??? Why did he beat Cormag in the voting gauntlet then????

274 - (Bingo pick) :( I wish Artur was higher

275 - Man Dwyer fell after getting in. That’s how it goes though.

276 - I guess that staff!Libra dream remains far off...

284 - (Bingo pick) Elena!! out of all the dead moms I want her to get in the most

285 - (Bingo pick) And not too far from Artur we have my other beloved red-haired softboi healer

285 - ...tied with my darling Limstella. I’ll probably spare them at least a vote next year since I won’t be fighting tooth and nail to have a fav take a top spot. 

294 - This is the year of a Reyson alt. I’ll just keep telling myself that.

301 - (Bingo pick) aaaand Midir not quite getting into the top 300. Oh well, could be worse...

301 - Two words: Summer Knoll. Let’s make it happen.

311 - (Bingo pick) Oh here’s Ephidel. I’ll consider it a win that Limstella’s already in feh and Eph isn’t and Limstella’s still beating him.

316 -  (Bingo pick) hi Harken

321 - Wait...why is Linus so much further down than Lloyd?? Because he’s a hothead? I thought people liked that

327 - (Bingo pick)  :( I need any Muarim that isn’t a sad fallen...

333 -  (Bingo pick) Let’s see if any of my picks are lower than Ulki...

339 & 340 - kinda weird the two unrelated Arthurs ended up so near each other

357 - Ah here’s Roland, not technically on my bingo card but only because I forgot to put him on.

362 - I’d really like a wyvern-rider Petrine, the fact that she’s on a horse in feh is kinda ridiculous

365 - Please get Saleh out of bunnysuit hell

373 - Huh, I thought Harken was so low because FE7 Karel would be beating him, but I guess not...

376 - As much as I would love to see adorable FE7 baby Guinivere, I don’t trust feh to handle that tactfully

376 - Would love Eliwood’s dad to get in

404 - I think Rafiel was higher than Reyson last year, so...good for Reyson I guess?

And then the bottom of the list is exactly what you’d expect, a bunch of detestable villains - for once no character who was just kinda tragically sidelined.

So...cool! Based on all that...Next year I’ll probably vote for Lucius and Reyson to raise their stock, since they might actually get alts, while I don’t have super high hopes for Limstella. Although, with Sonia doing this good, who knows? Maybe we could get a full morph banner? Listen I can dream.

All of that is UNLESS: 1) Ninian starts doing unexpectedly well next year or 2) Alcryst and/or Mauvier, and/or whoever I end up liking more long term from Engage, have a shot at a top spot

But it’s nice to think next year I won’t have as much stake in things. Again, wishing everyone the best, even if your fav didn’t win I hope all your favs get cool alts with strong skills and beautiful art!