#one piece tournament round 6

[onepiecesb]

THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE COLORSPREAD AND VOLUME COVER TOURNAMENTS!!! ❤️

ColorSpread Winners!!!

Volume Cover Winners!!!

Thanks again!!! ♡´･ᴗ･`♡

[sleepyhead-poll]

SEMIFINAL ROUND, MATCH 2 OUT OF 2!

Propaganda Under the Cut:

Portgas D. Ace:

he’s got narcolepsy and regularly falls asleep in his food, but given his personality I feel like he’d fall asleep in his lunch even without the narcolepsy

Routinely falls asleep in the middle of meals, still becomes the second division commander of the whitebeard pirates.

he sleeps anytime anywhere

Ace's introduction is the civilians thinking he was dead because he fell asleep so suddenly. Every one piece character has a trait and his is falling asleep while eating.

Ace Propaganda I have a legal obligation as an Ace kin to fight for my man - The narcolepsy thing happens multiple times both in the anime and in the prequel books. - Every time he does that, he wakes up and wipes his mouth on the nearest person’s clothes, save for in the first Ace light novel where Deuce scolded him awake - He also does this on Buggy’s ship and once again they thought he was dead. Why he was there I don’t know. - Also he’s got fire powers so therefore human heater and the coziest of naps

Kirby:

Kirby looove napping and sleeping and is too cute when he is :3

They the littlest guy ever, all that they like to do is eat, play with their friends, and sleep. There’s a copy ability called sleep that literally just makes them tired, and in forgotten land there’s a more powerful sleep ability that give them a little blanket and bed. An eepy little guy.

kirby starts off a lot of his games napping & in forgotten land you can even take a nap with elfilin to restore health and it's ADORABLE. and of course, he has his sleep ability, which just makes him take a nap right after inhaling certain enemies.

He's a ball who likes to eat, sleep, and play with his friends, and just so happens to be a godslaying entity that may or may not be an incarnation of a deity. Also just look at his nap animations in Kirby and the Forgotten Land

kirby has canonically slept through at least one hostile invasion

[onepiece-song-tournament]

One Piece Character Song Tournament

Round 6

Dr. Tony Tony Chopper | Sogeking Theme

[wasted-women]

ROUND 2A, MATCH 2 OUT OF 4

Cause of Death & Propaganda Under the Cut:

Kuina Shimotsuki

Cause of Death: Accident; Fell down the stairs

Propaganda:

she's a sword fighter! she wanted to be the best sword fighter in the world and was until she died the best in her class. while practicing with zoro she was giving him tips on how to improve (even before they become friends). she has a really cool sword (which zoro takes after she dies to "carry on her legacy" or something). we dont know anything else about her :)))))))))

Listen Oda normally writes the women characters well but this... this was not it. Other than giving Zoro motivation she doesn't really have much of a role in the main story and idk she could've had a more "honorable" death or something

Safu

Cause of Death: Experimentation

Propaganda:

[No Propaganda Submitted]

[hubristicassholefight]

Swordswoman Showdown Round 4/Quarterfinal

Kikunojo (One Piece) vs Brienne of Tarth (A Song Of Ice and Fire)

(Better here in a "preferred character" sense, not "who would win in a fight")

Propaganda below cut

Kikunojo

She is a samurai and a retainer for the Kozuki Family, serving as one of the Nine Red Scabbards, a group of samurai that protect the Kozuki family and their country. She's a very skillful samurai, and she and her group managed to delay and hold off the main villain of the arc, (which was an almost insurmountable task for even the main character) and survived the experience despite her horrible injuries; She's canonically and openly trans! And she's gorgeous. And huge... She's 287 cm tall, which for the USAmericans in the audience is 9' 5". She's simply the coolest.

She’s a samurai and fights with a sword; tall trans woman <3

Legendary devoted samurai!; She's 2.87m tall, a time traveler, and not even losing an arm in the middle of the fight stopped her- she had it imediately cauterized and went back to the fight.

She's a lady samurai! Pretty and very skillful with her katana!

She is a samurai who was sent 20 years into the future to avenge the death of her lord; She’s so tall and canonically trans and I love her

She’s a badass samurai who fights for what she believes in and to help people. She is known as Kiku of lingering snow. She’s also canonically trans

She's a time traveling trans samurai, the only woman in a group of 9 legendary samurais; Her arm was chopped off by the biggest baddie so far and she continued fighting, isn't that badass?

One of the strongest samurai in her country; She's a trans icon

#kiku the greatest of all time#🐐#tall and gorgeous samurai lady#who is a trans icon#love that she is so tall that she doesn't fit in the image display#gets recognized as strong by the main character multiple times and proves it by being the most resilient badass of the entire arc#stands up to tyrants and abusers of class privilege#also helps break said main character out of the enemies prison and takes part in a rebellion against the corrupt prison staff#one piece#okiku#kiku

#kiku is canonically trans

Brienne

gets gifted a sword made with the rarest metal ever because she’s THAT good; she’s simply the best

Brienne is one of the top sword users alive in her day. She's descended from a man who's catchphrase was "I'm better with a sword." Better than what? You. Jaime Lannister. Loras Tyrell. Any five given guys at once. She has a fantastic sword that might be magic or cursed and is named Oathkeeper because that's what she does; I love her

Beat like 20 guys in a tournament when she was 19. Was given a magic sword. Won a sword fight against the premier swordsman in the realm. Very swordly; Very tall and strong. Holds her sword in high esteem. Accomplished with other weapons as well!

She's defeated multiple of the top knights in the series in duels. One such knight gifts her the fabergé egg of swords and she uses it to defend orphans and stuff. Got out of a bad betrothal by dueling him and beating his ass so bad she broke multiple bones. Honestly there's so much more she is the swordswoman of all time. to me; She's buff and ugly and 6' 5" and so honorable and kind that she inspires the guy who fucks his sister to yknow. stop doing that. literally gets mauled for the sake of protecting a bunch of orphans (with her sword). also she's 20 she should be at the club ‼️

One of the best sword wielders in Westeros, the author says he would pick her to defend him. Has a cool sword called Oathkeeper. Manages to go up against 7 fighters and take out most of them,. The only true knight; First off, talking about book brienne, they massacred show brienne, the show runners simply didn’t understand what she’s about.“ She had no chance against seven, she knew. No chance, and no choice” brienne had plenty of choice but she couldn’t leave people to die. The chivalric paradigm is rotten and corrupted, but here is Brienne, the one true knight, who isn’t even a actual knight! “knights are for killing”, but here is a knight who risks her life again and again to protect innocents! Bri IS hope, she is the light in the dark that shows that things can be better, things must be better. Fundamentally an idealist: “Winter will never come for the likes of us. Should we die in battle, they will surely sing of us, and it's always summer in the songs. In the songs all knights are gallant, all maids are beautiful, and the sun is always shining”

[badass-queer-couples-battle]

Gay wrongs tournament, round 2.5 of the major bracket

Propaganda:

For Eddie Brock and Venom:

I'm pretty sure its Canon in the comics and like, Canon adjacent in the 2nd movie??? Idk I just watched the first one sooo, anyways, this isn't propaganda i just couldn't remember if you said they needed to be Canon so I put what I rembered about that here, idk I'm proboboly just gonna send the propaganda in the ask box at a later date 

They eat people:) venom is an alien symbiote and Eddie is the host and they have melded together into one being. They care for and protect each other and are so intimately intwined they are only ever separated by force. Also they’re both absolute disasters and they periodically bite and eat the heads off their enemies. 

They eat people <3 

For Will and Hannibal:

Ive previously only heard the term "murder husbands" refer to hannigram so it feels flitting. The whole series culminated with a murder they did together bathing in blood. 

The show and ship that coined murder husbands. It’s in the text in s3 from a journalist side character. They do Many murders either together or as a message to each other. Usually this involves turning the dead body into an art piece. The show ends with them killing a guy together in a slo mo scene backed by porno music.

They're both batshit and manipulative.

ALRIGHT so they're not canonically together but it is HEAVILY implied and they have some sort of fucked up psychosexual obsession with each other. in the later parts of the show they start committing murder and cannibalism together and they're soooo unhinged but it's awesome

kill people for each other. maim each other. kill people together. most batshit insane metaphors. send each other to jail. ruin everyone’s lives. someone can probably say this better than me but these gay people are insane

Literally THE murder husbands. They kill for each other. They've tried to kill each other. They're canon in all but name, like the homoeroticism between these two is the driving force of the show.

one time hannibal folded a guy into an origami human heart

They are in love and they kill and eat people. They are called Murder Husbands in canon.

The original murder husbands (literally, that's not just their ship name, they get called that in canon)

The show begins with Will working for the FBI and trying to catch Hannibal, but because Hannibal is so intrigued by the way Will is able to see the world and the motives behind the killings so easily, it becomes a game of Hannibal isolating Will even more from the people around and seducing him to try and kill. By the time Will starts embracing the side of him that Hannibal sees, he starts oulling back and trying to distance himself so that when the time comes for Will to fully embrace himself and Hannibal, no one really suspects what they have planned. 

hannibal literally does murder as courtship and it works bc will is also a fucked up little guy

I'm actually quite offended they aren't included by default (joke). They are THE murder husbands!!!!!! (mod note: they should have been, but I wanted to see how many submissions they'd get. They got 19, making them a little more than 6% of total submission count).

do i have to say it. they literally get called murder husbands IN THE SHOW

There are 3201 works for Hannibal on ao3 tagged Murder Husbands. They are the ogs, they are the pioneers we owe it all to them.

THEE murder couple. You know it. I know it. They commit crimes at each other as courting and then commit crimes together and then fall off a cliff to wash up somewhere and live on to serve cunt. Get referred to as 'murder husbands' in canon. What more do you need

Hannigram were literally called Murder Husbands in canon, they are the og, they are THE blueprint. They were gay as hell and comitted so much murder so many crimes. THEY RAN OFF TO EUROPE TOGETHER.

[buffyverse-divorce-tournament]

Congratulations to GETHAN, your winner for the Buffyverse Divorce Tournament!

With 59% of the votes in the final round, Gethan is also one of the relationships with the fewest number of episodes (4!) across Buffy and Angel. Among the top three, it's also the shortest relationship with the youngest members! The ship dominated its run to the finals, only slipping below 60% during the final match-up.

In second and third place are Dangel and Spangel, respectively. Spangel lost to Gethan in the semi-finals, then fought their way through the losers' bracket with two more wins to take third.

Thanks all for participating in our celebration of separation, our party for partings, our anniversary for annulment. Enjoy some more fun facts below, and remember! Divorce is more than just a piece of paper. :)

RANDOM FACTS:

Angel is the only individual to have multiple relationships in the top 3. Spike came close, with Sprusilla in fourth place.

Sprusilla had the longest run in the losers' bracket; after being knocked out by Dangel in round one, they survived all the way to the losers' bracket semi-finals (top 4!). This also makes three of the top 4 a Fanged Four couple.

In addition to the top 3, five other couples made it farther in the rounds than Hank x Joyce, the only canonically divorced couple on the shows. These were:

Xander x Anya

Wesley x Lilah

Xander x Cordelia

Spike x Drusilla

Faith x Buffy

Gethan had the most resounding victory in the tournament, beating Frunn with 95% of the votes. The closest matches were Weslah vs Hank x Joyce and Willoz vs Spuffy, both with results split ~51:49.

Besides Buffy, Spike, and Angel, the only characters with multiple relationships in the tournament were Willow, Xander, and Wesley. Of these three, Xander's relationships made it furthest in the tournament (both went further than Hank x Joyce), followed by Wesley, then Willow.

The only Angel ship that failed to make it out of the first round is Bangel.

Although Buffy had four ships (out of 16 participants) in the tournament, the only one that made it past the second round is Fuffy.

Fuffy is also the only f/f ship (of two) that made it out of the first round, but made it all the way to the top 6.

There were three m/m ships among the original 16 participants, making up just 19% of the represented couples. By the finals, they made up 67%(!) of the top 3.

[indigenous-character-tournament]

Indigenous Character Tournament

Round 1

The bracket was randomly generated with minor tweaking to balance it out since there are so many characters. Ties are allowed only when there is an exact 50/50 and in that case, the characters will move on as a team. Propaganda is allowed and encouraged! The polls of each bracket will last one week! Below are the match-ups in case it is hard to read the bracket! :)

Voting will start Monday, May 8th at 6:00 P.M. EST! The polls will be released in waves.

Bracket A

Eliza Maza (Gargoyles) vs Willie Jack (Reservation Dogs)

Sokka (Avatar: The Last Airbender) vs Kamakiri (One Piece)

Joseph (Blood Quantum) vs Fuzzy Mac (Grace Beside Me)

John Redcorn (King of the Hill) vs Clinton Skye (FBI: Most Wanted)

Travis Manawa (Fear the Walking Dead) vs Jessica Keynes (Miraculous Ladybug)

Artemy Burakh (Pathologic) vs Nakamura Kotan (Yuusha Dan)

Delsin Rowe (Infamous: Second Son) vs Moana (Moana)

Pike Dexter (Big Eden) vs Naru (Predator)

Victor Joseph (Smoke Signals) vs Volo (Pokemon Legends: Arceus)

Prince Ashitaka (Princess Mononoke) vs Kurapika Kurta (Hunter x Hunter)

Naranpa (Black Sun) vs Kirikou (Kirikou and the Sorceress)

Fredzilla (Big Hero 6) vs Margaret Kohere (Apex Legends)

Wyper (One Piece) vs Jenna Begay (Echo Project)

Kronk (The Emperor's New Groove) vs Rock (Nanbaka)

Ka'kwet (Anne with an E) vs Akita (Ninjago)

Tanis (Letterkenny) vs Caitlin (Mohawk Girls)

Bracket B

Asirpa (Golden Kamuy) vs Asterix (Asterix the Gaul)

Little Strongheart (My Little Pony) vs Atticus O'Sullivan (The Iron Druid)

Makoa Gibraltar (Apex Legends) vs Joss (Blood Quantum)

Kenai (Brother Bear) vs Ratonhnhaké:ton (Assassin’s Creed III)

Miyax/Julie (Julie of the Wolves) vs Massai (Fortnite)

Anna (Mohawk Girls) vs Princess Maya (Maya and the Three)

Izel (Onyx Equinox) vs Mercy Thompson (Mercy Thompson)

Charles Smith (Red Dead Redemption 2) vs Dr. Joshua "Strongbear" Sweet (Atlantis: The Lost Empire)

Lady Silence/Silna (The Terror) vs Dedue (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

Koen West (Cleverman) vs Hau (Pokémon Sun and Moon)

Elora Danan Postoak (Reservation Dogs) vs Iduna (Frozen)

Zia (Mysterious Cities of Gold) vs Knuckles Thrash/Harley (Sleepless Domain)

Carlos Oliveira (Resident Evil series) vs Nainoa Flores (Sharks in the Time of Saviors)

Katara (Avatar: The Last Airbender) vs Little Creek (Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron)

Asta Twelvetrees (Resident Alien) vs Hototo (Appare-Ranman!)

Bracket C

Nate Kinski (Neighbours) vs Usui Horokeu/Horohoro (Shaman King)

Reki Kyan (SK8 the Infinity) vs Waruu West (Cleverman)

Mugen (Samurai Champloo) vs Sitka (Brother Bear)

Samantha Black Crow (American Gods) vs Sasappis (Ghosts CBS)

Nina Aroyo (A Snake Falls to Earth) vs Malakai Mitchell (Heartbreak High)

Echo Reverie (Friends at the Table) vs Nuna (Kisima Inŋitchuŋa)

Margu (Klaus) vs Raúl Cocolotl (Wendell & Wild)

Huā Chéng (Heaven Official's Blessing) vs Leilani (Indivisible)

Elatsoe Bride (Elatsoe) vs Tao (Mysterious Cities of Gold)

Scar (Fullmetal Alchemist) vs Jesse Cosay (Infinity Train)

Kalgara (One Piece) vs Molly Mabray (Molly of Denali)

Miko Kalani (Barbie) vs Tom Evans (Captain Canuck)

Nani Pelekai (Lilo & Stitch) vs Gideon Nav (The Locked Tomb)

Thomas Builds-the-Fire (Smoke Signals) vs Fiza (Daevabad Trilogy)

Tikal the Echidna (Sonic the Hedgehog) vs Greiger (Yu-Gi-Oh!)

Maya Lopez/Echo (Marvel comics) vs Bear Smallhill (Reservation Dogs)

Bracket D

Chakotay (Star Trek: Voyager) vs Piper McLean (Heroes of Olympus)

Emperor Kuzco (The Emperor's New Groove) vs Denahi (Brother Bear)

Ricky Baker (Hunt for the Wilderpeople) vs Kristoff (Frozen)

Serapio (Black Sun) vs Boy (Boy - 2010 film)

Inkarmat (Golden Kamuy) vs Geronimo Jr. (Cyborg 009)

Tanigaki Genjirō (Golden Kamuy) vs Betty (Infamous: Second Son)

Pacha (The Emperor's New Groove) vs JJ Jacobs (DImension 20)

Kaya'aton'my (American Girl) vs Danielle Moonstar/Mirage (Marvel comics)

Knuckles the Echidna (Sonic the Hedgehog) vs Sacagawea (Night at the Museum)

Débora (Cidade Invisível) vs Matthew Carver (Kagagi)

Papa-Capim (Turma da Mônica) vs Professor Kukui (Pokémon Sun and Moon)

Tainá (Tainá uma aventura na Amazônia) vs Nuna (Indivisible)

Ken Hotate (Parks and Recreation) vs Nizhoni (Race to the Sun)

Revali (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) vs Daunis Fontaine (Firekeeper's Daughter)

Korra (The Legend of Korra) vs Ch'ah Toh Almehen/Namor the Submariner (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)

Tye Longshadow (Young Justice) vs Lilo Pelekai (Lilo & Stitch)

[relatableblorbopoll]

Round 1 of preliminaries, group 6

The first two places get a place on the bracket

Little reminder: there will be 2 more rounds of preliminaries, the losing blorbos of this poll still have 2 chances of getting in the official bracket

propaganda under the cut

Jesper Fahey (Six of Crows)

No Propaganda

Crowley (Good Omens)

"He's gender. He's been in love with one guy for literally 6000 years and then royally fucks up his entire confession. He yells at his plants. He drapes himself over every fucking surface he sits on. He walks like *that*. He just fuckin makes sounds sometimes. He's me fr."

Dave Strider (Homestuck)

"everything that can be said about Dave's relatability will probably sound redundant, clichéd, or overdone if you are at all familiar with tumblrs sort of blorbo culture. this is exactly why he should be in this tournament.

stop me if you think that you've heard this one before: he hides his genuine emotions behind a persona, deflects sincerity with jokes, but also has a deep desire for validation and connection, so that his persona has many cracks where little bits of his true self slip through. deeply insecure, compares himself to others. a defeatist streak, avoids responsibility. does not wish to be troubled by The Horrors. he just wants to hang out and do his lil creative hobbies (making music and drawing comics). talks a lot to the point of being pretty awkward, rambling, and accidentally saying stuff he shouldnt.

all these things I think tend to resonate deeply with a lot of people, especially on Tumblr - that "person who is insecure and struggles with emotional openness so copes by making jokes" sort of trope, it's just like kin bait (affectionate). he also has a complicated relationship with gender which I know many find relatable (shout out to the "Dave homestuck was my trans awakening" homies) but whether it's about figuring out gender or sexuality or trauma or the apocalypse or anything else, Dave comes at it with an initial, learned, fear and reluctance that I think a lot of people have experienced, because it's very human and very much a part of many readers experiences (we live in a society). but he's always good, and likeable and that makes for a very important sort of relatable character. very comforting. even if he's a mess and he's an idiot you can believe he can get to something better, and you can watch him develop and grow.

also, I think he's extremely relatable because he never really knows what's going on in the comic either. I mean, that's gonna be relatable to most people Vis a vis homestuck. he's confused and he just wants to vibe and make his friends laugh. WHO AMONG US cannot relate?? I do not believe you if you say no.

I wrote too much and got way too weird about it. I'm sorry it's late I'd edit down but I really don't have the brain capacity.. which is very Dave core of me actually"

Junior (Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race)

"i relate to him a lot because his whole character is being embarrassed of his dad who tries too hard to be cool, but still loves him anyways. that is literally me"

Kim Dokja (Omnicient Reader's Viewpoint)

"kim dokja. oh kim dokja. so, without going into spoilers too much, kim dokja is very much a character you are expected to relate to and it makes the novel DEVASTATING. here's just a few things about him: - he is obsessed with a particular piece of media, and finds comfort in it when real life doesn't give him any. he's constantly thinking about it and defending it and trying to recommend it to other people (even though no one else bothers reading it, because it is an objectively bad 3000-chapter webnovel). even beyond that one novel, he's been using fiction as an escape for just about his entire life, something that rings true for a lot of people, especially in the modern world. - he struggles with socializing with other people. the first chapter alone gave me so much second hand embarrassment. it's so real but god it's So bad. he has zero friends and has that sort of loneliness where you're miserable but you can't really bring yourself to feel anything but resigned to it. in general he is just very Resigned to his unfortunate life and can't fully understand or accept it when it finally does get better - he has a complicated relationship with his mother. it's the kind of relationship where the parent genuinely does love their child, but they fail to give them what they need & have to accept that they hurt their kid and that they cannot be the most important person in their life. it's certainly not a universal experience but those sorts of parent-child relationships are woefully common but scarcely acknowledged -the insecurity. god there is so much insecurity in that man. it's hard to even completely tell it's there at first, because it's so ingrained in how he thinks that you don't question it until you know more about his character and suddenly it's all too apparent. he cannot believe that he can be loved (or, if that he can be, that they certainly would not be able to love all of him, only what he chooses to show them), and is selfless but like. the literal meaning of the word, where he will throw away all of his being for the people he loves. in general there is a lot of sacrifice as a love language which like. while i'm not off around throwing myself in front of magic death beams for people or anything i sure would give up everything i could if it meant helping the people i love - ok enough of that. here's some funny things i can relate to. the guy meets his favorite fictional blorbo and instead of worshipping him instead he bullies him constantly and internally complains about how unbearable he is both in the book and in real life. it's like a "i love my blorbo. i would not last 2 seconds in a room with him." You know. he gets so caught up in his fanon characterizations and biases about characters that he completely mischaracterizes them like constantly. he literally kills a guy half because he was his least favorite character. -this is a poll about blorbo relatability. therefore i must mention that kim dokja too related to his blorbo (or at least attempted to) and what is more relatable than that. anyways. kdj made me realize far too much about myself and is by far the most i have ever related to a character (and i Hate it). and tumblr would definitely relate to him too so :thumbs-up:"

"(SPOILERS) He is literally all of us. Reader. Just some guy. And then insane tragic backstory. But he’s also just some guy. He’s special and also just a guy. He’s also god. He can be shipped w anyone. He has versatility and interests and motivations. He also never tells anyone anything ever. He is so me."

"He reads a trashy, long-ass novel as a coping mechanism and doesn't think he's capable of being loved. Bro dissociates when he's emoting too much."

"I'm a homestuck fan, a Dave Strider fan even Never heard of Omnicient Reader's before Voted for the kim fellow because judging by the propaganda it looks like he himself would be a homestuck reader therefore making him more relatable than the homsetuck character himself"

"This guy’s been my companion since I was 11, I’ve grown up with Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint and I think that’s pretty funny since he grew up with Ways of Survival (the 3149 chapter novel) and therefore I’m straight up mirroring him. I, too, scare everyone off by being too enthusiastic whenever the webnovel is brought up! His insecurities are severe but I do see myself in some parts of him (which is worrying but whatever.) He is absolutely The Guy Ever. Utterly pathetic wet cat of a man. I love him. He represents the crazy fandom tumblrina in all of us."

Donutella (Tokidoki)

"she's made of donuts basically like me at this point"

[art-that-fucks-you-up-tournament]

SET SEVEN - ROUND ONE - MATCH EIGHT

“Untitled (Black and Gray)” (1969 - Mark Rothko) / "NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt" (1985-present)

UNTITLED (BLACK AND GRAY): there’s something about this painting that deeply, deeply resonates and kind of fucks with you, especially since no other painting in this series has the kind of sky-look layering. the top half is dark and deep and has a void like pull to it, almost as if you could fall directly into its abyss and just never re-emerge. the bottom half looks almost joyful, simple, not exactly clean and precise and hard like it’s other half, but carefree and child-like. there’s an essence of freedom there mixing with the blues, yellows, and whites, and only a hint of gray despite the series name. the balance of stark black against this world-view mish-mash of color just strikes within you something like hope, a kind of fervent thought like “everything is going to be okay, you can look up and at the void, but just remember there is something good to see below it as well” this is all honestly my own interpretation of this particular rothko painting, but as soon as i saw the description of this tournament, this was the first painting that came to my mind. it may not fuck me up in a monstrous way, but the feelings it evokes in me feel big and like the kind i could scream forever about (@bluegarners)

NAMES PROJECT AIDS MEMORIAL QUILT: fucks me up bc so many people died and so many people suffered and their partners didn’t have legal rights as next of kin and so many had been disowned by their parents and had to be held by a stranger while they were dying and if i could resurrect anyone in the world i’d dig up either reagan or thatcher and kill them again (@jaskierx)

("Untitled (Black and Gray)" is an acrylic on canvas painting by Mark Rothko. Rothko did a series of black and gray paintings in 1969 and 1970. One is visible at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City and another is found at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.

The "NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt" is an ongoing community art project honoring people who passed away due to AIDS-related causes. It consists of approximately 50,000 panels of 3 by 6 feet (0.91 m × 1.83 m) panels, which is an estimated 54 tons of material. It is currently housed in San Francisco, but is often displayed in various places in the United States.)

[onepiecesb]

[leveloneandup]

Extra Time: Two World Cup Champs Aren’t Scared of the Dutch

Holland day

So, two-time World Cup champion Christen Press, what scares you about the Netherlands, America’s second-round opponent at this 2023 World Cup? The U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) will face the Orange Lionesses tonight at 9 p.m. E.T. in New Zealand's capital city of Wellington.

Press, who won titles in 2015 and 2019 as a forward for the U.S. but recently underwent a fourth surgery to repair the knee preventing her from playing in this World Cup, is mildly offended by this question. “As soon as you say, ‘What scares you,’ I took that as a player,” Press says. “And I’m like, ‘Nothing scares me.” Press, 34, laughs. “OK, go ahead, Tobin …"

As in Tobin Heath, who’s also on this call—and was also on the 2015 and 2019 USWNT World Cup teams (in addition to the 2011 one)—and has also won a pair of World Cup titles, in 2015 and 2019 with the USWNT. Like Press, Heath, 35, has been sidelined due to injury. So I called on the duo—who are among the founders of the lifestyle brand RE-INC, often finish each other’s sentences, and are co-hosting an excellent podcast and YouTube program during the World Cup called The RE-CAP Show—to break down the U.S.-Netherlands matchup.

Heath agrees with Press. She doesn’t find the Dutch all that frightening. “The Dutch are a good team,” says Heath. “They're not a great team in this tournament.” Heath concedes that the Dutch are the best team in the USWNT’s group, which also includes Vietnam—whom the U.S. defeated 3-0 on Friday in the World Cup opener—and Portugal. “Outside of us,” Press chimes in.

“Outside of us, yes,” says Heath.

Yes, U.S.-Netherlands is a rematch of the 2019 World Cup final. But Heath cautions against reading too much into that. “There were a ton of better teams we played in 2019,” says Heath. She and Press point to games against Spain in the Round of 16, France—in France—in the quarters, and England in the semis as much tougher tests. The U.S. won those games 2-1, but shut out the Netherlands, 2-0, in the title game. “We always say our final was one of the easier games for us,” says Heath.

What’s more, the Dutch—who beat Portugal 1-0 in their World Cup opener—are down a superstar. Vivianne Miedema, the country’s all-time leading goal scorer, is missing this World Cup due to an ACL tear. “We don’t have to significantly adjust what we’re doing in order to take care of an individual player,” says Heath. “I don’t think they can do much damage to us.”

The one Netherlands player Heath mentioned in our conversation as a threat to watch—striker Lineth Beerensteyn—is now unlikely to play, because of an ankle injury she suffered against Portugal. Heath notes that the Dutch have a solid aerial presence off set pieces. And the Orange Lionesses could exploit the tendency of U.S. outside defenders Crystal Dunn and Emily Fox to play “inverted” positions—meaning they sometimes serve more as midfielders, moving into more centralized spaces on the pitch, getting involved in short passes on the attack. That strategy can leave the U.S. defense susceptible to Dutch counterattacks out wide. “You are leaving a big area to exploit,” says Heath.

Still, the former USWNT players aren’t all that worried. If anything, this is a huge opportunity for the Americans to make a statement. Germany made its mark, with a 6-0 crushing of Morocco. Brazil cast itself a real threat, with its 4-0 opening game victory over Panama. Spain beat Zambia 5-0 on Tuesday. “There’s a few teams that are like, we’re here,” says Heath. “We didn’t have that game against Vietnam. We can have that game against the Netherlands, if we want. I don’t see there being any reason why we can’t.”

~~~

Parting thought

Since they’ve played in past tournaments, I asked Heath and Press what it’s like for players at the World Cup between games. The U.S. did travel from Auckland to Wellington in the five days between its matchups against Vietnam and the Netherlands. Still, that’s plenty of downtime.

Enough to make you go stir-crazy?

“It’s almost like surrealism,” says Press. “The days are a little gray and foggy. You almost can’t remember. You’re very careful with when you look at your phone and who you even connect with. Or how much you walk. Your whole life is bubble-wrapped. Every second of the day. And then you have to go out and do this incredibly physical and risky and hard and emotionally draining thing. And then you just are bubble-wrapped again.”

“We sit around and talk and try to get a little bit of relief. It's this incredibly difficult experience to explain. You're with the only people in the world that get it. And that creates a bond with every single player I've played with in a world championship that's unlike any other. Because there's this respect. There's this knowingness. You don't even have to say anything and you know what's going on with your teammates.”

“We eat too many meals. We’re really just trying to fuel, fuel, fuel. And we talk and we laugh and we make it to the next game.”

[onepiece-song-tournament]

One Piece Character Song Tournament

Round 6

Save My Heart | Dr. Heart Stealer

[friends-to-lovers-tournament]

Friends to Lovers Tournament: Round 2, Side B, Match 6

propaganda under the cut!

Tododeku:

"It's about!!!! They first became friends because Midoriya heavily sacrificed himself both physically and in his career to help Todoroki grow as a person and now they're very good friends but how can Todoroki not fall in love with him after that?

And Midoriya has other friends but they're all very nice and normal, Todoroki is the only one who understands the darkness in Midoriya, there's a connection there that's special and built on mutual growth and support. "

Zosan:

They’re rivals yes, but first and foremost they’re best friends. They know each other better than anyone. Sanji asked Zoro to kill him if he’s ever not himself (long story), the implication being that Zoro knows him so well he’d be the first to tell (he would). Your honor, they are friends and they are in love.

[polish-art-tournament]

round 1.7 poll 6

Hej! Kto Polak na bagnety!! (Hey, Poles, take up your bayonets) by Kamil Mackiewicz, 1920:

propaganda: i meannn this is already a propaganda piece xd its so iconic tho. also i think in english the title should be a very tumblry slogan of "POLES GRAB YOUR BAYONETS!!111!!111"

Szarża w wąwozie Somosierra (Charge at Somosierra) by Piotr Michałowski, c.1837:

propaganda: can't make a tournament without at least one somosierra painting. napoleonic era enjoyers lets gooo

[found-family-tournament]

Found Family Tournament Round 2 Part 6 Group 28

Propaganda and further images under the cut

(Mod Note: For increased clarity, Ghost House’s name and photo have been altered)

Chimeron: Evan Kelmp, Karen Kieko Tanaka, Whitney Jammer, Sam Black

Bad Kids: Riz "The Ball" Gukgak, Adaine Abernant, Fabian Aramaris Seacaster, Gorgug Thistlespring, Figueroth "Fig" Faeth, Kristen Applebees (& Ragh Barkrock)

Chimeron:

They’re just my little guys I love them so so much :((( sweetest guys ever

Bad Kids:

before i start the pictures below are by isawiitch (https://www.tumblr.com/isawiitch), victor rosas (https://twitter.com/SirVictorThe2nd), and m0nomercy (https://www.tumblr.com/m0nomercy) respectively check them out they're very cool and also that middle guy did the official art for fantasy high its very cool

anyways

all of these dumb teens are just god they complete each other they're the most important people in the world to each other like fabian and gorgug meeting with a punch to the stomach and going on to share a hug in an evil forest and "DO YOU WANT ME TO BITE IT OUT FOR YOU" "the ball, wait" -riz and fabian and kristen's really bad inspiring speech (they're gonna get inspiring real soon) but they are inspiring because they're from the best and sweetest friend in the whole world and gorgug getting razzed a little for thinking random people are his dad and the sheer joy everyone felt for him when he met his real parents and RIZ THE BALL GUKGAK AND FABIAN SEACASTER THE DUO OF ALL TIME and adaine learning to be a normal teen and fig swearing she's not an open person when she pours her heart out to her friends every chance she gets and riz and adaine being the only two non-horny members of the team and bonding over that and being smart but terrible in social interactions together and "its called being gay, when you're here you're family" -kristen applebees, 2019 and fig starting a band with gorgug, one of the more socially awkward members of the party and "what would riz do" "you bite down hard on a piece of glass" and adaine's actual worst fear being what she would become after her friends passed and the KILL YOUR DAD chant and its gorgug keep going and all of them feeling each others' overcoming of fear in the forest of the nightmare king no matter how far apart they are and riz shooting off an incel's fingers for being weird about adaine (there was other stuff going on but you can't convince me that it wasn't at least partially because of that) and the gang not really letting gorgug and kristen forget that one time they died (they got better and were psychologically okay with it after a bit so this was lighthearted jabs and not straight-up reminding them of a big traumatic moment) and "my friends were warmer to me on the first day that we met than you were to me in my whole life" -adaine abernant, 2020

AND that doesn't even include all the crazy stuff with bad kids-adjacent found family members like gilear faeth getting his life back together thanks to these teens and jawbone o'shaughnessy being the dad of all time to the point where he actually adopts adaine at the end of sophomore year and aelwyn abernant holy shit (she's harder to justify here because her main important interactions are with her sister, unlike gilear who is technically fig's stepdad but is a core part of the found family in all directions) aelwyn abernant is trying so desperately hard to be better and ayda aguefort and adaine swapping homemade spells named after each other (adaine kills her dad with hers its a good time) and ragh barkrock getting over his internalized homophobia

SO IN CONCLUSION these guys have changed each other so much and every single combination of them, be it a duo or a trio or whatever has a distinct dynamic thats so so important to me. they're all family to each other, some of them more than even their real families. they are the guys of all time and my blorbos even and are a wicked good found family

Sometimes a family is the kids who all got detention together on the first day of school at adventuring academy.

And sometimes that family is:

A Half-elf-Half-Pirate rich boy who killed toxic masculinity by learning how to dance, and mercy-killed his father by stabbing him with a sword.

"The Greatest Wizard of this Age" (actually a Barbarian who took a level in artificer to boost his cellphone-reception to call and apologize to his satyr girlfriend) Half-Orc drummer who was adopted by Gnomes;

A bisexual Punk-rocker Tiefling who thought she was a wood-elf until her horns came-in & caused her and her adoptive father to discover that her biological father is actually an Archdevil;

The Elven Oracle (later just "The Oracle"/"Everybody's Oracle") who was adopted by the school's Werewolf Guidance Councilor after her evil parents disowned her (she later punched her evil bio-dad to death in a single round of combat, despite being a magic caster);

An aro-ace (un)licensed Private Investigator Goblin who carries a briefcase and ate the face of the dragon that ate his father;

And a lesbian ex-fundie human who met the corn-god her family worships, found out he sucks & left the church and her family, CREATED HER OWN GOD (of Buzzfeed listical symbols, known first as "YES!" then later "YES?"), only to then abandon that god to become the Saint of the long forgotten Goddex/Goddess of Mystery, Night and Magic.

(Optionally, add in the Half-Orc repressed-gay bully they befriended and helped come out)

And sometimes, that found family becomes a literal family, because over the course of the series:

Fig's mom starts dating Adaine's adoptive dad,

Fig's adoptive dad gets engaged to Fabian's mom,

Fig's biological dad starts dating Riz's mom,

Kirsten starts dating the niece of Adaine's adoptive dad/Fig's mom' boyfriend.

(Gorgug is the only one who still isn't related to the others, but he did find his biological parents. And although he still lives with his adoptive parents, he is now in the famous band "Fig and the Cig Figs" along-side his bio-parents, Fig, and Fig's bio-dad)

Currently, Fig, Adaine, Kirsten, Fig's mom, Adaine's adopted dad, Kirsten's GF, Adaine's biological older sister, Adaine's sister's ghost fiancé, Ragh, Ragh's mom, and Fig's Half-Phoenix librarian/pirate GF all live in one giant haunted old Victorian-style Manor.