#prelim 19

[characterswithcolorsnamesfight]

Prelim Poll 19

Propaganda here

[characterswithanimalnamesfight]

Prelim 19/27

From the submitters :

Aigle is French for eagle

Pardofelis is the genus (in Latin) of the marbled cat. Felis means cat.

Lyon is Middle English and Middle French for lion

[alfalfaaarya]

12 DAY PRODUCTIVITY CHALLENGE

November is about to end , let's end it with a blast of productivity!

My 2nd proff prelims are next month and there can't be a better time to have a productivity challenge.

Challenge starts tomorrow - 19 Nov 2024

Ends on - 30 Nov 2024

Letsss gooo guys!!!

I'll follow the tag 12dayproductivitychallenge

All the very besttt !!!!!!

[episodeoftv]

Prelims, Vote 8 of 8

The top 5 finales will move on to be included in the main bracket

Propaganda is under the cut, may include spoilers

Brooklyn Nine-Nine - 8.09 / 8.10 The Last Day

It just... season 8 had been so bad as a whole, it attempted to touch on the blm movement and did it in an okay at best way and in the wake of it all, i think a lot of people just weren't here for cop shows. The finale tried to bring the magic back with one last heist and it did pull out all the stops but I don't know, it just left me feeling really cold. And the ending being that even though the main character wasn't a cop anymore, that he would return to the station every year for the heist... it just never escapes the cop narrative even after he's left.

Chén Qíng Lìng/The Untamed - Episode 50

I nominate this final on grounds of CCP information control, censorship and homophobia. They were so scared of the power of wangxian that they ended up banning ao3 in china and in the show they have to inexplicably have them part ways just to hammer home the no-homo. Plus the show is just kind of objectively bad.... but it rewires your brain all the same

Community - 6.13 Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television

ok i haven’t watched it in a while but it wasn’t the episode’s fault this show had been going downhill for a while. The finale put it out of its misery mostly.

Kyle XY - 3.10 Bringing Down the House

The writers knew they were getting canceled and chose to raise more questions than answers and set up cliffhangers, rather than have a satisfying end. I'm sure it was a last ditch effort to save the show, but it didn't work and now it's just a bad finale.

Northern Exposure - 6.22 Let's Dance / 6.23 Tranquility Base

No propaganda submitted

Ozark - 4.14 A Hard Way to Go

No propaganda submitted

Soul Eater - 1.51 The Word Is Bravery!

ugh god it just gave up on any attempt at character development or the ending of the story in any meaningful way. instead of a complex universe journey exploring her bond with soul, and death the kid becoming the new god of death, maka just...wins the day by 'being brave', extremely underwhelming and borderline nonsensical

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - 7.25 / 7.26 What You Leave Behind

Man so okay like it’s not the worst worst one out there but man they really just fuckikg did that. Found family all went and spread themselves across the quadrant with the head of the show the leader, Captain Benjamin Sisko who really just wanted to live on Bajor, got turned into an incorporeal being who could no longer live a linear life while his wife and unborn child had to go on without him. They didn’t even have him saying goodbye to his actual son. His literal son did not get a goodbye, they only gave that to Kasidy, and no hate to Kasidy, she’s my girl, but she’s only been there for three year while his actual son Jake sisko was still basically a kid. He was like 19, 20 and no goodbye fork his dad he’s lost time and time again. Some characters got a satisfying ending but then Julian Bashir is left to stay on deep space nine supposedly still in love with Ezri Dax and together (but let’s be honest, it was a terrible forced decision. They made no sense, and had no chemistry) and still stuck without moving forward or changing. Like what a cop out. Not to mention the terrible cgi fire caves where literally gods got thrown into a fire pit and that was the big climax

[fictional-library-tournament]

Prelims round 1, poll 19

Propaganda

Scarlet Devil Mansion Library, Touhou:

It's said to have books of all kind, in thousands of different languages, and about countless different things. Some of the books were written by the librarian herself, Patchouli Knowledge. The was also probably one of the first recognizable set pieces in the windows touhou games, being the fourth stage in it's introductory game.

The Lines Between, Dimension 20: Neverafter:

Contains all versions of every story ever written, told, or imagined - free existential horror with every checkout!

"You're nothing more than scratches of ink on someone else's piece of paper."

The Lines Between is a massive place between stories, and staffed by diverse and deific librarians who are just doing their best, such as Glossary, Key, Legend and Index. The library is physically made of books, scrolls, and parchment. Its areas include the Hall of Stories, the Canonade, the Tower of Tales, and perhaps most remarkably: a brilliant view of the Auroratory. It is a beautiful aurora borealis of voices, preserving auratory stories that aren't necessarily written down. It is possible to swim up and into the Auroratory.

Fort Maria Library, Star Sable Online:

(All images come from ssoblr users)

So this is not necessarily a public library and it was abandoned for a long time (as far as we know) but the druids have it up again recently in game. It was built as part of Fort Maria centuries ago by the time of the game, and holds books from all those eras.

It is a gorgeous and expansive place with secret passageways, rare tomes, fluffy seats, old abandoned research, a lot of study areas, old relics, a moving bookcase to a portal cavern and even its very own library ghost!

It is, in my opinion, one of the most atmospheric places in the game. Even without sound on it is gorgeous and bring across its intention incredibly well, and with the sound on it is incredibly eerie. The music here is very limited and quiet, and the player’s footsteps echo through the library.

I feel like whatever you’re researching, you will find something on it in here. It feels like a place you could spend your whole life reading in, and still only have read a tiny fraction of the books there.

the citizens of jorvik (fictional star stable online island) keep all the witchcraft books in there and all their super secret and cool magic books, it was closed for years and it's very mysterious. one of the coolest characters (mrs. holdsworth) in the whole game hangs out there a lot, and it's home to a cute little capran named beatrix and she took her name from her favorite book. the only way you get in the library is by feeding her snacks and reading her books and she's also one of the coolest characters in the game (imo). also beatrix is friends with one of the horses in the game and she often is seen playing with the horse so :) OH and also there's a full heckin portal room in the lower floor!!! with a little pond and a portal that at some point the main characters (the "soul riders") get kicked in by the evil guys (the "dark riders") into this place called devil's gap (despite the name there's just one witch basically vibing in the gap potentially helping out the evil guys but we haven't figured that out yet). and it's gorgeous, if you're worrying about looks. the inside is all wooden and home-y and the portal room is also very pretty eye candy, it's very glow-y.

Bookholm, The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers

None

[sasiaucompetition]

Prelim Round Poll

19. Where the Lovestruck Bleeds - @/Fangirltothefullest (ao3)

vs.

63. Live Without You - @/stormsofstarlight (ao3)

Propaganda:

Where the Lovestruck Bleeds:

Image ID: A screenshot that reads: Vampire Janus, Logan and Virgil? With spicy romance? Roman as an aspiring artist having the opportunity of a lifetime while his brother Remus does his upmost to protect his innocence? And the language use is stella!

End Image ID

[nowoyas]

koi no yokan 24: closet door (nishinoya yuu/reader)

First - Prev - Next - M.list - Ao3

A/N: greetings from hell! we are now more or less completely certain that I have sprained my wrist due to the fall down the stairs on Wednesday. this shouldn't affect any update schedules, however, because of the difference in how my brain functions when using the dictation software versus just typing, you may notice a difference in writing quality. I have done my best to keep it at the same quality and the same voice as usual, but there's only so much I can do when I can't type. Even so, I hope you enjoy!

Summary: The final days before prelims.

Warnings and tags: emetophobia, references to child neglect, light suicide ideation

Words: ~3800

You do not answer the door.

Not the bell, not the knocks. Not phonecalls or texts.

And Yuu, predictably, is worried.

He'd assumed, when you didn't leave the house this morning, that your night had been about as rough as anticipated, but the radio silence throughout the day is concerning. Concerning enough that, after ringing the doorbell twice and waiting ten minutes, he's about to go get the camping gear from his house and wait you out.

He rings the doorbell a third time. His phone buzzes a moment later.

[name] to Noya at 19:48

[name]: go away

Noya: not until I know you're okay

[name]: im not

He sighs. He's not going to get anywhere like this.

He remembers the spare key and locates it with ease, walks right in as quietly as he can manage. You're not in the living room, so you must be upstairs—he climbs the stairs, winds down the hall to your room, where the door is shut but not locked. He cracks it just a bit, then knocks. There's a shuffling from within the room.

"Come on, [name]-san," he says softly through the crack.

You don't reply. He opens the door the rest of the way—your futon is still laid out, and in fact looks freshly vacated, based on the fact that you haven't so much as smoothed out the comforter. You've got no less than four plushies laid up in said futon—he suppresses a smile when he spots the one that had been a get-well-soon gift from Shouyo—but you're nowhere in sight.

[name]: I said go away

[name]: I look awful

[name]: I don't want to be real right now please don't make me

"Are you sick?" he asks out loud, frowning. The text comes back quickly.

[name]: in the head yeah

[name]: did you seriously use the spare key to get in because I didn't wanna talk

He shrugs. "I was worried. Last time you skipped a day you at least came to the door."

[name]: getting punched in the face and telling you about my mom wasn't all that bad. Just exhausting

[name]: I literally want to die right now please just go

His heart cracks at the words. "Yeah, when you put it that way, there's no way I'm doing that."

[name]: senpai

[name]: please

He sits down on your futon, legs crossed. "I'm not leaving until I know you're okay, but I can text Okaa-san and let her know you're not up to dinner tonight."

A muffled fuck! leaves the nearby closet. He huffs and moves to sit with his back against the wall beside the closet door. You must have forgotten.

[name]: see now I just feel bad

"You didn't already feel bad?"

[name]: you know what I mean

[name]: you'll miss dinner for sure if you wait until I feel better

[name]: you're gonna die here at the rate I'm going

He shrugs. "I can miss it. I'll be fine."

"Don't you fucking dare," comes the muffled reply. It's obvious, when you finally speak, that you've been crying. "You have games. Tomorrow. You need to be at your best."

"Oh, she talks!" He smiles. It's progress. "You're still coming tomorrow, right?"

Silence, both from the closet door and his phone. His heart drops.

"[name]-san?"

The closet door creaks a little. "Do you want me to?" you ask quietly.

"I don't think I'll play half as good without you there to watch me," he says honestly. "And I need you there as a good luck charm."

"But do you want me there, because—"

"[name]-san. I want you at dinner with my family, and I want you at the matches tomorrow, and I wanted you at practice today, and I want you at every practice after this, and I want you at every match I ever play."

Silence. You pull the door shut. For a moment, he thinks he's said the wrong thing, but then—

[name]: can you get out for two seconds so I can get dressed

"You're coming to dinner?"

[name]: im actually bisexual

"What?"

[name]: im coming out of the closet

He lets out a startled bark of laughter. "Marry me. Don't even get dressed; I don't mind."

[name]: 875

[name]: I mind

[name]: I PROMISE I'll actually let you back in the room once Im dressed

"Fine, fine." He gets up. Leaves the room. Closes the door behind him. There's a moment of shuffling from within—your footsteps approaching. He thinks you're about to open the door for a moment, and then he hears you fumbling with the lock and jerks it open, careful not to hit you with it. "Oh, no you don't. You promised!"

You don't fight it. You let him push open the door the rest of the way, greet him with your hood pulled firmly over your head and an adorable pout. "Only because I promised," you say quietly.

God, you're in a state. Your eyes are red with tears, face swollen. "Do you wanna talk about what happened?"

"He bought me a late birthday cake. He said he didn't know last month was July."

"That's… good, right?"

"He did it right when things got tense and just left. He walked."

"O…kay?"

"So I immediately had a complete mental breakdown and he came back with cake to find me hyperventilating where he left me because the last time someone went for a walk after a tense conversation they fucking died." You lean into him, slowly bringing your arms up to wrap around his torso. He returns the hold tentatively, resting his chin on top of your head.

"Oh." Ohh. He holds you just a bit tighter as the realization sets in. "I'm so sorry."

"'N then he apologized and we talked about Okaa-san for a while and I thought maybe he might actually listen and be home more, but he hesitated and said he'd try." A sniffle. "And we watched volleyball to distract me, but then he—he—"

Your shoulders shake. He pulls away, guides you to sit with him so he can cradle you just a little bit better. (Now is not the time to think about the fact that you started watching volleyball for comfort. He files it away for later.)

"I can't ever come out to him, Noya," you mumble. "He said he was glad I wasn't playing volleyball because all the women—it was some match between women's teams—looked like lesbians. Like it's a bad thing."

A bunch of potential responses race through his head. Everything from what an asshole to okay, like lesbians aren't hot which he's pretty sure he's slightly more qualified to say than the average guy but probably isn't very useful right now. What comes out feels lame and not nearly enough. "That's messed up."

You nod. "It's like—I don't even know what I want from him. Him not being here makes me feel like shit. And when he's actually here I feel worse. And now I have evidence that he'll never accept me for me, and probably if I did come out he wouldn't get the bisexual thing or pull something about how it's fine if I grow out of it and end up with a man, and—and—" You pause. Buckle in on yourself a little as your stomach growls loud enough for Yuu to hear. "I feel sick."

"Have you eaten today, like, at all?"

You shake your head. "I… I didn't get out of bed until I heard you coming up the stairs."

"[name]-san!" he admonishes. "Alright, that's it. Get everything you need for tomorrow."

"Huh?"

"You're coming to dinner. You're gonna eat."

"But why—"

He tilts his head. "I'm gonna ask you to stay the night, and I don't want you to have any "nos". So you gotta get your stuff together and bring it with you to my place before I ask  so you don't have the "no" that your stuff is all here and you don't want to drop by in the morning."

You let out a soft laugh, melting into him just a touch. "You're gonna casually ask me to stay the night."

"Well, yeah!" He shakes your shoulder playfully. "You're good luck. You proved it at the training camp. Gotta absorb all the luck I can off you! And, y'know, I sleep way better when I'm cuddling someone, and—"

"Okay, okay. Message received, you wanna cuddle. Is Rina-san gonna be okay with that?" You wriggle out of his hold, go hunting for clothes.

"What do you mean? She loves you."

"I think any reasonable parent might raise an eyebrow at a girl sleeping in the same bedroom as her son. I don't exactly have the concussion to use as an excuse anymore."

He shrugs. "If Satsuki can have her girlfriends stay the night, I don't see why you can't. Besides, it doesn't mean anything, right?" He flashes a smile, winks at you.

You roll your eyes. "I don't like your implications, Mister. And yes, strictly platonic."

"As long as you still come along. Come on, give me more reasons to say no so I can get you to admit you wanna sleep with me tonight!"

It might've been on the nose, but at your flustered squawk and the bag suddenly flung at his face, Yuu thinks it was worth it.

Even better yet, you play along—you're clearly still down, but you set up arguments for him to knock down one by one, even as you finish packing and walk with him back to his place. By the end of the night, over video games and bantering with Satsuki, you've given in—you steal the shower, cuddle right up to him with no pretense. His chest swells with pride at the feeling of your head resting on it at the end of the night, and threatens to burst when he catches a whiff of his own body wash on your skin.

Strictly platonic, his ass.

~

You wake up to a commotion on the bus. When you turn around in your seat, leaning over Noya to investigate, you find Hinata leaning into the bus aisle, his head between his knees. 

"What's going on?" you ask.

"Shouyo's not feeling good," Noya says. "Anxiety, apparently."

You furrow your brow. "Is he going to be okay?"

Tanaka pokes his head into the aisle. "He gets like this before matches. Before our first practice match he literally threw up in my lap."

You cringe. That sounds… bad. "Okay, wait—Tanaka-senpai, switch seats with me."

He blinks. "What?"

"You heard me." You grab Noya's shoulder and slide over his lap. He lets out a strangled noise, hands coming up to steady you as you slide right past him into the aisle. The shuffle is quick and, for your part, painless. You slip past Tanaka—Noya moves into the seat you'd had, and Tanaka takes the newly-opened aisle seat so that you can sit across from Hinata. "Hinata, do me a huge favor and hum for me."

He looks up in confusion, but before he can say anything, he slaps a hand over his mouth and drops his face back between his legs. "W-what?" he asks weakly.

"You heard me. You can hum anything, it doesn't matter what, but your body's gag reflex can't actually work if you're humming."

He begins to hum—the sound is tuneless, and you're not sure it comes from any particular song so much as his anxiety. You smile softly and reach out a hand rub small circles into his shoulder blade.

"Okay, that's good. Just keep humming for me no matter what while we wait for Coach Ukai to pull the bus over." You speak quickly and softly, but for the last part, you raise your voice insistently so that you're heard. The sharp look you flash in the rear view mirror catches Coach Ukai's eye, and you think he nods in reply. Good.

"I can't believe you're getting nervous like this again," Tsukishima says. "You know, if you didn't gorge yourself like you were talking about this morning, you might not have made yourself sick—"

You don't look up when you speak. "Tsukishima."

The anxious buzz of the other guys falls quiet.

"Do you think you're helping right now?"

Silence.

"Exactly. Not the time. So shut up."

There are a few stifled laughs, but you don't care about those right now. Your focus is on Hinata. It seems to be anxiety, rather than panic—that's good. You have better techniques for anxiety attacks than panic attacks anyway.

"Okay, Hinata, I'm going to ask you to do something for me, but you can't stop humming, okay?"

He nods shakily.

"So what I need from you right now is to just look around, and I want you to focus on picking out five things that you can see, okay?"

He nods, and as he continues to hum the same random notes, he picks up his head to look around.

"When you're done, you can just nod at me to let me know, okay?"

You watch his eyes settle on distinct points—first to you, then to Tanaka in the row beside you. Then to the roof of the bus, then to a sulking Tsukishima a few rows back, and finally, to his own shaking hands in his lap. When he's done, he looks at you again and nods.

"Good. You're doing great. Now, I want you to find four things that you can touch right now. Can you do that for me? When you do, I need you to go out of your way to actually touch those things. Focus on how they feel, alright?"

Again you watch him work—he reaches out and brushes fingertips against your arm. Then against the seat of the bus, then against his shorts, and then, after a moment of hesitation, against his own hair. You keep your hand rubbing his back the whole time and nod.

"Tanaka-senpai, can you hand me my bag from the row? Thanks. Keep humming for me, okay, Hinata?"

He nods. He's switched to a random lullaby, and you smile when you recognize the tune.

"Okay, I know this will be hard because you have to keep humming, but try your best for me, okay? I need you to find three things that you can hear for me. It can be any three things, including your own voice, but I want you to take a moment to notice how they sound as you're listening to them."

He tilts his head this way and that, and for just a moment, his humming falters. You force down the surge of panic as you see him lurch a little, but he picks back up with the humming and nods to you when he's picked out his three things.

"Good." You rifle around in your bag for a moment, searching for something. When you find it, you bring it to the top of the bag and open the cap. "Two things you can smell next. You've probably got the one from the bus air, but just in case, I have something to make it easier."

He sniffs at the air a moment, and once he has, you hold out your open bottle of hand lotion—vanilla-scented—for him to smell. Once he's done, you put it away and immediately reach back into your bag for your water bottle. With honestly perfect timing, the bus slows to a stop on the side of the road.

"Almost done, Hinata. We're gonna make our way off the bus first, and then we'll get to that last one."

You walk behind him down the bus aisle. The entire time, your hand doesn't leave his back—you're careful to keep soothing him, to keep him as grounded as you can get him. When the two of you are clear of the bus, you purposely remove your hand from his back and take three very large steps away. "Alright. Stop humming and let it out."

He obeys to the letter—the humming stops, and then he lurches over and begins to throw up. It's loud and gross and smells bad, but at the very least, it's on the side of the road and not on the bus where you'll be trapped with the smell for another forty-five minutes or so. "I'm so sorry," he cries, doubled over with his hands on his knees.

You uncap the water bottle and hand it to him. "None of that. We weren't finished with the grounding exercise. Here's one thing you can taste. I would recommend swishing and spitting to get the stomach acid off of your teeth and the taste out of your mouth a little bit."

Again he obeys, swishing the water in his mouth and spitting with a distasteful look on his face. "Ugh. That was disgusting."

"Does it feel a little better, though?"

"Yes, it does... Thank you…"

"You can keep that water bottle; you'll want to drink the rest of it in slow sips until we get to the tournament. Hydration and all that."

At the mention of the impending matches, he looks a little pale again. You reach out and replace your hand on his back, hoping that the motion will soothe him a little bit. The two of you get back onto the bus and into your seats, where you lean in with a sympathetic look.

"Nerves about the matches, then?"

He nods weakly. "I just—I don't want to mess up today. I don't want to bring everyone down. I just want to stay on the court as long as possible."

"And you're going to. You know that, right? Even if you have one bad day, you've earned a place on the court already. It's not like Coach made you a starter just because he felt bad."

"But…"

"I mean, you're going to be fine. All of you are. Sure, anxiety is a thing and I don't expect you to just stop feeling it, but you should know that all you have to do is everything you've already been doing. And if that's the case, then you don't really have to worry, because you already know you can do it. You've been doing it. So you know you're capable of it. Y'know?"

He looks at you with tears in his eyes. "[surname]-san…"

"In the first place, I've spent the past two months watching you guys play and I'm pretty confident that you're gonna do just fine today. Even if you can't trust yourself, you can trust my judgment, right?"

"Yeah... you're right. You're so nice... seriously."

You shake your head. "I'm not nice. I'm talking about statistics. You know that we keep those, right? And I like to look at them. so I can say with absolute certainty that all of you have been getting more solid in the things that you're trying and that you've been steadily  closing the point gap between you and high-level teams. So you should know that when I say that I'm confident in you doing well today, it isn't based on feelings. It'd be rude not to trust me when I put so much thought into it, right?"

He smiles. An unfamiliar arm reaches from the row in front of you and shoves your shoulder playfully. It's Tanaka. "Man, Noya-san's right. You really are a tsundere. It's okay to say that you like us and trust us to win, you know?"

You bat at his hand with an unimpressed look. "Yeah, when I feel that way, I'll say it. Until then, I'll say what I mean. Thank you for the suggestion, though."

"But man, [surname]-san, you handled that really good." Hinata tilts his head. "How did you know the trick with the humming?"

You laugh and shrug your shoulders. "Had the stomach flu last year and had to ride it out alone. I think I threw up every hour at exactly the hour for like, two days straight or something. I didn't really want to have to clean anything up, so I figured out how to make sure I didn't have to. And you know what? It worked!"

He furrows his brow, giving you a sad look. "You had to go through that alone?"

A nervous laugh, a shrug. "It's not that big a deal. Otoo-san was busy with work, and it's just the two of us, so I didn't really wanna bother him. In any case, I got through it just fine, and if I hadn't had to deal with that, then I wouldn't have had the trick to share with you now. So it worked out! I'm glad for it."

"If you're sure…"

"Anyways, how are you feeling now?"

He smiles. "Better. Thanks."

You spend the rest of the bus ride to the tournament venue talking to Hinata. He seems, for the most part, calmer than before. You'd like to think that you do a pretty good job of keeping his mind off of the anxiety—you manage to ramble engagingly enough about the most recent book that you read, although you don't remember much about it given that you read it before the concussion. By the time you're all getting off the bus at the venue, he seems more or less thoroughly calmed.

You wait for Tsukishima, hands behind your back. When he steps off the bus, you grab at his arm with a tilt of your head. "Sorry for snapping earlier, by the way. I don't mind the way you act the rest of the time, but I was just worried about making sure that everything was sorted out right now. It wasn't personal, you know?"

He shrugs. "It's fine."

On the way in, a pouting Noya falls in step with you. You roll your eyes. "Dare I ask?"

"Nothing."

"Uh-huh. Nothing. Are you jealous? Is that it?"

"Yes," he says. "I'm very jealous. Next time, I'll be the one to get sick on the bus so you can lovingly rub my back for ten minutes."

"You're gonna make yourself sick from nerves?" You roll your eyes. "You? Yeah, sure. I'll believe that for sure. And lovingly? Dude, he was gonna throw up. Physical touch grounds people when they're anxious."

He sighs, draping his arms around you. "Fine. You were really good with Shouyo. I'm proud of you."

"Proud of me?"

"Yeah. You know, the flu thing."

Oh. Yeah. You guess you didn't really get too anxious talking about your family or anything. You shrug. "Thanks, I guess. It didn't feel good."

"But you did a really good job. Marry me?"

You huff and bump your head against his shoulder. "Let me run the numbers... Maybe if you ask another eight hundred and seventy-four times."

"I can do that."

You're starting to worry that he actually can.

Tags: @deeplightgarden @idonthaveanameideayet @dusstory @kazunish

[gleamingtempest]

Chapter 1 Part 2 - DRDT Death Game By Majority [Vote]

Trust Points & Statuses X/30

Charles 5/20 Despondent

Eden 15 Focused

Xander 0 Despondent

Hu 13 Focused

Nico 10 Focused

Levi 15 Focused

Whit 10 Relaxed

Teruko 8 Focused

Arei 3 Turbulent

Veronika 6 Relaxed

Arturo 3 Focused

Stress Points X/30

Charles 28

Eden 24

Xander 28

Hu 22

Nico 25

Levi 25

Whit 21

Teruko 24

Arei 23

Veronika 22

Arturo 24

Group Relations

Leader: Hu

Focused: Eden, Hu, Nico, Levi, Teruko, Arturo

Turbulent: Arei

Relaxed: Whit, Veronika

Hu, Arei, Nico & Arturo dislike Xander

Charles likes Whit

Exploration Pairs

Whit & Charles

Hu & Eden

Teruko & Nico

Arei & Levi

Veronika & Arturo

Xander

Exploration

Whit & Charles bond [+1/3 Bond] [-1 Stress]

Hu & Eden bond [+1/3 Bond] [-1 Stress]

Teruko & Nico bond [+1/3 Bond] [-1 Stress]

Arei & Levi bond [+1/3 Bond] [-1 Stress]

Veronika & Arturo bicker [-1/3 Bond] [+1 Stress]

Xander grieves [-1 Stress]

The group begins finding strange cards scattered throughout the facility. None of them share this.

Cage Trap

Hu & Eden investigate the cage trap room

Hu Roll: 19[-1] Mental

Eden Roll: 2[-1] Mental

Eden falls into the cage trap

Hu takes on the cage trap challenge

Roll: 5[-1] Physical

Hu fails & both become trapped in the cage room

Luck Roll: 11

Veronika & Arturo find Hu & Eden trapped in the cage trap room

Veronika pressures Arturo into taking on the challenge, stating that he'll die if he doesn't start gaining trust. [-1/3 Bond]

Roll: 12[-1] Physical

Arturo saves Eden & Hu [+1 Trust]

Mirror Puzzle

Teruko & Nico find the mirror puzzle room

Teruko challenges the puzzle

Roll: 9[+1] Mental

Teruko solves the mirror room puzzle [+1 Trust] [-1 Stress]

Teruko & Nico bond [+1/3 Bond] [-1 Stress]

The bars on floor 2 are unlocked

Laptop Discussion

Nico shares the laptop with Teruko, Whit, Xander & Charles

Teruko tries to break into the laptop

Roll: 9[+1] Mental

Teruko fails to break into the laptop

Whit tries to break into the laptop

Roll: 1

Whit slips up and reveals that he's intentionally trying to fail

Teruko sees Charles pick up a card

Red Room

Teruko & Nico investigate the red room

Teruko challenges the red room

Roll: 17[+3] Mental

Teruko solves the red room puzzle [+1 Trust] [-1 Stress]

Teruko & Nico bond [+1/3 Bond] [-1 Stress]

Teruko & Nico like each other

Teruko & Nico discover half a victory rate sheet

Kitchen

Arei & Levi find the kitchen unlocked

Arei takes the knife from the kitchen [-1 Trust]

Arei becomes focused

Levi reprimands Arei & Arei berates Levi [-1/3 Bond Both] [+1 Stress Both]

Black Room

Arei & Levi investigate the black room

Roll: 11[-2] Mental

Arei & Levi find half of a victory rate sheet

Final Moments

Xander & Teruko reconcile [+3/3 Bond] [-2 Stress]

Xander begins healing

Hu & Eden bond

Veronika pesters Arturo [-1/3 Bond] [+1 Stress]

Arturo dislikes Veronika

Arei, Levi & Nico wander

The main game begins

Main Game

Preliminary Discussion

5 Minutes

Disc. Leader: Hu

Roll: 17[+1] Control

Hu moderates the discussion well [+1 Trust]

Charles is unable to participate

Veronika speculates

Roll: 1[+3] Mental

Veronika makes no discoveries

10 Minutes

Roll: 4[-1] Control

The discussion devolves into chaos [+1 Stress]

15 Minutes

Disc. Leader: Eden

Roll: 17[+1] Control

Eden moderates the discussion well [+1 Trust]

Nico speculates

Roll: 3[+1] Mental

Nico makes no discoveries

20 Minutes

Roll: 9[+1]

Eden moderates the discussion well [+1 Trust]

Teruko speculates

Roll: 11[+1] Mental

Teruko discovers the Arei took the knife [-1 Trust] [-1/3 Bond]

Levi backs up this testimony [-1/3 Bond]

Arei dislikes Levi

25 Minutes

The group debates this claim

Roll: 6 Trust

The group doesn't believe Teruko & Levi [-1 Trust]

30 Minutes

Roll: 2[+1] Control

The discussion devolves into chaos [+1 Stress]

35 Minutes

Discussion Leader: Xander

Roll: 2[-1] Control

The discussion devolves into chaos [+1 Stress]

The prelim discussion reaches it's halfway point

Xander, Nico, Levi & Arturo become turbulent [+1 Stress]

Arturo & Xander become despondent

40 Minutes

Disc. Leader: Arei

Roll: 13[-1] Control

Arei moderates the discussion well

Teruko speculates

Roll: 13[+1] Mental

Teruko discovers that Charles took the sacrifice card

Nico backs up her testimony

45 Minutes

The group debates this claim

Roll: 13 Trust

The group believes Teruko [+2 Trust]

The group believes Charles has the sacrifice card

50 Minutes

The final 20 minutes of prelim discussion arrive

Roll: 5[-1] Control

The discussion devolves into chaos [+1 Stress]

Eden, Teruko & Veronika become turbulent [+1 Stress]

Nico & Levi become despondent

55 Minutes

Disc. Leader: Veronika

Roll: 12[-3] Control

Veronika leads the discussion well [+1 Trust]

Teruko speculates

Roll: 19[+1] Mental

Teruko discovers that Whit is hiding information related to the laptop & that he went missing during the final moments before the main game

Nico backs this testimony up

Whit confesses to this being the truth

60 Minutes

The group debates this claim

Roll: 7 Trust

The group doesn't believe Nico, Whit or Teruko [-1 Trust]

65 Minutes

The group discusses which 4 will be voted, ignoring the 5th candidate which is assumed to be the sacrifice by default.

The candidates chosen are based on trust.

Arturo, Arei, Veronika & Xander are chosen

Arei & Arturo debate this choice

Time runs out

Preliminary vote

Role Discussion

5 Minutes

Xander claims commoner

Veronika claims keymaster

Arei claims keymaster

Arturo claims keymaster

Whit is silent

10 Minutes

The group debates the identity of the sage

Group Roll: 6 Mental

The group decides Whit is the sage

15 Minutes

Whit does not claim a keymaster

The group debates the identity of the sacrifice

Roll: 12 Mental

The group decides Xander told the truth about being a commoner

20 Minutes

The group agrees to vote for Xander who has the lowest risk of being the sacrifice

Whit makes a desperate claim about being an insider for the death game who will disrupt the groups harmony

Roll: 8[+3] Trust

Roll: 14 Mental

Nico, Teruko, Arei, Veronika & Arturo don't believe Whit.

Eden, Hu & Levi believe Whit

Xander claims that Whit is the sacrifice

Victim Vote

The floormaster reveals the roles

ROLES

Keymaster: Veronika

Sage: Arei

Sacrifice: Whit

Xander is chosen as the victim & Whit is the sacrifice

Whit reveals that he took Charles sacrifice card while he was in his triggered state

Whit tells the group to look for the laptop [-3 Stress]

Whit gives Charles a final plea [-2 Stress]

WHIT's heart is filled with clamps which slowly tighten. Eventually, his heart is crushed. [+2 Stress]

Whit Young expires.

Xander gives the entire group a final speech, pleasing for them to escape.

XANDER is executed via electrocution. He is fried beyond recognition. [+2 Stress]

Xander Matthews expires

Teruko goes into mourning [+1 Stress]

Charles goes into mourning [+1 Stress]

The remaining group is relieved [-5 Stress]

Xander Matthews was chosen as a victim.

Whit Young was sacrificed.

9 Remain

[flagwars]

Video Game Flag Wars: Round 1

Now that the National Pride Fusion Flag Wars has ended, we can return to the Video Game Flag Wars! The prelims decided which flag would represent each series, so now the tournament contains one flag per series. This does not include mods and fangames, as there are multiple flags from Hearts of Iron mods and Roblox games in the tournament. As there are so many flags even after the prelims, there will be 32 polls in the first round rather than the usual 16. Let me know what flag you want to win! See the brackets below.

Round 1:

1. Crimson Cult Banner (Thaumcraft) vs. Flag (Roblox BedWars) vs. Salmon Run Flag (Splatoon)

2. Unnamed Flag (Lego City Undercover) vs. Atlantic Federation (Valkyria Chronicles) vs. Homestead Banner (Palia)

3. Middle Eastern Alliance (Squad) vs. Shadowkin (Raid: Shadow Legends) vs Bilge Rat Adventures Flag (Sea of Thieves)

4. Saker’s Flag (Fable) vs. Novistrana (Republic: The Revolution) vs. Arstotzka (Papers, Please)

5. San Andreas (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas) vs. Kirin Tor Offensive Banner (World of Warcraft) vs. Alliance of Galactic Travelers (No Man’s Sky)

6. Black Revolt (Kaiserredux) vs. Aquileian Republic (Supremacy) (Equestria at War) vs. Rescue Corps Flag (Pikmin 4)

7. Tropico (Tropico) vs. Sons of Liberty (Metal Gear Solid 2) vs. Commune of Revachol (Disco Elysium)

8. Mawkin Flag (Metroid: Dread) vs. Calchaqui (Europa Universalis 4) vs. Kazan Military Okrug (Thousand-Week Reich)

9. King Dedede’s Flag (Kirby: Triple Deluxe) vs. Meat Flag (Slime Rancher) vs. Flag of the Crown (Cult of the Lamb)

10. Communist Australia (Victoria II) vs. Delian League (Imperator: Rome) vs. Ominous Banner/Illager Banner (Minecraft)

11. Patagonian Worker’s Front (Kaiserreich) vs. Castle Siege (Super Smash Bros.) vs. Yara (Far Cry 6)

12. Stag Beetle Flag (Animal Crossing: New Leaf) vs. Fortnite (Fortnite) vs. Livonia (Arma)

13. Gaul Úr (Red Flood) vs. Strong Badia (Homestar Runner) vs. Super Earth (Helldivers)

14. Alam Melayu (Rise of Nations (Roblox)) vs. Tiki Tak Tribe (Donkey Kong Country Returns) vs. Sea Slide Galaxy (Super Mario Galaxy)

15. Great Lakes Government (Kalterkrieg: Shadow of the Weltkrieg) vs. Principality of Kemerovo (The New Order: Last Days of Europe) vs. Joker Banner (Balatro)

16. Shadow Isles Clash Banner (League of Legends) vs. Rebel Corps, Phantom Thieves Version (Persona 5 Tactica) vs. Antarctica (3D Atlas (1996))

17. Generic Flag (Roblox) vs. Standing Flag (Dragon Blade RPG (Roblox)) vs. Zhu Xi's Legacy (Age of Empires 4)

18. Kitakami (Pokémon Scarlet and Violet) vs. South California (Cyberpunk 2077) vs. Watchers (Overwatch)

19. Avalar (Spyro the Dragon) vs. Union of American People's Republics (Red World) vs. Grey Warden Heraldry (Dragon Age: Inquisition)

20. Eusan Nation (Signalis) vs. Aurelia (Ace Combat) vs. Outer Wilds Ventures (Outer Wilds)

21. Columbia (Bioshock Infinite) vs. Sickle Moon Flag (Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker) vs. Eggmanland (Sonic Unleashed)

22. The Allied Nations (Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3) vs. The Rebellion (Just Cause 3) vs. Federation of the Americas (Call of Duty: Ghosts)

23. Great Lake Revolutionary Council (Extremis Ultimis) vs. Courland (Empire: Total War) vs. Columbia (Crimson Skies)

24. Pontiac Province (Judgement Day: Aftermath of the Red Flood) vs. Communist Iberia (Hearts of Iron IV) vs. International Workers' Armed Forces (Krasnacht: Twilight of the Gods)

25. New California Republic (Fallout) vs. Deep Hollow Valley (Night in the Woods) vs. Victory Flag (Fall Guys)

26. Zheng Fa (Ace Attorney) vs. Golden Deer Banner (Fire Emblem: Three Houses) vs. Warbanner (Risk of Rain 2)

27. Blue Flag (Halo: Combat Evolved) vs. Wario’s House (WarioWare) vs. American Collective (Twilight of the Anthropocene)

28. Niflheim (Final Fantasy XV) vs. Republic of America (Dustborn) vs. American Empire (Pax Britannica)

29. Corvus (Dead Ahead (Roblox)) vs. Banner of the First Fleet (Monster Hunter)

30. Fillydelphia Contingent (Balefire Blues) vs. Federation of Anrakan Isles (Suzerain)

31. Yartar (Baldur’s Gate 3) vs. Hurons (American Conquest)

32. Falkreath Hold (Skyrim) vs. Assassin Jolly Roger (Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag)

[green-nerd-showdown]

WHO HAS A SECURED SPOT IN THE BRACKET?!

(doing this due to the ea app)

With the form officially closed! Barely half of the contestants make the cut. And here they are. (Under the cut)

BTW! tags #polls

#green nerd rambles

6 submissions

pidge from voltron

Riz Gukgak from Dimesion 20: fantasy high

5 submissions

3. Jonathan Sims, the magnus archives

4 submissions

4. Donatello from TMNT 5. The riddler from Gotham 6. Chihiro Fujisaki from Danganronpa 7. Marina Ida from Splatoon

3 submission

8. Peridot from Steven Universe 9. Plankton from Spongebob 10. Futaba Sakura from persona 5 11. Cilan from Pokemon 12. Jade Harley from Homestuck 13. Izuku Midoriya from MHA 14. N.Brio from Crash Bandicoot 15. Ralsei from deltarune

we have 26 contestants. Meaning only 11 of those can join. Why you may ask

BECAUSE SOME ARE ALREADY AUTO ADDED! 6 CHARACTERS WILL GET AUTO ADDED! AND THOSE ARE THE FELLAS ON MY BANNER (PLUS SKALMAN), EXCEPT FOR GONTA, NO ONE SUBMITTED GONTA :(

MEET THE LUCKY 6 (they all had 2 submissions)

16. Geronimo Stilton from Geronimo Stilton 17. Harvey from Stardew Valley 18. Milo James Thatch from Atlantis the Lost Empire 19. Blathers from Animal Crossing 20. ignatz victor from Fire Emblem: Three Houses 21. Skalman from Bamse (he is from a swedish kids comic, basically like the swedish Calvin and Hobbes)

AND WE ARE HAVING OUR FIRST PRELIM TODAY! As another chance for me to be petty. A jojo character is joining. I had to. I made a presentation about the creator when i was 13 so i basically sold my soul to have anything contain a jojo reference.

Prelim adds!

22. Jobin Higashikata from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure 23. Basil Mouse from the Great Mouse Detective 24. N from pokemon

[animemusicbrackets]

Vocaloid Song Showdown!!: Prelims Part C

Please listen to the songs before voting!

"Electric Angel (Giga-P Arrangement)" by Yasuo-P and Giga-P; feat. Kagamine Rin & Len

"Doctor=Funk Beat" by nyanyannya; feat. KAITO (with maimie, Shindou Gaku, Amaoto Junca, and Dashio)

"Children Record" by Jin; feat. IA

"World is Mine" by ryo; feat. Hatsune Miku

"Love Me, Love Me, Love Me" by Kikuo; feat. Hatsune Miku

[characterswithcolorsnamesfight]

Propaganda for General Prelim Poll 19

(Vote here)

Amber (Rune Factory) :

No propaganda yet

Lal Song (Star Trek) :

"Ok so Lal is technically named for the hindu word for beloved or darling according to the encyclopedias but as an Indian this word also doubles in many Indian languages as a word for red or ruby. Propaganda: she's created and tragically dies in the span of an episode and her own father, Data, an android, can't properly mourn for her and makes artwork of her and misses her :(. "

The Indigo Man (The Graveyard Book) :

"he's very creepy and very sad"

Momomiya Ichigo (Tokyo Mew Mew) :

"The momo part in her family name means pink/peach"

Rosey the Robot (The Jetsons) :

No propaganda yet

Garret Redmond (Big Sky Country) :

"basically a hallmark movie villain. he wants to buy the family farm for his big multi-million dollars enterprise and he's an evil capitalist"

Kuro (Somato Kuro) :

"黒 means black and it is both the title of the manga and the cat."

Kurokawa Akane (Oshi no Ko) :

"Akane means "madder" (as in the shade of red dye) and Kurokawa means "black river""

Grey (Nui!) :

"Nui! is a Toy Story like story about plushies, if they are loved enough they come to life. If they are loved even more they can become human for a short while. Those with living plushies know that they are alive and tend to bring them everywhere, or the plushies will do it themselves. It's an really adorable manga but doesn't shy away from dark subjects."

[silly-name-tourney]

Silly Name Tournament General Prelims #19

top 3 get in!

[mattapparentlystumbltourneys]

CUTTING ROOM THROWDOWN - PRELIMS 19

Propaganda below:

Hunter (Beta) propaganda:

The show went through a lot of changes before becoming what it was, for Hunter in particular, it looked as if he was going to be a very different character to the one we ended up with, shown here working alongside Luz even before she met Eda the Owl Lady. (If you're not familiar with the series, then the canon version of Hunter starts out as an antagonist who eventually defect to the heroes side later in the series)

Nanako Dojima propaganda:

Because Nanako is so cute <3 She's one of the best characters in persona 4 and this model implies that she was meant to be included as a (maybe playable) character in persona 5 as well. This is exciting because Nanako is a young child in the first game, and a preteen in this new model. Getting to see her grow up properly would have been so fun.

[clarabowmp3]

hi besties I need some advice. So there’s this university I applied to in the early admissions cycle and when I got the invitation they said that if I was “not shortlisted in this cycle, I could apply again in the regular admissions cycle.”

After applying I was shortlisted for interview for one of the uni’s scholar programmes I applied to (the degree I applied to doesn’t have an interview, that’s only for scholarships/scholar programmes etc) and I had my interview one day after the regular admissions cycle opened.

it’s been one week since the regular admissions cycle opened and I haven’t heard anything from them, and I’ve only got a little less than 3 weeks until the regular admissions cycle also closes. No where in their email did they state how/when they would inform if I’ve been accepted/rejected from the uni or the scholars programme I applied to, so now my dilemma is:

Do I just take it that I’ve been rejected from both the uni and scholar programme by default? My interview wasn’t the best so I get it if I’m being rejected from the scholars programme but I should at least get into the uni?? Cuz like why would they go through the effort of shortlisting me for the scholars prog if I wasn’t even going to be accepted into the uni? And also if my grades/essays were good enough to get me shortlisted for the scholars prog surely they would be good enough to get me accepted for my degree??? (Early admissions is based on prelim grades and I literally got only 1 B in a subject that’s so unrelated to the course I’m applying for)

do I email them to ask? My parents think I should but that’s just generally stressful and not a fun time for anyone but also I feel like it’s basic decency to let me know if I’ve been accepted/rejected, esp since the regular admissions are ongoing? Since they said I could reapply in the regular cycle that sort of implies that I would know their decision by then, but also my interview for the scholars programme was one day after the regular cycle opened and idk how long they’ll take to make their decision but also their regular cycle closed on 19 March???? So what then?????????

pls help if anyone has any nuggets of wisdom, I’m kind of peeved w this uni cuz it’s pretty good but also I think it should be basic decency to tell me if I’ve been accepted or not esp since the regular cycle is open, or at the very least say smth like “if you don’t hear from us by this date, your application might have been unsuccessful” and on top of that THEY know when they’re done processing my application, I don’t, so why should I have to email them?? If they’ve come to a decision they can tell me!! I’m just shooting in the dark here w my email shxnxkkxkx

[fictional-library-tournament]

Polls masterlists

Prelims round 1

Four polls a day, each open for a day. This post will provide links to them and also give their status. If I've got my timings right, the last of these should end midnight GMT on the 9th December.

Poll 1 completed!

Winner: Junior Woodchucks Guidebook, Guardians of the Lost Library by Don Rosa

Poll 2 completed!

Winner: Endless Athenaeum, Critical Role – Campaign 1: Vox Machina

Poll 3 completed!

Winner: Noumenon, Final Fantasy XIV

Poll 4 completed!

Winner: Kiersau Abbey Library, Pentiment

Poll 5 completed!

Winner: Neo-Gotham Public Library, Batman Beyond

Poll 6 completed!

Winner: Downing Hill Public Library, Hello from the Hallowoods by William A Wellman

Poll 7 completed!

Winner: Mrs Phelps' library, Matilda by Roald Dahl

Poll 8 completed!

Winner: Sazed's Copperminds, Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

Poll 9 completed!

Winner: ART's archives, The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

Poll 10 completed!

Winner: Bag End library, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien

Poll 11 completed!

Winner: Sunai, The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Cando

Poll 12 completed!

Winner: Merlin's Library, The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne

Poll 13 completed!

Winner: The Scholomance Library, A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

Poll 14 completed!

Winner: The Thunderhead, Arc of a Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Poll 15 completed!

Winner: The Black Archives, Doctor Who

Poll 16 completed!

Winner: Vault of Knowledge, Sky: Children of the Light

Poll 17 completed!

Winner: SCP-4001 "Alexandria Eternal", SCP Foundation

Poll 18 completed!

Winner: Death's library, The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett

Poll 19 completed!

Winner: The Lines Between, Dimension 20: Neverafter

Poll 20 completed!

Winner: Justice Strauss' library, A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket

Poll 21 completed!

Winners: The Library, Clue/Cluedo; The Incorruptible Republic of the Immortal Library of the Grand Architect (aka The Incorruptible Library), Girl Genius