#preliminaries 5

[randomrottmntscreenshots]

[relatableblorbopoll]

Round 1 of preliminaries, group 11

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

Mae Borowski (Night in the Woods)

"Spoilers! She's a college dropout in her early twenties, who suffers from untreated mental illness and dissociation and had a complete breakdown at college, causing her to come home. Now she's living with her parents again, but life in her dingy little hometown went on without her. Her friends are adults now - in a relationship and planning on moving to the big city, or having to waste away in a dead end job instead of following their dreams. Mae is the only one without a new adult role in life. She's not great with people either - she's blunt and often doesn't think things through, and in many ways just doesn't get the world of adults. She's also prone to petty crimes and general anarchy. She's kind of lost and purposeless, and trying to find meaning in life by desperately clinging to the past. Her decision to drop out of college probably saved her life, but it's also put her family in a tough financial situation and is viewed by most people as her just thoughtlessly doing whatever she wants. She's also kind of shamed a lot about not having a job or other productive role in life, despite the fact that her untreated mental issues are actually disabling for her. She also plays the bass real bad. Anyway, i love Mae a lot. Playing this game as a college dropout in my early twenties, sitting in my childhood bedroom in my mom's attic, back in my dingy little hometown, desperately missing my old friends who have all moved on to better, resposible things in life... yeah, it felt like the game was pointing dead at me. Given tumblr's general demographic, i figure i must not be completely alone in this"

Shigeo Kageyama / Mob (Mob Psycho 100)

"autistic. likes milk. if we reach a certain level of emotion we turn into a psychic bomb. cool brothers :)"

Barry the Quokka (The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog)

"Their only skill is working the microwave, they're non-binary, when seeing a trash bin their first instinct is to look through it, they're always the most normal person in the room, they can beatbox, and they were only hired due to being the only one who applied."

Kaveh (Genshin Impact)

"In a fantasy world, be a guy with a regular profession losing his goddamn mind. Poor guy has a guilt complex, (so true) and a lot of deep embarrassment regarding his life.(ehe) He just wants to do what he's passionate about but capitalism is evil and also he keeps getting scammed. Claims to not want anyone to know Things, goes into depth about these Things anyway. Is probably most definitely gay. Can be found face down on a table lamenting his fate. Terrible sleep schedule. (HA) He is such a guy. Wants to believe the world is a good place and people are inherently good. And wants to help people and do good himself. It's just hard. [And he has a roommate. Oh my god he has a roommate]"

"He was, and still is, regarded a genius. He aced his Akademiya days, he has the admiration and appreciation of so many people because he is oh-so remarkable. But what for, when reality is that he sits at home depressed and with guilt consuming him, faking the image people have of him, not only broke as fuck but actually in debt, drowning his sorrows in wine."

Yusuke Kitagawa (Persona 5)

"highschooler who wants to spend the rest of his life doing what he loves. is obsessed with art and beauty and it's on his mind 24/7 received help from his now friendgroup to break from his abusive foster father who he still have complicated feelings with had to move into school dorms and am struggling to live independantly since he'd rather spend money and time on his art but he's still surviving and enjoying the good times id say also ends up saying whatever is on his mind and is pretty eccentric. very passionate about what he loves. doesn't want to do anything else."

Nanami Kento (Jujutsu Kaisen)

"Ex-salaryman, now jujutsu sorcerer. During one life-and-death fight, kept talking about how it was almost six pm with is when he is getting off work at 6pm no matter what because he hates overtime. While his opponent repeatedly almost kills him. Normalest adult in this shonen anime. Teen MC: "Let's go all out!" Nanami: "No. Where moderate effort will suffice, use moderate effort." Some of his quotes from the anime: "I studied at Jujutsu Tech and one thing I learned is that Jujutsu Sorcerers are shit! Then I worked at your typical company and one thing I learned is that work is shit! If both are equally shit I'll take the one I'm more suited to." "You've faced several life-or-death situations, but that does not make you an adult. Finding more fallen-out hairs on your pillow, watching your favourite stuffed bread disappear from the convenience store... The accunulation of these little despairs is what makes a person an adult." "I don't praise or disparage anyone. I adhere to facts and judge on that basis. That's who I am. There was a time when I mistakenly believed society operated the same way." "

[thebrickinbrick]

Preliminary Gayeties, Part 5

Bossuet, though very drunk, preserved his equanimity.

He was seated on the sill of the open window, wetting his back in the falling rain, and gazing at his two friends.

All at once, he heard a tumult behind him, hurried footsteps, cries of “To arms!” He turned round and saw in the Rue Saint-Denis, at the end of the Rue de la Chanvrerie, Enjolras passing, gun in hand, and Gavroche with his pistol, Feuilly with his sword, Courfeyrac with his sword, and Jean Prouvaire with his blunderbuss, Combeferre with his gun, Bahorel with his gun, and the whole armed and stormy rabble which was following them.

The Rue de la Chanvrerie was not more than a gunshot long. Bossuet improvised a speaking-trumpet from his two hands placed around his mouth, and shouted:—

“Courfeyrac! Courfeyrac! Hohée!”

Courfeyrac heard the shout, caught sight of Bossuet, and advanced a few paces into the Rue de la Chanvrerie, shouting: “What do you want?” which crossed a “Where are you going?”

“To make a barricade,” replied Courfeyrac.

“Well, here! This is a good place! Make it here!”

“That’s true, Aigle,” said Courfeyrac.

And at a signal from Courfeyrac, the mob flung themselves into the Rue de la Chanvrerie.

[its-to-the-death]

Villain Song Showdown Preliminary Round #12

Top two will make it into the bracket

Songs below the cut

Jaws theme - Villain: Jaws

Actually It's Commander Tartar's Theme - Villain: Commander Tartar

See My Vest - Villain: Mr. Burns

JUSTICE - Villain: Dan Masamune

Spinnin' Around - Villain: Asakura Takashi

Like a Virgin - Villain: The Duke/Harold Zidler

I've Had Enough of You - Villain: Fantoccio

The Executioner - Villain: Bernkastel

Throw Away Your Mask - Villain: Maruki

[polycule-playoff]

Goro Akechi & Yusuke Kitagawa

[camelspit]

hii ok so im thinking of doing the best keeper character tournament again this year, and if i have preliminary rounds (which would result in about 36-40 characters remaining) would you guys be interested in doing portraits again?

[long-fic-tournament]

I have to cut 10 fics, so I’m doing two polls of 10 for the 20 lowest word count fics, and progressing the 5 most voted for fics of each poll onto the tournament. All word counts are accurate as of submission to the tournament.

Link to the other poll

*Full name: Amnesia and Deleted Scenes: The Art of Selective Editing in Film and Memory

Propaganda and links below the cut.

1) Dear Advice Guy - All For The Game

No propaganda

2) first step (series) - Persona 5

GAHHH This series is just. So good. The bulk of it is in the first book, but the second one is a nice little aftermath. Despite the content warnings and stuff, it's like... really wholesome? I had a lot of fun reading it. It's very relatable. I've never seen a better fic. It's paced well and the palace seems like it'd come straight out of persona itself. I can plausibly see it in the game! Extremely well written. And it covers both Akechi and the protags traumas and issues... so good.

3) Devil’s Horns - LEGO Ninjago

Good (angst)

4) dog at the door - 3rd life SMP and Hermitcraft

Of all the fics I’ve read, it’s one of the ones that feels closest to a novel. It’s an exploration of grief, forgiveness, and friendships. It uses symbolism masterfully. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve reread it.

5) Amnesia and Deleted Scenes: The Art of Selective Editing in Film and Memory - Community

No propaganda

6) What the Cat Dragged In - Marvel and Miraculous Ladybug crossover

The best crossover I've ever read. The best Miraculous Ladybug fic I've ever read. Maybe even the best Marvel fic I've ever read. This fic seamlessly combines the two canons to really make them feel like one world, and it has top notch character writing and pacing too.

7) there are many downsides to being a marine biologist - 3rd life, Last Life SMP, and Hermitcraft

fis

8) Oh, Hey There, Mister Blue - MCU: Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor

The Guardians of the Galaxy and Loki. Need I say more

9) Solving Counting Sheep - Evolution SMP

Exploration of personhood and humanity. Main character uses it/it's and this is proof that it is an individual. Made me cry as a trans person.

10) A Complete Kingdom - Supernatural

CHANGED MY LIFE FR. creepy and tragic and surreal and beautifully written. near single-handedly changed what i like to read AND what i like to write

[hot-take-tournament]

HOT TAKE TOURNAMENT

PRE-PRELIMINARY #19

Submission 55

Tohru Adachi is a better character than Goro Akechi

[SUBMITTED JUSTIFICATION UNDER THE CUT]

Pre-preliminaries will be used to determine what qualifies as a hot take. Propaganda is encouraged!

Also, remember to reblog your favourite polls for exposure! (exposure like when your exposed to critical levels of radiation)

They're both terrible people but P4 doesn't try to justify Adachi's actions even if you pick the accomplice ending and side with him, meanwhile P5 constantly goes 'but he was sad tho :( his daddy doesn't love him so he's allowed to kill ppl' after the reveal that Akechi's the traitor. Also I did the math and in the cutscene where the train gets derailed alone Akechi killed at least 100x more people than Adachi did in the entire game. There's nothing wrong with liking evil characters (IMO) but acting like they're sweet innocent babies is lame

Adachi and Akechi have similar roles in the story. They’re both the subject of the main mystery of their respective games, the killer and the traitor, and in order to hide their involvement, they have fake detective personas (lowercase p personas not Personas). The issue is that while Adachi’s fake personality is a lovable dork who goofs off work by hanging out in the lobby of a department store, “accidentally” leaks critical information about the case to a bunch of teenagers, and has a weird friendship with an old lady who thinks he’s her son, Akechi's is just generic “crime bad, criminals bad” detective man with zero substance to any of his interactions with the main cast outside of literally all of them fucking hating him (the correct and morally right response to Akechi talking to you). But that’s just their fake personalities, right? It’s totally fine for a completely false, constructed persona to be a little shallow, right? Well Akechi’s real personality is just as bad. I already mentioned how his entire motivation is “Waah my dad doesn’t love me so I’m gonna help him achieve his goals then kill him” which is completely fucking stupid by the way just kill the dude and be done with it if thats what you’re gonna do anyway man, but his personality boils down to ‘generic angsty villain whos gonna get a completely undeserved redemption arc’ (thankfully cognitive Akechi killed him before that could happen, the one good thing he did and it wasn’t even really him). Adachi’s real personality is completely unhinged, his big motivation speech can be summed up as “ACAB!” “But you’re a cop!?” YEAH AND I’M A TOTAL BASTARD WHAT PART OF THAT DON’T YOU GET!?” You love to hate him, and that’s what makes a good antagonist, not feeling sorry for him because his dad doesn’t love him. Guess what Akechi, a lot of people's dads don’t love them and none of them became domestic terrorists to try to regain his love and respect!

And you might think that I’m exaggerating with how the player is supposed to sympathise and eventually forgive Akechi, but after he explains his awful motivation, the first person to extend a hand of sympathy is Haru, the girl who’s father Akechi murdered in front of her like two months prior. The second person is Futaba, who spent her entire adolescence traumatised because she thought she was such a shitty daughter that it drove her mother to suicide BECAUSE AKECHI KILLED HER MOTHER IN FRONT OF HER (the dude’s consistent I’ll give him that.)

[whos-hotter-jjba]

Preliminary Match - Pick your Favorite Polnareff

[lonestarflight]

Concept art of the Saturn C-1, the Saturn C-5, and the proposed Nova.

Note: "the early designs for the Saturn rockets each have an additional stage that was omitted on the production vehicles. The Marshall Space Flight Center directed studies of Nova configuration from 1960 to 1962 as a means of achieving a manned lunar landing with a direct flight to the Moon. Various configurations of the vehicle were examined, the largest being a five-stage vehicle using eight F-1 engines in the first stage. Although the program was effectively cancelled in 1962 when NASA planners selected the lunar-orbital rendezvous mode, the proposed F-1 engine was eventually used to propel the first stage of the Saturn V launch vehicle in the Apollo Program."

Date: April 11, 1962

NASA ID: 9902050

[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.

[popcornkwantum]

Thank you for the cookie! :D

Does this count as propaganda art? I think it does (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*.✧ @ultimatebabygirlsupremebattle

[mushroom-madness]

🍄 Pokémon Honorable Mentions 🍄

Given how Pokémon received so many submissions all over the board, I figured I’d make a little poll to show off all the pokés that got eliminated simply because of the 2 per source rule.

There may even be an opportunity for the winner 👀

Shroomish

(Included in submission with Breloom) “The only thing better than a little goofy mushroom man is a little goofy mushroom dinosaur. I rest my case.” - Submission 192

“Shroomish live in damp soil in the dark depths of forests. They are often found keeping still under fallen leaves. This Pokémon feeds on compost that is made up of fallen, rotted leaves.” - Pokémon Ruby Pokédex

“If Shroomish senses danger, it shakes its body and scatters spores from the top of its head. This Pokémon's spores are so toxic, they make trees and weeds wilt.” - Pokemon Sapphire Pokédex

Toedscool

“Have you seen the way it runs? Have you seen how its little legs flail around? If you haven't, I advise you look it up because it will change your life. As an extra fun fact, Toedscool is based on woodear fungi (several species of shelf fungi known is Japan as "wood jellyfishes", hence why its a combination of a fungus and Tentacool, a pokemon based on a Jellyfish.” - Submission 195

“Though it looks like Tentacool, Toedscool is a completely different species. Its legs may be thin, but it can run at a speed of 30 mph.” - Pokémon Violet Pokédex

Paras

“Crab with mushrooms on its back” - Submission 6

“Paras has parasitic mushrooms growing on its back called tochukaso. They grow large by drawing nutrients from this Bug/Grass Pokémon host. They are highly valued as a medicine for extending life.” - Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire Pokédex

“The mushrooms, known as tochukaso, are controlling the bug. Even if the bug bugs the mushrooms, they tell it to bug off.” - Pokemon Ultra Moon Pokédex

Parasect

“gods we fucking LOVE this funky little parasite. beloved” - Submission 117

“Definitely one of the mushrooms ever 👍” - Submission 124

“It stays mostly in dark, damp places, the preference not of the bug, but of the big mushrooms on its back.” - Pokemon Gold Pokédex

“The large mushroom on its back controls it. It often fights over territory with Shiinotic.” - Pokemon Sun Pokédex

Toedscruel

“It coils its 10 tentacles around prey and sucks out their nutrients, causing the prey pain. The folds along the rim of its head are a popular delicacy.” - Pokemon Violet Pokédex

Brute Bonnet

“It bears a slight resemblance to a Pokémon described in a dubious magazine as a cross between a dinosaur and a mushroom.” - Pokemon Violet Pokédex

Foongus & Brute Bonnet

(Included in submission with Amoonguss) “Not only are they mushrooms, but they're also covered in pokeball logos. Surely they get some credit for brand loyalty.” - Submission 194

Foongus

“There is a theory that the developer of the modern-day Poké Ball really liked Foongus, but this has not been confirmed.” - Pokemon Scarlet Pokédex

[its-to-the-death]

Glasses Swag Sequel Preliminary Round #14

Only one will make it into the bracket!

[polycule-playoff]

Makoto Niijima & Futaba Sakura

[magical-mascot-smackdown]

Best Precure Mascot: Preliminaries (2/5)

Find links to the other polls and the prelim rules here!