#the street brawls are also a plus. obviously.

[concord-and-cliches]

join majima construction and nothing will go wrong, probably!! it's definitely not the remnants of a recently dissolved yakuza family! and it's only like a 50/50 that your boss will make you defuse a bomb. don't worry about it. (from [x])

[5-7-9]

Personally, I think Harvey Dent should be compelled to boxing and guns because of toxic masculinity and fear/safety. Y’know America’s law about “the right to bear arms” and i bet his dad would have one, and he found it as a kid, and maybe he decided to teach him how to wield one. Anyways, i think he’d take up boxing before because it helps let out his stress, that’s why he’s always resorting to fists first. Plus plus, Twotwo must’ve gotten into street fights, with the whole bullying(?) and where he lives. Harvey wouldn’t hold the memories, but maybe his body would remember subconsciously.

Speaking of which, i know Harley can do gymnastics, but i’ve seen hardcore epic rollerblading so she’s seriously missing out on the potential of fighting on wheels. Might be hindering but its more fun that way.

There’s too many characters that I don’t believe can fight (Ives, Crane, Eddie) so I’m just gonna talk about the ones that can.

Selina isn’t a fighter, she’s a runner and escape artist, but she’s proficient in a whip and has claws to scratch. She can fight long enough for an opening.

Waylon could look really cool if he used a tail for stability and just whipped it at people, it also helps to distract by splashing water. He doesn’t need much skill since his strength is enough, but he just fully charges at people, and he bites.

Bane is obviously based after wrestling, but he’s had enough prison truffles that I bet he knows a thing or two about general brawling. I’m not sure his body can do it the same as before his huge honking muscles got in the way, but the skill is there. Also, he usually tries planning his fights in advance, he doesn’t take kindly towards unexpected attacks.

Talia obviously uses swords, but there’s lots of creative ways she can utilize it without killing. Plus, martial arts. Constant training smooths out her skills so she should be quick and look elegant and professional. She’s mostly been taught ways to kill and how to avoid getting killed, so she’d actually be surprised slightly against non lethal attacks.

Clayface doesn’t really have a style but i’ll give him points for generally having an ability that’s obscures people physically. Sometimes it’s creative, most times just throwing shit.

Sionis gets the usual mob boss, as in he knows his fucking guns. At least i think thats what mob bosses do, but i’m not sure.

Deathstroke is all professional, which means he has zero original style. He’s learned from the military and assassins so it’s your usual deadly fighter. He does wield dual swords for some reason? If it’s a katana again i will ignore it. Also i have no clue wtf a reverse grip is for so, i guess that’s something? Even if i don’t know what that something is??? He’s characterized as one of the best mercenaries, so i guess he’s physically unbeatable idk.

[agentgumsh0e]

hello!! how are you? i hope ure doing well! i know ur request box is closed but i need to drop this before i forgot so i apologize oh and i love ur writing so much omg its so cute!!

hmmm what do you think about night ride with yoru?? dont u think its kinda cute :) maybe can you make a scenario about it?

thank you and have a nice day!.

night ride (yoru x reader)

word count: 910+

warnings: none

notes: first and foremost, i know nothing about motorcycles lol. secondly, this is written pretending that the very remote island protocol is situated on has a city and that everyone living there is cool with protocol or at least thinks it’s something innocuous. also i headcanon that yoru can teleport with other people if he's holding on to them. that's all, bye <3

it was 1 am, and you were in your pajamas with a jacket pulled around you, following your boyfriend down the hall towards the exit door. he had woken you up with a text that read, ‘be ready in 30 minutes or i’ll drag you out of your bed. you’re riding with me on my motorcycle tonight.’ 

maybe you were still muddled by sleep, but for some reason, you complied.

“are you sure brimstone won't catch us?” you whispered, wary of waking up anyone as you passed through the hall. 

“psh, that geezer?” he turned slightly to give you a smirk. “he won't hear a thing.”

unconvinced, you bit your lip. “what about cypher’s security cams?”

“like cypher cares about what we do. if anyone asks him, i doubt he'll say shit.”

his words did little to soothe your nerves, and he could tell by the way you stayed silent. 

he took his hands out of his pockets and turned around, placing a comforting hand on your shoulder. “hey. calm it. i've got a gatecrash ready if we need it. besides, what's the worst he'll do? put us in the time-out corner? ground us?”

looking at his hand, you sighed. “i guess you're right.” 

he scoffed, the look on his face saying, ‘when am i not?’

finally, the two of you reached the exit door. you inhaled the crisp night air as yoru pushed open the door. 

���c’mon, put this on.” he threw you a helmet that went along with the bold colors of his motorcycle.

“uh…don't you need this? aren't you the one driving us?” 

he shrugged. “i don’t need it, so i don't wear it.”

squinting at him, you felt that there was another reason why he didn't wear it (besides wanting to seem “cool”): it messed up his hair. 

“you need it if you happen to lose your grip on me and fall off,” he said with a snicker. “with your clumsiness, i think you’ll need it more than me.”

you rolled your eyes and muttered under your breath, “i am not clumsy.”

he bumped you on his way to the motorcycle, and you dropped the helmet.

“you sure about that?”

he ignored your withering glare and mounted the bike, and you soon got comfortable behind him on the leather seat. you put your arms around his waist and molded yourself against his back. 

goosebumps rose on his neck at your breath, and especially at your proximity to him.

he could feel your rapid heartbeat against him, as well as the occasional shiver, and wondered if it was the night’s cold getting to you or if you were feeling the same rush that he did when you were near.

he took a deep breath and said, “hold on tight.”

and that was the only warning you got before you both raced off into the night.

the streets were empty, obviously because no one in their right minds would be awake right now, plus it was a small city. either way, it left the city as your personal raceway. 

it was mostly dark around you, with few shops or homes lit. your only lights were the street lamps to either side that whizzed by and the moon above you. 

despite the wind and the thundering noise of the motorcycle, you could make out yoru’s words as he spoke.

“i should take you to shibuya one day. it's much more lively there. lots of brawls too. you'd like it.”

you laughed, and he could feel the air on his neck. “already planning a future date with me, ryo-yo?”

he tensed at you saying his hated nickname and grumbled, “where’s the nearest store to crash into…” 

the two of you enjoyed the night breeze and the wind blowing around you, carrying your previous anxiety away. the hum of the motorcycle beneath you was comforting, but it was no match for the warmth from being latched onto your boyfriend.

and in what seemed like a blink of the eye, you were back at protocol.

hopping off the bike, you took off your helmet and fixed your wind-blown self. yoru took the helmet from your hands and secured his motorcycle. 

unlike yourself, yoru looked fine. you guessed that's what a lot of hair gel got you.

“wow,” yoru whistled, “you look like you've been in a tornado. is that a bug on your shirt—”

“shut up. you're the one driving at 100 miles per hour.”

he gave a careless shrug of his shoulders in response, flipping out his beloved butterfly knife as if his hair was even messed up. “hurry up unless you wanna get caught.”

with a shake of your head, you followed him inside and continued your banter. 

you absentmindedly passed the main room as you came down from the adrenaline rush of the ride (and the high you got when you were around yoru). though, someone clearing their throat in the adjacent room stopped the two of you in your tracks.

without even looking, it was unmistakably brimstone. “someone want to tell me what you two were just doing out?”

yoru cursed under his breath, the sound quite familiar to you. closing his eyes, he let out a deep breath through his nose. then, his eyes snapped to yours in a second. “hold on tight.”

you did what he said without a second thought. “what are you do—?” was all you could spit out before yoru thrust his arms out and you both were teleported away.

[starrysupercell]

Brawl Fantasy AU Part Four!

Max is a rapid-fire fairy. It's difficult trying to keep up with her through the streets of the Kingdom. Especially since Shelly wants to look around. She was so curious! Ash was steadfast focused on not losing track of the Fae.

Before too long, the Trio make it to the castle where they're greeted personally by (Lunar) Princess Piper De Prim. (She's a Sylph!)

She thanks them for finally arriving. She had expected correspondence, but perhaps their messenger bird had gotten lost along the way?

Shelly and Ash exchange looks. What? Was she expecting them-?

Piper continues. Nevertheless, the De La Prim Kingdom gives its heartfelt thanks as a whole. Taking a quick look over the two, she asks if they would like... showers, and then a late lunch to discuss the urgent matter at hand?

Ash accepts for the both of them quickly, because he feels very displeased with his current VERY unclean state. Plus it'd be rude to refuse an offer.

Shelly is about to complain, because they were rushed here and now it's suddenly not that big a deal anymore, but shrugs. I'm tired of cold river water and bland fish. Gimme that tub and fancy food.

They're shown to their very ornate rooms, and are greeted by the very enthusiastic Princess Colette, who Max sticks to most of the time.

Colette very often forgets to be ~regal~ most of the time and has to be reminded by Piper.

After her shower and getting half-dressed, Shelly accidentially falls asleep because she's so exhausted.

She's awoken by Ash suddenly. He tells her to get it together!! They're guests with an urgent warning, and Shelly is keeping the acting Royal waiting!! It's evening now! (Piper had been lenient, but Ash decided to steal away and wake Shelly.)

"I was sleepy," Shelly grumbles to defend herself but Ash has a point. The princess hastily gets ready and then heads down, joined by the knight.

Barley, Max and Colette are there. It's only this handful of folks, since it's a vital discussion. Colette is sat beside Piper. And the Knights stand/hover by the Royals. Max is at human-size now.

Shelly begins to apologize as they take their seats, but Piper waves it away. "It's time to talk about what you two came here for..."

Shelly nods. "The Dragon Attack," she confirms.

"About the Curse." Piper states at the same time.

Wait.

Piper puts down her glass and speaks first. "Pardon. You aren't here because I sent away for aid from the Vandete Kingdom?"

'-'

"No," Shelly said, feeling uneasy.

Colette and Max are puzzled. Barley simply thinks, '...Oh.' hides his relief.

After bracing herself, Shelly continues. "We trekked here because.. Dragons have attacked our Kingdom. We didn't get your message because there was no way for us to get it. But I'm sure that if we had gotten it, the Vandete Kingdom wouldn't have hesitated in supporting you."

Piper sighs. Still very displeased, but she finds reason in what Shelly is saying. Still. The fact that the message is still out there can lead to trouble if another Kingdom finds it.

Plus, she had just been told one of their strongest Allies have fallen. This couldn't have just been coincidence. This had to be sabatoge. or karma.

But as she's done often lately, she kept up her grace. "We appreciate your words. You seek advice on Dragons, is that right? What do you wish to know?"

The attacks are discussed, which Piper finds odd. Dragons are territorial, but never attack unprovoked. Most types also don't have a pack-mentality, unless still in Family Broods. Did somebody in the Kingdom wrong a pack of them?

No. This was countless Dragons. Different kinds. They wouldn't stop attacking. We didn't catch the end, but our kingdom was rubble.

"Oh, dear." Barley spoke up. Both he and Piper realized the situation. Colette looked just as confused as Shelly and Ash.

Piper looked concerned. "I'm afraid we cannot aid you. You see, what you just described are the signs of an attack led by an Overseer Dragon. That requires more resources to take care of than what our Kingdom can give in our current state.”

Ash is taken aback. He didn't expect that answer.

Shelly asks what exactly is the current state?

Without skipping a beat, Piper answers that it's none of Shelly's concern. Very professionally.

Shelly: We're the same class.

Piper: From manners alone, it's hard to tell.

Shelly: Excuse me Princess, We've done our fair share of travel to get here. We told you that our Kingdom lies in ruins which puts us at risk. You don't want to help us, and now you refuse your own show of faith and insult me. How is that for manners!?

Piper exhales very slowly. She repeats calmly that there’s no benefit to explaining herself. For this kingdom’s sake, it’s safer to keep their situation well-guarded until it’s guaranteed it can be fixed. It isn’t meant to be taken personally. She then adds an offer in the chance to stay as long as they want. For their troubles.

Shelly firmly states that they’ll take their leave in the morning.

Piper: ..Oh. I see. Nonetheless, the De La Prim Kingdom will always be open to you. U.U

Dinner is dismissed.

~

Much later that night, Shelly opens her door to roam castle when she’s stopped by Ash.

Ash: what d’ya think yer doin’ up, lassie!? ye can’t travel on a drop o’ sleep, can ya!? 

Shelly: What about you!? have you even slept at all!?

Ash defends themselves by declaring it’s her job as a knight, and it isn’t like there’s anyone else sworn to protect Shelly.

Shelly: well i don’t know why you’re still here. your stupid princess just cost us this kingdom’s good graces.

Ash hesitates at telling it how it is, but eh. screw it.  if she insists!

"Yeah, ye were dafty. we’re out o' shelter, and despite what the actin' royal says, I wouldn’t trust the promise o' being welcome. all this because YOU couldn’t keep yer pettiness in check."

gee, thanks. Shelly isn’t proud of herself atm already, and that definitely helped.

"...but i’d be fibbin' if I said I wouldn’t do the same. if i had a death wish, that’s the way i’d go, wipin' the floor clean with that sickeningly sweet look of hers! ...but ye didn’t hear that from me, Princess."

shelly and ash laugh over the thought, and shelly is like. well, you are right though. I guess i should go to sleep to leave in a few hours. but you should try to get some rest too.

Ash is about to answer when a third voice interjects.

“Aww! you know you guys don’t have to go in the morning!”

and a fourth.

“and at this rate, nobody in the castle will get any sleep, chatter-bugs!”

Colette and Max are there, giggling. Max is back to mini sized. (it’s her preferred form, but they were keeping guard earlier.)

Shelly and Ash are a little nervous because how much did she hear?

the younger princess handwaves it off. “Don’t worry about it. I... uh, I know how it looks like with Pi- with my sister, but please don’t be mad at her. she’s just really, really stressed."

"The truth is, somebody cursed the king and queen. they’re in a deep sleep, and we can’t find a way to break it. we have no leads and we don’t want to cause mayhem or attention to our plight.”

shelly and ash are suspicious. “and you’re telling us, because...?”

Max explains that she can sense emotions, so she knew that they were telling the truth.

Colette’s theory is that the Dragon attack and the Curse may have something in common.

The curse seems to have been done by a powerful Wizard, and the Kingdom attack could have been planned. If someone wants to take over, it seems like they're getting started.

so, if you solve one, you can solve the other.

Shelly and Ash are listening carefully.

"Obviously, I'm not allowed to leave. So... would you guys mind poking around for me based on that?? That would be REALLY helpful."

They.. agree, with some reluctance because of Piper. But if it is to stop someone from ruining more kingdoms, they're all for it.

"Great!! ....I have.. a theory. There's a kingdom that is stellar in um, wizards and magic stuff. I really think that's where you should go. Have you heard about the Grailams Kingdom?"

Shelly confirms it. Aside from the Ranger in the forest, she's heard countless tales of sorcery when she was growing up.

Colette gives them funds to travel comfortably. She also urges them to take Max along with them. Fairies are super helpful in many ways! And Max is the cream of the crop! Take her!

Shelly shrugs. "I guess. Won't they notice your Knight is missing?"

"It'll be fine!" Colette says dismissively. "Now I gotta go. Good night!!"

And she slinks away, stumbling a bit in her dress. How... weird.

Max smiles at them. "So! When are we heading out? Morning time right? I guess there's still time to kill. I'm just going to take a quick power nap." She darts into Shelly's room before she could be stopped.

"..."

Well, it makes sense why they're friends.

Shelly and Ash do settle in again for the night. They have a journey to continue tomorrow.

[gamex2020]

Dreamcast Fighting Games

   Top 10 Sega Dreamcast Fighting Games

The Sega Dreamcast is often regarded as a less important console than its peers, the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and Gamecube. However, if you were a fighting game fan, the Dreamcast was (and still is) the way to go.

There was a significant amount of support for Fighting Games On The Dreamcast. both through official releases and through controller support. The Dreamcast had more options for gamepads and fightsticks than any other console!

Plus, arcade games that ran on NAOMI hardware (a kind of arcade system board) were easily convertible to the Dreamcast, as both were manufactured by Sega. This means that ports from the arcade were almost perfectly 1:1��even for 3D games with cutting edge graphics. Sometimes, the Dreamcast’s graphics and sound would be even better than the cabinet.

Almost every single influential fighting game franchise has had at least one Dreamcast installment or port. In this article, we’re going to run through the top 10. There’s a perfect mix of hardcore, high-skill games and casually accessible romps with friends.

10. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future

If you’re already a fan of the wildly popular JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure manga and anime series, you’re definitely familiar with this game. Heritage for the Future, despite its awkward name, is a game built to please fans of the series. It has nearly every memorable character from “part 3” of the manga/anime, titled “Stardust Crusaders.”

Besides the fanservice, though, it’s a wonderful fighting game with fun mechanics. There’s a very unique “stand gauge,” which lets fighters take out their “stand,” which is a magical spirit that fights alongside them. It changes their move properties, but also makes them vulnerable; you can get put into a stunned state when you’re hit while your stand is out, and they also run out gradually.

Not every character has one, though, and there are some more “normal” characters if you want a simpler experience.

It’s worth playing even if you’re not a fan of the series, even just for the creative game mechanics and unique characters. No other fighting game has a character like Hol Horse or Dio, with his flashy time-stop super.

9. Guilty Gear X

If you were part of the fighting game community in the 2010s, you probably heard people talking about how great Guilty Gear was. It’s a franchise that went on hiatus for a long time, but in the early 2000s, Guilty Gear was hot. There’s a spectacular lineup of interesting and goofy characters. Each character has a well-stocked repertoire of extremely flashy moves; it’s much different than what you would see in games with a more grounded style.

Instead of having a gauge just for supers, X has the “tension gauge.” As the match goes on, characters can use the tension meter for super moves, counters, or an advanced technique called roman canceling. Roman cancels allow you to spend the meter to cancel attacks into others, allowing for combos that otherwise wouldn’t exist. This is similar to the FADC mechanic in Street Fighter 4, for readers familiar.X doesn’t have much in the way of single player content, so if that’s what you’re looking for, try another one of the entries in this list. What it does have, though, is some of the best visuals and gameplay out of any game on this list. The sprites in this game are of unmatched quality. (Except for later entries in the series, of course.)

8. Dead or Alive 2

This is a series known for its aesthetics and sex appeal, but when you strip all that away, the game is a great 3D fighter. During the Dreamcast era, DoA2 was considered a direct contender to Namco’s Soulcalibur and Tekken series. Not only were the graphics pristine, but it was one of the few fighting games on this list to focus on a realistic aesthetic. (Well, semi-realistic.) In many ways, DoA is a sister series to the critically acclaimed Virtua Fighter.

The foundation of this 3D fighter is an extremely heavy focus on the classic rock-paper-scissors dynamic. What sets DoA2 apart is the ability to use “holds,” even after getting hit; these act like parries and let you defend yourself in situations when you’re getting combo’d.

Quick throws also make this game play very defensively. It’s common for you and your opponent to circle each other looking for an opening. Moves are often unsafe, meaning if your opponent blocks, they can counter very quickly. Depending on your playstyle, this can be a blessing or a curse. Regardless, it’s unusual for a fighting game to have this much focus on defense, which makes it interesting and fun.

7. Project Justice (also known as Rival Schools 2)

Much like MvC2, Capcom took the 2v2 gameplay from the first Rival Schools game and turned it into a 3v3 game. There’s team-up attacks with two of your fighters, or all three. This is one of Capcom’s few forays into 3D fighters, alongside the Street Fighter EX series which came out around the same time.

The school-based setting with delinquents brawling it out over a classic shounen plot made this series a cult classic, even though it hasn’t been revisited in almost two decades. It’s considered a cult classic fighting game, which is already a genre mostly comprised of cult classics, outside of the Mortal Kombat juggernauts.

If you can get your hands on the Japanese version of the game (and have a translation document ready), give it a shot. There’s a character creation mode centered around a board game mode. The mode was never localized to any other language because of the amount of text it came with, but it’s the only fighting game with such a character creation system.

The first game did the character creation as a dating sim, if you’re into that. The gameplay is obviously more shallow, but it’s worth mentioning that the series as a whole had some pretty interesting ideas about how players can make characters.

6. Power Stone 2

The Power Stone series isn’t a traditional fighting game; it’s more of a 3D brawler with several characters in an arena perspective. Even though it’s very different from other games on this list, it has earned its spot. Flat out, it’s one of the best Dreamcast games period.

The first Power Stone was a one-on-one arena fighter that featured characters slugging it out with their bare fists and item pickups. Power Stone 2 ups the ante, with more weapons, more vehicles, and more characters. The game can be played with 4-players, making for awesome free-for-alls and tag-team matches, both in the single player mode and with your buddies.

It might not be as technical or skill-intensive as the other games on this list, but it’s just so much fun. There’s no juggling, no wall-combos, no two-frame combos and no complicated stick motions. Those aren’t necessary to make a game as simple and fun as this.

The formula has been attempted since by other companies, but never to as much critical acclaim. Power Stone 2 remains a favorite in college dorms everywhere. The cool college dorms, at least.

5. Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves

Although the company SNK isn’t as well known in America as they are overseas, Terry’s release as a DLC character for Smash Bros. Ultimate reminded the world how awesome the old school Neo Geo fighting franchises are.

Back in the Dreamcast days, SNK was hitting their stride. They didn’t have to develop exclusively for the Neo Geo anymore, meaning their franchises were able to reach a wider audience. King of Fighters went all over the place, to Xbox and PlayStation, but Garou was a heavy-hitter specifically for the Dreamcast.

Garou is the final game in the Fatal Fury series, which is adjacent to SNK’s other series King of Fighters. SNK brought many fighting games to the Dreamcast, but Garou stands out as a classic. Originally ported from the Neo Geo system, it’s been lauded as one of the greatest games made by its developer with an outstanding legacy.

You can also play the game on modern platforms. It’s been re-released on PS4, Vita, Xbox live Arcade, and PC (both through GOG and Steam).

4. SoulCalibur

For many people in the late ‘90s, Soulcalibur was the Dreamcast’s system seller. This 3D weapon-based fighter had some of the best graphics on the system and really accessible gameplay. Throw in some memorable characters and you’ve got an instant classic.

Because the game is centered around weapons and a 3D environment, the character playstyles are based more around their range and speed than anything else. Instead of having characters be defined as “zoners” and “rushdown” like in 2D franchises, Soulcalibur has a set of unique characters that are hard to classify.

Not only that, but Soulcalibur introduced the “8-way run” to the franchise, changing the series drastically from its Soul Blade roots. Movement became a lot more fluid and skill-intensive, adding an extra layer to the spacing and mix-ups already present in the game.

The gameplay elements in SoulCalibur transfer easily to the rest of the series, meaning this is a great entry point if you want to get into the franchise. SoulCalibur VI is on current generation consoles (and PC), but if you want to see where the franchise really exploded, check this one out.

3. Street Fighter Alpha 3

If Third Strike doesn’t suit your tastes, give Alpha 3 a shot. The Dreamcast version of the game has some more characters than the arcade version, and an extra single-player mode that the PlayStation version doesn’t have.

Alpha 3 features the unique “-isms” mechanic, which allows you to choose the way you want to play your character. A-ism gives your character several super moves and a three-bar gauge. X-ism gives you a single-bar gauge and a single super move, though it is more powerful than the ones you find in A-ism. V-ism gives your character more custom combo variety at the lack of super moves.

This game feels very different from others in the series due to air blocking and a depletable block gauge. These two mechanics alone almost make the game feel like it’s part of another franchise. Even if you aren’t a fan of other Street Fighter games, give this one a shot — the deep and customizable gameplay might surprise you.

2. Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike

Capcom brought the third installment of its flagship fighting franchise to the Dreamcast after its arcade release. It had three versions — New Generation, Second Impact, and Third Strike. Third Strike is widely considered the definitive version, with additional bug fixes, characters, and some content.

Even though this installment is missing some fan favorites from SF2, like Guile, E. Honda and M. Bison, it more than makes up for it with wild new additions. Hugo, Q, Urien and Makoto became instant favorites; and when all else fails, you still have Ryu, Ken and Chun Li.

Many hardcore fighting game players consider Third Strike to be the best game in the entire franchise; others consider it the best fighting game of all time. The combos are smooth, the pacing is slow and methodical, and the game’s parry mechanic has made for some of the most hype moments in gaming history. Just look up EVO Moment 37 and turn your speakers down a little bit.

1. Marvel vs. Capcom 2

If you’re looking for an arcade-perfect game with lasting appeal, look no further. MvC2 is a three-on-three fighter with a bevy of complicated mechanics and fast action. There’s a healthy roster of Marvel heroes and villains, and an even larger selection of Capcom fighters from many of their series.

One of the defining mechanics of this series is the tag-in combos, tag ultras, and assists. Unlike some other franchises with two or more fighters per player, MvC2 lets you have several characters on screen at once. Even at a casual level, the game encourages you to discover synergies and develop your own unique playstyle.

The other games in the Marvel series are great, but MvC2 has the most characters and is the last game to have 2D sprite-based graphics. Its community is alive and well today, decades after the game’s release — and for good reason.

[watchingminecraftyansim]

Post 5 - Late Again

Hi, I’m Isabelle, and only one post this week, because I do not feel well, physically, I mean. emotionally and mentally I’m fine. Anyways let’s get onto talking about episode #6 of Yandere High School by SamGladiator

This episode starts out where the last one left off, with lunch ending and the students heading towards gym class. Here Rowan says that the students will be getting a field day, because he gets a bonus if the students don’t exercise that day, and while I’m no expert, I think having students not exercise is the opposite of the job of a P.E. teacher. Everyone then goes and plays outside on a playground that wasn’t there yesterday, Taurtis goes down a slide and falls off half way down. JtsTheDane says that “This is like falling down the mountains in Sweden.”, there is a lot of things I find wrong with this statement, first of all, his name has Dane in it, not Swede, second the Jotunheim Mountains, are primarily in Norway, and it’s true that some of them are in Sweden, some of the Rocky Mountains are in Canada, but they are usually thought of as an American thing. Plus they already mentioned him being from Norway previously, was it THAT HARD to say Norway instead of Sweden? Have I gotten to worked up about a small anachronism in a Minecraft roleplaying series? Yes, most likely. Moving on from my geography rant, we meet Salex, someone who starts flirting with Taurtis the instant she lays eyes on him. I mean… you do you ma’am. We also get the obligatory Invader flirts with Sam, Sam finds it gross, I comment on how it’s because of the beard and make snarky comments about how that’s not cool, we’ve done this song and dance before, you know how it goes. A funny bit from this episode is everyone jumping on one side of a seesaw that doesn’t work, because it’s minecraft, to try and lift PowerDragon. There’s no plot relevance to this bit, I just chuckled every time I saw it in the background of the video. Taurtis manages to get Salex’s number and Sam suggests a double date, with him and Sookie as the couple despite the fact that he and Sookie are not dating. A fact when Taurtis asks Sookie if she and Sam are dating, and she honestly just seems confused, along with saying Invader can have him when she threatens to fight her over who can have Sam. Sam punches Invader at one point and Rowan fucking decks Sam because he will not stand for abuse. We then see Jay and Gareth in the “Kissing Shed ;)”, and it doesn’t look like they are kissing, but rather Jay is just sitting in the shed while Gareth smokes some weed in the corner. Taurtis and Sam then go to do hopscotch, but not before Taurtis gets himself stuck in a soccer net and get punched out of it by Rowan. Sam then proves to be unexpectedly good at hop scotch, skipping 8 blocks, with the help of being punched. After some more hopscotch related shenanigans we see J stuck at the top of a tower of sand, and Sam punching the sand to get him down. After this Sam and Taurtis discuss ideas for movies to see on their double date, eventually settling on Bee Movie, with Sam stating that he hates Paul Blart Mall Cop, and Rowan states that he loves Bee Movie and that he will go along with the kids. Sam then decides to ask Sookie out for the double date and it goes well, with him rambling and messing up his talking to her, so overall an 8/10 on the asking her out, I wouldn’t have done much better.

After this Sam comes up with the idea for the scam of the century, where he and Taurtis race, and everyone bets on Taurtis and then Taurtis wins and they split the money. Their words not mine. Either Sam or I don’t know how betting works, because I am confused about how this would work Rowan races Taurtis instead and beats him by a lot, but no one really counts that. Then the proper betting on the Sam Vs. Taurtis race commences, with sam taking the bet money, and then a rain storm starts, and Sam pockets the betting money, cancelling the race due to rain, saying that it will happen tomorrow. Will it happen? Probably not, Sam likely hustled the whole school. Everyone heads back inside, but Jay ventures outside for a minute in the rain and gets struck by lightning, but school ends before they can get him to the nurse’s office (side note, does this school even have a nurse? They ask this in the show and don’t get an answer), so Rowan just kicks them out with Jay jumping off of the school’s upper floor balcony followed by Taurtis. Sam and Taurtis then head to Jay’s house along with ChanYandere for Manga club, and Sam keeps calling them comic books. On the way we see teacher Gareth sitting in the middle of the road, can someone like, check on him? He’s obviously not doing well. We then get to Jay’s house and he has made a miraculous recovery after having roughly 1.21 gigawatts of power delivered directly to his nervous system. We then get to see everyone in the manga club, there’s Invader, a couple other people, and the best character in this series, Jts, who is making food for everyone. We then see Rowan staring at the manga club from across the street in his apartment. We also see Jay’s cat, who is being loud, in order to quiet him down Taurtis feeds him cat meat, I don’t have any funny comments here, just take it in. Invader says that HunterXHunter is her favorite mango. Jts finally finishes what he was cooking, Rabbit stew, and gives some to everyone, Sam is understandably upset by this, but before we can get too deep into that the manga club transforms into the Hot Wheels® Club. Invader gives Sam a Hot Wheels® car, and they abandon talking about Manga in favor of playing with their Hot Wheels®. ChanYandere does not seem impressed by this.

Taurtis and Sam notice Rowan still watching them from his balcony, and tell him to stop staring at them and to watch his TV. Rowan’s response is that he wants to watch the Bee Movie. We also see Gareth in Rowan’s apartment, who had come over to watch Paul Blart. Sam says they should sneak over there to watch it, and when questioned by Taurtis, asking that he thought Sam hated Paul Blart, he responds that he likes sneaking around and doing illegal stuff. Taurtis jumps off Jay’s balcony to get to the sidewalk, while Sam takes the stairs and the two start to sneak into an apartment. Notice I said an apartment, because it is not Rowan’s. They soon realize their mistake and make their way up to Rowan’s apartment, and instead of sneaking in they ring the doorbell and ask to be let in. While they’re doing that Gareth states that he got the wrong film, and instead got the Spanish dub of the Minion Movie, which I would argue is worse than Paul Blart, all things considered, even if Gareth considers it his favorite anime. We also then realize the TV is in Rowan’s bedroom so they would all have to squeeze into there to watch it, so then they make their excuses and leave, stating that they are going on a double date. Rowan tells the boys to go pursue their love shouting “#Invadater”. It is then revealed that the apartment they went in accidentally was Invaders and when Sam asks Taurtis to come up with an excuse he says that sam wanted to panty raid her, to which invader responds with “;)”. Whatever floats her boat I guess. They then go home and play Smash Bros Melee, with Taurtis saying he mains Meta Knight, even though he was added to the franchise in Brawl, I swear it’s like they didn’t even google these small likely improvised bits before they said them. 

And that was the end of the episode. Also I wanted to mention but could never find a good place for it, but there was random cuts in the episode, as well as Taurtis’ mic quality just going down the toilet before returning to normal. I mean, it’s fine I just found it weird. Tune in next week where hopefully I post twice instead of once.

[eirist]

Little Bits and Pieces of Heaven

THE IMPORTANCE OF NOT BEING NOSY

One-shot #: 13

Disclaimer: One Piece (and its characters) belongs to Eiichiro Oda-sensei.

Reminder: I have no beta-reader. Any grammatical and spelling errors are solely mine.

Warning: OOC possible. One shot.

Rating: M (Not too much though)

Note: Because I always love Zoro-Nami-Usopp interactions, I went ahead placed them in one crazy situation where Usopp, obviously, takes the brunt of everything. And somehow I keep on hitting 7k words and up recently. Though I already toned this one down because the first drafts of this story would’ve ended in a two-shot or even a multi-chap fic and I don’t want to drag it that much. Anyway enjoy.

Summary: “Because poking your long nose in other people’s business, is never a good thing.”  

Soft wind blew from the sea making the white curtains of the open window flitter lazily. The port and the nearby market started to come to life as the townsfolk poured into the street for their afternoon errands. Their noises drifted inside the rather inconspicuous room along with the lulling sound of the waves, making a smile appear on the lips of one engrossed observant.  

“What’s amusing out there?”

Nami spun around to look at the speaker who—very obviously—had just woken up, as he sat up on the bed, sleepily running a hand through his disheveled hair.

“Hmm…” she hummed in answer. “Nothing really.”

“Aren’t you coming back to bed?”

The corners of her lips quirked up at that as their eyes meet. There was that familiar, mischievous glint in his that she always adored as it never fails to send a delicious shiver down her spine.

She smiled impishly at him and he in turn threw a cocky smirk her way.

“Now that you are awake, yeah,” she murmured before sauntering towards bed, never breaking their eye contact.

The moment she was near enough, he reached for her robe’s belt, yanking her brusquely to him and simultaneously untying the knot as well. The silky fabric immediately slid down her shoulders to pool at her feet.

His rough hands grabbed her waist, effortlessly lifting her, only to friskily push her down the bed. The mattress dipped from their movements and she laughed when he playfully trapped her underneath his well-built physique; the blankets tangling around their legs.

He grazed her lips with his teasingly, before kissing her fully.

“We still have time?” He asked huskily against her mouth, before moving to that ticklish spot just below her jaw.

“I think we do…” she breathed, angling her head to give him more access.

“Good.” He muttered before attacking the slender column of her neck with soft, tantalizing kisses.

She moaned when he nipped at her skin, and gasped his name when he deliberately traced the shell of her ear with his tongue. She ran both of her hands through his hair as she felt him grabbed at her thighs, urging her to wrap them around him as he settled comfortably between her legs.

A sudden commotion outside interrupted them as shouting and loud, running footsteps can be heard all over the street. There was an unmistakable sound of explosion somewhere. Followed by another and another.

“Uuuh…” the orange-haired woman groaned irritably.

The man above her stopped his ministrations and stared at her amusedly with a smirk on his face. “Duty calls?”

“I think my captain just got himself into trouble again,” she pouted. Planting a sweet kiss on his jaw, she looked at him slyly as she let her hands caressed his well-toned pectorals. “Too bad,” she said with a sigh as she lightly pushed him away from her so she could sit up.

His deep laugh filled the room and he leaned down to brush one last kiss on her lips. “It’s alright. We can always do this some other time.”

Nami smiled brightly at that. “Well… I guess see you on the next island then.”

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

The galley of the Thousand Sunny that night was startlingly at its quietest. Dinner was put on hold for the meantime as Nami all but bit off the heads of their two nakamas; who were both sitting soundlessly on the galley’s couch like two children being reproached by their mother.

“That’s it aho sencho!” Nami hissed furiously, gripping the front of Luffy’s red shirt tightly. “The next time you create a ruckus and gets us chased out of town again, I swear I will drown your sorry ass!”

Usopp watch edgily from the sidelines. He was one of the unlucky ones (aside from the cooking Sanji), who was in the galley the moment Nami entered while dragging Luffy and Zoro inside.

Luffy just grinned sheepishly in response to her. “Shishishi! But Nami, we did make it out of there!” He tapped her in the shoulder in an attempt to appease her. But that only served to ignite the orange-haired’s temper more.

“WE ALMOST DID NOT!” Nami roared and clocked him with enough force to plant his face on the galley’s floor, almost breaking it.

Everyone present inwardly winced at the sound it made.

Usopp’s eyes met Zoro’s. The green-haired man seemed unfazed with Nami’s anger. Most probably because he was used to it since he is usually the person at the receiving end of it.

But much to the sniper’s surprise, he was just silent all-throughout Nami’s outburst. Zoro kept his mouth shut with his arms folded across his chest. Not once did he answer back to the navigator.

Though Usopp had seen the way the corner of his mouth twitched slightly indicating that he was trying really hard to stop himself from snapping back at her.

From the way Zoro was looking, he was probably planning an absolutely painful demise for Nami right now… if he still hadn’t killed her a dozen times already inside his head.

He heard a huff from the kitchen. Sanji had busied himself with preparing their dinner, never once butting in like he usually did lest he join the other two morons on the couch.

“Serves you right, shitty gomu,” he finally muttered, peering at them from behind the bar counter. He lit a cigarette and took a drag. “Three times in a row. In every damn island. I can’t believe it.” He blew out the smoke with a slight shake of his head. “Wait I take that back. Actually I can since it’s you.”

Luffy lifted his head off the floor. “But Sanji. It’s not my fault!”

“Shut up Luffy!” Nami snarled. “I don’t care whose fault it is! I swear you piss me off so much right now!” She closed her eyes, fingers rubbing circles on her temples.

She was forced to run all over the town earlier looking for her doofus captain. Much to her trepidation, Luffy was being chased by two different pirate crews for reasons she doesn’t even want to know.  

The navigator nearly got trampled when the idiot cheerfully ran towards her direction, waving at her enthusiastically, with the pack of enraged men still at his heels. If it wasn’t for Zoro suddenly appearing out of nowhere and sending a powerful attack towards Luffy’s pursuers that had them flying everywhere, she would’ve been flattened beyond recognition.

Relief washed over her but it was short-lived. Before she can stop him, Luffy drew his arms back and released a Gomu Gomu no Gatling on the remaining pirates who were luckily at the far back of the horde they were missed by Zoro’s attack.

She looked on in horror as other pirates arrived to help their fallen crew mates. Luffy and Zoro plus a horde of violent pirates in one place…

It was a disaster!

Nami can only watch in dismay as the two dove head first into an all-out brawl before she can grab them by the scruff of their necks.

A vein popped on her forehead, then another and another. Not only did Luffy put a stop to what was supposedly an intimate and enjoyable afternoon. But here he is with the other idiot of the crew, in a scuffle that will flatten this town in a matter of seconds. Summoning Zeus, she unleashed a powerful lightning blast enough to fry everyone in the vicinity into oblivion.

Then she dragged the two by their ears just as the townspeople, who weren’t caught in the crossfire, started amassing with clubs, wooden sticks and pitchforks (much to her surprise); eager to beat up the pirates who nearly destroyed their town.  

The navigator let out an exasperated sigh and announced a bit wearily. “I’m going to take a bath,” she turned towards the blond chef. “Sanji-kun, you can go ahead and serve dinner.”

The cook nodded. “As you wish Nami-san but how about you?

“I’ll eat later.”

Sanji frowned slightly at that. “You know that I don’t like starting dinner if my lovely angel is not going to eat.”

“Uhm,” Usopp choose to intrude this moment or all the boys will starve. “Robin’s probably hungry. She did a lot of book shopping earlier.”

That swayed the cook into action. “Ah my Robin-chwan! Of course!” He cried out. “Go ahead Nami-swan. Take a relaxing bath first! Do you want me to prepare it for you?”

“It’s ok Sanji-kun. I can manage.” Nami said with a dismissive wave of her hand as she proceeded towards the ladder leading to the upper deck.

“I’ll prepare a special meal for you later my love!” Sanji called out after her. “Just take your time and wash away all the stress and worries these two dumbasses,” he glared at Zoro and Luffy. “Gave you!”

Zoro scowled darkly at him.

Luffy automatically pushed himself into a sitting position when he heard the word dinner. Glancing at Nami with a sulky pout he complained, “Nami! Why aren’t you also mad at Zoro?”

The green-haired man stiffened as Nami stopped in her tracks. Zoro glared at his captain for deliberately throwing him straight into the witch’s wrath. He was not in the mood to start a row with her… that is why he kept mum all throughout her rant.

“Luffy, I attacked to save her.” He reminded his captain flatly. “Not because I wanted to start a fight with them.”

“But you also attacked again to fight them.”

Zoro opened his mouth to retort but was interrupted by Nami clonking Luffy on the head. “It’s because I’ve exhausted myself too much on you! I will get to him later once I have enough energy again!”

As Luffy whined and nursed the bump on his head; Zoro grumbled curses under his breath, muttering that he should’ve let the enemy pirates flattened Nami to the ground.

She turned towards him and smiled sweetly. Too sweetly it was actually bordering to scary. “I heard that Zoro,” she said through gritted teeth. “Hold your horses. I will make your fucking ears bleed later.”

“That couldn’t be good,” Usopp mumbled from across the table. A re-energized Nami would definitely wage a verbal war with the swordsman no matter what time of the day it is.

Zoro stood up and met Nami’s gaze directly. “How about some gratitude for saving your ass onna?”

Nami scoffed. “Thank you for saving me Zoro! It should have ended with THAT instead of you two engaging in a fight! Argh!” She shrieked at the green-haired man. “I swear you and Luffy are absolute headaches! I’m not even halfway finished with my shopping…”

“How is that my fault woman?!” Zoro seethed. “You had all day today to—”

“Just shut up Zoro. I’ll deal with you later.” The navigator said exasperatedly. “Just know that your debt and Luffy’s went way past the roof today! Kami, I need a really warm bath to relieve all this stress!”

“You witch!” The tall lad finally snapped at her.

Usopp gulped. Zoro seemed to have reached the end of his rope. From the way the two were now glowering at each other, they’re gonna start quarreling in a matter of seconds. No thanks to their stupid captain and his big, rubber mouth.

He stood up suddenly and before he knew it his hands slammed down the table, louder than he intended. That got their attention. Though he balked a little when Nami and Zoro shifted their gazes to him.

“G-gu-guys! Please,” he stuttered. “Can we just eat? I’m already starving. Aren’t you all?” He swallowed the lump formed in his throat.

Luffy seconded his grievance. “Yeah! Sanji! Meshi! Meshi!”

Nami did not answer. Instead, with one final, furious look directed at Zoro then at Luffy; she turned her heel and headed towards the ladder again without another word.

Usopp exhaled in relief. That was close!

The door of galley opened and the other Mugiwaras started to pile in, probably aware that it’s already safe to venture inside.

A smiling Robin tilted her head slightly when she entered. “Ara… I’m glad we don’t have any fatalities tonight.” She giggled behind her mouth as her blue eyes settled on Luffy and Zoro. “I was afraid Nami will choke the life out of you two from the mêlée you’ve caused in town earlier.”

“Robin… you and your morbid thoughts.” Usopp grumbled.

“Well, disappointingly she didn’t, Robin-chwan.” Sanji said as he stepped out of the kitchen, balancing a tray filled with steaming dishes in one hand. He held out the other to take the archeologist’s own and guided her to her chair. “Anyway, dinner is served!”

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

“Nami?”

“Usopp?”

The sniper and the navigator ran at each other on the lawn deck a few hours after dinner. Or to be more specific, Usopp was on his way to the galley to sneak some midnight snacks for his watch duty later when he ran into Nami, who looked like she just got down from crow’s nest.

Usopp’s eyes shifted towards the nest then back at her. “Did you seriously climb up there to give Zoro a dressing-down?”

“So what Usopp?” Nami folded her arms across her chest. “You got a problem with it?”

He shook his head. “None actually. I’m just surprised that it didn’t end up in a spat.” He scratched his head. “Kami knows how you two can go all night yapping at each other…”

“I have my ways.” Nami muttered grumpily. “I told him if he piss me off anymore tonight, I’m gonna stab him with his swords while he’s sleeping.”

Usopp looked horrified and scared all at the same time. Nami can be really freaking scary.

“That’s horrible!” He gasped and stepped away from her. “Why are you so mad at them anyway? Are you still not used to them starting trouble everywhere we go?”

The navigator’s face scrunched up into a frown. “That’s not it Usopp! I’m just furious at them for ruining my afternoon!”

“Uhh ok…” Usopp scratched his cheek. “They ruined your shopping or something?”

“You can say that.”

Usopp nodded in understanding. He knows how Nami hates going back to the ship empty-handed whenever there is a chance to shop. “Uh, speaking of shopping… I haven’t seen you in the island earlier. Where were you?”

“Me?” Nami raised an eyebrow at him. “I was exploring the island. They have lots of shops and stalls after all.” She looked at him curiously. “Why are you looking for me?”

“It’s just that I haven’t ran into you. Not once!” Usopp explained. “I saw Robin twice and even she had not seen you!”

“I think I may have wandered a little off the beaten path to survey the island’s layout.”

This time it was Usopp’s turn to lift an eyebrow at her. “With no tools?”

Nami pursed her lips. “Why? Can’t I do an ocular first?”

“Well you can. Did you go alone?” His eyes were wide when he asked her that question. He doubts if she can fair pretty well exploring on her own knowing how much of a coward she is.

“What’s with the hundred questions Usopp?”

“Nothing! I just find it weird that I didn’t come across you earlier,” Usopp explained with a shrug. “I met everyone twice, even thrice, while looking around.”

“Why are you looking for me anyway? Do you need something?”

“Not really. I’m just wondering why no one has seen you on the island. It’s like you disappeared!”

Nami huffed. “Like I said, I was surveying and shopping. Our paths just didn’t cross. It’s no big deal.”

“Well I was worried something happened to you!”

“Don’t be such a drama queen Usopp. But thanks anyway,” The navigator smiled at him slightly. “I’ll just turn in early tonight. I’m tired from all that.”

Usopp nodded. “Alright. Good night Nami.”

“Good night Usopp.” She gave him a small wave as she started to walk away from him. “Oh and by the way, I’m charging you three hundred belis for every question you’ve asked!”

“Oi! You money fiend!” Usopp shouted. “Take that back!”

But his retorts fell on deaf ears as Nami bounded up the stairs and disappeared inside the girls’ room.

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

It was two islands later that Usopp confirmed something.

Nami was acting really odd whenever they dock.

Just like before, he didn’t run into her the whole time they were prancing around the island.

He didn’t see her anywhere. Literally anywhere.

The only time he laid eyes on her was when she got back to the Sunny a bit later than usual.

And when he asked her about it again, he received the same answer as before.

She was surveying the island and shopping and stated in a rather condescending tone that the island was big that it is possible not bump into each other.

It was rather strange because when he saw her return, she was not lugging any shopping bags nor did he saw her spend some time in the library to sketch a rough draft of the island they’ve been… something that she normally did whenever she does any visual map outs.  

Besides, when did Nami window shop ever?

It was driving him nuts. What the hell is she doing? Why is she disappearing in every island they dock?

And more importantly, why is she not telling the truth?

He had been making lies all his life. The liar of course knows when someone is lying.

He made up his mind to find out.

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

The slight movement of the waves made the Thousand Sunny bobbed lightly above the water.

Up in the crow’s nest, Usopp can feel the lazy movement of the ship. Usually it lulls him to sleep even when he’s on watch.

But not tonight.

Tonight, a dozen questions were running inside his head. Questions that needed answers, it’s not giving him a moment’s rest. Questions that surfaced because of what he had discovered earlier.

“Usopp?”

The sniper jolted out of his daze at the voice. Zoro had just climbed the nest to relieve him of his shift.

“Oh hey Zoro.”

The swordsman dipped his head in response. He strode languidly towards the bench and placed his swords there. He was grasping a bottle of sake in one hand which he obviously filched from the Sunny’s stock.  

“I’ll take it from here Usopp,” he said while removing his green robe. He threw it beside his precious katanas.

Usopp absent-mindedly nodded but did not move from his position.

“Usopp?”

Zoro tapped him on the shoulder and his head snapped up to look at him.

“Huh?”

“I said I’ll take it from here,” Zoro repeated, the impatience clear in his tone. He regarded him curiously. “Is there something wrong?” He asked when he noticed the sniper was not responding.

Usopp inhaled deeply. He doesn’t know how to begin explaining it.

But the swordsman is a really keen observant. Maybe he already noticed something.

“Say Zoro?”

“What?”

Usopp looked up to him again. Zoro was chugging down almost half the content of the bottle. “Have you noticed anything different with Nami lately?”

Zoro stopped drinking and was silent for a moment. Then he raised an eyebrow at him. “Different?”

Usopp nodded.

“I haven’t noticed anything different with that wicked witch.” He cocked his head to the side. “Why?”

“Nothing. It just kinda feels like she’s hiding something.”

The green-haired lad sat down beside him. “What do you mean?”

“It’s just that Nami’s acting a bit weird lately.”

Zoro scratched his head. “And?”

“She keeps disappearing whenever we dock in an island. When I questioned her about it, she said she was just out shopping and surveying.”

“What seems to be the problem with that?”

“She returns without any shopping bags Zoro! Nor is she drawing any maps as of late.” Usopp explained getting impatient himself.

“Maybe you just don’t see her doing it.”

Usopp stared at him as Zoro casually downed his drink. “Has she been pestering you to be her pack-mule-for-the-day lately?”

“No.”

“And don’t you find it strange?”

“Not really. Works for me.”

Usopp exhaled loudly. Figures. He had forgotten that Zoro have a soft spot for the navigator as big as an ant.

Silence hovered between them for a minute before Usopp choose to break it.

“I think Nami’s meeting with someone Zoro.”

That made Zoro pause with his sake bottle midway to his lips. “Meeting with someone?”

The black-haired lad nodded.

“That’s kinda, uh, vague?”

Usopp glared at him. “She’s meeting with someone. Meeting. Like she’s seeing someone.”

“Seeing someone?” Zoro repeated.

“Yes!”

Zoro let the information sink in before commenting. “First time I’ve heard of it,” he brought the bottle to his lips to drink again. “And what if she is? You jealous or something?”

“NO!” Usopp almost shouted. “No. I’m not!”

Zoro quirked an eyebrow at him.

“More of worried.”

“Worried?” The former pirate hunter looked like he was thinking. “Usopp, what’s it to us if she is seeing someone? It’s her life and her choice.”

“She’s keeping it a secret from us! She’d been lying about her whereabouts and what she’s doing!”

Zoro snorted. “And she can’t?”

“I’m worried Zoro!” This time Usopp pushed himself up and started pacing back and forth. “What if she’s seeing a bounty hunter in disguise or a marine undercover? She could be in danger and she and all of us are none the wiser!”

“Nami can handle herself well.” Zoro barely batted an eyelid as he said that. “You made sure of that when you made her that stick.”

Usopp frowned at him and the way he referred to his invention. “I know you two don’t usually meet eye to eye and that you couldn’t care less if something happens to her…”

“Oi,” Zoro said in a warning tone cutting him off.

Usopp back-pedaled. “Ok, maybe you care a little. She’s our friend after all. But Zoro, what if she can’t handle it like you’re saying? She’s not as strong as you or Sanji or Luffy!”

“Wait Usopp calm down. And stop pacing damn it!” Zoro rubbed a hand across his face.  “How do you even know of this?”

That halted Usopp’s nervous outburst. “Uhm… I might’ve followed her?”

“Might have?”

“Alright! I followed her earlier! I’m worried!”

Zoro let out a ‘tch’. “And? Is there a reason to be?”

Usopp wiped his forehead with his hand frustratingly. “I don’t know! I’m not sure. That’s why I’m telling you! Maybe you can… help me?”

“Help you? How?”

“You know… that haki thing?

“Haki thing? But you also have it.”

“I don’t know how to use it!” Usopp confessed. “Unlike you, my haki’s not that developed. I can barely sense who she’s with inside the room.”

The swordsman held up one hand to stop him. “Who she’s with? Inside the room?”

Usopp bobbed his head up and down and started to explain.

“Like I’ve said, I saw her in town earlier and followed her. I saw her head towards an inn in the discreet part of the town.”

Zoro was now staring at him seriously.

“She went inside and I did too. I saw her head upstairs and knock on the door of one of the rented rooms. When it opened, she just went inside and that’s that.”

“So you didn’t see who was there in the room?”

“I didn’t.” Usopp shook his head.

The swordsman huffed. “You know, Nami’s business is her business,” he gulped down the remaining sake in the bottle. “If she wants to spend the day shacking up with someone, then she can without us meddling.”

Usopp blushed at that and Zoro shrugged at his reaction.

“You’re worrying too much Usopp.”

“And you’re worrying too little.”

Zoro look irritated at that. “I just don’t like prying in other people’s business. You know that. If you are really worried why don’t you just ask Nami about it?”

“Are you kidding? Usopp gasped. “I don’t want her to sic Zeus on me!” He grabbed Zoro’s arm.

“Have you tried asking Robin? That woman knows everything.” Zoro suggested. “Nami might have told her something.”

“Like she’d tell me if she does.”

“Ok. Point taken,” Zoro said, scratching his chin. “Though she might have an idea if Nami is seeing someone we should be wary of.”

Usopp pouted. “True. But I want to know myself.”

“Now you’re just being nosy.”

“I call that being protective!” The sniper retorted. “Zoro are we going to just wait for the day when she comes back here injured or she doesn’t come back at all?” Usopp argued. “I want to make sure that whoever the hell is that, he is not gonna cause her any harm!”

The former pirate hunter was quiet. As much as Nami always rubs him the wrong way, there’s no way in hell he would sit back and do nothing once she gets hurt.

“Usopp,” Zoro muttered his name with an edge on his tone. “Let me ask you again. You’re really sure she met with someone?”

“Uhm… yeah. I heard her talking to somebody while inside the room.”

“You heard?”

“I kinda tried to eavesdrop.”

“What did you hear?”

“It’s muffled. And they are talking in hushed tones I can barely make out what they’re saying.” His face colored suddenly. “Then I heard her giggle and there was a sound of the bed creaking or something…”

The expression on Zoro’s face was unreadable and they stared at each other awkwardly for a few seconds. “Uh,” Zoro rubbed the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable. “What did you do then?”

“I waited up for her in the bar downstairs. Until she came out of the room and went back here.”

“You didn’t think to wait up on who will come out of that room after her?”

Usopp cringed. Well he didn’t think of that. “It kinda slipped my mind,” he confessed sheepishly.

A snort came from the Supernova.

“That’s why I’m asking for your help!”

“Usopp…”

“We are crew mates! I just don’t want her getting involve with someone who might be dangerous!”

Zoro pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ll talk to Nami.” He suddenly announced and Usopp panicked.

“No! She’ll have my hide if she finds out I’m suspicious of her and stalking her and her… I don’t know what to call it… lover?”

The Mugiwara first mate grimaced at the word. “Then what do you want to do Usopp?!”

Usopp grabbed both of his arms. “Just come with me and figure out who she’s seeing and if that man is dangerous or not! That way we can protect her if need be!”

The swordsman sighed. Nami will have their asses for this. “You know talking to her is still the best way Usopp.”

“Come on please! It will help me sleep at night! Besides I’m scared of her.” Usopp proclaimed firmly.

Zoro rubbed a hand on his face. “You’re a good friend Usopp. Even if you’re poking your long nose where it’s unwanted,” he then smirked. “Alright. I’ll help you.”

“Really Zoro?”

The green-haired man nodded. “Who else knows about this?”

Usopp looked startled at his question. “Uhm, just me. I don’t want anyone else to know,” he answered. “This is not the kind of thing you tell Luffy or heaven’s forbid, Sanji.”

“Keep it that way,” Zoro advised. “The next time we dock, we’ll see what this is all about.”

The sniper had tears in his eyes. He cannot help but wrap his arms around the tall lad. “Thanks Zoro! You’re the best!”

“HEY! GET OFF ME USOPP!”

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

“So?”

He was immediately at the receiving end of a sharp glare.

“I can’t sense anyone with her Usopp.” Zoro replied.

“Are you sure?” Usopp whispered.

Zoro’s good eye narrowed dangerously at him. “I’m pretty sure.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

They Straw Hats had just anchored in another island and Usopp all but drag Zoro to follow their navigator as she made her way into town. Honestly, he didn’t know if it was a really good idea to lug the tall swordsman who always gets himself lost after three steps but he needed help.

Just in case it ends in a confrontation and Nami’s lover is someone Usopp cannot defeat. He can just let Zoro do the honors.

And he gotta hand it to the green-haired man, even if he did managed to turn them around wrong corners and streets and almost lost the mapmaker they were tailing. Zoro was still able to find they place where Nami is.

Thank Kami for haki. Maybe Zoro should use it more often and avoid getting lost anywhere they go.

Usopp fidgeted nervously. They were in the inn where they saw Nami disappeared into. They headed straight upstairs, thankful that the innkeeper was preoccupied with a fight that broke out in the first floor bar.

“Maybe the guy she’s seeing found out we’re trailing her!” The sharpshooter remarked fretfully. “And since he doesn’t want to reveal himself, he just stood her up! Oh Kami! She’ll be in a pissed off mood later!”

“Well…” Zoro clicked his tongue. “If you suck at tailing someone then yeah that is possible.”

“I hate you!”

“Look Usopp,” Zoro ran a hand through his hair exasperatedly. “Maybe he’s just late or something. We better not be here in case he finally shows up.”

“But…”

“Tell you what. I’ll do the stake out here until Nami gets back to the ship.” Zoro suggested much to Usopp’s shock.

“You would?” Usopp breathed out.

���Yeah,” Zoro nodded. “But in return you buy me booze.” He pointed towards the bar with his thumb.

Usopp stared at him.

“Favor for a favor.”

The long nosed sniper sighed. He can’t very well stay. If the man Nami is meeting already discovered she’s being followed, then he might not show up in the inn.

Maybe leaving it to Zoro is a much better idea. The man has razor sharp senses and he can sit tight in one bar drinking the whole stock empty but still be aware of everything and everyone around him.

This would definitely burn holes in his pockets. But he made it his mission. So he has to see it until the end.

Besides, if Nami sees him, it would only look like Zoro just randomly ended up in this establishment after getting lost in his wanderings.

“Alright,” Usopp agreed. “But you have to tell me everything you’ll find out.

Zoro bobbed his head slightly. “Sure.”

“And don’t go picking fights with anyone.”

Zoro growled at him. “I’m not Luffy.”

“We have to find out who that man is ok?” Usopp gripped him on both shoulders.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever helps you sleep at night Usopp.”

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

The door of the room opened and Nami immediately swiveled around with a huff and marched towards the man who just entered the room.

“So?” She asked, raising one delicate eyebrow.

Zoro locked the door behind him and met her impatient gaze with an amused one.

“What happened?” The orange-haired woman placed both hands on her hips as she waited for him to tell her the details of his afternoon with Usopp.

“Told him I’d do the stake out and spy on you, the swordsman answered. “Then send him off his merry way.”

Nami pouted. Zoro told her that Usopp was getting suspicious of her and her activities and that he followed her on the last island and actually saw her go inside an inn. “I swear his long nose isn’t just for show!”

Zoro laughed as he removed his swords, resting them against the small bedside table. He approached Nami and wrapped his arms around her.

“Usopp’s just looking out for you,” he kissed her forehead. “Even I couldn’t get annoyed with him being nosy with that kind of reason.” He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “He’s a good friend that much I can say.”

“I know,” Nami mumbled. “And I appreciate his meddlesome self just this once.” She rubbed her hands on his shoulders tenderly. “He didn’t need to go this far though.”

“He just wants to know if you are seeing someone dangerous or a threat to your safety.”

Nami arched an eyebrow at that. Then a cheeky smile spread across her lips. “I am seeing someone dangerous.” She patted him on the chest.

“You are?”

She nodded and she pushed him towards the one arm chair available inside the room. He ungracefully plopped down on it and smirked when she sat herself on his lap.

“Yes,” she murmured as she brought her lips closer to his. “Former bounty hunter?” She kissed him light and fleeting. “Supernova?” She kissed him again, deeply this time. “More than 300 million bounty on his head?” She grinned. “Dangerous.”

His hands roamed across her body freely, liking the way her silk robe was clinging tightly against her body and how it feels against his calloused palms. “Guess he really have a reason to worry.” He said in a gruff tone before capturing her lips with his.

She pressed her body closer to his. Zoro’s one hand settled itself on the curve of her hips while the other grabbed at her nape so he can kiss her deeper.

Nami opened her mouth for him, coaxing him to slip his tongue inside and play with hers as her hands busied themselves undoing the sash that held his green robe.

She moaned in frustration when he pulled away to gaze at her. Her hands slid inside his clothing, pushing it down his broad shoulders as he started kissing her neck, his warm lips sending shivers all throughout her already heated body.

“Maybe he deserves a thank you something for this after all,” Nami whispered, raking her hands through Zoro’s green hair. As much as it was irksome, she can’t help but feel lucky that she have friends who looks out for her and has her back.

“Maybe he does,” Zoro agreed as he stopped showering her neck with kisses and instead moved to that ticklish spot behind her ear.

She grabbed a fistful of his hair and whimpered. That spot always drives her crazy.

Zoro suddenly pulled her closer to him, their nose almost touching as he stared at her with raw desire behind his gray eye. “Enough about Usopp, we’ll deal with him later,” his voice was rough that it almost came out as a growl. His hand was caressing her backside. “Are you naked underneath that?”

A Cheshire cat-like grin appeared on Nami’s face at his question. She playfully removed herself from his embrace and stepped away from him.

“Why don’t you find out?” She mischievously walked backwards to the bed as he continued to sit on the arm chair, watching her intensely.

“You take the fun out of undressing you.”

“Well maybe if you are here sooner you would’ve been able to take all my clothes off.”

Zoro just chuckled.

“Don’t fret,” Nami smirked at him, pulling at the knot of her robe. “I saved one for you.”

She turn around, letting the garment drop down the floor and climbed on the bed, giving Zoro a full view of her irresistible bottom in lacy red thong.

She heard his breath hitched and the sound ignited every single part of her body.

The navigator swiveled her head to look back at him, teasingly and sexily, as her wild orange locks fell on one shoulder. Zoro was now on the edge of the seat, his one eye trained on her as he took in the sensuous sight. He was almost devouring her with his gaze as he ran a tongue on his lower lip, looking almost predatory.

Oh she knows how he loves seeing her on all fours, just as much as he loves seeing her spread out deliciously in front of him.

“Come on Zoro,” she called out seductively. “Are you just gonna sit there and stare?”

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

Usopp grumbled as he trudged glumly towards his factory. The day had been an utter waste. And he was nowhere near getting any answers to his Nami-related questions.

He went back at the inn earlier to check on Zoro and the idiot swordsman disappeared on him.

How can one get lost while just sitting on the bar drinking? Gosh this is a whole new level of Zoro’s getting-lost-talent!

Strangely when he asked the barkeeper if he had seen a green-haired man drinking within the vicinity, he said he did not have any customer like that.

The idiot swordsman tricked him into paying for his drinks and probably went into another bar!

So much for helping him out!

But when he saw Zoro in the Sunny before dinner, the swordsman gave him back his money pouch.

“I wasn’t able to use it,” Zoro said, patting him on the shoulder. “Thanks anyway Usopp.”

“Why aren’t you in the bar earlier?” Usopp hissed at him. “I went back and you’re not there!”

“Well, no one showed up,” the green-haired lad explained with a shrug. “No use staying there waiting for nothing.”

“Oh,” Usopp mouthed. “Oh my god! Nami’s gonna be furious!” He grabbed Zoro by the arm. “Where is she? Is she back here already in the Sunny?”

“I don’t know,” Zoro grumbled.

Their conversation was interrupted by Sanji yelling ‘dinner’.

“I’ll talk to you later,” Usopp muttered and Zoro just yawned in response.

“If I’m sleeping don’t wake me.” The tall lad reminded him as he headed towards the galley.

“But…”

“Don’t worry. We’ll talk Usopp. I just have nothing to tell you about earlier that will be helpful.” Zoro grunted before leaving him on the deck.

Usopp sighed. Now he’s back into square one.

He pushed the door to his factory open and stopped short.

There was rectangular-shaped box, gift-wrapped with an orange bow, resting quietly on his work table with a note attached to it.

He warily approached the gift and studied it. It was kinda heavy. He shook it a little, hoping to get an idea on what was inside. He glanced at the note and was surprised to see what was on it.

It said ‘thanks’ in a very familiar handwriting. And as if to make sure he’s not going to be mistaken as to who it was from, a mikan was drawn on the bottom right part of the paper.

What the hell?

A cold, clammy feeling suddenly enveloped him. And he started to sweat profusely.

Nami had found out! She must’ve caught Zoro earlier. Damn it!

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

Usopp made his way up the rope ladder to the crow’s nest. He doesn’t care if Zoro’s asleep or not. He had some explaining to do.

He heaved himself up the metal rung and when he reached the top, he called out. “Zo—”

“Hello Usopp.”

The sniper’s eyes widened when he saw who was in front of him and he froze. What is Nami doing here? From the way she was standing near the hatch, Nami seems to be aware that he was on his way up.

His gaze shifted towards green-haired lad sitting casually on the bench, looking at him a bit smugly. Zoro must’ve sensed him and told the navigator.

Usopp all but stammered. “I-I-I’ll just return later.”

Nami suddenly grabbed him by the nose and pulled him inside.

“Hey ouch!” He cried out, slapping her hand away. “Let go!”

The mapmaker relented and placed her hands on her hips, smiling wickedly at him. “So did you like my thank you gift?”

Usopp gulped from his sitting position on the metal floor while rubbing his nose. “I haven’t opened it yet.” Actually, he did not have the courage to open it. He just stared at it as seconds turned to minutes before coming to a decision to head to the crow’s nest and talk to Zoro.

Nami pouted. “Why? You’ll like it. I promise!”

That sentence scared him even more than Nami who was right in front of him.

Zoro was watching them from his spot, the amused expression clearly visible on his face.

“Zoro!” Usopp suddenly yelped. “I can’t believe you told on me!”

The swordsman laughed at his accusation. “I had too.”

“You didn’t have too!” Usopp growled at him. “Did she caught you earlier and threatened you into confessing?”

Zoro scowled at that. “She didn’t.”

“That’s right. I didn’t. He went and told me on his own volition.” Nami suddenly leaned towards him so they were face to face. “So you were following me around recently?”

“Uhm…”

“Because you want to know what I’m doing and who I’m seeing huh Usopp?”

Usopp refused to answer. After all when this is over, they would probably be fishing his dead remains on the sea… that is, if the sea kings didn’t get to it first. He glared daggers at Zoro who was looking so calm for someone who was also involved with snooping on Nami’s afternoon tryst.

Then it struck him. Zoro must’ve sold him out! He cannot believe it! He cannot believe he is capable of that. Wasn’t he a man of honor?

Nami peered at his face when he did not utter any word. “Are you still in there Usopp?”

“I think I’m already dead.”

Zoro snorted at his response.

The navigator laughed. “You’re exaggerating.” She grinned cattily at him. “You really want to know who I’m seeing Usopp? From what Zoro told me, you already know what I’m doing…”

The sniper blinked at her, startled by her offer. Then he blushed at her statement.

“I will introduce you to him,” Nami offered. “So you don’t have to follow me around or exert too much effort spying on what I do. Kami knows what you might see.”

Zoro coughed at that as Usopp turned a darker shade of red.

Then his dark eyes shifted from Zoro then to Nami. And he realized something.

If Nami knows what he was doing because Zoro told her straight away…

…Zoro must’ve known what she’s been up to all along!

“I can’t believe you Zoro,” Usopp unexpectedly cried out, that Zoro was taken aback. “You should’ve just told me that you knew what Nami’s been up to!”

Zoro folded his arms across his chest, leaning back into the bench. “Why would I do that? Do you think I want her pissed with me?”

“Whatever happened to loyalty?”

The swordsman’s face scrunched into a frown at his accusation.

“Of course Zoro’s loyal,” Nami interrupted, huffing. With a roll of her brown eyes, she grabbed Usopp by the straps of his suspenders, dragging him towards where Zoro was sitting. “He’s loyal to me.”

“Huh?” Usopp was dumbfounded. When did Zoro gave precedence to Nami over him?

Nami’s grin was too mischievous for his liking.

“Say hello to the man I’m seeing Usopp.”

Usopp’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped off its hinges.

Zoro barely smirk and shook his head at their antics. He and Nami agreed that maybe it would be better to let Usopp in on the secret rather than watch him spiral down into anxiety.

The sniper spent the whole five minutes gawking at them. “But… but…” he managed to stutter after a long while. “You don’t even like each other! You always fight and never agree to anything! You actually cannot stand each other! How did this happen?!”

Zoro and Nami shared a glance.

“Well…”

“I’m so confused right now.” Usopp declared with a shake of his head. He studied his two nakama who never in his wildest dream would eventually get together.

“Sorry Usopp,” Zoro chuckled as he leaned forward. “But Nami and I agreed to keep this a secret. Though I really appreciate that you’re looking out for her.”

“And I hope this helps you sleep at night,” Nami winked at him before settling down beside the swordsman.

Usopp closed his eyes. It feels like someone’s playing a joke on him. Nami and Zoro? Of all the strangest things to ever happen in this side of the New World…

… THIS tops it all.

“And now that you know our secret,” Nami wagged a finger at him as she tucked her legs under her. “You are going to help us keep it that way!”

Usopp’s eyes widened. For heaven’s sake! How was he going to keep this a secret? It nearly drove him crazy when he was keeping his mouth shut about Nami’s strange behavior. And he actually went to Zoro to talk about it.

Because he cannot fucking keep it to himself!

Now THIS?

This is a nightmare!

And Nami seems to be aware of his dilemma because the grin on her face when she rested her head against Zoro’s shoulder was purely too evil.

This is what he got for poking his long nose into her business—their business—regardless of the reasons.

He’s now in on their secret.

And this secret…

He realized with a sinking feeling.

… Is gonna be hell to keep.

[thesportssoundoff]

“No but seriously, he has one eye” The Brawl For All Combatants Ordered Out!

So a few weeks ago, I presented you with a beginning outline of what I'm aiming to do here. A chance to take a long look at the Brawl For All; a concept so insiduous that I imagine even Vince McMahon has aimed to bury it in the deepest recesses of his mind. The first time out we looked at its genesis, the concepts and the back stories beyond the concepts:

http://thesportssoundoff.tumblr.com/post/183395306465/what-happens-when-you-take-a-bad-idea-and-make-it

NOW let's take a long look at who participated, who didn't participate and the fallacy behind the entire project IF rumors are to be believed.

A Hot Take To Lead Us Off

This is something I long theorized but a long look at the people involved in the Brawl For All confirmed it for me. So by and large, the Brawl For All was a stupid dumb concept. Agreed, right? Well what if it could've worked elsewhere? Now again the rules are dumb, the genesis behind it was dumb, everything about it from stem to stern is full of stupidity. Allow me to argue that it COULD have worked; just not in the WWF. When you see the roster the WWF was working with here, it's not going to blow you away on paper and we obviously have a mighty fine idea of how the execution went. What about a different Brawl For All roster? Saaay (in 1998 when this happened):

Rick or Scott Steiner- Decorated All American wrestlers for the University of Michigan Scott Norton- Legitimate tough guy bad ass professional arm wrestler, former bodyguard of Prince Jerry Flynn- Taekwando practitioner, former mixed martial artist Earnest Miller- Three time karate champion Glacier- Professional karate man dude prior to pro wrestling Brian Knobbs/Jerry Saggs- The JBL's of WCW in more ways than one seemingly Meng- All time legendary tough guy and bar room savage Barbarian- Genuine tough guy El Dandy- Jam Up Guy Serious Professional All Around Good Man

Plus the other litany of guys who were noted shooters or tough guys on the undercard. Let's also be fair and note that the South was a touch more receptive to the UFC at this point in time than say the East Coast as well. Perhaps it could've worked with a better roster and perhaps WCW, with its glut of shooters and tough guys respected in the industry, would've been better suited for a Brawl For All.

Or maybe it's just a stupid fucking idea with no merit. That too.

So who DIDN'T participate?

Well let's start with the very beginning and work our way back. Let's talk about some of the guys who just opted NOT to participate. For starters, the big stars were obviously not going to partake in this. Right off the jump you have to assume Undertaker, Austin, DX, The Rock, Kane, Mankind, Vader and the like are not going to be participating. This was about giving a bunch of guys they kind of didn't give a shit about something to do so that meant no sacrificing top stars. It was filler programming and obviously everybody doing important shit was busy doing important shit. Also of note was that the WWF did not want originally the likes of Dan Severn, Steve Blackman and Ken Shamrock in it. Ken apparently wasn't interested and made the argument that it didn't benefit him given the fact that he was a genuine UFC star still to take a pit stop in pro wrestling. At the same time, Dan Severn was asked not to participate at first and then had to be coerced into taking a spot when injuries happened. The same goes for Steve Blackman who was signed up after a few drop outs occurred, primarily due to the promise of Blackman being allowed to throw kicks in the tournament. The dropouts are hard to pinpoint but Tiger Ali Singh is one of the more notorious ones per Bob Holly. I've also read around that Ahmed Johnson was at one point supposed to be in it but I've never been able to confirm that (or remember the shoot interview that it was mentioned in). The point is that on its face, the Brawl For All was going to be a shoot fighting tournament without the two genuine proven shoot fighters in case you're curious about the true idea behind it.

Also as an MMA fan, I can't help but notice the # of "I was a last minute addition" stories these guys have. Lord knows that has to be a common thing said by guys like Sean Shelby and Mick Maynerd to get some of these fights done. I'd imagine that "We need a guy and you're going to help us out!" sweet talk happens to this day. My immediate thought is that they were either a) having a tough time filling spots in the Brawl For All and started telling people they were in need of last minute additions or b) most of these guys regret doing it and figure saying they were last minute replacements helps take the edge off.

So who WAS in?

We got sixteen names so buckle up and pour a drink or two.

8-Ball- Ron Harris aka 1/2 of The Blu Brothers aka Vince Russo's Creative Control. Vince Russo has never been a master of subtlety and so I suppose it's no surprise that one of his top angles was "Gang Warz" pitting an all white stable (The DOA) vs an all Puerto Rican tag team (Los Boricuas) vs a mostly all black tag team (the Nation Of Domination). Needless to say, Vince Russo makes it hard to defend him sometimes. To my knowledge neither Ron nor brother Don have any sort of proven fighting experience and the less said about them (and their tattoos), the better off we'll be. Ron (and Don) were rumored to have threatened Shawn Michaels on their last night in the WWF in the 90s, a rumor that seems to be corroborated by at least a few folks.

Steve Blackman- Most of the dudes who talk about the Brawl For All admit that this guy probably wins it all things being equal. Blackman had a legit karate background with some muay thai and amateur wrestling mixed in. Besides Blackman somehow overcame being bedridden for two years with malaria to become a legitimate pro wrestler so needless to say if it's a "Who wants it more?" shoot type deal, he's going to cover the grit and grind department well. Blackman is also rumored to have once taken down The Big Show and held him down until Show begged him to let him up which is akin to Bob Backlund apparently getting the Iron Sheik down and sitting on him until he either lost interest or was asked to let him up. Steve Blackman is by all intents and purposes a badass.

Bradshaw- Apparently the inspiration behind this atrocity depending upon who you ask. Bradshaw's reputation is marred now with incidents of bullying (real or fabricated), pro wrasslin' racism (goosestepping in Germany to get heat, some other old school heel shenanigans) and borderline dangerous behavior like blindsiding the Blue Meanie and beating the shit out of him when Meanie thought it was a working brawl. At this point though, none of that is really widespread and Bradshaw is just a fake Stan Hansen who looks tough and stiffs the hell out of people. He's about to eventually turn into a mute member of the Undertaker's industry before he comes a heel mercenary for hire before they turn into FUN beer drinking cigar smoking mercenaries for hire before turning into a Wall Street rich Texan chasing Mexicans "at the border" to get heat for a feud with Eddie Guerrero. I suppose you cant say Bradshaw didn't earn it at least.

Brakkus- Wooof. Brakkus was a massive German bodybuilder who apparently didn't quite understand that the Brawl For All wasn't worked. The WWF had big plans for Brakkus (if they send you to Memphis to work for Lawler in the USWA, it probably means they had a long term vision for him) but he sucked and no matter where they sent him, he continued to suck. He was bad in Memphis, was bad in ECW and ultimately this feels like an attempt to just do something with him. Again though, how good you are as a pro wrestler doesn't matter in the Brawl For All. It was about legit fighting----and Brakkus apparently according to Savio Vega had no idea he was in a real fight. Keep that in mind.

Mark Canterbury- I have NO idea why Henry O. Godwinn is listed on wikipedia by his real name but fuck it, here he is! So full blindspot up front, I LOVED Henry O' Godwinn as a kid. He carried around a slop bucket, poured what looked like puke on people, wrestled in overalls which helped him stand out and it sort of gets lost in the fact that he was given a dumb gimmick (In the mid 90s, it felt like the WWE was acknowledging how big of a slide it was in because every human being had a side hustle) that Godwinn could absolutely work. Here's Godwinn vs Bret Hart in a killer match btw: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9vihPkNmLM. This was before Vince Russo and company turned them from a fun midcard act into a gross-ish play on Vince McMahon's distaste for southerners. Oh and also! Henry Godwin PROBABLY is doing this with a  still kinda broken neck. He broke it in 1997, was told to take three months or more off (Godwinn gives numbers ranging from ten weeks to sixteen weeks) and he just showed back up in less than two months to work through it. Keep that in mind.

Droz- A tragic story all in all which we'll get to eventually. Droz at this point is basically coming out of a dead angle with the LOD where he was written in storyline to be feeding drugs (and whatever else) to Road Warrior Hawk in an attempt to take his place in the Legion Of Doom. If it sounds awful it's because it was and while MAYBE a good writer can make that work, we're talking about the WWF in 1998 trying to soap opera a drug pusher/drug abuse victim angle. It ultimately ended with Droz shoving Road Warrior Hawk off the titantron while Hawk was attempting to commit suicide. Again, it's as bad as you'd believe. Droz had a college football background but that's about it unless I missed some boxing or kickboxing background.

The Godfather- By all accounts the Godfather is a badass. He was hip to MMA before the UFC really caught on, was a freakishly devoted bodybuilder and he just looks like the sort of guy who would take very little shit from anybody. The Godfather is about to become THE Godfather as he's transitioning from Kama Mustafa and the Nation Of Domination's actually good muscle enforcer (Mark Henry is bad around this time and would continue to be such until about 2009 or so) but at this point I'd imagine the writing is on the wall for most of the NOD guys that the Rock is about to leave them in the dust and this group is going to theoretically die a death. The Godfather is about to take a seriously big turn but FIRST, the Brawl For All!

Bart Gunn- At this point, Bart Gunn is doing nothing. Basically nothing. One could even say less than nothing. Bart Gunn is in The New Midnight Express, an angle that Vince Russo has claimed was apparently a way to shut up Jim Cornette and prove to him that old style wrestling couldn't work in 1998. Bart Gunn was apart of the Smoking Gunns and according to him, he had toughman contest experience. Apparently Bart Gunn got brought into the Brawl For All because Kevin Kelly had seen him wear out big guys in Tampa and per Billy Gunn, Bart was the sort of dude who could wipe out a bar room full of people if need be. That said it's not like Bart had any boxing experience or what have you.

Hawk- Another noted tough dude and one of pro wrestling's weirdest mysteries. Every old school dude be it Kevin Sullivan, Jim Cornette or Paul Heyman raves about Hawk as a talent and claims he could've been a major marquee attraction as a singles wrestler. Kevin Sullivan in particular claims that had he had the opportunity to work with Hawk and freshen him up as a singles wrestler, he could've been an Undertaker-esque attraction who drew money across multiple character iterations. Hawk is coming off his personal demons storyline which I mentioned before that sucked. At this point, he and Animal have broken down and are in serious need of repairs from a physical and character standpoint.

Bob Holly- Bradshaw and Bob Holly in the same tournament and somehow they didn't face off? In 2019, I imagine people would be rooting for a double KO (although Bob's image has softened with fans since leaving the WWE) but at this point Bob Holly is just trying to figure shit out in his career. He's teaming with Bart Gunn in the New Midnight Express after sputtering out (HA HA) as a race car driver. Bob Holly is another dude who by in large is just known as a tough guy with a bit of a bully streak tendency behind that reputation. Owner of the wrestling world famous "YOU GOT TWENTY FOUR HOURS TO LEARN HOW TO FIGHT, BITCH!" threat to Rene Dupree before he kicked the shit out of him over parking tickets.

Marc Mero- The story of Marc Mero is a rough one with a happy ending. Marc Mero was really over in WCW as Johnny B. Badd, a Little Richard knock off with a Badd Blaster that shot confetti. Johnny B. Badd was so over that Vince paid him big money to be Johnny B. Badd----only for someone to smarten him up that Johnny B. Badd was a WCW trademark so he had paid for a guy who was trained from jump to do ONE role his whole career. Marc Mero was pretty over and underrated as a wrestler (I SWEAR BY THIS) before his knees gave in. Making matters worse for him was that his wife, Rena, was the women's face of the Attitude Era as Sable. According to Jim Cornette, Marc Mero was trying to be a good husband and help get his super over wife even MORE over---so he took a powerbomb from her on TV. Mero's future big money opponent was Stone Cold who happened to be  watching the show at the time from home. Apparently Austin called up Vince McMahon and immediately asked who he would be working with on next week's Raw since he wasn't going to do any business with Mero after eating a powerbomb on TV from his wife. I don't know if this was before or after the Brawl For All though so take that for what it's worth. Either way, Mero is doing a boxing gimmick now (he is apparently a reputable legit golden gloves champion) and so it makes sense he'd be in the Brawl For All.

Pierre- This is a real shootfight tournament. Actual punches are being thrown and takedowns are implemented. This is, again, a legitimate shoot fight----and so of course one of the dudes involved in the shoot fight is missing an eye. Quebeccer Pierre/Pierre Carl Oulette/Jon Pierre Lefitte is missing an eye and was competing in a shoot tournament WITH one eye. We're not talking Michael Bisping fighting with a damaged eye for years on end, we're talking about an actual lack of an eye. This happened, people. We'll talk more about Pierre (and his amazing story in 2019) but right now in 1998, he's JAG who is bouncing between WCW and WWF looking for something to do. He's also at this point known as the guy who refused to put Kevin Nash over in 1995 despite Nash being the face of the company. PCO is the original Bret Hart, refusing to job in Canada.

Scorpio- I gotta admit I have no idea what Scorpio is doing here. I bet he doesn't know either if we're being truthful. Scorpio is one of those guys who was ahead of his time but seemed incapable of staying on the right path (whatever that means in wrestling) to get what he was due. He had come into the WWF in 1997 as Flash Funk and so I imagine Flash Funk was over and he's just killing time until the Job Squad angle.  Scorpio is apparently a legit tough guy (or madman depending on who you ask) and held a 1-0 unofficial record over Hawk after he beat the shit out of him in WCW.

Dan Severn- Dan Severn was told he wouldn't even be allowed to participate and then was told the day OF the taping that he was needed to take a spot. Severn is not too far removed from being a UFC everything (champion, tournament winner etc etc) and so he's for the most part a prospective favorite. That's probably why he wasn't asked to compete at first I'd imagine since the plan was PERHAPS to get somebody else over. Another rumor is that Severn is such a boring plain dude with a boring plain style (Severn admits his plan was to never throw a punch and just grapple people) that if he had won, there would've been no payoff in it.

Savio Vega- I have NO idea if Savio Vegas has a professional sports background or what the deal was. Apparently Savio Vegas asked to be in it and was also the unofficial official matchmaker (he drew the names out of a hat) and he's Puerto Rican so he's got my rooting interest right away. I think Los Boricuas at this point were in full swing and Savio was obviously the head of said stable. Gang Warz was dumb as hell.

Steve Williams- And we reach the FINAL name. "Dr. Death" Steve Williams. Steve Williams was a former football player at the University of Oklahoma and one of the more decorated wrestlers in Oklahoma history. He had carved out a niche in Japan by this point after establishing himself as a star in Mid South with the occasional stop off in the NWA/Jim Crockett Promotions/various regional feds and start ups. Williams didn't have any official fighting background but he was a crazy good wrestler and by all accounts a ridiculous bad ass. Jim Cornette tells stories of Dr. Death fighting fans and laying bodies to waste with little to no effort. He was also extremely popular with people in the WWF office, namely Jim Ross and Jim Cornette. Bruce Prichard doesn't QUITE say that the WWF thought Dr. Death would win the Brawl For All but he does a damn good enough impression of Jim Ross advocating for Steve Williams that I have to believe it. Vince Russo has spoken in the past about Steve Williams being Jim Ross' "boy" and how this was basically his way of seeing whether Jim Ross was right. Bob Holly has said that they were already doing vignettes with Barry Switzer and interviews as if Dr. Death won the Brawl For All. Dr. Death claims that the Triple H push of 1999 was the one Vince had promised him before the Brawl For All.

All of this brings me to my final point.....

Dr. Death was never going to be a big star in the WWF

I truly hate to speak ill of the dead and I'm trying hard no to either. Let's just speak from a more realistic pragmatic grounded stance. The kind of talent that was getting over in 1999 falls into three distinct categories. The first were talkers, guys and gals who could rap so to speak and had tremendous presence. Promo guys could carry the day and even IF you gave Dr. Death a Jim Ross to do the talking for him, let's not forget that by 1998 at this point in July there's basically just one manager actually doing anything as a talker and that's Paul Bearer. "Dr. Death" Steve Williams was not a talker and even if he was, he's certainly not the kind of talker who would fit in Vince McMahon's WWF. The second were guys who were big with "the look" according to Vince McMahon. Pull up a picture of every top star in 1998 for the WWF and then slide Dr. Death in there and ask if he fits the mold. He's unique for sure and there's the Mick Foley outlier----but imagine how long it took Mick Foley to be seen as legitimate by Vince McMahon. Even if Dr. Death is the definition of a Jim Ross style Hoss, he looks woefully out of date by 1998 standards. He in many ways, like a lot of guys who frequently toured Japan and basically were behind on the times, looked like he had been left in 1988. Lastly there were the gimmick guys; the Undertaker, Kane, The Rock, DX, Austin etc etc. Dr. Death's gimmick was that he was an ass kicker which is great but AGAIN we are to believe every human being in the WWF at this time is an ass kicker. Maybe Vince and company would've found a way to get something out of him but the chances are that Dr. Death would've never been a big star. Could he have feuded with Stone Cold? Surely! A big money draw? A multi million dollar hit? I just don't see it. Can't imagine it. Also let's be fair here, how toned down would his style have been for the WWF at the time as well? Is he going to suplex Steve Austin around after Stone Cold broke his neck? I'm not quite buying that either.

So there's your sixteen. You got a few amateur wrestlers ten years beyond their competitive days, a boxer or two, a toughman contest guy, a few dudes who dabbled in kickboxing and a man with legitimately one eye. You've got the guy who the company thinks SHOULD win it. So who won the fuckin' thing? How did they win it?

That's for next time.

[counttwinkula]

My Top 5 Crack Fighters for Smash Ultimate

tagged by my beloved @pfrankly​

Rules:

First choose five video game characters that you think would be good for Smash. They don’t have to be Nintendo owned nor do they have to come from games featured on Nintendo consoles.

Then list any possible Echo Fighters

Finally tag a few people who you think would have some good ideas for a Smash Bros roster

(in no particular order)

1. Nihilego from Pokemon Sun & Moon (and Ultra Sun & Moon)

it’s highly speculated that we’re going to see a 7th generation pokemon in the upcoming smash brothers. when smash 4 was on its way i hoped that we would see sylveon join the roster because of the fairy type hype. with the focus on ultra beasts in the current generation, i would love to play as UB-01.

nihilego would have some awesome possibilities as a gimmicky fighter. poision type moves would be a lot of fun to wield on the battlefield, and i would especially like to see its ability (beast boost) make an appearance, perhaps by a slight stat boost when it KOs an opponent. perhaps a final smash could involve it merging with an opponent, like it does lusamine?

2. Young Link from The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask

the rest of my choices are going to be zelda characters because i’m THAT bitch. ever since i was little, i was disappointed that young link was just a clone of adult link, especially because of my love for majora’s mask. after all, in ocarina of time adult link can do anything that young link can, but in majora’s mask he really proves himself as a unique character.

obviously this would really be a revamp of young link’s current moveset, which i imagine working like a combination of pokemon trainer and zelda/sheik. young link’s smash moves would transform him into deku, goron, or zora link, each with a unique moveset. final smash would obviously be fierce deity link, providing the perfect parallel to the much speculated addition of skull kid.

3. Midna from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

there’s a huge desire within the zelda subcommunity of the smash fanbase for a character who is not one of the wielders of the triforce. though she appears in only one of the games (and hyrule warriors), i would argue that midna is one of the most iconic characters in the series. she’s by far the least annoying of link’s assistants and has a tremendous amount of presence in the game.

midna by herself OR while riding wolf link would be a dream come true, using her hand-like ponytail and shadow magic to whoop enemies into shape. her final smash would obviously be her fused shadow form, or perhaps using the mirror of twilight to banish her foes. i mostly want you to imagine her taunts and tell me she wouldn’t be the absolute best.

4. Tetra from The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

it was just this week i learned that a “toon zelda” file was found leftover in the coding for brawl. now to be honest i don’t really CARE about toon zelda; if it were up to me toon link wouldn’t be in smash at all bc we REALLY don’t need that many links. but tetra is one of zelda’s best guises, showing wisdom through street smarts (except that “street” is the high seas).

tetra recently became playable for the first time in the hyrule warriors games, meaning that a moveset wouldn’t be hard to imagine for her. her cutlass and pistol are obvious choices, but i’d also love to see some more nautical specific moves (maybe a cannon?). i imagine her final smash akin to olimar’s, with her crew hoisting her aboard their ship and leaving her opponents to drown in the great sea.

5. Urbosa from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

okay to be honest, when it comes to a BOTW character, every part of me says sidon. he’s a fan favorite and he’s my favorite, so he’d be a fun addition. but i just can’t figure out a moveset that would make him exciting. urbosa, however, would be a great choice and i think she would kick major ass. plus: i can’t think of a dark skinned character on the roster other than ganondorf...

i imagine urbosa would be skilled in both hand to hand and armed combat, using her scimitar (which, admittedly, is similar to tetra and her cutlass). she could also use electric magic, which is what i find most exciting about her as a fighter, wielding urbosa’s fury as a final smash.

Echo Fighter: Nabooru

that’s right, the ORIGINAL Gerudo badass. the electric magic could be replaced with something more reminiscent of the spirit temple, and any hand to hand moves could have the iron gauntlets added.

Honorable Mentions:

Prince Sidon (from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild)

Boo (from the Super Mario franchise)

Captain Toad (from the Super Mario Franchise)

Plague Knight (from Shovel Knight)

Mae (from Night in the Woods)

idk who to tag bc patrick is my main video game bitch but if you have Opinions about this sort of thing pwease do it!!

[chimerabal]

Session.... what are we at four?

I lost track. Oops. Thankfully tumblr is in reverse chronological order so it’s not actually an issue.

I WAS WRONG THIS IS SESSION NUMBER FIVE.

I am So Pumped for flavoring out my new spells that I almost forgot I needed to type this play by play--- which is super important because this week was full of dark humor and stupidity.

We started the session with all the players plus a giest and Ugly, our ~8ft by ~4ft scaab, having barged into a kindly (yet grumpy) man’s house and locking ourselves in for temporary shelter from an approaching cult. We were all pretty beat; with our cleric and necro-alchemist having just kicked the shit out of each other, and a ghost having kicked the shit out of my character. No one even thought to ask this dude’s name before our dumb asses started in on our bullshit. War cleric Mikela immediately found a crack in the boarded up windows to watch the cultists pass by. Sibyl, necro-alchemist, put herself in a cozy corner to sit out the rest of her post-brawl-trauma. After sitting Ugly in front of the door as a barricade, and offering a hollow and uninterested ‘sorry’ to the guy who’s door we just damn near broke down, my scaberen Uriel got hit with a wave of paranoia and started rifling through all the guy’s stuff looking for traps to disarm or Something. Before the man got too angry Mikela came around and spoke to him some and Uriel sat their dumb ass down next to Sibyl in the quiet corner to also chill the fuck out.

Mikela asked the man some questions about the town, and the cult, and all the happenings; then hit the helpful giest with some as well. We learned that before the cult started showing up two orphans appeared in town, a young man and his even younger brother. They were from a neighboring town, and were recently orphaned by something bloody and unpleasant. Unsatisfied with these answers, Mikela did some scouting from the upstairs window, got a second wind or Something, and decided that we should immediately leave the shelter we just worked so hard to Get Into and chase these cultist jerks down. Right Now. After all, the cult was recruiting--- or something loud--- just a few streets over, and we might not get this chance again before they kill more innocents. Uriel argued against this for a bit, since shes a coward they got indoors to Rest and that it would be stupid to throw ourselves back into battle unprepared and we should Really just take advantage of Finally being under a roof for a while. Sibyl agreed, more or less, that it was probably dangerous and stupid to back out without healing. This went back and forth for a bit, as it does. I manage to get a Super Abridged version of the script I had written out for learning All Of Sibyl’s Mysterious Secrets... got basically nothing outta her :P Scripts don’t work in RP settings, I get that now. Mikela did a healing spell that brought everyone back up to full health and the party agreed to head out.

We decide to leave Ugly with the man in his home, but the guy takes a little bit of prodding to agree to that. Uriel--- not totally over the paranoia from earlier--- is a huge asshole to him and he gives the party a time limit of three hours to get the hell back and take their awful zombie abomination. She almost commands Ugly to destroy the fucking house if they’re not back in time but Ugly is a good boy and wouldn’t have done that anyways ;w;b. The party stealths on over to where the Loud Cult Noises are coming from. There’s this... ascension? of very colorful giests centered around where we are headed. Sibyl is the only one who notices this and calmly instructs Mikela and Uriel to keep cool, and for Uriel specifically Not To Look Up. Uriel apparently really trusts Sibyl because she listened... until Mikela failed her perception and fucking started screaming. That many giests simply isn’t normal so... we were all pretty shook okay? 

Mikela’s scream alerted some of the cultists and we scrambled to hide. Uriel and Sibyl hid fabulously in the alleys... the exact same alley... in the same spot... against what our plans were. Mikela went upwards and scaled a building which.... wasn’t very stealthy but the cultists never bothered to look up, so ultimately the best hiding spot. Uriel tried distracting the cultists by throwing a gold coin into their area--- hoping it would distract them and they’d fight over it. It failed, they ignored it. Sibyl tried to divert their attentions to a near by area by firing a flame spell into said area.... which also failed and blew our cover. 

The cultists were unable to hit either Sibyl or Uriel with attacks normally, BUT THEN one of Sibyl’s ghost-spells backfired a bit and she started glowing Very Brightly, blinding the enemies and also Uriel. Uriel was able to land a devastating hit on one of the cultists even when blind before backing the hell up and regaining her eyesight. Mikela got the jump (ha) on the enemies by launching herself off the building and into the fray, doing a lot of damage. Sibyl- still super glowy- electrocuted one of the cultists with a VERY COOL TASER GAUNTLET. Uriel ended the battle by strangling the remaining cultist into unconsciousness. Mikela looted the body and shouldered the unconscious dude and Uriel tried to carry the dead guy--- saying it would be disrespectful or something to just Leave It There Like That. Definitely not weird scaberen motivations no sir. We ended up giving the dead guy to Katya (who is here in spirit for this game- and here for when we can’t do things with our own bad strength stats) to carry.

The group hears the loud cultists from a neighboring road fussing over ‘that strange glow over there’ (Sibyl) and heading our way. The party runs through the town in weird ways to throw the group off our tail until Sibyl stops glowing, and then runs even more after that; we weren't able to shake them. The dead guy was leaking and leaving a blood trail. The group deliberates for a bit and decides to tourniquet the bleeding leg just above the offending wound, then cut the rest of it off and make a fake blood trail away from where we were going. The amputation is done with Great Somberness (because its so morbid on the party’s part, and because it’s ruining an other wise Lovey Corpse on Uriel’s). Uriel is then given the leg to make the fake trail with, which they do gladly.... probably having a bit too much fun splattering blood everywhere in the process.

The group returns to the grumpy man’s house with a body and a hostage and don’t immediately see the grumpy man. We find him barricaded on the top floor of his house with a spear poking out his only sight hole, ranting about how he KNEW that beastly thing was going to come after him, and trying to stab poor Sibyl who and just wanted to let him know we came back. Both Sibyl and Mikela try to talk the guy down, while Uriel is losing their god damn mind laughing at the situation. The hostage begins to awaken (Sibyl punches him), catching the guy’s attention. He disarms and sees Uriel and Katya holding a limp form, and Mikela shouldering a gagged and bound man. Pretty sure Uriel blew whatever positive progress we made on the grumpy dudes mental state with all the laughter and smirking... especially after asking What The Fuck she was holding. The group leave him alone to work with the hostage downstairs.

Mikela and Sibyl work a bit on getting the hostage to stop Screaming--- half because he’ll attract unwanted attention and half because, you just can’t interrogate like that. Uriel steps in and tells the guy that if he doesn’t shut up they’ll feed him to Ugly (who is still sitting in front of the door being a Good Boy). He stops screaming and pisses himself, which is gross on its own, yeah, but Mikela still had him on her shoulder. Uriel falls back into hysteric laughter as Mikela doffs her armor as quickly as fuckin’ possible. She then hurls all the piss covered armor at Uriel, who effortlessly dodges it. The armor hits Ugly--- making Uriel laugh even Harder--- then it tries putting ON the pissy armor--- and at this point Uriel is basically crying. Mikela is busy cleaning herself off, and Uriel is trying to regain composure, so Sibyl starts the interrogation on our prisoner. 

The interrogation is pretty long, Sibyl asks a few questions before Mikela takes over, and eventually Uriel joins the group mostly to observe. We learn that this guy had Literally Just Joined the cult today. He joined because the church’s  protections aren’t doing Shit in this crappy fucked up little town and almost everyone here is totally disillusioned. The dude Sibyl killed was the only person he actually Knew in the whole cult and he really couldn’t offer us much info on members... or really much of anything. He didn’t know the name of the demon they follow--- only that it’s name began with an N and that it was calling itself ‘the whispered one’ and ‘the heir to Griselbrand’ (which Uriel pointed out, is kinda stupid, why follow some lesser demon when Griselbrand is still in power?). Around here is when Sibyl checked out to work on her Mystery Notes... and Uriel got bored almost immediately after when the leader was described. The cult is run by a young twiggy male with long blond hair, and he often has a child with him (not even a partial demon or something cool and grotesque--- why even bother). Mikela asked some more questions and eventually came to the conclusion that it was the weird orphans from earlier who are now running the cult. I hope I got all the deets from that- this was Late Game and I’m not the best note taker lmao.

When Uriel got bored with the interrogation she noticed that Sibyl had left the room and, quietly, went to go find her. Sibyl had taken out the same note-filled bible from the other night and was flipping through it. Uriel got close enough to see the pages that Sibyl was focused on were written in code--- code that Sibyl obviously didn’t know. She startled Sibyl by asking what was up and took 3 points of head-to-jaw damage when Sibyl jumped up and bolted. Nosy persistence didn’t really pay off much for Uriel; Sibyl claimed to not know what the book was about, or if it was related to the cult-shit, and just gave some really vague and suspect answers that Uriel took at face value. And, although Sibyl is the most interesting character overall, Mikela barged into the room with her “ITS THE ORPHANS” revelation and won Sibyl some reprieve from my nosy character.

Uriel and Mikela discuss the orphans a bit, the ghost tells us that the town they are from is still there- but gives us Cryptic Horse Shit about how far away the town is from where we are. While we’re all distracted our hostage slips out of his restraints and flees the house, and we Only notice because the door is squeaky. As he leaves he says “I’m not the only one who’s heard the call” and we see a bunch more people walking towards where the cultists Probably are. Spooky.

The campaign ends here, and I shortly after realize I forgot entirely about the body I should have been working with... OOPS. I’m honestly only even mentioning that here because I don’t want to forget about it AGAIN come next week I need that for spells.

And per usual, not proof reading or anything, and I don’t trust that I didn’t miss details- I kinda check out sometimes on other peoples turns... Its the curse of an ADHD attention span without visual input  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I try.

[mystic-messenger-writing]

Can you do a reaction with rfa + v + saeran, with MC being attacked, but beating the crap out of her attacker? Like, she takes some hits and gets roughed up too, but the attacker is definitely worse off when its all done. And the rfa + v + saeran can see it all, but for some reason they can't get to her until it's pretty much over.

I always like writing about MC being a badass, and this request was no different! I tried not to make these too violent so hopefully they’re still okay! I hope that you enjoy!! ^^

Yoosung

Yoosung was almost finished with classes for the school year and he couldn’t have been happier

That unfortunately meant finals were coming up so he decided to stay after class one day to get some help from the professor

He was running later than he thought so you decided to wait outside of the classroom on a nearby bench

Yoosung saw you through the window and gave a little wave and a shy smile as he finished up talking with his strict professor

Just as you were about to wave back, one student who was obviously drunk came up to you and started harassing you

Yoosung’s eyes widened in horror as he saw the drunken student throw a punch at you for trying to move away from him

The professor was scolding him for not paying attention so Yoosung pushed passed the professor to get to you

Yoosung immediately felt tears start to form in his eyes when he saw your black eye and bleeding knuckles but felt a tiny amount of relief when he saw the student on he floor unconscious

He apologized over and over again for not helping you sooner, crying into your shoulder but you reassured Yoosung that it was okay

Yoosung immediately takes you to the hospital and signs up both himself and you for self-defense classes

Zen

Zen finally had some free time from his busy schedule to take you out on a date to a nice restaurant

The two of you were really looking forward to enjoying the night since you two haven’t had a proper date night in forever

That is until just before you got into the restaurant, Zen was mobbed by a small group of fan girls

You sighed and waited for Zen to finish with the fans, moving a bit away from them so you didn’t feel suffocated

Zen could barely see you at this point but he did see the figure next to you shoving you against the wall

Trying desperately to push his fangirls away, Zen could only watch in horror as the man started hitting you

But you weren’t easing up on him, giving his hits right back to him in full force

By the time Zen broke away from his fans, the attacker was a bloody pulp on the floor and while you did have some blood on you, you looked safe

Zen gave you a bone-crushing hug, profusely apologizing for leaving you alone even after you told him you were find, and from that day forward Zen became the most protective boyfriend on the planet

Jaehee

Jaehee decided that it was time for you and her to have some fun together so she took you to the mall

It was turning out to be a fun day, the two of you bought some much needed new clothing, had a nice lunch together, and even took some photos together in a photo booth

The two of you were at your last shop for the day and just as you both were about to exit, the security alarm went off because of Jaehee’s bag

Jaehee told you to wait outside until her and the store manager could sort things out to which you agreed to

You didn’t see anyone else around until some man came up to you, demanding you give him your money

Out of the corner of her eye, Jaehee gasped as she saw a man attacking you with you fiercely hitting him back

She pushed the store manager aside and ran over to you, almost on the verge of tears as she saw your bloody hands and bruise marks, but you told Jaehee that you were fine but the attacker may need to go to a hospital

Jaehee couldn’t stop telling you how sorry she was for leaving you alone and promised to teach you some judo moves so you would be safer even if she wasn’t around

Jumin

Jumin was set to leave on a business trip the next day so you asked to go to work with him today so you could spend as much as together as possible

Of course Jumin agreed but you forgot how boring big offices like Jumin’s could be, especially since Jumin was busy that day but it was finally time to go home

Just as the two of you reached the large revolving doors, a couple of important businessmen stopped Jumin to discuss an upcoming meeting

You waited outside because those guys were boring, noticing some sketchy looking man eye up the building

As you went to approach the man to see what was up, he grabbed your wrists but you weren’t having it so the two of you ended up brawling

Jumin could see the entire fight happening as he pushed the businessmen away, calling security

By the time Jumin ran to you, the man was passed out but Jumin was more worried about your growing bruise marks that decorated your skin

You told Jumin that you were fine, happy to teach the creep a lesson, making Jumin concerned but also glad

Jumin promised to never leave your side again, apologizing for not getting there sooner, and that he’d cancel his business trip to spend more time with you

Seven

Seven was feeling sick that day so you told him that you’d go buy some medicine for him

He protested, saying that it was late and not safe but he stopped after you gave him the death glare along with him having a coughing fit

Although he did trust you, Seven kept an eye on you through the street cameras, smiling as he saw you bought the medicine as well as some Honey Buddha Chips

But Seven’s smile instantly vanished when he saw some man following you, eyeing you up and down

Just as Seven was about to reach his phone, the man started attacking you, making Seven scramble out of the house to save you

He kept watch on the video feed on his phone as he hoped into his car and sped his way towards you, noticing that you were fighting back and kicking some serious butt

By the time Seven got there, he couldn’t even recognize the attackers face, also noting your bloody knuckles and bruising

He felt instant relief seeing that you were okay, although Seven did get scolded by you for leaving the house when he was sick

And Seven really ruined the moment by asking “So are the Honey Buddha Chips safe?” And getting a swift smack on the shoulder from you

V

You and V were just coming back from a nature photo shoot

V’s eye sight was starting to falter so he was constantly asking you to go along with him on his photo shoots to help set up and such

The two of you were happily chatting until some random man sneered at V, calling his photos trash and that he should quit being a photographer

V just calmly nodded and tried to pass the man but the man was quicker and pushed V to the ground, effectively twisting V’s ankle

The man then turned to you to take V’s equipment to smash but when you refused, the man started to become violent

V tried to get up to help you, but the pain in his ankle was too much plus he could barely see he two of you

He then heard the man let out a strangled groan followed by a thud

V felt your arms wrap around him, asking him if he was okay

But V was crying, he could make out the blood that covered your clothing and the small trickle of blood coming from the corner of your mouth

Even after your reassurance that you were okay, V only hugged you, crying into your shoulder as he promised to get the eye surgery

Unknown

You and Saeran had just recently started your relationship but things were going smoothly

Saeran still had his anxiety issues so he was still going to his therapist

After the two of you started dating, Saeran was getting more nervous about going to his therapist, thinking that she would contort his mind and end of hurting you

So both of you made the consecutive decision to have you go along with Saeran to his therapist, greatly relieving the stressed boy

One day, Saeran went into a new therapy room where there was a window and he saw you sitting outside waiting for him on a nearby park bench

Knowing that you were near made Saeran feel at ease, that was until some stranger started getting close to you, demanding you hand over your bag

Saeran thought that he was just imagining things until he saw the man physically attack you, making Saeran rage

He pushed passed his confused therapist and ran outside to find the attacker unconscious and extremely bloody and you bruised but alright

Saeran pulled you into the tightest embrace that he could muster, telling you how sorry he was and how he would never leave your side again to make sure he would always protect you

[ohsweetflips]

okay so if the Gangsey was in the Dragon Age world, what would their races/classes be?

oh shit i love this omg

okay for the sake of the fact that im tired, we’re gonna go with the basis that they’re all human unless stated otherwise. i am very tired so im gonna dedicate my energy to their classes omg

also im basing this all around origins and off the idea that they’re becoming grey wardens

this is going under the cut bc this got super long. under the cut is classes, slight backstories, and outcomes of the blight

blue sargent: mage, obviously. (like morrigan,) she and her family are called “witches of the wild”. people tend to fear them at first, considering the rumors of blood magic and stealing children, but they’re actually friendlier than most... sort of. they can sense people’s energies, and if they sense something harmful, they will do whatever it takes to get rid of it and its source. if friendly, they’ll welcome them warmly and perhaps even tell a prophecy. blue herself though usually mostly deals with spirit magic. she discovered her magic at an age older than most, so she’s still getting used to it. unlike the books she has a knack in telling prophecies for what the future may hold. she ends up specializing as an arcane warrior. she’s completely against the circles, though she doesn’t have a full perspective considering she was never in one. she becomes a grey warden when she told the prophecy of the warden recruit duncan, and he decided that they needed a mage like her fighting the blight. if there was one thing they needed, it was someone to possibly predict what will happen. upon meeting the noble gansey son in her party, she first realized that she couldn’t stand him one bit, and then realized that this boy’s future held a different ending than the other’s.

richard gansey the iii: noble and warrior and tragic hero. he came from a line of strong templars. a couple years back, as a child, there was an assassination attempt on richard gansey senior. however, goblets got mixed up and richard gansey junior ended up with the poison. he ingested it, and actually did die. when he awoke from death, his parents claimed it was the maker blessing him with life. gansey believed it was magic reaching out to him, a human, from the fade, and ever since then, he fell in love with magic. when gansey was a child, his family thought that his interest in magic would make him a great templar. however, as he got older, they realized that his love for magic was what made him despise the idea of being a templar. gansey believed that mages should be free and that magic should be accepted, not condemned. but the ganseys were a powerful noble family with a strong templar lineage, so they hid from the public that their youngest son wanted to break that line that they valued so much. gansey himself desired to be a hero. he wanted to change the world and make things better, and he wanted to be remembered in history. ever since he was a child, he trained in sword and shield fighting, and when duncan came to visit his family, he near begged duncan to recruit him. duncan finally did when he saw that gansey was actually a sufficient fighter. gansey happily said goodbye to his family, and continued on the road with duncan. he soon specialized as a champion, and through out his journey, in the back of his mind, he knew that one day he would be called to his duty and be forced to choose between his life and everyone else’s.

adam parrish: rogue, half-dalish. he was born in the brecillian forest, but ended up growing in a crappy little house in denerim. he tended to ignore his dalish side, not because he didn’t want to be elven, but because it never really meant anything in his life. in denerim, he’s living poor on the streets with an abusive father; he spends most of his time stealing from others on the street and doing odd jobs to make enough money to be able to eat. if he lived with a dalish clan, he would have had to spend his time being wary of templars and always ready to uproot his old life and find a new one. to him, whether or not he was raised dalish or raised human was no big deal to him. he just knew that he would never be rich and powerful like the ganseys. as he got older, though, he started having weird and frequent dreams of woods and trees calling out to him, saying that he was the one they needed. he had those dreams, and felt connected to the nature around him when he managed to get outside of denerim, but never acquired any magic. he was conscripted into the wardens when he was caught in the nearby woods by templars and was accused of being an apostate proceeding with a ritual. he was trying to see if he could find any connection with nature (he did) but he was no mage. duncan conscripted him to save him from a life of imprisonment, but ended up getting a sufficient rogue, and eventually a ranger. he was at first mortified when he saw that richard gansey the iii was in his party, but over the course of the blight, he found an unlikely friend in the noble.

ronan lynch: human, ex-noble. the lynches were once as powerful as the ganseys. they were the two dominant families in denerim, and every lord looked to marry off his daughters to the duo of ronan lynch and richard gansey the iii. however, when niall lynch was revealed to not only be an apostate, but a blood mage, and his wife aurora just someone under his spell, he was promptly murdered and the lynches were stripped of their title as nobles. there left only the lynch brothers: declan, ronan, and matthew. declan tried to restore his family from the bottom, trying to get people to respect them again in more safe ways. matthew was the charmer of denerim, loved by all despite his father’s ways. and then all that was left was ronan. it was not uncommon for him to steal things from merchants, except he was never caught. he had run into adam parrish a few times, but he was neat and knew how to steal and didn’t stop to give him the time of day. as a noble, he got training in using two-handed weapons when he was still a noble, and continued to train himself when he wasn’t. like parrish, he too felt a connection to nature, except he felt the darker parts of it. he heard the spirits and demons that whispered in the roots, and they heard him too. he ended up being conscripted by duncan when a fight with the noble family kavinsky’s son turned into a deadly brawl, and ronan was to face execution. instead, duncan conscripted him. with his time in the wardens, ronan tapped into the spirits (or demons) that seemed to call to him in nature and became a reaver. and adam parrish, a boy ronan barely paid attention to before, became someone that he would risk his life and being for.

noah czerny: psyche he’s still dead and he’s a spirit of hope. he never actually possessed a body, but he retained a human silhouette as a spirit. he was the son of a noble family from a couple years back, and died when his friend used him in a blood sacrifice. instead of becoming a harmful spirit, or even an abomination, he became a spirit of hope. he followed around the wardens on their quest, evoking hope in their hearts. everyone at first believed noah was just a spirit who found an interest in the band of wardens. it wasn’t until the end that the connection was made between gansey and noah.

henry cheng: human noble. the chengs are another noble family who became powerful through trading of rare arcane items. henry was trained as a bard ever since he was a child, and was often used during trades. he didn’t just tell merchants stories, sometimes he had to use less... pleasant options. he’s a sufficient knife wielder, and his words can charm anyone into doing anything. his joining of the wardens was quite odd, actually- he was forced by his mother to join. of course he didn’t tell duncan that, he made it seem like his want to be a warden was genuine and from the heart. despite the fact that his initial reason for joining was to perhaps find mysterious and arcane artifacts along the journey, he ended up finding his family in this group of wardens, and he realized he wanted to see everything through until the end.

outcomes

blue sargent: she found that there is life outside of the wilds: a life with new family, a life with knowledge that she could have never learned in a circle or in the wilds, a life with gansey. (that last life was perhaps the most shocking considering that she decided she did not like the noble after their first conversation.) she found a best friend in everyone there, and actually found some weird sense of happiness at being a warden. because, yes, they could be killed at any moment, but she knew that none of them would go down without a fight, and would protect each other to the very end. she survived the archdemon and brought a new found respect to mages, especially witches of the wild.

adam parrish: he discovered that there was a reason he was a warden. nature had been calling out to him ever since he was young, but due to the fact that he never developed magic, the only two ways they could communicate to him was through him being a warden by the blighted lands, and through him being a ranger by the trees and animals. adam realized that his life was always meant to be bigger than the streets of denerim. he ended up falling in love with the reaver, ronan, and made sure to see them both through to the bitter end. he ended up surviving the blight with injuries causing him to go deaf in one ear. being a warden made him realize that he had purpose, and when the blight was over, he used his status and success to ensure a better life for him and the other surviving wardens.

ronan lynch: despite being conscripted, ronan actually did enjoy his time with the wardens in some sick, twisted way. he got to kill darkspawn, which was always a plus because he was actually allowed to use his strength against things and hit them. he also liked being able to use his full potential as a reaver and dominate the battle field. he also liked adam parrish. a lot. after the lynches were stripped of their title, ronan was ready to live as an outcast, even with his two brothers. however, the wardens ended up giving him the family that he would never admit he needed, and he was reunited with his childhood best friend, gansey. after the blight, ronan lynch was given back a prestigious title, and after slight consideration, he actually did use it to give his two brothers back some power.

henry cheng: henry did find magical artifacts on the journey, however instead of giving them to his mother when the blight was over, he gave them to blue since he believed that she would have a better use for him. through out the blight, he was probably the happiest since he believed that since they were all scared shitless, they might as well be happy, too. he enjoyed the company of his other wardens, and he would share stories with them during long treks across the country or late nights in camp. he survived the blight and continued to pass stories throughout the wardens. he was always thought of as the positive energy among the wardens.

richard gansey the iii: gansey loved his wardens. he loved the best friends he made, the best friend he was reconnected with, and the love of his life. he knew that he would do anything to keep them safe, to make sure that they see the end of this blight. and so, when they all learned that the warden who kills the archdemon makes the ultimate sacrifice, he told himself that that would be him. he would go down in history, and his fellow wardens would be able to live to see the next day. he kept his plan to himself, and when the time came to issue the final blow to the archdemon, gansey did not hesitate to stab it with his sword. a monument in his honor was built in denerim, and the name gansey was secured in history.

noah czerny: noah disappeared once the final battle was over. he left with no word; he was just on the battle field, and then he wasn’t. blue confirmed that he returned to the fade, and that he sometimes visits her in her dreams. they talk about the mortal and spirit realm, and how people are doing, and how warden life is treating them all. noah finds peace in blue, and appreciates her being his final connection to the human world. one night, however, he tells her that gansey used his second chance at life to make sure that they all stay safe, and that gansey misses them all and wishes them the best.

oh boy this got really long and i hope this makes sense i’ve been typing this for a very long time and i’m tired omfg

[entergamingxp]

Having the Yakuza Saga on One Console is the Best Thing to Happen This Generation

February 21, 2020 4:15 PM EST

With the release of the Yakuza 5 remaster, the entire story of Kazamu Kiryu is finally available on one console generation. You should really play it.

I can weirdly remember the first time I heard about Yakuza. I was at Wal-Mart, waiting for my mom to finish grocery shopping. Our ongoing deal was that if I went to the store with her and carried her groceries, she would buy me a magazine. So, I was flicking through the latest issue of EGM trying to decide if I wanted to see more. Inside, I quickly skimmed the review for a Grand Theft Auto-like action-adventure set in the grimy Japanese underworld. Had this been 2005, I probably would’ve immediately gone and picked it up. However, it was 2006. I had an Xbox 360 now. I wasn’t about to drag out my PS2 to play a game my favorite gaming mag had ranked in the high 70’s.

And so began a decade of admiring the Yakuza series from afar. Every time I saw a new game in a magazine or on a site, I thought they looked right up my alley. Unfortunately, I never had access to a PS3.  That meant I never had an opportunity to play one of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s masterpieces. In January of 2017, that all changed.

Obviously, I didn’t choose to buy a PS4 over an Xbox One because of Yakuza. It had much more to do with Microsoft’s botched announcements around the reveal. Plus, I was just generally being more impressed with Sony’s first-party lineup in the first few years. However, I’ll admit seeing the Yakuza 0 trailer at TGS 2014 made me weak at the knees.

A series that I had long watched from afar, hoping to one day play, was getting a prequel story on PS4? It seemed like a perfect jumping-on point. And, with most of the series available on PS Now, it seemed like I might finally be able to play them all. Little did I know that about three years after Yakuza 0 finally released in the West, we’d have the entire series available on PS4. And, on top of that, Yakuza 1 and 2 are fully remade.  And, of course, 3, 4, and 5 have been hit with excellent remasters.

It feels like a rarity to have an entire series this big readily available on one console. I mean, obviously, we’re going to get collections of hit series like Halo and Uncharted but Yakuza? That franchise is nowhere near those series in terms of lifetime sales. What’s even cooler is that it feels like Sega only put all of the games out on PS4 in the West because of how huge the fan reaction was.

Because of all that, you can now play through the entire mainline Yakuza series all on one console. No more dragging out a PS3 to play the first two games. No more relying on PS Now and your internet to work well enough to play 3, 4, and 5. You can experience the entirety of the beautiful, wacky, glorious life that Kazuma Kiryu has led for the past 15 years.

Here’s the best part: Yakuza is good. Like really, really good. Like Game of the Year good. The brawling gameplay is deep and engaging on higher difficulties. The way it mixes wacky comedic substories with an incredibly well-written and mature main narrative is better than anything else on the market.

Just look at the series Yakuza was inspired by. Grand Theft Auto does an excellent job of lampooning America. The satire might be a little tired by the time GTAV rolled around, but it’s hard to deny how good Rockstar has gotten at making that type of game. But when is the last time you really cared about a Grand Theft Auto character? And how many side characters are truly memorable in that series?

Yakuza puts so much heart into each and every aspect of the game. Side characters that only show up for a quest or two will stick with you long after they’ve walked out of Kiryu’s life. And don’t even get me started on the main characters. Ryu Ga Gotuku does character development better than almost anybody. Seeing Kiryu and his crew of misfits grow over seven games is one of my absolute favorite gaming memories.

So, yes, I’ve just spent 700-some words telling you how great Yakuza is and that you really should play at least one of the games. However, you can’t understate how awesome it is that Sega has even made this possible. Imagine another long-running, upper mid-tier game series being fully available on one console. Think of the scenes we’d be having in the streets if Atlus put all the Persona games on PS4. What about if the Saints Row series got a string of remasters to get all their games available on modern consoles? Or if we somehow got the entire Backyard Sports collection re-released on PC. Maybe I’d be the only person hyped by that last announcement.

These kinds of things just don’t happen that often. If you haven’t played a Yakuza game yet, Yakuza 0 regularly goes on sale for $10 or less. Of course, it’s more than worth the full price, but it’s hard to beat that. The first three games are also making their way to Xbox Game Pass this year. Bringing that entry point even lower. There simply hasn’t been a better time to get into one of the greatest and most overlooked video game series of all time.

February 21, 2020 4:15 PM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/02/having-the-yakuza-saga-on-one-console-is-the-best-thing-to-happen-this-generation/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=having-the-yakuza-saga-on-one-console-is-the-best-thing-to-happen-this-generation

[hellofastestnewsfan]

It’s Wednesday, February 12. On upheaval around the sudden, lighter sentence recommendation for Trump associate Roger Stone: “The administration’s rush to aid Stone, especially set against the retributive firings, shows Trump newly willing to flex his muscles,” David Graham writes.

In the rest of today’s newsletter: Let’s talk about contested conventions. Plus: How Trump boxed the EPA out of a major climate rollback.

*

« TODAY IN POLITICS »

(MATT ROURKE / AP)

These are two words that no Democrat wants to hear: Brokered convention.

The prospect that Democrats don’t coalesce around one particular candidate by this summer is a nightmarish scenario for many in the party. An all-out brawl for the nomination could hamper the party’s ability to take on President Trump in November.

Last night’s New Hampshire primary may have only heightened fears of a brokered convention. Bernie Sanders beat the rest of the field, narrowly, and as my colleague Ron Brownstein has pointed out, none of the candidates have assembled a broad enough coalition to snag a majority of the delegates.

1. In the neighboring state that should be favorable to him, the Vermont senator didn’t sweep. Sanders got 26 percent of the vote, the lowest ever for a Democrat winner in the state. (The previous low was Jimmy Carter, in 1976.)

2. A certain billionaire’s fundraising juggernaut is a chaos factor. My colleague Edward-Isaac Dovere wrote about how a Bernie-Bloomberg showdown could happen:

“The thought that superdelegates could cost Sanders the nomination is upsetting enough for his supporters. The thought that he could lose to the man who shut down Occupy Wall Street with a dead-of-night police raid and has been nonchalantly spending his way into the Democratic process … it’s just too much.”

3. If the brokered-convention scenario comes to pass, who will emerge as a kingmaker? Who will mediate the various factions? That role could fall to a familiar face: Harry Reid, the former Senate majority leader beloved by Democrats across teh spectrum. Reid, who retired in 2017, is wrestling with a fatal cancer diagnosis that was supposed to have killed him already.

—Saahil Desai

*

« OTHER CANDIDATES »

(M. SCOTT BRAUER / REDUX)

The once novelty candidate Andrew Yang dropped out the night of the New Hampshire primary, after struggling to make any real showing once votes were cast, but also having raised more money and qualified for more debates than even some candidates still currently running.

But he’ll be behind the eventual Democratic nominee, Yang told Edward-Isaac Dovere:

“You know, I’m not a dick. Like, obviously someone like offers me something serious and impactful but we can help do some good work, I’m not going to be like, ‘Fuck that.’”

Read the full story on the end of #MATH.

+ Also notable: In quick succession, Michael Bennet and Deval Patrick have both dropped out of the Democratic race. We hardly new ye.

(JESSICA RINALDI / THE BOSTON GLOBE VIA GETTY)

This is Bill Weld. He used to be the governor of Massachusetts. He’s a Republican. He’s running against Trump. Here’s what he’s up against:

Commanding more than 85 percent of the vote, Trump spun it as an unqualified victory. While it wasn’t the resounding 97 percent of the vote that Ronald Reagan carried as the incumbent in 1984, Trump won a higher percentage of the vote than Barack Obama, both George Bushes, and Bill Clinton did in their reelection primaries.

But, as Adam Harris reports from New Hampshire, Weld has a few other goals in mind.

*

« EVENING READ »

(ELAINE CROMIE)

Clean Car Catastrophe

The Trump administration’s attempt to kill one of America’s strongest climate policies has been a complete debacle. Robinson Meyer tells the inside story of this stunning boxing out of the EPA.

It was the beginning of a fiasco that could soon have global consequences. The Trump administration has since proposed to roll back the tailpipe rules nationwide, a move that, according to one estimate, could add nearly 1 billion tons of carbon pollution to the atmosphere. Officials have justified this sweeping change by claiming that the new rules will save hundreds of lives a year. They are so sure of those benefits that they have decided to call the policy the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient Vehicles Rule—or SAFE, for short.

SNAFU may be a better moniker.

Read the rest.

*

Today’s newsletter was written by Saahil Desai, an editor on the Politics desk, and edited by Shan Wang, who oversees newsletters.

You can reply directly to this newsletter with questions or comments, or send a note to politicsdaily@theatlantic.com.

Your support makes our journalism possible. Subscribe here.

from The Atlantic https://ift.tt/3bySKFm

[grapsandclaps]

HELLO HALIFAX!!

Hello again everyone and welcome to a very local trip of #grapsandclaps for Show 78 of the #100showyear which took me to Halifax for BWE Wrestling, as I found out this was there first time here since April.

But as it is didn't start till 6pm, we decided to take in the local drinking establishments, some of which have featured in many pubs of the year awards. Halifax is actually becoming a town on the rise seeing a lot of investment in places with a fancy retail park area near the bus station and the springing up of a line of cafe style bars and pubs.

Arriving in Halifax we ventured off to The Royal Oak which has 8 real ales on tap, with prices ranging from £2.40 to £3.00. Clientele are very much the older side of 40 with Sky Sports being on 3 screens, in here I had a pint of Northern Best (4.6% £2.60). Decent pint.

Next up was the Alexandra Beer Cafe which is in the style of a smaller version of Port Street Beer House with upstairs and downstairs seating. There are 6 beers on tap and also a huge range of cans and bottles for you to savour, I had a pint can of one of the Northern Monk Patrons IPA (6% £7), our Geoff sampled half a pint of a 9% stout which was £3.25 for a half. Both drinks were delicious despite the steep price, we also got chatting to a couple of lads on what constitues a Shithole and also enquiring if we were wrestlers and where the show was taking place tonight.

Obviously when wrestling is mentioned with strangers the name of Big Daddy always gets brought up 🙄. One of the gentleman tried to make a case as well for the best sort of sex being with someone having heart palpitations, needless to say I doubt think it has been scientifically proven.

Next stop was the Victorian Craft Beer Cafe which has a total of 22 beers either it be Cask or Keg, but watch out if you are a tall person here as there are low wooden beams which I have cracked me head on a few times. I had a pint of the Pentonville Oyster Stout 5.5% at a cost of £3.60. This is a nice quiet drinking den but it could have done with the acoustic sounds of George Ezra on the sound system.

Drinking done there it was off to the cheaper climbs of the Barum Top Inn Wetherspoons for a pint of 5.5% IPA for £2.05. This is a decent sized Spoons with a good range of ales on tap due mainly to the Spoons Real Ale Festival. Only downpoint in here was watching the dying embers of my coupon going down, on a day when Bolton, Palace and Bury win you know you are royally going down.

5pm now and it was off to meet my old school mate and prefect partner Rodger, who I havent seen since a Tidal Wrestling show in June. We met up in The Percy Shaw Wetherspoons on the post retail park and once again a £2.05 pint in here which was a 6% strong ale. The only 2 different ales though in here both ran out instantly so it was decided to move on to the next pub before we went to the show.

The Pump Room across the road was next and has a very much liking to someones front room. A pint of fruity stout was had here at a cost of £3.20 plus the added bonus of 40p packs of Seabrook Cheese and Onion Crisps.

Drinks done it was off to the North Bridge Leisure Centre for the BWE Wrestling show.

Arriving in we were escorted to the wooden bleacher seats, which you can produced a nice raised view of the action.

Before the action started though, we all sampled some of the hot food on offer which included Chilli Con Carne and Chicken Curry with rice for £4. This was one of the triumphs of the evening producing a decent mildly hot curry and very much up there with the Jerk Chicken from WCPW earlier this year.

Message to Wrestling Promoters - More Hot Buffet Food!

Cans of Kronenberg were on offer at a cost of £2.50, even though lukewarm they passed the test of keeping me lubricated during the action.

With an attendance of about 200 paying a ticket cost of £6 - £10, they were first treated to the first match of ACE Matthews of GO! Team Sports fame vs our boy BIG T Justice. Fairly short opener with deluded baddie for the evening ACE chopping down the giant BIG T but for all his chopping down, the giant sequoia came back with a dominator sit out slam for the 1-2-3. I can see mileage in ACE's new attitude.

Next up was Xia Brookside vs Little Miss Roxxy (Bombshells Champion) with HT Drake in her corner. Decent womens match here with the fans behind Xia who has been on a recent trip to Japan. Roxxy very much playing the chicken heel here and the added involvement of Drake caused a DQ booting Xia in the face - BOOOOO 👎

Half time main event next with two wrestlers I dont see much of nowadays - Rampage Brown vs Liam Slater, easily two of the best in the country. Rampage came out to the harmonic strings of RARARARARARA I WILL BE HEARD by Hatebreed but after bellowing it out to our favourite grizzly yorkshire bear it was noted that he was baddie for the night, so we had to boo him sadly. Slater has now ditched his Vengaboys music for a more sedate rock number. Back and forth actiom here for at least 15 minutes which ended after a valiant effort from Slater, he got caught with the dreaded Rampage Piledriver for the loss.

Such a shame we dont see these two more outside of NGW/Tidal now, obviously the Casio Keyboard world of Progress has put paid to Rampers being there which sucks.

Half Time and it was time to get pictures with a couple of the stars from earlier on 👇

Poor ACE had no one coming to his desk for pictures, so our Geoff gave him a sympathy hug and took a pic with him.

As you can see our picture with BIG T, we look tiny compared to our boy. I mean we are two good 6 footers, but this photo has now crushed my wrestling dream 😢.

Back from break and we had a big tag team qualifier with The Sons of Ulaid vs RAAAARRRRGGGHHH! 😾 The Lion Kings consisting of Sebb Strife and Nsereko. This was a good tag team match with the sounds of our voices roaring on the Lion Kings who look a decent outfit in their relatively short time together. This match ended in a big brawl on the outside with both teams missing the count and there we have it - a disappointing double countout.

Next up was a singles match turned into a 3 way match by General Manager DAN DAN James. It was Halifax's own Tel Banham vs Gentleman AND JON McGregor vs Your Naans Favourite Wrestler Amir Jordan. This lasted about 8 minutes with McGregor getting the win here in a good match, Banham does do a good shithousery act which works well on the northern undergraps scene.

Main Event time with BWE Champion Sexy Kev vs Calling Spots Champion HT Drake. Good main event that lasted around 15 minutes which did have a bit of involvement from The Sons of Ulaid, The Lion Kings AND JON McGregor. With all the distractions HT Drake got the win and is now your new BWE Champion. At the end everyone got into a big fight which has now set up a 3 way Tag Team match in Bradford on the 25th November between The Sons of Ulaid vs The Lion Kings vs The Sexy Gents in what should be great entertainment.

Overall well worth my £6 of entertainment with nothing stinking out the joint and the added good matches of Rampage Brown vs Liam Slater and HT Drake vs Sexy Kev plus the greatness of a hot buffet.

If you have kids i would recommend BWE as a good family wrestling show option, decent laugh as well seeing the wrestlers getting jip from a 6 year old ha!

Show done, we had time for one more pint in The Grayston Unity which is a small bar area with a total of 10 ales on tap and once again a pint around the £3 marker.

So there you go, even if you are not visiting for the wrestling I hugely recommend you take in Halifax for a day out. PCW are running 2 shows in the 'Fax next year in another central venue ATIX and also BWE are there for a handful of shows again next year.

Next weeks #Grapsandclaps takes me to Leeds for Tidal Wrestling which on paper looks a great show, but also the added bonus of the next instalment of the BritWres Pool Championship currently held by Champion - Athers who by the looks of it has a long list of wannabe challengers for next week including a yet to be confirmed appearance by DeathMatch Wrestler - Clint Margera 🤤🤤🤤

#grapsandclaps

[redlemonz]

Day #23

The growing loneliness is consuming me further, and the emptiness and nothingness I was experiencing a couple days ago is returning. Maybe it’s my mind’s way of actually accepting the circumstances that have unfolded, and to advise me that my life has already peaked and that I’ve had my golden moments, thanks to her - so it’s time to come back down. I don’t even realise my own sense of depression sometimes anymore because I’m just this lost, wandering soul who’s walking down an empty street on his own. My head even feels physically heavier these days, carrying the burdens that I’ve created for myself and am a consequence to. Yet at the same time I’m so empty and forsaken. For a guy who is accustomed to a lot of spice in his life, I feel extremely plain and robotic, losing touch with my humanity again - as if I’m being forced to walk down this street in an absolutely straight line. It feels as though I’m just over everything this life really has to offer. The constant array of disappointment on a daily basis and never being truly satisfied, as is human nature. Part of me has shut down and given up in bothering to continue to try to alter this reality, as I seem to always end up strolling along in this endless circle of despair nevertheless. It’s a numbing extravaganza to say the least. I’m drifting away into the abyss, further away from the rest of my world, and her - just wish I literally could leave. Another day to get through with this mask that forcibly has to be glued to my face. Thinking of her and imagining the thought of her hand holding mine tends to guide me through these days. The smile on her face, the good memories and the sincere companionship and comfortability we both shared together is always a golden recollection in my head that enables me to keep walking now, even if it is currently in this never ending circle. And each time I click back to reality from being stuck in those day dreams, a combinative sigh of both relief and disappointment at the same time are released - as a result of the memory being created at all, and the current outcome I’m living. It’s sort of like that moment in Inside Out (as real as Disney movies get to be fair) in which the sadness combines with the core memories of happiness present in Riley’s mind, to provide a beautiful display of the whole, real picture. So I do cherish all these amazing memories shared with her, that constantly bring smiles to my face when I reflect upon them. I just don’t want them to end.. I want our story to continue.

Day 23 - lost & alone

Bloody hell, I’ll tell you one thing that never ends at work though. My colleagues constantly asking me how she’s doing, or how things with us are. Those use to be some of my favourite questions up until a month ago. Im so accustomed to it always bringing me extreme joy and a big smile across my face, to be reminded and know that I’m the luckiest guy in the world to have this beautiful girl in my life. A few of them have met her too, as she’s encountered a couple as her own colleagues at the casual security role we undertook together. She’s also attended a work social event in which I had organised a dinner and movie night, at which she met a bunch more and even got a hug from the future bride to be colleague at the time - who’s wedding we ultimately attended together. Even more so, she caught public transport upon my recommendation to actually come over, which is generally unusual. What gave me the utmost cheerfulness and filled me with happiness in these moments was being able to actually hold her hand at the movies, and dance with her at the wedding, with a familiar family of faces around rather than strangers for a change. It was so fulfilling and delightful to actually bring a plus one who I wanted to keep as a plus one for the rest of my life. I just felt so proud and joyous to be able to not hide from people, the fact that this is my absolutely beautiful and stunning best friend, who I’m in love with. These are also continuous and further reminders of the displays of the amount of time and effort she actually contributed into being a part of the various aspects in my life. She emerged out of her comfort zone on plenty of these occasions, to make me happy and presented her love to me by doing so. I just wish I had more chances to do the same with her, even though I tried (but probably too eagerly, and too much - which pushed her away from me and reduced my chances if anything). Nevertheless, we all know how the story goes - yup, took her and all of it for granted. So here I am, smiling at the friendship I’m still lucky to hold onto and be graced with, and answering these questions with a half smile. She’s doing really well, yeah, architecture firm in snowy mountain town down south - but unfortunately we’re not together anymore. Though I only respond with that second unfortunate part if they even ask the latter of the two questions aforementioned - which I usually hope they don’t, because it’s consistently crushing to vocalise the true reality. And then, because after that rain on my lack of a parade of a day, the clouds of my mind never seem to cease bursting. At least I got the opportunity to literally walk around a bunch more (for work purposes obviously) than usual today, and tried to clear my head in the process. It’s a funny thing though - putting your right hand on the Bible and swearing to affirm the verifiability of documentation being true and correct, when the idea of religion and God has been belittled throughout the years of my life. The amount of trust that society can bestow within you, a stranger, to tell the truth really does display a beautiful quality within humanity. Which in turn also makes it an absolute shame and an act of dishonour, that I failed incredibly highly to have enough faith and reliability in her, and ironically placed that doubt about us in her mind. Oh the on-going regret and lack of realisation until it’s all been stripped away pains me as much as the day before. The quantity of times I’ve shaken my head in more than simply a metaphorical manner at myself in disbelief of my behaviour and mistreatment is unfathomable at this point. Oh woe is me, right? Nope - I’ll just continue digging away, with my shackled ankles, at my endless pit of all these negative sensations that formulate this damn self loathing. It’s exhausting and agonising as hell to keep at it, but I can’t stop digging, because I don’t have the capability to walk away with these chains stranding me. And I don’t want to stop digging either, because I’m very afraid that if I do, that pit could some day turn into a grave.

Another evening at indoor, another goal scored. What an absolute champion, right? Nah - we got absolutely thrashed. Probably because our bald headed eagle of a superstar wasn’t in attendance tonight unfortunately. I noticed tonight that I just felt out of place, and am slowly detecting an increasing sense of estrangement. Even amongst friends now, I don’t feel as though I have much of a recognition of belonging anymore. Maybe it’s just a passing phase which I’ve unintentional indulged as a side effect of this insanity I’m currently experiencing. Maybe it’s a sign of a new chapter beginning in my life beyond that horizon. Guess I won’t know straight away, and have to learn to embrace the virtue of patience much more. I’m ready for life to take me into a different direction, so that I can have a fresh chance at rebuilding myself and starting anew. I just wish she could be on the journey with me. But for the interim I’m just feeling down right depressed in my lonely state, and I can’t really do anything to change it. It feels as though the depression is the core part of me, which controls me and fundamentally branches off into who I am as a person. Sadness is simply familiar and comes along quite naturally, as much as it sucks. In the end, no matter what vacation my mind ends up taking, the happiness from that is temporary, and I’ll eventually find a way to ruin everything and return home to my sadness, because it’s where I belong. It’s how things are just meant to be. That’s okay though, it’s normal, and if it hurts, then it hurts because it actually matters. I can truly understand one of the reasons why she couldn’t end up loving me either - because I don’t even love me. But I can’t say that I’m sorry for loving her and hating myself. I’m struggling and fighting each day to get over this atelophobia; fear of never being good enough. It’s not a battle one should ever rely on or ask anyone else to assist them with by doing things to make you feel more worthwhile or recognised, and constantly seeking their attention accordingly, the way I did. I’m constantly trying my best though, and even if I have to keep my mask up for the sake of others, I will. One of my favourite comedic actors who was actually a victim of depression and unfortunately lost his battle with himself, once stated that he thought the saddest people always try their hardest to make others feel happy, because they realise what it’s like to feel absolutely worthless and don’t want others to feel that way. That’s always being the inspiring goal, and I feel as though I can actually identify with that statement. The worst part as a consequence to failing in that regard though (as I constantly seem to) is that your level of worthlessness increases, and you don’t see the point in yourself anymore after you feel as though you’ve been sacrificing and trying anything and everything you can to make things better, and haven’t given up. But when the other person openly gives up on you, and decides it’s not worth it anymore - well, fuck. There’s not much more you can do, other than continuously brawl with the waves to save yourself from drowning (and I can’t even probably literally do that, let alone in this regard). This game of life isn’t over yet, and you’re not going to let it conclude either. One painful, tiring day at a time. Im not apologetic for the constant repetitive themes and descriptions each day either, even though I realise it’s all really mundane. It’s repetitive for a reason, because my daily reality is all over the fucking place, just as my scrambled head is. And I’m also just a naturally boring person, with nothing of actual value to offer. On a lighter note, I had another fun and lonely burger date without her tonight. Missed her again. Better sleep before it gets later - because the darker the night, the more torturous the mind. Ah, sleep - the ultimate escape.. that is, until she conquers your dreams with that smile too. Except that I love it.