#toby the legendary dragon

[appendingfic]

I am physically incapable of watching this arc of Yugioh without hearing the dragon's name as "Tobias"

[beybladefanboy]

Metal Fury Has The Weakest Villains

After thinking about it, I have to admit that as much as I love Fury and still consider it my favorite season of Beyblade, one thing Fusion and Masters have over it (besides a better written Kyoya, still the only problem I have with Fury that majorly affects my enjoyment) are the villains. Aside from Johannes, who is very memorable and honestly does way too much of the heavy-lifting for a henchman, Fury's villains are really forgettable.

Starting with Fusion:

Its main villains are definitely Ryuga and Doji but I'll throw Reiji in as well since despite being in fewer episodes than some of Fury's villains, he's far more memorable than them.

Reiji, along with Doji and Ryuga are very memorable villains. I remember their goals, their beys, how they battle, how they look and sound, and just who they are in general even when it's been a long time since I've seen the series. Destructive purple dragon, giant torture snake, and wolf that drags people into darkness are just very distinct. These characters' goals are very simple. However, I will always remember the way Doji and Ryuga go about those goals by manipulating notable characters like Yu, Testuya, Tobio, and Ryutaro into the Dark Nebula to ultimately just use them and all the ripple effects that causes. Not to mention the way Reiji is merely Doji's sadistic puppet, the way he gleefully and viciously tortures children, his breakdowns that they never properly utilized, all of that sticks in my mind and creates a set of very memorable villains.

Masters, while less iconic, also does its main villains really well.

Ziggurat is probably the most realistic villain in the entire series. Slight goofiness and generic design aside, a mad scientist who's so concerned with whether or not he can do something that he didn't stop to think if he should is very rooted in reality and quite frankly, that's terrifying. And like Doji, Ziggurat also manipulates Bladers into his cause like Damian, Jack, and Zeo, the last of which causes so much interesting conflict for Masamune and Toby. Damian and Jack as well, while technically "henchmen" too, are very memorable thanks to how they look and how they fight. Like the Fusion villains, Peacock the Ripper and dog who drags people into hell are memorable and interesting. Plus the way Ziggurat swayed characters from earlier in the series to join his cause like the Garcias and Julian, and the ripple effect that especially the latter caused was very engaging to watch, and similar to Fusion with the Dark Nebula, makes even the henchmen interesting.

And then there's Fury.

Johannes, I think, is actually done well. He's, despite fandom perception, actually competent as a henchman, knowing when it would be most optimal for his plans to flee or fight and cleverly swaying both Aguma and Chris to his side with just his words. He's also got a distinct look and way of acting in and out of battle. "Cat boy thingy" is memorable, if on the silly side.

The other Fury villains though...

While it's cool that Pluto works in the shadows and wears a mask most of the season, he doesn't have anything besides that to make him stand out like these other villains do. Often when I rewatch Fury, I only remember he's the masked man after he takes his mask off and when he does, he just becomes some guy to me. He doesn't do much outside of the big semi-final battle when he uses his special move to separate the legendary bladers and prevent them from making Zeus's Barrier, which is cool and engaging in the moment but easy to forget about when I'm not actively watching those episodes. It's more memorable because of how Kenta breaks through it and saves the day rather than anything Pluto does.

And then Rago...

Rago just sucks. I'm sorry. He's again just some guy who showed up out of nowhere when the villains literally brought in to control Nemesis. Yeah, I know Reiji was also kind of just "some guy who showed up" but him never being seen before (even by others in the Dark Nebula) was something that was used to add to his creepiness and intimidation factor, and build up the feeling of uneasiness throughout his battle with Hyoma. Plus, Reiji was basically kept in the Dark Nebula's basement prior to "showing up", not off some undisclosed somewhere in the world like Rago was.

What else is there to Rago? Well, he killed Ryuga... rest in peace, legend.

That and the whole "copied bey spirits" thing (which admittedly is a really cool visual) are the most memorable things Rago does honestly. He's also, I think, descended from the original controller of Nemesis. Or maybe that's Pluto. I don't know. They blend together in my mind so I can never remember which is his descendant when I'm not actively watching Fury.

Hell, for that matter, I can't remember anything about either of these characters when I'm not actively watching Fury. Who are they? Why do they want to destroy the world? Who are they outside of that goal? How do their actions (not Johannes's) affect the main cast?

For Fusion and Masters' villains, I, and probably you reading this, can answer all these questions easily.

For two random examples from each:

-Doji likes orange juice, uses a Dark Wolf, hates cacti and childrens' happiness and is a manipulative sociopath who wants to use the dark power to take over the world.

-Damian is a brainwashed germaphobic child who uses a Kerbecs bey and believes using the arrangement system is the best and only way to become a powerful blader.

Hell, I can even do this for Johannes in Fury: He likes cats, using a Lynx bey with different spin track lengths, is a bit of a weirdo and a coward, and believes in Nemesis's cause to destroy the world and bring about a newer better world.

Pluto and Rago don't have any traits like these that make them stand out. I'm not saying they need to be silly but my god give them something. Or at least consolidate them into one character. Why couldn't Pluto just be the one to control Nemesis and maybe be unmasked earlier? That alone would've made him at least a little more memorable than what we got.

Tldr: I love Fury but compared to Fusion and Masters, its villains are lacking.

[joshuasumter]

What if...The Cross Zone got a lot bigger?

From the creative minds that bought you Namco X Capcom, Project X Zone was released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2012 in Japan and worldwide in 2013, receiving great praise as it bought characters from three legendary game developers -- Capcom, Sega, and Namco Bandai -- to crossed worlds, dimensions, and the fabric of time for the ultimate cross-over tactical RPG mashup!

But what if the cross zone had gotten a whole lot bigger with even MORE titles and are joined by even more characters from surprising guest companies.

What if...The Cross Zone got a lot bigger? explores what would happen if the events of Namco X Capcom, Project X Zone, and Project X Zone 2 occurred differently with the inclusion of characters, worlds, and universes of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Square Enix, and much more. For example, my fan-made original story movie inspired by the crossover RPG.

The Project X Zone Movie (Capcom x Sega x Bandai Namco x Cartoon Network x Nickelodeon x Disney x Pixar x Square Einx x Channel Federator x Channel Awesome)

The Project X Zone Movie 2: Fate of Many Worlds (Capcom x Sega x Bandai Namco x Cartoon Network x Disney x Pixar x Square Einx x Marvel x Star Wars x Level-5)

NAMCO BANDAI

Namco X Capcom (Reiji Arisu, Xiaomu)

Project X Zone (Mii Koryuji, Kogoro Tenzai)

Tekken (Jin Kazama, Kazuya Mishima, Heihachi Mishima, Ling Xiaoyu, Alisa Bosconovitch)

.hack// (Kite, BlackRose)

.hack//G.U. (Haseo)

Tales of Versperia (Yuri Lowell, Fylnn Scifo, Estelle Sidos Heurassein)

Summon Night 3 (Aty)

Adventure of Valkyrie (Valkyrie, Kurino Sandra, Sabine)

Bravoman (Arnold/Bravoman)

Wonder Momo (Kanda Momo/Wonder Momo)

Soulcalibur V (Natsu)

Soul Edge (Taki, Mitsurugi Heishiro)

Tales of Destiny (Rutee Katrea, Stahn Aileron)

Xenosaga (KOS-MOS, MOMO, Shion Uzuki)

Tower of Druaga (Gilgamesh, Ki)

Shadow Land (Tarosuke)

The Genji and the Heike Clans (Taira no Kagekiyo)

Baraduke (Masuyo Tobi)

Burning Force (Hiromi Tengenji)

Ordyne (Miyuki Chan)

Dig Dug (Taizo Hori)

Klonoa (Klonoa, Guntz)

God Eater (Alisa Ilinichina Amiella, Soma Schicksal, Lindow Amamiya, Ciel Alencon, Nana Kouzuki)

Yumeria (Neneko, Neito)

CAPCOM

Street Fighter (Ryu, Ken Masters, Chun-li, Guile, Cammy White, Ingrid)

Ghosts n' Goblins (Sir Arthur)

Okami (Amaterasu, Issun)

Viewtiful Joe (Viewtiful Joe, Sexy Silvia)

Monster Hunter (Monster Hunter, Felyne, Palico, Gore Magala)

Breath of Fire III (Ryu, Nina, Momo, Garr, Rei, Peco, Honey)

Resident Evil Revelations (Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine)

Resident Evil 6 (Leon S. Kennedy, Helena Harper, Ada Wong)

Resident Evil: Dead Aim (Bruce McGivern, Fong Ling)

Ace Attorney (Phoenix Wright, Maya Fey, Apollo Justice, Athena Cykes)

Darkstalkers(Morrigan Aensland, Demitri Maximoff, Felicia, Hsien-Ko, Donovan Baine, Anita, Jon Talbain, Victor Von Gedenheim)

Dead Rising (Frank West)

Devil May Cry (Dante, Trish, Lady, Nero, Nico)

Bionic Commando (2009) (Nathan Spencer)

Captain Commando (Captain Commando, Hoover (Baby Head), Jennety (Mack the Knife), Sho (Ginzu the Ninja))

Dino Crisis (Regina)

Final Fight (Guy, Mike Haggar)

Mega Man (Rock/Mega Man, Roll, Blues/Proto Man, Rush, Tango, Eddie, Beat)

Mega Man X(X, Zero, Axl)

Mega Man Legends (Tron Bonne, Servbots, Mega Man Volnutt, Roll Casket)

Star Gladiator (June Lin Milliam)

Strider (Strider Hiryu)

Forgotten Worlds (Unknown Soldier 1P, Unknown Solider 2P, Sylphie)

Cyberbots (Jin Saotome, Princess Devilotte de Death Satan IX)

SEGA

Billy Hatcher (Billy Hatcher, Chick Poacher, Rolly Roll, Bantam Scrambled)

Golden Axe (Ax Battler, Gilius Thunderhead, Tyris Flare)

Panzer Dragon (Keil Fluge, Blue Dragon)

Alex Kidd (Alex Kidd, Stella)

NiGHTS into Dreams (NiGHTS)

Skies of Arcadia (Vyse, Aika, Fina, Cupil, Gilder, Enrique, Drachma)

Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose, Shadow the Hedgehog)

Sonic Boom (Sticks the Badger)

Bayonetta (Bayonetta, Jeanne, Viola, Luka)

Virtua Fighter (Akira Yuki, Pai Chan, Kage-Maru)

Fighting Vipers (Bahn)

Shenmue (Ryo Hazuki)

Shinobi (Hotsuma)

Shinobi: Nightshade (Hibana)

Space Channel 5 (Ulala)

Streets of Rage (Axl Stone)

Sakura Wars (Ichiro Ogami, Sakura Shinguji, Gemini Sunrise, Erica Fontaine)

Yakuza/Like A Dragon (Kazama Kiryu, Goro Majima, Ichiban Kasuga)

Resonance of Fate (Zephyr, Leanne, Vashyron)

Valkyria Chronicles III(Kurt Irving, Riela Marcellis, Imca)

Sega Saturn Advertisements (Segata Sanshiro, Sega Shiro (Segata's son))

Shining Force EXA(Toma, Cyrille)

Dynamite Cop (Bruno Delinger)

Zombie Revenge (Rikiya Busujima)

NINTENDO

Fire Emblem Warriors (Rowan, Lianna)

Fire Emblem: Awakening (Chrom, Lucina)

Xenoblade Chronicles (Fiora, Shulk)

DISNEY

Gravity Falls (Dipper Pines, Mabel Pines)

Kim Possible (Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, Rufus)

American Dragon: Jake Long (Jake Long, Trixie, Spud, Fu Dog, Lao Shi)

Darkwing Duck (Drake Mallard/Darkwing Duck)

DuckTales (2017) (Scrooge McDuck, Huey, Dewey, Louie, Webby Vanderquack, Launchpad McQuack)

Phineas & Ferb (Phineas Flynn, Ferb Fletcher, Isabella Garcia-Sharpio, Burford Van Stromm, Baljeet Rai, Candace Flynn, Agent P)

Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja (Randy Cunningham)

Mighty Med (Oliver, Kaz)

Sofia the First (Princess Sofia the First)

Disney's Descendants (Mal, Evie, Jay, Carlos)

Wreck-It Ralph (Vanellope Von Schweetz)

The Simpsons (Bart Simpson)

The Lion Guard (Kion, Bunga, Fuli, Besthe, Ono, Anga)

PIXAR

Brave (Princess Merida of DunBroch)

The Incredibles (Mr. Incredibles, Elastigrl, Violet Parr, Dash Parr, Jack-Jack Parr, Frozone)

MARVEL

Captain America

Iron Man

Thor

Hulk

Black Widow

Hawkeye

Falcon

Vision

Wasp

Captain Marvel

Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel

Black Panther

Spider-Man

Doctor Strange

Iron Fist

Ghost Rider

She-Hulk

Wolverine

Storm

X-23

Future Avengers (Makoto/Hurricane, Chloe/Charade, Adi/Codec, Bruno/Twister)

STAR WARS

Rey

Finn

Poe Dameron

BB-8

CARTOON NETWORK

Ben 10(Ben Tennyson, Gwen Tennyson, Kevin Levin)

Generator Rex (Rex, Six, Bobo)

The Life & Times of Juniper Lee (Juniper Lee)

The Powerpuff Girls (Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup)

Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends (Mac, Bloo)

Dexter's Labratory(Dexter)

Samurai Jack (Samurai Jack)

Ed, Edd, n Eddy (Ed, Double D (Edd), Eddy)

OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes (Kaio O. Kincaid (K.O.), Radicles X, Enid Mettle)

NICKELODEON

SpongeBob SquarePants (SpongeBob SquarePants, Patrick Star, Sandy Cheeks)

Fairly OddParents (Timmy Turner, Cosmo, Wanda, Poof)

Avatar: The Last Airbender (Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Zuko)

Winx Club (Bloom, Stella, Aisha, Techa, Musa, Flora)

El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera (Manny Rivera/El Tigre, Frida)

The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (Jimmy Neutron)

Danny Phantom (Danny Fenton/Danny Phantom, Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, Jazz Fenton)

My Life as a Teenage Robot (XJ9/Jenny Wakeman)

Glitch Techs (Miko "Me_K.O." Kubto, Hector "High Five" Nieves, Ridley, B.I.T.T., Zahra Rashid)

SQUARE EINX

Kingdom Hearts (Sora, Riku, Kairi, Ventus)

The World Ends with You (Neku Sakuraba, Shiki Misaki, Daisukenojo "Beat" Bito, Raimu “Rhyme” Bito, Yoshiya "Joshua" Kiryu, Rindo Kanade, Tosai “Fret” Furesawa, Nagi Usui, Shoka Sakurane)

Final Fantasy (Warrior of Light)

Final Fantasy II (Firion)

Final Fantasy III (Onion Knight)

Final Fantasy IV (Cecil Harvey)

Final Fantasy V (Bartz Klauser)

Final Fantasy VI (Terra Branford)

Final Fantasy VII (Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart, Aerith, Cid, Yuffie) (Kingdom Hearts incarnation)

Final Fantasy VIII (Squall Leonheart) (Kingdom Hearts incarnation)

Final Fantasy IX (Zidane Tribal)

Final Fantasy X (Tidus)

Final Fantasy XI (Shantotto)

Final Fantasy XII (Vaan)

Final Fantasy XIII (Lightning)

Final Fantasy XIV (Y'shtola)

Final Fantasy XV (Noctis Lucis Caelum)

OTHER TITLES

CHANNEL AWESOME

Nostalgia Critic (Nostalgia Critic)

Angry Video Game Nerd (Angry Video Game Nerd)

Atop the 4th Wall (Linkara)

The Angry Joe Show (Angry Joe)

LEVEL-5

Professor Layton (Professor Hershel Layton, Luke Triton)

CHANNEL FEDERATOR

Bravest Warriors (Chris Kirkman, Beth Tezuka, Danny Vasquez, Wallow, Plum, Catbug)

[kingcrimsonsalt]

My dearest followers, all 32 (how) of you, I've gathered you here to make a special announcement. Most of you, I assume, are with me because of my respects paid to a legendary mangaka. Or alternatively a post relating to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. As some of you may have noticed though, I often do not talk about things made by good authors, especially today. For today is 4/13, and gentlemen, I LOVE Homestuck. I love the beta kids, I love programmer humor, I love Sburb, I love poking fun at game mechanics, I love stupid bullshit teenage drama (shut up alpha kids I'm not talking about you), I love self-fulfilling prophecies and bootstrap paradoxes, I love the way seeing an [S] next to an arrow would surprise you, I love clicking on a pesterlog and seeing the scroll bar disintegrate, I fucking love plot beats changing the UI of the website itself I fucking love LUDOOOOO, I love Toby Foxe's music, I love Michael Bowman's music, I love George Buzinkai's music, I love Mark Hadley's music, I love that I could just keep listing off music credits holy shit the talent was crazy, I even love Andrew Hussie's art and writing for like 70% of Homestuck, maybe even 77%. Homestuck may not be PEAK FICTION like Dragon Ball, or JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, or Kamen Rider Ryuki, or Godzilla Minus-One, or Limbus Company Canto VI The Heartbreaking, or Halo 2, etc. But I will defend that it is unironically good and I still love it, maybe even the community as well. Happy 4/13.

[pinkhuman99]

UT POKÉMON TEAMS

Alphys!!

1. Magnezone: An electric type Pokémon, it evolves when exposed to a strong magnetic/electrical field or a Thunder Stone. It is said that a team of scientists tried to make it evolve scientifically but failed. I wonder if Alphys was part of that team? This Pokémon is not only an electric type that uses electric attacks like Alphys, but it is also robotic-looking, a nod to Alphys's "greatest invention," Metatton.

2. Ampharos: Ampharos is theorized to be based on the phrase "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep". It is an electric type Pokémon that has orbs on its body that shine with very bright light. In the past, it was used as a beacon to guide lost people to safety. When it Mega Evolves, it is based on a dragon, a reptilian creature that resembles Alphys's own scaly, yellow body (but with a little more fur). Overall, Ampharos greatly resembles Alphys in shape and colour scheme. It's sheep-like pre-evolutions could be a nod to Alphys's boss(es), Asgore (and, by extension, Toriel).

3. Ditto: Ditto is theorized to be a failed experiment in the Pokémon world. Some think it was meant to be a clone of Mew, much like Mewtwo, but ended up as a pile of goo because it's DNA was so unstable...sound familiar? Ditto could be a reference to Alphys's failed DT experiments, resulting in the gooey puddles called the Amalgamtes. On a happier note, Ditto's ability to hide its true identity by transforming could also be a reference to Alphys lying to Undyne and pretending to be someone cooler than she really is for fear of rejection (okay...so maybe it's not really a happy note). At least Ditto has on a happy face!

4. Sylveon: A cute Pokémon that looks like if Mew Mew from Mew Mew Kissy Cutie came to life and turned into a Pokémon. It's a magical girl's cat-dog-ribbon thing. Sylveon requires high friendship to evolve, meaning it would need to spend a lot of personal time with its trainer. I like to think Alphys had an Eevee that she thought would evolve into a Jolteon, but after spending a lot of time with it watching anime, it evolved into the perfect anime sugoi kawaii Pokémon. It is also a living Trans flag, and since Alphys basically keeps making trans people (Mettaton, Mad Mew Mew...herself honestly if we go by Toby's art book), it's the perfect Pokémon for her.

5. Garbodor: Alphys likes going to the dump. Besides comparing herself to garbage (to the point that she is thrown into a literal garbage can in the game), Alphys gets a lot of treasures from the dump in Waterfall (mostly anime). I think Alphys would have found this Pokémon while wandering the dump, probably as its pre-evolved form, Trubbish. Garbodor also looks like a mis-mashed mess of pieces and parts, kind of like the Amalgamates.

6. Tinkaton: Tinkaton may seem like an odd choice for Alphys, but hear me out. It's small, pink, and collects metal scraps to build weapons, kinda like how Alphys collects trash from the dump and metal scraps to invent things. Like Undyne, this Pokémon is incredibly strong despite not looking like it should be. Like Undyne, it's a walking anime trope. In this case, it's the common anime trope of "tiny girl with big hammer go WHAM." Its name also comes from "tinker", or "tinkerer", which is what Alphys is: someone who works with metal in the attempt to repair something/someone who attempts to repair something, usually with no effect."

The Legendary and Mythical I think go best with Alphys are Silvally and Deoxys

Silvally: Silvally is a Pokémon constructed purely using science. It was meant to be like Arceus, the God of Pokémon, but the experiment failed, resulting in Silvally. Silvally was locked away and kept a secret, but once released becomes a great ally (hence its name). This Pokémon is like the Amalgamates, but also like Flowey, who tried to become "God" by absorbing 6 Human SOULs (he was really channeling Sonic.exe with that one...). I imagine Silvally might have been a Pokémon created by Alphys around the same time as the Amalgamates in an attempt to create a Pokémon that could break the barrier, but like other experiments done by Alphys...it failed.

Deoxys: Deoxys is a Pokémon from space. It came to Earth on a meteor. Deoxys' real body is the stone in its chest. Who's to say Alphys couldn't have stumbled upon this Pokémon as a stone, buried underground after years and years? Maybe she found it as a formed Pokémon in the true lab, an experiment from the previous Royal Scientist? Who knows. But it sure does match Alphys's scientific theme and the shape-shifting forms of Mettaton and the Analgamates.

[worcestersaucesuace]

It is time, in no particular arrangement

I love you

FAKE TYPE, and your wonderful electro swing beats

The Stupendium, and your wacky, lyrically ingenious raps

Utsu-p, and your metal as hell Miku

MOS, and your amazing brass focused beats

Tally Hall, and your off-beat rock whatever-that-is

Cosmo Sheldrake, and your beautiful, weird, wondrous music

BRADIO, and your fun, funky jams

Kikuo, for some of my absolute favorite soul-crushing auditory experiences.

FantomenK, for your deliciously pixelated songs

Chipzel, for your wonderful contributions to some of my favorite games

Hiiragi Kirai, I suspect I never want to know what your songs are about but they sound excellent

Brian David Gilbert, for your mind-bending experiences as well as the silly ones.

Azari, for your catchy as hell beats

Infected Mushrooms, and those trance beats that feel like they go forever.

Three, for everything but especially “Telecaster B Boy”

Aivi & Surasshu, for just so much, (adore “Yearn to Bloom”)

Studio Thumpy Puppy, for that wonderful battle music

Camellia, and your wide range of wonderful tracks

Top Flow, “Speed Thrill Beat”

Imagine Dragons, and your somewhat edgy, legendary tracks

ATLUS Sound Team, “Specialist”

Mob Choir, banger openings only here

Qumu, and your endless collection of wondrous remixes

Masayuki Suzuki, love song legend

Or3o, Clover is a treasure, as is all your work really

Cepheid, for your gloriously cosmic metal and also the one about gay bonda-

jon-YAKITORY, for your eclectic, 100m-sprint songs

justan oval, for the whiplash I experience going from “Rat Attack” to “Scatterbrained”.

Louie Zong, for your odd, but still quite comfortable records.

AJR, for introducing me to alt rock in the first place.

half • alive, for drawing me even deeper in

Yunomi, for your light and airy, dubstep beats

Laura Shigihara, for creating one of the best soundtracks ever.

PinocchioP, for your strangely enchanting Miku, and excellent beats

Toby Fox, need I say more? I will anyway, “Dummy” is a bop.

Dunderpatrullen, Pop electro of the highest order

MISSIO, for when I’m real depressed

Tokyo Machine, for when I’m doing great!

supercell, for everything in between, but like for one song in particular too.

Panda Eyes, for introducing me to dubstep.

Teminite, for some of my faves in the genre.

Klaypex, “DUBSTEP GUNS” and “Lights” are pretty good, I guess.

Parsley Onuma, for some wonderful songs all around.

Daft Punk, because obviously.

Avenza, so many absolute bangers. “Wicked” is a favorite.

Mystery Skulls. Hell yeah.

Saint Motel, A good song never dies.

I would hate to be an Obvious Guy but. Alfie Templeman.

CG5, for those wondrous beats and that wondrous-er voice.

Mrs. Green Apple, “Viking” is a bop, love me some S-tier jpop

RichaadEB, an excellent guitarist, every cover is legendary.

Jonah Senzel, the humming in the cabin sends a chill down my spine, the strums of the guitar make me want to hide.

They Might Be Giants, woah now I remember why I like science.

x0o0x, I have entered a cult. Do not send help.

STEAKA, for that fast-paced dance Miku

HIDEKI NAGANUMA, AIN’T NOTHING LIKE A FUNKY BEAT

NILFRUITS, for some of my favorite tuning

Superorganism, I feel as if I have ascended, thank you

Sasakure.Uk, just wonderful, nothing more. Nevermore, even.

Yunosuke, consistently strong electronic Miku

grandson, “Apologize” is good

Panic! At the Disco, for a lot of things. Thanks

Clarx, house goodness through and through

Jamie Berry & Octavia Rose, for the introduction to electro swing, massively appreciated, that.

Caravan Palace, “Lone Digger” has 420 million views on YouTube as of writing. As it should.

Mili, for “Rightfully” specifically.

Jules Gaia, for even more wonderful electro swing. Gaming YouTube circa 2016(?)-2017(?) thanks you.

Adhesive Wombat, 8 bit goodness, thank you very much.

Jin, adore so many of those songs.

alt-J, what a cool sound and voice.

Leslie Wai, “Paradigm” and it’s consequences (positive, extremely postivie)

Raiko, like listening to what the elements would sound like it they were 64 bit and a bit dubstep. It sounds good.

Pegboard Nerds, I love sounding like a spy, but also with dubstep.

Soraru, good jpop. Love me some good jpop.

FalKKonE, Intense symphonic metal pretty much sums it up yep, it is wonderful. My head is in fact banging

The White Stripes, “Seven Nation Army”

Kanmitu, “BraveHeartShine” is a beautiful song and you should listen to it. Now, specifically.

Inori Minase, excellent voice and songs.

Suda Keina, “Darling” is a banger.

Millenium Parade, so many excellent styles, sometimes I forget they are all the same artist.

Portugal. The Man, I’m really feeling it.

Araki, excellent all around, love his voice.

Edwin Starr, “War”. Just, what a song.

Deco*27, Addicted to that tuning, might have to suck its blood.

DEMONDICE, two languages to rap in, it works very well.

Jazz Emu, funkiest sci-fi story I’ve ever heard. Tell me more magic man

natori, j-rocking superhero I’d say

Ferry, legendary. Good songs. Vocaloid. Really takes me out of my Comfort Zone.

Glass Animals, beautiful songs to rock in place to.

Ren, “Money Game Pt. 2” is very, very good.

Mike Geno, adore these songs. Good beats.

TUYU, J-Pop legends, I have no trouble saying.

Cö Shu Nie, here on the strength of “give it back”. I’m crying.

MAN WITH A MISSION, I love “Database (feat. Takuma)”

OK Go, they have and are, and I hope they will. Keep going, I should clarify.

The Correspondents, Rest in peace, Chucks. Love you guys.

Ado, what a great voice. Just, seriously.

Pascal Micheal Stiefel, A Hat in Time is a very, very good game, with a very, very good soundtrack.

Will Stetson, an amazing cover artist, and “Writing on the Wall” is truly incredible.

Kirara Magic, some very solid dance, electronic, house, and more.

Satsuki, “Mesmerizer”

Grover Washington, Jr. “Just the Two of Us” (feat. Bill Withers)

And so, so many thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions more that have shaped and inspired those here.

This took me too long and it is later than it should be. I love media, music perhaps most of all. So I thought I’d a share a few, hang on as I was writing this a song just came on and now I gotta add it. Anyway, maybe you find someone here you’ve never heard before and give em a listen if they sound interesting. Have fun!

Sorry about the descriptions, I kinda rolled between trying to be funny, giving actually useful descriptions (kinda), and talking about what I personally like about them.

Might make another list for animations, games, creators, so on. We’ll see.

[inovantyyy]

beyblade metal fight headcanons i came up with 3 AM

Ryuga is a boomer. I have no logical reasoning for this, he just is. Kenta made fun of him a sum total of one time and he somehow has lived to tell the tale.

Outside of Beyblade, Gingka and Kyoya actually consider each other best friends. They overexaggerate their rivalry because they're both nerds but off the stadium they go to McDonalds and make fun of each other. How else do you explain that secret fist bump when Kyoya went to go fight Ryuga, like,,,,you're telling me they AREN'T friends???

Kenta has subconsciously been influenced by Ryuga's snark. He's mostly the same with his energetic, supportive self but piss him off and you will have a very Ryuga-esque remark about how you're an ugly basement dweller. Gingka is confused, Benkei and Madoka are scared but Kyoya thinks it's absolutely hilarious.

Madoka might not be a blader but she took martial arts as a kid so she could literally just beat the shit out of someone messing with her. Like some Beyblade gang could try and mug her and they'd go "lET iT RIp" and then she just steps on their beys and kicks their asses, unfazed. She could have KILLED Rago but she didn't want to steal Gingka's thunder.

The Legendary Bladers have a group chat after the whole nemesis fiasco to keep in touch (Ryuga lives AU). Dynamis is a boomer, Aguma and Ryuga leave everyone on read (except in Ryuga's case, he's also a boomer and doesn't know how to text so he just doesn't), Kenta's too busy to text bc he's teaching Ryuga how to use a phone, Kyoya's being extra as always and trying to start a fight, Gingka sends outdated 2017 memes, King sends cultured memes, Chris is regretting sharing his number to these dorks, everyone is trying their hardest not to cuss because Tithi is right there and Yuki is just staring at his phone like, "this is fine 😀"

During their travels Kenta couldn't help but ramble about a variety of different things about himself and his life and while he thought he was talking to a wall with how Ryuga was seemingly ignoring him, the dragon emperor listened to every word but would rather choke than admit that to ANYONE. Kenta included.

The Dark Nebula stole Ryuga from his real family before indoctrinating him to be the strongest Blader. Ryuto and Ryuga are unaware of each other's existence.

After the whole Fausttm incident, because Toby kept his white hair Masamune and Zeo made a lot of grandpa jokes at his expense (not to hurt him ofc but to just make Toby feel normal about it and that no one's too uncomfortable to joke about it). Toby takes it in stride and even plays along. ("Oh my god Toby, hurry up old hag!" "How DARE you treat your senior citizens this way? You youngens have it too easy nowadays!")

Kyoya needed glasses this whole time but because his ass is all like "Ugh I dont NEED glasses. My vision is perfect you DICKS." he never got them. Madoka and Gingka noticed one day and took him to an optometrist and beat some sense into him. "how the fuck are you gonna Beyblade if you can't even SEE where Leone is you dumb bitch" so he relents. He tries to ask for contacts but by an unfortunate stroke of bad luck, he's apparently very VERY sensitive to them so glasses are the only option. To look cool he does that thing where he holds them in his mouth but no one buys it and calls him out for being a huge dork.

Kyoya doesn't LIKE kids but unfortunately he is a child magnet. def supported by his "i'm destined to be followed by brats forever" comment. but he does end up warming up to Tithi even after the whole "Yo-Yo" thing. He made a crayon drawing of Kyoya and he pretended to hate it, but actually has it framed.

Reiji quits Beyblade for a bit, realising that he just can't find enjoyment in it without associating victory to his worth, but does end up coming back after Kenta convinces him that it can be fun and there is a lot more to it than just winning.

Nile and Masamune are best friends even more so than Nile and Kyoya idc i said so. I personally believe this because sometimes similar personalities don't necessarily make you closer to another person. Don't get me wrong Kyoya and Nile are still very VERY good friends but if Nile had to choose someone to go like idk ice skating with it'd be Masamune. Nile is calm, cool, collected while Masamune is an extra bitch. They both bring something out of each other that no one else can.

The fortune teller jokes Kyoya makes towards Dynamis never stops and one day this man has enough and is like "You know fucking what let me read your palm" and Kyoya's like "lmfao bet" and Dynamis inspects it thoroughly, he furrows his eyebrows and then looks up with Kyoya with intense seriousness and says, "Your destiny is sealed, my friend. You're going to die a very painful (and embarrassing) death soon." Kyoya, poor guy, stares at him with shock and is all like "STFU URE MESSING WITH ME" Dynamis just shrugs and walks off saying, "Let's just say, look both ways before crossing the road in future." and Kyoya, with the logic that Dynamis has predicted the future before, believes it whole heartedly and is freaking the fuck out. Kyoya now is adamant on always looking both ways before crossing the street now. every time Benkei is like "Bro there aren't any cars we can just go" Kyoya looks at Benkei like he just insulted his grandma and goes "NO. ROAD SAFETY LAWS ARE THERE FOR A REASON. I NOW KNOW THIS."

Mei Mei and Chao Xin are literally dumb and dumber best relationship in this show hands down. Like they're both so STUPID i love them so so so much.

Benkei and Gingka are Swifties. I have no explanation for this. I just know they are.

Aguma is actually a really goofy guy if you're really close to him. Bao just always knew Aguma was just a dork which is why he's never afraid of him.

Gingka gave Kyoya a lion plush as a gag birthday gift but jokes on him bc Kyoya actually loved it LMFAO. Now they have this unspoken tradition of giving each other gag birthday gifts bc these dumbasses just really like messing with each other.

Shoutout to the ten people still in this fandom and enjoy this meal <3

[essence-of-ass-thrashing]

On 2011 March 6, Pokémon Black and White were released in North America. The in-game history of these games features the Twin Heroes who founded the Unova region and once controlled the cover legendaries - one who held Reshiram and treasured Truth and the other who held Zekrom and idolized Ideals. They conflicted over whether Truth or Ideals was superior, clashing their dragons against each other, but neither could defeat the other. This balance between Ideals and Truth is an example of the Taoist principles of Yin and Yang, emphasized by details such as Zekrom and Reshiram's black and white coloring, which has led to the two dragons (along with Kyurem, representing wuji, the absence of yin and yang) to be referred to as the Tao trio.

A similar yin-yang balance seems to be present in the setting of Deltarune, where Ralsei claims that light and darkness must be balanced or the world will be destroyed. Neither darkness nor light is necessarily evil nor good - both Lightners and Darkners show friendliness and hostility to each other in varying measures. The similarity goes deeper, however, with the philosophical nature of light and darkness in Deltarune.

The Dark Worlds are full of fun, fantasy, and adventure. Many of the Darkners are literally personified toys and game pieces, and the Lightners enjoy many escapist power fantasies of magic, freedom, and quick, easy friendship. Meanwhile, the Light World is the mundane reality where the Lightner heroes go to school, stress out about projects, and endure their family situations. There are plenty of zany characters to enjoy, but everyone has something to worry about between work, finances, self-esteem, relationships, sickness, and loss of loved ones.

During the climax of chapter 2, Susie, Noelle, and Berdly come to the conclusion that the Dark World is "just better" and begin executing Queen's plan to expand the darkness. To stop them, Ralsei then elaborates on the Roaring, in which the overwhelming darkness leads to chaos and destruction. We've yet to learn the nature of this destruction, but it's easy to imagine consequences from excessive revelry while ignoring reality - missed bills, hurt feelings, things falling apart that one was supposed to maintain, etc. And yet, the last point of Ralsei's Chapter 2 Roaring monologue is how the surviving Lightners will suffer without the Darkners. Darkness and light, fantasy and reality, ideal and truth, yin and yang - they all must be balanced.

But why am I drawing parallels between Deltarune and the backstory of a mainline Pokémon game that I didn't remember before seeing mention of the "Tao trio," especially when it could all be explained with classic yin and yang? Well, Toby Fox mentioned in an interview that he came up with the Deltarune's ending during a fever dream in 2011, the year of Pokémon Black and White's release.

I don't have any particular evidence that he played one of these games on release and got invested in the lore, but he has been working on music tracks for recent Pokémon games. Furthermore, he's exclaimed the honor of working with Hitomi Satō and specifically mentioned her work on Black and White, even though she's worked on Pokémon music since Emerald and has been a main contributor to the soundtracks since Diamond and Pearl.

I also don't have very good ideas on what a connection with Pokémon Black and White could possibly mean for Deltarune and its ending beyond the yin-yang stuff. Maybe the "Darkners exist to serve Lightners" thing could have something to do with Team Plasma's philosophy of Pokémon liberation? Maybe a future chapter will feature someone's castle erupting from the ground to hijack the climax? Maybe Toby just had too many thoughts on yin and yang and too much time sick in his dorm? I just want to get the word out about this. Also, maybe the D in W. D. Gaster stands for Dennis.

[cosmoscourge-a]

@landilizandra​ 

      “TOBI! ANI! HELP!”

The unmistakable shriek from the Herald of Libravura sends the two boys barreling through the forest toward the edge of the cliff. They know that Viktoria and Feiyun couldn’t possibly have fallen off--they’re much too careful--so it’s more likely they’ve been attacked. But even in the middle of their panic, Anakin realizes that there’s no one around who could possibly have attacked them……

Once again, though, he’s put his supernatural senses before his basic ones, and it’s only after he realizes that’s off that he hears that thing Tobias had started screaming about: the roar of the portal sucking their friends to another world. The teen boys skid to a stop as the forest ends and the grass begins, a mere dozen feet from the edge, and just a few more dozen feet from where the portal consumes their friends mid-air. Yes indeed, there’s Viktoria on her amphibian amphiptere Water/Dragon Abyssian Dragonite. And there’s Feiyun on her gold-and-blue Electric/Dragon Voltean Altaria with stormclouds for wings. Both Pokémon have already lost their back halves deep inside the portal; their wings beat frantically as they strain to surge forward, looking helpless against the black void’s pull even with Viktoria’s Tailwind bolstering their attempts to break free.

      “The actual hell?!” Tobias screams over the noise. “What fucking Legendary missed their coffee this morning?!”

      “Who gives a fuck?” Anakin screams back. “We’ve got to help!”

That’s all Tobias needs to hear. He figures out the rest as he releases his cockatrice Talonflame from its Poké Ball and hops on. They must have followed the criminals’ trail off the cliff, where the portal must have appeared suddenly and sucked them in as they attempted to turn back. Well, whatever Legendary decided to fuck with his besties, Tobias is dead set on sending it a message: NOT TODAY. 

      “Rope, Viktoria!” he cries.

She responds so quickly it’s like he didn’t even need to ask. Grass Knot issues forth from her Dragonite, binding it and Altaria together before shooting toward Talonflame’s talons. Talonflame grabs on and begins to pull, adding its own Tailwind to stack with Viktoria’s. The sheer force of the gale distorts the dark, nebulous fog that the portal seems to be comprised of, whipping up the grass and bending the tops of the trees. Ever so slowly, the three of them begin to inch outward…

And then with another great roar, the portal sucks all of them into its throat.

      “SHIT!”

Now it’s Anakin’s turn. Out comes the Poké Ball, out shoots his gold-and-white Electric/Flying Voltean Noivern--smaller than a regular Noivern, but with an even more impressive ruff and even more terrifying noise capabilities. And like the reckless, stubborn hero he is, he throws himself with his partner directly into the portal, taking hold of the Grass Knot rope as now all four dragons strain to flap their way back into a Unima swiftly fading before them. A noise like a thunderclap resounds even in the portal’s roaring maw--Noivern’s Electroburst, an Electric-type Boomburst fired backward to give the group even more momentum. With each boom they lurch again toward the exit before being pulled back. Forward--back. Forward--back. Forward--back.

Until the force of the portal rips them all from their dragons’ backs, drinking them down into its ever-blackening abyss.

~~~

When they land, they open their eyes to a grassland world, one like the grasslands of Madjani--but the feel of this land is so different, and in a way that only Draconids like they four could sense. There’s something draconic about this place. Something about it, however far away it is, that feels instinctively like home. 

Yet still, it’s no home of theirs. There’s certainly no citizen populace there to be taken care of, no loved ones who would undoubtedly miss them if they did not return. They can figure out how to go home as they go along. But for now, as they pick themselves up and dust themselves off and make sure their dragons are okay, there’s only one question to be asked…

      “Anakin,” Viktoria says, “why didn’t you go back and get help?”

      “I thought I didn’t need to,” he retorts. “I was the help.”

      “Some fucking help you were,” Tobias huffs. “Now nobody’s going to know where we’ve gone!”

      “Says the guy who nearly shocked me with a medical Raichu after I wiped out on that racecourse in Glacialis. The best friend of mine who literally forgot that electrical currents and I don’t mix.”

      “Okay, see, the difference there is that I didn’t do that. But you did this. And now we’re going to be stuck here for God knows how many decades--”

      “WELL EX-CUUUUUUUUUSE ME FOR ASSUMING THAT MAISA FLYING AT SEVEN HUNDRED MILES AN HOUR BOOSTED BY BOOMBURST AND TWO TAILWINDS WOULD BE FAST ENOUGH TO GET US OUT OF HERE!!”

Tobias is about to open his mouth with a witty retort when Feiyun cuts him off.

      “You guys,” she says, “fighting about whose fault it is isn’t going to get us out of here. Trying to get us out of here is going to get us out of here.”

      “You know what, you’re right.” Viktoria nods. “We should try to look for a city close by. Try to find some people can ask for help. Preferably a dragon,” she adds. “Is it just me or does this place give off a vibe of ‘dragon home’ to you guys too?”

      “Oh, yes!” Feiyun nods. “This place is full of dragons. I can sense it. It’s way different from the Dragon type, but in some ways it’s almost the same. It feels like--it feels like the world itself is a dragon. What place is this?”

      “Somewhere very important to dragons, I’d say,” says Anakin. “And if we want help, I think we’d best find it…” He points. “That way.”

      “You just got us lost here, but okay,” Tobias teases, and Anakin swats his arm.

That way was right. They took off and then lighted down at a riverbank--of course, water being the first thing you sought in any scenario where you might have to rough it in the wilds. With water would come not just something to drink but also food and a potential path to civilization. And, of course, they could meet someone helpful who was likewise drawn to the drink. Sure enough, as the four continued, they would see someone who could be of assistance. A dragon, to be sure, but one whose features formed a pastiche of the forms they already knew…

      “H-hello?” Feiyun calls, barely daring to believe her eyes.

[stellarcat52]

Timeless blue chapter 11

Archie flew ahead as Douxie and Krel hurried behind him. The shattering of glass quickly notified them of where Arthur and Morgana had just jumped out of the window, and where Nari had been frozen solid in a block of ice.

With a quick spell Douxie frees their friend. “Oh, thank you. The order shall surely rip your soul to pieces for this.”

“We’ll work on your pep talks later. I don’t think my little trap was going to last-“ Archie flies in as Douxie speaks.

“The arcane order is back, we’re out of time Douxie.”

“Alright, let’s get Nari back to the others. She’s safer with all of us.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll make sure the order doesn’t”

as if summoned by their name Bellroc and Skrael make their presence known, “Nari!”

“Find you. Go!” Douxie casts his arms back, pushing his friends away from him and their enemies. “Keep running, don’t look back!”

Without the head start the others had, Douxie fell behind the order. His infinite corridor suddenly replaces him as the only thing between them and Nari.

“An infinite corridor eh? Beginners magic. This cannot hold us!”

Douxie let’s a sphere of fire fly past him and into the door that would transport it to behind Skrael. “Buttsnacks!”

“You will die for this!”

Douxie summons his staff, “That was kinda the plan. But it’s worth it, because it means my friends, Krel,” his voice softens as he realizes this is what Krel had feared. Their separation, someone getting hurt, “and Nari can get away!” He finds his courage, saving the world or saving his friends wasn’t a choice he could make. He could make the choice between saving the world and saving himself, although he forced the pain of leaving Krel behind into his stomach.

———

Krel looks behind him immediately after he hears Douxie being pushed down, seeing the infinite corridor go up, even without knowledge of what it is. That barrier would trap Douxie in with two beings more powerful than Krel knew.

“Krel! Douxie will be fine!” Archie had seen more of Douxie’s battles than Krel had, and yet he had to force himself to trust the small dragon.

Even as spells sound from behind them, Nari, Archie, and Krel only spare a few glances back, none of them pausing for more than a moment to try and listen for Douxie’s voice. When they finally got to a place where Archie could safely fly Nari down, Douxie and the Order’s battle is naught but echoes.

Archie glides down and Krel takes inspiration from Morgana in the past to try and levitate himself down. He still falls a great distance, but the Akiridion body is not as fragile as a human one.

Jim and Claire were having a face off, Toby and Steve were off to the side. Krel had never seen such bright human eyes before now, Claire had unnaturally purple eyes that flowed with her own magic.

Krel glances down to where his arms have these magical traces inside, each one glowing and fading as they’re needed or dormant.

As Claire unleashes a great beam of dark magic, Jim falters and gives the whole team hope. This side of him was a result of the order’s magic, if Claire could overpower it and save Jim, surely Douxie, and Morgana, could do the same.

Behind them, Krel saw the gold of Morgana’s magic against Arthur.

“The world isn’t ours anymore, you have failed to destroy it, and I have failed to save it.” The fight between Claire and Jim seemed to fade to background noise, Krel could almost entirely forget about it. “Perhaps they can fare better!” She unleashes another attack. “You are no longer worthy of wielding Excalibur! Magda mani achtenebris kraga doom!” The explosion caused by her spell inturrupted Claire’s concentration and cast Excalibur aside. Just as all seemed to be doing better it was made clear that Excalibur is not what kept Jim tied to the green knight.

“Please Jim, I love you!” Claire’s choking cry almost made Krel jump in to help. “We all do.”

Jim drops Claire after what seemed to be a moment of thought.

———

Douxie was struggling against the order, but he was holding his ground better than he ever thought he could against such powerful legendary creatures. The Order were gloating of his defeat even though the wizard still stood, out of breath albeit. As the order finishes, speaking of a summoning that will happen once they are through with him, Douxie mustered up a final spell.

“Tenebrius...” he started, a blue magic circle being danced to life in each hand and then on the surface on which he stood, “exellium!”

His and the order’s unspoken magic meets, both sides struggling against each other.

Between the magic circle holding his spell together and the mystic glow in his eyes Douxie struggled to see clearly.

“Goodbye, my friends, goodbye Krel.”

He lost the magic keeping him alive and safe from the Order’s attacks. He only hoped what last burst of strength he had given would keep the order away from the other’s far below.

———

Krel watched as Camelot fell, how Claire and Jim got their happy ending. He finally thought things were going up, but as soon as the Order’s lair explodes, and he sees Douxie’s limp body falling through the air, he thinks it foolish for those thoughts to exist.

He was the first to start running. He didn’t bother risking using a portal, Douxie was right about him being untrained.

He still was out of sight of Douxie’s body when he hears that sickening thud.

Claire and Archie had made it there faster. Arch had an ear to Douxie’s chest and with every breath that Douxie must not be breathing his feline features only seem to grow more grim. Krel takes a few moments to get the guts to join the others around him.

He looked down and wished that somehow he could give his core to the human he loved.

Douxie’s body seemed too cold for someone who had only been dead for a few minutes at most. Krel sat down on his knees and pulled Douxie’s head onto his lap. He just stared at him for a minute, tears blurring his vision and too scared to blink them away in case Douxie vanished. He hung his head down, only taking a moment to wipe each of his eyes individually.

“Krel?” Archie caused him to look up, just for a second.

“Why did he have to face them alone?” Krel choked. “I was right there, I could have gone back.”

“That’s just the way Douxie is.” Claire answered, Krel only now noticed she was holding onto one of Douxie’s hands.

Zoe spoke up as she came over to kneel beside them. “Hisirdoux never really learned how to accept help. Not from anyone beside Archie. He always had to them himself, stupid apprentice.”

“Wait!” Archie shouted, pressing an ear to Douxie’s chest again. “His heart!”

Krel could feel the tensing of Douxie’s back muscles as he loses the stiff relaxation of death. His skin grew to a temperature that wasn’t as frightening, but still cold.

It was if Douxie had a second chance, like what a core would have given an Akiridion. Maybe this is something magic could do to humans.

The moment Douxie opened his eyes, Krel stopped caring how. He couldn’t even find the words to say.

“Douxie.” Archie purring into Douxie’s chest. “You brave, foolish boy.”

“Ow!” He yelped as Douxie helped him sit up, shifting to be besides him. “Ow! Everything hurts!”

“Sorry.” Krel mumbled as Douxie looks over at him and grins.

Claire took his attention back for a second. “I can’t believe you’re okay!”

“Barely, seems you’re the one with mine lives!” Douxie let’s Archie rub his head against his cheek. “Don’t you ever do something like that’s again.”

Krel pulls Douxie to his feet, holding him up with his arms. “You scared me you idiot.”

Douxie nearly falls and clutches his chest. “Hey! I just came back from beyond the grave! Be careful.”

“Sorry.” Krel turns his head and kisses Douxie’s cheek. “I’ll protect you next time.”

“I feel like I missed a lot.” Jim spoke up, eyes widening as Claire ran up to hug him, still very happy to just see Jim as a human again.

“Same, but I think we can catch up over brunch.” He looked around again, Krel could see the worry in his eyes. “What about Arthur and Morgana?”

“Squished.” AAARRRGGGHHH looked towards where Excalibur lay imbedded in the stone.”

Of course Toby immediately tried pulling the legendary sword out of the rock it had cut into. To no avail, but he tried nonetheless. Blinky, Douxie, and Claire all urged Jim to try, but his efforts were fruitless as well. Excalibur stayed rooted, and as the group leaves it behind, Jim leaves behind his hope that he may still be a trollhunter, though that might not be the worst thing right now.

———

Zoe and Nari got ready to leave, New York would be gaining two magical beings within a few weeks, and Akiridion 5 would be gaining at least one new human citizen. Claire and Jim were still on the fence of whether or not they wanted to stay or just visit Eli and Aja. Either way after this they knew they wanted to stay together.

Krel and Douxie had told the group they were dating, and Krel got a surprising amount of threats from the almost everyone. AAARRRGGGHHH being an exception but also Jim, Nari, and Toby.

Krel knew that Douxie would get some as soon as Aja and Varvatos were told the news, and Eli would be ready to ask Douxie so many questions about magic that he’d go crazy. Still, nothing could make these two want to risk staying on earth with the Genesis seals one more day, so alongside with Toby, Jim, and Claire, they step into the portal to Akiridion 5 and are whisked across the universe, traveling past planets and stars in mere seconds.

The earth would be safe unless something changed, and although they knew something would, Krel and Douxie were willing to put that to the back of their minds for as long as they can. They are happy, safe, and together.

And as long as Nari is out of the order’s hands, that’s all they care about.

[mihidecet]

Chapters: 8/? Fandom: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Dave | Technoblade & TommyInnit & Wilbur Soot & Phil Watson, Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF) Characters: Liam | HBomb94, Scott | Smajor1995 | Dangthatsalongname, Technoblade - Character, TommyInnit, Wilbur Soot, Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Niki | Nihachu, Floris | Fundy, Toby Smith | Tubbo, Alexis | Quackity, Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Eret (Video Blogging RPF) Additional Tags: MORE TAGS WILL BE ADDED AS CHAPTER ARE UPDATED, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Dungeons & Dragons, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Humor, a tiny bit of self conscious Wil, mentions of drinking but nobody gets drunk, Singing, Training, Fighting, A bit of swearing, A lot more swearing in chapter 5 Series: Part 2 of That one SBI d&d AU (now SBI&CO) Summary:

MCC is a yearly tournament that is well known throughout the whole world. It is run and organized by Scott Major, the legendary Noxite and his crew. They spend a whole year to put together incredible challenges for adventurers to take part in. Many competitors are well-known, as they started gaining their fame from winning, but the tournament is open to all adventurers that are looking to prove their worth. People from all over gather to watch the tournament take place, sometimes even to see new legends being born.

------- About a month ago a couple of friends asked me if I was ever going to add MCC to the Au and, well, this is it! Updates will be once every couple of weeks!

------

Heya, Tib here! Hope yall don’t mind it being posted here as a link instead of re-formatting the chapter in Tumblr ahahah <3

[armorsleevedsinglehit]

the huge shippuden music meta

no one asked for this but i’m gonna write it anyway. i’m going to focus primarily on the shippuden soundtrack here, but expect some references to the original series soundtrack as well. also before i begin i know approximately two (2) music so some of my terminology is probably going to be incorrect lol, it’s been a while since college. this is a general shippuden meta but it does focus on the uchiha clan, in particular sasuke and madara.

anyway, to start off, you can pretty easily divide the shippuden soundtrack into a few general categories:

traditional and/or acoustic

electric guitar tracks

some combination of these, plus orchestra hits aplenty

there are a few odd ducks here and there, but no worries, we’ll get to them. and then within these general categories we have a series of recurring character motifs (which can be a bit muddled, because certain themes are used for multiple characters. i assume that naruto (the show) isn’t necessarily scored the way a film would be, and so the directors just slapped whatever dramatic/sad/upbeat music they could find onto a scene, esp if it’s a filler ep, which definitely generates some confusion.) but characters and groups in shippuden DO sort of get their own motifs and themes, so here is my very basic list of those as well:

uzumaki clan and its descendants/allies: “emergence of talents/hyakkaryōran” has a very cool melody towards the end that comes back in “narukami/weeping god” and “shoryu/rising dragon”. we can basically call this the protagonist theme. naruto, sakura, kakashi, jiraiya, most of the konoha 11, and even minato get to claim this one. however, VERY interestingly, narukami is what plays when tobi (as madara) is telling sasuke about the glory days of the uchiha clan... possibly hinting at greater connections between the two clans???????????

akatsuki-related themes: i won’t link a ton of these because they’re super obvious. they’re often full of choir and organ (harkening back to orochimaru’s original series theme); they also tend to be slower. not always, though; look at crimson flames, a slapper if i ever heard one. prime example of akatsuki themes: girei, my FAVORITE bit of the shippuden soundtrack. UGH.

general shippuden themes: things like hurricane suite, heaven-shaking event, etc. most of the first ost goes in here. this category also contains the closest approximation to hashirama’s theme that i could find, experienced many battles and departure to the front lines, which both make me cry lol

there are other fun little motifs and bits and bobs that appear in this soundtrack that i won’t get into here for length (remind me to talk about the angelic herald of death sometime), but it’s a remarkably cohesive piece of work to the point where it gets repetitive sometimes; why are all the super interesting tracks unreleased!!!!??? anyway the purpose of this meta is to attempt to make sense of the way this soundtrack works. we’ll investigate sasuke primarily because i feel that he really ties the whole soundtrack together, and you can extrapolate a lot from the way his theme evolves.

sasuke’s theme (wandering/hyouhaku), yes the dramatic cowboy music theme, is this wonderfully atmospheric track that makes use of the kind of negative space between guitar strums to build up this aura, this Essence of Sasuke. this alone makes it stand apart from other mostly-acoustic pieces on the soundtrack, to me. the whole thing is just humming with this simmering frustration and melancholy and it really gives you a sense of sasuke as this tortured figure who has been severely wronged and experienced the world’s faults firsthand. notably, this version of sasuke’s theme lifts its opening notes (and structure, sorta) from sasuke’s original series theme, which i assume was on purpose. it shows that he’s grown jaded as he got older, i think.

anyway, as the inevitable battle between sasuke and itachi draws closer, we get our first variation on sasuke’s theme: black spot/kokuten. it has the same melody and structure as before, but features heavier guitars, more orchestration, and, in the final bars, notes that previously fell on 1 and 4 but now fall on 1 and 3, which bring a heightened sense of urgency to the whole thing. and more importantly, it ends without resolving itself? it leaves us hanging on this almost call-and-response bit with one wailing guitar after another, before winding the orchestration down and fizzling back down to the level of “wandering.” here we see a sasuke in progress, if you will, working towards a goal that some may find sinister, but he is determined if nothing else, and the instruments match his fervor. it’s roughly analogous to “crimson flames” in terms of intensity, but it’s very distinctly Sasuke.

there are several more variations of sasuke’s theme floating around, but the next one i want to talk about is this one called “sasuke’s ninja way,” apparently, never officially released but relentlessly employed by the anime directors. it takes a more subtle turn than “black spot,” but i don’t see it as a direct sequel to “wandering” for a few different reasons. i think it represents the dilemma sasuke found himself after finally killing itachi and learning the truth about him: the realization that this whole quest for power of his was never really about revenge on one specific person, but rather about reforming the shinobi world as a whole. it’s slower than “black spot,” yet darker, more ominous; it treads the same general path as “wandering” but with added electric guitar, and, notably, choir. recall that choir is often used for themes related to the akatsuki, which i think ties in neatly with sasuke’s motivations at this point. he, like nagato before him, wants to remake the world.

the final iteration of sasuke’s theme, “sasuke’s revolution/junkyousha,” brings it all together. the akatsuki is commonly represented through choir and organ, and this theme starts out with both of these cranked up to the max. this is (pardon the pun) sasuke’s rebirth, if you will. just combine the intensity of “girei,” the anger of “crimson flames,” and the determination of “emergence of talents” and you’re there. seriously: this culmination of sasuke’s character development basically pulls from every single facet of the soundtrack and produces this MASSIVELY rich piece full of anger and rage and hate and fury, while STILL managing to include the twangy guitar bits from “wandering” (which have gone back to 1 and 4!!). we also have someone going ham on a shamisen towards the end of the track, which calls to mind the shamisen solo from “emergence of talents” and other tracks. hinting at an eventual compromise with naruto, possibly?

anyway, i started out this meta trying to find a piece of the soundtrack that could serve as madara’s theme, but i wasn’t sure that one existed. i think the susano’o has a theme, and the uchiha clan has a theme, but....madara just doesn’t?? sure there are unreleased tracks like “legendary uchiha,” but i’d argue that doesn’t really go into his character as much as it just says “watch out for this fucking guy.”

but then i listened to hurricane suite one more time, and i was like HOLY SHIT THIS IS IT. for one thing, it’s long as fuck: this track is a whole journey. it really gives the impression of someone who has lived an impossibly long life and become jaded and cruel and hardened. i realize that the argument could be made that hurricane suite is sasuke’s theme, not madara’s, or that it’s a general shippuden theme and doesn’t represent one character in particular. and yes, i think both of these interpretations are correct. hurricane suite represents what sasuke could POTENTIALLY turn out to be, given his evolution from “wandering” to “black spot” to “sasuke’s ninja way” all the way to “sasuke’s revolution.” hurricane suite warns us that sasuke can (and very well may!) make the same mistakes madara did and end up destroying himself in the process. (the middle of “hurricane suite” GREATLY resembles “wandering.”) and recall that hurricane suite is used in the very first episode of shippuden: the episode where naruto encounters sasuke for the first time, AND- are you ready for this- when madara’s name is dropped for the first time in the series.

this is why i think that, along with it being a general shippuden theme, hurricane suite is also madara’s theme. shippuden as a whole is practically suffocating under the oppressive weight of madara’s presence, right from the very first episode. even before he’s introduced, he is VERY much there. so much of madara’s character is established before he even shows up. we hear so much about him from other characters (kurama, itachi, obito, hashirama), and as such our view of madara changes drastically over the course of the series. and guess what plays when itachi shows sasuke that genjutsu of madara stealing izuna’s eyes?

anyway, in my opinion and in my interpretation of the character, the music fits him perfectly. it starts out all low and choral with these slow ominous drums and deep strings, and this violin comes in that sounds like it’s weeping. we hear something like a heartbeat that grows darker over time, before the music comes to some sort of resolution, an inflection point, and the brass comes in heavy. NOW we’re dealing with the orchestra, three quarters of the way into the song, and we’ve got strings and drums set to a marching pace, more choral chanting, climbing strings and shamisen tumbling down the scales. it sounds like grief!!

and note that yes, this track is used in the very first episode of shippuden, during naruto and sasuke’s first encounter. but it is ALSO used during the scene in hashirama’s flashback when izuna is mortally wounded and madara makes the decision to abandon the clan on the battlefield to take care of him, despite his better judgment and hashirama’s offering of peace. the inflection point in the music represents a very real inflection point in madara’s life: the loss of his last brother. (it always comes back to that, doesn’t it.)

[beybladefanfictions]

Ryuga x King Chapter 14 - The Start of the Tournament

(Cover art is by Zadi Jyne)

Ryuga’s POV

Ryuga fluffed out his white jacket as he and Kenta walked side by side through the city. King followed several paces behind them. He was eating an apple as he walked at the pace of a turtle. Ryuga didn’t bother hurrying him on. He’d tried that multiple times now, it wasn’t worth it. As they approached the stadium, Ryuga spotted several familiar figures standing outside.

“King!” Masamune charged out of the fray.

“Hi, King!” Toby and Zeo called, trailing after him.

Ryuga glanced at King. He had perked up at the sight of his friends, though he still seemed a little slow.

“Hey guys,” King greeted with a wave. “You excited?”

“Yeah!” Masamune nodded vigorously. “I can’t wait to crush you in the finals!”

“I think you’re a little confused as to who will be doing the crushing,” King replied, smirking competitively.

“Kenta!” Gingka’s voice called from the crowd.

“Hey, Gingka!” Kenta rushed over to him, smiling excitedly. “There you are!”

“Ready to win this tournament?” Gingka asked, holding out his hand for a high five.

“I hope we do!” Kenta answered, high fiving him.

Ryuga looked around the crowd.

Near Kenta and Gingka, Ryuga spotted Tsubasa, Yu, and Reiji clustered together in a sea of mostly strangers. Kyoya stood further away from the crowd, staring off into the distance. Only Benkei stood at his side.

“Looks like everyone’s here…” King mused aloud, making Ryuga look back at him. “So many strong opponents…” He smiled. “This is gonna be awesome!”

“Yes!” Toby smiled and nodded. He and Zeo held their fists out to King. “Meet you in the finals?”

King accepted the fist bump. “I hope so!” he exclaimed.

“Hey!” Masamune cut in, his eyes narrowed. “You two won’t be battling King in the finals because I will!”

“Right…” A look of annoyance graced Zeo’s features. “You and your… teammate.”

“Where is that guy anyways?” Toby asked, looking around.

“I don’t know,” Masamune replied with a shrug.

“Come to think of it…” King looked around the crowd again. “I don’t see either of his two buddies either. They must be running late.”

“His two buddies?” Toby tilted his head to the side.

“Tobio and Ryutaro. I met them yesterday. They must be running late.”

Toby shrugged. “Probably.”

In front of them, the doors of the stadium were suddenly opened. Above it, the display screen turned on.

“Welcome all bladers to the Metal Bey City tag team tournament!” Blader DJ was announcing as the bladers made their way into the stadium. “We’ve got twelve teams here ready to battle, with some having travelled here from overseas. The first of these being Chao Xin and Chi-Yun, participants in the World Tournament. They’ll be the first team to battle and their opponent will be… The Gingka Kenta team! Two of the legendary bladers who helped defeat Nemesis!”

Gingka turned to his teammate with a smile. “Looks like we’ve got the first battle, Kenta!”

Kenta smiled as well. “Let’s go kick some bey!”

The two of them rushed toward the bey stadium, across from their opponents: a purple-haired boy who could’ve very well been shorter than Kenta and a brunet boy who looked like an attention hog. Ryuga didn’t have a reason for thinking that, it was just a feeling.

Around him, most of the other bladers dispersed, going separate ways. Some went up toward the bleachers while some of the others went toward the back rooms where bladers could sometimes stay in-between matches. Ryuga stayed with King. Masamune was there as well, the three of them watching Gingka and Kenta begin their battle.

“The Gingka Kenta team…” King muttered to himself. “They could be a little more creative with the names.”

Ryuga raised an eyebrow. “How?”

“Like…” King shrugged. “I dunno, letting us name our teams. We could be…” His eyes suddenly lit up. “The blue eyes white dragon team! I’m the blue eyes, you’re the white dragon.”

“I’m Asian,” Ryuga replied without missing a beat.

“What? …oh!” King stiffened. “No, I meant your hair!”

Ryuga smirked. “Mhm sure.”

Beside them, Masamune giggled into his hand. King opened his mouth to protest.

“Hey!” A new voice cut in. “Are we running late?”

Ryuga glanced at the entrance. Tobio, Ryutaro, and Tetsuya were dashing into the stadium.

“We got a little held- UP!” Ryutaro gasped the last word when his gaze met Ryuga’s. He, Tobio, and Tetsuya skidded to a halt a few paces in front of them, their eyes were wider than dinner plates.

“Uh…” King awkwardly cut through the silence. “Hey, guys. The first battle just started, you’re not that late.”

“Er… great.” Tobio was clearly forcing a smile.

Ryuga tapped King’s shoulder. King turned to him. Immediately, Ryuga turned and stalked away toward the bleachers.

“Uh… bye then!” King called as he chased after Ryuga.

He caught up to him at the foot of the bleachers, where Ryuga slowed down a little so they could walk side by side.

“Um…” King’s voice was small. “What was up back there? With Ryutaro, Tobio, and Tetsuya? Do… they know you?”

“Battle Bladers,” Ryuga answered, not wanting to elaborate.

“Oh…” King nodded. He didn’t seem satisfied by that answer but he didn’t pry further.

“Ryuga! King!” Madoka’s voice cut through the crowd.

Ryuga looked up. Madoka was sitting alone in the middle of the crowd.

“Hey, Madoka!” King replied, waving as he made his way toward her. Ryuga did the same. The two of them took the two empty seats beside her, gazing down at the stadium.

Pegasus was clashing with Chao Xin’s bey, a Virgo, while Sagittario tilting its fusion wheel downward to barrage attack Chi-Yun’s bey, a Lacerta.

“Ooh!” King suddenly exclaimed. “Our first battle is against Da Xiang and Mei Mei!”

Ryuga glanced at the display screen. Next to his and King’s pictures, were two bladers he was sure he hadn’t seen before.

“Who?” Ryuga asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, I met them yesterday,” King answered with a shrug.

“Oh, the other members of Wang Fu Zhong?” Madoka cut in, nodding. “Yes, they’re strong opponents.” Ryuga just gazed at her blankly. “They were the Chinese team during the World Tournament,” she explained.

Ryuga dipped his head. *Whoever they are, King and I will defeat them all the same.*

“Pegasus final drive mode!”

Ryuga perked up at those words. Pegasus’s performance tip retracted and it began to glow blue as it flung itself into the air.

“Sagittario! Follow him!” Kenta called, swinging his arm.

Sagittario used the edge of the stadium as a ramp to fly beside Pegasus.

“Joint special move!” Gingka and Kenta exclaimed in unison. “Cosmic Arrow!”

Pegasus and Sagittario revolved around each other in the air, forming a blue and yellow beam that shot down on their opponents’ beys. Virgo and Lacerta were sent flying as the light burst through the stadium. When it dimmed, Pegasus and Sagittario were spinning side by side in the stadium beside the fallen beys of their opponents.

“And it’s over!” The Blader DJ was announcing. “With one move, Pegasus and Sagittario have knocked out their opponents and are moving on to the next round!”

“They have a joint special move now?!” King exclaimed, his wide eyes locked on the stadium.

Ryuga smiled. “They shouldn’t have revealed that so early on…” He turned to King. “And neither should we.”

“Er… King nodded. “Yeah. We won’t use ours unless we have to.”

“The next match will be the Ryuga King team versus the Daxiang Mei Mei team!” the Blader DJ exclaimed.

Ryuga and King stood up.

“Guess we’re on,” King stated, stepping slowly out of the aisle.

“Good luck you two!” Madoka called after them.

“Thank you!” King called back, waving.

Ryuga and King made their way down to the stadium, where Da Xiang and Mei Mei already waited for them.

“Ryuga…” Da Xiang dipped his head. “It’s an honour finally getting the chance to battle you.” He was completely level-headed, without a trace of fear. Ryuga wasn’t sure how to react to someone respecting him for reasons other than fear.

“But in a tag-team tournament of all places?” Mei Mei asked, tilting her head to the side.

Ryuga’s eyes narrowed. “What’s your point?”

“Er…” Mei Mei raised her launcher. “Nevermind that!” Her eyes narrowed to mirror Ryuga’s gaze.

The others raised their launchers as well, their determined gazes locked on each other.

“Three! Two! One! Let it rip!”

The four beys landed in the stadium. L-Drago instantly raced toward the centre, taking its defensive position. Variares followed. It began to circle L-Drago protectively. Aquario and Zurafa travelled around the stadium side by side, far from their opponents.

Da Xiang turned to his teammate. “Mei Mei, let’s break through their formation.” Mei Mei nodded. “Zurafa!”

“Aquario!”

The two bladers gestured for their bladers to attack. Aquario and Zurafa charged down the stadium side by side, gaining momentum from going downhill. Sparks flew as Aquario clashed with Variares. The two beys stopped in their tracks, leaving L-Drago wide open for an attack. Zurafa clashed with Ryuga’s bey.

Da Xiang froze. “This… this bey…” His eyes were wide as he gazed at Ryuga. “Is… is this even L-Drago?”

“Of course it’s L-Drago!” Ryuga snapped, realizing exactly what Da Xiang had noticed.

Blue flames fired up around L-Drago as it threw Zurafa back. Aquario slipped away from Variares.

“Hey! Get back here!” King exclaimed, sending Variares after it.

Before Variares could reach Aquario, the dark blue bey clashed with L-Drago. Mei Mei let out a gasp.

“I don’t… feel the power of the star fragment in L-Drago!” she exclaimed, turning to Da Xiang. He nodded.

Ryuga stiffened. He had assumed they’d noticed that L-Drago Guardian was a defence type, the first thing anyone asked him about his bey. *How can they tell it doesn’t have a star fragment?!* Variares clashed with Aquario again, stopping the bey in its tracks. However, Aquario slipped away again.

“Go for L-Drago first!” Mei Mei ordered. “It’s weaker without the power of the star fragment!”

Ryuga’s eyes narrowed. Zurafa fell in beside Aquario, charging toward L-Drago side by side. Variares swooped in, cutting off Zurafa. However, Aquario crashed into L-Drago with a screech.

“Is that how you see it?” Ryuga asked, raising an eyebrow. “Well, you are sadly mistaken, missy!”

As if switching modes, L-Drago shifted its focus from defending to attacking. Aquario was sent flying. Mei Mei let out a startled gasp. Her bey landed just near the rim of the stadium, instantly rushing toward Zurafa and Variares. L-Drago dashed toward them. Aquario reached them first, backing up Zurafa and flinging Variares backwards. Variares fell beside L-Drago. The two beys lined up and clashed with Zurafa and Aquario.

Slipping past them, Aquario and Zurafa spun away. Ryuga let out a grunt. Mei Mei’s bey drifted further down the slope, allowing Zurafa to start circling Aquario. L-Drago and Variares charged toward them again.

“Zurafa! Solid Iron Wall!” Da Xiang exclaimed.

A burst of energy suddenly flung L-Drago and Variares across the stadium. Aquario stood stationary as Zurafa circled it.

“Attack Variares!” King ordered, sending his bey toward them.

Variares suddenly screeched to a halt in the middle of the stadium, as if it were clashing with an invisible wall.

“What the?!” King exclaimed, his eyes wide.

“L-Drago!” Ryuga sent his bey careening toward the invisible force. “Destroy it!”

L-Drago fell in beside Variares, the two beys pushing against the wall with all their might. A red aura swirled to life around King and Variares. Moments later, a burst of wind racked the stadium. L-Drago and Variares charged through the stadium where the wall had once been, toward their opponents.

Mei Mei let out a gasp. “They broke through the Solid Iron Wall?!”

Da Xiang looked shaken for a moment. Then his eyes narrowed. “Fine, then what about this?! Storm Surge!”

As L-Drago clashed with Zurafa, Da Xiang’s bey glowed yellow as it quickly counter-attacked. L-Drago staggered back, wobbling a little.

“What?!” Ryuga exclaimed, his heart skipping a beat.

Then he realized. Zurafa’s fusion wheel was made of rubber, allowing it to absorb its opponent’s attack strength, just like the old L-Drago’s. Ryuga let out a growl. Was there anything special about that bey at all?!

“Again L-Drago!” Ryuga ordered, his eyes narrowing.

L-Drago attacked Zurafa again and again in a barrage attack but the yellow bey seemed unfazed.

“Variares! Defence mode!”

King’s voice cut over the sounds of metal screeching. Variares’s performance tip and fusion wheel shifted as it charged toward the centre. Ryuga glanced at his partner. King’s hair had turned white from earlier but Ryuga paid no attention. The two of them nodded. Backing away from Zurafa, L-Drago charged toward the centre. It circled Variares, similar to a dragon using its body as a shield for its smaller but no less fierce human warrior.

“Aquario!” Mei Mei exclaimed.

Her bey charged toward L-Drago. Ryuga’s bey knocked Aquario back easily, not slowing for an instant as it continued circling around Variares. Aquario wobbled beside them. For a few moments, no one attacked.

“Zurafa!”

Da Xiang’s bey charged toward them, slipping past L-Drago and clashing with Variares. King’s bey shielded the attack with its wings. Zurafa wobbled against Variares. L-Drago rushed to its partner’s aid, the two of them knocking Zurafa back with their combined force.

Mei Mei turned to her teammate. “Da Xiang move! I have an idea!” She suddenly ordered. Zurafa charged toward the edge of the stadium without question. “Okay, here it goes!” Mei Mei threw her hand into the air. “China’s Four Thousand Year Old Big Wave!”

A wave of water roared to life in front of Aquario. It grew higher and higher, towering over L-Drago and Variares and threatening to swallow them whole.

“L-Drago!” Ryuga ordered, gesturing for it to rush toward the edge.

“Get away, Variares!” King exclaimed, his eyes wide.

The two beys charged toward the rim of the stadium. Before Variares could reach the edge, Zurafa weaved in front of it, flinging Variares back into the path of the wave. The water washed over Variares. The bey instantly disappeared under the surface.

“Variares!” King yelped in alarm.

Ryuga’s heart skipped a beat. Moments later, the water was swept back, revealing a wobbling Variares. Ryuga stiffened. *We almost lost there…*

King stared at his bey in awe. “So… cool…” His voice came out in a breath.

“Hm…” Mei Mei nodded as if acknowledging King’s compliment. “Finish him off Aquario! Soaring Fire Bird!”

A blue aura glowed around Aquario as it charged toward Variares.

Ryuga’s eyes narrowed. “Back off!” he snapped, his heart blazing with rage. “Dragon Emperor Soaring Claw!”

L-Drago soared into Aquario’s path, fire trailing behind it like a comet. Mei Mei gasped in alarm.

“Mei Mei!” Da Xiang cast a quick wide-eyed glance at his teammate. “Zurafa, strong arm slash!” he exclaimed, looking back at the battle.

“Ares shield!” King called, flinging his arms.

Before Zurafa could reach Variares, L-Drago shoved Aquario into the sky, like a dragon taking off with its prey.

“Aquario!” Mei Mei’s voice trembled slightly.

A burst of energy racked the stadium. Smoke settled over the stadium, obscuring everyone’s beys from sight. Slowly, it began to clear. Ryuga spotted L-Drago, Zurafa, and Variares still spinning evenly. Aquario laid beside L-Drago, completely still. Ryuga dipped his head. He had to bite back a sigh of relief.

“Aquario is out!” The Blader DJ exclaimed. “The battle is over: the Ryuga King team is moving on!”

Ryuga snatched up his bey.

“I’m sorry, Da Xiang,” Mei Mei sighed, her head hanging low.

Da Xiang snatched up his bey. “Don’t worry about it,” he replied, his voice even. “We’ll just have to work harder for next time.”

Mei Mei nodded.

“Oh…” King sounded disappointed as he gazed at the stadium. His hair was back to its normal blue. “It’s… it’s over…” He let out a sigh, snatching up his bey. “And it was just getting good.”

Ryuga’s eyes widened. “You- we nearly lost.”

“Yeah!” King had a huge smile on his face. “No one has so much as challenged me in so long! It was so… thrilling!”

Ryuga dipped his head. *I know how that feels…*

“Whatever,” King shrugged. “There’s still the next battle.” He turned to Da Xiang and Mei Mei. “Great fight, guys!” he called, smiling.

“Same to you,” Da Xiang replied, with a nod. “You two work surprisingly well as a team.”

‘Surprisingly well.’ Da Xiang spoke in such a respectful, genuine tone but that phrasing seemed underhanded.

King just smiled. “You guys are cool. I’ve gotta battle you again sometime!”

Da Xiang just smiled. “Perhaps.”

King turned to walk away. Ryuga followed. They made their way back up the stairs to their seats.

“The next battle will be the Masamune Tetsuya team versus the Akane Ryuji team!”

Ryuga stopped in his tracks.

“Masamune and Tetsuya?!” He couldn’t hold back a laugh. “This should be good.”

King raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?” There was an accusatory tone in his voice.

Ryuga smiled. “Have you met Tetsuya? He’s… well, how do I put this?”

“Completely unhinged and weird?” King suggested, tilting his head to the side.

Ryuga nodded. “That’s it.” He continued walking down the path. “Your friend is gonna have to carry the entire tournament.”

“I bet he could,” King insisted, his eyes narrowed.

Ryuga snorted with laughter. “Relax, King. I never said otherwise.”

The two of them took their seats next to Madoka. All three of them gazed at the stadium. Masamune and Tetsuya stood across from two kids: one boy and one girl.

“Let it rip!”

All four of them launched their beys. Gasher and Striker charged toward their opponents’ beys. Unlike their opponents, whose beys travelled side by side, Gasher was shifting side by side, forcing Striker to travel further back.

“Huh?!” Tetsuya’s eyes suddenly went wide. “What’s that over there, crab?!” he exclaimed, pointing somewhere in the distance.

“What?!” Masamune looked up. “Where?!”

King and Madoka let out collective groans. Ryuga facepalmed.

“That won’t work on us!” the girl exclaimed, making her bey attack Striker. The lime green bey was sent flying.

Masamune yelped. “Hang in there, Striker!” The bey landed on the edge of the stadium.

“Seriously, crab?” Tetsuya glared at him.

“Wha- don’t do that!” Masamune exclaimed, glaring at his partner. “It’s underhanded!” He let out a growl, looking back at the stadium. “I’ll deal with these guys, you stay back!”

“It is underhanded, but you wouldn’t be falling for it if you weren’t an idiot,” Ryuga grumbled, rolling his eyes.

King glared at him. He opened his mouth to refute him but his words died in his throat. Ryuga smirked victoriously.

“Whatever you say, crab,” Tetsuya grumbled, glaring at Masamune.

“Masamune would be doomed if Tetsuya were his opponent,” Madoka sighed, staring in disbelief.

“Maybe in that way, Masamune’s lucky Tetsuya’s his partner…” King didn’t sound like he fully believed himself.

“Striker!” Masamune exclaimed.

Striker charged through the stadium, clashing with one of his opponents’ beys. The other bey charged toward Gasher.

“Nope!” Tetsuya exclaimed as Gasher weaved out of the way. The opponent’s bey missed, drifting away.

Striker continued attacking its opponent in a barrage of attacks, making its rotation slow little by little. A few more attacks and the bey fell motionless.

“And the winner is the Masamune Tetsuya team!”

“Wow, they actually survived that match?” Madoka deadpanned, staring blankly at the stadium.

“That’s a miracle,” Ryuga agreed, dipping his head.

After those two, the Tsubasa Yu team, Tobio Ryutaro team, Toby Zeo team, and the Kyoya Benkei team all defeated their first opponents and moved onto the next round. Gingka and Kenta started the round off again. Their opponents were Tsubasa and Yu who, after putting up quite the fight, ended up falling to Gingka and Kenta.

“The next match will be the Ryuga King team versus the Masamune Tetsuya team!” The Blader DJ announced.

“Those two?” Ryuga raised an eyebrow. *This won’t take long.* He and King made their way down the steps. “I'll end this in an instant,” Ryuga muttered to him. “Stay back, King.”

“Wha-” King’s eyes went wide. “But I want to help!” he insisted, his voice cracking a little.

“Trust me. I got this.”

“I do trust you…” King sighed, looking away.

Ryuga and King stopped in front of the stadium. Masamune and Tetsuya stood across from them on the other side, readying their beys.

“Well, here we are King…” Masamune smiled as he spoke. “Much sooner than expected.”

King raised his launcher. He didn’t reply, didn’t even smile. Ryuga raised his bey as well, his narrowed gaze fixed on Tetsuya. The crab boy shrank under his glare.

“Three! Two! One! Let it rip!”

The four bladers launched their beys in unison. L-Drago raced right toward Gasher, glowing bright blue before slamming into its opponent. Tetsuya squealed in terror. Gasher fell to the ground at his feet.

“Wha- what happened?!” Blader DJ sounded stunned as if he didn’t know who he’d let into the stadium. “The battle’s barely started and Tetsuya is already out! The Ryuga King team wins!”

“Oh, come on!” Masamune fell to his knees. “That wasn’t even a battle!” He slammed his hand into the ground.

Tetsuya’s eyes were wide and unfocused, and he was shivering slightly. Ryuga froze. *Wait, was he one of the bladers I…?* He shook his head, snatching up his bey. This wasn’t like that. It was a fair battle, Ryuga hadn’t been trying to take his energy, only defeat him.

He turned and walked away. King followed him with a depressed sigh.

“King?” Ryuga gazed at him.

“I wanted to battle Masamune…” King sighed, wrapping his arms around himself. He walked toward the exit. Ryuga remained at his side, trying to figure out what to say.

“You can battle him on your own later. What's important is that we won.”

“It wasn't very fun though…” King walked out of the stadium, leaning on the wall outside as he continued talking. “I don't get you sometimes. What's the point of battles like this?! They're no fun!”

“I don't battle for fun,” Ryuga grunted, standing beside him.

King stared at him in confusion. “Why else would you battle?”

“To win.”

“Why?” King suddenly raised his voice. “What's so great about defeating people in three seconds?!”

“To prove my strength!” Ryuga snapped, glaring at him.

“Everyone already knows you're strong!”

“Do they?!”

“Uh, yeah?!” King gestured to him. “You're the Dragon Emperor! Why would anyone doubt your strength?!”

“Because I've gone soft! I…” Ryuga looked away. “I'm not as strong as I used to be and everyone knows it.”

“What do you mean 'strong?' Strong people can be soft sometimes.”

“Well, I shouldn’t be!”

King stared at him. “And neither should I, huh?” he sighed, looking away.

Ryuga stiffened. “I… That's…” Regret hit him like a slap in the face.

King’s hair fell in front of his eyes. “I… I need to be alone.” His tone was emotionless. “I'll be back in time for the next battle.” He turned and walked away, his head hung low.

“King…” Ryuga reached toward him.

King kept walking, not slowing or even looking back at him. *I didn’t mean it!* Ryuga desperately wanted to report. He didn’t think King was weaker… Did he? Ryuga remembered their battle with Da Xiang and Mei Mei: more specifically, being terrified that King would lose another match for them and ending the battle as quickly as possible to avoid that. King might’ve still been able to fight for a while longer. Ryuga hadn’t bothered to know…

[sockori]

The Akatsuki But. Pokémon (1)

Not trainers, not preexisting Pokémon- but Pokémon themselves. I mean, Kishimoto’s original plan for them was to all be monsters- so why not reimagine them as pocket monsters?

(Notes: - Covers Pein, Konan, Zetsu, and Obito.  - All have at least one ability made up by me (except Obito). - Uses it/its pronouns to reference canon Pokédex descriptions. - Stat totals were written down- but removed to save up post space. Replaced with general description. - I added Mega Evolutions to this for fun, but not the other generation gimmicks. - I don’t have any designs atm, so just uh... imagine they’re something cool. )

Pein

(The God Pokémon)

(The Sage Pokémon)

Type: Psychic

Abilities (1): Pressure (classic legendary ability)

“By putting pressure on the opposing Pokémon, it raises their PP usage.” 

Hidden Ability: Almighty Push 

“Raises base power of spread moves by 30%.”

Pokedex Entries (1,2):

After the strange disappearances of the Pokémon Nagato and Yahiko, this mysterious but godly presence took their place. Alongside the serene Konan, it guards the sacred lands of the Rain, acting as leader of a mysterious group of Pokémon.

This legendary Pokémon possesses the bewildering power of controlling attractive and repulsive forces in the natural world. These powerful Psychic abilities are destructive- able to wipe away entire cities with just one push. 

Mega Evolution

Pein has no Mega Evolution. Instead, it takes on various different forms, like Deoxys can. These forms are the Six Paths of Pain, of course, all with various types according to the Path (all with the base type of Psychic). Pein’s base Deva Path form can only be changed outside of battle, and remains permanent within it.

I’ll be very brief with it. I tried not to repeat type combos but it was super tough.

Deva Path: Psychic; Sp. Atk + Speed Offense

Asura Path: Psychic/Steel; Physical Defensive Bulk (defensive, but slow)

Human Path: Psychic/Ghost; Special Defensive Bulk

Animal Path: Psychic/Normal; Atk + Speed Offense

Preta Path: Psychic/Dragon; Sp. Def + Def Wall

Naraka Path: Psychic/Dark; Atk + Sp. Atk Rounded

Konan

(the Angel Pokémon)

(the Origami Pokémon)

Type: Psychic/Flying (Really wanted to make her fairy type ngl. Pastel goth. But Psychic suits her powers.)

Abilities (1): Serene Grace

“Boosts the likelihood of additional effects occurring when attacking.“

Hidden Ability: Paper Veil

“Protects self and ally Pokémon from weather damage.” General Stats: Emphasis on Special Attack and Special Defense.

Pokédex Entries (1, 2): 

This mysterious Pokémon dutifully protects the lands of Rain, vowing to guard the territory with its life. It brings beauty and prosperity to the region, as well as terrifying power- eliminating those who disturb it without mercy.

Konan is idolized in the lands of the Rain for its haunting grace and intelligence. It has an unusual power involving paper, able to bend it and shape it however it pleases. It uses this strange, versatile paper as a deadly weapon in battle.

Mega Evolution

Type: Psychic/Flying

Mega Ability: Gale Wings

“Gives priority to Flying-type moves.”

Stat Boosts: Speed is raised significantly. Special Defense and Special Attack receive additional but smaller boosts. 

Pokédex Entries (1, 2):

The Pokémon harnesses its Psychic power to its full potential, causing it to materialize into paper, sprouting large, angelic wings out of its backside. It becomes partially indestructible, easily reassembling itself from paper after taking a serious attack. 

The sheer Psychic power it harnessed mid-transformation causes it to hover off of the ground by will of flight. The large, angelic wings are a shield as well as a weapon, able to rain sharpened paper feathers down on the opponent in just one gust.

Zetsu

(The Split Pokémon)

(The Mutated Pokémon)

Type: Grass

(Could’ve added Psychic or Dark but. I like pure grass for him.)

Abilities (1): Regenerator

“Restores a little HP when withdrawn from battle.”

Hidden Ability: DNA Transfer

“Upon fainting, the Pokémon transfers its stat changes to the next Pokémon sent out.” (Guaranteed Baton Pass.)

General Stats: Highest in HP. Centered around Defense and Special Defense.

Pokédex Entries (1, 2): 

An odd combination of two minds, this strangely mutated Pokémon was extracted from a large, mystical tree thousands of years ago, now aiding the mysterious Masked Pokémon with their deeds. It is said that the White side is friendly and chatty, whilst the Black side is stoic and quiet.

This split-personality Pokémon generally wishes to stay outside of battle, much preferring to aid its allies than join in on the combat. It can pass on its strange regenerative abilities to its team by attaching itself to them physically. Rumor has it that it can also drain others of their power too, devouring them whole.

Mega Evolution

Personally, I don’t see Zetsu having a Mega Evolution- mostly because of its main role as a support (Mega Evolutions are usually reserved for offensive power). Also, Zetsu is commonly seen attached to other fighters in the series, which really doesn’t make any sense in the context of a Mega? Maybe it has a variation where it's one of those Duel Pokemon forms- like Spectrier/Glastrier and Calyrex. I’ll leave that up to you.

Tobi / Obito

(The Masked Pokémon)

(The ????? Pokémon)

Type: Ghost/Normal

Abilities (1): Prankster

“Gives priority to a status move.“

Hidden Ability: ?????

General Stats: Large emphasis on Speed, slightly on Attack. Defenses are relatively low.

Pokédex Entries (1, 2): 

A happy-go-lucky Pokémon that lives in the shadow of the Rain region. It takes its sweet time annoying the Explosive Deidara, following them around nonstop, much to the Pokémon’s dismay and anger.

A relatively cheerful face against the more solemn Pokémon of the group led by Pein. Its optimistic nature is certainly infectious, though there’s just something... A little bit off about it. Just a little bit.

Mega Evolution

(The Vengeful Pokémon) 

Type: Ghost/Fighting

Mega Ability:  Infiltrator “Passes through the opposing Pokémon's barrier, substitute, and the like and strikes.” (Obito was tough to create an ability for. If you have any fancy ideas, feel free to share.)

Stat Boost: Massive increase to Attack and Speed. Minor increases all around, Defenses going up just a bit higher than the others.

Pokédex Entries (1, 2):

The once happy-go-lucky mask is removed, revealing the secrets beneath: a torn, Vengeful Pokémon once thought to be gone, looking to bring the end of the world. A phantom of the past, it radiates a strong, ghostly energy that is vindictive, bitter- and sorrowful.

Unforgiving of the past, this reawakened Pokémon passes from dimension to dimension organizing its plan to end the world using its strange ability to manipulate time and space. It summons black holes, drawing in anything in its path- where everything ends up is widely unknown.

[fire-emblem-supports]

CYL5 Predictions & Hopes

I ALMOST FORGOT I USUALLY DO THESE not that i think anyone really cares, but i'd feel weird if i didn't

Expect Three Houses spoilers but also it's been two years man go play the game

Marianne: White Heron Dancer

"I won this garb in a contest five years ago... I still can't believe someone like me won."

I don't know that I consider this particularly likely, but I think it would be more interesting than the sword or magic cav she's likely to get, and it could maybe even break the curse of the red units being the worst, seeing as support units are powercrept at a much slower rate than nukes. This Marianne would be a Sword Flier wielding Blutgang and she would also have the Dance skill. Blutgang gets Beast Fang's effectiveness against dragon and cavalry units and has adaptive damage, but also gets the +4 to all stats from Dancer Berkut's weapon. I think an interesting adaptation of her signature Animal Friend skill would be to allow Beast units to transform when next to her, while also healing 10 HP to herself and all cavalry and flying allies at the start of each turn when she is on a team with two or more cavs/fliers. Letting it heal her allies helps solidify her role as a support unit, though Blutgang and her self-healing means she can be offensive if need be, like Triandra. It would be her B-skill.

For art, I'll put forward Kurahana Chinatsu as decently likely to do either hers or Gatekeeper's, since they like to use the original artists where possible (they didn't last year, but that was probably to avoid showing favoritism to Edelgard, Dimitri, or Claude). I'd lean Marianne is more likely since she's more of a "canon" character. If not, though, Niji Hayashi (Summer Hilda/Marianne, a Marianne Cipher card), Konfuzi Kokon (Faye, Fiora, Marianne's Cipher card as a Dancer), or Fujikawa Akira (Marisa, Celica, Fallen Celica) are all good options.

Gatekeeper: Sworn Protector

"I'll keep this castle safe as long as I'm here, promise! Right now, there's nothing to report!"

Gatekeeper is a bit tough to theorycraft, since there's obviously... not a lot to go off of, lol. I think that, like Brave Lysithea, he'll probably end up with an outfit based on one of the Master Classes, so I'll put forward a version of him that is Axe Cavalry based on the Great Knight class and wielding the Axe of Ukonvasara. The Axe of Ukonvasara is effective against armored foes, heals 10 HP every hit like the Sol Lance, and enables [ Canto (3) ]. Whatever his special skill is called, I predict it being an omni-Save (Near and Far) that grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+3 when Savior triggers.

Like Marianne, Kurahana Chinatsu is a decent prediction for art, but it's worth noting that Kita Senri is actually the only one who's drawn official art for Gatekeeper (for Cipher) and thus could be considered his "original" artist; I'd personally rather see Kita Senri do Gatekeeper and let Kurahana Chinatsu do Marianne. If neither of them, I'd also like to see Tobi (Azelle, Winter Bernadetta, the Morgans), Asatani Tomoyo (Eirika, Ephraim, Berkut), or lack (Beruka, Silque, Brave Dimitri) try their hand at him.

Eirika: Sacred Twin Lady

"Siegmund and Sieglinde... Twins, like my brother and I."

Eirika is hard to come up with anything interesting for because most good ideas have been taken by her legendary and Anamnesis alts and Ephraim's brave alt. So here's what I got: she's a Lance Cavalry, but she wields both Sieglinde and Siegmund. This grants her weapon triangle advantage against blue foes, but doesn't affect the weapon triangle against red or green foes. So basically:

Vs. Red Foe: Eirika gets +20% damage, foe gets -20% damage

Vs. Blue Foe: Eirika gets +20% damage, foe gets -20% damage

Vs. Green Foe: Eirika gets -20% damage, foe gets +20% damage

Vs. Colorless Foe: no effect

On top of that, she gets the dual-phase Brave effect that is now assumed with dual-wielding characters (like Altina and the ninjas). I'm conflicted on whether or not she could get a third effect since both of those are decently broken, but if she does, it would probably be some combination of Sieglinde/Siegmund's skills.

For art, I can't see it being anyone but Wada Sachiko as her original artist and the artist for Brave Ephraim. If it's somehow not, it'll be Asatani Tomoyo, but... come on, it's gotta be Wada Sachiko.

Marth: Hero Lodestar

"This sacred tome was forged from two of the Fire Emblem's spheres. I wield its guiding light against darkness."

And finally, Marth. I'm honestly a little lost on an outfit for him, but I agree with most people that he'll probably be a Blue Mage Infantry wielding Starlight, which would grant him effectiveness against magic foes as well as Odd/Even Recovery's penalty erasure at the start of the turn. I also think he'll probably come with Fire Emblem, even though it's a little unfair to Eirika. Unique special and assist skills tend to be treated differently, like Brave Micaiah's Sacrifice and Lif's Open the Future.

Like Eirika, I think Marth's art is pretty guaranteed: Daisuke Izuka, as artist for the Shadow Dragon/Mystery remakes and Legendary Marth. If it's somehow not him, it'll probably be Mayo (Groom Marth), Tobi (Resplendent Marth), or (if Eirika doesn't get the art she deserves) Wada Sachiko (normal and Young Marth). Maiponpon (Lucina and Masked Marth) or Kozaki Yusuke (Brave Lucina) are also decent possibilities. I'd personally prefer Tobi, Wada Sachiko, or Kozaki Yusuke, but... come on, just let it be Daisuke Izuka.

That's all I got. Once again, I think basically anything for these units would be fine. The biggest travesty would be if Marth just gets Falchion like how they screwed over Alm, and I'd personally be a little upset if Gatekeeper was an armor unit without any movement shenanigans, but generally speaking I doubt any of these characters will get anything too terribly disappointing, and I'm sure art will be fine no matter what. Can't wait for Bravekeeper!

[fireemblemtcg]

fecipher twitter, 26-10-2020: "Itsuki Aoi: Lord of Fortuna" and "Tiki: Miracle Uta-loid"

[Card Showcase] To fight back against the Shadow Dragon, who has been resurrected by the Opera of Shadows, the members of Fortuna are ready to stage the Opera of Light. In the role of Marth, by a unanimous decision, is Itsuki. Taking on the appearance of the Hero-King and uniting the souls of his friends behind him, he flawlessly plays his part in this legendary drama. (Illust. Hatori Kyōka, @tobi55555​)

Card stats/skills:

B22-101HN Itsuki Aoi: Lord of Fortuna Mirage Master/Cost5(4) Red/Blue/Male/Sword/Mirage 70ATK/20SUPP/1RNG

"I'll take on the role of Marth. I won't let any of you down."

Emblem Form [ALWAYS] If 2 or more other <Mirage> allies are present, this unit gains +10 attack.

Opera of Light [ACT] [ONCE PER TURN] [FLIP 1] Choose 1 <Mirage> card from your hand, and deploy it.

Supreme Session [TRIGGER] [ONCE PER TURN] When an ally who possesses a [CF] is deployed, draw 1 card.

Illust. Hatori Kyōka

B22-105N Tiki: Miracle Uta-loid Uta-loid/Cost1 Red/Blue/Female/Dragonstone/Dragon/Mirage 30ATK/20SUPP/1RNG

"Give it your all, big brother!"

I'll Tiki-Tiki You (For Reals) [ACT] [TAP] Choose 1 other ally. Until the end of the turn, that ally gains +10 attack. If that ally is <Mirage>, then instead, until the end of the your opponent's next turn, that ally gains +10 attack.

[ATK] Tandem Emblem [SUPPORT] Until the end of this combat, your <Red> or <Blue> attacking unit gains +10 attack.

Illust. Tobi

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