#today has been poggers!!!!!

[storybookprincess]

had this realization last night in which i went “wait…… why am i sitting around just waiting to have a good day?? it’s MY day!!! i think i should get at least some say in whether it’s good!!!!!!”

so today i’ve been trying to make very intentional choices to make this day good & it’s WORKING??? i’m having an awesome day so far & feel more myself than i have in months????

mental illness HATES her!!!! local woman decided to take matters into her own fucking hands!!!!!!

[m1d-45]

Happy Valentine's day!

teddy, flowers for you - 🌸🌷🌹💐!

midas, flowers for you - 🌸🌷🌹💐!

sibling anon and stew anon and tiger anon or anyone else - 🪷💐💐🌻🌻🌼🌺,

I hope you guys had a good valentine's day! ty for the flowers, I've also never received them apart from my family lol

I also didn't know that all our names together spelled med room that's hilarious I need to think of sm with this

speaking of genshin, your kaz is better than mine(mines having an identity crisis bc I can't chose to build him on EM or crit rn) (and am overall focusing on ayaka since I'm building her rn)

- 🍄 (feeling very tempted to just drop my uid, the only other game I play apart from genshin is TCG *help* I play genshin sm my friends let me into their accts to play for them)(ar55 and world lvl 8 btw)

uhh something quirky so i can put a readmore here

yeah if you :

midas teddy mushroom

mid ted room

med room

it’s stilted but it works

also the only reason my kazuha is even okay at being a dps is because i want “what’s meta” and put everything everywhere into attack stats. it’s only recently that i’ve been trying crit and it’s giving me a crisis. i learned tighnari scaled off em and nearly cried.

aLSO IF YOURE BUILDING AYAKA WE COULD RUN THE DRAGONSPINE DOMAIN TOGETHER!!

i need blizzard for my chongyun n kaeya (who somehow?? still doesn’t have a good circlet???) so we could farm… together

(yes i know i shouldn’t build chongyun bc he’s not a good unit meta-wise or wtv but yk what fuck that and whoever says otherwise he works so well in permafrost w/ xingqiu that i don’t care. “oooo hes bad at cryo applications and shatters freezes” how about you get good at the game and accept that the boyfriends work well together.)

(hi i’m midas and have a lot of emotions about chongyun. he and razor are my claymore sons and i would die for them. if anybody clowns on their sword boyfriends then they’ll face my blade in a duel to fhe death)

[teddybearsandspaceships]

For my own memory, in the hopes that Scar will put yesterday´s stream on his VODs channel because it was amazing and featured among other things:

Scar calling Etho “the Maple Prince”

Xisuma trolling Scar by mixing up Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, and Harry Potter

Mumbo showing Scar the llama death chamber, and Scar praising him for being weird

Scar and Mumbo having a conversation about social media and AI

Scar telling Etho not to worry and that he´s thinking about moving the mail box himself (after all he had two best-selling redstone shops so surely he´s qualified!); Etho: well now I´m worried… But right afterwards Etho says people forget that Scar is actually quite skilled at the game

Etho is just interrupting people today and Scar suggests just collecting people to procrastinate

I approve of Scar encouraging Etho to participate in MCC again

Etho asking how Scar got stamps already, Scar saying he´s been a part of a lot of Life series, Etho: “you and your wily words, you can get anything you want…”

Big Salmon decreed mercury = good

Cleo shows up! “lag busting” is the new “it lagged into my inventory”

Scar definitely not encouraging Cleo to kill all other villagers after setting up her own trading hall. Cleo wants organic free range villagers.

Cleo trying to sell the monstrosolith as a giant billboard

Cleo proved she can do valley girl voice, Scar and Etho are shocked. Then they´re discussing what "no cap" means. (Etho on stream: “big true, no cap.”) They talked about poggers, and Scar going wild with his pants off (after Cleo exploded them), and Etho didn´t know what Stitch is.

Scar starts talking about Disney and it takes him a minute to realize Cleo and Etho have run away

More maple syrup discussion (Etho telling Cleo if she likes the brand she gets it´s fine), and a frantic ride-by and log-out by Grian

Cleo and Scar want to start a cult. Etho wants to be a frat instead, something cooler. Frats have fewer rules, they´re more like “pants off, it´s fine.” Scar says he´d ask too many questions to be in a cult, Etho points out he could be cult leader. Cleo immediately offers to be his second, the person who does all the dirty work.

Shoe talk. Scar shows off his twelve-year-old shoes on stream.

Making fun of Etho´s set-up! Scar is horrified. Etho talks about his Kleenex box where his mike stands. It matches his desk! It has his settings written on it! Also his space bar broke during DO2 but he got used to it. Scar decides they need reinforcements and calls Bdubs over. Ren also shows up.

Etho mentions he didn´t get a Decked Out 2 desk mat (took to long to think about it) and Tango logs in to write in chat that he´s disappointed and logs out again

A wild Iskall approaches in the distance. Etho: trident brother!

Etho invented the minecart shuffle

Cleo: "I always want you to kill people, Scar. ...no not Etho."

And Etho leaves to shuffle snow like the Canadian cryptid he is

(how dare Ren interrupt Bdubs before he can give his current opinion on the kleenex box)

"Etho´s not one to lie" (are you sure about that? ^^)

...I look away for two seconds and did Mumbo just call himself a panda in chat. I was later told: a panda fiat! Which is a car, and Iskall is a Ferrari

Moonlanding with Gem! And some talk about bases and criticism. Gem: "I love making Etho mad," “Let Etho be mad,” What´s he gonna do, all he´s gonna do is go oh snappers ^^ "Scar, you are my Etho"

[anti-terf-posts]

Sometimes I remember that time my mom said "you're a man? What about those big boobs?" Which was

Deeply disturbing to me

I'm non-binary, use he/they/neos (unfortunately in Spanish i have to settle for él and my neos but like she doesn't use them anyway :< )

And also!! I remember distinctly she saying she found easier to call me by my neos than by he which is

Uh

Interesting I guess

Cause I've been correcting her, and not once she has called me by my neos (also she did a making fun of me for using neos which is very funny in retrospective because (I'm providing translation):

Mom: bueno, entonces refierete a mí con -jota (ok, so refer to me with -jota suffix)

Me: vale carajota (I don't know how to translate this but I didn't realize what I said for like 10 seconds; in short, it's an insult. She laughed a lot tho)

And also in a less funny note she implied I go by he/him because I want to replace my father (VERY abusive) which is uh not good. I have told her several times to not compare me to him

Does anyone else's family misgender you when they get angry at you????? That's not very poggers as the youth would say

Anyways hi!!!! Sorry for the long ask ^^"

I found your blog today and wanted to share stuff idk

(I can't tell if this is a vent or not, so I apologize if anything i say is insensitive) but that is kinda funny to me in a way 😭 Like why on earth is it easier to use neos than he/him? Of course, I only speak English, so it's very possible it's different in different languages ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[somer-writes]

GREETINGS CAMPERS

WHO IS READY FOR

SOMERS DODECANNUAL MONTHLY BEATDOWN

october edition

OCTOBER 👏 WORD 👏 COUNT 👏: 72,479 WORDS TO Ao3

CURRENT 👏 WORD 👏 COUNT 👏: 1,000,246 WORDS ON Ao3

CHAT! CHAT! WE DID IT! POGGERS!!!

1 MILLION 1 MILLION 1 MILLION

WORKS (new/continued in October): 34 BABY!!!

MOST POPULAR: HAVING BEEN CHOSEN & CHOOSING FOR OTHERS

MY RECOMMENDATION: OBLATION (reader discretion advised!)

IN REVIEW: 1 MILLION 1 MILLION 1 MILLION!!!

also whumptober! 31 days of beating the shit out of twilight bc i can and it sparks joy. also beat up wars and time this month <3 i love them i promise

this month also saw the continuation of Memento Mori, the sequel to the ever popular Burial Rites (reader discretion advised).

further! @crazylittlejester filled twilight with cheese. and i wrote a fic about it. Cheese Whore (thank you @toyouhellohowareyou for the title)

also also 4000 comments!!! FUCK YEAH!!!

ty so much for all the support!! i love reading all your comments, reblogs, tags, and whatever else! thank you everyone who reads, kudos, bookmarks, or comments on fics!! ily!!!

on that note, lets get SAPPY for a moment motherfuckers:

when my brain latched on to @linkeduniverse in September 2023, i never imagined it would lead me to where it has today. it spurred me to not only write freely again the first time in almost 2 years, but to also POST my writing on the internet for the first time in nearly a decade. AND THE RESPONSE! i treasure every single comment just as much as my first comment. i read your bookmarks, i reread comments, i treasure it ALL!

LU has led to me forging incredible relationships. not only in my personal development as a writer with brilliant and lovely peers, dare i say, colleagues, but also deep friendships AND even led me to my loveliest gumdrop beautiful handsome partner @wanderlustmagician

i never IMAGINED hitting 1 million words after 12 months, completing 6 month long challenges, having so many regular readers, being involved in discord servers and reblog wars--! theres too much i cant even FATHOM

i am so eternally grateful to ALL of you. im grateful to the fandom, to its community of artists and writers, to @jojo56830 for creating such a lovely work which brought us all together, and anyone whos ever beta read for me

starting tonight (oct 31 my timezone) and running through tomorrow is the next 24 hour LU writers' marathon! please give it up for @hotcheetohatredwastaken and @not-freyja for keeping this up! also big s/o to @a-manicured-lawn @noorahqar @gia-d @winterfen @tashacee @weavingstarlight @rebornofstars @zarvasace for modding!!!

heres to the next 1 million words!

[brett-is-afraid]

((before I put this m sry if im sending in too many asks i've seen like, a lot lately come thru that are mine ;-; explodes))

today's brain leak has rnb00 as special guest an S3án calls tmy the youngest dumbest and cummiest of the bench trio. full of cum everybody. tmmy is now the cum man. young dumb and full of cum?? cum moment??

also tub0 thought he was 25 when the happy wheels collab happened and then after a comment that he'd been on yt for 10 years he was like "?? how old are you" "33" "WHAT" and that's so fucking funny to me. ur bestie does a collab w his new boytoy and you guess his age wildly wrong to his face. Whoopsies <3

also apparenly "so much" got cut our of the lie detector vid....oh my god....what secrets lie in the footage? what drama what intrigue???!!!! WHAT COULD BE HIDING????!!!!!! S E CR E TS?????? SECRETS REAL??????!!!!! on main,,,,,,

anyway all of this in the same ask so that I don't clutter ur askbox with my autisms and poggers swag ^^;

First of all, don't ever worry about how many asks you're sending. Throughout the history of this blog, I've had a few people who send tons of asks and I never, ever mind it. I appreciate every ask I get and I have no concept of "too many asks." Send one more or send one thousand more, it's all the same to me. <3 /gen

That was so out of pocket??? Why would he say that??? (A real, "it's true but he shouldn't say it" thing.)

It's been so interesting to see how sexual the ccs have gotten and how sexual others have gotten around/about them ever since they turned 18. Seemingly the very day they turned 18 too.

Him not knowing how old he is is also hilarious. I swear, there was something else he thought about another creator that turned out to be so vastly incorrect too, but I can't remember what it was. Little bimbo <3

The secrets were hot gay sex between everyone involved. And they need to release the bonus footage. ASAP.

[wisemins]

Current wip!

wanted to warm up with a drawing for myself today-- it's nowhere near done but i like it so far. I haven't delved into my deeper anime/manga roots drawing-wise in a long time. I'm not used to simplifying my art-style very much so this is a challenge for me. I also want to get better at rendering.

I've gotten into fate recently too and im currently...*counting on fingers* around 7 anime series/seasons/movies in?? Currently tackling Apocrypha and the Illya magical girl anime!

But I wanted to draw Rin bcus she's absolutely poggers and she seemed very fun to draw! I was right, besides those shoes. Those cursed, boxy, shoes.

So yeah. I love this franchise so far, so I'll probably draw more fate stuff. the fate autism has been quaking thus far and I'm sure it'll continue to only get worse!

[smunalianzaliberal]

Backrooms

USSR and US Agree to Use Colombia as Nuclear Testing Ground

7 June 1952 

After the country has been reduced to nuclear rubble overnight, everyone here has nuclear radiation. The sheer amount of skibidi gyatt rizz only in ohio duke dennis did you pray today livvy dunne rizzing up baby gronk sussy imposter pibby glitch in real life sigma alpha omega male grindset andrew tate goon cave freddy fazbear colleen ballinger smurf cat vs strawberry elephant blud dawg shmlawg ishowspeed a whole bunch of turbulence ambatukam bro really thinks he's carti literally hitting the griddy the ocky way kai cenat fanum tax garten of banban no edging in class not the mosquito again bussing axel in harlem whopper whopper whopper whopper 1 2 buckle my shoe goofy ahh aiden ross sin city monday left me broken quirked up white boy busting it down sexual style goated with the sauce john pork grimace shake kiki do you love me huggy wuggy nathaniel b lightskin stare biggest bird omar the referee amogus uncanny wholesome reddit chungus keanu reeves pizza tower zesty poggers kumalala savesta quandale dingle glizzy rose toy ankha zone thug shaker morbin time dj khaled sisyphus oceangate shadow wizard money gang ayo the pizza here PLUH nair butthole waxing t-pose ugandan knuckles family guy funny moments compilation with subway surfers gameplay at the bottom nickeh30 ratio uwu delulu opium bird cg5 mewing fortnite battle pass all my fellas gta 6 backrooms gigachad based cringe kino redpilled no nut november pokénut november wojak literally 1984 foot fetish F in the chat i love lean looksmaxxing gassy incredible theodore john kaczynski social credit bing chilling xbox live mrbeast kid named finger better caul saul i am a surgeon one in a krillion hit or miss i guess they never miss huh i like ya cut g ice spice we go gym kevin james josh hutcherson edit coffin of andy and leyley metal pipe falling.

Good job everyone Viva La Colombia frfr!!!!!

[voided-selfships]

HWAT OMG HAPPY BIRTHDAY‼️ hope your day has been good! You are so very loved by your f/os :3

WAAAH TY TY!! YEAH TODAYS BEEN P POGGERS HONESTLY ALSO! bbb f/is my beloveds. Still getting 1 million kisses from them

[ask-keith-the-basement-dweller]

Hey Keith! Sorry I haven’t been active! Me and the other workers are at a vacation at the Bermuda Triangle! Did you know the island here is fantastic!

So how’s it going back home? Hope you have Chales by your side!

- Pat! (And Karloff and Byron)

[The letter back is written very sloppily but still readable even with the spelling mistakes]

It has been...confusing.

First boss and this orange little alien were screaming to me about this Floig thing...

Next thing I know I'm dealing with an angry mother and her crying child about her Floig getting stolen

.....everyone is gone again. Like Liz, Matt, all the other special guests, that orange thing and boss! Kinda like...the panic park incident...

Bbut I'm sure everything's fine! Charles here says so themselves [Cut to tiny doodle of Charles going "It's okay!" Beside the words]

So, yeah! Keep enjoying your vacation, and take lots of poggers photos of it for me!

-Keith

(BTW- Boss is teaching me today's slang!)

[....the most concerning thing was probably that ending part]

[lightyaoigami]

absolutely poggers that my dad died 11 years ago today!! feel free to ignore this i just put it out into the universe because tumblr has been a record of my life since 2009 and. yep. it's crazy that i used to be a real go getter who like did really well in school and stuff and now i don't really have any dreams or goals or anything. but that's okay! i mean like bts said, it's okay not to have a dream. it's just funny how life turns out. anyway i actually like this version of myself better, i just hope my dad wouldn't be like "what the literal fuck" that my biggest accomplishments these days are publishing erotica about two anime boys lmao. sorry dad, i didn't become a big chungus economist like you but i have a fair amount of hits on ao3 which is kind of the same thing so. anyway, i am sad and i miss him very much but i'm actually doing alright on this anniversary for once which is really. not something i've been able to say for many years. so i'm just gonna clap for myself for a second because even though i'm not "getting better" in any meaningful way, i'm like feeling more ok about that, and also i haven't SH'd since like last summer so i'm clapping for myself for that too. anyway my new fic is going up shortly, please look forward to it.

[the-great-donatello]

Today has actually been pretty poggers for me! Lame that yours hasn't been the best. You deserve good things my man

You too.

[smunconservadors]

Backrooms

USSR and US Agree to Use Colombia as Nuclear Testing Ground

7 June 1952 

After the country has been reduced to nuclear rubble overnight, everyone here has nuclear radiation. The sheer amount of skibidi gyatt rizz only in ohio duke dennis did you pray today livvy dunne rizzing up baby gronk sussy imposter pibby glitch in real life sigma alpha omega male grindset andrew tate goon cave freddy fazbear colleen ballinger smurf cat vs strawberry elephant blud dawg shmlawg ishowspeed a whole bunch of turbulence ambatukam bro really thinks he's carti literally hitting the griddy the ocky way kai cenat fanum tax garten of banban no edging in class not the mosquito again bussing axel in harlem whopper whopper whopper whopper 1 2 buckle my shoe goofy ahh aiden ross sin city monday left me broken quirked up white boy busting it down goated with the sauce john pork grimace shake kiki do you love me huggy wuggy nathaniel b lightskin stare biggest bird omar the referee amogus uncanny wholesome reddit chungus keanu reeves pizza tower zesty poggers kumalala savesta quandale dingle glizzy rose toy ankha zone thug shaker morbin time dj khaled sisyphus oceangate shadow wizard money gang ayo the pizza here PLUH nair t-pose ugandan knuckles family guy funny moments compilation with subway surfers gameplay at the bottom nickeh30 ratio uwu delulu opium bird cg5 mewing fortnite battle pass all my fellas gta 6 backrooms gigachad based cringe kino redpilled no nut november pokénut november wojak literally 1984 foot fetish F in the chat i love lean looksmaxxing gassy incredible theodore john kaczynski social credit bing chilling xbox live mrbeast kid named finger better caul saul i am a surgeon one in a krillion hit or miss i guess they never miss huh i like ya cut g ice spice we go gym kevin james josh hutcherson edit coffin of andy and leyley metal pipe falling.

Good job everyone Viva La Colombia frfr!!!!!

[theseusthedreamsmpfictive]

Today has been poggers

[fistfullofmilkcaps]

CHAPTER 5: TINY GIRL WORRIES TOO MUCH

PREVIOUS CHAPTER

      “Hello poggers and pogfans alike! Let’s kick off the Spring 2041 WMCC Japanese Pro Exams hosted by the Menko Association!” Persie’s voice rings out over the sea of the audience as they roar back, “We hope you enjoyed our opening ceremonies! They were really a spectacle this year!”

      “Indeed, Persie,” Rei chimes in, “I feel bad for anyone who missed out!”

      “Me too, Rei!”

      “Now for introductions. I’m Rei Areekun 3-Dan from Odaiba, your professional commentator for today.”

      “And I’m Persie Takano 4-Dan, her co-commentator!”

      “You’ve come all the way from Canada to join us today, haven’t you Persie?”

      “I sure have, Rei. My father is from Japan, so it’s nice to pay a visit to the country.”

      “I’m sure. Without further ado, let’s introduce our first set of competitors into the rings…”

      As the girls announce the match, Chance and Shout have been quietly dying in the wings. Shout twiddles her slammer in her hands, running her thumb along the exposed metal inserts to take in the texture.

      “So…” Chance slips in the dense buzz of atmospheric noise.

      “So…” Shout parrots.

      Mmmzzzzzzzzz. The tube lights are loud today. They’re about the only noise in the cement corridor leading out to the stadium besides shuffling footsteps and the echoes from the stadium.

      Chance swallows. “So it’s the top four that get selected, yeah?”

      They’ve already gone over this information together a million times, but it’s something to fill the nothing. Loud nothing.

      Shout plays along. “Yes. After each competitor does 10 matches, the top four ranking players become registered as pros. They’re first ranked by matches won, and then milk caps captured during games. Ties are settled by more matches at the end, if need be.”

      “Yeah.”

      “Yeah.”

      “Shout?”

      “Uh-huh?”

      “I don’t like this.”

      “I concur.”

      A cheery match queuer clicks up to them in a pair of clackity heels. He looks at his clipboard and then the kids’ name tags.

      “Shout and Chance, I presume?”

      They nod.

      “Oh, wonderful! You guys are match one. Ring A. The ref there will tell you where to stand. Ring A is the first ring you’ll see when walking out of the wings. It’s marked “A” and is outlined in yellow tape. Can’t miss it!”

      They thank the queuer, and he clickity clacks away to the next competitors. The two look at each other for a long time, don't manage to get a word out, and make their way out to the rings. They pause at the threshold of the wings and the crowd’s voice reaches them slightly dampened; the edge of the tide washing in on the beach.

      Chance steps forward in front of Shout, looks over his shoulder with a plastered grin, and with a flick under his nose yells back, “Good luck!”

      He scampers off to the ring. The ends of Shout’s lips curl up. It’s not a smile, but it might as well be one in these trying times. She follows him out into the waves. The audience is packed — it should be. Admission is free or at least “donate what you want.” It's made up of all ages, from baby to geezer. Four pro exams a year means 16 new professional players for Japan each year, and everyone has their bets on who they’re going to be. High-profile amateurs or the apprentices of up-and-coming pros get most of the attention, but there are usually some underdogs that steal the spotlight each tournament.

      The floors are covered up by rolled-out carpet mats marked with different colored tape fused to the surface. In the center of each ring, a standing milk cap table is set up, guarded by a referee. Off to the sides of the mats, there are different platforms and ramps for accessibility to the tables if someone is too short, needs wheelchair access, or any other need that could arise. Chance is already in his taped-out box in ring A, standing straight there is a winch tugging at wires plugged into his scalp and sternum. The ref points at the other box on the opposite side of the table and Shout steps into place.

      Persie blasts over the speakers, “Well folks, looks like everyone is in place or getting there. Matches one through four will happen in rings A through D. If you can’t catch the action from your spot, don’t worry, all matches will be shown via the jumbo telescreens throughout the stadium in full gorey detail!”

      “Gorey?” Rei asks.

      “We can hope!”

      “Okay...? You bet! In ring A we have Shout Klein and Chance Otsuka, both apprenticed to the Meijin Leo Areekun, my brother!” Rei’s smile is audible through the PA system. “I promise not to show bias, however. In ring B we have…”

      Chance runs his thumb over the details in his slammer like he’s trying to memorize it. He’s centering himself. If he can’t use his IMAGE to full capacity, he doesn’t stand to ever beat Shout. Her IMAGE, if not countered and fought at every moment would simply impale him, bursting him like a balloon. After so much training, to lose so easily against his teacher would simply be disrespectful. Furthermore, if he couldn’t win the first round, then would he even stack up closer to Leo?

      “Shout!” Chance breaks through the commentary. All other sound in the stadium melts away for the two kids. “Thank you for everything. I’m going to beat you today. Please do everything in your power to stop me from doing so!”

      Shout curtly nods. 

      “Then say it!” Chance points at her with two fingers gripping his slammer. A deep black cloud erupts from him, punctuating the gesture.

      “Yes. I’ll do that,” Shout says in barely more than a whisper.

      “Good.” Chance replies, pretending to be convinced.

      Persie’s voice manages to slip into their isolated bubble. “Okay! Players, set! Refs, prepare to count down! Ready?! Go!!!”

      The entire venue cheers in unison, “Three, Two, One! Come on and slam!”

      The ref gestures towards Chance to move first. He does so without missing a beat. Black, stormy wisps build at Chance’s feet, pushed back to the boundary of the player box. His legs bend in half, compressing like spring steel and charge with tension. They push against the mat, propelling Chance into the air, slammer first.

      “Seven Weapons!”

      The boy soars higher and higher. At the peak of his arc, he could easily dunk a ball into one of the basketball nets at school. He had once before: when he beat the team captain in one-on-one. He never played the game again. Gravity pulls him down and the muscles in his back fire up. Benkei swings out of the aura of midnight emanating from Chance with a spiked metal club the size of the boy. It comes crashing down with him onto the stack of caps.

      “TestuTestuTestubo! Crash Dunk!”

      As the club makes contact, Chance’s entire body twists to launch his slammer perfectly into the center of the stack's top cap-; right on the circled, white “X” marking the black back of the cardboard disk. The slammer flies off to who-knows-where. Caps rain onto the table and skid to the ground. Out of 20 caps, seven were released and five flipped over to the black circle with a white background on their front. The ref piles the five flipped caps into Chance’s scoring pocket on his side of the table and resets the other two on the stack.

      “Wow, quite a performance from the first moves so far!” Persie is quick to jump in after the initial burst of action, “Otsuka and his fancy jump move won a solid five caps, well over the par of three! Arikawa wins two, flipping four in ring B! Amagai still preparing to shoot in C, and Kisaragi “The Sniper” flipping and scoring three!”

      “Yes! Naoto Kisaragi lives up to their namesake won in the amateur circuit with frightening precision…” Rei continues describing player history she read on some note cards slightly before the match.

      Chance ignores them and picks up his slammer. He shouldn’t have pulled that off. It’s the kind of move you can only do with a clear mind or by being really, really pumped up. It’s the kind of move that could be easily interrupted by an Avatar even being there or just even by a particularly strong Aura. It's the kind of move he shouldn’t have gotten away with it so easily.

      “Shout… what are you planning…?” Chance asked with a dry curiosity, hydrated by concern.

      The ref gestures a hand towards Shout, now the turn player. Shout does a traditional grip on her slammer and readies her arm. She waits until the shot timer ticks down and then tosses it with a grunt. Two released, one flipped. Huh? This wasn’t right. Chance looked over Shout’s face. There’s nothing there. No worries, no frowns, no sign of stress, gloom, or disappointment. Either this was a plan, or that poker face was a dam about to break. The ref gestures to Chance after resetting the field.

      He cocks his head. “Shout? Are you doing good?”

      She nods.

      “You’re lying,” Chance runs his fingers into the star-shaped stuff of his hair and palms his forehead like a weary accountant would, “My favorite video game is a social deduction joint, so you’re not gonna slide one past me like that. Now, again. Are you okay?”

      Shout ducks her head down and barely whimpers, “N-no.”

      Chance whips his head toward the ref. “Can I call time? I get one time out, yeah?”

      The twenty-something volunteer clears his voice. “You get one time out for the entire event. It lasts one minute and does count for the overall match timer. If the game goes to time, your opponent will get two bonus handicap points in addition to their going-second handicap bonus of 3.5. Is this okay?”

      “I’ll take that. Thanks,” Chance says matter of factly. The ref makes some motions towards the scorekeepers, and they tap a few buttons.

      “Looks like Chance Otsuka is taking an early time out! He’s only on his second turn, but he’s using his only timeout for the entire event,” Persie announces, “What do you think about this Rei?”

      “I think it’s an interesting choice. I hope it’s the right one,” Rei barely manages to say without betraying the neutral party stance she’s required to have.

      As soon as the 60-second timer starts, Chance scuttles over to Shout and gets close. “What’s going on? Usually, you’d upstage me by this point in the match.”

      “On the second turn?” Shout shoots back.

      He glares back incredulously.

      “Okay, okay, can’t get one past you,” Shout admits, “It’s just.”  She looks up at the rows of packed seats and her eyes dart back down. “It’s so much. The crowd is just. I’m sorry.”

      The time clicks down on the timer display of the scoreboards in the venue. Chance finds his words. “You don’t have to apologize. I get it. It’s a lot to take in. But wouldn’t your avatar be able to help with this?”

      “I am trying Chance! I am. I am trying but I just– it’s so,” Shout sniffles, “I feel like my mind is scribbles right now. They are all loud, and they are all looking, and…”

      The girl is nearly on the verge of tears. She wobbles on her platform clogs. Chance brings her in for a hug, holds her there for a second to steady her, and then put his hands on her temples, holding her head like a basketball.

        “I’m going to let you borrow Benkei for a bit,” Chance states like it’s not a stupid thing to say.

      “Huh?” Shout grunts because it's a stupid thing to say.

      “Benkei will be your IMAGE. He’ll help you. But you’ll have to try to get your Avatar out so you can do your Atmosphere, okay?”

      “I do not know what you are trying to plan, right now Chance.”

      “You’ll get it soon. We’re out of time starting very soon, so just follow my lead. Focus on my voice and the clover on my jacket, okay?” He points at the green four-leaf clover on the left side of his jacket over his chest.

      “I guess, Chance.”

      A chirp comes from the scorekeeper’s speakers.

      “Looks like Otsuka’s timeout is over. Looks like he chatted with his opponent. Hopefully, he wasn’t arranging the match or else he would find himself in a world of trouble,” Persie jumps in after the timer runs to zero seconds.

      “Chance wouldn’t do that,” Rei says sternly. She realizes what she said and then changes her tone immediately, “I mean at least in my professional opinion! He’s a very fresh new face around here, only having become registered under the Menko Association in February! Surely he wouldn’t risk his career this early!”

      “Well, I’d sure hope, eh?” Persie jokes.  Rei ignores her and focuses on ring A.

      Chance gets situated back into his box and looks at the ref, giving him a thumbs up. He immediately swings back and arm, twisting his back like he did in the air.  With the motion of his arm, a black tendril of aura shoots back and becomes Benkei, holding a two-handed wooden mallet. The two move in tandem, using their whole bodies to swing down the slammer and hammer into the stack with great force.

      “OhOhOtsuchi! Breaking Down The Door!”

      The blow knocks three caps onto the ground, all score-side-up.

      “Otsuka comes back strong!” Persie is about to continue but gets cut off.

      “It looks like that was an on-ground adaptation of his opening move! Without the jump, it loses power but gains accuracy! It’s a compromise that means he’s avoiding the risk of getting psyched out by his opponent or trying to nail that tough technique twice… I hope he knows what he’s doing,” Rei lets the train of excitement that drove the sentence derail and flop at the very end.

      Benkei melts into the shadows of Chance’s Aura. He looks expectantly at Shout. She meekly steps up and lifts up her slammer with a wimpy arm.

      “No, with more gusto Shout. Like you taught me. Fundamentals.”

      “I’m sorry.”

      Chance shakes his head. “Don’t be. Just follow his lead.”

      “Huh?”

      Behind her, Shout’s shadow turns black. A proud shape twists out of it and contorts into the shape of Benkei. He puts a hand on Shout’s shoulder. It’s bigger than her entire shoulder and covers it entirely. Most times, the presence of someone else’s Avatar is extremely off-putting; after all, those are the vibes people use to freak out their opponents and goad them into making a mistake. This was comforting, as if the noise in the stadium started to die down a bit. Everything was just a little bit less.

      “I see now,” Shout smiles shakily. Benkei takes the same pose as her, but brimming with the confidence of a legendary warrior. She puffs out her chest a little bit to mimic him and steadies her arm. Benkei swings his arm forth launching an imaginary slammer from his fingers. Shout follows through with the same fundamental throwing technique.

      “Klein comes back, sending four and scoring two! With going-second handicap, that’s 6.5 points in total! She’s coming back into the game,” Persie says.

      “That’s what we like to see, Shout!” Rei immediately turns it back a notch. “Uh, the audience I mean. Likes to see a comeback.  So let’s go back to Amagi, who’s playing an unorthodox game…”

      The game continues with Chance following up with a standard fundamental shoot. Four released, three flipped, 11 scored total this game. Shout follows up with three released and all of them flipped face up. 9.5 points. As the pile grows smaller, it becomes harder to release more caps and the level of accuracy needed to flip them increases. It’s the whole entire reason there’s a going second handicap. The second player is always hitting at a smaller stack. The half-point helps break ties. For these kinds of conditions, Shout is batting pretty high.

      Chance sees something as Shout picks up her slammer. Feathers. Amber feathers, made of light, float down around her. It’s time to kick it into gear, echoes in Chance's thoughts. With three caps left in the stack, a powerful shot could release all three if he’s lucky, but it won’t capture them all. One cap wins me the game… but I should probably go for more than just a win yeah? Chance toils in his head. More caps gives me a higher rank among others who tie my score, so I should probably get an early lead on that. And I can’t trust Shout won’t have a defense if I do only go for one cap… well!

      “Shout!” Chance points out with his slammer just as he did to start the match, “I’m sorry, but I’m not going to leave you with a single cap! Your fate is…” He steps back and Benkei rises above him. His legs fold, and his non-slammer hand touches the ground in tripod formation with his feet. 

      “…left up to CHANCE!”

      Benkei and Chance take the skies and the leaping warrior lugs his black iron club over his head. The boy does much the same with his smaller, more precise weapon: the slammer.

      “TestuTetsuTetsubo! Crash Dunk! Impact now!”

      Benkei’s club comes into impact with something, but not the stack. The energy of the strike is absorbed into a flat, massive disk made of a swirling darkness so dense light cannot escape it. A shielding galaxy of shadow. There’s an arm holding it, and it’s reaching down. The trunk of a limb leads up and up to the shoulder of a pillar of a woman almost as tall as the stadium itself. She has robes made of flowing marble adorned with gold and gemstones swirling with purple storm clouds. Her skin is made of the same gemstone, and a raging typhoon thrashes inside her body. Two white eyes look down, both made of heavenly light that condemns those who look at them with a hellish glare. Athena, the Brandishing Goddess.

      Chance chuckles like any man trying to make light of his impending death. “Hey! There you are! I’ve been, um, looking for you.”

      The feeling of cold wind swallows up any other noise in the room. The meaning of the response is clear. You shouldn’t have been. Chance gulps.

      “I appreciate your help Chance, but I believe you’ve dug your own grave. Sorry kid.” Shout’s tone of voice is a distinct 180 from her normal demeanor. It’s darker, slightly gravelly, belonging to someone who’s not four feet plus some change without foam platform clogs on. “Enter Atmosphere. Start the show, Rock of Ages!”

      The entire space goes black. A column of light shines down from somewhere far, far, far into the heavens out of sight from mortal eyes. It envelopes Athena like a spotlight. All other stimuli get choked out, all energy absorbed by the darkness and rendered inert. All space outside of the light has been converted to a black hole, or maybe to a heat death — a state of perfect equilibrium. A crackling beam shoots out of Athena’s non-shield-bearing hand, clenched into a fist. A thousand rays converge into a glowing, white-hot spear that would otherwise illuminate the entire room had it not been consumed by nothingness. It hurts to look at it directly. The goddess of wisdom and warfare plunges her spear down.

      “Destron Minerva.”

      The beam of light grows to keep Athena’s entire form in it as the spear shifts forward. It makes contact and the entire pillar of what’s left of the universe ignites in light. The force of the slammer hitting the stack is more than enough to flip all three remaining caps with nothing to retaliate against it. The glow of the impact dies down to reveal all three released, and… and… only two flipped. That’s not right! That can’t be right! There’s no way that Benkei could have defended against that!

      “I bet you’re thinking ‘There’s no way Benkei could have defended against that!’ Well, you’d be right!” Chance says to a shocked Shout, “But that’d only be the case if he were captured by the darkness of Rock of Ages!”

      “Chance, how did you—”

      “Escape the effect of your Atmosphere?” Chance finishes her line. “Good question! Benkei has some vague domain over shadows, yes? That’s how he materializes from me… but you also let your shadow be used as a spawn point. Even though you managed to get your groove back—”

      “I still was leaning on Benkei for comfort… he could still use my shadow!” Shout interrupts this time. But even then, Destron Minerva shouldn’t be stopped by…”

      She looks behind her and Benkei struggles to hold something up to the spear: some kind of forked polearm with some of its tines destroyed.

      “...a rake?” Shout sounds genuinely frazzled.

      “Bear Claw D,” Chance tisks, “Is a Sevens Weapons tool that shouldn’t be underestimated.” He over-articulates certain words in English with the slight echo that comes with an IMAGE battlecry. “I wasn’t ever going to stop Destron Minerva, but I could at least lower its precision by jerking it out of place. Meaning…” Chance looks as the judge points towards him after resetting the field. I can do this!”

      Just as Shout drilled him at the very beginning of his training, Chance nonchalantly walks up to the table and flips the one remaining cap with his slammer. The ref shoots a flurry of hand signs at the scorekeepers.

      Persie spots the board. “A third game wraps up in Ring A! Newcomer Chance Otsuka wins with 12 points to Shout Klein’s 11.5 points! A very close game!”

      “I’m glad Shout got back on tempo with that game,” Rei sounds relieved, “Had she started that game at full steam, it might have gone much differently.”

      “Indeed, Rei. Hopefully, she keeps that momentum into her next matches.”

      Shout runs over to Chance and grabs his hands. “Chance! Did you see that! I almost beat your lead! With an entire audience!”

      “Hey! Don’t pretend I didn’t do anything…” Chance feigns annoyance back, but he can’t hide he’s as happy about his near-loss as Shout.

      Shout pulls Chance in for an awkward middle-schooler hug. “Thank you, Chance.”

      “No problem,” Chance blushes. This is the first time in a while he’s been thanked for doing… er… anything meaningful, really. He’s not exactly known for his good works, much less used to getting credit for them. After clearing his throat, he says, “Now, please, ignore the crowd until you get out here and just open with Athena or Rock of Ages. Just lock that in as the only thing on your mind, okay?”

      Shout exits the hugs and salutes him. “Roger that, sir!”

      “You did a good job, teach.”

      “Yes, I did.”

      The ref tells them where to exit the stadium floor, and the pair leaves together.

NEXT CHAPTER

[daily-life-of-crow]

December 19th, 2022

Today was a little shitty. So I got to school and felt a little shitty. As the day went on ny throat started to really hurt so I just went home. My grandma Ohio picked me up and we ran a few errands. I got some instant mac and cheese to eat for my lunch. I almost passed out on the couch. My mother then came home and made us dinner. The only thing that has helped so far is eating ice cream so rip. Oh yeah also threw up last night. Not poggers. This has been all and I don't think I am going to school tomorrow because this shit sucks. Anyways night.

Songs on Loop:

Bartender Song (Sittin' At A Bar) - Alt/Rock Mix by Rehab

Fell asleep to Advice by TAEMIN

New Information:

Mars appears red to the human eye due to the iron oxide particles that suspend its atmosphere.

Goal Progress:

None