#would anyone be interested in seeing more of my pla collection :)

[warden-melli]

Look at how pretty these are 🥹🥹🥹

I need to decide which cards to put in them

[maxwell-grant]

Jumping off from my previous question/suggestion, might I please ask if there are any superheroes you think would make fine Pulp Villains and any Supervillains you think would make convincing Pulp Heroes?

I'm gonna go ahead and remark that I'd personally suggest to anyone who's trying to create pulp characters inspired by superheroes (which would be probably about 90% of you who may want to do that sort of thing) to flip the script around a little. As in, don't try to create pulp analogues to the Justice League/Avengers upfront, but play around with some of the lesser-known icons and filter those through your idea of what “pulp” means (which is gonna be quite different than my own or anyone else’s). 

I’m not gonna really mention characters I’ve already talked about before like Vandal Savage or Namor, instead I’ll pick new ones and see what can be highlighted about them.

Regarding “Superheroes who could make fine/convincing Pulp Villains”, even though he’s a character I've read basically nothing on, Martian Manhunter definitely leaped out to me as an obvious option. He’s a Sci-Fi Superman who takes the first half of the name to an extreme that borders on comical, except he’s not a square-jawed white man, he’s a 1.000 year old green alien from Mars with shapeshifting powers who can look as monstrous as the artist desires. He’s the product of an advanced civilization and genetic modification, and on top of the Flying Brick powerset and shapeshifting, he also has incredibly powerful and extensive telepathic abilities, he can become invisible, phaze through matter, use telekinesis and other weird abilities. A lot of pulp stories closer to sci-fi were based around the idea of taking one of these abilities and extrapolating horrific consequences for them, and J’onn has those by the dozens. He also has an extremely mundane weakness that would allow him to be beaten by Macready with a blowtorch if that’s where the story ended.

He was also a law enforcement officer from Mars who became a police detective and it’s even right there in his name, and again, I have never read anything he’s in (I should probably pick the Orlando mini), I know he’s for all intents and purposes a generally nice man who tends to job a lot in crossovers and cartoons, but the idea of taking all those great vast and horrifying alien powers, combining all of them into a single character who also happens to be the last survivor of a doomed planet (and one who actually lived through it’s collapse), and then making that character a former cop trying to resume his work on Earth? 

That is a Pulp Supervillain begging to happen, and a particularly horrifying one at that. And hey, speaking of The Thing-

Now, Plastic Man’s potential for horror has already been explored quite a bit in some of the darker DC continuities like Injustice and DCeased, and it’s quite funny seeing a lot of these turn Plastic Man into The Thing because there were quite a handful of Wold Newton pages that ran with the idea that Macready from the original story was Doc Savage, and that the secret chemicals that Eel O’Brian was hit by that gave him his powers were actually samples of The Thing contained in one of Savage’s labs. Regardless, the idea of a former street crook suddenly gaining bizarre shapeshifting abilities that allow him to reign terror on his gangster associates could make for a great premise as a pulp crime story that veers into horror as the gangsters gradually figure out what is Eel O’Brian’s deal, and then the story can take a more tragic turn.

The thing about Jack Cole’s Plastic Man that modern takes on the character neglect is that, while Plas was a lively roguish anti-hero (arguably the first of it’s kind in comics), he’s still for intents and purposes “the straight man” (HA, right, Plastic Man being “straight”). He’s the relatively sane hero who plays off Woozy’s wackier misadventures and the imaginative madness that Jack Cole paints his adventures with, and it makes for an interesting contrast considering Plastic Man is already a weird character, having to ramp up the strangeness of the world around him so that he still remains the sane man. There are ways to twist this into something quite horrifying, even tragic for Plastic Man as he either struggles to maintain coherency, or embraces the shifting chaos the world’s spiraling into for better or worse (and definitely for the worse towards those on the receiving end of his vengeance, or even his humor).

Now, onto the flipside, regarding Supervillains that could become Pulp Heroes -

Normally I’d not mention the Batman villains here, because I already have a lot to talk about in regards to them as is, they comprise some of my favorite comic characters, but I pretty much have to make an exception for Two-Face in this topic, as not only a pretty obvious option but one with even case studies to prove it, as not only do we have The Black Bat, a 1930s costumed pulp hero with an identical origin story and several other conceptual overlaps with Batman, as well as The Whisperer, a young hotshot police commissioner who dresses up as a disfigured vigilante to kill criminals without consequence (and who’s somehow less of a maniacal asshole in his secret identity than in his regular one), but it turns out that there actually was a 1910s pulp hero called The Two-Faced Man:

Crewe was created by “Varick Vanardy,” the pseudonym of Frederic van Rensselaer Dey (Nick Carter, Doctor Quartz), and appeared in three short stories and two novels and short story collections from 1914 to 1919, beginning with “That Man Crew” (The Cavalier, Jan. 24, 1914). 

Crewe is “The Two-Faced Man.” 

He is in his forties and has gray hair and a “sharply cut and handsome profile—until one caught a view of the other side of his face and saw the almost hideous blemish that nearly covered it, and which graduated in corrugated irregularity from a delicate pink to repulsive purple.” 

Crewe is two-faced in another way. Crewe is a saloon owner in below Washington Square. But he has another identity: Birge Moreau, portraitist and socialite hanger-on. Crewe uses both his identities to solve crimes as an amateur detective.

The only person to know about both of Crewe’s identities is a police inspector who is also Crewe’s friend and who Crewe helps in pressing cases - The Encyclopedia of Pulp Heores by Jess Nevins

And speaking of obvious picks for Supervillains turned Pulp Heroes,

Assuming I even need to make a case for Kraven the Hunter other than just presenting this cropped panel from Squirrel Girl and in particular the art painted on the Kra-Van, or even just telling you to read Squirrel Girl and it’s take on “The Unhuntable Sergei” (I had no idea most of the people saying “Kraven’s arc in Squirrel Girl is as good if not better than Kraven’s Last Hunt” weren’t actually joking in the slightest and I speak as someone who has Kraven among their absolute favorite Marvel characters, it had no right being that good), I’m going to quote the brilliant Rogue’s Review from The Mindless Ones that lays down in painstaking detail why Kraven could make a killer protagonist in that horrifically over-the-top pulp fashion

One thing that strikes me writing this, is how well Kraven could hold his own comic. There’s always room for a book spotlighting a ruthless, hardcore, gentleman bastard, and Kraven’s raison d’etre makes him supremely versatile, so well suited to any genre, any environment. It’s odd that more writers haven’t jumped on the fact that in a universe where off-world travel is possible – indeed, common – a hunter like Kraven would have a field day. 

I can just imagine the opening scene – herds of weird cthuloid bat creatures grazing in the gloomy green nitrogen fields, bathed in lethal, bone splintering fog, when, suddenly, LIGHT! from above and an unholy bellowing: “CTHGRGN fthgrgnARAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHGN!”

They look up in fear and then they start to run – ploughing into and over each other, tentacles flailing, as from the space-ship’s docking bay Kraven silently plummets, barely dressed for the cold, a glowing knife smothered in elder signs jammed between his teeth. 

You should have seen him one night previous, sipping alien tokay around the Captain’s table with the other guests, discussing the morning’s hunt; and the way he insulted the Skrull dignitary by forgetting himself and accidentally sporting his favourite piece of formal wear: his boiling unstable dinner-jacket of many colours, fashioned from the hide of one of the Ambassador’s super kinsmen.

Whoops!

Midway through Kraven explaining how the best way to irreparably damage a symbiote is to wait until its bonded with you and then seriously maim yourself, the Skrull decided it might be a good idea to simmer down, while his beautiful Inhuman lover hung on every word.

The deeper I get into this the more convinced I am that the MU’s hunter-killer extraordinaire wouldn’t limit himself to bloody planet Earth. And neither would he limit himself to this dimension, or universe or timeline. The guy’d be just as at home leaping, sword raised, onto the back of a T-Rex in the Savage Land, as he would be ploughing through werewolves in the graveyards of Arkham or tracking a howling Demon across Mephistopheles’ realm. 

He’d work perfectly in all these environments because he has a damn good reason to be casting a bloody swathe through them: wherever there’s big game, you’ll find Kraven.

The next choice I guess is an oddball, but not that much of an oddball if you know already what is my main frame of reference towards Marvel

I don’t think people appreciate enough that the main reason Shuma-Gorath has anything resembling a fanbase has nothing whatsoever to do with the comics he was in, but entirely because, when Capcom designers had a list of Marvel characters to pick from to work on Marvel Super Heroes, they took a look at the diet Cthulhu and went “gimme THAT one”, and then went all-in in giving the alien squid monster a funky personality along with a great stage and music and animations and all that great fighting game character stuff, and now he’s maybe the most popular Dr Strange villain along with Dormammu and Mordo, despite having ZERO film appearences or major showings in comic sagas.

Capcom's designers redefined Shuma-Gorath from a nebulous cosmic evil into a comically smug cartoon bastard who can rant about devouring all dimensions and souls horrifically while also cracking poses and zingers like “How do you expect to win a fight with only two arms?” and having dinners with Dhalsim or hosting Japanese game shows in his endings, and it kills me that none of this ever made it’s way into any depictions of the character outside of MvC. 

So that’s kinda what I’d go with. I’d take Capcom’s Shuma-Gorath, depower him a bit obviously from his canonical power, and run with the premise of his MvC3 ending where he decides that, well, if he's the unlikely savior of this pathetic planet and these wretched human dogs like him so much, and he’s clearly having a much better time here among them than he ever had drifting among the stars cealessly consuming life, then maybe he can take a break from all that eldritch business and keep up hosting the Super Monster Awesome Hour and maybe fight whatever PITIFUL villains think can take HIS planet. I mean, he’ll probably still end up destroying the planet by the end, but why not give this hero business a try?

Just until he gets his full powers back of course. 

I mean you can’t deny he DOES look pretty good in that bowtie, surely The Great Shuma-Gorath wouldn’t be so unmerciful as to deny these vile wastes of flesh something good to look at in their brief and miserable lives.

[barbiegirldream]

if you actually want a discussion really quick— i’m seeing a lot of frankly inflammatory accusations that people who don’t enjoy the canonization of that theory just want c!tommy to “look cool” and are salty whinebabies about how their fave didn’t win or whatever. i actually really enjoy most of your discussions around c!dream and read thru and agree with a lot of them, but this type of aggression is really prevalent in dteamblr and it makes people not want to talk to y’all. most of the criticism on my dash that i’ve seen is how the theory doesn’t really hold up from a narrative point of view instead of a character one—c!punz being loyal to c!dream is imo pretty interesting and there would be a reason why c!dream would want to make people convinced he’s changed. but from my understanding is that after exile and doomsday and nov 16th, dream and the “antagonist” group or w/e just kept getting what they wanted, which creates less intrigue around these characters. with c!dream constantly 20 steps ahead and everything falling into his plans all the time, he’s less compelling, and his relationship with the server is less compelling. (from what i’ve seen people say) it feels less like a chess match where there’s a possibility dream might not win. the themes of tommy’s arc is arguably about how it’s ok to be attached to material things and love things, and that you shouldn’t be blamed for people using those attachments against you. dream genuinely getting thwarted by punz and the rest of the server—a consequence for cutting off all of His attachments and pushing away that love—ties in perfectly to those themes and i think a lot of people are pretty disappointed about losing those things. so it’s not about c!tommy not being a special uwu baby and it’s more nuanced than that imo, and i think it’s kind of disingenuous and rude to imply that’s all people are complaining about. cheers tho.

I mean meeting rude with rude is childish true but people spent so long getting attacked for no reason over a pretty well supported theory I see where the aggression comes from. And Dteamblr Ooh boy there is a reason for our aggression and it’s mainly wanting to be left alone by people who spread lies about cc!Dream lol. And tbh the people I’ve seen complain about the stages disc confrontation are upset because of c!Tommy

Now to say you get bored of the bad guys winning I mean is perfectly fair. I think it’s the most interesting way to run a story. Because the strongest players are playing the bad guys meaning it’s hard to stop them. Almost impossible in most cases. So impossible it would only make sense the strongest of the strong pretended to fail right?

But again if you’re a c!Tommy fan it’s probably annoying to see him lose all the time but it’s such a realistic story in a way.

There is so big motivational speech that makes him stronger than anyone else. Nothing he can do to stop the people around him from taking from him. He’s not going to get some super power up inner wisdom and be able to beat Dream in a pvp fight. C!Sapnap even if he could out fight c!Dream in a fight he can’t out smart him.

C!Ranboo collected wealth and c!Tubbo weapons. C!Quackity tried to force and pressure c!Purpled because he knew he needed raw fighting strength on his side.

Like this is a story of might makes right very similar to well the real world. The bigger and stronger you are the harder you fall but the harder you are to topple.

C!Tommy can’t beat next to anyone in a fight. And if he trips and falls someone like c!George will be there to steal his things and laugh in his face and he’ll need someone’s help to get his things back.

Your attachements are a weakness to be exploited c!Dream showed that immediately after leaving prison by finding out what people were attached to. Like the point of the story is c!Tommy is not ever going to be the biggest or the strongest. His discs didn’t mean victory it meant something for c!Dream to hold over him. L’Manberg was a place he could blow to bedrock and watch people scramble like rats for fun.

I think what so many people struggle with about the DSMP is it’s a place where the little guy doesn’t win. Where the underdog if they get anywhere can so easily have a boot placed back on their neck. And maybe that’s where so much discourse comes from. Because your protagonist wins but in the DSMP that doesn’t happen because there isn’t actually a protagonist. Everyone in the main character of their own story.

The DSMP is a hard world to live in. A cruel one where you need to be strong or have strong friends.

[jumukus]

A3! Event: Trump the Phantom Thief Episode 8 Translation

Play time! A heads up on the characters' names:

Muku: King Yuki: Q Kazunari: Ace Juza: Jack Banri: Fox Sakyo: Club

Saionji: Muku-kun, how are you doing? Are you getting seasick?

Muku: I'm doing alright, thank you. Oh, and the room is so beautiful.

Saionji: I am glad it is to your liking. We purposely built the suite rooms in a place where you can't feel the ship's motion.

I am planning to take every possible measure for the theater venue as well, though do not hesitate to let me know if you are unsatisfied with anything.

Muku: I will. Thank you.

Kazunari: Dude, not only the suite rooms are superbs, but to think we also get a whole staff to ourselves…! We can even get the beverages here as many times we like!

Yuki: True. The service is just so good it surprised me.

Sakyo: Don't get too engrossed in these service or you'll be havin' a hard time once we return to Mankai Company.

Izumi: You have a point…

Banri: I don't wanna go back.

Juza: ...I'm thirsty.

Muku: Wanna get some beverages in our rooms?

Juza: No, it's fine. Our rooms are far from here.

Azami: There's a lot of vending machines there. I think they have your favorite strawberry milk.

Juza: I'll go get it.

Muku: …

Izumi: (Today is finally our opening show. I knew it. They all seem pretty nervous because we're going to perform in a different venue.)

Juza: …

Izumi: (Juza-kun looks stiff.)

Kazunari: OK, guys! We've gotta form a circle in times like this!

Banri: Be more specific. What d'you mean by "in times like this"?

Yuki: Bet you already thought of what kind of circle you wanna do.

Kazunari: Righty right! Since our play is about phantom thieves, we all should strike a phantom thief pose!

Sakyo: The heck is that?

Kazunari: No complaining! Just follow me!

Yuki: Fine. Fine.

Juza: ...Muku, do the chant.

Muku: First things first, I'm sorry for causing you guys troubles when I was at a loss of what to do.

I don't want to give up on all the things I want to do. I've decided to do everything I can in all of them.

I'll run through until the end. Follow me, guys!

Juza: Yeah!

Kazunari: Okie!

Banri: Yea.

Q: "It's as musty as always."

Ace: "Clean it up."

Q: "How about you do it?"

Ace: "No way. Geez. This place used to be clean, wonder what happened to it."

Q: "That's because we had a clean-freak before."

Ace: "Okay. Leader, you do the cleaning."

King: "I think it's pretty clean, though."

Q: "Seriously?"

Ace: "Should've known a messy room owner like Leader would say something like that."

Q: "Anyway. Since this is the first time we gathered here after a year, that means you've already set our next target, right? Let's cut to the chase already."

King: "Our next target will be "Mermaid's Tears", a 12-carat diamond."

"It's going to be sold during an auction held at the Royal Star cruise. It's one of the event's highlights and expected to sell for 6 billion."

Ace: "Woo-hoo."

Q: "Heh. Interesting."

King: "Royal Star is currently hiring staff. Q."

Q: "Got it. That means I have to sneak in as one of their staff members, right?"

King: "Ace, get close to the ship's captain and collect information."

Ace: "Roger."

Izumi: (I expect no less from Summer Troupe. They have great teamwork. I can totally feel it.)

(Not to mention Muku-kun's King is able to unite them as a leader.)

Q: "I'm in charge of the rooms in Block A… Laundry and… Ugh. What a hassle."

"This isn't my job in the first place, after all. If that person were here--."

Crew Member: "Are you new here? You seem lost."

Q: "Yes. I don't think I can get out of this place if I lose the map."

Crew Member: "You can ask anyone if there's anything you don't understand."

Q: "Thank you."

"?"

Crew Member: "What's wrong?"

Q: "I think I saw someone over there--."

Crew Member: "But there's only a garbage can over there. Is it a ghost or something?"

Q: "Hey. Stop. I don't like it."

"Hm? A letter?"

"Could this be--I have to report to King."

King: "I'll take the Mermaid's Tears--Jack."

Ace: "Can't believe he's aiming for the same thing."

Q: "Him and King sure are compatible in a strange way."

Ace: "Even though their personalities are the exact opposite of each other."

Q: "What are we going to do now?"

Ace: "Guess we're gonna have a change of pla--."

King: "We'll continue the operation."

Q: "Come again!?"

Ace: "So you mean we're gonna compete with Jack?"

King: "I will not send out this notice. Let's call it a direct confrontation between Trump and Jack."

Q: "Whaaaat!?"

Jack: "Weird. The cops aren't on the move."

"Hm? Where's my noti--."

"It's been a while. How about a reunion? At The Mermaid's Tears' chamber. Trump."

"King, huh… It's just so like him to do something like this. Fine. Let's have a showdown."

Fox: "Here. I got what you wanted, the Royal Star's blueprint."

King: "It is indeed the blueprint."

Fox: "I got you some addition as well. This one is a lil bit pricey."

King: "Figured as much."

Fox: "What are you going to do with this information, though?"

King: "It's prohibited to poke your nose into your client's private life."

Fox: "Oops. My bad. I was curious since you rarely asked for something like this. Oh, yeah. Your master said he wanted to see you."

King: "Club? I wonder why. I'll try contacting him."

Club: "I'm comin' in."

Fox: "Speak of the devil."

King: "Long time no see."

Club: "Perfect timing. Are you free now?"

***

Club: "I'm goin' to retire soon. Take whatever you need."

King: "Retire? Are you serious?"

Club: "My body is startin' to fall apart. It's an age thing. Tell this to Ja--Oh, right. I heard you two broke up."

King: "You made it sound like we're dating. Please don't do that. He just decided to quit my group on his own."

Club: "Y'all never change. Here I thought you'd keep workin' together. That's what you call youth, I guess."

King: "To be honest with you, I'd also never thought he would betray me."

Club: "Looking at that guy, I think he's in his rebellious phase rather than betrayal."

King: "Rebellious phase?"

Club: "He's got some strong sense of rivalry, y'know? Add that with the fact that he's never won against you."

"He must be jealous of you. You're a genius, while he can only do things in a crude way."

King: "Really? I like his way of doing things, though."

Club: "That's exactly why you're hated. Oh, well. You better make up before I die."

King: "Please tell that to him too. You're going to meet him after this anyway, right?"

Club: "You're right. Guess I'm also gonna tell him directly. Both of you are my most excellent apprentices, after all."

King: "Please take this as my present for your retirement. This one is 40 years old."

Club: "You sure are well prepared."

King: "I was actually planning to use it for the celebration party, though."

"--Oh, right. If you're going to retire, please give me that. You know, the 'Venus Ring'."

Club: "I refuse."

***

Fox: "Welcome. Man, I guess we've got a lot of 'speak of the devil' moment today."

Jack: "What are you saying?"

Fox: "Nope. Forget it. Anyway, this is your requested uniform and safe."

Jack: "Thanks."

Fox: "Oh, yea. Your master said he wanted to see you. Why don't you give him a call?"

***

Jack: "Long time no see."

Club: "Hey. Is it just me or did you lose some weight?"

Jack: "What do you want to talk about?"

Club: "I'm gonna retire soon. Take whatever you need."

Jack: "Whatever you need, huh. By the way, the 'Venus Ring'..."

Club: "Y'all really have the same taste. I ain't gonna give it out. I sent it to the right place."

Jack: "By y'all… Do you mean King?"

Club: "You should just go back and regroup with him."

Jack: "I'll never go back until I win against him."

Club: "What a pig-headed kid. So? You see any chance to accomplish that?"

Jack: "I have a feeling we're finally going to settle this soon."

Club: "Heh. You seem confident."

Jack: "Because I've made arrangements ahead of time."

Club: "That's so you. You still look as gloomy as ever, though. Why don't you go soaking up the sun in some warm places in the south once in a while?"

Jack: "No--But you have a point. Maybe I'll do that once this is over."

Club: "Do that. And make up with King."

Jack: "...It depends on him."

Guard A: "Wait there."

Guard B: "This place is restricted to authorized personnel."

***

Q: "'Mermaid's Tears' has been carried away."

King: "Got it. Looks like they put it at the expected place."

Q: "How about the security? Can you unlock it?"

King: "I've already made preparation for that. We just need to see how things will turn out."

Ace: "Hey, wait a sec. Please, King."

King: "Find out the schedule for the guards' lookout."

Q: "Ugh. What a pain. Why do I have to do this…"

***

Q: "The guard will change at 1 P.M. The key will only be handed over when a substitute comes."

King: "So we need that key and the password that the captain has to unlock the door."

Q: "Ace, gain some time for us."

Ace: "Roger. Leave it to me."

Q: "Don't screw up."

***

Ace: "Hey, good work."

Guard A: "You're here sooner than I thought."

Ace: "Boss said my shift would start 30 minutes earlier since I'm always late, you see. Today I got here on time, though."

"Oh. Don't tell me you're gonna get scolded if you end your shift early? Wanna have some chat for thirty minutes then? Man, being a guard sure is easy."

"I actually want to increase my shift more, you know. But I don't reall--."

Guard A: "No, it's fine. I'll end my shift now. Bye."

Ace: "Oh. Okay, then. Bye."

***

Ace: "Mission complete. It's your turn now, King."

King: "Let's see, now. This is unexpectedy such a hassle~."

Ace: "I'm glad you seem to be having fun but please hurry up."

***

Q: "It's almost been thirty minutes."

King: "Just a little bit more…"

Q: "The guard is coming."

King: "I'm counting on you, Ace."

***

Ace: "Hey.."

Guard B: "Hm?"

Ace: "Ouch ouch ouch…"

Guard B: "What's wrong?"

Ace: "Oh, are you the substitute? Thank God. I'm starting to panic since my stomach is killing me. Good bye!"

Guard B: "Hey, wait, the key--."

Ace: "Key? Oh, right. I've gotta hand it ove--ouch ouch ouch."

Guard B: "Hey, you okay?"

Ace: "Wait a minute. Just until I calm down. Ouch ouch ouch…"

Guard B: "F-For now, just go to the toilet first."

Ace: "Don't think that's possible. I feel like it's gonna come out once I move."

Guard B: "Whaaat!?"

Ace: "Do you have some medicine or anything?"

Guard B: "No, sorry…"

Ace: "Can you bring me one from the infirmary? I'm on the edge here."

Guard B: "O-Okay! Wait a little bit!"

Ace: "King, you better open it now."

***

King: "...Weird. We may not make it."

Ace: "Come again!?"

King: "Oh, I got it. This one."

"...Nice. It opens!"

"Q, carry it out. Let's retreat."

Q: "Got it."

***

Guard B: "Hey, I have the medicine!"

Ace: "Very thanks, man. Here, your key! I'll leave the rest to you."

Guard B: "Yeah. Hope you recover soon."

King: "...This is weird. Jack didn't come in the end."

Q: "Maybe he realized it's impossible to go against phantom thieves."

King: "No. That guy…"

Police: "Freeze! We're police!"

King: "--."

Q: "!?"

Ace: "Since when!?"

King: "We're being set up. Q, throw the 'Mermaid's Tears' to the sea."

Q: "Huh!? Do you hear yourself now!?"

King: "Do it now. We'll escape the moment the police look away."

Ace: "You're lying, right!?"

King: "Quick."

Q: "You're the one who told me to do it, alright!"

Police: "H-Hey! The jewel! Pick it up, quick!"

King: "Let's go!"

Police: "Wait!"

Q: "What do we do now!? All of our hardship went to waste!"

Ace: "Our 6 billion…"

King: "That was a fake jewel Jack had prepared."

Q: "What?"

King: "Jack had stolen 'Mermaid's Tears' in advance and replaced it with a fake one."

"He was the one who snitched on us."

***

Narration: "The day before…"

Guard A: "Hey, what's wrong?"

Jack: "No, it's just… the engine…"

Guard A: "Hold on, hold on. If there's any trouble, you better do something about it or else it'll get worse later on. If we're liable for the damages…"

Jack: "There's smoke coming out!"

Guard A: "Say what!?"

Jack: "Stay away from the car!"

Guard B: "Whoa!"

Guard A: "C-Call the fire station! Wait, we gotta get the safe first!"

Guard B: "Hey, is it okay?"

Jack: "Yeah. The smoke disappeared. I found no issues with the machine too."

Guard A: "That means the safe is alright, yeah? God. Give me a break. We almost carry it away ahead of time."

***

Q: "So that's why Jack didn't show up…"

Ace: "He really got us! I already thought it was weird for the police to appear at times like that!"

Q: "Ugh. Even if the police didn't appear, Jack still won since he already got the 'Mermaid's Tears' before us."

King: "I wonder about that."

***

King: "He hasn't made any changes in his base. Well, isn't he a little careless…"

"Even his security system is so weak."

"Hm? A card?"

"'Out of respect of Master's retirement, I will hand over the victory.'"

"Don't be satisfied with second place. You could have taken measures if you know there's a chance it'll get stolen. Oh, well. I'll accept your kind offer…"

***

Jack: "..."

"He really came…"

King: "Hey."

Jack: "--ugh. Why are you still here, King?"

King: "It's been a long time, I want to renew our friendship. I even brought alcohol with me."

Jack: "This is why you're hated."

King: "But you don't hate me, do you?"

Jack: "How did you find out?"

King: "I got some information about you from Fox. It helped me understand your strategy to some extent."

Jack: "In that case, why did you fall into the trap?"

King: "Because, otherwise, you won't move forward as planned. I'll be troubled if you're on your guard."

"I could narrow down your base thanks to the location device I planned on the alcohol I gave to Club. The rest is my intuition."

Jack: "I can never bring myself to like you in the end."

King: "Now, now. Let's have a toast for the 'Mermaid's Tears'. Q and Ace are waiting."

Izumi: (This is the only scene where Jack and King talk face to face. Even so, you can tell how close they are just by watching this scene alone.)

(Maybe because they are cousins, they can create a unique relationship between rivals who understand each other the most.)

***

Muku: Thank you so much!

Juza: Thank you.

Sakyo: Thank you.

Yuki: Thank you.

Kazunari: Thankies thankies~!

Banri: Thank you.

***

Sakyo: The audience's reaction on our first show is great.

Juza: King was so cool.

Muku: Jack was even cooler! The fact that he's active behind the scenes is just so Juchan!

Juza: I can also feel the gap between King, a sharp person with a gentle look, and you, Muku.

Muku: I-Is that so? Ehehe. But your Jack…

Azami: They're going to be like that forever at this rate.

Yuki: When are you going to stop?

Banri: But well, it was good overall. Right?

Kazunari: Totally! Their chemistry was just perfect on the stage, even the audience was pleased!

Izumi: Let's keep this energy until the closing show!

Muku: Yes!

< Episode 7 | Masterlist | Episode 9 >

[adasttrawrites]

A Year in the Countryside

Chapter 1: Alone At Last

Full story on ao3.

Hermione Granger has had enough of Rita Skeeter and the rest of Wizarding London watching her every move. The Wizarding world's sweetheart packs up her things and relocates to a tiny town in the Cotswolds in order to escape prying eyes. She's ready to embrace a year living a quiet life of reading her favourite books, making friends with her neighbours, and most importantly, not running into anyone she knows.

She is only two days into her new, quiet, very normal life when she finds herself face to face with the very last person she ever thought she'd see at a farmer's market: Draco Malfoy.

Chaos, calamity and general hilarity ensue!

“Here’s the key, dear. Now, remember that you have to turn the lock twice to deadbolt the door. Make sure you do. It’s a safe town but you’re a young girl. Better to be safe.”

Hermione accepted the key to her new apartment, smiling at the landlady. She was going to perform several security spells as soon as she was alone but thought that assuaging the old lady’s concerns was a small price to pay for such a beautiful home.

“Thank you, Mrs Llewellyn, I'll be very careful.”

“I’ve left a lemon cake on the kitchen bench for you, dear, and there’s bread, a pint of milk and some eggs in the fridge. I didn’t know if you would have the energy to go shopping this evening, so I thought it would be best to keep some things for you.”

“Oh, you really didn’t have to, ma’am, I wo—,”

“Nonsense. It’s my pleasure. I’ve got to go now, my husband’s waiting for me at the town hall for bingo.”

“Thank you for everything. I really appreciate it.” Hermione walked Mrs Llewellyn to the door and waved as she went down the stairs. Shutting the door and dead-bolting the lock, she turned and sighed with relief. Even though she hadn’t yet removed her furniture from her purse, the small apartment was hers. Her home. A one-bedroom home, with a living and kitchen area, and best of all, a window seat looking out over the road.

Hermione got to work setting up the furniture she needed. Up until recently, the apartment had been a storage space for the bakery downstairs. When the baker’s wife, Mrs Llewellyn, had finally thrown out all of their unnecessary junk, she cleaned up the rooms nicely and advertised it on the local bulletin board a week prior. Hermione, who had been hopping around the little towns in the area, had snatched up the offer and eagerly contacted the Llewellyns to let them know she was a responsible adult who didn’t smoke.

At the time, Hermione didn’t know why she was so keen on renting an apartment in a village in the Cotswolds, but now, she breathed a sigh of relief. Churchbury was a sleepy town, with beautiful flowers and its namesake church sitting in the middle of the town centre. Everyone knew everyone and no-one was magical, as far as she could tell. At the end of the day, she wasn’t in Wizarding London, thankfully. In the months following the war, she had been swamped by adoring fans and crazed reporters, trying to get the scoop on her life. It turned out that, while Ron and Harry were also fair game, no-one really cared about what her two best friends were wearing, or what restaurants they went to. It was “Hermione Granger this” and “Hermione Granger that” and it was maddening. She had had enough by the time winter had rolled by and spring offered her the chance to travel the world. She told Rita Skeeter, in an effort to satisfy her, that her travels would be to get to know different cultures more intimately. However, she had lied. As soon as Skeeter had published an extremely exaggerated article stating that Hermione would spend the next six months with her secret Veela fiancé in Paris, Hermione Apparated to the English countryside to clear her head. No-one would know her there, and when she saw the advertisement for the apartment while walking past the town hall, she knew this would be a good hideout.

Hermione’s parents, now back in London and with fully restored memories, were happy that their daughter was going somewhere they deemed safe, especially after fighting in a bloody war. Her father had insisted that he teach his daughter some basic tips, like using a screwdriver and how to kill spiders. She didn’t have the heart to explain that her wand served as her tool for all such tasks, and let him spend an afternoon showing her how to hammer a nail and find the stud in a wall. Her mother was excited to visit and Hermione promised they could come and stay when she was settled. Harry and Ron had both expressed their confusion at her wanting to leave London for an extended time, but after she had assured them of her safety and gotten Ministry permission to have a Floo connection in her new home, they seemed okay with the idea.

“Promise us that you’ll visit for dinner often.” Harry said as he hugged her goodbye. He gave her a framed photograph of him, her and Ron smiling at the camera. It was the only Muggle photograph they had ever taken together. Ron handed her a large cake, most definitely from his mother, and kissed her on the cheek.

“I’ll miss you, Hermione, but at least it’s only a year. Don’t forget to owl whenever you can.” Thankfully he hadn’t tried to kiss her on the mouth. She had gently told him that she wasn’t interested in being more than friends after the war, and he had begrudgingly accepted that it was for the best.

Ginny had been the most excited about Hermione’s decision. She thought it would be a good way for Hermione to meet men. Tourists, she had reasoned, would pass through the area frequently. Male tourists, Ginny had said, winking.

“Be safe! Come back home whenever you’d like. We’ll be here, waiting for you.” She pushed a little figurine into Hermione’s hands. It was a wooden carving of two little girls, standing hand in hand.

“What is it for?” Hermione had asked.

“If you shake it, the matching one on my bedside table will light up and I’ll come straight through the Floo, in case you need some girl time. Even to chat.”

“Oh, Gin. It’s great, thank you.”

She was engulfed in a hug by Harry, Ron and Ginny, before Disapparating away to just outside her new village.

By the evening, Hermione had moved in most of her furniture and warded the apartment. It was really unnecessary in such a safe town, but she was a creature of habit and after spending a year on the run, protection spells were muscle memory. The bed she had bought was big. She was tired of sleeping on the tiny cot in which she had spent most nights of the last year. It was time for a large bed, where she could starfish out and not hit a wall or fall off. She placed the photograph on her bedside table along with Ginny’s gift. Walking into the living area, she surveyed her work. A big, soft sofa sat opposite a television set. She had set up several bookcases against the walls and laid cushions out on the window seat. Every tea she owned was now neatly stacked up in the cupboard above the kettle and a frittata was cooking in the oven. Her mother had secretly called ahead to the local grocer’s, and Hermione was surprised to find a parcel full of groceries show up with the delivery boy on his way home that evening.

“All done, eh, Crookshanks?” She had let him out of his carrier after she finished enlarging all the furniture from her bag. He was now sitting with his face pushed up to the window. He turned for a second back to give Hermione an admonishing glare, before returning to his earlier gaze.

As she sat back onto the sofa and waited for her dinner to be ready, Hermione was suddenly overcome by the feeling of acute loneliness. She knew it would be this way, being alone in a new town, but it was still an odd feeling. She ate dinner in silence and fell asleep at 9 pm.

— — —

Hermione walked down the path to the local farmers market. It was Saturday and she had spent the previous day moping and getting drunk on a bottle of wine that she had found in her mother’s grocery package. This morning, she had woken up feeling sorry for herself and decided, after a brief Floo call with Ginny and a Pepper-Up potion, to get out of the apartment and explore her new village. Armed with Muggle money and an assortment of cloth bags, she braved the market to meet her neighbours and buy some fruit.

“Miss Granger!” Mr Llewellyn waved from the bread stand. She smiled and walked over.

“Good morning, sir. How are you?”

“Well, thank you. Take a loaf for yourself, they’re nice and warm.”

She tried to pay but he insisted that she keep her money for other things. She tucked the seeded loaf into a bag and thanked him, making her way down the line of stalls. At the fruit seller’s, she picked up apples and oranges, as well as a bottle of cherry juice. At the cheesemonger’s table, she tried several local cheeses and bought a square of sharp cheddar for the pasta she planned to make tonight.

After her bags were heavy enough that she couldn’t walk much further, Hermione decided to turn back, until she caught sight of a stall at the very end of the market. A bookstall. Narrowing her gaze and marching over, she gasped. It was old books. Her favourite.

“Miss? Is there anything you’re looking for?” An old woman was sitting on a stool behind the table, a pair of thick spectacles perched on her nose. She had several layers of clothing on, regardless of the fact that it was a warm, sunny day. Hermione touched the spine of a novel and smiled at the lady.

“Just browsing, thank you. You have a lovely collection here, ma’am.”

The old lady looked very pleased and sat up.

“I own the secondhand bookstore over there,” she jabbed a thumb across the river at the row of shops opposite them. It was a tiny shop, wedged in between a tea shop and a florist. It reminded Hermione of 12 Grimmauld Place.

“Oh, it’s lovely.” She looked down at the books, gently letting her bags slide off her shoulders and onto the ground. Selecting a beautifully bound version of Pride and Prejudice, she opened it and sighed at the familiar words.

“Do you like Jane Austen, dearie?”

“Very much, Miss, uh—,”

“Owens. Mrs Dorothy Owens. What about you? What is your name?”

“Hermione.” It wasn’t Hermione who spoke, and she spun to her left to see the unexpected, grim and terribly handsome face of Draco Malfoy looking down at her.

“Oh my—,”

“Her name,” Malfoy turned to Mrs Owens and smiled his charming, reserved-for-strangers-only smile, “is Hermione Granger.”

[dbzebra]

Surpassing the Strongest

Im back on Marten bs lol

This is something Ive wanted to do for a while now. A 28th World Tournament / End of Z retelling, which focuses on Goten’s plans to follow in his fathers footsteps like Goku originally planned back in the Buu Saga. Ignores DBS obviously.  Anyway this is just a oneshot for now but may possibly make it into a longfic.

Enjoy!!

May, Age 784.

Ten years of peace had passed since Majin Buu's defeat.

The cool spring air blew in from an open window of Orange Star High School. Son Goten was lost in thought as the lecture droned on from in front of him. He couldn't hear what the teacher was saying. Rather, he didn't really care. He wanted to be outside and enjoying the day. Flying around or out on a date.

Ya know, something that was actually fun.

Something, anything but being cooped up in a stuffy building all day on such a nice afternoon. If Goten closed his eyes, he could feel himself soaring through the clouds on the Flying Nimbus, the wind in his hair and the whole world below him. Ever since he learned to fly, it's been his absolute favorite thing to do.

"Man, I wanna go to the beach!" Goten whined to himself and continued daydreaming about the endless possibilities of summer fun when he heard two kids whispering from the back of the classroom that piqued his attention. Super sensitive hearing really came in handy sometimes!

"Did you hear? Mr. Satan won't be participating in the World Martial Arts Tournament next week. He announced his retirement yesterday."

"What, really?! Maybe I should enter then. Now I'll actually stand a chance."

"Noooo! Mr. Satan can't retire!" Another kid chimed in, slamming his fists down on his desk in despair. "He's my hero! The strongest guy in the whole universe!"

"It's true man. I saw it on TV. He's all bald now too. Mr. Buu is gonna sweep with him gone. He's unbeatable next to Mr. Satan!"

"Awww… Yeah, you're right. Buu is unstoppable! He's never even been touched in a fight once!"

Goten snickered to himself. If only they knew the truth. "Speak for yourself. Me and Trunks almost beat him when we were fused together!"

The more Goten thought about it, the more it intrigued him.

He always loved the World Tournament, ever since he was a kid. Growing up, Goten loved hearing stories from his dad, Yamcha and Krillin about their fights from the old days. He collected all tons of World Tournament merchandise over the years, most notably of which were figures of every finalist leading back to the very first Tournament. The premium edition figurine of his father as a teenager during the 23rd Tournament was his most prized possession. He had to send in like one hundred postcards to a sweepstakes to win. The day he got the letter in the mail saying that he won, he almost flipped.

The news of the upcoming Tournament re-ignited a fire in the young Saiyan.

"Maybe I should enter! I'll run it by Mar later..."

__________________________________________________________

The final bell rang as class was let out for the day.

Goten stretched his arms out wide upon walking out the front doors of Orange Star High with an extra pip in his step. It was finally the weekend!

He spotted his girlfriend leaning against one of the pillars at the front gate, sporting her signature twintails. She was waiting for him! He grinned and picked up his pace a little bit. Marron twirled a strand of blonde hair in her fingers as she absent-mindedly watched a capsule-plane go by from above. 

Being a sophomore, sixteen yer old Marron was on the cheer squad and wrote for the school newspaper. Like most girls her age, Marron loved shopping, but her true passion was writing. It all started when she used to read fantasy books and write in her diary as a little girl. She hoped to work for a big fashion designer as a writer when she got older.

"Hey there, gorgeous." Goten said while he snuck up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

Marron flinched in surprise, but lit up when she heard her boyfriend's voice. She swung around and jumped into his arms, planting a kiss on her boyfriend's face. "Goten! It's great to see you!" Marron said and kissed him again, just for good measure. He definitely wasn't going to object.

“You too! So how was class?

“Boring. I’m starting to see why you and Trunks skip all the time.” Marron huffed, and then playfully poked his chest. “I guess being a delinquent like you has its perks~!”

“Told ya!” He said with a cheeky grin, eager to tell her about what happened today. “Anyway, ready to go?”

Marron smiled and grabbed his hand affectionately. A date was just what she needed right now. "Sure! Where are we going~?"

"There's an ice cream stand near the park about three blocks that way." He replied, gesturing over his shoulder with this thumb. "I'm friends with the guy who runs it!"

"Sounds great! It's such a nice day out! And I don't have to be home anytime soon anyway, so we have the whole afternoon to ourselves!" Marron chirped and playfully pulled him along.

After a bit of walking, they reached their destination . It was one of the more popular spots, so there wasn't a surprise there was a line.

"If I don't get something in my stomach soon, I might just eat my own hand!" Goten whined, his stomach growled almost as if it was agreeing.

"I'd pay to see that." Marron laughed.

Soon enough, it was their turn.

"Well well, look who it is! My number one customer!" The man at the stand said. He was an older man, about Goku's height. He had a kind face with short grayish hair. "Welcome back, Goten!"

"Hey Mr. Sherbert!"

"On a hot date?!" Mr. Sherbert said as he winked at the two teens. "You'd better treat her right, you hear?"

"Yeah! I'd never do anything bad. Right Mar?" Goten grinned. Marron blushed a bit from next to him.

"So what can I get for you two kids today?"

Goten already knew what he wanted; he had thought about it on the way over. "You first."

"Hmm..." Marron scanned the options until she found just the right one. I'll take a medium sized scoop of mint on a waffle cone, please." Marron said, eyeing the green-colored ice cream in the picture.

"Comin right up, miss! And how 'bout for you, big guy? The usual?"

"You bet!"

The older man laughed out loud. "I'd expect no less! A triple deluxe cone of vanilla, strawberry and chocolate with rainbow sprinkles, comin' right up!"

"How much do I owe ya?" Goten said, digging into his pocket for his wallet.

"This one's on the house, kid." Mr. Sherbert said, waving off Goten's attempt to hand him money.

Goten and Marron both looked shocked.

"What, really?"

"Yep. Don't worry 'bout it."

"Wow! Thanks a lot!"

"Just make sure you show this nice young lady a fun time on your date, okay?" Mr. Sherbert said with a kind smile, as he and Goten shared a laugh.

"I promise!"

After that, Goten and Marron got their food then took a seat on the grass in the park across the street and ate their snacks together.

"So, tell me. What's the big news?" Marron asked as she finished off her food, feeding off his anticipation. She could tell it was something big- whatever it was. "You've been antsy all afternoon!"

Goten fell backwards onto the grass and put his hands behind his head. "Well, I heard something interesting in class today!"

"You mean you actually paid attention?"

"Nope!" Goten declared without hesitating one bit. 

Marron rolled her eyes with a giggle. She expected that response. 

"It's about the World Martial Arts Tournament."

"Oh yeah!!” Marron exclaimed. “That’s next week, right? What happened?"

"Mr. Satan retired. And I'm considering entering. I’m sure Trunks and my dad will too.”

Marron gasped and clasped her hands together joyfully. "Oh my God, Goten, you totally should!" Marron exclaimed, putting her hands on his knee. "It would be so cool! Plus, it'll be like a little vacation for us!"

"You really think so?"

"Of course! You'll do great!" Marron declared happily. She gently took his large hand in her smaller ones and stared deep into his eyes. "You've been training so hard these past few years. I know that better than anyone. You said you wanted to surpass Goku someday, right? Well this is your biggest chance. I’ll be your cheerleader the whole way!” Marron declared that as if it were a love declaration.  But it didn’t matter what place he came in. To her, Son Goten was already number one. 

Goten liked the sound of that. He sat up and stole a quick kiss from Marron's lips when she wasn't paying attention. He pulled back and saw that the blonde was staring down at her dress, a scarlet-red hue covering her cheeks from ear-to-ear.

“You're the best, Mar. And you're right. I'm entering. And I'm going to win!"

"W-W-Warn me before you do that! I-I-I wasn't ready!" She stammered out, fixing her hair to distract herself from the sudden kiss. It was only a moment, but she felt the love and appreciation he had for her in it.

A sly grin made it's way onto the half-Saiyan's lips. "Okay then. I'm warning you now."

Marron didn't have time to react as she screamed with laughter when he pounced on her a moment later. They fell back onto the grass together and started making out, not caring who saw them.

_____________________________________________________________

It was almost dusk when Goten and Marron parted ways for the night. As the young Saiyan approached his home in the mountains from above, the sky had become a brilliant orange and red hue. It was like a wild flame slowly dying out into the calm darkness of the night. Sunsets were always soothing for him. When he was still a small child, Goten used to watch the sunset and think of his dad, wondering if he saw the same sunset from Other World. 

Goten dropped down onto the grass in front of his house; smoke coming from the chimney. Goten smiled widely. He could smell dinner from here! "Oh boy! My favorite! Nothing beats Mom's cooking!"

“I’m home!” Goten called upon walking in.

“Hey kiddo! Grab a seat, it’s chow time!” Goku waved to his son, already seated at the table.

Chi-Chi placed the last plate on the table and then sat down herself. “Welcome home, honey!”

Goten sat down and together the family of three started eating. Chi-Chi paced herself while the boys ate in typical Son fashion-- as if it were their last meal ever (and seemingly never even came up to breathe). Chi-Chi sighed with a smile. She was used to it by now. 

“Man Chi-Chi, you outdid yourself! This is really great!!” Goku exclaimed and went back for a fifth helping. “Your food is the best in the whole world!”

Chi-Chi touched her cheeks, bashfully smiling. She was even blushing a bit. “Oh, stop teasing, Goku. You're embarrassing me!”

“I’m serious!” Goku continued.

“Um, Mom…” Goten started hesitantly. He scratched the side of his cheek, thinking how to word his next question. “Sorry to ask this so suddenly, but… can I take a week off from school?” He said and then braced himself for the ‘no.’

Without flinching, Chi-Chi put down the tea she was sipping and smiled. “Planning a romantic getaway with your girlfriend~? I don’t mind, but if something happens are you prepared to take responsibility? A girl’s virginity is a special thing, Goten!” 

Goten instantly did a spit take. He hacked and coughed and Goku patted him on the back. Once the teen caught his breath, he went pure red from embarrassment. Or was it from shock? Probably both. 

“What I do with Mar is none of--- W-Wait! There’s no romantic getaway!” Goten practically shouted. 

Talking about that type of stuff with Trunks was one thing, but it was the absolute LAST topic of conversation Son Goten ever in a million years wanted to have with his mother. 

“Oh honey, stop being so dramatic. I’m no fool. I know how much you two love each other, it’s only natural!”

“Mom! Enough! I’m not talking about this with you!”

In the years since Buu, most things didn’t bother the Son matriarch anymore. Chi-Chi let things slide. She even started wearing her hair down or in a ponytail more often than not. And became brazent with her playful teasing. Too brazent for Goten’s own good. First Gohan, now him. Goku almost felt bad for them. Almost. He found it amusing. 

Goten slapped his cheeks and quickly shook off the image before his mind could wander any further to any thoughts that might make him not able to ride the Flying Nimbus anymore. 

“Besides, 18 would kill me, revive me with the Dragon Balls, and then kill me again!!” Goten said, getting a laugh from his parents. They were laughing because they knew he was right. 

“Of course, honey. Now what’s the real reason?” She knew Goten would likely skip anyway. Goten didn’t think she knew, but she did. She was smarter than she looked. But still, she appreciated that he came to them first, whatever the reason was.

“I want to enter the World Tournament.” Goten declared, surprising both of his parents. 

“I’m in too!!” Goku replied with the same confident grin his son had. Goku had a feeling Goten would. “There’s this guy I’ve been keeping an eye on lately. He’s got some insane power within him, more than he realizes. I have a hunch he’ll be entering the Tournament next week.”

Though he didn’t say this aloud, Son Goku had another reason he wanted to enter the Tournament. A lesson that his master had taught him long ago. 

“A hunch?” Chi-Chi asked, somewhat worried. She had gotten used to the peace again. They all had. The last thing she wanted was another creep with an inflated ego dragging her boys into another universal death battle. “Sounds like bad news to me.”

“No need to worry. This guy’s totally pure of heart.” Goku replied, easing his wife’s fears.

“So who is he then?” Goten said, in between heaps of food. “Do we know him?”

Goku flashed his signature wide grin. “Sorry! Not telling. You’ll have to wait and see for yourself!”

Goten slouched back in his seat and frowned. “That’s lame. You’re no fun.”

“We’ll have to train for the Tournament just to be sure! I have a feeling this is gonna be a fun one!”

“Yeah!” 

“I had a feeling this day would come sooner or later.” Chi-Chi said, sighing slightly. It was tough for her seeing her baby boy growing up into a man. He was almost done highschool, in a loving committed relationship, and now following in his father’s footsteps as a fighter. Soon he’d be out of the house and out on his own. The thought almost made her tear up, but she supported him nonetheless. The Son matriarch excused herself from the dinner table to hurry into the hall closet and pulled out a large white box with a bow on it. 

Upon returning, Chi-Chi glanced to Goku for a moment and then handed her son the box. “I know your eighteenth birthday isn’t for a while, but I… we wanted you to have this before your big day. I made it myself.”

Goten raised an eyebrow at the box, shaking it slightly. It didn’t sound like a game or anything like that was inside. Now he was really curious. He carefully lifted the lid off of the box to see a brand new gi. His current one was fine and all, but it was getting a little too small and worn out over the past months of consistent training. 

“Whoa! This is…” He gasped.

It was an orange gi, much like his father had worn for decades. But what made it different from Goku’s was instead of blue, Goten’s new gi had a black undershirt, and matching black belt, wristbands and boots. 

Goten smiled as wide as could be as he lifted the gi out of the box to get a better look at it. “This is great! Thank you so much! I’m gonna go try it on!!” He said and ran to his bedroom to change. 

Goku and Chi-Chi idled about in the meantime, cleaning up from dinner when the teenaged Saiyan returned shortly after. 

Chi-Chi’s eyes lit up like stars while Goku proudly beamed from beside her. 

“Oh, look at you! You look so handsome!” Chi-Chi gushed, fussing all over her son despite his protests. “You look just like your father did when he and I reunited at the Tournament all those years ago! Ahh, those were the days~!”

“Yup! Lookin’ just like his old man!” Goku said. “Except for the hair!”

“Hey! Don’t hate!” Goten whined. “This hairstyle is stylish!”

Goten had recently changed his hairstyle to stand out from his father. Instead of his father’s signature palm-tree hairstyle, Son Goten let his hair grow out. It still shot out in most directions, but was now much longer and shaggier, reached the back of his neck. He liked it a lot more. Even better, Marron said it made him look super cute. So he decided to stick with it!

“Training begins tomorrow!” 

Goten smirked. He couldn’t wait. 

The next day, Son Goku came into Goten’s room bright and early, ready to start. They didn’t have much time to prepare! He found the teen was curled up in a ball, clutching his pillow for dear life. 

“Rise and shine, kiddo!” Goku swung open the curtains, bringing the hot bright rays of sunlight right onto Goten’s face. 

Goten winced and half-opened one eye. “...Dad? It’s ...7 AM! On a Saturday. Come back in like three hours.” Goten grimaced and then pulled the covers over his head, hoping his father would go away. It was too early for this! He was in the middle of an awesome dream too! 

“No way. We’ve only got six days till the tournament! We’re gonna train for three days, and then rest for three days.” Goku said and yanked the covers off the bed entirely. “We’re getting breakfast out on the road, so get up or you’ll miss it!” 

Goten groaned even louder than before, finally sitting up. The teen rubbed his eyes and yawned loudly. His hair shot out in every direction even more so than normal. Under most circumstances he wouldn’t mind early morning training, but his bed was too comfy to leave it right now! If he went back to sleep now, maybe he could continue the dream he was having! “Can’t today be a rest day?”

“Nope. Now be outside in ten minutes or your mother said no dinner for you!” Goku grinned teasingly, knowing that was his son’s weakness.

“Oh come onnn! That’s--. Ugh. Fiiine!” Goten whined. “Cheater.”

After brushing his teeth (still half asleep) Goten threw on his new gi. Knowing how their sparring sessions usually went, he hoped it wouldn’t get destroyed after not even having it a full day. 

He tiredly dragged his feet out to the kitchen where his mother was waiting for him. 

“Never shoulda entered this stupid Tournament…” He mumbled to himself and yawned again. 

Chi-Chi shook her head, laughing. “Oh hush. It’s not that bad. You know how your father gets in times like this.”

“Yeah, yeah. He could’ve at least waited another hour though!” Goten said and then went outside to see his father talking with Gohan as little Pan ran around at their feet.

“Oh, hey Gohan!” Goten said happily. 

“I see Dad’s puttin’ you through the ringer, huh?” Gohan chuckled when he saw his brother drag his feet out onto the grass. “I was down that road plenty of times growing up.” 

Goku had traded his signature orange gi for a blue gi with dark bluish-green pants, black shoes and orange wristbands. He still dearly treasured the Turtle School colors, but wanted something different for a change. 

“Uncle Goten!!” Pan cried happily. The toddler wore a little red gi, a present she got from Goku and Chi-Chi for Christmas the previous winter. Pan jumped into the air and came flying at him like a football player trying to take down the quarterback. 

Goten braced himself for the hug just as Pan slammed into him, laughing. “Hey, squirt!”

“I’m not a squirt, I grew two inches!” 

Pan giggled. She loved her uncle so much. He was like a big kid, but also an adult! Pan didn’t really get how that was possible, but she just wanted to be just like him. He showed her all the funnest games, and always knew all the coolest places to go! Plus whenever he visited he always snuck her candy when Gohan wasn’t looking. 

“Guess what Uncle Goten? Daddy says I can enter the World Toonament!” 

Goten couldn’t help but laugh at her pronunciation of the word tournament. “Wait, what? You’re sure it’s okay if she enters, Gohan?”

Gohan nodded. “When she heard Mr. Satan used to be the Champ, it’s all she wanted to do. Videl and I agreed that since there’s no threats anymore, it wouldn’t be a big deal. There’s no Junior division this time, but we’ll all be there anyway. So no harm done.”

“You’re right about that! Besides, I think she can give Goten a challenge!” Goku said, winking up at Pan. 

Pan tugged on Goten’s pant leg. “Is it true you’re comin’ fishin’ with us?” 

“Sure is, Pan! Come on! You can ride on my shoulders!” Goten said and picked the little one up. She felt so tall!

“Alright, we’re heading off!” Goku said. Pan cheered while Goten smirked and pumped his fists. Now that he was fully awake, he was ready for action.

Gohan trusted his father more than anyone else in the world. He went over to affectionately pat his daughter’s head. “Bye, Panny. Be good for Grandpa and Uncle Goten!”

“Okay Daddy!” 

And with that, the three were off. Gohan watched them go and then went back inside for his morning coffee.

The three followed the dirt path to a pretty meadow nearby. Dew glistened on the blades of grass, as the sun continued making its way over the mountain horizon. A river gently flowed into a waterfall that spilled into a sprawling crystal clear lake.. It brought back a wave of nostalgia for Goku as he could remember the countless times he went here to fish with Grandpa Gohan growing up. 

Goten placed Pan down and stretched as the toddler immediately ran over to the river’s edge and stared in awe. 

"Alright before we start training, whaddya say we get some breakfast? I’m starving!" Goku said, already prepping. 

"Sure! I got it covered! I’ll get us some fish!”

"My favorite!” Goku said. No matter how many times he ate Paozu tuna, it didn’t get old.

In the meantime, Goku gathered firewood and then fired a tiny ki blast to start a fire. Pan helped by throwing sticks to make it bigger. He placed three large wooden stakes over the fire, one for each of them to roast their breakfast on. 

Goten got down to his boxers and dove into the river. It was cold, yet refreshing. If he wasn't fully awake yet, he was now. The teen swam around a bit until some huge fish caught his eye. Common for this area, the Paozu fish were at least five times his size, and normally blue and white in color (but there were other colorations as well). Four of them spotted Goten at once and rushed towards their prey, each with the intent to swallow him whole. 

Goten became motionless, waiting for the right moment. As the first approached, he swam down and kicked it in the side, killing it instantly. The teen then disposed of the other three aquatic attackers in a similar fashion.

Goten swam around and gathered his food. One for each of them and one extra! They could split the last one. 

With their breakfast caught, the three generations of Sons sat around the fire, enjoying the morning together while they ate their breakfast in typical Saiyan fashion. 

Goku burped and rubbed his stomach upon finishing. “Man, that hit the spot! Now it’s time for training!” 

“I wanna train too, Grandpa!” Pan exclaimed. 

Goku ruffled Pan’s hair, making her giggle. “You like flying, right?” He asked, knowing the answer already. 

“Mhmm!” The four-year old gleefully said, raising her little hands into fists. 

“Alright, well how about this? I want you to fly around the world as fast as you can!”

Pan’s little eyes lit up. “Really? Okay! Can Uncle Goten come with me??!”

Goten laughed and knelt down to be on eye level with the toddler. “I’d love to, Panny, but I gotta train! Next time I’ll go with you! And I’ll show you something real cool!” 

“Pinky promise?” She said, holding up her little finger.

“Of course.” Goten grinned and they shook on it.

“Alright, bye Grandpa! Bye Uncle Goten!! I’ll be back soon!!” Pan waved and took off to the east. 

Once Pan was out of sight, the Son boys could truly focus on their training.

“So, what’s on the agenda??” 

"Okay, Goten. First, I need you to power up as high as you can possibly go." Goku folded his arms and smiled confidently. "I know things have been easy in these peace times, but I wanna see the progress you've made. You've been training primarily with Trunks, right?"

Goten nodded. "Yeah. At first it was pretty casual but these past two years or so we've really gotten serious."

Goku had full faith in his son. Though Goten was suppressing his energy, Goku could feel the sheer amount of power he had within him. In his fight with Buu, even as a child, Goten showed glimpses having more potential than even Gohan. At only seven years old, he became a Super Saiyan just by sparring for fun. And when fused together, Gotenks was one of the strongest fighters in the entire universe.

"...Alright, then. Here goes!" Goten smirked. He then took a deep breath and let out a mighty roar as his power skyrocketed. "HRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

A wild golden aura erupted around the teenager's body while lighting violently sparked around him. Goten's muscles bulged somewhat while his shaggy hair stood completely upright, becoming sharp and jagged. First, Goten's eyes turned to an emerald green. Then, his dark black hair became the signature golden-yellow. The lightning increased in intensity as Goten didn't stop there and kept powering up until a burst of light shot from the teens body.

There stood Son Goten in a fully-powered Super Saiyan 2 state. The splitting image of his father. His facial features were relaxed and he was in complete control of his energy; a far cry from ten years ago when he had gotten carried away at the Tournament.

"How's this?" Goten asked, smirking slightly. “At first, it took a lot of rage to transform, like I had to picture Majin Buu hurting Mar or Mom again. But it’s easy now!”

"Amazing, Goten! Wow! I'm so proud of you!" Goku beamed with pride at how far his son has come. At only seventeen years old, Son Goten had mastered Super Saiyan 2. Goku wouldn't be surprised if he was on the edge of unlocking Super Saiyan 3!

"Me and Trunks are just about equals."

Equals?! They were equals? If that really was the case, Goku could truly put his worries about leaving the earth to the next generation to rest. "No wonder You got so strong so fast!"

"How would you compare us to Majin Buu? Like a ballpark."

"You mean the evil one? Hard to say exactly, but you're definitely stronger than Vegeta and I were at the time. If both of you attacked together at full power, you could have possibly beaten him before he split good from evil and lost most of his power. But you know more than anyone how unpredictable Buu can be. Even though he's good now, you have to be careful. If you get matched up against him, you can't afford many mistakes against a guy like that.”

Goten pumped his fists happily. "Right! Thanks, Dad! So, what now?"

"Power down to normal. Goku said and slipped into a fighting stance. "Let's have a quick spar. This time, no transforming.”

"Huh? Are you sure? But you'll kick my ass!"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. I'm gettin' old ya know! Now come on.” 

Goten nodded and after a deep breath, his hair and eyes returned to their normal black color. He clenched his fists and then slipped into a fighting stance. “Just watch the gi, okay? It’s brand new, and I was hopin’ to surprise Mar with it.”

Goku smirked. “Sure. I’ll let you have the first move.”

“You’ll regret that!!” Goten instantly burst forward, appearing as only a blur. He swung a volley of powerful kicks directly at his father's face.

Goku smirked as dodged with ease but Goten was relentless. Kick after kick he didn't stop. That continued until Goku grabbed Goten by the leg, and prepared to counter. "Got ya."

"Not so fast!" With his other leg, Goten swung but that too was caught. Goten squirmed and fought to break loose, but Goku’s grip only tightened. Growling, Goten spread his arms wide, unleashing an Explosive Wave at point blank range. 

Goku was hit dead on and lost his grip, staggering back somewhat as Goten landed. "OWW! Good one! That actually hurt! But I'm not even getting started yet!" 

Goku vanished from sight and reappeared behind his son. Goten swerved around just in time to see his father pulling his fist back, ready to strike. 

However the blow went right through his son as if it were an illusion. 

“An afterimage...” Goku said, smirking.

Two copies of Goten reappeared to Goku’s side. Then, the real Goten appeared from above and swung a ferocious kick at Goku, but that too was nothing but an illusion. 

“W-What?!” Goten exclaimed and jumped backwards, searching around for his father’s energy.

“I invented that move! Ya gotta be better than that!!” Goku said from a few yards away, smiling mischievously with his arms crossed. 

Goten ran towards Goku again, but this time Goku vanished completely. The teen flipped backwards just as Goku came into sight, narrowly dodging the counter. Goten burst forward and immediately slammed Goku in the back of  the head, this time hitting finally it’s mark. 

Goku was sent careening down towards the ground, but he caught himself and safely landed on his own two feet. He winced, rubbing his head where Goten hit him. “He’s tougher than I remember!”

Goten continued his assault, flying down towards his father and firing multiple energy waves at Goku.

Goku deflected the blasts away from himself, sending the blasts far away from the fight to explode in the distance. Goten charged a bigger blast in his left hand, firing it directly forward. Goku stayed absolutely still, waiting for Goten's blast. At the last moment, Goten curved the blast up and it exploded into multiple blasts that shot in every direction, wildly zig-zagging around without any sense of direction or course. 

Goku watched each blast intensely, waiting for the right moment. 

“He’s distracted!” Goten blasted forwards, head first, at full force, slamming directly into Goku’s back. 

Pulling his arms back into the signature pose, Goten his hands together. “KAAAAA… MEEEEE…” The blue energy began to build as Goten’s ki spiked. “HAAAAA… MEEEEE…”

Goku recovered and came to a sliding halt on the grassy terrain. The Saiyan hadn’t felt this excited in years. Goku smirked and raised his power level to match Goten’s. Just then, Goten vanished. 

Goku’s eyes widened and crossed his arms over his face, just as Goten appeared in front of him.

“HAAAAAAAAAA!!!!”

The blast hit Goku dead on, creating a super massive explosion that could be felt all the way at the Son house from far away. 

Goten jumped backwards to gain distance. The teen hovered there, his senses on full awareness, waiting for his father to emerge from the smoke. A palm-tree hairstyle and bluish-green gi appeared through the smoke soon enough, completely unharmed. He was smiling! 

“I see you’ve finally mastered the Instant Transmission. Great work!” Goku grinned, folding his arms. 

The Instant Transmission technique. Goten had asked his father to teach him the attack about two years ago when he started his training. Right around the time he started dating Marron. Goten motives were as clear as day.

“Yeah! Thanks again!” Goten said.

“You won’t fool me twice with that move though. Come on, let’s keep going!”

“You bet.”

They rushed each other at the same time and collided. A powerful yet invisible tremor shook the area as their fists met. The father and son duo crashed blow for blow as they rose higher in the air. Their attacks grew more intense the higher they went.

Eventually they disappeared, and could only be seen by the tremors echoing throughout the grassy training grounds. 

At first, Goten traded blows evenly with his dad, countering each blow with ease. But as their struggle continued, Goku slowly raised his power and started overwhelming his father. He managed to land a crushing blow to the gut, making Goten falter. Goku went to punch him but Goten phased out of the way, reappearing some significant distance away and hid his energy singal. 

“Now’s my chance!”

Goten got into position and powered up to full. In an instant he pulled his hands back, charged two blue blasts of ki in his hands and fired. The beam exploded in a marvelous blue light, hitting its target dead on. “Gotcha.”

Goten waited for movement. But when the smoke cleared and Goku was gone! The teen growled when he saw his father simply dusting off his gi on the grass below. 

“Dammit! He’s not even hurt!” 

To Goku’s own surprise, he was just a bit out of breath.  ”If I’m not careful, he actually may get the advantage. He’s even further along in his training than I originally thought.” He smirked and then raised his hands close to the center of his face with his fingers spread out toward his eyes. “This was fun, Goten, but you’re not winning this fight.”

Goten braced himself and shut his eyes. “Oh crap!”

“SOLAR FLARE!”

A blinding white light exploded from the Saiyan father’s body as if a second sun was right there on the battlefield with them, covering everything in sight. 

Despite being temporarily blind, Goten’s other senses kicked into high gear. He felt where Goku was going to appear and attempted to counter, but missed every attack. Goku simply side-stepped or caught everything Goten threw at him. 

Goku smirked, reappearing right behind his son. "Come on! Focus! You're better than that, Goten!" He said right before flipping behind Goten and kneeing his son right in the back.

Goten was flown forward as he grunted from the impact of the hard hit, trying to regain control of his body as his sight finally began returning to him. 

Goku pursued his son, pounding him into the ground causing cracks and the ground itself to rise up from the impact. Goku then grabbed his son by the legs and threw him into the air. Goku flew straight up, stopping above Goten. He threw a punch at Goten but Goten managed to duck, countering with a jab to the gut.

Goku vanished and kicked his son upwards, and with a flare his energy unleashed a monstrous kiai that had Goten flying backwards, unable to recover. 

A boot connected with the boy’s face and he was sent shooting towards the ground yet again. 

“Try and stop this one!!” Goku cried and unleashed a volley of rapid-fire blasts. Goten’s head was still spinning from the kick, so he didn’t have time to block the dozens of golden Ki spheres that crashed into his body one after another seemingly without end. 

Finally, Goku built up one last, super-large energy ball for the final attack. 

Goten had just enough time to land on his feet and catch the ball of ki. He grunted as he felt himself being pushed back, but with a flare of his aura--almost turning Super Saiyan until he remebered the rule, managed to send it flying away. A massive explosion echoed from afar where the impact was. 

Goku floated above him with his hands on his hips, smiling proudly. 

Goten heaved and huffed, now feeling exhausted as if he sweat from his brow.  He really could have kept going, but decided against it and shook his head. “I’m done for now. You win....” He said and plopped down on the grass.

The fight was over. Goku grinned and flashed dual victory signs. “You did amazing, Goten. Really had me there!” 

“One of these days, I swear, the shoe is gonna be on the other foot!” Goten declared in between heavy breaths. At least his gi didn’t get ruined. 

“And I think that day will be sooner rather than later.” Goku smiled and sat down next to Goten on the grass as they waited for Panny to come back. 

Only six days remain until the 28th World Martial Arts Tournament begins!

[when-will-mail-come]

I wanted to translate the Animedia Magazine 2018 July Issue’s Gundam W portion like ↑ with the translation surrounding the picture with arrows, but I don’t know how to. Please be satisfied with ↓. For those that want to read the original text (that I photographed), go here.

1

37(Everyone) 450(Welcome～) to the Animedia Carnival

2

　The next legendary anime to be introduced is the following;『New Mobile Report Gundam W』. This work is one of the many『Gundam』series, and from April 1995 to March 1996 the TV series aired. In 1997 the 3 episodes OVA 『New Mobile Report Gundam W Endless Waltz』continuation was created, and in 1998 the re-edited『Special Edition』version of that was released theatrically. Even now after 20 years have passed its popularity has not waned, rerunning since February 2018 on TOKYO MX. Gathering interest even from people exposed to this work for the first time, there has been a resurgence in popularity.

　One point that needs a special mention with this work is that, it is the forerunner of a『Gundam』series that won fanatical female fans. Though 『Gundam』series are now supported by many demographics regardless of gender,『Gundam』fans before this work were mainly children and men, who the related merchandise targeted. The biggest factor behind how this work managed to capture the hearts of women, in this situation, was that the 5 main characters were prominent. Not only were the 5 main characters beautiful boys, they had strong personalities that were unable to be described in one word. Some acted calm, cool, and collected to fulfill their missions, while others took flabbergasting actions that were mind boggling. The interactions between them, and the words and deeds that exceeded the viewers’ imaginations, continued to charm fans. Especially Heero・Yuy for informing the heroine「I’ll kill you」 in episode 1, and also by blowing up his beloved mobile suit Wing Gundam, having a strong impression not seen elsewhere, with his loony¹ actions and a number of out-there¹ famous quotes, he had a presence that could only be described as peerless. The threatened gazes directed by the 5 boys who are by no means absolutely perfect, continue to capture the hearts of fans and refuses to let go even to this day.

¹loony, out-there: The magazine uses the pretty strong expression ぶっ飛んだ

3

The strongness of their PERSONALITY and GAZE is LEGEND TIER! The GUNDAM PILOTS that are RESURGING IN POPULARITY

4

450(Welcome～) Special Guest

Heero・Yuy role HIKARU MIDORIKAWA

【He・kah・rue・Me・dough・ree・kawa】Born May 2. From Tochigi Prefecture. Affiliated with Aoni Production.

——What kind of work is『New Mobile Report Gundam Wing』, to you, Mr. Midorikawa? Furthermore, if you had to choose one thing that made you happy, from your memories during the first airings, what would it be?

　My dream since I was a child was playing the main character in a serious robot work like『Mobile Suit Gundam』, so my dream came true. That made me happy, as you can imagine. Of course, plastic models of Wing Gundam that Heero rides on went on sale, so as person who was crazy about Gunpla² when I was a child, those were really happy days ♪

²Gundam plastic model = Gunpla

——With his unpredictable words and deeds and such, Heero・Yuy was a character with many sensational episodes. If there was anything that you struggled with while playing him, please do tell.

　Heero’s silent, so I think that having to impress the character on the audience within the limited few lines is difficult. However, I gained quite a lot of experience with silent characters with the role of Kaede Rukawa from『SLAM DUNK』(aired 1993～1996), so I managed to not struggle that much（^^;;

——This year marks the 20th year since the release of『New Mobile Report Gundam W Endless Waltz Special Edition』. What do you think about the fact that it’s still loved by many fans, even after over 20 years have passed?

　Maybe it’s  the fact that interesting things are interesting, no matter how many years pass? I mean it is full of holes that can be poked fun at, even though it’s by no means a gag anime (laughter). Apparently, there are also tenacious fans in America even to this day, not only limited  to Japan, so I think it’s a real amazing piece of work.

——If you were to give a message toward the following five of Heero, Duo, Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei, right now, what would the contents of the message be?

　I am truly happy, that I was able to meet you all. There is also a work that paints yourselves after the end, so if a chance presents itself, I’d love to breathe life into your grown selves. Well, I think that I’ll be indebted to all of you through games or whatnot, from now on too, so I look forward to working with you all then（^₋^）

5

◍Original Drawing/Yoshihito Hishinuma  Finishing Touch/Michie Hishinuma

6

Chang・Wufei

張五飛

(Voice/Ryuzou Ishino)

Holds the belief that might is right, and dislikes the weak fighting. Takes independent action often, and uses the Shenlong Gundam which he calls「Nataku」to destroy evil.

7

Heero・Yuy

(Voice/Hikaru Midorikawa)

Pilot of the Wing Gundam. Educated to be a perfect soldier, he did not show human-like emotions in the beginning.

8

Trowa・Barton

(Voice/Shigeru Nakahara)

Pilot of the Gundam Heavyarms, and was fighting in the battlefield ever since he could remember. To hide his identity, he performed as a clown at a circus troupe.

9

◀The Gundam pilots in brisk summer attire. The 5, although participating in the same military operations, are not a team so there is no sense of comradeship. It is only at the end of the story that the 5 unite. These relationships were novel

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New Mobile Report Gundam Wing

◍Currently rerunning every Tuesday night at 10:29 PM on TOKYO MX

◍『New Mobile Report Gundam Wing』Blu-ray Box Limited Edition Complete 2 Volumes, now on sale by BANDAI NAMCO Arts. Each 30,240 yen (tax included)

◍『New Mobile Report Gundam W Endless Waltz』Blu-ray Box Limited Edition Complete 1 Volume, now on sale by BANDAI NAMCO Arts. 18,360 yen (tax included)

STORY〔New Mobile Report Gundam Wing〕/Humanity has constructed space colonies, determining the year they commenced space development as the year 1 A.C. (After Colony). Starting to see the indications of decline due to the increase of immigrants to the colonies, the countries of Earth form the「United Earth Sphere Alliance」, and counter the colonies. Possessing overwhelming military power, the Alliance Army oppress the colonies. Communications between each colony are cut off. Year 195 A.C.「Operation Meteor」is initiated by underground organizations of the colonies rebelling against the oppression of the Alliance. It was to have 5 Gundam units land onto Earth, and unfold subversive activity against the secret society「OZ」(Oz) that controlled the Alliance. The 5 boys, who are the agents, descend to Earth without knowing each other, and try to fulfill the mission while at times cooperating with each other, and at times rebelling against each other.

〔New Mobile Report Gundam W Endless Waltz〕/1 year after the battle　between Earth and the colonies. Although it seemed that the world was following the path to peace renouncing all military force, the mastermind of the colony organizations plots the domination of the Earth Sphere. The 5 ride the Gundams once again, and dive into battle.

11

Quatre・Raberba・Winner

(Voice/Ai Orikasa)

The heir of an extremely wealthy man, as well as a boy who pilots the Gundam Sandrock. Although gentle and kind, in the later half of the story, he comes to do nothing but seek revenge for a harmed family member.

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37(Everyone) Time to Shine Famous Scene

　Episode 1 was full of iconic scenes that symbolized the person known as Heero. From trying to shoot down a civilian shuttle that was interfering with accomplishing his mission during his descent to Earth, to hijacking an ambulance that rushed over due to Relena`s report, who found him injured, it was a succession of barbarity. Moreover, he whispers「I’ll kill you」in her ear after ripping a birthday party invitation that she sent, going undercover as a transfer student at her school, all just due to the reason that「his face was seen by Relena」.

13

Duo・Maxwell

(Voice/Toshihiko Seki)

A kind boy who laments the tragedies brought on by war, and understands the value of life more than anyone, despite having a perfect command of Gundam Deathscythe which is also known as「God of Death」.

14 Relena・Darlian

(Voice/Akiko Yajima)

[radramblog]

Retro Games WTB

So for reference, this and the last two posts were written on the same night. We went from serious discussion about sensitive and graphic material in media, to silliness about shooty mans, to this. The thing is, I’m going away on a weekend camping trip (Melbourne got delayed again but at least getting to go on this is a silver lining?), and when this post goes up (assuming I figure out how to schedule it right) is the one day where I’m just never at home. The Saturday of a weekend trip. I don’t know if the place is going to have cell signal, and I’m not letting that of all things get in the way of me posting more bullshit.

It’s been a long night.

I was originally going to do, like, a tierlist thing, but staring at the list of these was just depressing. Motherfuckers put Homestuck in the Video Games section multiple times, and I had to stare at the fact that someone went out of their way to make a FNAF shipping tier list. And lots of people played it. Fuck, man.

I don’t know if me talking about a bunch of games I want to buy is actually more interesting, but I’ll be damned if I can’t do that easily and for a lot of words. Plus, it’ll force me to actually come up with a complete list.

(editors note this is ridiculously absurdly long and it has no images it’s just 2.5K words of jack shit and me tiredly trying to make jokes about old games you probably haven’t heard of you’ve been waaaarned)

N64

The prospect of collecting all the N64 games I want is somewhat daunting, especially considering my region-based issues. But I’ve made some solid progress since that one time I talked about my collection (and I cannot be fucked dragging that post up at the moment). I’ve acquired Banjo-Kazooie and a Kirby 64 cart that I sure didn’t know was coming in fucking box.

Anyway. I’d like to pick up Smash 64 at some point, if only for the novelty of it. I’ve played it, like, once? And that was a very long time ago, the first time I ever played an N64 (possibly the only time I even touched a controller before I bought my own), and I wasn’t as mediocre to functional at Smash as I am now. 64 is kind of a whole different animal, though- no competitively viable maps by modern standards and the engine is fucky- every character combos so well that they run 5-stock matches instead of 3.

(From this point on, I’m literally looking at a Wikipedia list of games and picking ones to comment on, so it’s alphabetical)

Banjo-Tooie would be nice, I suppose, but I’ve barely played the first one- let’s maybe do that before I start thinking sequels. I didn’t realise until I actually picked up the game that Kazooie is like, a massive asshole? Extremely rude? Apparently that’s their character trait and I just didn’t know. Banjo seems like such a cool bloke, why does he hang out with them?

Even though I’d never be able to play it, the Australian version of Beetle Adventure Racing actually replaces the titular cars with Holdens, which is fucking hilarious and I need to see it.

I’ve heard a lot about Conker’s Bad Fur Day, that it’s basically Banjo/DK but M rated. I…don’t imagine it’s aged particularly well. Man, remember when he showed up for Project Spark, though? Yeah, me neither.

Donkey Kong 64 is another classic, and I’m sure it’s really good. I have managed to pick up an Expansion Pak, so there’s half the cost of it gone, too. I’ve never actually finished any of the Country games, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t play like one, so. I also never watched the HBomberguy charity marathon, so I am pure and unspoiled as to the grisly details of this jungle bash.

On the one hand, Goldeneye is arguably one of the most iconic FPS games of all time. On the other, it’s not aged particularly well, and I don’t have a cadre of people to hang around being nostalgic for it, because we’re all either younger than this game or barely out-age it. I hope someone reading this feels old now. (sorry)

Even as a Pokemon fanatic, I’m not buying Hey You, Pikachu. That game barely worked with people in the USA, imagine that shitty microphone trying to decipher my accent on fucking N64 hardware. Also it’s pretty lame even if you can get it to work, so.

Majora’s Mask is currently my White Whale, because I want nothing more than to play that game. I’ve heard so much, it sounds and looks so fucking incredible, and as I said I have the Expansion Pak now so I can actually run it. One day, man, one day. Once again I should probably finish Ocarina of Time first, but like, I know I’m going to play this one, so.

I guess Mario Kart 64 would be worth picking up, apparently it’s one of the better ones. I reckon if people showed up to play fucking Beetle Adventure Racing before knowing the game was actually really good, they’ll show up for Mario Kart. I’d rather buy 64 than 8, frankly.

I could barely get any interest in my bootleg-ass copy of Mario Party 3, I’m not going to spend stupid money on the other ones.

Oh, apparently Mega Man Legends came out on the 64 as well? I thought that was just on the Playstation. I mean, people really seem to like that sub-series, but then people also liked Star Force, so I don’t know if I can trust the Mega Man fandom on anything. (MMBN legacy collection when, Capcom)

Yo so there was a Neon Genesis Evangelion game for the N64, and apparently it’s a fighting game? Japan-only, of course, but my console can run those anyway. And like, that sounds funny and cool, I’ll punch Sachiel to death, why the fuck not? Who needs a progressive knife. Congratulations joke.

God Paper Mario is so fucking expensive god damnit

Perfect Dark rounds out the trio of “hey I have the expansion pak now”, but I know substantially less about it. So, maybe?

The Pokemon games I’m missing (and care about) are Snap, Puzzle League, and Stadium 2. I’ll consider Snap if I can find a cheap copy, as I know it’s pretty limited (and the new one just came out), Puzzle League is probably meh, and Stadium 2 sounds fun but I’d need to then buy a GSC cart to get the most out of it and they aren’t cheap. Unless I get a Japanese one, but apparently, they’re only compatible with Japanese Stadium 2 (er, Stadium GS), so I’d have to double down on illegibility.

Oh fuck, right, Star Fox. Man I thought I was going to get away with just talking about Star Wars here (I’ve already got the good ones), but I forgot about fuckin Star Fox 64, aka The Good One. Shit I gotta get that don’t I? Fuck me. At least searching for one will be slightly easier because the PAL version has a different name.

Oh, and Yoshi’s Story looks like a trip and I don’t know if that’s a good thing. Like, this just looks worse than Yoshi’s Island if I’m being honest.

 GBA

I haven’t actually talked about by GBA collection on here have I? TL;DR- it’s a console I’m very nostalgic for, but my collection is lacking because all the carts in Malaysia were bootlegs.

Jesus there’s so many more GBA games than N64 ones. Like, in general, not just on this list.

Advance Wars is a solid maybe, because the carts are super fucking expensive, I’ve never played the series, and the remaster is coming soon. But apparently they’re good? Big shrug energy.

Wow, they made two whole Banjo games for the GBA. Both of these look like shit, though, so fuck it. No wonder I never hear anyone talk about them.

Boktai is an interesting series I’d like to maybe give a shot. It’s a JRPG made by fucking Hideo Kojima, where the cartridge had a light sensor in it to encourage you to play outside by buffing the main character. Which was an interesting choice on the notably not backlit GBA. It also has crossover stuff with something we’ll get into later.

I’ve played Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow to death, and as a result I’d love to pick up a copy of it’s GBA prequel, Aria of Sorrow- it’s apparently almost just as good. I’ve not heard much about the other two GBA Castlevanias, but they’re apparently similarly excellent- a stark comparison to the mediocre to bad N64 ones.

If someone buys me a cartridge of Crazy Frog Racer I will play it and that is a fucking promise.

There are like three whole Fire Emblem games on the GBA, though only two came out in English. I actually have a bootleg of one of them. It’s another one of those ones that are unreasonably expensive because it didn’t sell well and they didn’t make that many as a result, though. So probably not worth getting a real one unless I fall super head over heels for the series- I don’t see that happening soon.

Oh right, Golden Sun. Another JRPG franchise for the GBA. There were a lot of those, huh? Anyway there’s like no way this guy is getting into Smash, don’t get your hopes up.

Harvest Moon is basically Stardew Valley, but older. Two games of it came out on the GBA, and I’m probably not about to commit to buying one of those rather than Stardew. And that game has yet to successfully appeal to me, soooooooo

I have a bootleg of Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, and that’s one of the ones where it probably doesn’t matter at all that it’s a bootleg, so I’m satisfied with it. Don’t have Nightmare in Dream Land, which I’ve played before on emulator and wouldn’t mind retrying, so maybe. I’ve never been massive on remakes if the original is viable, but I don’t have an NES so I’m sure not buying Kirby’s Adventure.

There are two Zelda games on GBA- a port of A Link to the Past which I have, and Minish Cap which I don’t. Minish Cap is very expensive!!! Aah!!!

Yo they ported The Lost Vikings to GBA? Wack. I guess Blizzard gets a shoe in this console’s door, then.

Yeah okay so there are like a million Mario games here, huh. Superstar Saga was the first Mario and Luigi game, and the one of those I’ve played (Partners in Time) was good enough that I’d bite for the original. Or I’d just go buy Bowser’s Inside Story. Mario Kart and Golf on the GBA don’t appeal super hard, and I’ve played Mario Pinball Land (long before that Alpharad Deluxe series), to the point where I don’t feel the need to actually buy it.

Speaking of Alpharad, I played Mario Party Advance on one of my Malaysian Bootlegs long, long before he made that video reminding people it existed. That game actually kind of fucks, for what it’s worth, and since my copy can’t save, I’d consider buying a real one. Assuming that Alpha’s video didn’t lead to a mass buyout or price spike.

Okay, so Mega Man Battle Network is kind of the big one on this list- definitely the White Whale so far, since to my understanding the series had extremely limited release in Australia. I do have a Japanese copy of 4 (Blue Moon) that I picked up because it was like 5 bucks, but A. 4 is godawful relative to the others and B. it’s a JRPG and I can’t read Japanese. But I would Do Things to get copies of 2, 3, or 6. Not so much 1 (because it’s not great), or 5 because I’ve nearly 100%’d the DS version on my flashcart.

Seriously, I’ve considered writing multiple blog posts on this series, I think it’s a super underrated gem. It’s an eSport on GBA for fucks sake! It’s also the series that crossed over with Boktai from earlier- apparently Kojima’s kid was a huge fan, so he got in touch to get some cross-promo content going. Funny how that works.

It’s not like they’re ever going to release Mother 3 anyway. Y’all aren’t even going to let me pay for this game, so you can’t complain if I buy a Chinese bootleg with the fan translation on it. I paid five whole bucks, and if they released it in English for real, I’d easily drop more on it. It’s a 10/10 game.

Oh alright, there’s Pokemon. I’m actually 4/7 on the GBA Pokemon games, which is pretty good considering the price just keeps going up and up. I’ve actually considered making a Living Dex solely in Gen 3- however that would either require all the ones I don’t have (save Pinball) a Gamecube with Colosseum/XD (which I have thought about), or maybe both. A long-term project, for sure, but one I’d enjoy doing.

Apparently the Sonic GBA games are pretty good, save for the infamous remake of the first Sonic game- Sonic Genesis. That is, however, the only one of them I’ve actually played. And for a long time was the only Sonic game I’d ever played. Great first impression, huh? The Marble Zone OST unironically slaps, though.

Yeah okay so there’s like over a hundred games still on this list and I care about, like, none of them. Except maybe some of the Wario games and Yu-Gi-Oh games- and I know some of the latter are complete and utter garbage. Like, I’ve played The Sacred Cards, and that game is genuine shite. I’ve still only played one Yu-Gi-Oh game I’ve liked.

I guess I can close off this wall of text by saying I want to get a GBA flashcart so I can run romhacks on console, but there’s a bunch of different types and it doesn’t seem like anyone can agree on which one is the best, so I guess I’m in limbo a bit on that one. Still, it’s worth a look at some point- I’ve gotten so much mileage out of my DS one after all.

And that’s a full-ass list. Perhaps a little daunting, but something like this is a long-term project, and there’s plenty of time to adjust, or make trades rather than buy, et cetera. I don’t ever expect to like, complete a collection, but I’m happy getting things bit by bit.

Anyway it’s like 2AM now I need to be up in 5 hours oops if I’m late then sorry james lmao except you won’t possibly be able to read this until Saturday and it’ll be too late then ha HA

[c-rankin93]

SHE'S NO YOU - Ch.6

A/N: This chapter is when the truth starts to unravel... do you think you have figured out what happened? Have a good read! P.s Loooooong chapter :) -- CHAPTER SIX: DON'T LISTEN TO THEM -- RAE POV: "How do you know Olivia?" I had just put the kids to bed and now I was sitting next to a tense Gregory awaiting his answer. "Well about 2 years ago I sold her sister a house. She was there of course, but I didn't know she was Finn's Girlfriend". 'It was interesting to know that he could still remember his clients sisters from 2 years ago, especially on a first name basis' I snickered to myself. It was a simplistic reply that was used as a deflection. It was obvious he was uncomfortable talking about her, and I was curious to know why. But for right now I was exhausted beyond belief. "Ohkay" I smiled. It wasn't worth a fight, it was bad enough that I was dealing with Finn, I didn't need to add Greg to the mix. "You seem close to your ex-husband's family" You could hear the bitterness in his voice, and internally I chucked. He didn't really have a reason to be mad at me over that, when he's the one lying right now. "Greg". "It was just a simple observation Rae. The man seemed very fond of you, if I must say". "We were very close when I was married. I cut all ties with them when I filed for divorce. It was the first time seeing Archie- Finn's brother in years" I sighed. "Mhm" he nodded. His hand lightly pressed against my naked thigh. "Hon, can I stay the night?" I was not prepared to hear that on a Wednesday night. He never stayed over when we both had work in the morning. "What about work your work tomorrow" I said stating the obvious. Gregory lived more towards the CBD, where traffic was lethal at anytime of the day or night. It was easier for him to get to work in the morning because he only lived a block away. It would take him a good two hours extra to drive home and get ready, then head to work for his 8am start. "I have a later start tomorrow. So I can just leave when you drop the kids off for school" he smiled; grazing his fingers more into my inner thigh. For some reason the intimate touch felt foreign. His hands were softer then I was use to, not as callous and rough. This was not good. "Ugh- sure" I encouraged myself to smile. We got off the couch and headed towards the bedroom hand in hand. Just as we opened the door to my bedroom and saw the state it was in, I froze. Clothes littered the floor in an unattractive manner. The bed, the same bed where I let Finn take me the night before had disheveled sheets, after not sleeping a wink last night. "You go have a shower and freshen up and I'll give this pig-sty a little clean. You don't really want to be smelling three day old Rae do you?" I tried to joke, I was embarrassed he had to witness this. "Don't worry about it to much hon" he laughed, then kissed my forehead. I didn't watch him walk into my ensuite. I was to busy glaring at my bed. There was no way I was washing those contaminated sheets, no they to be burnt. -- Anxiously, I hurried to get the last details added to the final sketch before the meeting in two hours. Chloe had organised for the board at 'Taylor industries' to come in and confirm the sketchs before signing of on the build. The new multi-million dollar mall has been a top priority for my team and I, for the past year and a half. I was glad that we were finally having the last meeting before I could watch my work come to life. When it was lunch time; or so my stomach reminded me. I checked mobile messages before leaving the office. I had turned it to silent, not wanting to be disrupted. Which I regretted once I saw the miss call from my children's school. Dialing the number on my office phone I waited for an answer. "Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School, Mary speaking, how may I help?" "Hi my name is Rachel Nelson-Earl, I'm the mother of Ruby and Joshua Nelson. I have a missed call, and I was wondering why". "Hi Ms. Nelson. Yes I have a message here for you referring to your son Joshua. It seems that he has had a altercation with another student. He has been stepped down for the rest of the day. We are in need for you to collect him as soon as possible please". 'Shit' I thought. Joshua had never been a kid to ever get into any sort of altercation, physical or not. This was completely out of character for him. Checking the time I noticed I had 30 minutes to til the meeting started, a meeting that could potentially sink my career if I didn't attend it. "I'll have to ring his father to collect him. But someone will be there as soon as possible" I replied. It was the only other solution I could think of. I just hoped Finn wasn't in a meeting. "Certainly. I will let his teacher know". "Thank you". As soon as I hung up the phone to the school, I dialed Finn's office number. I was put through to two different receptionist before i was finally directed through to Finn's office. "Finn Nelson's office, Olivia speaking" the nasily voice spoke. "Can you please put me through to Finn" I said in a rush and slightly paniced. I was not in the mood to talk to this bitch, time was against my side and I wasn't going to let her waste it. "And who's speaking?" Her cheerful demeanor forgotten. No wonder why Finn couldnt get any other pussy, she was the ultimate cock block. Clearing my throat, I continued speaking. "Its Rae, now can you put me through to f-". "Rae? Why would you possibly need to talk to Finn?" Olivia barked- like the true dog she was. "Olivia I don't have time for this! I need to talk to Finn about Joshua!" "I'm sure this is something that can be discussed outside of office hours-" "But y-" "- unlike some Ms. Earl, Finn is a busy Man and I can't possibly interrupt him!" "Fucki-" "Good day Rachel!" *Beeeeeeeeep!* That donkey nose airhead, wannabe-fucking-heiress, man-stealing bitch! I quickly dialed Finn's mobile, praying to God he actually turned it on for once. One thing Finn and I had in common was that we hated being disturbed from our work. No mobile, no hassle. "Rae?" "Finn! You need to put a fucking leash on that crackhead girlfriend of yours! I tri-" "Calm down Rae!" Finn sighed, I could only imagine him raking his hand through his hair. "Tell me what's going on? Slowly. And calmly". "I called your office to talk to you but your lovely assistant hung up on me! But that's not the point, the point is I rang you about Josh". "Why? What happened? Is he alright?" Finn rattled off questions. "He's fine, but he has been in a fight with another student. He's been stood down for the rest of the day.. Finn I need you to pick him up, please. I have a meeting in 15 minutes and my career depends on it. I know your busy bu-". "Of course I'll pick him up Rae. You don't need to explain yourself, he's my son too. I need to take responsibility for him too. But really, fighting?" I could hear the disbelief in his husky voice. "I know Finn. I don't know what's going on with him? He's never gotten into a fight before" My voice broke, but I managed to pull myself together. This was not the time to do this, especially whilst on the phone to my ex-husband. "Rae it will be Ohkay, I'll pick him up and take the rest of the day off. I'll get Archie to pick Ruby up for me when she finishes". "Ohkay" I breathe. "Thank you". "I'll talk to you tonight". For the second time today, I was hung up on. My phone was still pressed snuggly pressed against my ear when Chloe pranced in, smile beaming, and excitement lighting her eyes. "Are you ready?" She came around the desk to stand beside me. Her eyes flicking over the mountain of blueprints and sketches I had rolled up in a neat pile. "Is this all of them?". "Yes, there is a detailed plan of every floor, shop location, public area, toilets and even parking. Name a room and and I am certain it's here" I smiled at my friend. "This is why I love you Rae" Chloe beamed. Collecting a stack of scrolls, she took off towards the board room. I had a lot of people's jobs in my hand in this moment and all I had to do is impress 4 billionaires. Easier said then done, taming one was hard enough. -- FINN POV: I saw red the moment I ended the call with Rae. To whom my anger was directed towards was a mystery, because i couldn't narrow it down to just one person. Multiple people where now on my radar. Including a women only metres away from me. Grabbing my jacket, wallet and keys I threw the door open in a haste. I didn't even care about the looks that were directed towards me. Not that my floor was full of people, it was only a handful. But those select people obviously found my fury more interesting then their work at this moment. "Cancel the rest of the day, direct all my calls to the front desk with a note saying I'm away for the rest of the day and send sorry notes with chocolates to whoever I'm cancelling on" I spoke as I walked. I didn't even look in Olivia's direction, my main goal was getting to the elevator as quickly as possible. "But Finn where are you going? You can't just cancel ev-" "Do not tell me what to do Olivia! I am your boss and you are my employee. Start acting like it for Christ sake" I hissed, my voice was raised and no doubt our audience were enjoying the show. By the look Liv's face was portraying she was livid. Not that I cared. "Will you at least tell me where your going?" She asked, grabbing my arm just as I reached the elevator. "I'm going to collect Joshua from school" I said keeping all conversation to a minimum. Olivia snorted. "Really Finn? Your leaving work for that? It's only 1 o'clock, why on earth would you be picking him up now for? I bet you Rae is only doing this to trick you into some stupid pla-" Not being able to take her rant anymore. I closed my palm over her mouth, stopping the bullshit. "Enough! Enough for once Olivia! My son needs me, and not you or anyone else is going to stop me getting to him. Im his father first and foremost. So next time when Rae rings do not hang up on her. Do you understand me?" She nodded, my hand still firmly clasped over her sticky lips. "Now if you'll excuse me, you have work to get back too and I have a son I have to see. And maybe you should go see your sister after work for a bit. I need some alone time with my children". I didn't wait for her reply. Stepping into the elevator I immediately pressed the ground floor button. And just like in the movies the elevator doors closed that two seconds, too slow. - Joshua had remained quite when I spoke to the principle in his office. Mr. Horne was a rapacious man. When he needed money, I was his life line. When the music program needs to upgrade out of season instruments they come to me. In order to keep his bulging budget, he needed to keep me happy. Joshua had gotten away with barely a slap on the hand and a day off school. Nothing was going on his permanent file, and after much hesitation on Mr. Horne's behalf the name of the other student was given to me. I knew his parents, they had been an acquaintance of my company for some time, due to my shares in theirs. The matter will get sorted, quietly. We had been home for the past 20 minutes and still Joshua had barely looked my way, only nodding and shaking his head when I spoke. This sort of behavior was unusual for my 8 year old boy. He was never one to fight, or act up. Unless it was against his sister. But after being fly tackled by a pigtail wearing 6 year old, you would get mad too. The silence finally got the best of me, when I found myself sitting across from Joshua. "What happened?" My tone demanding, but I felt desperate. "He pushed me, so I hit him". Joshua would have to be kidding if he thought he was getting away with an answer like that. Raising an eyebrow. "You expect me to take that for an answer son". "I don't know" he shrugged. "Why did he push you?" "Because". "Oh come on Joshua just tell me!" My son slammed his hand down on the couch and stood abruptly. His face was glowing red, tears threatened to spill. Something was wrong. "You want to know why dad! It's because he was talking about you and mom and I told him to get a life. He pushed me and I just hit him... I don't know why" he cried. "I just couldn't help myself". "Son" I stood, walking towards Josh and sat him back on the couch, with me right next to him. "What did he say about your mother and I? You know you can tell me right?" Nodding, Joshua pulled his knees up against his chest. "He was saying that mom wasn't good enough. That- that's why you left us". My heart shattered. I knew kids could be cruel these days, but this was nothing that I would of expected. I didn't know how I was going to explain myself to Joshua. How do you tell your son that it wasn't me to walk away, but it was her? You don't. "Josh.. Josh look at me please" cupping his chin I turned his face towards me. "Your mother was never 'not good enough' for me. She is the most lovely and courageous women I know. We didn't break up because I got sick of her son". "Then why did you break up?" Shit! "We just grew apart, but I will always love your mother". "Then why are you mean to her dad? Why does she still cry at night?" It was my turn to start tearing up. I couldn't beleive I was having an adult conversation with my 8 year old son. My heart hurt more the longer he spoke. I never knew he could hear Rae and I's conversations. He heard me when i stupidly degraded his mother, everytime i opened my mouth. Did that mean Ruby could hear too? I felt like a monster, but i was hurt. Rae had broken me to the point where hate started seeping in, leaving me with fragments of my old self that I reserved for my kids. "I'm sorry Joshua. I should never of talked to your mother like that. Please promise me you wont ever speak to your mother like that". "I wouldn't. I actually love her" he declared. "Josh. Don't talk to me like that! You are not your mother so I don't have to explain anything to you, alright? We are getting off topic and I want to talk about you hitting another student Joshua". "Colton said that his dad got to touch mom" Joshua softly spoke. My heart skipped a beat with his words, then plummeted to the pit of my stomach. "What? When?" If I wasn't sitting my knees would've already buckled by now. He was talking about Mr. Davis and Rae. How many other men has she fucked while being with Gregory, or better yet me. "He said a few years ago his dad saw mom coming out of the bathroom of this big fancy ball... And touched her. The- then he said. He said his friends laughed when Mr. Davis said mom was fighting him. What does he mean dad?" I tried to remember the last ball he had attended with Rae. It had to of been at least 3 years ago. I remember vaguely the lacey number she wore. The neckline plunged deeper then usual, teasing my eyes, and many men around him. After thinking about it, I do remember how she had been the perfect plus one. Floating around from person to person, saying her hellos. Between dancing and chatting she was spreading her happiness. Well until half way through, when she insisted they went home early. Her mood sombre, but she insisted she was due for her menstrual cycle. Unless... Something happened between Mr. Davis and Rae. Something sinister, and degrading. That son of a bitch! "Joshua. Promise me you won't tell your mother. I want to be the one to speak to her about this. And I will tonight, Ohkay?" Nodding, Joshua leaned into me as my arm draped across his shoulders. My son was hurt and it was all my fault. I didn't help Rae, but I didn't know. If something happened during that ball without my knowledge I don't think i could forgive myself. I pray that the kid was feeding Josh bullshit, but somewhere in the back of my mind I felt like something did happen. The door softly opened to reveal my beautiful daughter and brother, walking through the entrance still unnoticed to Josh and I's presence. Until Ruby looked up and make eye contact with me. "Daddy!" The click of her polished leather shoes echoed the foyer. "Hi princess, did you have fun at school?" "I did! I did! We learnt our 4 times tables today daddy. They so easy, but Mike said that I was just a smarty pants. I told him that my daddy always said I should have my nose within a book, then a boy on a hook" she declared proudly. My glorious daughter reminded me so much of her mother. The light in her eyes shone brightly, just like Rae's. "Well done baby girl. Did you have fun with Uncle Archie?" I asked. Looking towards Archie I smiled, mouthing 'thank you'. I had phoned him the moment I jumped in the car to pick up Josh. He, of course agreed. Our work was close to Ruby's school, plus Archie had informed me that Ben is quite able to pick up Sophie daycare. "Yes we organised a play date for Mommy and Uncle Archie. He said he wants mommy, Joshua and I to come see them. It's going to be fun!" Archie and Rae must have rekindled their relationship after we interrupted her dinner. With Gregory. "That sounds great sweetheart. How about you and Josh go to your rooms for a second whilst I talk to Archie, ohkay". "Ohkay daddy! Come on Josh, I can show you what I did today in art class with Crissy" she pulled on her brother arm in a haste. Finally, when they went to their rooms I turned to my Brother. "What happened with Josh?" he asked, moving towards the love seat next to me. "He got into a fight with John Davis' son today. He punch him when Colton started to talk about Rae and I's relationship". Sighing, I ran my hand through my thick hair. I knew I could trust my brother with my life, so I knew what I was about to tell him will be kept confidential. "What about your relationship?" Quizativley he moved forward. "Apparently she wasn't good enough for me so I left. But that's not all..." "How could a kid say something like that! How would he know what was going on with your family? Hang on there's more?" I told him everything that Josh had just told me, down to what I remembered about the night. I could see the empathy in Archie's eyes. The more I talked, the more my throat constricted. The words left a bitter taste in my mouth, if only I had been there. I could of done something. "Finn you don't know for sure if anything happened that night. John could of been telling a bullshit story to a punch of people. Don't beat yourself up about it". "Archie, you don't understand. After that night Rae started to become slightly distant, I didn't notice it until she left though. She didn't seem like herself, but originally I thought it was because of the kids. Then 6 months later, she fucking left me with divorce papers". "Finn-" "What if this was the reason. She couldn't bare to look at me after I let my work associate molest her!" "You didn't know!" "I should of asked her what was wrong. I should of followed her or something. I can't stop thinking what if..." "Talk to her. Finn, you need to go around and talk to her. What time are you meant to drop Joshua and Ruby back off?" "7.." I breathed. "Its now 4pm, go talk to her now. I'll stay here with the kids and if your not back by 6.30pm then I'll drop them of there. That gives you 2 and a half hours to work out what the fuck happened, Ohkay?" Nodding like a scolded child I got up of the couch. "Are you sure?" I asked. I was unsure about leaving the kids with him, but I needed to talk to Rae immediately. I couldn't wait til i dropped Ruby and Joshua off tonight. "Of course Finn. I'm your brother, I'll do anything for you". "Thank you". I pulled Archie in for a hug, then ran out the door. I hope Rae is ready for me. -- As quickly as I could I drove to Rae's house. When I arrived, I threw the gear into parked and hurried to her front door. After knocking I waited very patiently for a very confused but equally beautiful Rae to open the door. "Finn?.. What are you doing here? Where are the kids?" "We need to talk Rae. Josh and Ruby are fine, they are with Archie" I said. The truth will be revived tonight. What really happened the night she walked away... No more waiting. -- I hope I haven't forgotten anyone! Sorry if I did!! @luly310 @milymargot @eveerez @I88cym @lily-pop-2 @mmfdfanfic @milllott @i-dream-of-emus @arathewallflower @tinakegg @hey1tskat1e

[hughmccabe]

4 Essential SEO Strategies You Need to Focus on This Year “What should I focus on this year?” This is a question that I have been hearing a lot since 2019 kicked off. I’ve been going back and forth on what the right answer to that question is, which is also why this article is being published in March and not January. Already this year, so many new ideas, arguments, and hypotheses have been thrown out into the ether for discussion, and I wanted to see how some of those unfolded before I made the final call on which way to direct people this year. I take this seriously because SEO is such a slow burn. I always want to make sure I steer people in a positive direction based on real-world experience and data. That’s the practical side of me. The other side always wants to throw out-of-the-box ideas out into the world to get folks to start thinking a little bit differently about how they approach organic search within their organizations (which is mainly based on my 15-year gut instinct in the field). Below are what I believe is a balance between those two sides. 1. On-SERP SEO (Or Whatever You Want to Call It) Rand Fishkin gave an interesting talk at BrightonSEO back in September on what he believes is the future of search: “On-SERP SEO.” Fishkin presented some staggering data that shows the decline of mobile and organic clicks and the rise of “no-click” searches. He then released a study about paid and organic clicks and their relation to no-click searches (see blog post here). The data is thought-provoking – but also somewhat disturbing. It shows the general decline of both paid and SEO clicks in favor of users getting their answers on the actual SERP and not your site (with the content Google is appropriating from your site might I add). So that sucks. While I am never a fan of immediately adopting someone else’s ideas until proven over a period of time, it’s really hard to ignore the points and the data the Fishkin has presented. Getting more visibility on the SERPs to gain more real estate is not a new concept, but this is the first time in the history of SEO where someone has put a name to it and made it an actionable practice. Maybe I’m wrong, I don’t really know, and who really cares? The point is that getting creative and thinking differently about how you approach your SEO campaigns is becoming more important when it comes to your presence in the SERPs. Fishkin talks about anything and everything you could do, which unfortunately means that SEO professionals will inevitably try to do all of these things regardless if it makes sense for them – simply because Fishkin suggested it. My take? Try and keep it as simple as possible. Don’t try to boil the ocean. Everyone should be targeting answer boxes (more on that below). If you have brick and mortar locations, spend time in Google My Business, manage your locations, and ensure your NAP information is consistent. If you’re a retail brand, sync up your organic efforts with your paid/PLA keyword to see where you convert well and increase your visibility for your traditional organic listings. Make video content. If you are a publisher, use AMP. If you aren’t a publisher try AMP on your blog/articles. Leverage and control the knowledge graph for your brand. Run a local business? Use Google Posts. Use the Twitter carousel to your advantage. Talk to influencers and get them to promote your brand. If you can’t win organically for bigger keywords, look at what sites are winning for those terms and see if you can buy ads on those sites. You guys get my point. Don’t just think about how your users see your brand on your site, think of how they see you in the SERPs. 2. Write Articles/Blog Posts That Answer Questions & Solve Customer Problems I’ll let the collective sighs and groans dissipate for a moment before I move into this one. Yes, this is not news. But it is so, so important today. Taking the points I made above about the rise of no-click searches, answer boxes are the number 1 culprit for this. Google is appropriating your content into their interface and answering people’s questions without them having to go to your site. That’s the world we live in now. And it’s probably only going to get worse. All that said, it isn’t all doom and gloom. This obvious strategy is one that you should ramp up to prepare for our new future. To prove why you should do this, and that it actually does work and affect the bottom line, I want to talk about a small business I’ve been working with for several years. They developed a blog based on asking and answering questions and saw tremendous results after 12 months. Below you will see a chart that represents a local business in New York City that came to me asking what they could do to increase organic visibility with the hope of bringing in new sales. The goal was traffic and rankings and not revenue at first, that happened to just be a happy byproduct of the effort. We went through everything they could talk about, all of the questions they could answer and to their credit, they dove right in and started creating this content with both images and video content to support. We began this effort in January 2018. Here is how that strategy panned out for them: 4 Essential SEO Strategies You Need to Focus on This Year As you can see above, we saw 160 percent in growth in sessions, 166 percent growth in users, and a 93 percent increase in goal completions due mostly to this effort. Out of all organic sessions driving traffic and revenue, 63 percent of it came from the blog and drove an incremental 300,000 in 2018 for a small business. In 2019 they are already up 10 percent in both sessions and goal completions due to the blog strategy. I’ll take it. Regardless of how large or small your business is, do this. 3. The Technical Health of Your Site In 2018, folks finally realized the technical foundation of your site is important. While many of us in-the-weeds SEO professionals have been preaching this for years (it’s always nice to bask in the warm glow of being right), the best part was being able to have serious conversations around this topic with the majority of customers last year. See Anyone's Analytics Account, in Real Time. You can literally see real-time sales and conversion data for any website, and which campaigns drove that traffic. Start your free trial today. Start Now ADVERTISEMENT Listen to me folks: Regardless of how great your content and brand is, you will never reach your full organic potential if your sites foundation is crap. My advice to everyone is to get a legit auditing tool like DeepCrawl (disclosure: they are a partner, but I’ve been using them forever, so no bias here) and make sure you are monitoring and fixing technical issues on your site. You will perform better. Believe me. Common issues to look out for: Page Speed: Much bigger factor than it used to be. Mobile-Friendliness: This is how Google judges your site now. Duplicate Content/Elements: Don’t compete with yourself. JavaScript/Rendering Issues: If you use JavaScript and have a gut feeling you have indexation issues, you should look into a prerender software or dynamic rendering. Index Bloat: Are you controlling parametered, search result and paginated pages correctly? Check to see how many pages are in the index in Google Search Console and if you can focus your footprint. Google doesn’t care about the quantity of pages in the index, they care about quality. Don’t let them get lost in a fog of random pages on your site. Overbearing Security: Make sure Google isn’t hitting a wall when it’s simply trying to crawl your site. If you run your site through Screaming Frog or DeepCrawl and halfway through it starts throwing 429 errors, you might be a little too stingy on the security. This is another instance where I can go on and on. Just be aware that the crawlability and performance of your site from a technical standpoint has become an increasingly larger factor and should be an ongoing part of your day-to-day SEO strategy. 4. Don’t Obsess over Voice Search If voice search is a “big” part of your 2019 SEO strategy, stop it. Now, you can Google articles that I have written recently and webinars I have hosted which state my belief that voice search was already going to be a much larger thing for search. Sorry, everyone. I was wrong. For now. By now I had expected some type of reporting on voice search at least from Google and we haven’t gotten it. I have customers asking me all the time, “how can I win at voice search?” and the simple truth is, you can’t, or at least you can’t prove to me or anyone that you are winning because there is no way to report on it. I have sat through many presentations over the last year with agencies and consultants who have come up with really great ways for people to say, “this is how you win at voice search”, but the problem is it’s all total bullsh!t because there is no way to prove it. Until we have a universal way or dataset that we all agree on that shows what users are actually searching for on their home assistants and apply some form of MSV/value to that query, it’s all pontification. Yesterday, I was having a conversation with a few folks about this and some really cool and interesting points came up that had been heard at a conference regarding voice search, but one in particular stuck with me: “People can speak 5 times faster than they can write.” That’s a powerful statement because that would lead one to believe that voice search should be 5 times faster than traditional search. Fair statement, no? A counterpoint came up however that actually made even more sense than the previous one: “Yes, but they can’t listen 5 times faster than they can read.” This one really blew my mind because it is so true. When you think about the delivery mechanism of voice search, the logic is totally flawed. Our search bars are confined spaces that keep searches to a certain length (this isn’t something Google has determined, it’s just how people search, short, to the point phrases…most of the time). People who search using voice tend to use a more stream-of-consciousness method, which I don’t think anyone really thought of for this application. This is probably why we haven’t seen any real reporting around it. That and because I truly believe more people are asking their home assistants what the weather is versus how to make an octopus costume as the commercials imply (i.e., most voice “searches” are actually voice “commands”, which is must less valuable to a marketer in my opinion at this juncture). Regardless, the point made above that folks cannot listen five times faster than they can read really resonated with me because when you think about it, it’s much easer to scroll through results visually than it is listening to them read aloud. Think about it. If you are looking for the best Mexican restaurant near you, it’s a lot easier and quicker to scroll through reviews visually than it is to have a voice assistant dictate them to you. Maybe that’s SEO’s reprieve, who knows? The main issue is that voice search is a distraction for most companies right now. Shiny object syndrome is the most widespread plague of the SEO community and this is one of the shiniest objects that has come down the road in recent years. Most sites have a lot of basic things they have to address before they even come near a concept like voice search (see strategies listed above). While voice search will become an important part of search in the next few years, you shouldn’t be focusing on it right now – even if your site is the most SEO-sound site on the web. Focus on making your site technically sound, create content that helps your customers, and focus maybe 5 percent of your efforts on something like voice search. At the end of the day, you can prove the effectiveness of the first two to your bosses while you can’t prove you’re winning at voice search to anyone. So if you have made that one of your Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) this year, you’re screwed. Try Something New This Year Everything above is approachable to anyone with a website. There are no excuses to not try some new things. 2019 is going to be a big year for search experts who approach the practice with new ideas and passion. Will you be one of them? Resource: https://ift.tt/2XHpo0K https://ift.tt/2SPTkUM

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Best Rated Pillows in 2018 Overall

Updated January 10th, 2018 – We have updated our list of top picks and changed the buyer’s guide to better represent our latest finding and research. 

What is the world’s most comfortable pillow? Is it made of memory foam, latex or natural materials such as cotton or down feathers? Should it have low or high loft and is it suitable for all sleeping positions?

If you are asking yourself these questions, you are not alone.

In the last 12 months, we’ve spent well over $2,000 trying to find the perfect pillow for every sleeper preference, medical conditions, and needs. We researched different materials and types to present pros and cons of each, so you can decide without even visiting a store.

I’m sure that you will find an ideal bed pillow (and more) in this post in less than 10 minutes.

And I’ll mention my favorite product that I’m sleeping on right now.

Let’s start.

9 Top Rated Pillows Comparison

IMAGEPRODUCT NAMETYPEPOSITIONLOFT Nest Bedding Easy BreatherMemory Foam or LatexAnyAdjustable Coop Home GoodsMemory FoamAnyAdjustable PurpleLatex-Like PolymerAnyAdjustable MaloufTalalay LatexAnyLow or High Snuggle-Pedic Ultra-Luxury BambooShredded Memory FoamAnyAdjustable ComfyComfyBuckwheatAnyAdjustable eLuxurySupply (Hotel White Goose)Down FeatherBack or SideHigh Naturepedic Organic Cotton/PLA PillowOrganic CottonAnyAdjustable eLuxurySupply (Overfilled Down Alternative) Down AlternativeBack or SideHigh

Nest Bedding Easy Breather

Overview:

Two Material Choices (Latex or Foam)

Adjustable Loft

Great Cooling and Hug

No Smell or Off-Gassing

Made in the USA

Check Current Pricing

Nest Bedding introduced new and revamped versions of their Easy Breather pillows recently. It comes with two material choices:

Noodle natural latex – Great moldability, classic feel, and fantastic cooling. It comes with an organic cotton cover.

Shredded memory foam – Slower response time, nice hug and contouring. Sleeps a bit hotter but provides better pressure relief.

With both versions, you can adjust the height to your preference. There is no smell and off-gassing at all, and it’s made in the United States. Easy Breather is my personal favorite, even though I tested more than 30 different pillows this year.

Coop Home Goods

Overview:

Affordable Price Range

Machine Washable Bamboo Cover

Soft and Supportive

Hypoallergenic

Made in the USA

Check Price on Amazon

If you are looking for an affordable yet fantastic shredded foam pillow this product is spot on for you. Like other products with this type of filling, you can adjust it to your liking and almost flatten it completely if you prefer to sleep on your stomach.

The cover is a machine washable bamboo/polyester blend designed to regulate body temperature. It also has a nice and soft feel to it.

Tip: If the pillow is going flat, just put it in the dryer for 10 minutes, and it will be nice and fluffy again.

It comes with 30 day trial period, a five-year warranty and two sizes (Queen and King).

With thousands of reviews on Amazon, there is hardly any room for mistake. I’m sure you will enjoy it as much as I did during the testing period.

Purple

Overview:

Advanced Hyper-Elastic Material

Responsive and Cool

Inflatable Adjustable Loft

Hypoallergenic

USA based company

Check Price on Amazon

If you are familiar with Purple mattress technology, you will instantly notice the same grid with their pillow. The Hyper-Elastic polymer creates a very cool surface with good support, response and air circulation. It perfectly conforms to head and neck without losing shape.

It comes with an inflatable “booster” so you can adjust the height (loft). It can be easily removed if needed. The cover is constructed from polyester, bamboo viscose and spandex. It’s 100% machine washable, so that’s a huge plus.

You will love Purple pillow if you:

Are a back or side sleeper

Want something that’s not foam or feathers

Want exceptional cooling

Want a supportive pillow that conforms well

Malouf (Talalay Latex)

Overview:

100% Natural Talalay Latex

Fantastic Airflow and Cooling

Soft Machine Washable Bamboo Cover

Exceptional Head and Neck Support

Great Value

USA based company

Check Price on Amazon

Malouf is a premium manufacturer, and their latex pillow caught our attention around the beginning of the year. It’s built from 100% Talalay latex without any synthetic additives. It’s constructed with larger and smaller holes to conform to your neck and head perfectly and to provide better than average support. This design also helps with cooling, breathability, and airflow.

The cover is machine washable and made from a blend of rayon from bamboo and polyester. It feels very soft to touch.

This particular model comes with several firmness levels (plush, medium, firm) and loft heights (low, medium, high). This means it will fit any sleeper style.

If you want a customizable latex pillow at a fantastic value that cradles your head and provides above average support, you should consider Malouf.

Snuggle-Pedic Ultra-Luxury Bamboo

Overview:

Certipur Certified Foam

Hypoallergenic and Dust Mite resistant

Organic Bamboo cover

Multiple Sizes

Made in the United States

Click to See Latest Pricing

This particular option caught our attention due to fantastic reviews on Amazon. And I must say, it’s better than higher priced options on the market. The pillow itself is filled with shredded memory foam so you can easily adjust it and find the perfect height. The cover is made from “Kool-Flow” material as they call it and it’s intended to help with breathability and heat distribution.

Another interesting feature is that you can wash entire pillow in machine washer, but it’s difficult to dry, especially during winter. You may also need to fluff it once in a while to get it back into original shape.

Overall, if you need a pillow with organic materials and filled with shredded foam, there aren’t many options that can beat Snuggle-Pedic at this price range.

ComfyComfy (Buckwheat)

Overview:

Re-Distribute and Adjust the Loft

Ideal for Back and Side sleepers

Good breathability

Organic Cotton Cover

USA Grown Buckwheat

Click to See Latest Pricing

If you want to try something new, I would recommend this 100% USA grown buckwheat pillow from ComfyComfy (or ComfySleep). This type and material allow for much better cooling and airflow since buckwheat husks do not retain heat. But it also makes it a bit harder and not suitable for stomach sleepers, although for back and side sleeping it’s perfect and cradles to head and neck nicely. Of course, you can re-distribute the husks and adjust the loft however you like.

This model comes with an organic cotton cover. It provides a soft surface, and it’s machine washable.

The only downside I see is that active sleepers, this type creates noise which your partner won’t like.

But, for anyone who would like to try something different and completely natural and organic, try Comfy, it’s one of the best out there.

eLuxurySupply (Goose Down)

Overview:

Very soft feel

Durable

Machine washable and dryer friendly

Multiple Sizes

The USA made materials

Click to See Latest Pricing

I’ve slept on down pillows for most of my life, and I have to say nothing comes close to this model from eLuxurySupply. When you get your hands on it, you will notice it’s lightweight (2.7 pounds) and very soft. It has medium/high loft but it’s fluffy enough to mold to your head, and it will suit almost anyone. The cover is made from 100% cotton and is machine washable and dryer friendly, so maintenance is that much easier.

For anyone who wants a traditional down feel and a very soft pillow with lots of hug that’s also durable and has long lifespan, you won’t find any better than this.

Naturepedic Organic Cotton

Overview:

100% organic materials

Balanced Feel

Easy to clean

No Flame Retardants

The USA made components

Click to See Latest Pricing

Naturepedic builds all their products with organic and safe materials, and they do it so well. This particular one is made 100% from cotton grown in the US without any chemicals or flame retardants. It comes in three sizes and a toddler and flat version. It has a very balanced feel to it, not too firm or soft.

In conclusion, if you want a homegrown organic pillow that’s easy to clean, has no smell or artificial dyes and chemicals and has a balanced feel to it, you won’t be disappointed with Naturepedic.

eLuxurySupply Down Alternative

Overview:

Lightweight Polyester fill

Similar Feel to Traditional Down

Good Value

Hypoallergenic

Made in the USA

Click to See Latest Pricing

The Revoloft pillow is filled with lightweight microfiber fill (polyester), and it’s designed to mimic the feel of traditional down feather products. This makes it 100% hypoallergenic, unlike feathers who collect more dust mites and can cause allergies themselves. This type of polyester also means it’s more durable than other “alternative” types. The cover is very basic although it has a nice and soft feel to it. The loft is too high for stomach sleeping, and it’s more suited for back/side sleepers.

In the end, it’s a budget-friendly option with a medium-high loft that’s also hypoallergenic. There is no better down alternative pillow than this.

A Note on Pillow Sizes

Let’s discuss different sizes you will encounter when shopping for a new pillow. It wouldn’t make sense to purchase a King size for a toddler bed, right? Let’s take a look at these standard dimensions, but have in mind that some manufacturers have their own custom sizes.

NameSize Standard20" x 26" Super Standard20" x 28" Queen20" x 30" King20" x 36" Euro 26" x 26" 24" x 24" 22" x 22" 20" x 20" 18" x 18" 16" x 16" Body54" x 20" 48" x 20" Toddler14" x 20"

Best by Material and Type

Material plays an important role when it comes to comfort, feel and cooling properties of your pillow. There is no single “best” type. Different sleeping preferences and needs will require different materials and structure. First, let’s take a look at various foams and then, we will take a look at natural and organic options.

Different Types of Foam

Polyurethane, latex and memory foam have become some of the most popular materials in the last 15 years or so. All of them offer fantastic support, contouring as well as cooling these days with higher-end products. They come in three most common shapes that have different properties.

Shredded – The most important feature is that these pillows are adjustable and you can change the loft height until you are satisfied. It’s also much more breathable than molded. Recommended for stomach sleepers.

Molded – Offers great contouring and support and we recommend it for most people suffering from back and neck pain.

Noodle – Similar to shredded foam when it comes to breathability, and you can also adjust it. Good for all sleeping positions.

Memory Foam

For a reason, this material has become the favorite among people suffering from back or neck pain. It has a slower response time and good “hug” which means it will quickly contour to your neck and head, providing support where it’s most needed. If I had to list one negative aspect, it’s that it retains heat and sleeps hotter than other materials. But, new and improved design with gel on top can solve this problem quickly.

You will usually find these products as shredded, molded or noodle foam (or sometimes a mix).

Pros:

Pressure relief

Contouring

Cons:

Sleeps hot

Stronger smell

Our Top Picks:

Coop Home Goods Pillow

Nest Bedding Easy Breather

Learn more about memory foam pillows in our complete buyer’s guide.

Latex

You will encounter two types, natural and synthetic latex (or a blend of these two). Natural latex is extracted from tree sap and is one of the most eco-friendly materials you can find. A blend is also a great option if you are looking for less expensive products, and it still retains many qualities like hypoallergenic properties. Even though latex pillows cost more, fantastic cooling, durability and natural materials make it worthwhile.

Pros:

Natural

Eco-Friendly

Great Cooling

Cons:

More Expensive

Less hug and contouring

Our Picks:

Malouf Z Talalay Latex

NaturePedic Organic

Polyurethane Foam

If you opt for polyfoam pillows, you will notice a more balanced feel compared to memory or latex foam. It’s also the least expensive of the three. It doesn’t mean it’s the worst. It’s cooler than memory foam but still not as much as latex.

One thing to note is that it usually has a strong smell and can be less durable. But, higher tier custom poly-foam based products offer all of the benefits with none of the cons, like our selected product for this category.

Pros:

Less Expensive (in general)

Balanced feel

Good cooling

Cons:

Odor (with lower tier products)

We recommend: Bear Pillow (High-End, custom foam pillow designed for athletes and active people)

Other (Alternative) Types

Alternative pillows are created to provide a similar feel and features of natural materials at a much lower price. Obviously, the biggest downside is that these won’t last as long.

Down Alternative

Because many people suffer from down allergies, manufacturers created an alternative that provides the same feed, but they used cotton or polyester as main fill. If you are looking for better cooling, in some cases alternative pillows can retain less heat than natural down, providing much cooler sleep experience.

If you love that soft down feel, but you suffer from allergies, try one of these, and you will love it.

Pros:

Less expensive

Hypoallergenic

Cons:

Shorter Lifespan

Not as natural

We Recommend:

The Duck And Goose Co

Acanva

Polyester

Polyester provides a more traditional feel like cotton does. They have good cooling and are pretty inexpensive, but a big downside is that they have the lowest lifespan of all types. You will notice that it flattens easily and can be somewhat noisy. With all this being said, we do not recommend buying polyester products since there are many other natural options you can buy that provide a similar feel for the same amount of money.

Recommended Natural and Organic Pillow Types

Something worth noting is that organic pillows are always natural, but natural doesn’t always mean it’s organic. Let’s take a look at these examples:

Wool, cotton, natural latex and down feathers are all extracted from plants or animals, meaning these materials are natural.

Organic products must be certified. It means the whole manufacturing process and materials used do not contain pesticides or dangerous chemicals. Must have for people suffering from allergies.

Let’s take a look at different types and natural materials used as pillow filling.

Down Feather

For our readers who are a bit older, or if you have an elderly family member, you will know all about this type. These pillows are made from down feathers of ducks, geese or swans. It can be a mix of down (soft and fine feathers found under harder outside layer) and denser feathers if you want a firmer feel.

It’s typical for down pillows to flatten after some time, that’s why they have greater loft at first. And you have to dry clean them, that’s somewhat a disadvantage. If you tend to sleep hot, down is good until it flattens, then it becomes much hotter.

Pros:

Natural

Nice and Soft feel

Good breathability

Cons:

Difficult maintenance and cleaning

More expensive

Some people have down allergies

#1 Choice: eLuxury Goose Down Pillow (See all recommendations)

Buckwheat

These pillows are packed with dense buckwheat hulls and are a fantastic choice for cooling due to low heat retention. The biggest downside is that the hulls can be quite noisy and unresponsive to movement, so it’s not good if you like to change your position a lot during the night. One of the biggest advantages is that it’s hypoallergenic and it’s suitable for anyone suffering from allergies.

Have in mind that you cannot machine wash the hulls. You can either replace them or put them in the sun for a few hours.

Pros:

Hypoallergenic

Great Cooling

Natural and healthy material

Cons:

Difficult to clean

Noisy

Low response

#1 Choice: ComfyComfy Buckwheat pillow

Cotton

Cotton is a natural material and can manufacture as organic. It’s also hypoallergenic and has great breathability and cooling. You will find many products with an affordable price tag. With all these above mentions pros, we have to mention that cotton pillows have a shorter lifespan and tend to flatten over time. If you choose a suitable loft, you can use it for any position.

Pros:

Lower Price

Breathable

Sleeps Cool

Cons:

Shorter Lifespan

May clump and flatten easily

Our Pick: Naturepedic Organic Cotton/PLA Pillow

Top Choices by Sleeping Position

We all have different sleeping preferences. Some of us like to sleep on the stomach while some prefer side or back. When it comes to your pillow choice, the position will play a major role. For example, loft, density, and type play a significant role in overall comfort and experience.

If you are not familiar what loft is, it’s the height of the pillow when it’s on a flat surface without any additional pressure applied. It’s useful to determine which type of sleeper you are and choose according to that.

Side Sleepers

If you are sleeping on your side, you will want to have an adjustable loft just because you can set the height to your preference. This will allow perfect neck and spine alignment. As far as materials, shredded foam (memory or latex) would be a much better choice because of their pressure point relief properties. But, if you want to go natural, you can pick goose down pillow and adjust it to your liking.

Our Recommendations:

Coop Home Goods

Easy Breather Pillow

Learn more about our top pillow choices for side sleepers if this is your preferred position.

Back Sleepers

Keeping your neck and spine in healthy alignment is a priority for any back sleeper. You don’t want your head raised too much (even though some of us prefer that). Low or Medium is better than high loft. Heavier sleepers might want to opt for couple degrees higher to compensate for increased head and shoulder weight.

Want to learn more? 7 Highest Rated Pillows for Back Sleepers for 2018

Stomach Sleepers

If you are sleeping on your stomach, you will require the least amount of loft. You can even sleep without a pillow if that’s what you prefer. The key here is that your head remains in alignment and that it’s not raised too high. If you combine high loft with a mattress with soft mattress, you will most likely suffer from back or neck pain in the long run.

Again, heavier people can opt for medium loft to compensate but you should never go for high.

Guide: Our Recommended Stomach Sleeper Pillows

Cooling Pillows

In the last few years, quality cooling pillows have become very popular. I’m emphasizing “quality” because many companies advertise their products as “cool,” but in reality, they are not.

Ok, but how to choose the right product, material, and type? Let’s take a look at our graph here and see the cooling properties of different materials.

Here are three fantastic choices that utilize different technologies to achieve cool feel.

Classic Brands – A layer of gel is applied on top, providing better heat distribution.

Carboncool Pillow – Phase Change Covers help regulate the temperature along with aerated foam.

Nest Bedding Active X – Filled with Energex foam which does not retain heat. It feels like a mix of latex and memory foam and also has phase change fabric for additional cooling properties.

Best by Specific Medical Condition or Needs

If you suffer from neck, pack or shoulder pain or even more chronic issues like snoring and sleep apnea, your pillow can be one of the causes and it can play an important role in minimizing the symptoms. Let’s take a look at various medical conditions and needs and how to choose a great pillow based on that.

Allergies

Allergic reactions during sleep can often be caused by incorrect pillow type. Materials such as down feathers collect more mites and some people are directly allergic to it. On the other hand, latex, buckwheat, cotton and high-quality memory foam are hypoallergenic and rarely cause allergies.

Our Tip: If you love that soft down feel, you can buy an alternative (usually made from cotton) and make sure that you place the pillow outside in the sun to kill off any mites.

Snoring

Snoring, as you know can be a big problem for your partner. But, there is a solution for that, and it’s not some complicated machine or a mouthpiece. In most cases of light snoring, it’s just a matter of finding the right pillow and head elevation.

If you are a side sleeper, you will rarely snore anyway, so this is a back sleeper problem most of the time. Slightly elevating your head is good, but it can cause neck pain in the long run. This is why we want memory foam more than any other type for this, to help your neck and head with pressure relief while it still helps with snoring.

Top Picks: 

InteVision Foam Wedge

LANGRIA Anti Snore

Read more: Mattresses to Ease Your Nighttime Snoring

Neck Pain

One of the most common causes of neck pain is your mattress and old or improper pillows. Although there could be many underlying conditions, so it’s advised that you consult a doctor before making any decision. Many people make a mistake and do not consider their preferred sleeping position and weight.

Stomach sleepers require lower loft (almost flat) so that your neck doesn’t get curved.

Side sleepers need more contouring from the base of the neck to the ear (slightly heightened)

Back sleepers require medium loft with contouring toward the spine.

As for types, Memory foam works wonders when it comes to pressure relief but if you prefer natural materials go for latex or down (if you are not allergic).

Our Guide: The 10 Best Rated Cervical Pillows for Neck Pain

Migraines

If you ever suffered from migraines, you know how bad it can get. Not only that it can up to 72 hours, but it can severely impact your ability to perform even the simplest tasks. It’s caused by a spasm of the main artery that supplies the brain with blood. When it contracts, it causes this familiar pain, pulsing, and nausea.

One of indirect migraine causes is incorrect sleeping posture. You can easily correct this with a proper pillow to align your spine and neck naturally and to prevent any further nerve irritation.

Recommendations: Any memory foam, latex or buckwheat pillow with good cooling properties that keeps your spine and neck naturally aligned.

Sleep Apnea

Pillows designed to help with obstructive sleep apnea force you to sleep on your side or stomach while providing enough head and neck support. As some of you may already know, sleeping on your back is not recommended for this condition as it can increase the number and occurrence of apnea episodes.

We recommend: EnduriMed CPAP Pillow

With memory foam construction it allows fantastic contouring while its indentations and shape allow for CPAP machines to remain in place without discomfort.

Toddlers

You must be wondering why toddlers can’t sleep on regular pillows? It’s because a child doesn’t have the same neck and head proportions like a fully grown adult. There are several factors to keep in mind before choosing a toddler pillow.

Allergies – Many babies suffer from allergic reactions even though we don’t know it yet. If you want to be extra safe, choose a hypoallergenic material and cover.

Firmness – You don’t want to buy a very soft product since it increases the risk of suffocation. Go with medium firm options, most kids love it, and it’s safe.

Cover – Here, you may go organic if you prefer covers without dyes and harmful chemicals. Cotton or polyester blend is a good choice.

Fill Material – Memory foam is one of the most popular choices these days, but if your kid is not allergic, you can opt for a firmer down feather product.

Our #1 Pick: Little One’s Pillow

Pregnancy

Pregnancy pillows are a special type, shaped as U or C letter to allow maximum comfort during sleep without the added pressure to the stomach. Many moms choose to use it after giving birth. Let’s take a look at a few buying considerations:

Does it have a washable cover? – Most higher-end products on the market will have machine washable covers. You can imagine the stress of trying to clean it during winter days.

Size – If you are petite and choose a bigger pillow, you will not have the full comfort and experience.

Filling – If you are not allergic to down than feathers are a perfect material for body pillows. Memory foam is an option too if you require a bit more hug and contouring.

Wondering what our choice is? It’s Leachco Snoogle.

In Conclusion

As you can see, there is no such thing as the “best pillow” that will suit everyone in any situation. We all have different needs, and in the end, it’s down to our personal preference. Different fill and cover materials have different cooling, firmness and comfort properties.

I hope that this roundup helped you understand which are the ultimate bed pillow brands and products you can buy from every category and for specific medical needs. If you need any help or you would like us to review a certain product, feel free to drop a comment or contact us.

Back To The Comparison Table

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Top 10 Highest Rated Pillows Reviewed – The Ultimate Buyer’s Guide for 2017

What is the world’s most comfortable pillow? Is it made of memory foam, latex or natural materials such as cotton or down feathers? Should it have low or high loft and is it suitable for all sleeping positions?

If you are asking yourself these questions, you are not alone.

In the last 12 months, we’ve spent well over $2,000 trying to find the perfect pillow for every sleeper preference, medical conditions, and needs. We researched different materials and types to present pros and cons of each, so you can decide without even visiting a store.

I’m sure that you will find an ideal bed pillow (and more) in this post in less than 10 minutes.

And I’ll mention my favorite product that I’m sleeping on right now.

Let’s start.

10 Top Rated Pillows Comparison

IMAGEPRODUCT NAMETYPEPOSITIONLOFT Nest Bedding Memory Foam or LatexAnyAdjustable Coop Home GoodsMemory FoamAnyAdjustable PurpleLatex-Like PolymerAnyAdjustable MaloufTalalay LatexAnyLow or High Bear PillowPoly FoamAnyLow/Medium Snuggle-Pedic Ultra-Luxury BambooShredded Memory FoamAnyAdjustable ComfyComfyBuckwheatAnyAdjustable eLuxurySupplyDown FeatherBack or SideHigh Naturepedic Organic Cotton/PLA PillowOrganic CottonAnyAdjustable eLuxurySupply Down AlternativeBack or SideHigh

Nest Bedding Easy Breather

Overview:

Two Material Choices (Latex or Foam)

Adjustable Loft

Great Cooling and Hug

No Smell or Off-Gassing

Made in the USA

Check Current Pricing

Nest Bedding introduced new and revamped versions of their Easy Breather pillows recently. It comes with two material choices:

Noodle natural latex – Great moldability, classic feel, and fantastic cooling. It comes with an organic cotton cover.

Shredded memory foam – Slower response time, nice hug and contouring. Sleeps a bit hotter but provides better pressure relief.

With both versions, you can adjust the height to your preference. There is no smell and off-gassing at all, and it’s made in the United States. Easy Breather is my personal favorite, even though I tested more than 30 different pillows this year.

Coop Home Goods

Overview:

Affordable Price Range

Machine Washable Bamboo Cover

Soft and Supportive

Hypoallergenic

Made in the USA

Check Price on Amazon

If you are looking for an affordable yet fantastic shredded foam pillow this product is spot on for you. Like other products with this type of filling, you can adjust it to your liking and almost flatten it completely if you prefer to sleep on your stomach.

The cover is a machine washable bamboo/polyester blend designed to regulate body temperature. It also has a nice and soft feel to it.

Tip: If the pillow is going flat, just put it in the dryer for 10 minutes, and it will be nice and fluffy again.

It comes with 30 day trial period, a five-year warranty and two sizes (Queen and King).

With thousands of reviews on Amazon, there is hardly any room for mistake. I’m sure you will enjoy it as much as I did during the testing period.

Purple

Overview:

Advanced Hyper-Elastic Material

Responsive and Cool

Inflatable Adjustable Loft

Hypoallergenic

USA based company

Check Price on Amazon

If you are familiar with Purple mattress technology, you will instantly notice the same grid with their pillow. The Hyper-Elastic polymer creates a very cool surface with good support, response and air circulation. It perfectly conforms to head and neck without losing shape.

It comes with an inflatable “booster” so you can adjust the height (loft). It can be easily removed if needed. The cover is constructed from polyester, bamboo viscose and spandex. It’s 100% machine washable, so that’s a huge plus.

You will love Purple pillow if you:

Are a back or side sleeper

Want something that’s not foam or feathers

Want exceptional cooling

Want a supportive pillow that conforms well

Malouf (Talalay Latex)

Overview:

100% Natural Talalay Latex

Fantastic Airflow and Cooling

Soft Machine Washable Bamboo Cover

Exceptional Head and Neck Support

Great Value

USA based company

Check Price on Amazon

Malouf is a premium manufacturer, and their latex pillow caught our attention around the beginning of the year. It’s built from 100% Talalay latex without any synthetic additives. It’s constructed with larger and smaller holes to conform to your neck and head perfectly and to provide better than average support. This design also helps with cooling, breathability, and airflow.

The cover is machine washable and made from a blend of rayon from bamboo and polyester. It feels very soft to touch.

This particular model comes with several firmness levels (plush, medium, firm) and loft heights (low, medium, high). This means it will fit any sleeper style.

If you want a customizable latex pillow at a fantastic value that cradles your head and provides above average support, you should consider Malouf.

Bear Pillow

Overview:

Custom Hybrid Foam Construction

Sleeps very cool

Good for any sleeper type

Breathable cover

Made in the United States

Bear mattress is one of our favorite manufacturers. Bear Pillow is created using LOFT-X hybrid foam that contours to head and spine perfectly. It’s a poly foam, but it has all the qualities of memory foam and latex with almost no downsides. The foam itself is covered with cotton fabric that protects it from dirt and allergens. It’s not intended to be removed so you cannot wash it.

The cover uses “double ice” technology and side mesh panels provide much cooler sleep experience.

Overall, Bear created an excellent pillow that most people will love, no matter which position you prefer. It’s comfortable, sleeps cool and has all the qualities with no downsides of other foam types.

Snuggle-Pedic Ultra-Luxury Bamboo

Overview:

Certipur Certified Foam

Hypoallergenic and Dust Mite resistant

Organic Bamboo cover

Multiple Sizes

Made in the United States

Click to See Latest Pricing

This particular option caught our attention due to fantastic reviews on Amazon. And I must say, it’s better than higher priced options on the market. The pillow itself is filled with shredded memory foam so you can easily adjust it and find the perfect height. The cover is made from “Kool-Flow” material as they call it and it’s intended to help with breathability and heat distribution.

Another interesting feature is that you can wash entire pillow in machine washer, but it’s difficult to dry, especially during winter. You may also need to fluff it once in a while to get it back into original shape.

Overall, if you need a pillow with organic materials and filled with shredded foam, there aren’t many options that can beat Snuggle-Pedic at this price range.

ComfyComfy (Buckwheat)

Overview:

Re-Distribute and Adjust the Loft

Ideal for Back and Side sleepers

Good breathability

Organic Cotton Cover

USA Grown Buckwheat

Click to See Latest Pricing

If you want to try something new, I would recommend this 100% USA grown buckwheat pillow from ComfyComfy (or ComfySleep). This type and material allow for much better cooling and airflow since buckwheat husks do not retain heat. But it also makes it a bit harder and not suitable for stomach sleepers, although for back and side sleeping it’s perfect and cradles to head and neck nicely. Of course, you can re-distribute the husks and adjust the loft however you like.

This model comes with an organic cotton cover. It provides a soft surface, and it’s machine washable.

The only downside I see is that active sleepers, this type creates noise which your partner won’t like.

But, for anyone who would like to try something different and completely natural and organic, try Comfy, it’s one of the best out there.

eLuxurySupply (Goose Down)

Overview:

Very soft feel

Durable

Machine washable and dryer friendly

Multiple Sizes

The USA made materials

Click to See Latest Pricing

I’ve slept on down pillows for most of my life, and I have to say nothing comes close to this model from eLuxurySupply. When you get your hands on it, you will notice it’s lightweight (2.7 pounds) and very soft. It has medium/high loft but it’s fluffy enough to mold to your head, and it will suit almost anyone. The cover is made from 100% cotton and is machine washable and dryer friendly, so maintenance is that much easier.

For anyone who wants a traditional down feel and a very soft pillow with lots of hug that’s also durable and has long lifespan, you won’t find any better than this.

Naturepedic Organic Cotton

Overview:

100% organic materials

Balanced Feel

Easy to clean

No Flame Retardants

The USA made components

Click to See Latest Pricing

Naturepedic builds all their products with organic and safe materials, and they do it so well. This particular one is made 100% from cotton grown in the US without any chemicals or flame retardants. It comes in three sizes and a toddler and flat version. It has a very balanced feel to it, not too firm or soft.

In conclusion, if you want a homegrown organic pillow that’s easy to clean, has no smell or artificial dyes and chemicals and has a balanced feel to it, you won’t be disappointed with Naturepedic.

eLuxurySupply Down Alternative

Overview:

Lightweight Polyester fill

Similar Feel to Traditional Down

Good Value

Hypoallergenic

Made in the USA

Click to See Latest Pricing

The Revoloft pillow is filled with lightweight microfiber fill (polyester), and it’s designed to mimic the feel of traditional down feather products. This makes it 100% hypoallergenic, unlike feathers who collect more dust mites and can cause allergies themselves. This type of polyester also means it’s more durable than other “alternative” types. The cover is very basic although it has a nice and soft feel to it. The loft is too high for stomach sleeping, and it’s more suited for back/side sleepers.

In the end, it’s a budget-friendly option with a medium-high loft that’s also hypoallergenic. There is no better down alternative pillow than this.

A Note on Pillow Sizes

Let’s discuss different sizes you will encounter when shopping for a new pillow. It wouldn’t make sense to purchase a King size for a toddler bed, right? Let’s take a look at these standard dimensions, but have in mind that some manufacturers have their own custom sizes.

NameSize Standard20" x 26" Super Standard20" x 28" Queen20" x 30" King20" x 36" Euro 26" x 26" 24" x 24" 22" x 22" 20" x 20" 18" x 18" 16" x 16" Body54" x 20" 48" x 20" Toddler14" x 20"

Best by Material and Type

Material plays an important role when it comes to comfort, feel and cooling properties of your pillow. There is no single “best” type. Different sleeping preferences and needs will require different materials and structure. First, let’s take a look at various foams and then, we will take a look at natural and organic options.

Different Types of Foam

Polyurethane, latex and memory foam have become some of the most popular materials in the last 15 years or so. All of them offer fantastic support, contouring as well as cooling these days with higher-end products. They come in three most common shapes that have different properties.

Shredded – The most important feature is that these pillows are adjustable and you can change the loft height until you are satisfied. It’s also much more breathable than molded. Recommended for stomach sleepers.

Molded – Offers great contouring and support and we recommend it for most people suffering from back and neck pain.

Noodle – Similar to shredded foam when it comes to breathability, and you can also adjust it. Good for all sleeping positions.

Memory Foam

For a reason, this material has become the favorite among people suffering from back or neck pain. It has a slower response time and good “hug” which means it will quickly contour to your neck and head, providing support where it’s most needed. If I had to list one negative aspect, it’s that it retains heat and sleeps hotter than other materials. But, new and improved design with gel on top can solve this problem quickly.

You will usually find these products as shredded, molded or noodle foam (or sometimes a mix).

Pros:

Pressure relief

Contouring

Cons:

Sleeps hot

Stronger smell

Our Top Picks:

Coop Home Goods Pillow

Nest Bedding Easy Breather

Learn more about memory foam pillows in our complete buyer’s guide.

Latex

You will encounter two types, natural and synthetic latex (or a blend of these two). Natural latex is extracted from tree sap and is one of the most eco-friendly materials you can find. A blend is also a great option if you are looking for less expensive products, and it still retains many qualities like hypoallergenic properties. Even though latex pillows cost more, fantastic cooling, durability and natural materials make it worthwhile.

Pros:

Natural

Eco-Friendly

Great Cooling

Cons:

More Expensive

Less hug and contouring

Our Picks:

Malouf Z Talalay Latex

NaturePedic Organic

Polyurethane Foam

If you opt for polyfoam pillows, you will notice a more balanced feel compared to memory or latex foam. It’s also the least expensive of the three. It doesn’t mean it’s the worst. It’s cooler than memory foam but still not as much as latex.

One thing to note is that it usually has a strong smell and can be less durable. But, higher tier custom poly-foam based products offer all of the benefits with none of the cons, like our selected product for this category.

Pros:

Less Expensive (in general)

Balanced feel

Good cooling

Cons:

Odor (with lower tier products)

We recommend: Bear Pillow (High-End, custom foam pillow designed for athletes and active people)

Other (Alternative) Types

Alternative pillows are created to provide a similar feel and features of natural materials at a much lower price. Obviously, the biggest downside is that these won’t last as long.

Down Alternative

Because many people suffer from down allergies, manufacturers created an alternative that provides the same feed, but they used cotton or polyester as main fill. If you are looking for better cooling, in some cases alternative pillows can retain less heat than natural down, providing much cooler sleep experience.

If you love that soft down feel, but you suffer from allergies, try one of these, and you will love it.

Pros:

Less expensive

Hypoallergenic

Cons:

Shorter Lifespan

Not as natural

We Recommend:

The Duck And Goose Co

Acanva

Polyester

Polyester provides a more traditional feel like cotton does. They have good cooling and are pretty inexpensive, but a big downside is that they have the lowest lifespan of all types. You will notice that it flattens easily and can be somewhat noisy. With all this being said, we do not recommend buying polyester products since there are many other natural options you can buy that provide a similar feel for the same amount of money.

Recommended Natural and Organic Pillow Types

Something worth noting is that organic pillows are always natural, but natural doesn’t always mean it’s organic. Let’s take a look at these examples:

Wool, cotton, natural latex and down feathers are all extracted from plants or animals, meaning these materials are natural.

Organic products must be certified. It means the whole manufacturing process and materials used do not contain pesticides or dangerous chemicals. Must have for people suffering from allergies.

Let’s take a look at different types and natural materials used as pillow filling.

Down Feather

For our readers who are a bit older, or if you have an elderly family member, you will know all about this type. These pillows are made from down feathers of ducks, geese or swans. It can be a mix of down (soft and fine feathers found under harder outside layer) and denser feathers if you want a firmer feel.

It’s typical for down pillows to flatten after some time, that’s why they have greater loft at first. And you have to dry clean them, that’s somewhat a disadvantage. If you tend to sleep hot, down is good until it flattens, then it becomes much hotter.

Pros:

Natural

Nice and Soft feel

Good breathability

Cons:

Difficult maintenance and cleaning

More expensive

Some people have down allergies

#1 Choice: eLuxury Goose Down Pillow

Buckwheat

These pillows are packed with dense buckwheat hulls and are a fantastic choice for cooling due to low heat retention. The biggest downside is that the hulls can be quite noisy and unresponsive to movement, so it’s not good if you like to change your position a lot during the night. One of the biggest advantages is that it’s hypoallergenic and it’s suitable for anyone suffering from allergies.

Have in mind that you cannot machine wash the hulls. You can either replace them or put them in the sun for a few hours.

Pros:

Hypoallergenic

Great Cooling

Natural and healthy material

Cons:

Difficult to clean

Noisy

Low response

#1 Choice: ComfyComfy Buckwheat pillow

Cotton

Cotton is a natural material and can manufacture as organic. It’s also hypoallergenic and has great breathability and cooling. You will find many products with an affordable price tag. With all these above mentions pros, we have to mention that cotton pillows have a shorter lifespan and tend to flatten over time. If you choose a suitable loft, you can use it for any position.

Pros:

Lower Price

Breathable

Sleeps Cool

Cons:

Shorter Lifespan

May clump and flatten easily

Our Pick: Naturepedic Organic Cotton/PLA Pillow

Top Choices by Sleeping Position

We all have different sleeping preferences. Some of us like to sleep on the stomach while some prefer side or back. When it comes to your pillow choice, the position will play a major role. For example, loft, density, and type play a significant role in overall comfort and experience.

If you are not familiar what loft is, it’s the height of the pillow when it’s on a flat surface without any additional pressure applied. It’s useful to determine which type of sleeper you are and choose according to that.

Side Sleepers

If you are sleeping on your side, you will want to have an adjustable loft just because you can set the height to your preference. This will allow perfect neck and spine alignment. As far as materials, shredded foam (memory or latex) would be a much better choice because of their pressure point relief properties. But, if you want to go natural, you can pick goose down pillow and adjust it to your liking.

Our Recommendations:

Coop Home Goods

Easy Breather Pillow

Learn more about our top pillow choices for side sleepers if this is your preferred position.

Back Sleepers

Keeping your neck and spine in healthy alignment is a priority for any back sleeper. You don’t want your head raised too much (even though some of us prefer that). Low or Medium is better than high loft. Heavier sleepers might want to opt for couple degrees higher to compensate for increased head and shoulder weight.

Want to learn more? 7 Best Rated Pillows for Back Sleepers for 2017

Stomach Sleepers

If you are sleeping on your stomach, you will require the least amount of loft. You can even sleep without a pillow if that’s what you prefer. The key here is that your head remains in alignment and that it’s not raised too high. If you combine high loft with a mattress with soft mattress, you will most likely suffer from back or neck pain in the long run.

Again, heavier people can opt for medium loft to compensate but you should never go for high.

Guide: Our Recommended Stomach Sleeper Pillows

Cooling Pillows

In the last few years, quality cooling pillows have become very popular. I’m emphasizing “quality” because many companies advertise their products as “cool,” but in reality, they are not.

Ok, but how to choose the right product, material, and type? Let’s take a look at our graph here and see the cooling properties of different materials.

Here are three fantastic choices that utilize different technologies to achieve cool feel.

Classic Brands – A layer of gel is applied on top, providing better heat distribution.

Carboncool Pillow – Phase Change Covers help regulate the temperature along with aerated foam.

Nest Bedding Active X – Filled with Energex foam which does not retain heat. It feels like a mix of latex and memory foam and also has phase change fabric for additional cooling properties.

Best by Specific Medical Condition or Needs

If you suffer from neck, pack or shoulder pain or even more chronic issues like snoring and sleep apnea, your pillow can be one of the causes and it can play an important role in minimizing the symptoms. Let’s take a look at various medical conditions and needs and how to choose a great pillow based on that.

Allergies

Allergic reactions during sleep can often be caused by incorrect pillow type. Materials such as down feathers collect more mites and some people are directly allergic to it. On the other hand, latex, buckwheat, cotton and high-quality memory foam are hypoallergenic and rarely cause allergies.

Our Tip: If you love that soft down feel, you can buy an alternative (usually made from cotton) and make sure that you place the pillow outside in the sun to kill off any mites.

Snoring

Snoring, as you know can be a big problem for your partner. But, there is a solution for that, and it’s not some complicated machine or a mouthpiece. In most cases of light snoring, it’s just a matter of finding the right pillow and head elevation.

If you are a side sleeper, you will rarely snore anyway, so this is a back sleeper problem most of the time. Slightly elevating your head is good, but it can cause neck pain in the long run. This is why we want memory foam more than any other type for this, to help your neck and head with pressure relief while it still helps with snoring.

Top Picks: 

InteVision Foam Wedge

LANGRIA Anti Snore

Read more: Mattresses to Ease Your Nighttime Snoring

Neck Pain

One of the most common causes of neck pain is your mattress and old or improper pillows. Although there could be many underlying conditions, so it’s advised that you consult a doctor before making any decision. Many people make a mistake and do not consider their preferred sleeping position and weight.

Stomach sleepers require lower loft (almost flat) so that your neck doesn’t get curved.

Side sleepers need more contouring from the base of the neck to the ear (slightly heightened)

Back sleepers require medium loft with contouring toward the spine.

As for types, Memory foam works wonders when it comes to pressure relief but if you prefer natural materials go for latex or down (if you are not allergic).

Our Guide: The 10 Best Rated Cervical Pillows for Neck Pain

Migraines

If you ever suffered from migraines, you know how bad it can get. Not only that it can up to 72 hours, but it can severely impact your ability to perform even the simplest tasks. It’s caused by a spasm of the main artery that supplies the brain with blood. When it contracts, it causes this familiar pain, pulsing, and nausea.

One of indirect migraine causes is incorrect sleeping posture. You can easily correct this with a proper pillow to align your spine and neck naturally and to prevent any further nerve irritation.

Recommendations: Any memory foam, latex or buckwheat pillow with good cooling properties that keeps your spine and neck naturally aligned.

Sleep Apnea

Pillows designed to help with obstructive sleep apnea force you to sleep on your side or stomach while providing enough head and neck support. As some of you may already know, sleeping on your back is not recommended for this condition as it can increase the number and occurrence of apnea episodes.

We recommend: EnduriMed CPAP Pillow

With memory foam construction it allows fantastic contouring while its indentations and shape allow for CPAP machines to remain in place without discomfort.

Toddlers

You must be wondering why toddlers can’t sleep on regular pillows? It’s because a child doesn’t have the same neck and head proportions like a fully grown adult. There are several factors to keep in mind before choosing a toddler pillow.

Allergies – Many babies suffer from allergic reactions even though we don’t know it yet. If you want to be extra safe, choose a hypoallergenic material and cover.

Firmness – You don’t want to buy a very soft product since it increases the risk of suffocation. Go with medium firm options, most kids love it, and it’s safe.

Cover – Here, you may go organic if you prefer covers without dyes and harmful chemicals. Cotton or polyester blend is a good choice.

Fill Material – Memory foam is one of the most popular choices these days, but if your kid is not allergic, you can opt for a firmer down feather product.

Our #1 Pick: Little One’s Pillow

Pregnancy

Pregnancy pillows are a special type, shaped as U or C letter to allow maximum comfort during sleep without the added pressure to the stomach. Many moms choose to use it after giving birth. Let’s take a look at a few buying considerations:

Does it have a washable cover? – Most higher-end products on the market will have machine washable covers. You can imagine the stress of trying to clean it during winter days.

Size – If you are petite and choose a bigger pillow, you will not have the full comfort and experience.

Filling – If you are not allergic to down than feathers are a perfect material for body pillows. Memory foam is an option too if you require a bit more hug and contouring.

Wondering what our choice is? It’s Leachco Snoogle.

In Conclusion

As you can see, there is no such thing as the “best pillow” that will suit everyone in any situation. We all have different needs, and in the end, it’s down to our personal preference. Different fill and cover materials have different cooling, firmness and comfort properties.

I hope that this roundup helped you understand which are the ultimate bed pillow brands and products you can buy from every category and for specific medical needs. If you need any help or you would like us to review a certain product, feel free to drop a comment or contact us.

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