#meh about it until I saw how well they did with a new player

[enpr-ss]

Had no idea who Ethoslab was and watched a compilation video of YouTubers fanboying over him which was just. Like okay these hermits think he’s the greatest minecrafter ever, sure. Tubbo Fundy and Hbomb?! watching his videos “religiously” since 2011? Huh that’s pretty impressive… JAMES CHARLES BEGGING FOR UPDATES IN THE COMMENTS?! MR BEAST WATCHING NARUTO BECAUSE OF HIM?!?!

Who is this Ethoslab anyway?!

Link to the video: https://youtu.be/HhzDA4uddsM

[beyondthetemples-ooc]

I have a Lot of thoughts to nerd out about in this episode, so yeah!

So in the "prologue", pre-themesong introduction, I thought the zoom in on a Sqwovet (sp?) was Foreshadowing. Now, I haven't played or researched Galar, I know the ghosts and that's about it. (What can I say, I'm a specialist.) I didn't know what that thing was called until the "Who's That Pokemon" bit turned out to be that thing. {lD So I def don't know what the dex says about them.

But I know Pokemon traits often parallel their real world counterparts, and squirrels gave rise to the phrase "squirrel away" with good reason! So my first thought, "that's the one stealing all the food."

Then I thought, maybe that's too obvious. Maybe it's the Dragonite, who seems content to watch the chaos unravel.

Or... Maybe someone's making a pact to keep it all for themselves. Like the "prankster" Misdreavus and "loner" Sandile that have obviously teamed up here?

So for all I think I'm good at creating Pokemon emoting, I'm not terribly good at figuring out what the anime is showing. So I know they're teaming up, but like... To do what? Figure out who's behind this, I thought? But that wicked little grin on my favorite little ghost didn't look Entirely benevolent. Though the whole "pointing at the empty food trays" sequence tells me that's probably Part of it?

Eh. I was pleasantly surprised that this prankster got enough screen time for me to see expressions I've never seen in those eyes. And in that hair, that amused me! I mean, since I saw Lil' Miss shielded her face with her "hair"/??arms?? I've figured they use them to emote. But those motions were delightfully arm like. The spread of a grand presentation! The holding of the trays! //I think they actually gave the tips finger-like dexterity//, which is! Whew, that's a new one! Also, I think this is the most I've ever seen Misdreavus's eyes and mouth animated expressively! How fun!

Ooooh, and I don't know terribly much about Golurk, I know there have been Some plot relevant things involving them, but I can't remember watching it. Did the dismantling of its hinges really cause the rain? Could it control that or was it an accidental switch? A defense mechanism triggered, perhaps?

--Oh, yeah should've just watched for five more seconds. Removing the seal removes its control.

So this whole time I was like, I've always understood Misdreavus to feed on fear. We see one eating physical solid food at least once so like, clearly not All the time, but it's in the dex entries, so it must be True to SOME extent. So I was like, why's THIS guy bothered? But I guess I wouldn't want to have to go out and harvest my own food every time I'm hungry either?

But then at the end when they lay out more food, you see 'em just floating above everyone else instead of eating. So I have no idea which way it's going, actually. {lD;;

Misdreavus's voice isn't as cutesy as the Japanese voice that always melts my heart, but it's still a lot more fun and, uh, mischievous than that sort of low raspy monotonous voice they have in a couple earlier episodes. I'll take it!

Aaaand I should've trusted my writing senses because it was the Sqwovet after all.

I'm definitely going to go back and rewatch this one, so for posterity, this was the one called "Panic in the Park". (Atm I don't want to watch the Whole Thing again and the time stamp on the player isn't cooperating for me to pinpoint times. Meh.)

Edit: Couldn't help it, watched it again. And the collusion made a Lot more sense the second time around (they were impressing the others by making it look like Sandile broke the tree, and maybe trying to barter food for protection. And then I think when the other group showed up, they were like "Well go on then, protect us!" Which they couldn't do, hence all the Expressions.

And also upon rewatch, I think the Misdreavus floating in a Satisfied way like it has already eaten, with it's tendril-arms on its belly. So I think it does in fact eat physical food too!

(This makes me wonder if there are, perhaps, some essential physical vitamins and minerals their bodies can't synthesize from fear alone? Do different kinds of fear produce different nutrients? I already headcanon that different kinds of fear from different beings "taste" different to them.....)

This has been Zira Gets Way Too Into Their Favorite Pokemon, part 385937.

[whatisthiswritingthing]

Mood Octopus - Christen Press X Reader

Prompt: Okay I have an idea and I really think you’ll do it justice. R is dating Christen and after a while R buys christen one of those mood octopus. So christen carries it everywhere and the second she turns it to mad R is doing everything she can to make Christen feel better. One instance at camp everyone kinda takes notes cuz why didn’t they think of getting SO one

“Hey Chris, check out this video I saw of a dog,” Y/N handed her phone over to Christen, briefly pausing her conversation with Ali who was standing in front of her, “sorry Ali, what were you saying?”

Ali just watched the interaction confused; Christen’s blank face slowly changed to have a small smile on her face, though not quite reaching her eyes yet. Christen handed the phone back to Y/N wordlessly, the smile dropping. Y/N shoulders slumped while she watched Christen sit in her locker next to her.

Continuing a casual conversation with Ali, Y/N rummaged through her bag at the same time. She pulled out a small bag of gummy candies, wordlessly placing them on Christens lap. Y/N looked back towards Ali and continued talking as if she hadn’t stopped talking. Ali furrowed her eyebrows, hesitated but kept talking as well, glancing back and forth between the couple.

Christen just slowly picked at the candy, squishing the gummies between her fingers, playing with them before tossing them into her mouth one at a time. Her eyes stayed focused on the ground, her leg anxiously bouncing up and down.

Y/N kept glancing toward her girlfriend, she bit her lip, trying to think of why Christen would be so quiet today. Everyone was slowly getting changed after practice, Christen has practiced well, nothing stood out that would upset the older woman during it. But she didn’t even smile in the direction of the group of younger players attempting to learn another new Tik Tok dance.

Y/N leaned over, tugging Christen’s sweater off the hanger, replacing it with her own. Christen quickly pulled her practice jersey off and slipped Y/N’s sweater on. She left the hood up, nestling her nose below the collar over her nose, she fisted the cuffs of the sleeves her hands and leaned back in her locker.

Satisfied her girlfriend was content for now, Y/N began to change as well, Ali watching confused and slowing getting ready herself. Once both were ready to go, Y/N immediately grabbed Christens bag from her as they made their way towards the bus. Christen kept the hood up and face partially tucked into the collar, burrowing herself into the larger frame of her girlfriend.

As they walked into the hotel, a staff member called Christens name, “this was delivered about a couple minutes ago,” they handed off a small, decorated bakery box and coffee cup.

Christen pulled her face from the sweater, thanking the staff and taking the box and coffee, tilting her head towards her girlfriend, “thank you Y/N.” she mumbled, leaning back into her side while they entered the elevator.

“Hey Y/N, I like coffee and baking too,” Alex nudged the couple as she walked in behind them.

“Hmm you do?” Y/N smiled at the forward, tightening her arm around Christens shoulder.

“I do,” Alex nodded.

“Meh too bad you aren’t my girlfriend then,” the doors opened, and they all walked out, Christen giggling into Y/N’s neck.

Y/N glanced down, smile wide, satisfied she had cheered her girlfriend up for the time being.

Y/N’s eyebrows creased when she walked into Chritens room later that night where a group of them would be watching a movie. Christen had her mood octopus flipped to the upset side sitting on the end table next her bed. She stopped talking to Tobin and focused on her girlfriend instead.

“Good talk,” Tobin mumbled and moved to the other bed. Ali and Ashlyn laughing at the girls pout.

“Don’t take it personal Tobs, she did that to me too in the change room today,” Ali chuckled.

They all watched as Y/N gently lifted Christen, sliding her body in behind, then tugging her into her chest, leaning down to whisper something softly into her ear. Christens lips shifted into a small smile the more Y/N spoke, the couple the only people aware of what was being said. Y/N’s hands rested on Christen’s thigh, slowly and gently massaging them. The tension in Christen’s body slowly released and she leaned more of her weight into Y/N’s chest, not saying a word the entire time.  

After a few minute of gentle massaging, Y/N shifted her hands to Christens forearms, working the muscles there. Pulling one wrist into to her lips, kissing the palm, before guiding her hand back down and working both hands up and down Christens arms.

Christen pulled herself out of Y/N’s arms slightly, leaning to the end table and flipping the octopus to the happy side before settling back into Y/N and pulling arms around her.

“Alright you two weirdos, what is your deal today? You guys are always sickly sweet, but it’s excessive today,” Alex teased them from across the room.

“Christen was having a bad day,” Y/N shrugged, hold tightening slightly.

“But what’s the octopus for?”

“It’s a mood octopus, I got it for Chris so she could tell me how she’s feeling without having to say anything. She can flip it to the upset side based off how she’s feeling that day,” Y/N placed a gentle kiss to Christen neck, more to settle herself than anything. It was a cute idea that was supposed to stay between the couple. A way for them to communicate without everyone knowing what was going on. Y/N wasn’t always the best at displaying her emotions or feelings, but she wanted to be able to be there when Christen needed her, so she got her the mood octopus.

“Then Y/N just does little things for me to make me feel better, until I feel ready to flip it back to the happy side,” Christen gave Y/N’s hands both a discrete squeeze, knowing how her girlfriend felt about displays of feelings.

“Ash, why don’t you do stuff like that for me?’ Ali playfully smacked the keepers chest, smiling when the keeper pulled her phone put.

“Already ahead of you babe,” Ashlyn turned the phone so the defender could see the screen with Amazon app pulled up, mood octopus already in the cart.

“But how do you know what to do for Christen?”

“I don’t,” Y/N shrugged again, shyly burrowing her nose into Christens neck, “I just start small and see what works and doesn’t. Her love languages are words of affirmation and physical touch. But they’re hard to do with the whole team around, so I usually have small things she likes with me,” she blushed, pressing her face closed to Christen.

“You are talking to Servando next time you see him and teaching him this,” Alex told her seriously. Y/N nodded, blushing even deeper.

Christen twisted her head and kissed Y/N on the forehead, Y/N dipping her head down even more, blush spreading further up the back of her neck.

“I didn’t know that,” Christen scratched her nails into the baby hair at the base of Y/N’s skull, “what all do you carry to give me?”

The other girls all leaning forward to get their own ideas.

“A variety of stuff, I never know what you’re going to need, so I want to be prepared,” Y/N sighed and leaned back, pulling her face out of Christen neck. “I have a bunch of videos and memes for when you need a laugh or a smile, little snacks you like if you’re hungry, or I’ll switch out my clothes with yours because I know you like how they smell.”

Christen pulled back a little bit, surprised at how much thought her girlfriend put into the small plush toy.

“Can you write me instructions for when mine arrives?” Ashlyn teased, partially serious. Ali smacked her on the chest again, chuckling.

[sxltedcxramel]

Lover’s Quarrel

c!techno x gn!reader

•───────•°•❀•°•───────•

: ̗̀➛ Summary:  You and Technoblade have been friends for decades, always by each other’s side you two faught alongside each other. That was once in a lifetime, and should never happen again. Unfortunately life doesn’t play out that way and you happen to need him one more time... or maybe they’ll be a change in plans?

: ̗̀➛ Word Count: 1515

: ̗̀➛ Chapters: 1/1

: ̗̀➛ Tag(s): No beta reader we die like ghostbur, c!techno, gn!reader, immortal reader x immortal techno, angel!reader, god!techno, angst, friends to enemies to friends, complicated ik

: ̗̀➛ Warnings: slight cursing, mentions of torture and death

: ̗̀➛ Taglist: Here

: ̗̀➛ Link(s): Ao3

: ̗̀➛ Notes: *screams into oblivion* one this is all platonic I didn’t specify 😓 two I barely survived the writers drought (no friken inspiration) but I bring to you my first c!dsmp x reader fic (please be kind I tried-) basically this taks place in really old times and not modern considering how its writter like I just finished reading shakesphere although the idea came while listening to classical music so that it how you will. Also this isn’t edited so my bad if theres mistakes-

The room was dimly lit with candles and the r oaring fire that burned passionately at the fireplace. White tiles were plastered with gold diamonds, the shade almost as if it was antique jewelry, Old but could tell an amazing story. The colour completing the beige-coloured room

You waited patiently, cross-legged glaring at the clock that ticked every second or so. 10 minutes you thought to yourself while you grind your teeth. That man seemed to be early only when it was for his own convenience, how distasteful.

Just as you finished that thought you saw the dark oak wood door being pushed open. A man walks in, he wears a white loosely fitted blouse, with bishop sleeves which was decorated with frilly fabrics. Along with death-black dress pants that were worn up to the waist. His face where his mask usually is is replaced with glasses and the man's delicate bubblegum pink hair is loosely braided and thrown on the right side of his shoulder.

“Your late” you glare crossing your arms

He let out a sigh “Well pardon me for taking a while to get ready, It's almost like you didn’t come here unannounced” he spoke sarcastically.

He walked over to the glass tray and picked up a small glass cup with a gold ring around it and poured himself a drink. He eyes you “Would you care for a drink y/n?”

“I don’t drink”

He shrugs “Suit yourself”

“Technoblade, I didn't come here for idle chatter.”

He arched his eyebrow slightly “Oh?” Techno placed his cup down “Pray do tell, what exactly did you come here for?” You watched him walk to the other side of the room as he said that.

“I-“ you could even finish before being rudely interrupted by a rustling noise. You watched as your patience grew thinner by the minute he took out a black vinyl disc and placed it on a wooden box making sure the oin was adjusted well. A soft tune of the piano came out of the music player.

“Would you care for a dance?” He holds out his hand, you stare at it contemplating whether you should grab his hands, you really shouldn't, you didn’t want to play his games, you wanted what you came for, but then again it would harm a dance. Or course your brain chose the latter considering how you delicately placed your hand in his letting him place his hand on your waist the the other on your shoulder. He lead the way,(just like he always does)

“Apologies for interrupting music helps me think.” He spoke as he spun you around the floor “They calm the voices” . You knew all about the voices, how much they love to chant and clog his brain with different variations of thoughts, perks of being his ex-partner you suppose. But you watched as he hid a smirk, you guess he’s just telling only half the truth. You roll your eyes

“You can finish”

“Wouldn’t you mean start idiot” you snap

“Meh”

You clicked your tongue in annoyance, his inability to ever grasp the mood of the situation was flawless. It seemed as if he never cared about the other person's feelings, unless you were the god of death you were out of luck for a serious conversation. You’ve dealt with that for decades

You could remember once in a lifetime the two of you were partners, fast and precise that's how the job went. The blood god and the angel of destruction are an amazing duo. You remember when the two of you used to watch as people begged on their knees for their life or perhaps a mercy kill. Watching as your foes tried to retreat to their bases only for their pitiful lives to end in such a disgraceful manner. At the end of the day the two of you stood in the battlefield side by side knowing the world could shake in fear knowing you two were alive

And you loved it like that desire to make people fear you brought giddiness to your body and enlightened your world. You wanted one thing and it was to get revenge.

Revenge on all who did you wrong from your youth up, and now you were strong enough to bring it tenfold.

Everything was fine, It wasn’t until one day the two of you had sat down for a cup of tea like you usually did on Thursday evenings. He told you he wanted to retire, he was done with the killings and the torture.

He was finally putting down the title ‘Blood god’

At first you thought it was a joke but then you saw his eyes and they were as serious as he could ever be, anger rose up in you unable to process the statement.

How could he leave you like this, he promised to be by your side when no one else would.

A liar that's would your made him out to be

A slap to the cheek was all you left him that day

Now here you were decades later, hand in hand dancing to the sounds of the instruments harmonizing becoming one just the way you two were.

He spun you around gracefully on the tiled floor, there's something about dancing in an empty room that makes you feel weird inside. What was this feeling? Him making you feel weak in the knees, perhaps it was the fact the last time you did this it was when you two were young and reckless. He always seemed to know how to brighten your life,even to the point the friendship you two had was envied amongst the other gods.

He twirled you across the room dipping you slightly “Cat caught your tongue”

You rolled your eyes “As if”

You saw outside the glass panes, the sky was painted a blood orange mixed with lavender purples and hints of blue. The sun slowly sets,bringing the nightfall.

You chuckle to yourself, how romantic of the sky to show such a sight for people who would die before dating each other.

You turn your gaze to the god “I need you one last time” you say cutting to the chase

Technoblade glared at you “I already told you I’m retired, don’t be so stubborn”

“I’m not, your being selfish putting your needs before anyone else's”

He snorts “Isn’t that what you're doing y/n? Or am I reading the situation wrong?” He says sarcastically “Plus I thought you made it clear that you wanted nothing to do with me, or was that slap something you did on impulse and you couldn’t face me after?”

You grind your teeth “It was not, and why are you making it seem like you're the victim? You're the one who wanted to leave me!” You snapped

He took his hands away from you and pinched the bridge of his nose “See, this is why we cannot have a conversation. You always jump to conclusions” he growls

“I do not!”

“You do! I never intended to leave your side, only retiring. Is it so bad I wanted to stop killing and do something better with my life, and here I thought you’d be happy with it.”

You stared at him shocked, “I..”

Was he right? You were known to act on impulse which did cause problems in the long run but he’d be there to be by your side every time. But yet, you couldn’t fathom the thought of him leaving his life behind to start a new one. Why? You weren’t sure.

Techno sighed “You act so tough when actually you're broken inside. The thing is you weren’t mad at me for retirement, you were mad that things were changing. You're scared of change because you don’t know where you’ll fall between it all.”

The piano falls into a soft handsomely rhythm

The violinist quietly drag their bows delicately

You cast your eyes aside, you couldn’t argue with the truth. You swallow hard fighting back the tears. You couldn’t fathom the amount of times you’ve been in the wrong or how much you’ve hurt him

Stupid

Stupidstupidstu-

A hand is placed on you head

“You think too much, stop that”

“I’m sorry”

“For overthinking or for being impulsive” he questions

“Both” you whisper keeping your eyes on the floor

“And?”

You huffed “You were right about everything”

He grinned showing his pearly whites “I’m sorry what was that? I couldn’t hear you?”

You laughed slightly making your worries go away for the time being “You asshole, get your head out of the skies as if I’m repeating that again”

He chuckles shrugging “Worth a try”

“So, let's get something straight. I’ll help you one last time then I’m forcing you to retire. Seriously you have no say so.” He eyes you “You probably need therapy too jeez”

“Fuck You I’m perfectly fine”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night” he responds ushering you out the room

“Bold of you to assume I sleep”

“Bruhh”

Taglist: @ttakinou @angstyx

[arcadejohn127-9]

Call me the flash because of how fast I’m asking this! XD

Anyways, how do you think the boys would all react to a MC who HATES Valentines Day because their former boyfriend/girlfriend/significant other dumped them on Valentine’s Day?

Damn we got a speedster over here! Someone call the justice League, you're missing a super XD

As someone who just generally dislikes valentine's I feel like this will go very well~ though seeing as alot of my prompts are the boys and them are already in a relationship - I decided to add abit of ✨ oof✨ to this prompt

Lucifer:

Not a big Valentine times day fan either

Ever since the Devildom was introduced to the holiday he wasn't a fan

There was no such thing as love in the air

But then you came into his house; he still finds it stupid and doesn't get the hype but having you around makes me him wonder if he should do something

When he found out you hated valentine's Day he felt relieved

But because it was because of a past lover???

He sees this as a challenge; you really think he's going to just brush this off?

When valentine comes you are greeted to roses, chocolates, wine and a fully prepared meal for you two

"Is this fitting enough for the holiday? I heard people tend to go overboard these days."

"You know I didn't want to celebrate today-"

You frowned, slowly coming to sit with him at his desk which has been turned into a makeshift table with cloth covering it

"And let some mortal spoil such an occasion even with your present partner? Think of this as your first steps of Getting over them."

"I'm mortal, Lucifer, don't say it like it's something insulting."

He jabbed his fork at you, raising a brow

"You're avoiding my point, don't you wish to move on?"

"I- of course....I'm happy with you."

"Then dig in, I made it myself."

You huffed, digging In but soon found yourself wrapped up in how delicious it was

He raised his wine glass to you, silently gesturing for you to do the same

"To a new meaning to valentine's."

You hesitated but repeated his words

Your glasses clinked and that was the first sign of your relationship becoming stronger

Mammon:

Active lover of the holiday and celebrates every year - couples want gifts and he can get money aswell as the fact he's a romantic

So when he found out you hated valentine's; he had to change that even when he found out why - that reason just made him annoyed that you were still hating on the holiday

"yo! Yo! Yo! Guess who just got money~ this guy so that means I'm treating ya!"

"oh? How comes?"

"It's valentine's! And you're the person I'm spending it with!"

"you know I hate it-"

He huffed, puffing out his cheeks

"And I'm going to make you stop hating it, was that ex of yours really so important you don't wanna spend valentine's with me?"

"It's complicated, I just really hate it now, it's attached to bad memories-"

"then let's change that! Make some good memories so you can stop being a grump on the day of love."

He grabbed your hands, giving you puppy eyes

You were utterly helpless to them and let him take you out

He stole a heart balloon and tied it to your wrist, doing your initials on it in Sharpie with a 'x' between them

He did definitely treat you; buying you chocolates, a teddy bear, the two of you matching keychains and many other items

You let yourself be happy as he got excited, dragging you around to every shop either of you looked at, wanting to get more matching stuff

He definitely made your valentine's a positive one

Levithan:

Hated it

His reason was because he was always alone for them, never getting anything and ending up never giving anyone anything because he believes they'll hate it

He felt Insecure that you seemed to still be attached to the breakup of your ex

Fearing that you could be missing them

You both spent valentine's as a couple but mocking and booing at others

At one point you threw Chocolates you didn't like at a overly touchy demon couples from a window

"Do you still think about them....?"

"Who?"

"Your ex, you're not over your breakup with them and we've been spending Valentines being bitter."

"I thought you enjoyed being bitter about it."

"I do but could you answer my questions, please - I know I'm not much and I'm sure they were so much better than me but maybe we could spend a little bit of valentine's together as you know....a celebrating coup-couple."

He was completely blushing, hiding his face behind his arm hoping his rambling didn't completely ruin your feelings towards him

"If you really want to, I don't have any feelings for my ex and it's just that reflection that sticks with me but, I wanna try if it'll make you feel more secure."

You guys ended up watching 'normie' movies, cuddled in his bathtub bed eating what was left your chocolates

You kissed his jaw and he immediately stopped functioning

You smiled, holding him closer

Perhaps valentine's can be a good time

Satan:

Casual valentine's man

Doesn't really care for the holiday and only has spent it with his brothers

He's use to just giving his brothers a small gift and never have a partner to spend it with

But things were different now and sadly, you hated the holiday

He respected your reason why but he felt worried that you were fully over your ex as you still let the holiday be ruined for you

He got you a small gift like he does his brother's

Wanting you to be apart of it but not doing anything big

"happy valentine's, I know you don't celebrate it but I thought you'd like the gift anyway."

"Satan....I didn't get you anything- Let's go out then, I'll treat you."

"I'll consider it a valentine's date."

Whilst he normally had a 'meh' feeling to it, he wanted to spend his first valentine's with you on a date

He just wants the experience and can say he's spend it with you

Even if it was a one time thing

"really Satan?"

"Let's spend this one together and be happy, next year we can go destory things and let out our anger towards the world."

That won you over, you agreed

You took him on a date

You both tried to ignore all the decorations everywhere but that was pretty hard, got lunch together and even walked around to see the new sights

You ended up in the park, staring to the horizon with confetti on your backs and Satan with a party hat

It was forced on him whilst you guys were out but he never got rid of it

"I liked today, maybe after we destory things we can go on another date next year?"

Asmodeus:

He LOVES love!

Nothing brings him more joy than valentine's

Aphrodisiacs are being sold EVERYWHERE

When he found you out hated it he was so upset, he wanted to spend it with you! His usual valentine's crew was nothing compared to you!

And you hated it because of an ex dumping you?!

"Noooooooo! (Y/N) don't let them ruin this for you, please, let's go on a cute picnic or even just stay in room if you don't want to go outside-"

If anyone saw asmo hugging your leg whilst you trudged down the halls, they definitely didn't say anything

"Let me spend today how I want!"

"what? Eat ice cream and get grumpy over someone you're not dating anymore?"

You frowned, knowing he was right

"why not spend it with your gorgeous boyfriend instead? Don't I shine up on your day?"

He had those Puppy eyes again

You finally stopped trying to get away from him, crouching down and cupping his face

"will you let go of my leg if I say yes?"

He nodded

As soon as he stood up you helped him straighten up his clothes, fixing his hair for him

"I'm sorry for dragging you around the house, I know I shouldn't be moping but it just really hurt."

"I know, darling but let's get through this together, we'll do whatever you want."

He was being honest; you were in charge of the whole day

You stayed in his room, having a romantic bath and then ate your feelings

After that you both went out and enjoyed dinner

Life really was happier with him; you decided you'll be doing with him more often

Beezlebub:

Mainly focuses on family valentine's

Has had to play a few sports game on the holiday and every player got a kiss and gift from a cheerleader

He liked the thought and always liked it when he was given food

But he wasn't interested in any of them

Or really the holiday itself, he always wants to share his love for the people around him

Why wait until some holiday to do it?

But when he finds out you hate valentine's and it's because of your ex

He considered fighting your ex

Doesn't want to force you to celebrate with him but wants to be able to do stuff with you

"Wanna go out to eat? They have valentine's day deals."

"i don't really feel like taking any part of it."

"I want to spend today with you and don't like seeing you being upset over the past."

"You just want to eat? No surprise dates or big deal about today?"

"no, just want to hang out with you."

"....okay."

He immediately took your hand, taking you to the restaurant he saw online

On the way we got you a magic rose

Handing it over for you to wear

But other than that he stuck to his word,just having eating out with you and didn't even talk about the holiday

You smiled but apart of you did feel bad you were going to stop something like this from having because of your ex

You felt the rose, looking up at him

"Want to take a couple's picture? They're doing it for couples celebrating today."

"we don't have to, you don't like today."

But you insisted, letting him pick you up for the picture and kissed his cheek

You were able to get the picture in different sizes and he put the small one in his wallet

From then on you planned to keep spending Valentines with beel

Belphegor:

Absolutely disgusted by it

Will always tell anyone how much he hates it

But on the other hand, he watches romcoms and yells at the TV for the chatacters not understanding they love each other every valentine's

He's just trying to keep up his edgelord persona, okay

When he learned you hated valentine's he was happy

Means he didn't have to do anything

But it's because of your ex?? He's now going to be romantic as FUCK

You enter the attic expecting to find a chill place to rest but instead there are rose petals everywhere and belphie laying waiting for you

You expected something like this from asmo but you couldn't deny seeing your boyfriend try to be romantic whilst half asleep was pretty cute

"I have romcoms and violent horror movies, pick your flavour."

"what's with all this? You know my feelings about Valentine's."

"I'm not going to let some pathetic ex ruin this valentine's for us, so I'm romancing you - is it working?"

"I'm picking the horror movie."

You put the dvd in ignoring him

"That doesn't change the mood for me."

You should of known

You cuddled and watched as people got ripped open and blood went flying

Belphie wiggling his eyebrows at you whenever an couple came on

You just shoved his face laughing

You forgot your bitter feelings and looked down at your now asleep boyfriend

"thanks for today, maybe you can try again next year."

UNDATEABLES↓

Diavolo:

Thrilled by it all!

It's so heart warming to see love be so celebrated

Demons were always so violent and everything had to be edgy - he was tired of it

Was disappointed you hated it, he already had plans for the both of you

But after finding out the reason - it seems all his scheduling was back and the gifts became more grand

"Trust me, I'll change your mind on Valentines! We're together now and I want to treat you to a date."

"but why? I don't wanna take part-"

"We are going to get through your heartbreak together! I know things can still sting even when you feel over it, so let's just try."

You thought it over, nodding

He just grinned, taking you by the shoulder and led you to the royal carriage

You struggled to sit down when it was filled with gifts and flowers

They all had your name on them and immediately blushed

You should of known he'd go all out

He took you to see the Devildom at night, where all the lights covered the streets like stars

He set up a picnic in the park and you both ended up dancing in the water fountain

"I really enjoyed today, thank you."

He kissed your cheek, telling you not to worry

Barbatos:

Isn't a fan of all the decorating and cleaning up that'll be involved when the day is over

But he gets time off to de-stress and that's always a plus

He was thankful you weren't a fan of Valentines but your ex? He might have to write them out of timelines

Understood you just had a sting from it all and was use to feeling that way

Was surprised when you were one to actually make the first move on Valentines

"I wanted to give you this, I don't want to celebrate but I thought this could be nice?"

It was a pocket watch with a hidden compartment, it had a picture of you and him

Good thing he also got you something; a locket with the same picture you have him

Was it an accident? On purpose? He'll never tell, he just knows it's your favourite picture of you two

"I see, then we won't celebrate it but I'm sure you would still be willing to accompany me in the gardens?"

Takes you on a boat ride across the lake even better as it's sunset and the water looks immaculate

Cooks you both dinner and you just spend the day as if it was any other

"I like spending Valentines with you."

"I would hope so or I would fail as your boyfriend."

"I wanna spend the next one with you properly."

"As you wish, I'll be sure to make it the best one you've ever experienced."

Solomon:

Forgets holidays

Always likes bringing up history facts about any holiday as he's seen them all evolve from one part of history to modern day

Pretends to not know how to celebrate it so people will try to explain it to him and end up not really knowing why they celebrate things

You hate Valentines? Doesn't care but it's because of your ex? That he doesn't get

"So you're still hurting from your past relationship that you don't want to spend valentine's with your boyfriend?"

"when you say it like that it sounds really bad."

"I'm not really up for celebrating so it makes no difference to me but I'm not sure I can accept you still letting them upset."

You sighted, knowing he was going to make up some sort of plan or trick

But instead he just kissed your hand

"let's go to the human world, I heard there's a traveling fairground."

You agreed to go, both of you making it there in seconds and of course everything was heart themed

You couldn't escape the love

It was actually really fun! There were bouncy castles, a Ferris wheel and lots of food stands

You were definitely willing to celebrate again if it was going to be like this

Simeon:

A day of love? It's Charming

Finds it amusing how people can much such a big deal out of it all

Though he thinks you should always be expressive of how much you love the people around you

So you hating it was an opposite to him but he was respectful

Knowing it was because of your ex made him displeased

Whilst very understanding, wanted to atleast improve your opinion on the holiday so you didn't associate it with them anymore

"Let's just do one couples related thing today then we can do whatever you please."

"but why? I should be allowed to dislike what I dislike."

"you're absolutely right but you're letting an ex ruin a whole day for you, don't you want to spend it with me?"

"of course I do! I'm just unsure."

He smiled, grasping your hands

"that's fine, we won't do anything big, just a fun date and then you're free to do as you please."

He was right, you didn't do anything big

Just went to a pottery class and you made all sorts of clay creations together

It was peaceful and there was no Valentines being forced down on you

You giggled when he showed you the clay heart he made

"we should make this our thing, valentine's we do things like this together."

He agreed, happy to make Valentines whatever you wanted it to be

[shoichee]

ok hear me out. aomine x f!reader who’s on the tennis team and is amazing at it. for a while the reader and her team need to share the gym on the same days as basketball practice. during the days they share the gym aomine notices the reader. somehow aomine finds out the reader is also good at basketball, practically at aomine’s level. you can decide what happens!! it can be a head cannon or a type of one shot :)

I AM HEARING YOU OUT ANON, WE HAVE ANOTHER BANGER REQUEST THIS IS FIRE look inhale, what a genius, okay so i don’t play tennis myself, but I have a lot of friends who do... and trust me.... it’s a lot more exertive and difficult than what it appears to be

Aomine x f!Reader

[Headcanons]

if Aomine was a monster on the basketball courts, you were a monster on the tennis courts

the only reason why he hasn’t heard about you until he first saw you was because tennis tends to be not as a popular and broadcasted sport as basketball // the tennis games themselves are often single-player (doubles exist too but still less people on the same court) and relatively quiet with few audience members watching too

it was a MIRACLE that Aomine was there at the gym today (thank Wakamatsu for threatening to burn his porno mag), and luckily for him, he didn’t even had to practice as hard because the tennis club had an agreement with Touou’s basketball coach to occupy the other half of the gym

enter you, putting down your duffel bag and stretching before you do a few warmup tosses and hits against the gym wall while the nets were being set up

for the first half of practice, both sides were busy with their own practices, so Aomine hasn’t really noticed you

it was until the team got a break to catch their breath that Aomine noticed that the tennis team were still doing drills and practice matches; every single eye was drawn to you

Sakurai immediately comments on how your movements were too similar to Aomine’s, and Imayoshi is equally intrigued that you might as well be the tennis-version of Aomine

at the chatter, Aomine slightly perks up and looks to where everyone was pointing at (you), and quietly watches you while still looking “bored,” until he realized how right they were

your agility is top-notch and your instincts to immediately sprint to the right direction were insane; your change of pace from 0 to 10 in acceleration were even more seamless than Aomine’s at times, especially when you stand at a ready position and suddenly burst to the other side of the court to save the ball from the corner

not to mention you have your own fair share of trickshots and unpredictability in trying various ways to tire out your opponent in chasing after the balls you hit

Sakurai loudly wonders that if you played basketball, would you even be able to defeat Aomine?? and the entire team STARTS ANALYZING AND DISCUSSING amongst themselves and doing bets LMAO

Aomine’s impressed, but he’s still somewhat “meh” about it, since “the only one who could beat me is me” is still an attitude he carries around, and you do give off a vibe similar to Kise where you could easily copy techniques easily if you do play basketball other than tennis

little did Aomine know, you also noticed his exceptional skill with the ball and how he can do trickshots and dunks with ease… you turn to your friend and ask if that’s even possible

your friend stares incredulously at you and asks, “How do you not know? He’s one of the Generation of Miracles!”

of course you didn’t know if you’ve been focused on tennis all your life, but being in the sports world, the title of “Generation of Miracles” does ring a familiar bell

your friend (who’s also your partner during doubles matches) also plays a little bit of other sports on the side, including basketball, and during breaks, your friend would often ask you to play a small game together because seeing the Touou basketball team playing got them pumped up

your athletic ability would translate very easily into basketball, since having reflexes, agility, instincts, and change of pace would all be advantageous in sports that require mobility (just like how Koganei’s instincts from tennis were very useful in Seirin)

so whether or not you played basketball didn’t matter dramatically because you had skills and abilities that would be universally beneficial in most sports anyways

you always gave your friend a run for their money when you kept stealing their ball, did fast breaks, or pulled off agile maneuverings that no beginner player would be able to do, and whenever your tennis teammates did their “ooh’s” and “ah’s,” the basketball team would peer over to see what the commotion was about

they were LOSING their shit at how naturally talented you were at basketball, and Imayoshi has a bad great idea of inviting you over after practice to do some quick one-on-ones with Aomine for his own entertainment

Aomine is kind of excited if he was being honest, and his blood is kinda pumping and he’s a bit giddy to find a potential rival other than Kagami

Momoi is a little worried for you because Aomine might be a brute and hurt you, especially since you’re a girl, but she’s just as excited to see someone potentially knocking down his ego a shit ton if he loses

Momoi and Imayoshi both walk up to you on the last day of “shared” practice at the gym and ask if you can spare some time to do some one-on-ones with Aomine, and you agree because you don’t have much to do anyways

your friend is super excited for you but a little nervous at how you’re so casual in going against a GoM, but nevertheless, both the tennis and basketball teams are in the audience watching Momoi throwing up the jump ball (Aomine is giving you an arrogant smirk and you’re just standing there more focused on the ball than him LMAO)

as expected, Aomine easily grabs the ball (since he knows the rhythm in jumping for this a lot better) and immediately starts dribbling down the court at an inhuman speed, expecting a swift victory

nope, you immediately reacted to his speed and immediately cut off his drive when you’re right in front of him… and you immediately swiped for the ball, Aomine almost didn’t react fast enough to switch handles to escape your reach

but you immediately reacted and reach for his other dribbling hand and slap the ball away, and then you bolted with the ball down your court

Aomine is right behind you, shocked out of his wits, and everyone else is in HYSTERICS in the background

“HOLY SHIT, did you see that?!”

“(y/n), kick his ass!”

“Ho? Aomine, you’re letting her beat you so easily?”

“I knew those porn mags didn’t do anything good for him.”

“U-Um, Wakamatsu-san…”

Aomine thinks it’s a fluke that you got the ball from him, but he’s shocked because you weren’t exactly a Kise, and you even had a reaction time similar to Akashi’s on top of that

he tries to steal the ball back, but you did something unpredictable: using a similar movement when you hit the tennis ball with your racket, you slapped the ball to bounce (at an unfamiliar speed/rhythm) through his legs before you sprinted to dribble the ball in a normal drive again

shooting was a different story though because Aomine is always blocking your shots or stealing it before you can even get into a shooting position; after all, shooting requires use of muscles different to when playing tennis

even so, you made it equally hard for him to score

ultimately, Aomine’s superb shooting abilities expectantly made him won the short match, but he even had to resort to some crazy trickshots, so your reflexes would kick in slower than normal to register those shots

for those who have no clue about tennis (spoiler alert: me), a tennis racket is a lot more bulkier and heavier than it appears to be (much different than a badminton racket), and it takes a lot of arm strength to play with it very fluidly without wasting energy

thus, dribbling was easy for you, and your ball handling was pretty unique but still very hard to keep track of

now Aomine won, but everyone is losing their shit at the fact that you managed to get him to sweat so much and putting in effort (cue Wakamatsu and Imayoshi trying to recruit you to join as Aomine’s practice buddy to get the Touou ace to practice for once)

now, if it was a two-on-two match, you and your friend would definitely destroy Aomine and whoever would be unfortunate enough to be his partner (cough, Sakurai), for the sole reason that your impeccable teamwork in tennis doubles carries over to basketball matches, where Aomine has always been a solo star player

you damn know well that Aomine would constantly bug you to do one-on-ones with him, but he’s secretly whipped for you and doesn’t know how else to ask you to hang out with him other than a match LMAO

you do remind him that you’re a tennis player first, and you prioritize your team above all else; that means if there’s tennis practice, you’re going to those no matter what

that just reminded him of Kuroko (nostalgia, angst, and feels enter here)

he reluctantly shows up to watch your tennis practices along with Momoi because sleeping on the roof has gotten “boring,” and Momoi finds incentive in finding any techniques she can pick up from you to use for basketball strategies

he may have secretly watched your tennis matches, both singles and doubles

you definitely have watched Aomine’s matches, noticing there’s something odd with him at times, like he wasn’t trying his best like he did with you

after a heartfelt talk with Momoi, you do feel like he needs to get out of that mindset on his own, since his stubborn personality wouldn’t listen to you and you knew that from the amount of one-on-ones you played with him

then the Winter Cup came and Seirin won in their “revenge match” against Touou, and you were captivated by Aomine going ALL OUT in that match (you also took some notes to use for your own tennis matches)

Aomine drags both you and Momoi to buy some new basketball shoes after Touou’s loss, and from that point on, both of you are technically practicing basketball together, but like… you’re not complaining because you’re getting extra cardio in

you get better at basketball, enough to even beat him once in a blue moon in one-on-ones, but then he wins the rest of the matches against you tenfold LOL

Momoi loves you because you’re one of his main motivators to practice

when Aomine himself tries to play tennis singles with you, it’s quite hilarious to see him missing the tennis ball every time when he serves because it’s so TINY but it’s so heavy?? so it falls to the ground quite literally if he’s not precise in hitting it LOL

gauging distance between the net, back of the court, the ball, and his arm positioning is a nightmare for Aomine because he’s used to grand courts and GIANT distances and TALL hoops, and him being precise and meticulous in a much smaller area feels so restricting

of course you whoop his ass in tennis, that’s a given

give him some time though, he’d be really good at it really quickly once he adapts to his surroundings

bonus: Koganei FREAKS out seeing you in the Winter Cup in the audience because you’re a literal tennis legend, and the entire Seirin team is going ???? at him // he totally fanboys a bit and asks you to meet with his Seirin teammates, and you agree because you wanted to meet the team who gave Touou and Aomine a run for their money

you do one-on-ones with Kagami because you’re curious, and when Aomine hears of this… it’d be a CHAOTIC scene once he storms over to drag you away from Seirin

extra bonus: it’s not unusual to see you use your tennis racket to thwack him in the head when he gets any funny ideas of staring at your teammates’ shorts/tennis skirts or when he’s doing anything dumb in general

[mattsboldyy]

The 24 Days in the Bubble. | WJ Canada

CHAPTER ONE | POSSIBILITIES

-

Summary - Is there a possibility of a girl joining Team Canada in the 2021 World Junior Tournament? Maybe? One question, who would be the lucky lady that gets to play with a bunch of boys?

Warnings - mentions of covid , covid testing , masking , female reader , cuss words

Requested - No, Idea came from myself(:

Words - 1.5k

Requests - Open

Taglist: @2manytabsopen @prettyboyjackhughes @sorokns @ricohenrique @cherrylita @tonyspep @lovereadinghockeyy @only-goalies-allowed @hawksgirl1 @mysoftboybowen @hoespill @capsvsducks @tysonsjosty@cherrybarzy

Authors note- I got all of my information from google, websites, & from the documentary Team Canada put out based off of the 2021 Tournament therefore, some information that takes place in this series may be false, but just know that I got all my information from the documentary and the internet. Thank you and enjoy!

-

-

-

NOVEMBER 2, 2020

“So André, we’ve heard some rumors of a girl possibly joining the tournament?” One person asked over the zoom call that had been the only way for media outlets to ask their questions they had for different staff members or world junior players.

“We’ll see. There is still some things we need to figure out first especially with everything going on in the world with Covid-19, we may have to wait till next World Junior Tournament.” Coach Tourigny said.

“Okay next question goes to Rob Smith from..”

You turned off your phone. Woah. This was kinda cool. A girl in the World Junior tournament? That was the talk of the town.... well, talk of the country you should say, all of the girls were trying to figure out where they could tryout, trying to email the coaches, email any staff member, really. You had always been good at hockey but you’d never thought about going to the World Junior Tournament. -

“Hey Y/N!” Your mom said, walking in the front door, taking her mask off and walking over to the kitchen island where you were sitting.

“Hi mom! How was your day?” You ask, putting your phone down and looking at your mom who was standing on the other side of the island.

“It was alright! Same old people coming in and out of the office.. did you see the interview with André Tourigny about the possibility of girls playing in the World Junior competition?” Your mom asked, turning around and opening the cabinet to start fixing dinner.

“Yeah I did. It’s pretty cool!” You said, picking up your phone again after getting some texts from your friends.

”You should maybe tryout!” Your mom said, looking at you.

“Meh.” Was all you said as you got up from the kitchen island and went over to the living room couch and sat down there.

-

-

NOVEMBER 6, 2020

You were sitting at your desk typing out a email when you got a call from a number that you didn’t recognize so out of instinct, put your phone on silent and continued typing, until you here a notification come from your phone, you look and a voicemail has been left from that same unfamiliar number. You clicked on the notification, pressed play, put the phone on your desk, and listened to the voicemail, continuing to type.

”Hi, this is Michael Dyck, I’m in assistant coach for the 2021 Team Canada World Junior team. I’ve been looking at your highlights due to the possibility of a female joining the tournament this year. Call me back as soon as possible. Thank you, bye.”

Your jaw dropped. Why would he be calling you? Why would they look at your highlights out of all the female players in Canada?

You picked up your phone, ran out of your room, down the stairs and into the living room where your mom, dad, & brother was sitting.

“The assistant coach for Team Canada just left me a voicemail and said he has been watching my highlights and he asked me to call him back!” You said, running over to sit on the seat next to your mom on the couch.

”Well call him back!” Your dad said.

You nodded and pressed the phone button, calling Michael Dyck back.

”Y/N! Thank you so much for returning my call! How are you?” Micheal asked.

”I’m doing great! And it’s no problem!” You said, looking at your mom with wide eyes.

”That’s good! Hope your family is doing well and staying healthy. Anyways, I wanted to discuss the possibility of you becoming apart of Team Canada.” He said.

”Me?” You said, coving your mouth with your hand out of excitement.

Michael laughed, “Yes, you. Me, head coach André Tourigny, and the rest of the Team Canada‘s staff has been looking through you highlights and we think you would be a perfect fit for this year’s team. You would still need to tryout but there is a great chance you will make it onto the final roster. If you do make it onto the final roster, you won’t be home for Christmas and most likely New Years too. We have no idea how long this whole quarantining thing is going to be, but we would love to have you join us at the selection camp in Red Deer on November 16 for Team Canada.”

”It’s a honor! Thank you!” You said, looking over at your parents and brother.

”No, thank you! I’ll be in touch, have a good one, Y/N.” Michael said.

”You too!” You said, before hanging up.

”What just happened.” You said, getting up and walking back over to the steps.

”Our daughter could be the first girl on Team Canada!” Your parents said, laughing and high-fiving each other.

You laughed and went back into your room.

No really. What just happened?

-

-

NOVEMBER 8, 2020

It was a few days after the call with Michael before it got released to the public that Y/N L/N was the only female that had been chosen to participate in the selection camp. Some had good thoughts and some had bad thoughts about the situation. Either way, you were still terrified. Your friends & family were both so excited for you, and they were still going to be happy for you even if you didn’t make it past the selection camp.

-

-

NOVEMBER 16, 2020

You walked into the airport, seeing camera equipment everywhere, following the players.

“You must be Y/N!” André said.

”That’s me!” You laugh nervously.

”It’s very nice to meet you! I would give you a hug but covid is kind of making that impossible.” Coach Tourigny said, laughing after the last part of his sentence.

“No you’re fine! It’s nice to meet you too!” You said, looking around at the other players.

You and Coach André talked for a few minutes until you went over to the group of players, standing around different parts of the airport.

”Hi!” You heard someone say, you turned around and saw a brown haired boy with dark eyes.

”Hey!” You said, still not knowing who the boy was.

”You must be Y/N! I’m Braden! Braden Schneider!” Braden said.

”Oh very nice to meet you!“ You said, smiling up at him.

“Nice to meet you too! Hopefully we both make it onto the final roster! You seem like such a sweet person!“

”Oh thank you! You seem nice too!” You said.

You and Braden talked to each other for a few more moments before someone else came up to you two. You figured out the boy that had came up to you was a boy named Ryan. Ryan Suzuki! He was very nice and friendly. You also met Kirby Dach, Bowen Byram, and Dylan Holloway. They all seemed very nice!

After meeting Braden, Ryan, Kirby, Bowen, and Dylan, someone else came up to you.

”Y/N! How are you?” Someone said.

”Hi! You must be Mitch Love!” You said through your mask.

”That’s me! It’s a honor to have you joining us in Red Deer!” Mitch said, laughing.

”Oh yeah! No worries! It’s a even bigger honor to be here!” You said, chatting with Mitch a few more minutes till he said he had to go and you sat down by yourself.

”Alright everyone, we have the plane ready to go! Just go through that gate and there should be some airline staff members to help you.” Mitch said, gesturing over to the gate.

You nodded and headed for the gate, with all your other possible World Junior teammates.

-

After the rest of the players trying out for Team Canada took their seats, you were left trying to find a seat.

”You can sit here!” Someone said.

You turned around to see a blonde headed boy who you had never met before.

”Oh thank you!” You said, taking the seat next to him.

”I’m Kaiden, Kaiden Guhle! Nice to meet you.” He said, smiling over at you.

”Hey. I’m Y/N! Nice to meet you too.” You said smiling back at him.

”So where are you from?” Kaiden asked after the safety instructions were announced and the plane was taking off.

“I’m from about 20 minutes from Toronto! How about you?” You asked, looking at the screen that was in front of you, attached to the back of the seat to whoever was sitting in front you of you.

“Edmonton.“ He said, looking out of the airplane window.

”Oh, that’s cool.” You said.

”Yeah. I’m just ready to get to Red Deer for selection camp.” Kaiden said, looking back over at you.

”Me too.” You said, tapping on the screen in front of you.

[caxsthetic]

Completely Lost

Miya Atsumu x F!Reader

There will be a day when happiness could finally come to his life. But it’s just not now.

Pt. 3 < Epilogue

"You know? I think I never want you to be out of my life."

Miya Atsumu remembered well the first time he confessed those words to you. It was in his first year of high school when life was so much easier. That time, you were walking home with him and his twin after their practice. And after days contemplating himself about the right way to make you his, he decided to just go with it.

It was sweet, how he demanded you to be his. How his thumb grazed your lips to ask for permission before crashing it on yours when your orbs glinted with love. Two people with the same feelings, there was nothing that stopped you from being together. His life felt one hundred percent better with you as his lover. You were together for more than a year, and those days were the best moment in his life.

Yet he just had to ruin it.

Blinding by his pride, he insulted you, stomping on your heart while the only thing that you wanted was just to be there for him. He hurt you, spitting unforgivable words in order to make you go away. All because he was ashamed to face you after his loss, and his pride was just too large to the point it caused him to self-destruct.

Then he remembered how his twin told him about his own feelings towards you, the same girl who was now grown up to be a wonderful lady. You were now walking slowly towards his twin, a smile adorned your face as your eyes fixated on the black haired man that he called his brother. You looked so majestic today, with the white dress wrapping perfectly around your figure.

Sweat kept trickling down his face as he practiced for the next tournament. He didn't stop for hours, knowing for sure he would fight against the best setter in the country. He was so grateful to have teammates that were as competitive as him, accompanying him to practice until late at night without once emitted complaint.

"Oi, Tsum-Tsum!" He turned his head to the sideline after giving a toss to one of his teammates, "Your phone is ringing!"

"Who is it?" He screamed out and put his hands on his hips, trying to catch as much oxygen as he could. His teammate, who was the ace of the team, looked at his phone to see the caller ID.

"Oh, it's Miya-san!" The setter blinked, wondering why his twin decided to call him this late at night. Osamu rarely called, it must be something important to make his twin call him, "Should I answer first?"

"Yes, tell him I would be there in a second." Atsumu walked to grab a towel, dabbing his head with it and wrapped it around his neck. He decided to grab a bottle of mineral water before heading towards the ace.

He wondered what might be the news about, it's been months since his twin released his business. Everything was going smoothly for the two of them. And he was happy, to know that the ex-wing spiker was now battling in his real arena. (Even if it took him a whole year to see that.)

"Oh, he's here! And congratulations, Miya-san!" The ace immediately gave the phone to Atsumu who was now raising one of his eyebrows because of the words that he just heard. He sensed something when his twin decided to call him. He thought it was some bad news at first, but hearing the ace congratulate his twin, it must be great news instead — at least, at least for one of them.

"Oi, Samu." There was a smile shaped on his face in an instant every time he talked with the owner of the Onigiri Miya, feeling at home already no matter how far they were apart, "I conclude this is going to be good news, right? Since Bokkun congratulated you and such."

"Yeah, yeah it is." Somehow, Atsumu could know that his twin was smiling so wide on the other line, "Hey, 'Tsumu." He decided to sit on the bench now once his name was called. He didn't know why, but it felt like he needed to prepare his heart.

"Yes, Samu?"

"She said yes."

Atsumu suddenly felt like he was in some kind of illusion, everything felt so unreal, and he couldn't quite process the meaning behind those three words that he just heard from his twin. He knew, he understood very well, but the other side of him just could not accept it.

"W-What do you mean?"

"I-I proposed to her tonight," He could hear a sigh from the other line, and Atsumu didn't know it was either a sigh of relief, or a sigh of guilt. "And she said yes."

The setter almost choked with the information that he just got. Six years has passed since he let you go for his twin. But he couldn't eliminate the sizzling ache inside his heart right now.

And Osamu knew, he knew too well that the setter never moved on from your love, at least not completely. Every time they talked about you, it would always end up with Atsumu almost tearing up. Even though the volleyball player already tried to suppress his feelings, at the end, he failed miserably.

Maybe it's because the bond between twins was indestructible, and somehow ever since you came into their life, Osamu would become more observant when it comes to Atsumu. So if anything, he knew too well that the setter could still get the aching feeling in his heart, even right now as he shared the news.

"O-Oh! That's great news indeed!" Atsumu's voice broke the silence, "I am so happy for the two of you!" It was not really him that was talking, it was his coping mechanism, the side that he put when he tried to hide his broken state, "How was it? Tell me what you did, Samu."

"'Tsumu."

"Did you serenade her? Ah no, that's impossible."

"Atsumu.”

"Oh! I know, you must have cooked the best food for her, right?"

"ATSUMU!"

The setter was taken aback by the outburst, he let out a long sigh when he realised that he was just rambling. He bit his lip, trying to suppress the tears that were already forming on his eyes. Atsumu never cried, at least not about anything else, it only happened when the topic spun around you.

"I am sorry, Tsu-"

"No, don't say that. You didn't do anything wrong." He wiped his cheek with the towel that was wrapped around his neck from before, didn't want anyone else to see him like this, "I-I am really happy for you, for the two of you."

Osamu was speechless, he knew that his twin was genuine. But he couldn't help but sensed the sorrow that was dripping in every word that just blurted out from his twin's lips.

"Thank you, Tsumu." It was always like this, him thanking his twin for letting you go. Osamu may endure the pain for the first five years of loving you, but now, his twin was the one who needed to endure the feelings for you, for god knows how long.

"Meh, it's all your victory, Samu." The setter was now calmed down a little. He couldn't show how much the information hurt him, not in front of someone that he deeply cared for. Tonight was Osamu's night, for getting your hand in marriage, the start of a journey that may last forever.

So it's not his place to be the victim, it's not his place to show the pain, it's not his place to snatch the joy from his twin. The black haired man had done so much for him, and he must do the same. He just needs to endure the pain, one more time.

"Have you set the wedding date?"

He stood up once he saw you and his twin walked gracefully in the middle of the reception venue. Everyone was clapping once they all saw the newlywed couple finally arrived, looking so happy with arms linked to each other.

Atsumu could only gazed at the two, heart beating so fast as he saw how beautiful you look today. You were so breathtaking, a smile never leaves your face due to the fact you have got the love that would last forever, something that had been your dream since teenage years.

No matter how much he had tried to keep his imagination away, it was all falling apart once he saw you. He imagined himself to be the one who put the ring in your finger, to be the one who kissed you every day, to be the one who felt your love until the end of time.

But he let those dreams slip between his fingers, and now you were standing there with someone that he deeply cared for. There was no regret, it was the path that he chose once he knew that his twin felt the same towards you.

He had no regret, because now the two best people in his life would be happy together.

Atsumu was really lost in thought, his gaze could only focus on you. The table that he was on right now consisted of him with his high school volleyball team. They were the people who were there when you still belong to him, and they couldn't help but feel worried for the setter.

There were tears brimming in his eyes as he clapped and laughed over something that the wedding host threw at the audience. But all of his friends knew the only thing that occupied his mind right now. His smile may be so genuine, but it would show a glimpse of pain once in a while.

Atsumu didn't even realise that it was now the time to dance. He stood up, searching for his twin to congratulate him. His eyes scanned the crowd and looked around at the same time to take notes of the decoration and such — Maybe for his own wedding someday but somehow he doubted that — It's not much around here, and he chuckled because he knew too well that his twin didn't want an extravagant venue, the ex-wing spiker just wanted the wedding to be just right.

But in the middle of his quest, he was stopped at the sight of you. You were greeting your friends here and there, your smile didn't falter even after hours since the ceremony. And when you finally looked up and caught his gaze, time seemed to freeze around him.

He thought you would turn your head away immediately, so he didn't expect you to walk towards him instead. There was a faint smile on your face as you walked, and he couldn't help but hold his breath when you finally stood in front of him.

"Atsumu." Your voice was gentle, greeting the now shocked man, "You okay there?" No, I am not. But he was just silent, staring at your gorgeous complexion within close range. You were chuckling at his awkward stance, not even thinking that this man could ever act like this.

"I-I am okay," He cursed himself for even stuttering. But then he heard you laugh, and maybe him being a total idiot in front of you was worth it, "Congratulations, (Y/n)." The song played in the background as the two of you stood there. It was a classic old song, but being sung by someone else. And right now as he stared at you, he couldn't help but wanted to ask you to dance.

He contemplated this, would it be okay for him to even steal the first dance from his twin? He had a gut feeling that Osamu wouldn't mind, but it felt not right. That and the fact of you turning him down was haunting his mind right now.

"Want to dance with me, Atsumu?" He was now standing there dumbfounded as he could not believe the question that was thrown for him. Even after all these years, somehow you still managed to amaze him, "Even though we haven't talked for years, it doesn't mean that I lost my mind-reading ability." He snorted at your joke. It was true though, you knew him like the back of your hand. As if never to be in touch for so long could waive the bond that was once laced perfectly.

"Is that okay?" Atsumu was being considerate over Osamu feelings, and you knew this. So you had to be the one who pulled him to the dance floor, slipping through the inner circle in between dresses and suits, "Samu will kill me."

"Mhm, maybe." You joked and put your hands on top of his shoulders as he timidly put his hand on your hips. "Don't be so stiff, Atsumu!" How could he not? It's been years since the last time he saw you. And now as you were so close to him, his mind racing for the sole fact that he could do things that weren't supposed to happen.

But the song and the atmosphere calmed him down within a second. You were now the only thing that existed in this world; at least that's what he felt right now. You close your eyes and just sway your body slowly, enjoying the song and dance.

At that moment, Atsumu just wanted to cry. It was your perfect wedding idea, to dance with anyone you care about, throwing the bouquet after this, then ending it with a toast. Just that simple.

"Hey, (Y/n)." You looked up, eyes staring at the brown orbs who was now looking at you with the same gaze that he gave you all those years ago.

Shall I stay?

"I am sorry, for that day." You knew what day that he meant, and you smiled at this, "I am sorry for just saying it now. Years, I am such an idiot." He chuckled to hide the pain, so he didn't have to make you worried.

Would it be a sin?

"No matter what happened, I still want to keep you in my life forever." There's a veiled meaning behind those words, "And thanks to Samu, my wish had been granted!"

If I can't help

"So, yeah... I am sorry for what I have done to you," His brown eyes were glossy now, "I hope you will always be with him."

Falling in love with you

"Because now you finally have the love that will last forever." Your pupils dilated a little when he said those words, not believing that he still remembered the words that once came out from your lips.

You couldn't believe it, eyes frantic as you realised the hidden message behind his words. Miya Atsumu was still in love with you, even after all these years, "Atsumu, I-"

"May I have this dance?" Your husband suddenly appeared beside you, and Atsumu could see how your eyes calmed down instantly at the sight of his twin. He then took your hand from his shoulders and gave it to the happiest person in this room.

"She's all yours, Samu." Atsumu winked at you, trying to reassure you that he would be alright, "You were gone so I couldn't help but steal her away for a minute." He teased his twin, making the poor man send him an annoyed glare.

But it changed right when the grey orbs fell to your figure. Osamu's whole demeanour changed as he was now the one who put their hands on your hips. From that action, you immediately wrapped your arms around his neck, closing the gap as you put your head at the crook of his neck.

Atsumu bowed a little and walked away from the couple, searching for a drink to calm his heartbeat. With a glass of champagne on his hand, he walked back to his seat, sipping slowly as his brown eyes were back to the sight of you and his twin, dancing in the middle of the room without a care for this world.

When the realisation finally hit him, he broke down right when his high school friends were back to the seat. His ex-captain handed him a tissue and said nothing. They let him cry, pouring all of his pain that he endured for these past few years since he let you go.

It was painful when the truth seeped into his heart. It was his dream to keep you in his life, but this is not the scenario that he had when he confessed those words to you all of those years ago.

He wanted you to be a Miya, but it was his name that he wanted on the wedding certificate, not his twin. This was not the ending that he wanted, this was not in his mind when he kissed you that night.

But it was the best choice that he ever made in his life.

He straightened his posture, hearing his name as the host called out to him. He didn't realise that it was time to give a toast. After dabbing his eyes to erase any remaining tears, he took a deep breath and strided into the stage, didn't forget to bring a glass of champagne in his hand.

Atsumu looked at his twin who was now having his arm circled around your waist. It was a sight to behold, the sight that he wanted to be unfolded as he made the decision that day he let you go.

You looked so happy, in the arms of someone who you were sure will love you forever. For the people out there, forever may be a long time, but if it was spent with the right person, it would be a bliss until the end of the day.

If he could let you go before, maybe he could let your heart go even though it means you have his heart as you walk into your own journey with his twin. Osamu gave him a reassuring smile, eyes lingered with gratitude as he gazed towards the setter.

If he couldn't love another person except you, then may it be, he was ready. Because for him, watching the two people that he loved the most were happy together was something that he wouldn't trade for anything.

He let out the heavy heart that he felt with a sigh and smiled, embracing the future that would come in his way,

"Hello everyone! May I please have your attention for just a few brief, heartfelt moments as we toast for the lovely bride and groom?"

And that time as he smiled genuinely to the crowd, everything just felt so right.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*     ༶• ┈┈ ⛧ ┈ ♛ ♛ ┈ ⛧ ┈┈ •༶     *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Tagged Lovelies:

@benewol @letmeshouyou @nitricflame @vventure @heccingdead @muffins-puffins @miyulovestowrite @nanashinanashi @vlovers-world @proplayer-kenma @kashika @cuddlyasahi @blacckdiamondposts @muffngw @baby-boy-taichi @of-heroes-and-dreams @for-ests @bobothecircusclown @call-me-prodigy @xjaelee @miyatsunami @ncityluvvs

[duelofthefatesmp3]

i DO actually wanna know how youd make kotor 3 !!!!!

this ask has been sitting on my inbox for so long on PURPOSE! i wanted some time to re read the revan book + watch some swtor gameplays so i could give a concrete answer about why the book and swtor arent satisfactory and what i would do instead (im not like. a storytelling god so i this is just my PERSONAL idea). under the cut!

to begin with, what's wrong with revan the book and swtor, mai?

i am very fond of swtor i think it was such a nice idea to have an "open" world game set in star wars old republic time. but ultimately, it was not a good conclusion to revan and meetra's storyline! now, i don't really know what happened in the development of the third kotor game (if there ever was a plan for one) but it's clear they dropped the ball on that and decided to start a whole different project. i don't think we can blame disney for that one, because it was announced on 2008, launched in 2011, and disney had just bought star wars that year. so who knows.

the thing is that it's painfully evident that a bunch of the story that was gonna be in the third game, ended up in the book + misc parts of swtor. much of the book feels like a gameplay.

now, it was clear when the book was planned that they wanted to keep revan's story open so when the game came out, they could have a cool Revan storyline so he could make a cool villain appearence and draw in some of that kotor nostalgia. which ehhhhhh. uh. i don't really think did any favors for revan's character. he didn't have a satisfactory arc (I'm not saying "a happy ending" because good arcs aren't always happy) but at least some closure?

revan went through many big events in his life. we didnt need to keep his ass in stasis for his fun villain moments 300 years later. we already had what we wanted from him: jedi turned sith turned jedi again to defeat a terrible threat. that was it we could have let it there and it would have been cool! but then they decided to drag and drag his story just to leave him right where he was before. he just suffered a little more in the in-between.

you could say he finally redeemed himself of all of his crimes this way, but wasn't that the whole purpose of the first kotor game (and would have been the purpose of the 3rd?)

swtor does not centre revan in his own narrative. he's a side character for the player to experience. and look, i get it, we've had a different protag on each game, why not have another one in this one. well, because the protagonist has no personal relationship with revan. meetra was one of his closest friends, and fought with him. there is a connection that can be exploited. but the swtor protagonist is just some guy 300 years in the future who happens to stumble into revan and his life. not even his descendants get to fully interact with revan.

also, there is the fact that revan is not the centre of the game itself, only of a particular storyline. and it's weird, because swtor could have happened without revan's involvement.

ms. meetra surik, ms. bastila shan, women of the world I'm sorry

so it's no news that star wars is misogynistic as fuck right. cause it is.

so you decide to make your gender neutral protagonist a guy. then you decide to make your other gender neutral protagonist a woman. cool. now let's guess who gets underdeveloped, turned into a plot device without reason, and promptly fridged in the most unceremoniously fashion just to fullfil some manpain moments. which one do you think got that treatment.

i know the revan book is supposed to be about revan, but why make meetra go through a whole arc just to undermine her character and turn her into the faithful servant of the guy? she leaves everything behind for him, sacrifices herself for him, hell not even dead is she not serving the guy. and she was the second game’s protagonist! she beat up a bunch of powerful people and now she’s just meh, there? she had so many interesting ways to interact with revan (meeting kreia, revan’s first master, encountering another force consuming entity, etc.)

meetra went through a whole arc about dealing with the guilt of doing something horrible and having the consequences of it cut her from the force. we see her broken, then slowly come back to the world and reconnect herself with the force, then stop running and face the consequences of her role in the war. thats such a cool character with tons of potential! and nothing happened!

then we got bastila who is. a whole deal. so you make her go through a “promising jedi who defeated revan, to questioning reluctant companion, to fell into the dark side, to was redeemed thanks to her bond to revan, who helped her come back because he’d been through the same experience” arc, and then you decide to push her to the side to have a baby?? which is... its clear that the writer didnt know what to do with her (or with the other characters outside of canderous) so hey, lets get her to marry revan and have a baby.

my ideal kotor 3

to preface, im not a game developer, so some of my choices could be stunted by what a kotor rpg can do lol. of course, it would follow the same mechanics and have the same format as the first two, because consistency!

the fun way to start the game, would be from scourge’s perspective. we get to play as a sith! i’d even say you get to change scourge’s name and gender and looks (i know sith have different looks)

in scourge’s storyline, we get from his arrival to normound kaas, to his talks with nissyris, to his missions working for her. in some of these, we can make scourge lean into the dark or the light side! fun! plus we get some exposition with dialogue options. it all continues untill we get to nissirys story about the emperor. we get a fucked up cutscene of his childhood and then BOOM when its over, we see revan waking up from a nightmare and their pov starts.

ok, as for revan’s story, since we’d have to pick it up from where kotor ended, i’d have a little cutscene of revan back into the ebon hawk, with bastila, and them telling the crew to take them to courascant. then cut to a council meeting where revan and bastila get scolded in private, then rewarded by the republic. i would also like to see some revan mournink malak’s death mayhaps. since he was their childhood friend and all.

i would 100% scrape the marriage and two years passed part. as the book said, the council had no use for revan aside from the legend(tm), so why would they stay in courascant. revan was very alienated from the jedi at that point, despite being back in the “light side”

then like, to revan asking around for meetra and other jedi from the mandalorian wars, we can cash in that atris cameo, then revan starts to have these visions about the sith emperor, and maybe we could get a playable dream sequence about revan’s fight with mandalore the ultimate (I KNOW I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IT.) and we get the whole exposition to mandalore telling revan that the sith are behind it all. i believe we should get a bunch of these flashback/dream sequences of revan’s past doing shit. cut to revan burying the mask in a planet, then back to the present. we see a bunch of mission and juhani scenes trying to reach him, but he keeps pushing them away. revan and bastila meet canderous, travel to the ice planet, meet clan ordo (god i love clan ordo) you get the whole quest, you decide weather to spare veela or not, maybe you get a cheeky mandalorian companion (force sensitive mando oh?) and leave canderous behind.

we can visit like, a couple more planets searching for clues maybe, etc. then when reaching nathema, you are forced to go alone as revan, get to explore nathema a bit (raiding ancient location yay) nathema as a location can be so fun because you can have it weaken you hp bar and also you cant use the force (which, in game is pretty cool)

then we get to scourge and nyssiris arriving to the planet, they fight but since theres two of them and revan doesn’t have the force, they beat the shit out of them, and while running away, they get in a fight with bastila and the companions in the ebon hawk (ebon hawk shooting game my hated). bastila manages to get a glimpse of revan’s thoughts before they take them away. but the ebon is so ruined it takes bastila, t3 and the mandalorian a while to fix it, and they get stuck into the unknown regions for a while. the ebon hawk is left in an outer rim planet with t3 fixing it, bastila and the mandalorian run back to the jedi council, only to get caught in the middle of the jedi civil war. we can have bastila choosing to hide in courascant and trying to make sense of what she saw, reading texts about the sith empire, trying to plot a course to where they took revan (more atris! but shes pissed at her now)

cutscene to meetra’s pov, leaving malachor v behind, getting calls from everyone at the hawk (atton my beloved) but just as she’s leaving she gets a force message from revan, calling for her to find him and sending visions of normound kaas. then, through her force bond with visas, she tells her not to go because they’re gay and in love and whatnot.

then boom, she gets intercepted by bastila’s ship, with the mandalore and the other mandalorian (yes i do love having a bunch of mandos on board) and they go on their way to find revan.

now i want there to be an underlying message of “we can’t take our friends with us because we have to do this ALONE we’re powerful JEDI we don’t need our FRIENDS.” meetra gets asked if she wants to bring any friends and she’s like “no. we have to do this alone.” along the game you get constantly contacted by other game characters, you get the chance to talk to them or ignore them.

so, we get back to nathema, and meetra has a whole “holy shit this is just like darth nihilus but ten times worse. but i beat darth nihilus. i can do this!” then she finds peace in this place without the force, we get a whole speech about how the odds arent against them, they find a way to normound kaas, and get going.

in normound kaas i thought about them getting a whole mission about how to infiltrate the citadel, only to get helped by scourge. he joins the party, we get a little flashback of all the years he spent trying to make revan remember and they storm the citadel. we get to fight the dark council members, fun! then we get to free revan and the game switches povs. bastila hands the mask to revan and he has a cool “yes im revan im pretty cool” then a nice heartfelt yet rushed reunion with everyone.

then have a small CONVERSATION WITH MEETRA where she talks about the sith triumvirate she defeated and revan is impressed with her and is like “we are the last hope of the jedi, we’ve learned to walk between light and dark, we’ve done horrors but we can still make things right, our experience has made us more powerful etc.

then they fight the imperial guard, ALL OF THEM, meetra revan and scourge make it into the throne room, they all fight the emperor. meetra shows the emperor that she has seen the void, she has cut herself from the force, and she’s not afraid of him, revan supports her, talks about redemption and hope  and NOW.

NOW. how the alternate endings could go:

if you decide to take scourge through the light side, he manages to form a forcebond with meetra and revan since they’ve both teached something about the duality of the force, they get 100% stronger, but its still not enough. UNTIL. a bunch of ships (jedi and mandalorian, even non republic ships) arrive to dormound kaas, the gangs from each game storm the room and together they make the emperor and his guard a bunch of punching bags. they beat him! (unknow to them, this was a backup body because the emperor can do weird shit like that, and has only debilitated his plan, but he’ll come back dont worry). then they fly back to the republic, to tell the chancellor about the sith threat, and preparations for the war begin. meetra and revan get to live happily ever after for a while, then they die away from the jedi or the sith (waaah im thinking about them helping canderous rebuild the mandalorians, and them doing it since they killed so many mandos in the war)

BECAUSE IN THE END KOTOR IS ABOUT LEARNING TO PROCESS TRAUMA AND RECOGNIZE YOUR MISTAKES AND LIVE WITH THE GUILT WHILST TRYING TO FIX THE MISTAKES YOU MADE ALONG THE WAY. AND ALSO TO HEAL FROM TRAUMA YOU NEED A SUPPORT SYSTEM SO EVEN THOUGH IT MAKES SENSE TO YOU YOU SHOULDNT PUSH PEOPLE WHO LOVE YOU AWAY. AND THINGS AREN’T BLACK AND WHITE ITS COMPLICATED SO YOU DONT END UP BACK ON SQUARE ONE YOURE A CHANGED PERSON.

or

if you decide to dark side scourge further, he betrays revan and meetra, they all die, and the emperor unleashes his angry lightning or whatever on everyone + a bunch of visions of all the enemies of past mocking them, and their loved ones suffering. and since you’ve had that “im not calling my friends bullshit” no one comes, you die there, and the emperor is only stalled for a few years. swtor ensues. scourge becomes the emperor’s hand.

now you could of course bring revan and meetra up in swtor, but maybe only as force ghost guides, or have some of the other characters of the game have relevance (visas tries to heal the miraluka planet 2021)

WELL THAT WAS A LOT OF WORDS. HOPE THIS IS SATISFYING ENOUGH

[devinescribe]

Liars

Chapter 13 of '100 Promises'

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

I am... very... very... sorry for not updating this. I've been trying to write for this, got started, halfway through I got bored of the concept, deleted it, and started over. It's still... meh, if I'm being completely honest, but I hope you enjoy

Warnings: talks and mentions of rape, talks and mentions of abuse, swearing, mentions of blood, mentions of bullying. I think that's all, but as always let me know if I missed any.

Finally a hearts game!

You were excited, and so was Niragi. It was low ranking so you weren't worried in the least.

There were a couple others playing with you, and you smiled. There was people to sacrifice if needed. "How fun!" You cheered. Niragi laughed, shaking his head. "You're a crazy bitch you know?" You heard someone say. You turned to face them, and smiled. Your smile looked so innocent, so pure. "Hopefully the craziest bitch you've ever met."

"Game: Maze Of Reflection (can I name things? No.)

Rules: Everyone will be partnered up. You will be asked questions that you can only answer truthfully. The questions will all have relate to you and your life. Your partner will get the questions they must ask you through the headsets on the table.  If you do lie, the headsets send a wave of the worst pain you've ever felt in your life. Once you've lied a total of 3 times, the headsets explode. There is no time limit. If your partner dies before you reach the end, you've basically won. You just find your way through the maze.

Clear condition: Make it to the end of the maze without lying to your partner 3 times.

The headsets will tell you who you're partnered up with. Game commences in two minutes.''

You skipped to the table, grabbing a headset. You noticed everyone except Niragi, Chishiya, and Last Boss, hesitating to grab one. "Well, come on now! You'll die of you don't grab one," you said. So cheerful. So excited. And for what? To watch the people in this room die? Maybe.

You put the headset on, and watched the screen load.

Partner: Player 59725

Below the number was a picture of Niragi. "Oh this is going to be so fucking easy!" Niragi exclaimed. You high-fived him. "Promise number two really saved our asses, hm?" You teased, remembering him saying something about keeping so many promises being dumb.

'Game start.'

You grabbed Niragi's hand, dragging him with you. "First question... oh, OK. What did your best friend promise to do if you were 28 and still single?" You asked. "That we'd get married," he answered. You heard his head set chime. "This is gonna be a bit too easy for my liking," you muttered.

"What cartoon characters did you idolize growing up and why?" Niragi asked. You bumped into a mirror and cursed. "Fuck... um... it was.... L Lawliet for his skills in solving things as well as his cleverness, Light Yagami for his twisted sense of justice, and Misa Amane for my fashion inspiration?" You said, trying to remember correctly. Your head set chimed.

This kept going on for a couple minutes, where you would ask each other a question, and the truth was told.  Then the mirrors lit up.

'Players 11037 and 59725 switch. Your new partners are player 25718 and 617834.'

''So I go with Chishiya, and you go with that guy?" You asked. He nodded with a groan. "Well, I was getting rather bored, weren't you?" You asked him. He looked at you confused. "What do you mean?" Niragi asked. "Well, we know all there is to know about each other. There's nothing new or interesting being found out right now," you explained.

Were you really bored of him? No, not of him. You would never be bored of him. You just wanted a fun and interesting game. You would never get bored of him. Niragi hoped you wouldn't. He didn't want to be alone.

"So, did you bore the game master somehow?" Chishiya teased when you got to him. "I guess you could say that. We have nothing to hide from eachother, so it was getting boring for me too," you explained.

"Who in all actuality took your first time?" Chishiya read off the screen. He looked at you, waiting for your answer. "Easy, it was Niragi," you answered. Then you felt a pain in the bottom of of your stomach as your headset beeped. A voice on the headset called you a liar, as the pain worsened, and you  screamed, falling to your knees. It hurt. Tears built up in your eyes as you tried to deal with the pain. "Are you lying?" Chishiya asked. "No, read the question again please? Just so I can figure out why I got it wrong. I know I'm not. I really did give him my first," you said, holding your stomach. It really was the worst pain you'd ever felt. It made you shudder. How did they know what was the worst pain?

"Who in all actuality took your first time?" He asked again. You thought for a minute.

'I gave Niragi my 'first'. The question is asking who took my first.'

You looked away. "It... it was taken... stolen... by... by a bully from school. One of the guys that tortured me," you stated. You had never admitted that out loud. You hadn't even told Niragi. You heard your head set chime, and looked at the mirrors. They were projecting you.

All of them. In the whole maze. You gasped, scooting back until your back was against the mirror behind you. You stared in horror as it replayed the words you had said. The thing you didn't want anyone to know had now been broadcasted to at least 14 people. The screen changed to Niragi.

"(Y/N) they did what?! And you- you didn't tell me?!" He shouted. "S-suguru, 'm sorry don't be mad at me," you squeaked, hiding behind your hands, as if he were in front of you. As if he would hurt you. "We'll be talking about this later," he said. Then the mirrors went back to being mirrors. Tears rolled down your cheeks. From the pain in your stomach and the embarrassment. The fear of the one person who you looked for approval of might leave you.

You stood up, and read Chishiya's question. "Who's the person you hate most?" You asked, wiping the tears away, holding your stomach. "Hm? Hate is such a strong word. I don't hate anyone-" Chishiya started, before holding his left hand. His eyes widened and he cursed, holding onto it. His headset beeped, and called him a liar. You guessed the pain worsened as he let out a groan of pain, followed by a small yelp when he tried to soothe the b pain. You went over to him looking at his hand in concern. "Are you ok?" You asked, grabbing his hand softly, your fingers barely ghosting over the skin. He hissed in pain, grabbing it back. "Fine. I hate my father. And my mother. I hate my parents," he answered. His headset chimed, and you looked a him in shock. You would've never guessed that was his trauma. "What? Little miss perfect grew up with a perfect family, didn't she? Got everything she wanted, the attention of people she loved?" He spat. You flinched. "Oh, look here's your question now. Who and what do you fear the most?" He asked. "My father and Suguru's father. And I fear being alone, getting hurt by people, as well as disappointing those I love and them leaving me," you answered. Your headset chimed, and you looked over at Chishiya. "Am I still little miss perfect with a perfect family?"

You two finally found your way through the maze, question after question. You didn't want to tell him some things, but it was better than dying.

'Last question is for both players. Tell the truth or you will be executed whether or not it was your third time lying.'

'Why is that the worst pain you've felt in your life?'

"Because... I was left handed. My parents might not have cared about me or anything having to do with me, but they sure as hell cared that I wrote with my left hand. They broke it once. Never wrote with it again," Chishiya answered. You grabbed his hand softly once more, and gave him a look of understanding.

"Mine has a few reasons. When... well when my first was stolen, it hurt. A lot. And when my father found out I gave my first to Niragi... he hurt my stomach. And the kids at school... the ones that tortured Niragi and I... they used to hurt me in similar ways to both reasons I said before," you said. Chishiya gave you a look that you couldn't read. Was it sympathy? Pity?

The screen chimed as well as phones a 'game complete message' across them both, and your headsets dropped to the floor. You grabbed his hand, pulling him out.

Outside, Kuina, Last Boss and another guy was out there. "My partner had a lot of secrets I guess," Last Boss muttered, wiping some of the blood from his arm. "Dude no way! He exploded on you?" You asked. He nodded, very annoyed at the fact they had. "Like, number 1, ew. Number 2, however,  that's pretty fucking cool. What did they have to hide they didn't want to tell?" You wondered. "So... about your maze fiasco? Why did it only broadcast yours? And you and Niragi were the only two who got separated," Kuina asked. "I don't know... but if the game master is going to be a dick, I'm going to start hating these games," you said. "Hey... (Y/N), can I talk to you?" Chishiya whispered, pulling on your arm. You nodded, letting him lead you out of earshot of the others.

"I'm... I didn't know about your family situation. I shouldn't have said you were little miss perfect and assumed," he said, looking off to the side. "I accept your apology," you smiled. "I-i didn't apologize," he stammered. "Can I hug you?" You asked. He looked around, before nodding. You pulled him into a hug, leaning down, and whispering in his ear, "I know that was your way of apologizing. Thank you for telling me the truth... I'm glad I know you a bit better."

"Everything you heard, you say nothing about, got it?" Niragi threatened his partner. They nodded, terrified of him. They left, and Niragi immediately looked for you. He saw you sitting in the backseat of the car. He gave you a look, and you lowered your gaze. Kuina glared at him, sitting besides you in the back. He went over, and sat in the driver's seat. He purposely sat far from you. Last Boss got in the back, Chishiya finally getting into the front seat.

Niragi didn't say a word. He didn't respond to you, Chishiya's taunting. Nothing. You tapped his shoulder, and tried talking to him. "(Y/N), I'm driving. We will talk later," he stated. Was he really that mad?

You rushed into the hotel, rushing into your room. You didn't want to talk to him anymore. He was being mean.

You took a shower, changing into your pajamas, and sitting on your bed. You knew that Niragi would barge in at any second. You knew he would. Even if you didn't want to talk to him, he would.

You heard the door creek open, and got ready. Would he yell at you? Call you names? These were things that you had never thought about when thinking about Niragi.

You didn't look up as he sat on the bed besides you. "We're going to talk about it. I know you don't want to, but we have to," Niragi said. You looked up at him. "Are you mad?" You asked, playing with the fabric of your shirt. "Kind of. Why... first, let me ask, when did this happen?" He questioned. "Mmm... last year of high school... about two months before I gave you my first," you responded. "It wasn't really your fi-"

"To me it was. I didn't give him my first Suguru. He stole it. Why the fuck do you think I was so nervous the whole time?"

"Yeah but it wasn't-"

"It was! I-i... it was to me. Think about it, if your car gets stolen, it's still your car, no? You didn't give it to them... Then... if they stole my first... I still... I didn count as my first. You were. I counted you as my first."

You bit your tongue to stop the tears. You didn't want to cry and seem weak. "I... I'm sorry I didn't tell you... I'm sorry you had to find out about it that way..." you whispered. "I know. It just... makes me a bit upset that you're the one who made promise 9 and you broke it. I wish... you had told me back then, so that I could've helped you," he stated. "You did. You helped me back then. Even without knowing," you said, reaching your hand out to touch his. He pulled back. "How!? I-i- You cried when I- is that why? How could I have helped you if I didn't even know about it?" He asked, raising his voice. You grabbed his hand softly. "Because you showed me that... when it's wanted, when it's with you someone you trust, and when it's with someone you love... sex is a positive thing. It's not something I should be scared of. You gave me a positive image of what it should be like," you explained. He looked at you in shock. He didn't think you had actually felt that way back then, and even now. But it made sense about why you made promise 40 after.

You lay next to him, catching your breath, your hands holding onto him. Every inch of your skin was pressed against his, as if he'd disappear the second you would let go. He held you just as tight.

"Sugu... let's make a promise, yeah?"

"What is it?"

"That if by the time we're 28, and still single, we'll marry each other."

"I'd like that."

"Promise 40, we promise that if by the time we're 28 and still single, we'll get married."

It made so much more sense to him now.

"If you say so..." he muttered. You pulled him into bed with you, getting under the covers. "Sleep in here tonight. Please?" You pleaded, having a pillow and a space for him on the other side of the bed. "Alright," was all he said before getting under the sheets with you. You hugged him, burying your face into his neck. "I hope you know all the neck and back pain I have endured from hugging and sleeping with your short ass," you whispered. He decided to let your comment slide. He'd would just let you relax from the game. Tomorrow was another day.

You hoped you didn't have nightmare again.

[freyayuki]

Final Fantasy Record Keeper Current Progress Part 10

Here’s a list of my current progress in the Final Fantasy Record Keeper (#ad) (FFRK) mobile game.

Before that, let me start by saying the reason why I started playing Final Fantasy Record Keeper. The answer is Genesis Rhapsodos from Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. Currently, he’s my absolute, most favorite Final Fantasy character. He’s in Final Fantasy Record Keeper, so that’s why I’m also here.

Final Fantasy Type-0 Dreambreaker Dungeon

Dreambreakers are quest level 580. I’ve already cleared the Final Fantasy Type-0 Dreambreaker Dungeon before. My current best time was 46.79 seconds. Would love to be able to sub-30 this fight but I didn’t think that’d be possible until I can get more relics for Type-0 chars. 

I’m revisiting this fight right now only because there are currently time-limited missions that require players to clear 2 Dreambreaker Dungeons. My team for this battle consisted of 4 chars from Final Fantasy Type-0 and 1 off-realm char.

Rem Tokimiya - my main and primary DPS. Have a lot of her Soul Breaks, including her Awakened Arcane Soul Break (AASB) and Synchro Arcane Soul Break (SASB)

Deuce - my healer. Have her AASB and one of her Ultra Soul Breaks (USB) as well as her Glint+ Soul Break (G+)

Ace - my secondary DPS. Only have his fire AASB

Cater - only have her Arcane Overstrike Soul Break (AOSB), which is basically useless. Doesn’t matter though since she was only here to Wrath and Entrust

Cait Sith from Final Fantasy VII - my support. Have his AASB, USB and G+. He’s one of the premier supports for magical (like Ace) and mind-based (like Rem) chars. He has some healing capabilities too so he assisted Deuce with keeping the party alive

My general strat was to get Rem to 4 bars so I could cast her Sync then her AASB. By the time she’s casting her Awakening, the realm Chain should be up and Cait’s AASB should be cast as well. Cait and Deuce support Rem some more via their equipped abilities. Then Rem just spams her Hero Ability (HA) or Unique Ability (UA), Siphon Sphere.

Ace helps build up the Chain count via his attacks. Under the effects of his AASB, he can break the damage cap although it’s not that consistent. Cater Entrusts her gauges to Deuce so she could keep up with the healing.

I didn’t get any new relics since the last time I cleared this fight. That was my first win. After that, I hadn’t bothered trying again. Just resolved to go back once I get more relics for Type-0.

So I was pretty surprised when I managed to lower my clear time by a lot when I did this fight now. Totally wasn’t expecting to be able to nearly sub-30 this quest. Battle ended at 31.53 seconds. Argh! So close. Too bad, huh?

Pleased I was able to cut my clear time by a lot though. Maybe I’m just getting the hang of this now. I’d still prefer to have more decent Type-0 relics to make this battle easier though.

So I wasn’t gonna do this fight again right now but the problem was that my initial clear didn’t get saved. There was some sort of connection error and when I got back to the game, I saw that the Final Fantasy Type-0 Dreambreaker Dungeon was still listing my previous clear time and I didn’t get the time-limited rewards for clearing 1 Dreambreaker Dungeon. Eff! How frustrating and annoying. 

Ugh, wasn’t really in the mood to do this fight again. But I didn’t really have a choice, not if I want the rewards. So I tried the battle again. I guess I must have ended up making a few more mistakes here and there because this time, the fight ended at 37.76 seconds. Meh. Ah, well. It’s fine. At least I finally got the time-limited rewards for this clear.

The other Dreambreaker Dungeon I cleared was, of course, the Final Fantasy VII one. 

Way, way later: Another mission that requires us to clear 1 Dreambreaker Dungeon just showed up. Ended up doing the Final Fantasy Type-0 Dreambreaker fight again. To my surprise, I actually managed to get the sub-30 this time. Battle ended at 28.94 seconds. Yay! Super pleased about this.

The only notable change I’d made was leveling my Final Fantasy Type-0 Historia Crystal from Level 99 to Level 113 of 120. Also just got Ace’s Overstrike Soul Break (OSB). Actually got to use it as well as Rem’s OSB near the end of the fight when the effects of their Syncs and AASBs had run out.

Final Fantasy Type-0 Wandering Gilgamesh Fight

The Wandering Gilgamesh or Vagrant Gilgamesh event features a Level 500 fight against Gilgamesh and Enkidu. Gilgamesh is the main enemy and the one that must be defeated since Enkidu can’t be targeted and is really just there to support Gilgamesh.

You get rewards for beating Gilgamesh using parties made up of characters from the different Final Fantasy series from I to XV, Tactics and Type-0. You can bring off-realm chars though that would make the battle much harder.

After beating the Final Fantasy Type-0 Dreambreaker fight again, I decided to try taking on the Type-0 Wandering Gilgamesh quest. Brought the same team I used for the Dreambreaker battle although I changed some of their equipped abilities. 

For instance, Enkidu buffs GIlgamesh so it’s necessary to bring Dispel to remove these buffs. This quest was easier when compared to the Dreambreaker fight. Managed to win on the first try and even got sub-30 with the battle ending at 28.14 seconds.

Final Fantasy VIII Wandering Gilgamesh Fight

Inspired by my victory against the Final Fantasy Type-0 Wandering Gilgamesh fight, I decided to try the Final Fantasy VIII version. I brought 4 in-realm chars and 1 off-realm char. My team was:

Squall Leonhart - my main DPS. Have a lot of his relics, including his fire AASB, ice AASB, and ice Sync

Kiros Seagill - served as my secondary DPS even though I only have his AASB that deals both ice and dark damage. He offers a bit of support as well 

Laguna Loire - only have his ice AASB so he acted as my third DPS. He’s more of a support though since he can imperil the ice element for Squall

Irvine Kinneas - don’t have anything for him. He’s here to Wrath and Entrust, mostly to my healer

Elarra from Final Fantasy Record Keeper - my healer. Didn’t have healing relics from FF8 so I had to bring an off-realm healer. Missing her AASB and Sync but I do have both of her healing USBs. One offers Regenga while the other increases the critical hit damage of her allies. She can sing and dance, buffing the party and debuffing enemies

Managed to win although it sucks that I missed the sub-30 by a few seconds. Fight ended at 32.79 seconds. 

Final Fantasy X D450 Torment Dungeon

This quest is level 450. The team I brought to this fight was the following:

Tidus - have his water AASB and his water True Arcane Soul Break (TASB) or Arcane Dyad Soul Break (ADSB) as well as a few of his other relics so he served as one of my DPS 

Wakka - here to Wrath and Entrust since I have nothing else for him

Auron - my other DPS. Have his fire Sync and fire AASB and a few of his other relics

Paine - only have one of her USB. It has a bit of utility so she offered some support but her damage was meh, to say the least

Elarra - my off-realm healer again

Managed to get the win with the fight ending at 27.02 seconds.

Final Fantasy X Wandering Gilgamesh Fight

After winning the Final Fantasy X D450 Torment Dungeon fight, I decided to try the FF10 Gilgamesh version. Brought the same team I used for the Torment quest but it wasn’t working out. Wish I had more of Paine’s relics, particularly her AASB or SASB because she was mostly useless unless she was casting her USB which didn’t happen all that often. Didn’t even have any 6-star abilities that I could equip to her.

Also found myself wishing that I had either one of Tidus’s Syncs. Maybe then it wouldn’t have mattered even if I only have Paine’s USB. Anyway, since Paine wasn’t working out, I decided to switch her out for Yuna. Don’t really have much for Yuna either.

Well, I have her holy Chain Soul Break (CSB) but that was useless for this fight because Tidus is a water DPS while Auron is a fire DPS. Have her holy Arcane Overstrike Soul Break (AOSB) but not only does this cost 3 bars to use, it can also only be used once. 

The one healing USB I have for her isn’t instant cast, meaning there’s a bit of a wait time before it gets activated which was why I opted to bring an off-realm healer instead of going with her. Now I thought I’d try a double healer setup. At least Yuna can equip Dispel so Elarra was free to sing and dance. 

Thankfully, this new team comp actually worked somehow. Got the win at 42.63 seconds. 

Summer Decadence Relic Draw 2021 Banner

This is a free draw that’s part of the 2021 Summer Festival celebration campaign. This pull guarantees 1 7-star, 2 6-stars, and 7 5-star relics. The 7-star will be a Limit Break Overstrike (LBO). Too bad we can’t get Syncs here. LBOs aren’t that good, especially if you have nothing else for the char in question.

Anyway, so I did the free pull. It was really nice to see the screen filled with lots of rainbows and disco orbs. Then Dr. Mog showed up to transform one of the disco orbs into a 7-star item. Too bad this doesn’t happen more often.

The LBO I got was Firion’s (from Final Fantasy II). IIRC, I do have his AASB so this wasn’t such a bad thing to get. Don’t remember if I have anything else for Firion though. I don’t use him, and I don’t think getting this is gonna make me want to use him anytime soon. AFAIK, the only times I’ve used him are when there are missions which require us to clear fights with at least 3 chars from FFII.

Surprisingly, this pull gave me all new items. That was pretty nice. Didn’t really bother to take note of everything I got though since most were nothing more than Burst Soul Breaks (BSBs) and Legend Materia Relics (LMRs). BSBs have been powercrept by now. LMRs are useful but they’re not really exciting to get and they’re absolutely useless, even more than LBOs, if you have nothing else for the char they belong to.

I did note that I was able to get one of Cloud Strife’s (from Final Fantasy VII) Glint Soul Break (G), Mako Power. This could be of use to me since I already have a few of his relics, including his Awakened Arcane Soul Break (AASB) and True Arcane Soul Break (TASB) or Arcane Dyad Soul Break (ADSB).

The 6-stars I got were Kuja’s (from Final Fantasy IX) Ultra Soul Break, Soulsplitter, and Freya Crescent’s (from Final Fantasy IX) AASB, Dragon Cross. Don’t have Kuja’s AASB or Sync so getting his USB wasn’t really exciting. Don’t have anything for Freya either but getting her AASB is certainly a start.

Summer Appreciation Relic Draw 2021 Banner

The Summer Appreciation Relic Draw 2021 banner is part of the currently ongoing Summer Festival campaign celebration. Tickets for this banner are given as login rewards. These tickets give a free draw x10 where you’re guaranteed to get at least 1 5-star relic.

My free draws have yielded nothing but trash and disappointment so I didn’t even bother taking screenshots. I’d really rather not remember them because they’re so bad. Meh.

But then one of the tickets actually gave me something good. Or so I thought. Two disco orbs and two rainbow orbs showed up on this particular pull. Then Dr. Mog appeared and turned one of the disco orbs into a 7-star relic. Got pretty excited. The 7-star orb turned into this wand or staff.

After staring at it for a bit, tapped on the screen to find out more about the relics I’d obtained and that was when my excitement turned into bitter disappointment. How could getting 4 golds, 3 of which were new, turn out to be such a massive letdown? Sigh.

The 5-star dupe was nothing more than a Burst Soul Break (BSB) while the new one was a Legend Materia Relic (LMR). Was so disappointed that I didn’t even bother taking note of who owned these relics. Didn’t really matter. BSBs were utterly powercrept and outdated by now. LMRs were only useful if you have other tech for the chars they belong to.

The 6-star relic I got was Ace’s (from Final Fantasy Type-0) Overstrike Soul Break (OSB). OSBs have their uses but it was still preferable to get AASBs and USBs and Syncs. Wasn’t really pleased to see Ace’s OSB but at least I actually managed to put it to good use when I did the Final Fantasy Type-0 Dreambreaker Dungeon and managed to sub-30 it.

The 7-star relic I got was Shantotto’s (from Final Fantasy XI) LBO, Ancient Magic Burst II. Pretty sure this is my first relic for her. Definitely don’t have either her AASB or Sync so, yeah, she’s useless.

Also, of all LBOs, why did it have to be this one? This thing’s featured on the upcoming banner 3 of the Summer Sun Festival. Was planning to pull there for Sephiroth’s (from Final Fantasy VII) True Arcane Soul Break (TASB) or Arcane Dyad Soul Break (ADSB) and Squall Leonhart’s (from Final Fantasy VIII) TASB. Before getting Shantotto’s LBO, had 0 dupes on that banner. Now I can only hope I don’t end up getting her LBO again on that banner.  

Summer Appreciation Relic Draw 2021 Banner

Another ticket for the Summer Appreciation Relic Draw 2021 banner gave me 2 disco orbs. Ended up with a Glint+ Soul Break for a Final Fantasy IV char as well as Laguna Loire’s (from Final Fantasy VIII) Awakened Arcane Soul Break (AASB), Parallel Desperado.

Both were new but was especially pleased with Laguna’s AASB because I have his other AASB. Now I have 2 BDL relics for him. Might just go ahead and create his Hero Ability (HA) or Unique Ability (UA). He was already part of my physical ice team so getting his second AASB just made him better.

One of my last tickets gave me 1 single disco orb so was already expecting to be disappointed. But then Dr. Mog actually showed up and turned that 6-star relic into a 7-star one. Ended up with this sword that also looks like a gun a.k.a a gunblade. 

Knew right away that this belonged to Squall Leonhart (from Final Fantasy VIII). Now I just had to hope that I wasn’t getting a dupe. Already have his ice SASB. This weapon is colored red though so was thinking this could be his fire SASB which I don’t have. 

Got to the draw results screen and - yes, this was indeed Squall’s fire Sync. Very pleased with this draw since aside from having Squall’s ice Sync, I also have his ice AASB and his fire AASB. Basically have all of his most important relics except for his True Arcane Soul Break (TASB).

Admittedly, was kinda down when I remembered that each char can only carry 1 Sync at a time so there was no way to stack both of Squall’s SASBs. Also, my physical fire team is already pretty stacked so I don’t see myself using Squall as a fire DPS. He is my main physical ice DPS though.

Final Fantasy VII Luck of the Realms Relic Draw

This draw costs 5 mythril. It will give you 3 items, one of which is guaranteed to be of 5-star rarity or higher. There’s a Luck of the Realms (LotR) banner for each of the Final Fantasy series of games. Decided to pull on the FFVII LotR banner.

To my surprise, I got a disco orb then Dr. Mog showed up and turned it into a 7-star relic. Got this fist-type weapon. Was pretty sure it belonged to Tifa Lockhart. I could only hope it was her Synchro Arcane Soul Break 2 (SASB2), which I don’t have and which I would love to have, and not her SASB1, which I already have and which isn’t as good as the former.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. Right after the fist-type weapon showed up, I was greeted with the Soul Break Rank Up! screen. Yeah, just got a dupe of Tifa’s SASB1 so it went from Rank 1 to Rank 3 of 5.

Sigh. Of all the things to get, why’d it have to be this dupe? Maybe I’d have been better off getting a 5-star or 6-star item as long as it wouldn’t be yet another dupe. Ahh, what a waste of 5 mythril. Shouldn’t have bothered doing this draw.

Conclusion

So, what about you? Did you pull on any of these banners? What relics did you get? Were you able to get the ones you want? Did you do any of these fights? How did they go? Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions by leaving a comment below or by reblogging or replying to this post.

Notes:

pics are from Amazon.com; links shown above

screenshots are from my Final Fantasy Record Keeper game account

[loadfinger140]

Best Nation In War Thunder

War Thunder Best Country

Best Naval Nation War Thunder

Best Nation In War Thunder Planes

Part of The Complete Beginner’s Guide

Service dogs are trained to provide assistance and therapy to various people with disabilities. They can aid in navigation for people who are visually impaired, assist a child who is having a seizure, calm a veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and can even dial 911 in the event of an emergency.

Welcome to the Critical Condition web site. For those of you unfamiliar with Critical Condition, let me give a little background. Critical Condition (CritCon for short) was started as a small bi-monthly newsletter in 1982 to alert my friends about the new horror films that were released to theaters.

Germany: Now Germany is one of the better nations in the air, if you know how to play them right. Germany is primarily an energy fighter and boom and zoom nation. Fw 190s are NOT meant to turn fight, they suck at it. Use their great roll rate in case someone gets on your tail.

There are no terrible choices when it comes to picking a country to play in War Thunder, each one has strengths and weaknesses. If you’re feeling patriotic you can go for your own nation (if it’s in the game) or if you have a particular favourite aircraft then go for the appropriate country and work up to it (or enjoy it right away, if you happen to be especially keen on the P-26 Peashooter). It’s not as if you have to religiously stick to playing one country either, playing two or three (or all five) countries is good for mixing up play styles to keep things fresh, learning about the strengths and weaknesses of a variety of planes, and allowing aircraft of one nation to repair over time while playing another. The following only covers aircraft, I’m afraid I haven’t really been keeping up with the relative strengths of tanks.

The USSR

If you have no strong preference then starting off with the Soviet Union isn’t a bad idea; you get a bonus premium aircraft for the first country you fly with, and the I-153 that the USSR get is a great plane, very handy to be able to put straight into service without having to research and unlock it. The Soviet tech tree is extensive, with a couple of decent lines of fighters and good jet options in the end game with the MiG-17 fighter and Il-28 bomber. They have a wide range of light bombers/ground attackers, including the iconic Il-2 Sturmovik, and both medium and heavy bomber options. About the only area they’re really lacking are heavy fighters, the Pe-3 series are pretty lacklustre, but the Yak-9T/K with 37mm and 45mm cannon respectively are brutally effective against bombers.

The UK

War Thunder Best Country

Britain is another good option for starting players, with some excellent fighters once you get past the biplanes. The Hurricanes are an early workhorse, Spitfires are highly manoeuvrable and well suited to turning dogfights (except against the Japanese) and the Typhoons and Tempests have good speed and firepower. Their jets struggled a little at the top end when only the Meteor was available, but the Venom and Hunter are more powerful post-war options. For bombing the Blenheim and Beaufort are fine in Rank I, but things tail off a bit with the Wellingtons in Ranks II and III, which are rather vulnerable to the cannon-packing fighters they almost invariably come up against, then pick up again with the two Lancasters that, thanks to Update 1.43, can now carry some of the heaviest bomb loads in the game as they did historically, and the Canberra jet bomber. You also have plenty of torpedo bombing options, starting very early with the venerable Swordfish, but without being able to specifically choose maps featuring shipping targets it’s a roll of the dice as to whether you can actually use them – at least until naval battles might be an option!

The USA

The USA takes a little while to get going. In Arcade mode particularly the favoured US armament of .50 calibre machine guns are at a bit of a disadvantage once everyone else is tooling up with 20mm cannons; though .50s certainly can be effective, especially with later incendiary rounds, you’ll generally need to get more hits in to bring something down, increasing the likelihood of someone else “helpfully” swooping in on your target. The 37mm cannon of the P-39/63s perhaps overcompensates, though, it’s devastating when it hits, but the slow rate of fire and high recoil makes it a little trickier to use, better suited to bomber hunting than fast moving dogfights. The USA have some strong later fighters, and a good selection of jets including several F-86 Sabre variants at the top of the tree. They’re a sound choice for heavy bombers with three B-17 variants and the B-24, sacrificing bomb load compared to the British Lancasters for more defensive turrets, then the B-29 with the largest bombloads in the game, though it’ll take a while to get up to mid-Rank III to start researching them; along the way the A-20 and B-25 are decent medium bomber/attackers with plenty of machine guns for strafing. The F6F and P-47 fighters are also notable for the quantity of ordnance they can carry for ground attack if you like a fighter/bomber role.

Germany

Germany also has strong fighters in the mid-to-late game, but their Rank I options tend to be sluggish, lightly armed or Italian (in some cases, all three); I’d suggest getting the hang of the game with other countries first. Things pick up markedly in Rank II with the introduction of the Bf 109 and Fw 190 series, and they also have the widest range of rocket and jet fighters. Initially there’s a selection from World War II (the Me 163, Me 262, He 162 and Ho 229 “flying wing”) which are in a slightly awkward place for matchmaking, where they outperform Allied propeller-driven contemporaries but are inferior to post-war Soviet and US jets, so to give Germany a viable end-game option Update 1.39 added both a Canadian-built Sabre and a MiG-15, as operated by the West and East German air forces respectively in the late 1950s. Germany also has a good range of heavy fighters from the Bf 110 to the Me 410s, and plenty of early bombing options with numerous variants of the Ju 87 Stuka for dive bombing, and the He 111, Ju 88 and Italian S.79 series of medium bombers. There aren’t any heavy bombers later on, though the Do 217 series of medium bombers can carry pretty heavy loads once upgraded and deliver them with precision in a dive; at the top of the tree the Ar 234, the first operational jet bomber, has its historical advantage of speed somewhat negated, as it usually faces jet opposition.

Japan

Japan has the most agile fighters in the game with the nimble Ki-43 and the A6M Zero line, though they are a bit fragile. The later Ki-84 and N1K are good all-rounders, and there are also heavier options with the big-cannon packing Ki-45 and -102 heavy fighters, handy for taking down enemy bombers. Bombing-wise the H6K is quite a fun early bomber to start with, it carries a large payload for a Rank 1 aircraft, can absorb a lot of incoming fire (especially from small calibre machine guns) and has plenty of turrets including a 20mm cannon to ward off attackers; the downside is that handles like a boat with wings, probably because it *is* a boat with wings. Going up the tree the later bomber line is a little lacking in terms of payload, but turrets with 20mm cannon at least give them a bit of a defensive option. The Japanese tree is a little sparse, the smallest in the game, and Rank V has to be padded out somewhat with prototypes and experimental designs due to the lack of competitive late-war historical aircraft, though at least Update 1.39 gave them a viable end-game option in the form of another Sabre that saw post-war service.

Welcome, guideoui.com visitors. In this guide, We try to focus on All Best Britain Vehicles in War Thunder game. These vehicles are also ranked from I to V. While writing this guide, We pick up many pieces of information from several sites for you. We hope that this guide will help you.

You can see all the best vehicles by nations page, by click here.

Tier I Crusader Mk.III aka “tier 1 MBT” or “smoke machine”, its one of best tanks in game, can fight against any vehicle except E-100 and Maus.

PROS +very good gun (120mm penetration at 2.7, fast reload speed and fast projectile speed) +very fast turret rotation +no armor best armor (no hullbreak) +50 smoke grenades (record) +stabiliser (weak tho) CONS -cant penetrate maus or e-100

Tier II 100mm frontal armor at 3.0 with 75mm gun? 3inch gun carrier! can’t get penetrated by t-34 and kv-1 but avoid Pz. IV or japanese tanks.

PROS +very good armor +good gun CONS -very slow speed (reversed too)

Best Naval Nation War Thunder

Tier III Comet I is not overpowered, but very good tank if you skilled player, however even you can play well you can’t damage enemies well…

Best Nation In War Thunder Planes

PROS +fast speed +good gun (penetration, ballistics) +20 smoke nades CONS -very bad reverse speed -weak damage

Tier IV Caernarvon is tank with hull of Conqueror and turret from Centurion, but BR still 6.7.

PROS +very good hull armor and good turret armor +good gun (penetration, ballistics) +good reverse speed (compared to previous british tanks) +Stabilised turret CONS -meh mobility -repair cost

Tier V Even with no armor and no fast speed “Vickers MBT” is best tier 5 tank, compared to leopard 1 this tank have 7.0 BR, stabiliser, faster reload.

PROS +very good gun(penetration, ballistics, reloading speed) +stabilised turret CONS -bad armor -repair cost

This is the ending of War Thunder – All Best Britain Vehicles guide. I hope it will help you. If there is wrong or you have suggestions, please let’s know and comment us. Have fun.

Similar Posts:

[ranma-rewatch]

Episode 21: This Ol' Gal's the Leader of the Amazon Tribe!

*checks watch* Oh, hey, it’s time for more Ranma 1/2! Hope things are going well for you, person reading this. I’m...fairly sure I know what’s coming? I just don’t really remember exactly how it happens. Will I like it? Will I not? We’ll have to see, next paragraph, after I’ve seen the episode again.

That was...not what I was expecting? This storyline is both moving much faster and much slower than I remember, if that makes any sense. How? Well, let me recap it a bit first.

The episode starts with someone flying into the city on birds. More specifically, a bunch of small birds supporting a larger bird who doesn’t seem to fly, and the person is riding on that bird. It’s weird. She arrives in a construction zone, an old woman with a walking stick taller than she is, and she says something about looking for her son-in-law. Actually, she says it a lot. A steel girder almost falls on her head, but she hits it with her stick in mid-air, shattering the metal into dust, before running off.

It cut from that to Ryoga attacking Ranma. Why? Well, Ryoga doesn’t really need a reason, but this time he does. Namely, the whole Ranma kissing Akane thing from the last episode. Of course, Ranma was in cat-mode at the time and doesn’t remember it at all, no matter how much Ryoga tells him it’s real. After Ryoga gets splashed with cold water, Ranma is then attacked by Sasuke and Kuno for the same reason, and combined with piglet-form Ryoga’s help, Ranma actually gets kinda beat up in the process.

Heading back to the home, he realizes that Akane’s probably mad if it is true, and we see her in the dojo, but she isn’t really working out the way she usually does when she’s mad. If anything, Akane seems conflicted. Ranma shows up to talk about it with her, and immediately apologizes. Akane asks if he remembers doing it, and he admits he doesn’t. Then, Akane wonders, did it not matter? Would Ranma have kissed anyone, and it just happened to be her?

Not understanding what is going on, Ranma stumbles over answering too long, until Akane starts actually getting riled up, calling him a flirt. That pisses Ranma off, so they get into an argument. There’s also a scene where their dads are playing shogi, and they wonder about that pink cat Shampoo sent them, especially since it’s unlikely she knew about Ranma’s fear of felines.

The answer to that comes as Ranma goes to take a nice, hot bath to clean off after the fights he’s had. The cat jumps in with him, and before he can freak out about his greatest fear being in the room, Shampoo emerges from the bath right where the cat had been, and she’s very naked. Yep, the cat was her that whole time!

In a case of Ultimate Bad Timing, Akane comes to take a bath herself and sees Ranma in the bath with a naked Shampoo. We cut directly from that to Ranma practicing what to tell Akane later. Namely, that he won’t apologize or back down, instead being firm on the fact that it wasn’t what it looked like and he did nothing wrong. And we wonder why Ranma has relationship problems.

Akane appears, and she seems fine...before knocking Ranma into a pond. Not long after the water changes him into his cursed form, the old lady from the beginning appears, and Ranma has a very hard time fighting her. She won’t explain who she is or why she’s fighting him, then disappears. That felt...a bit pointless, honestly.

Later, Shampoo comes by the house again, with food. It seems she has moved to Japan officially, and lives and works at a nearby ramen shop. As everyone’s eating the food, the old woman shows up again, taking a place at the table to eat. It’s revealed that she is Shampoo’s great-grandmother, named Cologne, and she’s there to make sure that Shampoo and Ranma get married. Soun fires back about the engagement Ranma already has to Akane, but Shampoo seems to think she has a good argument for why she should be the one to take Ranma’s hand.

She takes him into the bathroom and uses cold water to turn back into a cat, and it’s revealed exactly what happened. Heading back to China, she was shamed for failing to either kill or marry Ranma, and thus had to train with Cologne. They did that at Jusenkyo, for some reason, and Shampoo fell into the Spring of Drowned Cats. So, apparently the curse is Ranma’s fault, and thus he has to marry her. He rightfully points out that’s utter nonsense, but Cologne doesn’t care.

They fight for a bit, with Cologne showing off one of those moves where it looks like there are a bunch of her but only one is real. Ranma uses food and Cologne’s hunger to figure out the real one, but that doesn’t really matter. She’s a bit impressed by him, but still knows he’s far too inexperienced to ever really stand a chance against her. Then she hits him with her stick, and says something about how he’ll be begging to marry Shampoo in a few days.

Why is that? Well, it seems she did something quite diabolical. She apparently hit a pressure point that has caused Ranma to be incredibly sensitive to water. Even cold water feels boiling hot, but it still activates his curse. To turn back to his preferred form, he’d need to use hot water, but with how sensitive his skin is, hot water would be torture to endure. Thus, he can’t turn back into his uncursed state unless he does exactly what Cologne tells him.

Let me start with the stuff I like about this episode. First off, this is a really interesting way to build a story arc that’s very different from the ones that came before. All the story arcs in season one were pretty typical for anime. Each event led directly to the next, it all felt like single stories that just took multiple episodes to tell.

But if you didn’t know the last episode was part of a story arc, you wouldn’t guess that to be the case. It felt like a single-stand alone episode. And it kind of was. Only two things really carried over: Shampoo the Cat being mailed to them, and Ranma kissing Akane at the end of the episode. In fact, when I saw Ryoga and Ranma fighting, it took me a second to realize what they were talking about, because I didn’t think that event from last episode would be carried over.

I really like how it was done, though. The show made it pretty clear that Akane was feeling some feelings about the whole thing, but Ranma was too caught up in the idea that she’d just be plain angry about it to miss what she was really telling him. She wanted him to tell her that actually it did mean something that in his cat-state, he still sought her out and was affectionate towards her. She didn’t want it to be meaningless. That’s really cute, and the miscommunication there was less annoying than it sometimes is and more adorable. Free relationship tip: learning how to properly communicate to your partner is really important!

The concept of finally introducing a character who is actually a better fighter than Ranma is good. Cologne isn’t Ryoga or Shampoo or Kuno. He can’t just beat her in a cool fight, she’s far more experienced and skilled, something that from here will kind of drive the entire arc. The fact that Shampoo ended up with a cursed form that Ranma finds so terrifying is also interesting. She’s kind of scary to him anyway, this unrelenting force who won’t leave him alone no matter what he does, so making her cursed form that but to the tenth degree is pretty neat.

Last good thing: I really love how nonchalant Kasumi is with Shampoo. Like, to her it’s just like, “Oh, Shampoo! You’re back, that’s lovely, do you want to stay for a meal?” Either Kasumi doesn’t understand the complex romance plot going on, or she does and finds it not reason to stop being a good host.

What didn’t I care for? Well, like I said at the start, it feels like this arc is moving too fast and too slow at the same time. In one episode, this story resolves the Akane/Ranma kiss from last episode, the mystery of the pink cat, introduces a new focal player in the story, and curses Ranma with something he’ll have to fix. That’s a lot to happen, and I was really shocked the pressure point thing happened in this episode too.

But at the same time...I really found my interest waning in the back half of this episode. The Cologne fight just isn’t super gripping, to me anyway, especially when the technique she uses just feels very bland. There’s a good five or so minutes, about a quarter of the runtime of the episode, that I was just bored in.

I also like reintroducing Shampoo, only three episodes after she left, was a bit of a mistake, especially when she’s basically a main character from here on out. I know she was very popular, but even then giving the audience some time away from her let’s them miss her, if that makes any sense.

There was originally going to be a Cologne based Character Spotlight, but then I decided not to because we still haven’t seen a lot from her, and also I’m very tired and my birthday was Monday please stop bullying me

So, yeah, if you couldn’t tell I’m kind of meh on this episode. It’s not bad. It’s not great. I enjoyed the first half quite a bit, but the back half was a little more of a struggle. It was in fact a big enough dip that I’m putting this episode fourth from the bottom, just above the P-Chan introduction episode.

Episode 7: Enter Ryoga, the Eternal ‘Lost Boy’  

Episode 12: A Woman's Love is War! The Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge!

Episode 15: Enter Shampoo, the Gung-Ho Girl! I Put My Life in Your Hands

Episode 9: True Confessions! A Girl's Hair is Her Life!

Episode 2: School is No Place for Horsing Around

Episode 19: Clash of the Delivery Girls! The Martial Arts Takeout Race

Episode 6: Akane's Lost Love... These Things Happen, You Know

Episode 13: A Tear in a Girl-Delinquent's Eye? The End of the Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge!

Episode 17: I Love You, Ranma! Please Don’t Say Goodbye

Episode 20: You Really Do Hate Cats!

Episode 16: Shampoo's Revenge! The Shiatsu Technique That Steals Heart and Soul

Episode 8: School is a Battlefield! Ranma vs. Ryoga

Episode 11: Ranma Meets Love Head-On! Enter the Delinquent Juvenile Gymnast!

Episode 4: Ranma and...Ranma? If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another

Episode 5: Love Me to the Bone! The Compound Fracture of Akane's Heart

Episode 1: Here’s Ranma

Episode 3: A Sudden Storm of Love

Episode 21: This Ol' Gal's the Leader of the Amazon Tribe!

Episode 10: P-P-P-Chan! He's Good For Nothin'

Episode 14: Pelvic Fortune-Telling? Ranma is the No. One Bride in Japan

Episode 18: I Am a Man! Ranma's Going Back to China!?

But hey, maybe things will be different next time? I’m actually pretty sure I’ll like it better, because now we’re really getting into the stuff I can remember. Namely, Ranma is going to be introduced to what will be his signature technique in “Behold! The 'Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire' Technique”. I’ll be there next week, and I hope you will too.

[eldritchsurveys]

1055.

How often do you watch the news? >> I don’t watch it at all.

Would you rather read the news online? >> When I do want to find out about something, I do just look it up online. But mostly I avoid all mention of current events as often as possible. I have really received no benefits from knowing as much about what’s going on in the world as the internet wants me to, and I think just knowing what’s going on locally (as in, the actual state I live in, with references to federal stuff when needed) is good enough. The internet has provided me with many wonderful things; too much knowledge about every awful thing going on at all times at every point on the globe (or even every point in this country) is not one of those things.

Speaking of being online, what website do you visit the most? >> This one, I guess. I end up on it at some point every day.

Have you ever shopped online? >> Yes.

Have you ever held a snake? >> I’ve touched one, but not held one.

Ever caught a turtle? What about a crawfish? >> I’ve picked up a turtle that I saw in my backyard when I was a preteen. I’ve never held a live crawfish.

Have you ever eaten gumbo?  >> Yes.

Or do you not like spicy food? >> Oh, I love spicy food.

What about sweet food? >> I prefer sweetness as a balancer -- like, sweet and spicy is excellent, sweet and savoury, sweet and sour... all good. When I eat fruit, I usually like to eat it with other things like crackers and cheese. Flavour complexity is my jam.

Are the Sour Patch Kids commercials funny? >> Meh. They’re commercials, so I hate them on principle.

Do you own a bottle of hand sanitizer? Do you like how it smells? >> I have some in the car because Lazarus Naturals sent me a free bottle of their lemon-scented sanitiser once with my CBD order. It smells nice, and it’s handy to have, so I kept it. I don’t usually like hand sanitisers, though.

Do you own a pool table? What about an air hockey table? Or a foosball table? >> No.

Do you live with your parents? Are you cool with that? >> I do not live with a parent and I am very happy with that.

When did/when do you want to move out? >> I left home at seventeen. I went back a couple of times, but it was never a long-term arrangement.

Have you ever been on a cruise? >> No.

Have you ever played frisbee? >> No.

Are you better at catching or throwing? >> Uh.

Did you donate to the Haiti relief fund? >> No.

Did you do so with your cell phone? >> ---

Have you ever seen Scare Tactics? Would you ever put your friend on that show? Would they totally kill you? >> I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.

Speaking of killing things... have you ever hit an animal with your car? Did you ever go back and check if it was okay? >> I don’t drive.

What game systems do you own? >> We have a 360, a PS4, a Wii, a Switch, a 3DS, a Vita, and of course our computers and phones.

Do you ever play computer games? >> I usually play computer games.

Do you have a wireless mouse? What about a laser mouse? >> Sparrow has the wireless mouse I used to use. I use a wired one now.

Do you wear polos? >> No.

Did you used to have a lunchbox? >> In elementary, yes.

How often do you/did you bring your lunch to school? >> I always had to bring my lunch to school when I was a child because school food ran counter to my father’s diet (and I didn’t start being able to choose my food until high school).

What was/is your favorite school lunch? >> ---

When was the last time you wore a hat? What kind of hat was it? >> Yesterday. Just a regular floppy beanie.

Do you wear hats often? >> No, just when it’s cold. I didn’t even wear the hat for that long yesterday, because I run hot and it has to be way colder than like 40 degrees for me to really need to bundle up.

Have you ever seen Ghost Hunters? Do you think it's all fake? >> Never seen it, don’t care about it.

Have you ever tried to ghost hunt? If so, did you catch anything? >> No.

What room are you sitting in? Are you comfy? >> My bedroom. Yes.

Do you prefer gold or silver? What about diamonds or pearls? Earrings or bracelets? Necklace or rings? Or are you not a jewelry person? >> Gold, neither, earrings, no preference. I like jewelry but I’m very particular about it.

Have you ever made jewelry? >> When I was a kid. Oh, and I made kandi a few times with Sigma back in those days.

Do you have any unique hobbies? >> No.

Have you ever put together a model airplane? What about a model car? >> I put together a model car with my father once as a kid.

Do you have a beanbag chair? What about a futon? How about a popasan chair? Or are all those words pretty much a foreign language to you? >> I don’t know what a popasan chair is, but I do not own a beanbag chair and I no longer sleep on a futon (thank god).

Have you ever broken a window? If so, what with? >> No.

Have you ever had surgery? If so, what on? >> No.

Would you date a handsome mariachi player who never stopped playing? >> No........

Do you know any boys named Ashley or Lesley or Lynn? >> No.

Do you have a thermos? >> No.

Do you prefer coffee or hot chocolate? >> Coffee.

Do you like green tea? >> I love green tea.

Do you like to play Freecell? What about Hearts? Or Mahjong? >> Nah, not anymore.

Is there a wicker basket in the room? How about an empty bowl? >> No.

Do you like cheetos? Do you lick your fingers after eating them? >> I hate Cheetos.

Have you ever fed the birds? >> Yes.

Did it cost tuppence a bag? >> ???

Do you know where that line is from? >> I do not, and this is the second survey I’ve had reference it in recent memory. Eventually I’ll just look it up.

Does your family own guns? >> I do not own a gun.

Do you like mini coopers? What about PT Cruisers? >> I don’t much care for either.

Have you ever been given flowers? Were they from a relative or someone special? >> If anyone’s given me flowers, it was probably Sparrow. Although I don’t remember ever receiving flowers.

Have you ever ridden on a motor cycle? >> Yes, many times.

Where you live, what are the laws regarding helmets? >> I’m not sure, because I see a lot of people riding around without them. I grew up thinking they were mandatory everywhere, but I guess it varies from state to state.

Do you chase after the ice cream truck? >> I have never done this.

When I say the year 1492, what comes to mind? >> “Columbus sailed the ocean blue”, unfortunately.

Do you prefer to buy or rent DVDs? >> ---

What was your favorite book as a child? >> I had a few.

Who is your favorite super hero? >> ---

Have you ever eaten at Chik-fil-a? >> Yep.

Have you ever seen a dead body? >> Not a human one.

Have you ever tried to read the dictionary the whole way through? >> I read the dictionary a lot as a child. I don’t know how far I got or anything because I wasn’t interested in keeping track of that. I was just doing it for fun.

What does your umbrella look like? >> The one I use most is red and black.

Do/did you have any hot teachers? Or is that thought kind of gross? >> I’ve had teachers I thought were attractive.

Is anyone you know pregnant? >> No.

Do you know any twins? >> No.

Do you spray tan? >> No.

Would you consider yourself healthy? >> I don’t really think about it. I haven’t been sick and I don’t have mysterious pains that I can’t explain (like, if my neck hurts it’s because I slept wrong or whatever; it’s traceable and not chronic) and my body functions relatively well, so I assume I’m mostly healthy, physically. My mental health is always up for debate.

[johannesviii]

Top 10 Personal Favorite Hit Songs from 2006

17 to 18 years old. First to second university year, studying History. Another slightly chaotic year, to be honest.

It’s yet another great year for hits, even if 2005 and 2007 are both even better.

Disclaimers:

Keep in mind I’m using both the year-end top 100 lists from the US and from France while making these top 10 things. There’s songs in English that charted in my country way higher than they did in their home countries, or even earlier or later, so that might get surprising at times.

Of course there will be stuff in French. We suck. I know. It’s my list. Deal with it.

My musical tastes have always been terrible and I’m not a critic, just a listener and an idiot.

I have sound to color synesthesia which justifies nothing but might explain why I have trouble describing some songs in other terms than visual ones.

At this point it was beginning to be clear that my mother wanted me out of the appartment as quickly as possible so staying at home was becoming more and more unpleasant. I basically spent most of my day outside or at the library when I wasn’t in class, then ate dinner and slept at home. I had a few friends at university but was very unpopular (by the start of the second year, my nickname was “the hobo”, mostly because I was always wearing the same old black coat and bad jeans, but also because I liked to fish for coins under vending machines cause I had next to no money). I also had a brief but extremely bad relationship that year, which ended with me punching the dude back after he punched me between two classes near the end of the year.

While making these lists I found a tape labelled “spring 2006″ and nothing else. I think it’s one of the last tapes I ever made.

After listening to it, it contained:

Mr Brightside (The Killers) (who’s surprised?)

Crazy, by Seal, but sung by a woman. No idea who that is. (Edit: Alanis Morissette! thank you purplecyborgnewt)

Alice & June (Indochine)

You And Me (Lifehouse)

A couple of seconds of Precious, Depeche Mode

Oui (Zazie)

Precious (Depeche Mode) again. A radio host states it’s the n°15 favorite song on Europe 2 that week, whichever week that was.

City of Blinding Lights (U2)

Nolwenn Ohwo (Nolwenn Leroy)

Fragment of Song to Say Goodbye (Placebo), then the entire song.

The ending of Talk (Coldplay), followed by another fragment of Talk

Juste Après (Fredericks, Goldman & Jones)

Talk (Coldplay), this time in its entirety (I can still smell the frustration more than 13 years away)

Broken (Seether)

Enjoy the Silence 2004 (Depeche Mode)

Fragment of Missing (Evanescence), followed by nearly the entire song

Jeune et Con (Saez)

A bit of a radio show I found funny

An obscure remix of Sans Contrefaçon (Mylène Farmer).

So yeah, I stopped making tapes around that time. I also only bought two cd singles that year.

Just like the previous year, some of my favorite albums from that year have exactly zero singles elligible for this list. They are Alice & June by Indochine, and Meds by Placebo. The worst part? One of the best songs on Indochine’s album is a goddamn duet with Brian Molko from Placebo. It’s called Pink Water and it’s great. Please listen to it if you don’t know it yet. What can I say, I’m a weak and simple person, I hear a duet between two singers I adore, and I die instantly.

Anyway. Meds is kind of underrated as far as Placebo’s discography goes and I’m especially fond of Infrared, which was one of the songs of the year for me. Indochine’s Alice & June, meanwhile, is a concept double album about two girls making a suicide pact. It’s a bit of a mess and it’s not as tight as Paradize was but it’s still really, really good for the most part. The first eponymous single should have been elligible. But it isn’t. I’m sad.

On to the honorable mentions!

So Sick (Ne-Yo) - Usually this kind of music just sounds bland to me, but that one was really pleasant.

Miracle (Cascada) - Not as good as Everytime we touch. Still a lot of fun.

Smack That (Akon) - This shouldn’t be this catchy.

Pump It (Black Eyed Peas) - Same here.

Living On Video (Pakito) - I only just now realised this was a cover. What the hell.

SOS (Rihanna) - Not her best song. Still good.

L’Amour N’est Rien (Mylène Farmer) - Really funny lyrics, meh song.

World Hold On (Bob Sinclar) - Stay tuned for more.

Hips Don’t Lie (Shakira) - Song of the summer, whether you liked it or not. Fortunately, I liked it a lot.

Chasing Cars (Snow Patrol) - Very pleasant.

SexyBack (Justin Timberlake) - That beat is just incredible.

Call Me When You’re Sober (Evanescence) - I remember Rock Mag finishing their KarmaCode (Lacuna Coil) review with “We hope Evanescence’s next album will be fantastic, because this is their most serious rival yet.” And nope, Evanescence’s album wasn’t nearly as good as KarmaCode. But this song still made the year-end list, while nothing from Lacuna Coil ever crossed over. Our Truth SHOULD have been a huge hit. It had a ton of crossover appeal. One of the biggest musical tragedies of the year right there. Oh well, the Evanescence single is still good though.

Say It Right (Nelly Furtado & Timbaland) - The last cut from the list, and when you’ll see what replaced it, you are going to hate me.

And now, the top ten.

10 - Everytime We Touch (Cascada)

US: #31 / FR: #5

This kicked Nelly Furtado off the list.

I am not sorry, just so you know.

9 - Ridin’ (Chamillionaire)

US: #8 / FR: Not on the list

This is a song about respecting the law and driving at a reasonable speed and cops being mad because they can’t do anything against you. He’s a gangster, just... not doing anything illegal at the moment. I absolutely adore that concept. This is the best.

8 - Crazy (Gnarls Barkley)

US: #7 / FR: #29

I’ve never met someone who disliked this song, and for that reason I have nothing to say about it. It’s just one of these tunes, like Hey Ya, which are too perfect to argue or say anything constructive about them.

7 - Temperature (Sean Paul)

US: #2 / FR: #48

Half of this top ten 10 is made of absolute bangers with untouchable beats and you know what, I really miss that time, mostly because the current charts are morose and depressed (for good reasons, but still). This is no Get Busy, but come on, who can say we need less Sean Paul in our lives? Not me that’s for sure.

By the way, one of the very first videos I saw on (the very new at the time) youtube was a misheard lyrics version of this song. I think you all know which one it is, the original has been deleted but it was reuploaded several times since then.

6 - Rock This Party (Bob Sinclar & Cutee B)

US: Not on the list / FR: #19

You really can’t go wrong with this “Everybody dance now” sample, and this is one seriously kickass song, and yet another banger on a list already full of them. Also, this was possibly the best music video of the entire year, featuring three kids trying to imitate music videos from just about every popular genre. Check it out if you’ve never seen it, it will make your day.

5 - Marly-Gomont (Kamini)

US: Not on the list / FR: #1

Possibly the most unexpected hit song of the decade in my country. Basically, this guy made a rap song about the tiny rural village he was living in, and a funny music video shot on a 100€ budget to show to his friends and family. And it was well written. And it was hilarious, while still being insightful. And it became a viral sensation. And it charted! And suddenly it became the biggest hit of the year.

If you’ve never heard it, here it is. There was no translation available for it on lyricstranslate, so I made an account just to translate it myself. You’re welcome. Please give it a try. It’s great. It was a hit for a good reason, and I promise you the music video is funny even if you don’t speak the language.

4 - Slipping Away/Crier la Vie (Mylène Farmer & Moby)

US: Not on the list / FR: #15

So, uh, earlier in this post I said “What can I say, I’m a weak and simple person, I hear a duet between two singers I adore, and I die instantly.”

This is a duet between Mylène Farmer and Moby, based on a song from Hotel, which, if you recall, I listened to on a loop the previous year.

My poor heart didn’t need this. What did I do to deserve this. What a blessing.

3 - Over My Head (Cablecar) (The Fray)

US: #13 / FR: Not on the list

This was my #1 at some point. Then I realised the version I kept listening to was a punk rock version by A Day To Remember from Punk Goes Pop, and that I had nearly forgotten what the original sounded like. So I listened to it, and it’s still very, very nice, but it’s not quite the same.

I still bought the album, though.

2 - Nolwenn Ohwo (Nolwenn Leroy)

US: Not on the list / FR: #43

I had completely (and I do mean completely) forgotten about this song until I started to check the French year-end top 100 to make this list. Erased from my mind entirely by some sort of MiB neuralyser. And I was like “hang on, wasn’t this a good song? This rings a bell. I used to love it, didn’t I?” (and sure enough, it’s on that 2006 tape I found). So I wrote it down for the honorable mentions, just in case.

Before making the definitive list, I put the song on, and I felt like the critic in Ratatouille having a flashback.

Holy. Shit.

I remembered ALL the lyrics. While listening to it, in under three minutes I successively put it in the 6th spot, then the 4th, and when it ended, it was #2 on the list. I downloaded it and put it back on my mp3 player and on my playlists. I’ve listened to it about 30 times in the past week. It’s so great. How did I ever forget this song existed. I feel so alive.

I never cared about this singer, but this is written by Laurent Voulzy, who’s music I actually love, and he’s firing on all cylinders here. Just listen to it. Please.

It could have easily topped the list if it wasn’t for the most useful and helpful song in the entire year.

1 - Pas le Temps (Faf Larage)

US: Not on the list / FR: #2

I never watched a single episode of Prison Break. This was the French version of the opening song. I don’t even know what happens in the series. I don’t really care.

I. Adore. This song. It’s yet another #1 that helped me a lot.

The beat is untouchable and this rap is actual poetry. Not even remotely kidding. Here’s a part of one of the verses.

Aussi loin que la lumière semble s'éteindre (As far as the light seems to flicker) Seule une étincelle au fond de moi peut l'atteindre (Only the spark hidden inside of me can reach it) (...) Les dés sont jetés, rien n'est joué (the dice is tossed, the game is set) Même le sort retient son souffle piégé dans ce sablier (even fate holds its breath, trapped in this hourglass) J'ai décidé de ne pas être prisonnier (I decided I wouldn’t be a prisoner) J'n'ai que ma vie à offrir si jamais j'échouais (I only have my life to offer if I ever fail) Pas le choix faut y'aller (No choice, let’s go)

The line “pas le choix, faut y aller” (no choice, let’s go) keeps being repeated in the entire song and it’s so, SO motivational. As I said before, 2006 was not as bad as 2003 but it was still a difficult year - at the end of it, I was an adult with no money, very little hope for the future, no diploma yet apart from the highschool one, still trying to NOT become a ball of anger because of a couple of assholes in class, all of this with dysphoria and a mother who wanted to kick me out as soon as possible. And I wanted to win, and punch the world, and say here I come, I’m alive, I survived, better watch out.

Si je dois exceller, tout donner, prendre c'que j'peux (If I need to be the best, give everything, take whatever I can) Si le monde m'appartient restez pas au milieu (If the world is mine, don’t stay in my way) Et si le sort est contre moi c'est tant pis (And if fate is against me, too bad) On fait des plans pour s'en sortir, écoute (We’re making plans to survive, listen) Pas le choix faut y'aller (No choice, let’s go)

This song defined the entire year for me. This was my fight song. Everytime I wanted to give up, it was there to give me a very simple reminder.

No choice. Let’s go.

Next up: here it is, at last, the absolute best hit song of the decade

[championfrita]

Pokémon Sword and Shield Review

So...I've taken some time to fully play Pokémon Shield. Now, I know this is pretty delayed, and I got the double pack so I wanted to play Sword first to see if how I felt was really accurate or if I was being too harsh. That said, let's talk about my experience with the Galar Region.

Initial Impressions

Overall, I was excited to play Shield at first. Everything was bright and exciting and the characters were easy to recognize and not overly generic.

The first few hours of this game, well it's a slow burn. And I do mean SLOW. Even with the text set to Fast and me taking things at my own pace it took me at least a good couple hours to reach the Wild Area. Furthermore, this game has an infernal amount of handholding, even when given the option to say "I know all this already" it still gives a brief explaination for almost anything and STILL makes you sit ALL THE WAY THROUGH the catch tutorial.

It's 2019 and older players still don't get the option to skip this. Come on GameFreak.

That said, the longer I played the more I began to notice...how should I put this? Blatant laziness?

The Wild Area

Now, the CONCEPT of the Wild Area in theory is amazing. It's still not too bad as is, but there are definitely flaws. For starters, the same tree has been copy pasted all over the place to make up 90% of the foliage.

More than that, though, despite the Wild Area having a good selection of Pokémon and a fairly varietied environment (desert, lakes, forest) it feels oddly...empty. There are no real secrets to speak of, no hidden areas, no easily missed items. Everything is all right out there to see and spread pretty far apart. I don't know if it's a lack of Trainers or the fact that I don't have an Online membership so I played alone, but the Wild Area feels like it just needs something MORE.

Dynamax Raid Battles, even when done alone, are fairly fun and sometimes challenging with the turn limit. Radiant AI Trainers spawn in to assist you if you're playing alone so there's no worries about having to take one on with just one Pokémon.

Camping, which can be done anywhere but is introduced to the player here, is an absolute treat. Have YOU played fetch with a unicorn? I have, and I love it. The wide variety of curries you can make with different ingredients is nice, and your Pokémon even get EXP boosts if you play with and feed them while camping.

The Pokémon

Honestly, I'm really not impressed. The Galar Dex of new Pokémon feels painfully small, so much so that playing Pokémon GO and catching a few Unova Pokémon made me yearn for the days when we used to get regions completely FULL of new Pokémon. Remember when you had to wait until AFTER the main game to start catching Pokémon from past gens? I...well, this might be an unpopular opinion, but I LIKED that.

That said, using a sparse selection of Galar Pokémon and Galar Regional Variants on my team definitely made the Gym Challenge more difficult. I picked Scorbunny, because Fire Types, and honestly didn't really care for it or its evolutions at first. Cinderace has really grown on me though and I like Pyro Ball as a move. It's flashy and powerful and that suits me just fine. Most of the new Pokémon's DESIGNS were good and I liked them, there just really weren't ENOUGH of them.

I'm fairly pleased with the regional variants as well. It was difficult to adjust to Ponyta and Rapidash being Psychic Type, but I really liked having them on my team. At the same time...Meowth not evolving into a Persian doesn't really sit right with me.

I'm all for branch evolutions, but Perrserker honestly just looks more like a giant Galar Meowth than anything. I played this with only the info given in the few scattered trailers I'd seen, so I was genuinely excited to see what a Galarian Persian would look like only to end up with Perrserker. The Typing is phenominal, and I think it's great to see a Steel Type Meowth for a change, but I just don't like where they went with it. Eh. Ces't la vie, moving on.

The Story

It's weak. Straight up, the story in this game is poor. There were so many directions they could have gone. I really liked the idea of Rose being this charismatic chairman hype man for the League and being the bad guy. I saw it coming, but it was a nice change to see just based on his personality. Still, it feels rushed. His motivations are really one dimensional and glossed over. Like, "Oh, here's the bad guy. Go get him." It worked in Gen 1 because Giovanni was a MOBSTER. He was MEANT to be a bad guy straight to the core in general, but Rose just doesn't have that vibe.

Not only that, but the "Bad League Members" are kinda meh. That feels REALLY lazy. They didn't even really get a decent uniform change when they started taking on the name Macro Cosmos in Rose Tower. They got black glasses. That's it. Just that. The fight with Eternatus feels painfully rushed and shoehorned in too, almost like they thought "Oh no, we need to give them a big nasty boss to fight! Let's just throw a random monster at them and say Rose summoned it. Seems like a solid plan."

I DID like the after story with Piers though. It really solidifies that older brother sort of nature with him, even if he tries to hide it most of the time.

The Characters

I liked Hop. As a character he's really fun and I like how they gave him this over excited very grand gestured sort of personality. He's really just happy to be ANYWHERE as long as it's with his Pokémon and you. His admiration for his big bro might come off strong and make him seem a little flat at first, but he's overall portrayed as a good kid and I like him.

Leon on the other hand...well I hated him for most of the game. His design is great and he looks fabulous, but he just has the most cocky, obnoxious, pandering personality 90% of the time. Still, I have to give credit where credit is due and recognize that he IS actually a multifaceted character. He showboats not just because he's too confident but also to give the crowd a show and put people at ease in times of danger. Not only that, but his recognition of his little brother's accomplishments and his graceful acceptance of defeat when you beat him reveals a really well written character.

I don't DISlike Sonia, and I have no problem with Prof. Magnolia sitting on the sidelines, but she can be a little...irritating at times with the way she speaks about and to people. The Gym Leaders, aside from Piers, feel a little...light.

I mean, most Gym Leaders don't have detailed backstories, but these ones feel paper thin personality wise as well. I had to look at the official GUIDE just to be sure what the relationship between Melony and Gordie even WAS because you only seem him in her Special League Card in Shield and that tells you nothing about him. The only real leaders that stood out to me were Piers and Raihan, and while I was iffy about his design at first I LOVE Raihan. He has so much more personality and ferocity than any of the other leaders. And the social commentary about him needing to constantly take and post a selfie, even after losing, is a nice touch.

The Galar Region

Is very linear. Like, VERY linear. Even when you take a branching path it either loops back around or gives you a free ride to wherever you have to backtrack to. I hope you like Hammerlocke, cuz you're gonna be visiting there several times.

I know that the region is based off the UK, and maybe my Americanized idea of cities is different (idk, I've never been to the UK), but a lot of the towns in this game feel really small. Like, almost smaller than some of the towns in Hoenn small. Maybe it's a lack of significant interactable buildings, but despite many of them having multiple floors you typically can only access one and that's kind of a disappointment. The hotel in Wyndon won't even let you get in the elevator, and while I get that Alola also did that, it's kind of jarring when the hotel in Motostoke WILL let you see other floors.

That said, I kind of expected more than ONE Wild Area. The one we DID get is fine, and I appreciate what it is and lets us do, but I honestly thought there would be multiple places to really explore outside the standard straight lines. Pokémon has never been a franchise to shy away from puzzles before so I expected this to not be any different. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

Moreover, many of the environment pieces are just UGLY. A lot of the ground textures are reused 3DS assets, and those copy pasted trees I mentioned earlier? Also 3DS assets. How do I know? They're pentagonal instead of round. In other words, they have five sides. Why? Because the 3DS hardware couldn't handle complex environmental shapes that well so they could get away with it, but now that we have nice round berry trees the contrast becomes painful. The Wild Area is so ugly the first time you see it is at NIGHT. They were so aware of what they did they hoped making it darker would hide the lazy flop instead of showing off how bad it was.

It isn't like they COULDN'T fix it either. Look at Ballonlea and Glimwood Tangle. They're absolutely beautiful and very well done. The modeling with them is fantastic and I love the glowing effects. They absolutely could've made the poorly done areas look amazing, but for some reason they didn't and the game suffers some as a result.

Other Thoughts

The Gym Challenges...they were not fun. Like, honestly some were ok. Herding Wooloo was easy, but they really didn't feel like anything I would expect from a Gym. The water puzzle in Nessa's Gym was fine, and I personally liked the spinning cup ride, but the rest just felt like agonizingly long padding because they couldn't come up with anything. Look at Circhester's challenge. It's a dowsing rod gauntlet where you have to avoid falling in pits in an artificial blizzard. It. is. SO. SLOW. That said, Spikemuth having just a Trainer gauntlet instead was kind of awkward. I reached the end and asked myself "Was that it? Is this it? Is this all there is to Spikemuth? Just one giant alleyway and a Pokémon Center?"

Raihan's three trials of worthiness challenge? It was more difficult than the battle AGAINST RAIHAN. Speaking of, I beat Hop, Marnie, Bede, all the Gym Leaders, Rose, Oleana, and Leon on my first try every time. While it was more difficult with my specific Pokémon choices, it really wasn't much. And can I just say that the Gym Badges are kinda lame? I get what they were going for, but the designs of each piece could've been really unique and intricate and instead we got glorified stamps.

I liked a lot of the general features of the game. Camping, clothing shops, League Cards. I love designing League Cards, even if I'm the only one who's ever gonna see em. That said, the clothing choices were really narrow based on what we got in Sun and Moon. The variety of different items was pretty small, though I loved all the punk leather stuff but WOW IS IT EXPENSIVE. Like Lumiose Boutique expensive. AND WHY IS THERE NEVER A REDHEAD HAIR COLOR THAT ISN'T JUST AUBURN RED? There are actually A LOT of redheads with LIGHT RED hair (that's more a personal gripe than anything, I know).

A lot of the music felt almost like rehashes of older BGMs. Like, Postwick, Route 1, and Wedgehurst all sound like they have remixed Hoenn music. A lot of the other music tracks just don't feel fitting for the areas or for Pokémon games in general. I like parts of the Slumbering Weald music and I like the Gym Music, but the opening of Slumbering Weald feels awkward and like it doesn't fit a mysterious forest we're not allowed to be in.

I know I've complained a lot, but there were some things I genuinely liked. A lot of the Pokémon designs, place names, and other radiant decor and parts of the region are actually subtle and not so subtle references to cultural points of the UK. Skwovet and its evolution for example are a gray and red squirrel respectively and are a nod to invasive species, which is neat.

In Conclusion

Is Pokémon Sword and Shield amazing? No. Is it bad? No. Sword and Shield fall into that mediocre middle ground of being ok but nothing to write home about. Could I have done without them? Sure, they aren't some world ending imperitive must play. They're ok, and they make for a fine jumping on point and a fine little adventure if you have spare time. Have other mainline games done it better? Heck yeah, but that doesn't mean Sword and Shield haven't done a few good things too.

Overall, it sort of feels like GameFreak bit off more than they could chew, or were afraid to make changes because of unfamiliarity with the Switch's hardware and software limitations. Pokémon Let's Go had a lot more effort, but it also was much safer and had a much easier to work with art style to everything. Chibi proportions are a lot easier to fake than a more realistic counterpart. Things can be not perfect and it's less noticable than with more realistic proportions, and I think they were afraid to push back the deadline any further for the inevitable backlash despite that being what they likely needed. The DLC may change my mind, but as it stands, just the fact that they feel they can JUSTIFY their laziness with DLC packs really upsets me.

I give Pokémon Sword and Shield a 5/10.

It's just, OK.