#Also if you do not like this blog or tournament simply blocking this blog will be better for us all | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mistergandalf · 1 year

Text

ULTIMATE TOLKIEN BLORBO MASTERPOST

Who is THE blorbo of the Tolkien fandom here on tumblr dot com? Let's find out!

What are the criteria for voting?

What is a blorbo to you? As Aragorn would say: What does your heart tell you? Therein lies your answer. For me, it's who I'd like the whump the most. Maybe for you it's who is the most shippable. Maybe it's the one that means the most to you for what they represent. Maybe it's your poor little meow meow (looking at you, Angbang lovers). Let your feelings guide you.

Is this only supposed to be about the books, or is it based on any Tolkien-based media?

This is about blorbos. Wherever you found your blorbo, that's fine. If you want to be a book purist about it, you're valid. If you love Thorin Oakenshield simply because Richard Armitage is hot, you are also valid.

***PLEASE ALSO NOTE that my blog is a Rings of Power positive blog! If you don’t like it that’s fine, but if you post negative comments or reblogs on my posts, I will block you! I don’t want negativity in my activity feed, thank you!***

When will polls be posted?

Polls will be posted daily at 12pm EDT (GMT -4), staggered by 5-10 minutes on each poll. There will be a day between final votes as the data will be needed for the next poll!

Schedule is as follows: (Updated because I’m dumb and didn’t realize how many rounds the second chance bracket has)

4/23 - Round One 4/25 - Round Two (Primary Bracket) 4/26 - Round Two (Second Chance Bracket) 4/27 - Round Three (Primary Bracket) 4/28 - Round Three (Second Chance Bracket) 4/30 - Round Four (Second Chance Bracket) 5/2 - Round Five (Second Chance Bracket) 5/4 - Round Six (Second Chance Bracket) 5/5 - Round Four (Primary Bracket) 5/7 - Round Seven (Second Chance Bracket) 5/9 - Round Eight (Second Chance Bracket) 5/10 - Round Five (Primary Bracket) - decides the finalist 5/12 - Round Nine (Second Chance Bracket) - decides the finalist 5/14 - FINAL ROUND - THE ULTIMATE TOLKIEN BLORBO

Check the tag #ultimate tolkien blorbo to see new posts! Feel free to share your thoughts in the tag as well!

I have more questions!

Okay, click the readmore then!

Hey! Why did you pair this character with that character?

Because I spent a whole evening googling how tournament brackets work (I am not a sports person) and then I did a lot of math and sorting.

Okay, but I really want to know!

WELL first I thought: "How can I quantify and rank blorbos?" The answer: AO3. I went into the Tolkien fandom general tag and ranked the first 32 characters by the number of fanfics in which they appear.*

Then I split them by story. I roughly kept Hobbit characters with Hobbit characters, LotR with LotR, and Silmarillion with Silmarillion to keep it as fair as possible and give all corners of the fandom a chance to see their blorbo win. Some characters are in multiple sources, like Elrond or Gandalf, so I tried to keep those characters with someone who is probably just as well-known.**

Then I followed the rules the internet told me about how tournaments work. The highest-ranked character goes with the lowest-ranked character, the second-highest with the second-lowest, etc.

And that's how I did it! It was a fantastic way to waste an afternoon.

*I may have eliminated and/or played with a couple options. Some of these characters had fewer fics than the character "OC," which makes sense. I took off Erestor because literally only Glorfindel stans would choose him, and Glorfindel is on here. I also lumped together Elladan and Elrohir because if you can tell them apart, it's because they're both your blorbos. Tolkien did NOT give them distinct personalities. Also if I didn’t lump them together, I wouldn’t be able to fit Celebrimbor, and that would be a shame.

**Characters who appear in multiple stories had their rankings weighted to account for that fact. I got a C in statistics in college, though, so I frankly have no idea if the way I weighted them is correct, nor do I care, because I'm satisfied with how the rankings turned out.

I don’t like how you did this!

Okay, don’t vote then. Nobody’s making you.

FORTH EORLINGAS! Have fun voting! As Gimli would say... May the best Dwarf win! ;)

Round One [results & analysis]

Round Two [results & analysis]

Round Two (Second Chance Bracket) [results & analysis]

Round Three [results & analysis]

Bilbo vs. Legolas | Éowyn vs. Frodo | Samwise vs. Elrond | Faramir vs. Fëanor

Round Three (Second Chance Bracket) [results & analysis]

Round Four (Second Chance Bracket) [results & analysis]

Aragorn vs. Gimli | Merry vs. Finrod | Boromir vs. Celebrimbor | Pippin vs. Arwen

Round Five (Second Chance Bracket) [results & analysis]

Aragorn vs. Bilbo | Éowyn vs. Merry | Boromir vs. Elrond | Pippin vs. Fëanor

Round Six (Second Chance Bracket) [results & analysis]

Aragorn vs. Éowyn | Boromir vs. Pippin

Round Four [results & analysis]

Legolas vs. Frodo | Samwise vs. Faramir

Round Seven (Second Chance Bracket) [results & analysis]

Éowyn vs. Faramir | Pippin vs. Legolas

Round Eight (Second Chance Bracket) [results & analysis]

Éowyn vs. Pippin

Round Five [results & analysis]

Frodo vs. Samwise

Round Nine (Second Chance Bracket) [results & analysis]

Éowyn vs. Frodo

FINAL ROUND

Samwise vs. Frodo

#tolkien #the hobbit #lord of the rings #lotr #the silmarillion #silmarillion #ultimate tolkien blorbo

363 notes · View notes

fictional-detective-tournament · 7 months

Text

Fictional Detective Tournament!

Rules:

Please only submit characters through the attached form.

The submission deadline is October 22nd.

As the name suggests, no real people. If you have an ambiguous where it’s someone playing a character in a roleplay, feel free to explain how they count as a fictional character and not as the real person playing them and I will consider it.

I will accept different versions of Sherlock Holmes on top of regular Sherlock Holmes as long as they’re intended to be different from regular Sherlock Holmes. (Ie Fate/Grand Order Sherlock Holmes, Moriarty the Patriot Sherlock Holmes, etc.)

I am aware that this tournament has been done before. I do not mean to disrespect anyone who has run this tournament before. I simply would like to run one myself because I love detectives and want to spotlight some of the lesser known ones that I love, as well as ones that are submitted.

Please do not submit characters from media where an author who is openly problematic is still alive and actively profiting off of the work. (Harry Potter, Rurouni Kenshin, etc.) This is my first time trying this, so I don’t have a banlist prepared, hence the broadness. I will look over characters after submission and if I feel that a piece of media could fall under this, I will ask for further opinions.

I will also take characters who aren’t explicitly referred to as detectives if they spend a lot of time in the media they’re from investigating and or trying to solve a mystery. There will a section in the form for justifications and explanations if necessary.

Characters based on real people are allowed as long as they aren’t meant to actually be the real person they represent.

No OCs. Otherwise I would be tempted to include my *7* detective OCs. But feel free to tell me about your detective OCs in the asks and maybe I’ll run that sometime.

Please denote if the character you want me to accept is from an 18+ source. I will accept them if there are SFW pictures of them, I would just like to know so that I can be careful when searching and can tag the polls with them accordingly.

Characters auto accepted because they are the host’s blorbos: Lord El Melloi II/Waver Velvet, All the detectives from the ADA from Bungo Stray Dogs plus Yukito Ayatsuji from Bungo Stray Dogs Another, the main quintent from Tantei Gakuen Q, Lady Love Dies from Paradise Killer, Shinichi Kudo/Conan Edogawa from Detective Conan, and the main characters of The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels (Please read this book.) However, I will accept propaganda for these characters! If I don’t get any, I will write some myself, but I appreciate hearing other people gush about characters I love.

Please be respectful of everyone involved. People being rude in the tags will be blocked.

The form is here!:

About the Host!

I’m Zero! My main blog is at @zero-on-the-clocktower . I’m 19 and use any pronouns. I love detectives and mysteries in general and am happy to give you recommendations if you’d like.

#tournament #character tournament #poll submissions #submissions open #detectives #fictional detectives

116 notes · View notes

flightpolling · 1 year

Text

Flight Rising Showdown!

Welcome to the Flight Rising Showdown! This will be a DOUBLE ELIMINATION Tournament. That means that even if a dragon loses one of their rounds they have a chance to make a comeback in the end! We decided to do this because it would allow for more fun rounds of voting and more chances for unique dragons to go up against each other. You know, for statistics. And science. Every round will last for 24 hours. All dragons will be rockin' a Latte/Cream Basic/Basic gene plan, with no Tertiaries. All adult Modern and Ancient breeds are included.

When voting, consider all aspects you may like or dislike about a base. If you are having trouble deciding, it may be worth considering, for example: how genes affect the base (or what genes are even available to it), or how it wears apparel (or whether it can't wear apparel at all). It is also valid to vote with complete sentimentality. Maybe your favorite skins and accents go on one of the poses. Maybe the first dragon you ever bought off the AH was [insert dragon here]. ANY REASON IS VALID! This is all in good fun! Here is the bracket for Round 1 and Round 2 (the "loser's bracket" will be generated after the first results come in!)

Once again, remember this is all just for fun! Root for your underdogs, celebrate your popular faves! All bases are good bases, and all dragons are wonderful.

For blacklisting purposes: The tag used for all posts will be #frposeshowdown, or you can simply block this blog!

#flight rising #frposeshowdown

81 notes · View notes

fandomsoda · 1 year

Text

Intro/pinned post!!!

last updated: 4/25/24

Ok Welp I’m finally making one of these-

Most basic info about me can be found in my blog’s about (names, identity, pronouns, DNI), but here’s where I’m putting all the other stuff! First of all, here’s my pronouns page for those who want to know more about my exact pronouns/word boundaries!

Here’s my sona, Soda!

Their full ref can be found here

Art usage rights: My art is fine to be reposted, but strictly with credit. Want to use it as an icon? Make it an edit or add something small for pfp purposes? You’re welcome to, but with permission, credit, clarification that you edited it, and as long as you’re not in my dni/use it for such purposes. Derogatory edits of my work are not permitted so don’t go marking everything up. Do not feed my artwork into ai software. Also do not directly feed my writing or own general text into an ai.

Requests?: Requests for art are a complicated thing and are simply a matter of what I do and do not want to do. Feel free to ask, but just know I may decline! This goes for moodboards and stimboards as well, but I’m much more likely to accept a mood/stimboard rather than art request!

AU/personal projects!: I have a handful of personal AU’s and projects and OC’s I’d like for people to check out and look at. (Also please please please ask about my characters and ask them stuff I wanna answer!) You are welcome to make fanart for any of them but I request that you stay on-model unless you are simplifying the design or the point of the piece is to reimagine the design/put the character into a new outfit. I don’t want to be overbearing but my designs mean a lot to me so I’d like them to stay how they are. People in my dni are not permitted to depict my characters in any way, shape, or form. Don’t touch my babies. Also- No, you may not use my characters in tournaments or polls. Those give me heavy anxiety and rsd to the point of literal nausea. Please keep your vile, Spartan popularity games away from my babies.

Personal projects masterpost

Additionally:

Please @ me in fan/inspired content! I want to see it!

I also know that I can often come off as aggressive and do stupid shit or say stupid shit. I have a lot of growing to do and I make a ton of mistakes. Please be patient and if you desire to call me out on by bullshit (which you absolutely should do) please be constructive and respectful. I struggle a lot with tone and accidentally upset people often. If I upset you, PLEASE let me know. I have no way of realizing if you don’t, please do not lie to me, tell me what’s wrong I promise I care and will try not to take it personally. =m=

Important note: While I may make suggestive jokes from time to time or touch vaguely on mature topics/talk about more mature media, this blog does not welcome nsfw blogs. Any and all interaction with me or my art that is nsfw in nature (inappropriate DM’s, comments, and reblogs) will be instantly blocked. We can joke, we can have fun, but I do not want any concerning behavior towards others or towards myself/my art on this blog. I know that many people who follow/are friends with me are minors and thus I will ensure that this space is not dangerous for them.

I also consume my media critically, even as a Homestuck enjoyer, I do not support Andrew Hussie and recognize the comic’s flaws, but I also love Homestuck for what it is at its core and how it changed my life. I also assume most people consume media critically and thus do not have any fandoms in my dni, but do know there are a good handful of them that I’m apprehensive about, but won’t block on sight.

On the topic of media consumption, I also like a lot of ships that others don’t, and will not tolerate hate. Crossmare has been my comfort pairing since long before Underverse season 2 was even out, and I am not ok with people who think it’s “inherently abusive”. As long as a pairing is not child x adult or family x family, I don’t believe it can be inherently abusive. As long as someone’s specific depiction of the ship isn’t abusive, they shouldn’t get flack for it. However, if you ARE someone who romanticizes abusive versions of these ships, please get out.

Also note that due to my nebularomanticism (arospec umbrella), I do not know what the fuck romantic love is supposed to feel like or look like, the lines between strong platonic bonds and romance are so blurry they barely exist for me, and such- all of my ships are queerplatonic in some way. I have never seen any ship as solely romantic and I don’t think I’m capable of that. But I also do not limit the types of intimacy I depict these characters having. If you’re not ok with queerplatonic kissing or holding hands or other forms of “romantic gestures” or if you think they can’t exist, get out.

Keep in mind that while my art and personal works ARE here, this blog IS a personal blog. I DO vent on here and often talk about personal topics. Be aware. And just because I share an opinion of mine doesn’t mean that I think it’s super important or right, it’s just how I feel. Just saying this because if you follow me you should be prepared to deal with what I post, and if you don’t like me that’s ok just leave.

Current blog status (important): tired and just. Trying right now, bare with me.

Below are many userboxes that represent me! Check em out for more info!

^ this user box specifically was made by @/ghostfish-stims!

^ More info on that here

53 notes · View notes

mad-scientist-showdown · 1 year

Note

I'm very tempted to make a bracket blog, but I'm new to this sort of thing. Has anyone written like, a step by step guide, or an explanation about how to set up a bracket/submissions form? I like doing things when I have an instruction list to follow.

Hmm. I wouldn’t really know how to answer. I just had this idea I really wanted to do, so I simply made a google form (you need a google account. Then just look up google form and it should be intuitive from there. This is the first time I make a google form as well but I didn’t have any problem), put it in a main post about the competition, in which you explain what the competition is about, some base rules about it, and basically everything you need to know about it. If you can’t think of how to do all that, you can simply copy what other contests have done! Their main post, rules, the firm’s questions, etc. I don’t know anyone who has made a guide but you can go through different blogs in @competition-list’s masterlist and copy how they did it! There’s plenty to take inspiration from.

Also try to put yourself in the shoes of someone who’s seeing this post/blog and experiencing the competition on the other side, and think: what information you would like to know, what would make the experience better, what tags could be useful to easily find the polls etc.

Lots of people also tag other competitions in their main post in the hope of them reblogging their post to get the word out; you can also ask a big competition blog directly, and they should have no problem with promoting your contest.

If you’re unfamiliar with tournaments, first look at a brackets and understand how they work, and why they typically have 8, 16, 32, 64 etc. competitors. A base tendency for characters’ place on the bracket is to put more popular characters (/characters with the most votes) together and less popular characters (/characters with fewer votes) together, to make it more fair and balanced. But you don’t have to think to hard about it either, and some people also decide the seeding randomly.

Don’t ask me about spreadsheets or how to tally the votes tho bc I am probably worse than you at that.

I understand well executive dysfunction and being blocked when you don’t know HOW to start something and wanting a step by step explanation so if you want more help/guidance about something in particular, you’re free to message me:)

#not scientist showdown #mad scientist showdown #long post #relatively?

9 notes · View notes

nolantalks · 6 months

Text

So I see and hear my name being brought up A LOT recently. I also see that people have been witching hunting for me on a lot of blogs. You people are worse than you claim I was haha. Deranged Obsessive Stalker Fans is like the tip of that iceberg.

Any who, decided to make my first non RPC related blog just so you people have somewhere to stalk and direct all your hate to. Granted, I'm really only going to log on to laugh and keep track of nonsense and yes anons are turned off. So either block this blog or stop being cowards but I suppose only one of us can be brave. In the meantime let me answer a few questions that I've seen recently. Are you INSERT BLOG HERE?

Nope, none of them. As I've stated multiple times, I don't have a personal blog or do any RPT, RPH-style stuff. I actively avoid all those tags given how toxic and apeshit they are which is proven when my name was so much as uttered. Haven't thought about you all in years and now I feel power, I feel above all these 40+-year-old trolls, well I am above them let's be honest I can run two groups both passing their two year mark in a couple of months, work a demanding job, have a fiancee, run classes (more on that later), and take part in AW tournaments out of state, and be dog dad without turning bitter and ugly.

Did I attempt S██████?

Yes, thank you guys for that. Yes, both attempts were because of the RPC HERE and that alone. It is well known I'm bipolar and even now I'll skip the meds here and there when I feel fine and know I'll just take them tomorrow. That is why it kind of makes me laugh that there was Nolan trigger warning. Was that for you or me? I love the talk of caring about mental health and positivity but then when you get told someone you don't like actually almost ends it all because of your actions and lies it's basically THIS.

Have you seen the recent stuff?

I have and again 98% of it is stuff I've never heard of, don't know these people, never knew these groups existed. Even showed it to my fiancee and even he laughed while saying I've been a busy boy. There is one person I wanna call out though because even without the posts I can link to and the screencaps I have saved which they provided ZERO PROOF OF THEMSELVES, I can discredit their ass with Google.

@katherine-mcnamara Like ........................ ahhhhhhh I'm going to be nice, my therapist has been helping me with my tendency to destroy someone that comes at me in general, let alone with obvious lies. I could go into how you are more emotionally unstable off meds than I am and how you don't have a single thought inside your head that a friend didn't give you and the chronic 'freshmen trying to make the seniors think she's cool' vibes. Or even the other dramas buried in the tags about you. But I won't since I still have an atom of respect for you.

Now, I didn't know anything about this Gonzo person you claim is me. I had people on another blog reveal it to me that he was the creepy pedophile you and your friends sicced on a poor girl back in 2012. How the screencaps about it were on a TUMBLR RP but your claiming it was Jcink now. There was talk of him coming back over and over but never that he was using my alias. You also say you know it was me from OOC discord interactions (this is what gotcha). Then you kind of bounce the timeline saying it was before I came to tumblr (early 2014 by the way) so I'll be generous and say 2013 - 2014. You also stated in a now deleted post that I 'was known for being in many jcink and discord servers even before coming to tumblr' bare in mind that was early 2014.

NOOOWWWWW for those of you who have my discord username the one I stopped using for RP back in 2020 I now have a discord specifically for tumblr RPs. Actually sold it to a guy I met on DBD for 20 bucks like a month or two ago. I ask you to check the creation date of that account which you can do simply by right clicking my name and click on Profile. *dramatic drum roll*................. that's right!!! March, 2017. Now please, open any search engine webpage and type in 'When was Discord made.' I'll wait.......................................what?!?!?! May 13, 2015.................. Something about these dates .... the math ain't mathing.

I'll do you better. Now please all you 30+ year-old RPC members recall with me. It's 2014 til let's say, randomly, May 12th 2015. If your group had an OOC space of any kind. What were the two most popular and used ones. If you said OOC side blogs off of the main or Skype groups, Venmo request me for your ten US dollars.

Now lets cover the gap between when discord was made and when the ONLY account ya'll can even remotely link to me was made. so 2015 til 2017. I had my first ALT+DELETE attempt after leaving WOTNA which according to their blog looking through the archive for it, was AUG 27 2015. Now at this time I'm completely unknown only had drama on this site and can only find my alias mentioned on any group back then being WOTNA and ALR where I was right before here. Now, I completely disappear for most of this year. I wonder why ....yeah.... that. When I do come back the first mention of me is on Mount Prospect, no drama and I was only there for like 3 weeks. Jo did steal my characters by keeping them as skeletons after I asked they be deleted, just saying. Then Raven's RP. I tried to join it she being the horrible person that she is cusses me out for semicolons and lets someone use my bio to make my character with a different name and very slight edits. Then silence for 6 months and .....I moved sequence from its 2013-2014 jcink forum to here and for like 3 years it was impossible to be anywhere else for more than a week beforing getting kicked out an a rather uncomfortable message that basically was 'you didn't do anything HERE.... but....". I do wonder based on what you can see..... how interesting that the original home for Sequence has similarities to what was 'stolen' from Raven but you know I stole everything for it and not had something that actually predates the creation of their so-called stolen materials. Its truly a mystery only forces we can't begin to comprehend can truly solve.

Do you hate women?

Nope, 90% of my posting partners identify as female. This started because after Raven's assault on me I called them a bitch. I also was using she/her pronouns for them as that's what they used and allowed me to use when cussing me out over grammar for my app on their site. Didn't know what RPH blogs were back then or that they had one with they/them as their pronouns. But those two things combine got one of the 'he's called them a bitch, he hates women!!' narrative going. If ya'll remember that actual origin how many of you would flip that it wasn't sexist today? After that it just got added to when I'd join a group, someone handed the link to Raven's post and they'd kick me then claim 'he was sexist to us women'. Even today If I join another group and they eventually see that crap, most don't care but toxic ones do. I can't not wanna plot or ship with the first female character that comes to me without an 'oh you do hate women then' comment. And I thought I was the one forcing plots on people?

Are you RPing on Discord?

Yes and no. I have joined Zero group RPs. people that have apologised to me privately while having gone apeshit on me publically have opened 'indie servers' for us to post on together. And yes, I let the narrative I roleplay on discord go without it specifically being indie with those that asked if I would for a reason. to see you crazy fans do your crazy fan thing, and it worked. I do run two classes though on my business discord. One for webdesign an another teaching the use of the Midjourney bot both basic and detailed prompt formatting and for getting a consistent character and using it to create art for our characters along with face swapping and even getting vids/gifs from other AI with those images.

Do you use They/Them Pronouns?

I do actually. At first it was simply because I like the 'Nolan who are they' vibe. But then started to correct everyone in real life with them and now everyone uses them for me and I do as well. So yeah, all you who have been using He/Him since 2020 are hatefully misgendering bigot monsters. And I am waiting for the apologies to rain in. I apologized for misgendering Raven all those years ago but you all ignore it to this day but I won't ignore yours and like with anyone else it is owed.

How many accounts do you have?

Like............ 50+ on here. I make a new email and blog for every RP I join and I've been on a lot and only had 'drama on four, three made up drama after I left. Apparently, that count is higher. active accounts though...... well 6 for one of my groups, 4 for the other, and 1 for the three groups that aren't mine that I'm in so 13 total I believe.

The Nolanverse?

Honestly this makes me laugh. None of the people who actually know me and actually have interacted with me made that up. This comes from this new guard of players who created it and its funny especially since back in 2013 not wanting to use my real name I thought of one I could use and the Christopher Nolanverse for batman was a thing and where it came from.

#rpt #rph #rpc #rp talk #later losers

0 notes

okayto · 3 years

Text

Mini-Review: One Punch Man

Saitama is a super hero who has trained so hard that his hair has fallen out, and who can overcome any enemy with one punch. However, because he is so strong, he has become bored and frustrated with winning all his battles so easily.

The setting: December. I, a millennial with normal access only to streaming services, am sitting in my parents’ living room enjoying access to both a TV four times as large as mine, and regular cable TV. I flip to Cartoon Network’s Toonami block, which is showing One Punch Man. I’ve heard of it in passing but have avoided it so far, since big punch-y fight-y shows aren’t generally my thing, but it seems fine to have on in the background while I browse the internet.

On screen, a couple characters have clearly just beat up a cyborg gorilla, and decide to go after his organization. Why now? questions the one who looks lethal. Because there’s a sale and I’ve got grocery shopping tomorrow, replies a bald guy in a onesie. The den of Clearly Mad Scientists prepare for the arrival of two heroes, activing entire floors of traps...all of which go to waste as one hero just flat-out obliterates the entire building without entering.

We could’ve at least seen what the bad guys had in store for us, the other one muses. That was kinda mean.

Okay, I was hooked.

One Punch Man is exceptionally fun, especially if you’ve watched more than, like, one shounen series in your life.

The first season was great. It’s just superhero tropes, taken up to 11, by a very bored guy. (Alternatively, you know the trope-savvy comedy with a flat-faced protagonist that is Saiki K? Same idea, but superheroes.)

Saitama is not just an everyman, he’s an everyman who is ridiculously OP for no reason. He wants to be (and is) a hero, but he’s also pretty lazy and oblivious to social convention. Genos the cyborg, after failing to defeat Saitama in combat, becomes his disciple, to learn the secrets of being so strong. Saitama, not one to pass up help around the house, agrees (or allows it, at any rate).

Binging season 1, it was easy to see why this got so popular. It’s fun, but the plot also has to come up with reasons why Saitama doesn’t just punch every threat right away--and often that means he’s busy doing something else (shopping, playing video games, away from his phone, whatever) so we get to see other heroes shine for a while. This is both interesting (because: heroes!) and serves to emphasize how ridiculous Saitama’s whole situation is.

Season 2 started off interesting, and introduces not just more characters overall, but has Saitama befriending and involved with more heroes, which is great.

But there’s an issue: season 2 felt like too much was going on: King (a highly-ranked hero with a secret) and Saitama becoming friends, the introduction of a human villain, a whole tournament arc, a bunch of new monsters.

We’d watch one set of heroes for a while, then focus on another, and while it did add tension like it was probably supposed to, it was also frustrating to have to watch a story that was split so much.

(also, even amazing strength and speed can’t defeat that one mosquito you keep hearing, as Saitama discovers.)

On one hand, I get it. The whole joke of the series is that in a world with every superpowered hero you can think of--technology-based, traditional muscles-and-speed, psychic powers, weapons, martial arts--this one bald nerd achieved Ultimate Power simply with a generic workout routine. And now he’s so strong he can defeat anything with one punch, and so he’s bored.

And like I said before, the issue then becomes how to make Saitama interesting, and also to give him a challenge and/or not have him literally solve every plot problem by punching it in the face immediately. So he spends most of season 2 masquerading as someone else in a martial arts tournament.

Which is not by itself a bad thing, except that there are also two separate non-Saitama action plots we’re trying to follow.

Ideally, this could’ve been fixed by making season 2 longer, since unlike season 1 it leaves some threads/characters unresolved. No third season has been announced as I write this, but there was a 4-year gap between seasons 1 and 2, so I hold out hope.

Verdict

English dub? Yes, and I REALLY liked the English voices. That said, the sub is more widely available.

Visuals: Pretty nice, and it’s especially fun when the difference between Saitama’s Serious Face shows up, and his normal more roundly-drawn flat expression. Lots of explosions are very nice. There was a studio change between seasons and I kinda think that season 2 isn’t quite as nice as the first? But it’s not bad.

Worth watching? Ahahaha YES. It’s very fun and tongue-in-cheek. Despite my complaints about season 2, I still enjoyed it. I check about once a month to see if a 3rd season has been announced yet.

Where to watch (USA, January 2021): On-demand via cable provider (dub) or on Adult Swim’s website after proving you have cable (dub), Netflix (sub, season 1), Hulu (sub & dub s1; sub season 2), Crunchyroll (sub, s1), Funimation (sub, s1), Tubi (sub, s1), BR/DVD

Click my “reviews” tag below or search “mini review” on my blog to find more!

#One Punch Man #Wanpanman #anime #reviews #recommendation

11 notes · View notes

aetm-malereaderimagines · 4 years

Note

Hey! How about a male reader scenario where the reader has an intense crush on Sawamura Daichi and finally confesses to him ( after a LOT of struggling) only to find out Daichi was also about to confess to him on the same day. Also i love your effort to make male reader scenarios. It really makes it easy for queer males to also have the same experience as straight female fans. Keep it up!!

Firstof all, thank you for your request! Second of all, duh XD I’m a gayguy myself so ofc I write gay fanfiction! Mymain reason to start this blog was actually my frustration caused bybeing unable to find decent HQ!! reader inserts where the reader islegitimately gender-neutral. Yes, even gender-neutral. There are some nicemale reader inserts out there but they’re few and far between.So I usually end up looking for gender-neutral insterts, headcanons, and scenarios but… Some of them areblatantly meant for female readers. Some of them claim to be gender-neutral but you can clearly see they’re actually not or just employ male and female gender stereotypes I’m definitely not comfortable with. And some ofthem are female reader inserts that are tagged as x male reader… SoI decided to say “fuck it” and create some content myself that myfellow queer readers can actually enjoy! LGBT people are alreadydenied the same experience regarding love and sexuality that straight people get so if I can somehow contribute to making this world ofours a little less fucked up for my fellow queer folks, that’s all I could ever wish for!

Okay, but enough of myinconsistent rambling and let’s get into the actual scenario!Although I probably have a crush on every and each HQ!! character(well, maybe except some of the older guys lol), Daichi is actuallyone of those I’d probably consider the best boyfriend material soI’m really glad you requested a scenario for him! Justfyi, I made the readerKarasuno’s 2ndyear manager so that Ihave something to start from, hopefully you don’t mind. Ireally hope you’ll like it! enjoy!

Also let me apologize that it took me so long to write this but for some reason, I’ve been feeling utterly uninspired lately :/ It took the first episode of S4 and a volleyball match I watched yesterday for me to finally get some inspiration to finish this scenario XD

Pairing: Sawamura Daichi x Male Reader

Word count: 1659

告り告られ — A Double Confession

“Oh come on, just confess tohim!”

“You know I can’t!”

“You can and you will!”Yachi’s eyes bored into you and you turned your gaze away, feelingas though those two goldenorbs were penetrating your very soul. “Why do you have to make itharder than it actually is? You like him, you confess, you gettogether. Simple!”

“Like hell it would go thatsmoothly,” you scoffed. “I don’t even know if he’s gay.”

“Oh come on, have you not seenhow close he is with Sugawara-san?”

“But that’s precisely theproblem!” You looked Yachi in the eye confrontingly. “If he’snot gay, I don’t even have a chance, and even if he is, I stilldon’t have a chance since he’s probably already inlove with Suga-san.”

“…you will confess to himeventually anyways,” Yachi cut the conversation, pouting.

You looked away. You knew she wasright. You were going to confess to him eventually. It’s just… Itwas so fucking hard to work up the courage. You’dhad a crush on Daichi since your first year, since a while afteryou’djoined the volleyball club.

Atfirst, it was all fun and games. Youjoined the club simply because you liked volleyball but getting towatch pretty boys get all worked up and sweaty while playing was anice bonus for you. Once you realized you liked Daichi, it got evenmore fun… for a while. Howmany people could say they get to see their crash shirtless on adaily basis?

But the longer you watched, thecloser you got to him, the more painful it got. Daichicould look scary at first, especially during practice sessions whenhe had to rein in first and second years, but asalways, appearances couldbe deceptive. Youmanaged to befriend him, also getting closer with Suga and Asahi inthe process, but soon yourealized that being just friends was hardly enough for you. Youstill couldn’t forget that one time when Daichi said you were “likea younger brother to him” and how much it hurt.

“All right!”

What snapped you out of yourcontemplation was Daichi’s voice. Whileyou were bickering with Yachi standing on the side of the court, theboys were actually training. Shimizu was in charge of taking notestoday so you and Yachi didn’t have much to do at the moment.

You turnedyour eyes in the direction Daichi’svoice had come from. Andthere he was, looking asgood as always, with that damn smile of his he always had on his faceafter a good receive, just a few feet away from you.

So close yet so far.

It was the day. It was the dayyou were going to confess to Daichi.

It had been a month since yourargument with Yachi. Over the last 30 daysand even more late-night phone calls with Yachi, you decided toconfess your feelings to Daichi. Even if he didn’t like you back,you wanted him to know what you feel. The days were growing longerand Spring High wasgetting closer and closer. Regardless of whether you won or lost, thethird-years were going to quit the club once the tournament was over.And once that happened,you were bound to grow more distant with Daichi, let alone having achance to confess to him. If you were going to do it, you had to doit now.

The morning sun was shininggently upon you as you walked through the schoolyard withyour heart pounding in your chest andyou still had like half a day to go before the actual confession. Youreally hoped your teachers wouldn’t quiz you today. You’dprobably fail it miserably since you couldn’t focus on anythingelse but the dreadful perspective of what was going to happen thisevening.

Yourplan was simple. You were going to take alittle longer cleaningup after practice so that you end up staying alone in the storageroom. Then, Yachi was going to “notice” that you’re missing andask Daichi to go and look for you because she had “somethingimportant to talk to you about.” If everything went smoothly, youwere going to end up alone with Daichi in the storage room. That wasgoing to be your chance.

When you were going overthe plan in your head walking down the hallway, your phone rang. Youpulled your phone out of your bag to find out you had a new text fromYachi.

“I’m sorry m(_ _)m”

You tilted your head. That wasall she wrote.

“What do you mean?” youtexted back as you entered your classroom.

You spent the first periodstressing over Yachi’s message. Whatever she was sorry about, itwas bound to be nothing good.

Turnedout Yachiwas sick.

Accordingto Yachi herself, he had suddenly felt really unwell last night whichhadturned out to beonly the beginning of a long, feverish night. Whenher mom had taken her to the doctor this morning, she’d beendiagnosed with a bad case of influenza. Shewould probably be staying at home for at least a week.

Yourplan was ruined, which of course made you very upset… but somewheredeep in your heart, you also felt kind of relieved that the momentyou were going to confess to Daichi was put off by at least a week,and you hated yourself for it.

Youlet out a deep sigh as you leaned against a mop you held in yourhands. Youended up being the last one left in the gym anyways, no matter yourplan. You’dlied to Shimizu and the guys about needing to clean up the storageroom—you needed some time foryourself.

“Needsome help?”

Youturned your face up to find the source of the voice only to be facesby Daichi leaning against the door frame, looking at you.

You gulped.

You didn’t even need your planto be left alone with Daichi.

If this wasn’t the heavenstelling you it was high time you’d confessed then what was.

“Yeah,actually, I’m really glad you’re here,” you said, lookingstraight at Daichi. “There’s something I need to tell you.” Yougulped. “I like you.”

Youfinally said it.

Daichi stood in front of yousilently, as though processing what you had just said, and you justwaited. You weren’t going anywhere until you got an answer,especially given that Daichi was standing in the doorway, blockingyour way. You had quite a spectacle to watch anyways.

Thefirst few seconds, Daichi’s face just… froze, as he stared at youunblinkingly. Then came a slight blush which gradually turned moreand more red eventually taking on the color of an especially ripebeet. Hecovered hismouth with both of his hands, as though he was in an utter shock.Which he probably was. It took him like half a minute to calm down.Once his blush subsided a little bit, he lowered his hands andfinally let himself blink.

“I… I like you, too,” hesaid quietly, turning his eyes away from you.

“No, I don’t mean it likethat.” You smiled sadly. “I mean it, like, in a romantic way.”

“That’s what I mean, too.”

This time it was you that foundyourself shook to the bone.

“What…wait, what?!”

“I actually came here toconfess to you,” Daichi explained, his blush growing brighteragain. “Shimizu told me you’d said you’d stay in the gym alittle longer and everyone else has already left so I thought it wasmy chance…”

You stared at each otherwordlessly for a few seconds. You were the one to start laughing.

“Whatthe hell is this?! Whathave I even been worried about this past year?!”

“Iknow, right?” Daichi giggled as well. “Wait,you’ve had a crush on me fora yearalready?!”

“Over a year, I’d say,” youresponded. “You?”

“You beat me on that one.”Daichi’s smile was really the most beautiful thing you’d everseen. “I’d say since the previous Spring High? You remember howyou cheered me up after we lost? That’s when I realized.”

“Isee.” You couldn’t stop grinning. “So I guess we’reboyfriends now?”

“I guess so.” Daichi grabbedyour hand and pulled you toward the door. “Let’s go hometogether.

“That’s so amazing!!!!!!I’m so happy for you two!!!!!!!!! And I’m so so sorry I couldn’thelp you today T_T”

You smiled at your phone. Yachiwas really the sweetest.

“If you hadn’t supportedme this whole time, I wouldn’t have confessed to him in the firstplace!”

“Sorry you had to wait.”

You put your phone back into yourpocket as you turned your eyes to Daichi. He had to grab hiss stufffrom the club room and you’d been waiting for him downstairs.

“No problem,” you responded,readjusting the strap of your bag on your shoulder. “Shall we gothen?”

“Let’s.”

You walked down the streetleading up to the school. You were talking and laughing, enjoyingeach other’s presence. It was late and there was nobody around.Daichi grabbed your hand and you squeezed it back.

“Hey,” Daichi started, hisvoice sounding a little anxious. “Don’t you wanna come over? Myparents are at home but I’m sure my mom will be happy to have youover for dinner. We could watch some movies or something.”

“Sure thing,” you respondedwith a smile. “I’d love that.”

Daichi smiled at you again andyou couldn’t hold yourself back any longer. You leaned in placing agentle kiss on his lips.

A clap of distant thunder rumbled throughthe skies. You couldn’t know that yet but it was just the beginningof a thunderstorm that was going to force you to stay the night atDaichi’s house.

Not that you minded.

161 notes · View notes

thebrideofthewizardhowl · 3 years

Photo

Badminton, court or lawn game played with lightweight rackets and a shuttlecock. Historically, the shuttlecock (also known as a “bird” or “birdie”) was a small cork hemisphere with 16 goose feathers attached and weighing about 0.17 ounce (5 grams). These types of shuttles may still be used in modern play, but shuttles made from synthetic materials are also allowed by the Badminton World Federation. The game is named for Badminton, the country estate of the dukes of Beaufort in Gloucestershire, England, where it was first played about 1873. The roots of the sport can be traced to ancient Greece, China, and India, and it is closely related to the old children’s game battledore and shuttlecock. Badminton is derived directly from poona, which was played by British army officers stationed in India in the 1860s. The first unofficial all-England badminton championships for men were held in 1899, and the first badminton tournament for women was arranged the next year.

The badminton court is 13.4m long and 6.1m wide. For singles the court is marked 5.18m wide. The lines marking out the court are easily distinguishable and coloured white or yellow. The lines are 40mm wide. A court may be marked out for singles only. The back boundary lines also become the long service lines and the posts or the strips of material representing them are placed on the side lines. The diagonal full length of the full court is 14.366m. The posts are 1.55m high from the surface of the court and remain vertical when the net is strained. The posts are placed on the double side lines irrespective of whether singles or doubles is played. The posts or supports must not extend into the court beyond the side lines. Where it is not practicable to have posts on the side lines, some method can be used to indicate the position of the side lines where they pass under the net, example by the use of thin posts or strips of material 40mm wide, fixed to the side lines and rising vertically to the net cord. The net is 760mm in depth and a minimum of 6.1m wide. The top of the net from the surface of the court is 1.524m at the center of the court and 1.55m over the side lines for doubles. There must be no gaps between the ends of the net and the posts. If necessary, the full depth of the net at the ends is tied to the posts.

In this blog, I will cover the four basic equipment and gear required for a game of badminton.

1. Badminton Racket

Badminton rackets can be made from several types of materials. Depending on the material selection, this can result in different combinations of racket weight, balance points and string tensions. With so many different combinations, it will take time to decide which is most suited for your playing style. Instead of making purchases online, pop by a badminton shop. Ask for assistance and select a racket that you feel comfortable with. Swing the racket around to get a good feel of its overall weight and grip. Some popular badminton brands are Yonex, ProKennex, Wilson, ProTech and Li-Ning.

2. Shuttlecock

There are two types of shuttlecocks - plastic and feathered shuttlecocks.

Plastic shuttlecocks are far more durable compared to the feathered types which are commonly used. However, plastic shuttlecocks are only recommended for beginners who are just starting out. This is because feathered shuttlecocks are expensive and fray easily especially if the wrong technique is used. Hence, plastic shuttlecocks are good for beginners to use for training. Plastic shuttlecocks are usually used by young children who play badminton for recreation. Plastic shuttlecocks tend to travel shorter distances as they are heavier. Hence, they are good for building strength as you make the transition to feathered shuttlecocks. Most people will progress to using feathered shuttlecocks as they are used at all competitive tournaments.

3. Badminton Shoes

Badminton shoes are designed to give you better traction and grip to stop in time to return a shot. They should also be lightweight have good cushioning to absorb impact when you jump or land. Regular players will find heel cups useful to prolonging the lifespan of your shoes. Do not wear jogging shoes as they usually lack grip and traction. You might end up crashing through the badminton net if you are unable to stop in time to receive a drop shot.

4. Badminton Attire

For casual to non-competitive players, a comfortable pair of shorts and cotton or dri-fit t-shirt is sufficient. Some players may want to equip themselves with hand grips, wrist bands and ankle guards. Each of these items serve a purpose and might also add a dash of color to the entire get-up. When it comes to badminton equipment, select what is appropriate before turning your attention to aesthetics.

To be good at any sport you need to master the basics. Mastering the basic techniques and skills allows you to play consistently and improve. Badminton is a very beginner-friendly sport but difficult to master. Anybody can learn and master the basic skills for Badminton.

· Knowing how to warm up properly

· The basic forehand and backhand grip

· The basic six corners footwork

· The split step or the ready stance

· The basic shots

· Perception and anticipation

· Hand-eye coordination

· Rhythm and timing

· Tactical and strategic thinking

Knowing how to warm up properly

Warming up is a combination of skill and a bit of know-how. Players of any level should know how to warm up properly before stepping on court for a match. We wrote an in-depth article on warming up properly for Badminton. It’s so important to do a full warm-up before playing to help avoid injuries. It’s also important because you’re ready to go right from the start of the match. You won’t need to get four-five rallies into the game before you feel like you’ve finally got in gear.

Warm-ups don’t have to take that long either. You can perform a solid warm-up in less than five minutes. Here are some simple routines that really get the blood pumping:

· High speed skipping for five minutes (try to go fast without losing consistency and tripping over the rope)

· A simple set of jumping jacks, squats, burpees, lunges and knee tucks each for one minute

· Jog around the hall at a quick pace for five minutes

You get the idea, anything that gets you moving without overstretching. It should get your heart pumping and as my coach used to say; “you should have little beads of sweat from the forehead”.

The basic forehand and backhand grip

Learning the forehand and backhand grip is a fundamental skill. It’s so important to get this right as it’s the building blocks to learning every shot in Badminton. The basic forehand and backhand grip is easy to learn, you can practice getting the hold right sat at home. Practice swapping from forehand to backhand whilst sat on the couch at home.

The forehand grip is much like shaking somebody’s hand. Both in the way you hold the racquet and in how tight you hold it. You want to hold the racquet loosely, gripping the racquet too tight can lead to injuries like tennis elbow. It also makes it very difficult to hit the shot smoothly as you’re tensing up your muscles.

The backhand grip is for some people easier to get right. You simply take the forehand grip and roll the thumb over so it sits flat on the grip rather than along the edge. The use of the thumb makes it easier to stabilize the grip compared to the forehand.

The basic six corners footwork

Footwork is crucial in Badminton. It’s been known that some coaches in China only teach beginners footwork from the beginning. They don’t teach any racquet skills until the player has mastered the basic footwork. They do this because it’s impossible to play good shots if you cannot reach the shuttle. In Badminton, once the shuttlecock touches the floor the rally is over so you need to be able to cover the court in order to play well.

I wouldn’t go as far as they do in principals but I still believe footwork is one of the most important aspects of playing Badminton. Footwork can get very technical and complex but right now we’re just going to cover the basic footwork patterns in short. We have more full and detailed guides coming soon around footwork drills and breakdowns.

If you can master these six pieces of footwork for Badminton then you’re off to a good start. The six pieces of footwork are:

Travelling to the forehand side of the net

· Travelling to the backhand side of the net

· Covering the forehand mid-court

· Covering the backhand mid-court

· Moving to the forehand rear-court

· Moving to the backhand rear-court

For info please watch this video : https://www.youtube.com/embed/IidZFd6vCJk?autoplay=1

The split step/the ready stance

The split step is a technique used to get ready for the next shot. It’s used not only in Badminton but in sports like Tennis as well. It’s the basis of building good footwork and speed around the court. We have a great article detailing everything about the split step, make sure to read it in full.

Let’s summarize why the split step is so important. A good split step is for a Badminton player what a good start out of the blocks is for a runner. If you don’t have a good split step you’ll be playing catch up to your opponent.

So how do you do the split step? It’s simple but can be tricky to master. When you return to your base position on court you want to make a slight jump in the air and land with your feet apart. You want to time the landing of your feet just after your opponent hits the shuttle. That way you can land the split step and immediately push off to the next shot.

The basic shots

There are so many varieties of shots in Badminton. Variants of shots include slicing the shuttle, tumbling the shuttle or hitting it at different angles with different swings. But they all have one original basic shot. For beginners here is a list of basic shots you should master first.

· The serve (forehand or backhand)

· The lift (sometimes called a lob)

· The net shot

· The block

· The drop shot

· The smash

· The clear

That’s eight shots in total. It’s quite a lot when you’re just starting out and they can all be played backhand and forehand. These seven shots cover the majority of situations you’ll face in a match. Master these and you’ll have a good base in which to build on and start learning more advanced shots and variations.

Hand-eye coordination

It only comes with practice but having good hand-eye coordination is essential for Badminton. You can’t play Badminton if you can’t connect the racquet and shuttle. The best way to improve hand-eye coordination for Badminton is to play lots of Badminton. Who would have thought?!

Seriously though, playing and training will improve your hand-eye coordination significantly but there are exercises you can do at home alone or with another person to improve your hand-eye coordination. Here are some examples.

Playing catch

Playing catch is a simple but effective way to improve hand-eye coordination. All you need is a ball, you could do this with a shuttlecock too. Practice throwing and catching with someone else or bounce the shuttle or ball of a wall at different angles and catch it again.

Catching an object focuses your eyes on a single object travelling. It requires concentration and spatial awareness. It’s so simple but so effective.

Juggling

So not a skill for those with little patience, juggling is a difficult skill to master but for good reason. Juggling requires incredible hand-eye coordination, even just by learning to juggle you’re improving your hand-eye coordination without having mastered the skill. It’s something you can do anywhere with a couple or more balls or shuttles.

When you master juggling two items then you can move onto three then four etc. Adding more objects or changing the objects improves your hand-eye coordination even more. You have to track each item in the air and feel how you threw the last one. It’s also a great party trick to have in the bag.

Exercising your eyes

Believe it or not but there are specific exercises that you can do to exercise your eyes! They basically help strengthen the muscles in and around your eyes. They mainly help with focusing your vision which in turn will help with your hand-eye coordination. Some examples of eye exercises are.

· Focus change

· Near and far focus

· Figure eight

Rhythm and timing

If you watch the top players in the world like Lin Dan, Lee Chong Wei and Kento Momota etc, they seem to cover the court so easily. They make every shot look effortless and smooth. They have little to no break in their footwork and look to glide around the court. They have honed their rhythm and timing for playing Badminton over years of training and match play. Lee Chong Wei has impeccable timing with his footwork and if you watch the video below you can see how rhythmic his movement is. When you play Badminton, especially singles, getting a natural rhythm while you play is key to developing good footwork and creating consistency in your play. When we dance we use the music as our rhythm and that helps us relax and get into the flow. When playing Badminton you need to be able to find a rhythm of play that suits you. This can only come from playing a lot of purposeful practice and playing matches. Timing is similar but relates more to hand-eye coordination. Your timing will naturally improve the more Badminton you play. It’s important to have good timing so you can hit shots cleanly, a split-step at the right moment and so you can position yourself to hit the shuttle at the optimal time.

Perception and anticipation

These two skills become much more important the better you get at Badminton. It’s the difference between just getting your opponents shot back and intercepting or countering your opponents next shot. Perception means: “The ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses.” For Badminton, this has lots of meanings. Being able to see where your opponent is in relation to the rest of the court, being able to hear if they’re panting and getting tired, the examples go on and on. It’s about how you perceive the current situation playing out during a match. Being more aware. Anticipation is a little different. Anticipation means: “The action of anticipating something; expectation or prediction.” For Badminton, anticipation means reading your opponents’ next move before they play it, to change your stance in preparation for the next shot and to advance your position before the play has been made. Anticipation is a very important skill in Badminton because if you can read your opponents’ next shot then you can gain the upper hand in the rally, the game, and the match. It’s not easy to learn this skill as everyone plays differently, no two players play the same. One player might play a certain shot when they’re in trouble and someone else might play an entirely different shot. You see top players Hendra Setiawan and Lin Dan do this very well. Before their opponent has played their shot they’re already anticipating their next move. Watch this video below and watch how Lin Dan changes the positioning of his feet in order to move faster to the next shot. As you can see he doesn’t always get it right but is able to recover and stay in the rally.

Tactical and strategic thinking

There are many ways to win a game of Badminton. Players and coaches use different tactics and strategies to win a match. Tactics are the shots we make, the set plays we try to repeat and the choices we make when backed into a corner. Tactics are the small steps and choices within each rally. Strategies are the overall plan for playing a match, they’re the long term plan. Strategy in Badminton is creating a plan on how you’ll win. An example strategy for a singles player might be to get their opponent to play a high lift so they can get back and smash. An example strategy for a doubles player might be to get to the front as fast as possible to intercept the shuttle early or kill it. These are basic examples. The elite players will have multiple strategies for when the opponent starts countering their strategy. I feel it’s always best to keep things simple when it comes to tactics and strategies. If you’re beating your opponent then there is no need to change anything. If you’re losing then you need to change something. Why is it important to learn about tactics and strategies? Taking a quote from Sun Tzu and the Art of War, a book we recommend for every Badminton payer to read. “The general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses makes but few calculations beforehand.” If you plan on how you’re going to win the match or plan how you’re going to cope with your opponents’ big smash then you’re already a step ahead. You need to learn how to harness your best shots to gain the initiative and win points. It’s partly visualization if you can visualize how you can win then you’re more likely to win.

Technical Skills in Badminton

· The Ready Stance - it is a position in badminton wherein the right stance is readied by the player in order to minimize the amount of movements that would be needed in order to hit the shuttlecock

· Forehand and Backhand Grip - these are the two basic grips that new players must familiarize themselves with. By doing either of these, it would be much easier for players to control their shots

· Footwork - it is a necessary skill in order to play badminton. A proper footwalk would help in mastering the sports

· Strokes - initially, there are four strokes that the player can use.

· Underarm Backhand Serve - it is a type of serve that beginners can use

Tactical skills in badminton

· Applying pressure on hitting the shuttlecock

· Position yourself in the central base

· It would be easier to hit the shuttlecock on the corners of the court

· Deceive your opponents during singles match

Scoring System

A match consists of the best of 3 games of 21 points.

Every time there is a serve – there is a point scored.

The side winning a rally adds a point to its score.

At 20 all, the side which gains a 2 point lead first, wins that game.

At 29 all, the side scoring the 30th point, wins that game.

The side winning a game serves first in the next game.

Interval and Change of Ends

When the leading score reaches 11 points, players have a 60 second interval.

A 2 minute interval between each game is allowed.

In the third game, players change ends when the leading score reaches 11 points.

Singles

At the beginning of the game (0-0) and when the server’s score is even, the server serves from the right service court. When the server’s score is odd, the server serves from the left service court.

If the server wins a rally, the server scores a point and then serves again from the alternate service court.

If the receiver wins a rally, the receiver scores a point and becomes the new server. They serve from the appropriate service court – left if their score is odd, and right if it is even. Doubles

A side has only one ‘set’.

The service passes consecutively to the players as shown in the diagram.

At the beginning of the game and when the score is even, the server serves from the right service court. When it is odd, the server serves from the left court.

If the serving side wins a rally, the serving side scores a point and the same server serves again from the alternate service court.

If the receiving side wins a rally, the receiving side scores a point. The receiving side becomes the new serving side.

The players do not change their respective service courts until they win a point when their side is serving.

Officials roles are among the most important positions when planning badminton events as they are specialized roles filled by qualified volunteers.

Badminton events of all size – be it a local circuit tournament, county competition or even one of our major events – on a national and international level, require a team of officials. The officials are the judges responsible to ensure a fair badminton game is being played. They consists of:

· Umpire: The ‘main judge’ for the particular badminton game. He/she has the power to overrule any decisions made by the service judge or line judges. The umpire is the person ensuring that the badminton game is run smoothly and prevent any players from delaying the game play. Whenever a player requests to change the shuttle, the umpire will need to approve that the change could be made. The umpire also looks out for faults committed around the net area such as whether a player touched the net when returning the shuttle. Besides, the umpire is responsible to make a ‘fault’ call when the shuttle touches the player or the players’ attires except for the badminton racket. In badminton, it will be a fault/foul to a player if the shuttle touches any part of that player’s body or attire.

· Service Judge: The service judge is responsible in making a ‘service fault’ call and to provide shuttles to the players.

· Line Judges: Line judges sit beside the badminton court (right in front of every in/out lines) to determine whether the shuttle is inside or outside the boundaries of the court.

· Referees – The referee is the most senior official in a badminton tournament and they in overall charge of all matters which affect play and the players on and off court.

The referee shall have key responsibility for:

· Producing schedule and order of play.

· Amendments to the draw and schedule.

· The smooth running of play on the day.

· Liaison with Umpire and Line Judge managers.

· The correct implementation of regulations and the Laws of Badminton.

· Completion of a tournament report.

Citations :

https://basilioeduc.wordpress.com/2013/09/20/officiating-badminton/

https://www.masterbadminton.com/who-are-the-officials-of-badminton.html

https://www.badminton.mb.ca/page/18182/Officiating

https://www.badmintonengland.co.uk/play/give-your-sport-a-helping-hand/officiating-in-badminton/tournamentmatch-referees/

https://sportsphilippines.wordpress.com/2017/02/02/officiating-in-badminton/

https://www.masterbadminton.com/badminton-techniques.html

https://www.badmintonbc.com/page/2888/The-Laws-of-Badminton

https://www.badmintonsbest.com/blog/skills-you-need-to-play-badminton/#the-basic-shots

https://www.myactivesg.com/Sports/Badminton/How-To-Play/Badminton-Equipment/Getting-Started-for-a-Game-of-Badminton

https://www.dlgsc.wa.gov.au/sport-and-recreation/sports-dimensions-guide/badminton#:~:text=The%20badminton%20court%20is%2013.4,The%20lines%20are%2040mm%20wide.

https://www.britannica.com/sports/badminton

3 notes · View notes

alch-ing · 3 years

Text

//SPORTS BLOG//

Individual event for badminton at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games was held in Muntinlupa Sports Complex, Metro Manila, Philippines from 5 to 9 December 2019.

//COURT DIMENSION//

The badminton court is 13.4m long and 6.1m wide. For singles the court is marked 5.18m wide.

The lines marking out the court are easily distinguishable and coloured white or yellow. The lines are 40mm wide.

A court may be marked out for singles only. The back boundary lines also become the long service lines and the posts or the strips of material representing them are placed on the side lines.

The diagonal full length of the full court is 14.366m.

Posts

The posts are 1.55m high from the surface of the court and remain vertical when the net is strained.

The posts are placed on the double side lines irrespective of whether singles or doubles is played. The posts or supports must not extend into the court beyond the side lines.

Where it is not practicable to have posts on the side lines, some method can be used to indicate the position of the side lines where they pass under the net, eg by the use of thin posts or strips of material 40mm wide, fixed to the side lines and rising vertically to the net cord.

Net

The net is 760mm in depth and a minimum of 6.1m wide.

The top of the net from the surface of the court is 1.524m at the centre of the court and 1.55m over the side lines for doubles.

There must be no gaps between the ends of the net and the posts. If necessary, the full depth of the net at the ends is tied to the posts.

//BADMINTON EQUIPMENTS//

1. Badminton Racket

2. Shuttlecock

There are two types of shuttlecocks - plastic and feathered shuttlecocks.

Plastic shuttlecocks tend to travel shorter distances as they are heavier. Hence, they are good for building strength as you make the transition to feathered shuttlecocks. Most people will progress to using feathered shuttlecocks as they are used at all competitive tournaments.

3. Badminton Shoes

Badminton shoes are designed to give you better traction and grip to stop in time to return a shot. They should also be lightweight have good cushioning to absorb impact when you jump or land.

Regular players will find heel cups useful to prolonging the lifespan of your shoes.

Do not wear jogging shoes as they usually lack grip and traction. You might end up crashing through the badminton net if you are unable to stop in time to receive a drop shot.

4. Badminton Attire

Each of these items serve a purpose and might also add a dash of colour to the entire get-up.

When it comes to badminton equipment, select what is appropriate before turning your attention to aesthetics.

//BASIC SKILLS//

Knowing how to warm up properly

Warm-ups don’t have to take that long either. You can perform a solid warm-up in less than five minutes. Here are some simple routines that really get the blood pumping:

High speed skipping for five minutes (try to go fast without losing consistency and tripping over the rope)

A simple set of jumping jacks, squats, burpees, lunges and knee tucks each for one minute

Jog around the hall at a quick pace for five minutes

You get the idea, anything that gets you moving without overstretching. It should get your heart pumping and as my coach used to say; “you should have little beads of sweat from the forehead”.

The basic forehand and backhand grip

We have a more in-depth guide on how to hold a Badminton racquet which covers forehand and backhand grip as well as some less used ones.

The basic six corners footwork

If you can master these six pieces of footwork for Badminton then you’re off to a good start. The six pieces of footwork are:

•Travelling to the forehand side of the net

•Covering the forehand mid-court

•Travelling to the backhand side of the net

•Covering the backhand mid-court

•Moving to the backhand rear-court

•Moving to the forehand rear-court

The split step/the ready stance

Let’s summarise why the split step is so important. A good split step is for a Badminton player what a good start out of the blocks is for a runner. If you don’t have a good split step you’ll be playing catch up to your opponent.

The basic shots

•The serve (forehand or backhand)

•The lift (sometimes called a lob)

•The net shot

•The block

•The drop shot

•The smash

•The clear

Hand-eye coordination

Playing catch

Catching an object focuses your eyes on a single object travelling. It requires concentration and spatial awareness.

Juggling

Exercising your eyes

•Focus change

•Near and far focus

•Figure eight

HealthLine.com has a great article covering this in-depth. They’re quick and easy to do and if you did them for only five minutes a day you’d see a difference.

Rhythm and timing

Timing is similar but relates more to hand-eye coordination. Your timing will naturally improve the more Badminton you play. It’s important to have good timing so you can hit shots cleanly, a split-step at the right moment and so you can position yourself to hit the shuttle at the optimal time.

Perception and anticipation

“The ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses.”

For Badminton, this has lots of meanings. Being able to see where your opponent is in relation to the rest of the court, being able to hear if they’re panting and getting tired, the examples go on and on. It’s about how you perceive the current situation playing out during a match. Being more aware.

Anticipation is a little different. Anticipation means:

“The action of anticipating something; expectation or prediction.”

For Badminton, anticipation means reading your opponents’ next move before they play it, to change your stance in preparation for the next shot and to advance your position before the play has been made.

Anticipation is a very important skill in Badminton because if you can read your opponents’ next shot then you can gain the upper hand in the rally, the game, and the match. It’s not easy to learn this skill as everyone plays differently, no two players play the same. One player might play a certain shot when they’re in trouble and someone else might play an entirely different shot.

You see top players Hendra Setiawan and Lin Dan do this very well. Before their opponent has played their shot they’re already anticipating their next move. Watch this video below and watch how Lin Dan changes the positioning of his feet in order to move faster to the next shot. As you can see he doesn’t always get it right but is able to recover and stay in the rally.

Tactical and strategic thinking

Strategies are the overall plan for playing a match, they’re the long term plan. Strategy in Badminton is creating a plan on how you’ll win. An example strategy for a singles player might be to get their opponent to play a high lift so they can get back and smash. An example strategy for a doubles player might be to get to the front as fast as possible to intercept the shuttle early or kill it. These are basic examples.

The elite players will have multiple strategies for when the opponent starts countering their strategy. I feel it’s always best to keep things simple when it comes to tactics and strategies. If you’re beating your opponent then there is no need to change anything. If you’re losing then you need to change something.

//TECHNICAL AND TACTICAL SKILLS//

Technical Skills in Badminton

The Ready Stance - it is a position in badminton wherein the right stance is readied by the player in order to minimize the amount of movements that would be needed in order to hit the shuttlecock

It would be easier to hit the shuttlecock on the corners of the court

Forehand and Backhand Grip - these are the two basic grips that new players must familiarize themselves with. By doing either of these, it would be much easier for players to control their shots

Footwork - it is a necessary skill in order to play badminton. A proper footwalk would help in mastering the sports

Strokes - initially, there are four strokes that the player can use.

Underarm Backhand Serve - it is a type of serve that beginners can use

Tactical skills in badminton

•Applying pressure on hitting the shuttlecock

•Position yourself in the central base

•It would be easier to hit the shuttlecock on the corners of the court

•Deceive your opponents during singles match

//RULES OF THE GAME//

Scoring System

A match consists of the best of 3 games of 21 points.

Every time there is a serve – there is a point scored.

The side winning a rally adds a point to its score.

At 20 all, the side which gains a 2 point lead first, wins that game.

At 29 all, the side scoring the 30th point, wins that game.

The side winning a game serves first in the next game.

Interval and Change of Ends

When the leading score reaches 11 points, players have a 60 second interval.

A 2 minute interval between each game is allowed.

In the third game, players change ends when the leading score reaches 11 points.

Singles

If the server wins a rally, the server scores a point and then serves again from the alternate service court.

If the receiver wins a rally, the receiver scores a point and becomes the new server. They serve from the appropriate service court – left if their score is odd, and right if it is even.

Doubles

A side has only one ‘set’.

The service passes consecutively to the players as shown in the diagram.

At the beginning of the game and when the score is even, the server serves from the right service court. When it is odd, the server serves from the left court.

If the serving side wins a rally, the serving side scores a point and the same server serves again from the alternate service court.

If the receiving side wins a rally, the receiving side scores a point. The receiving side becomes the new serving side.

If players commit an error in the service court, the error is corrected when the mistake is discovered.

The players do not change their respective service courts until they win a point when their side is serving.

//HOW TO OFFICIATE THE GAME//

The Referee takes responsibility for making sure the tournament is run according to all the rules, is fair and that sportsmanship is being upheld. There must be one Referee at all MBA Sanctioned Events.

The Umpire takes responsibility for running individual matches. He or she is responsible for making all final decisions for points awarded in a match. Umpires are mandatory for final matches in the MBA Provincial Closed and Junior Closed, as well as any Badminton Canada or World Badminton Federation tournaments.

Linesmen take responsibility for making line calls on shuttles that land on the floor of the badminton court. They are there to assist the umpire in making the best decision possible. Linesmen are not mandatory for any provincial tournaments, but are frequently used in more important matches.

1 note · View note

gamingbrace492 · 3 years

Text

What components are needed to build a gaming pc

Considering Moving To Computer Gaming?

On line Gambling Web sites covers the entire business of gaming over the Online. Scump is expert American Call of Duty player. He is a two time MLG X Games gold medalist and is sponsored by several gaming hardware firms, like Turtle Beach and Scuf Gaming. He is also sponsored by Loot Crate, Gymshark, and Brisk Mate. As of September 2016, Scump has won $262,293, of which practically $one hundred,000 was won in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.

It's complicated to evaluate 15mm rulesets mainly because they're frequently so unique, so rather than try I will basically say this Patrol Angis stands on its own laurels as an exemplar of modern wargaming. It is fast to play, it has elegant systems, and it is not overburdened by guidelines. It has a working points program. It added benefits significantly from the great fluff of the Ion Age and the miniatures that go with it but could very easily be applied for any 15mm games you want to play. Despite its billing as a one particular-platoon skirmish game I can't see any purpose why it would not hold up properly with ten+ units on the board.

You have played thousands of unique board games, yes that is right not hundreds, but thousands. You are a member of a number of gaming groups, and you've come to realise that unique groups have distinctive personalities and exclusive dynamics. You recognize what style of games you get pleasure from and precise mechanics that you do and don't like in a game. You do not actively preach or inform people today about board games, but when asked you are an ambassador for the genre and with your vast know-how you can constantly add thoughtful discussion and predictions with regards to games you are however to play. Your collection is the perfect variety of games that you like. eviloid.online gaming blog It is not simple for a new game to make it into your collection, and you have a defined a rigorous trial of fire that any game have to meet to make it effectively into your collection.

Why we like it: The video gaming podcast typically focuses on indie titles, given that that is what the hosts are personally interested in, but from time to time they also bring a wider variety of games to the table for discussion. Idle Thumbs is a thoughtful podcast that puts a bit more emphasis on design and criticism when analyzing the games. If Idle Thumbs” clicks with you, you can also verify out the podcast 3 Moves Ahead” about war and strategy games, it was developed by the similar guys.

No matter whether you want some thing to cool you down on a hot summer time day or you simply want to assistance your gaming console cool down and stopping overheating your equipment, the SIMBR Portable USB Mini Desk Fan can be a extremely handy gift. First, its 6-inch fan blades are considerably larger than other sorts of USB mini fans. Second, its potent motor is surprisingly quiet, creating much less than 30 decibels of noise. Its special design and style enables the SIMBR to be rotated a full 360 degrees, making certain you get optimum airflows wherever you point the desk fan to. The triangular base and metal frame are welcome options.

Working as the critique editor for Destructoid and operating as a gaming writer for Destructoid, Jim Sterling also runs a weekly video game series on Youtube. Sterling discusses a lot of of the unethical small business practices in gaming like gender inequality and early access games. The most important gameplay series that you will come across from Sterling is titled, Jimpressions,” and he covers subjects like new-release video games and covers the gameplay with his pre-recorded sessions.

Ubisoft® and Lenovo have combined their respective expertise in software and hardware to bring you a single of the hottest eSports titles on stylishly savage gaming PCs. Lenovo is the proud Pc partner of Ubisoft's Rainbow Six®: Siege Pro League and Majors competitive eSports series. Each partners are dedicated to providing their gaming communities an unforgettably immersive practical experience.

The gaming labor market place is evolving like many industries impacted by the development of technology. Jobs for game developer might be declining, but jobs in other gaming-associated fields are developing. This is reflective of the altering nature of video games and the gaming business. The definition of video game and video game creator is entirely various. And the labor market place reflects this.

Like gaming? With the assist of a screen capture device (or a video camera) you can pass on your experience on a particular game (or level) and entertain persons at the identical time. Video games as a spectator sport is a fairly new phenomenon, but immensely well known. Take Twitch, exactly where millions of gamers collect every month. Some gamers have even become celebrities as a result.

If you want to produce an E-commerce gaming website, Crystal Skull is a terrific solution for you. This Visual composer powered WordPress gaming theme lets you remarkable sites with high definition components with its parallax and video blocks. Put that further charm on your website with all the animated icons and pictures the theme gives you with.

At Last, The Solution To MATCH Is Told

Green Man Gaming is a preferred web site that sells video and computer games. Similar to both F.Y.E. and Gamestop, it also lets clients get income for games they trade or sell to the web site. Although it is primarily based out of England, the internet site delivers shipping to buyers about the world. No matter whether you want a new game for your PS4, a youngster-friendly game for the Wii or even a battle game for your Pc, Green Cease Gaming need to be your initially cease.

Zombie games in AR are the real hit of today's gaming industry. Zombie GO is 1 prime example of outstanding Augmented Reality shooter games. It brings zombie apocalypse into the genuine globe, at least that's what the producer inform. As a player, you stroll through your home, college or the nearest parking lot and count on zombies to pop up at any second. Then action begins - fight and kill with a weapons of your decision.

Tuned and developed for gaming websites, Arcane offers an exquisite gaming experience unmatched by a lot of themes out there. This committed gaming WordPress theme delivers you with the appropriate tools to build gaming communities of enormous proportions. From forms teams to managing tournaments, content sharing, custom user and team profiles, you can do it all with this plugin.

And this is where cloud gaming has fallen down historically. In the previous, bandwidth just wasn't high adequate to deliver responsive gameplay - but now, we're starting to see world-wide-web speeds that make cloud gaming a viable option. 5G broadband is noticed as a essential enabler, with a reasonably high number of users now in a position to take full benefit of remotely hosted gaming solutions. That said, it's important to note that higher-speed net is far from widespread even in created markets like the US, exactly where poor connectivity and bandwidth caps are still problems for many users.

Alia Lia” Shelesh, better recognized as Sssniperwolf is the 1st female gaming influencer on our list. She started her YouTube career by playing very first-individual shooter games like Call of Duty, Halo, and Far Cry. Her account now consists of vlogs and unique video games that she plays and has much more than 7 million subscriptions.

1 note · View note

sexygames118 · 3 years

Text

What to buy to build a gaming pc

Why You Need to Start Your Gaming Weblog On GameSkinny (Alternatively Of WordPress)

It is time to recognize the very best gaming blogs of the year. Luckily, as much more games are becoming published, extra gaming blogs are getting developed. Considering the fact that it is no longer probable for gamers to try out each game that releases, blogs have come to be an essential tool in the gamer's toolbox. They give up-to-date data about new and future releases to enable gamers answer their undying question, "Need to I devote $60 on this?".

With elegant style including cool blue lighting, the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Gaming is an perfect mainstream laptop for the contemporary multi-tasker and undercover gamer. Readily available in 15-inch or 17-inch models, the Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Gaming has next-gen features like up to the most recent 9th Gen Intel Core i7 mobile processor, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 GPUs and jaw-dropping Dolby Audio hardwired into the laptop to take portable gaming into one more dimension.

As technologies continues to increase, with chipsets becoming smaller sized but much more powerful, we really should start seeing additional and extra video games make their way onto the mobile platform. Does this imply that video gaming as we know it is dead, though? Far from it. With 4K capability for smartphones nonetheless a though off, as effectively as a massive eSports following for Computer games in particular, it is hard (but not impossible) to see a future without classic Pc and console gaming.

Do you appreciate to fight while building your personal town or village in a game? If yes, Clash of Clans is the ideal solution for your gaming needs. It is one particular of the most popular games by Supercell. It is a multiplayer game that comes totally free of price with in-app purchases. The key aim of the player is to make a village and fill it with anything that the villagers will require. A town hall, gold mine, army camp and substantially additional get unlocked in the course of the course of time.

When it comes to graphical intensity there really is no comparison amongst mobile gaming and Computer and console gaming. While handheld devices such as the Nintendo Switch provide a mobile option , it nonetheless doesn't pack adequate punch to genuinely compete on an even field with the Pc and console industry — and the average smartphone possesses even much less graphical power. Even though there have been enormous advancements in mobile technologies, with new devices coming equipped with more potent processors and RAM than ever before, only Computer and consoles are capable to deliver the energy needed for 4K imaging, the hottest new point in gaming.

Tank is a effectively-optimized absolutely free gaming WordPress theme that comes with a responsive layout that displays your content material beautifully on phones, widescreen monitors, and everything in involving. With the aid of WooCommerce assistance, you can simply begin an on the net company effortlessly. The theme comes with a impressive layout that is infused with charcoal black colour that provides the web-site a incredibly royal outlook. This theme comes with a style that is one of a kind and helps to appeal to men and women with an affinity for the army and tanks in particular.

And ultimately, in order to keep your audience closer to you, do not forget to add a make contact with kind and subscription form to your gaming website. Operating a gaming weblog let your readers comment on your publications. By no means miss a opportunity to reply to the comments of your readers. This will show that you care about the time that men and women spent to appear through your data.

Gaming was after viewed as a solitary past time, but this assumption is now a issue of the past. These days, gamers share their hobby digitally with others from all about the planet. This takes spot through live Net sessions on Twitch and even the most preferred of social media platforms presently. On social networking web pages like YouTube, blogs and Instagram, influencer video game content dominates. There are now literally thousands of gaming influencers producing content material for social media platforms like YouTube http://denzz.site and blogs. And the greatest and brightest of these influencers have huge followings. In reality, lots of of the top YouTubers in the globe have been initially gaming influencers.

Like gaming? With the assist of a screen capture device (or a video camera) you can pass on your knowledge on a particular game (or level) and entertain people at the exact same time. Video games as a spectator sport is a fairly new phenomenon, but immensely well-liked. Take Twitch, exactly where millions of gamers collect each month. Some gamers have even come to be celebrities as a result.

If you want to produce an E-commerce gaming site, Crystal Skull is a great solution for you. This Visual composer powered WordPress gaming theme lets you awesome sites with high definition components with its parallax and video blocks. Put that additional charm on your website with all the animated icons and pictures the theme provides you with.

Learn To (Do) GAMING Like A Professional

The tactile satisfaction of the mechanical keyboards is typically missing in membrane keyboards. It mimics the really feel of writing on an old school typewriter, like in the previous. Now, this does not imply that the contemporary mechanical keyboards are missing attributes. They are packed with the issues that the buyer requirements for every day use and even in most cases for gaming as properly.

Zombie games in AR are the genuine hit of today's gaming market. Zombie GO is one particular prime instance of outstanding Augmented Reality shooter games. It brings zombie apocalypse into the actual globe, at least that is what the producer inform. As a player, you stroll by means of your property, college or the nearest parking lot and anticipate zombies to pop up at any second. Then action starts - fight and kill with a weapons of your selection.

Tuned and made for gaming websites, Arcane offers an exquisite gaming knowledge unmatched by a lot of themes out there. This dedicated gaming WordPress theme gives you with the suitable tools to create gaming communities of enormous proportions. From forms teams to managing tournaments, content material sharing, custom user and team profiles, you can do it all with this plugin.

Obviously, gaming” as a topic has a really broad meaning and there are various alternatives today, each for the casual and hardcore PRO gamer. Although consoles can provide access to exclusive titles, which are hardly ever out there for PCs, this goes hand-in-hand with a higher price of games. Consoles also feature some gaming nuances inside joystick controls, as nicely as particular strategies such as progress saving, which is optimized for consoles.

Video games have been around since the 1950s when the earliest personal computer scientists started building uncomplicated games as part of their research. Video games remained a hobby of scientists till the 1970s when the initial video game arcades opened. But video games did not go mainstream till the 1980s when technologies was created to move arcade games into the home. This ushered in a new era of property console gaming led by companies like Nintendo, Sega and Atari.

1 note · View note

mad-scientist-showdown · 1 year

Note

Sorry to use you as a speakerphone for this but you're one of the more well known tournament blogs and I need this to spread

Very few tournament blogs actually use a broad tag like "tournament" or "showdown", its always blog specific tags, and it makes it pretty much impossible to stop tournaments from showing up on my dash (I imagine it also makes it hard to find new tournaments, if people want to go through a tag for that), so if everyone could agree on a tag (or even just start using the general tags) that would be great. Doesn't really matter what the tag is, as long as its not "polls" (I had to block the poll tag to get rid of a few blogs even though I like polls, I just don't do well around bigger competitive settings)

I understand if you don't want to post this ask, this isn't really what your blog is for, I just figured I'd give it a shot at least

No that's a fair request. I'd like to help but I'm a bit confused:

is it the polls specifically that you don't want to see? Because all of us tagging every single one of our posts with a specific tag is basically impossible, at this point it's better for you to simply block the blogs. If it's polls tho I think I coud try to spread around a tag for tournament polls specifically. #tournament poll maybe?

as far as i'm concerned, unless you have analytical features on, the only way for a post to "show up on your dash" is by people you follow reblogging it. Here is my question because I just genuinely don't know: if op used a tag you have blocked in a post, but the person you follow who reblogged it didn't use the tag, will the post be blocked or not? Because if not then you'll still see the posts even if we ops tag it (not that I won't try to make it a thing anyway, I agree it's a good idea)

I have no idea what you mean by 'general tags' in "or even just start using the general tags"

#not scientist showdown #mad scientist showdown #<-i mean im basically doing the 'tag all of my posts a specific tag' but i regret 😭 do not recommend

12 notes · View notes

freegamingtheme · 4 years

Text

Free gaming theme

Free gaming theme, gaming blog, review games or online games WordPress themes make the gaming website! The portal theme game has everything for correct function. Visitors can easily register within the club game. The search box is moved-to-top button is employed to develop the comfort of your website. Users must newsletter, blog and twitter section displays the newest posts and tweets can get new game updates. All the weather summarized during a single internet site design offers visitors an immersive gaming experience.

Subjects were developed for the sport website. The gaming WordPress themes will appreciate the straightforward navigation of impressive images and sites . the newest game is displayed within the header slider. Popular games are placed during a large banner. the remainder of the games are classified. you'll jump across different from one category with the assistance of the navigation tab of the sport WordPress template. The layout style may be a plane fashion. Button text is certainly drawing attention to them are often of red color.

Multi purpose Gaming WordPress Themes. It’s absolutely great for your clan or team page, game blog, game news, html5 games, lifestyle, broadcats, twitch streams. Also for players stats, reviews, table top, interviews, community, gameplay, clan, team, console, shooting,PC games, action, acrade, survival, action-adventure, adventure, role play, 4X game, strategy, tactical role play, simulation, wargame, vehicle and life simulation, sport, race, MMO, casual, mobile, party, logic, parlor game , parlor game , educational, christian.

Geco

Gecko may be a WordPress theme for gaming, news and entertainment content. Its clean, modern and powerful contrast design is ideal for your gaming site. this subject includes all the required pages of a successful gaming website like About, Team, FAQ, Pricing Plans, Testimonials, Games, Galleries, News, Contacts, etc. So this theme is certain to offer your gaming business a lift .

Overworld

Improve your game with Overworld, a real goliath of esports and games! Get everything you would like to make a game magazine or present your team, game tournament, and more. It also features a ton of custom elements for gaming and esports sites, including player, match and tournament lists, and far more! Complete the sport – get Overworld today.

Cavalier

Cavalier may be a responsive WordPress theme for the sport studio. it's aimed toward Gaming Studio websites, creative agencies and other businesses. It uses the facility of HTML5, CSS3, Bootstrap 3 to make the theme. it's perfect on all major browsers, tablets and phones. Simply take the simplest model of your choice, change the text, add your images.

Plaxer

Plaxer is that the powerful WordPress theme for games, eSports, streaming and etc. Anyone can find an appropriate page for themselves. we've prepared the good set of components and designs for your awesome website.

SquadForce

SquadForce may be a WordPress Gaming and eSports theme. it's also suitable for any game portal, startup, news portal, e-commerce store, player forums, eSports, magazines or any personal website with a blog. There are many Gutenberg blocks supported, dozens of theme options. So you'll easily customize your brand website.

Qroom

Qroom may be a WordPress theme for escape game, quest, and puzzle game companies, but also can be used for all event-based sites. All the newest features used here assist you create a singular website from others. it's a reactive, professional and versatile tool, powerful and super flexible. It comes with many customizable and reusable components that are designed to suit as many uses as possible.

Blackfyre

Blackfyre gives you the facility to make huge gaming communities. Users can create clans and challenge one another , keeping track of matches, sharing content and far more!

Escapium Escape Room Game

Escapium may be a WordPress theme intended for real-world companies, games of reflection and reflection, but also can be used for all event-based sites. The reserved part was made on the plug-in Reserved – Appointment for the WordPress plugin and it's already included within the thematic package.

PixieFreak

PixieFreak is that the ultimate solution for electronic sports teams, tournament organizers and every one gaming enthusiasts. The theme is meant to supply several options, to enable a good range of various features. you'll use the theme to line up your eSports team’s website, game, information portal or to arrange a tournament. If you’re really hooked in to e-sports, you’re liberal to use all of those options directly . The structure of the theme gives you maximum flexibility. With PixieFreak, you'll easily hide, show or rearrange sections. you'll change the design , the colours and lots of other things. most significantly , you are doing not need development skills. Everything are often through with the straightforward PixiePanel given the theme itself.

Raider Spirit

Raider Spirit may be a stylish, modern and responsive two-tone WordPress Club Paintball Club theme. it's designed for the paintball club, the strikeball club, the airsoft and therefore the community. It also works for a strikeball company, a game, a company, a corporation , etc. With the complete compatibility of WooCommerce, you'll create a web store of clothing and equipment. Raider Spirit is right for paintball, strikeball, airsoft, lazertag, hardball and other para-military games. you'll open the WooCommerce online store and sell sportswear, special equipment and equipment like trainers , accessories, player jerseys and t-shirts for all: amateurs or professionals, children or adults beginners or veterans.

Entropia

Powered by the changing layout and elements of the sport , Entropia has exactly what you would like to make sublimity game theme! Its amazing features, stunning interior and interior pages and memorable shortcodes make Entropia an ideal choice for esports and every one game and animation studios. Get Entropia today and make a strong games and sports website.

Exit Game Real-Life Room Escape

Exit Game may be a new WordPress theme that is an internet site for a hall escape, a game of quests, a puzzle room and other entertainment activities for family and friends. This adventure are often booked via the Booked Appointment plug-in with which the theme is compatible. Exit Game comes with a page of rooms, a blog page (of various styles), a booking page, reviews, a gallery, a FAQ, etc.

Arcane Gaming Community Theme

Arcane gives you the facility to make massive game communities. Users can create teams and tournaments, challenge one another , watch matches, share content and more.

Jumbo

Jumbo may be a WordPress theme for Flash and HTML5 mobile games, which allows you to run a totally functional responsive gaming site. Jumbo comes with features such as: amazing sharing buttons, a strong review system, last offers, hot, popular, several ad placements, integrated translator and more. beat a light-weight and straightforward to use.

Gamez

Gamez is responsive WordPress theme designed for games, film and music review site. Easy to put in and writing simplified interface with much option allows you to write beautiful magazine and make money by placing affiliate links.

DW Gamez

DW Gamez may be a clean layout, great design for magazines, cool effects and animations, beat DW Gamez. This theme will make a powerful online magazine. Designed for the games magazine, but this WordPress theme is completely flexible and may be tuned into any website you would like .

NewsGamer

NewsGamer may be a professional WordPress template for game magazines, newspaper publishers, magazines or advanced blogs. This theme may be a great option to create a gorgeous & Powerful Website!

Ruby

WordPress Theme created with passion and bloggers in mind. we might wish to blog for creative gaming, gamers bloggers, designers et al. clear to you and present the aesthetic and nice theme. Ruby is visually appealing and functional. it's fully reacted and it's nice on all devices to a bigger resolution and retina display and other people .

Youplay

Youplay may be a creative WordPress theme games on gaming sites. It allows you to make a repository WooCommerce, bbPress forums and WordPress blog. it's a clean and versatile theme options panel Powerful management responses made to the Visual Composer wonderful work and fine-tuning.

Kappa

Affect the Kappa! Kappa may be a WordPress theme designed to assist empower inspiration, everything can express your love for the games Featured Games. Market your products, more, highlights the newest gaming news, exhibits the works of fans who wish to share a singular passion for creating games with Game Community review!

Gauge

Gauge is that the ultimate game for a good range, you'll create a review WordPress theme for every assessment item all the news this tab navigation as their central hub page that you simply can display videos sorts of content, like games, movies, food a piece of writing about the image item reviews. Each item are often reviewed by both administrators and users, it can fully answer all clean and full of modern design.

Games Zone

This game WordPress theme is to supply support all this, someone are often within the game a blog or magazine, because this thing is packed using the good features and management options, so you'll add a filter reviews, games , ratings, and far more you can! Many of the small print of the styling options Color Picker look and feel of your website during a user-defined management area which will help, also the very best level. At an equivalent time, we (Google fonts are integrated with WordPress theme game) means advertising options to monetize embedded fonts, you've got not forgotten about changing your internet site . We even have the newest topics from appearing in our good customer feedback, also because the guys already conversant in our short code should mention the inclusion in our calendar of events.

Game Addict

Game Addict may be a word press themes and games for family game. It allows you to make and manage clan wars including different maps, teams and games.

Orizon

Horizon – game WordPress theme may be a theme for gaming, news and entertainment content. Made using the newest CSS3, it gives you a sleek, eye-catching online magazine, blog, gaming or the likelihood to make a private project site.

Gameleon

Gameleon is that the perfect solution for WordPress theme game magazines, newspapers, editing, publishing, reviewing, or gaming sites.

Game world WordPress Theme

Game Update drive response parallax WordPress theme and game by game portal within the world, cherries framework. Headers must maintain a clean layout and provides a burger menu that gives quick access to the attractions of any website. To showcase the visual content may use the complete width image slider with captions and stylish ghost button. Additionally, the sport WP theme website category, boasts a contact form, boxes like Facebook, view Social icons, newsletter subscription form, contact, popular posts beforehand and Mega footer for information.

Video Gaming

Video Games – dynamic design is all powered by WordPress Theme Game Cherry framework to draw in the look for play is that the sort of entertainment options for all sites. Multiple content blocks and page elements set playful mood harmony with one another . To catch the flamboyant of the audience, it comes with a lifetime or a pleasant high resolution image which will get replaced by one among his pictures themes for free of charge . additionally to pictures , video, audio options are the advanced features of the built-in templates.

Gaming Mag

Gaming Mag may be a child free gaming WordPress theme with creative design and powerful features allowing you to write down articles and blog posts with ease. It uses SEO best practices, responsive HTML5, and additionally , it's fast, simple and straightforward to use. Use the customizer to feature your own background, layout, site width, etc.

BombGame

The game may be a free game modern WordPress Theme If you set the heart beat of your life and you're keen on to deliver your business or personal theme to subsequent track, you would like to echo this sentiment design. Here may be a free WordPress theme specially selected for lovers of technology and games. It’s the power to interact our customers with a beautiful set of private or professional roles and functions of the superb theme Foundation.

#free #gaming #theme #wordpress

1 note · View note

let-it-raines · 5 years

Text

Catch Me If You Can (3/?)

298 days. That’s how long Killian Jones was away from a baseball field. It’s less than a year, only part of a season for him, but it might as well have lasted a decade as he alternated between physical therapy and spending an excessive amount of time sitting on his couch.

But then he came back and won the World Series.

It’s something no one saw coming, and it’s certainly not something anyone who knows about his arm would predict. Now it’s a new season with new possibilities, and anything could happen. On-field reporter Emma Swan will be there to cover it all even if she is not his biggest fan right now.

Asking her out live on-air will do that.

Rating: Mature

A/N: Shoutout to my spectacular beta @resident-of-storybrooke 🧡 I’m the worst writer and send her multiple chapters at a time instead of just the one, and she gets things back to me in record time!

We get some background information on Emma in this chapter to further set up the story, and I thank you for reading! I’m really, really excited about a lot of the things I have planned for this story!

I promise they interact in all chapters after this

Found on AO3: Beginning | Current

Tumblr: 1 | 2 | 3 |

Tag list: @sals86 @iam2307 @ashley-knightingale @snowbellewells @karenfrommisthaven @skyewardolicitycloisdelena91 @scientificapricot @captswanis4vr @emmas-storybook @ultimiflos @jamif @idristardis @nikkiemms @resident-of-storybrooke @tiganasummertree @wellhellotragic @bmbbcs4evr @onceuponaprincessworld @jennjenn615 @mayquita @captainsjedi @teamhook @kmomof4 @ekr032-blog-blog @ultraluckycatnd @cs-forlife @andiirivera @jonirobinson64 @mariakov81 @galaxyzxstark @qualitycoffeethings @thejollyroger-writer

-/-

“What are you getting David for his birthday?”

Emma looks to her right where Ruby is stretched out on her yoga mat, doing a stretch that definitely isn’t anything that’s taught in a certified class. She can’t tell if she’s gotten stuck that way or if she’s simply given up on getting some early morning exercise. They really have to start going back to spin class sometime soon. Maybe tomorrow.

“I bought him some new dress shirts.”

“That’s boring.”

“Have you not gotten him anything, Rubes?” She swipes her blush against her cheek waiting for Ruby to answer. She doesn’t. “The party is tonight. You know that, right? And we’re about to be at work all day editing.”

“Why do you think I’m asking so that I have time to get Graham to go get something on his lunch break?”

“You have no shame.”

Ruby falls onto her mat, star fishing out on the floor before propping herself up on her elbows, her bun coming undone so that it hangs messily on her shoulders. “I know. So, what should I buy him? He’s turning forty. Is he having a midlife crisis? Should I get him some hair dye?”

“Only if you want to be murdered.”

Ruby grunts before rising from her mat and stretching out. “Eh, it might be worth it. I think I’ll just get him a Shake Shack gift card. I’m not his sister. I can get away with a semi-shitty gift.”

She chuckles as she grabs her brush for her bronzer and runs it across her cheekbone, blending it in. “It’s not semi-shitty if he takes us to lunch with it.”

“True. Alright,” Ruby claps, picking her mat up, “I’m going to go shower, and then we can go to work. Ten minutes tops.”

It’s twenty minutes, which is actually less time than Emma was expecting, before she and Ruby walk out of their apartment, walking the three blocks to their train station and swiping their metro cards to get through the gate so they can take the ten-minute ride to the studios. They rarely have to go into the actual offices before ten. The only time they have to be at work earlier than that is when there’s an early game and they have to make their way across Manhattan to get to the fields. That’s a bit of a bigger commute. But this morning the weather is relatively nice, the trains aren’t crowded or full of people in T-rex costumes, and she and Ruby get to the office and through security before they have to be there.

She leaves Ruby on the seventh floor before going up to the tenth to the editing room, her eyes having to adjust from the brightness outside to the dim lights inside the room that’s really only lit by screens.

“Anton, how the hell do you live in the sunlight after staying in here all day?”

Anton twists in his chair to look at her before turning back to the screen that he’s working on, clicking on a few keys as he speaks. “It’s only dark right now because I’m trying to get the lighting right on this edit. Something is wrong with the shadows. Get Ash to set you up. You’ve got over eight hours of footage to go through, so this probably isn’t going to get finished today.”

“He’s only talking in about an hour and a half of that.”

“Yeah, but you’ve got to get the filler and then your notes. It’s a whole thing when you have a big segment like this. You’ll get used to it.”

She nods even though Anton isn’t paying any attention to her, before stepping into the room and around some of the editors she’s never worked with until she’s sitting down at Ashley’s workstation, picking up the pair of headphones that she uses and rolling up to the screen as she watches Ashely piece together several clips to promote whatever tennis tournament is going on right now. She thinks it’s the one in Palm Springs, but she hasn’t really been able to keep up with things lately.

“Sorry about that,” Ashley apologizes, flashing her a smile. “Alexandria had a late night last night, and I didn’t get into work in time to finish this up until you got here. But now my attention is all yours.”

“Is she okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. She’s teething is all. It’s miserable for all of us.”

“I bet. I remember when Leo was teething. David aged about fifteen years.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better.”

“Sorry, sorry,” she laughs, patting Ashley’s arm. “I won’t tell you any other stories about miserable babies. Let’s talk the interview.”

Ashley nods and clicks around on her computer until she’s pulling up Emma’s file, all of the hours of footage broken down. Emma has a basic understanding of how all of this works, but it’s mostly above her knowledge and paygrade. That’s why she’s glad to have people like Ashley and Anton, especially when they can easily throw out shaky or unusable footage to narrow things down even more. She tells Ashley that she wants to work on the main interview first, to make sure she can show all of the pieces she wants, and then they’ll work on finding the filler footage and the music to be played in the background. This is the first time Emma has ever worked on an edited segment that’s more than one minute, so it’s all a whole new world to her.

“This is good,” Ashley murmurs, her voice a small whisper outside of the headphones. “Like, really good. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him be this open before.”

“Jones? Jones is an open book.”

Her brows raise before settling back down at a regular height. “You are literally the most knowledgeable person on this subject in this building, and you think that Jones is an open book?”

“I mean, yeah. He’s baseball player, first and foremost. He’s young, hot, likes to spend his money and go out with every woman with big boobs and a pulse.”

Ashley actually laughs at that, rolling back in her chair before rewinding the video to a part where Killian is talking about his nieces and how they collect bobble heads, particularly his, and scatter them throughout their house for their parents to have to pick up. Emma remembers laughing at that, remembers thinking it’s sweet, but she’s not entirely sure why Ashley is showing it to her again.

“I know you probably hate him for asking you out like that, which was kind of a dick move, but anyone with eyes can tell he’s a sweet guy. I mean, he spent his injury break learning how to bake and sitting with his nieces so that they didn’t have to go to daycare. Yeah, he kind of had a period where he was pictured with a lot of girls, but that was when he was twenty-four and on top of the world. I mean, when you were twenty-four, you’re telling me you wouldn’t have been all over a pretty baseball player if you met him in a bar?”

“I hated all men at twenty-four.”

Ashely shakes her head from side to side, chuckling at her again. Emma hates to admit it, but Ashley is right. She knows that he’s not a bad guy, that’s not some sleazy player. No, he did not make the best decisions in asking her out last year, but in a move that surprised her, he very kindly apologized. And she really should not judge him over that time when he was pictured with girls all the time. For one, he probably dates as much as every other guy, but his dates happen to be publicized. She hates when women are shamed for dating, and here she is judging someone else.

His incessant flirting in all of his interviews and him asking her out have likely framed her view on him when she should know better than to judge by what appears on the surface.

She should also know better than to let a few pretty words make her trust someone.

“I met Sean at twenty-four.”

Emma sighs, curving her lips into a smile before patting Ashely’s arm. “And you two are wonderful. Let’s keep editing before we get distracted by you showing me a million baby pictures.”

“Dammit, Emma,” Anton groans from his seat, “the first rule of the editing room is that you don’t talk about baby pictures.”

After letting Ashley show her new pictures of Alexandra and those adorable chubby cheeks, they finally get around to some more editing, cutting questions that have repeated answers and editing out Emma’s laugh or weird coughing sounds so that she doesn’t look like a total maniac. There’s this part in the film where Killian is standing with his back to the camera and in front of a large set of windows that show off the field, and it looks like it could be a part of the Hall of Fame. It’s a gorgeous shot, and it’s where he’s talking about his hopes and dreams for baseball as well as wanting to get to live a normal life full of everything that his brother has.

Frankly, it’s beautiful enough to make her tear up.

They may just be her, though. As much as sports are about the statistics, about the executions, it’s also about the emotions. In the grand scheme of life, a baseball game doesn’t matter. These men getting paid millions of dollars to play a game don’t change the world. Except that they do. People live and die by the game, by the unpredictability, by the fact that it’s human beings out there pushing their bodies to limits that most people can’t reach. It takes everyone away from the world for a bit, lets them cheer for a happy ending, and even though the losses can be crushing, for just that little while, people feel hope.

Killian Jones coming back from injury, no matter how minor, to win the World Series, gave people hope.

It’s that thought process that guides her in helping Ashley and Anton edit the segment, and even though they only get about halfway through editing, they stop for the day so that Ashley can go home to her family and Anton to his while she walks down three flights of stairs to get to her office shoved into the corner of the corporate floor. There’s literally not even room in there for her to have an extra chair for someone to sit with her, but considering how little time she spends there now, that doesn’t matter. And it’s a step up from the cubicles.

Damn, her segment is going to be good.

This is…she knows she complained about it, and for the right reasons, but this is huge for her career. Right now, she’s more than happy doing post-game interviews and the occasional mid-game updates, but one day she might want to commentate or have her own show. One day she might want to move onto things other than sports. She’s getting ahead of herself, she knows. She simply can’t help it.

She’s excited, and she actually can’t wait to come into work tomorrow to get it all finished.

After sending a text to Ruby asking her if she’s almost ready to go, she logs into her computer and waits for her email to load, figuring she might as well get some more work done while she waits. Ruby’s timing at work is always so unpredictable when they’re not working together, so she has absolutely no idea when they’ll be able to leave to get on the train to Astoria. If only David was in the office today.

She doesn’t have much to sort through, just a few emails asking about the segment, another few talking about food that’s available in the office (she really hates that she missed those), and then another two from Walsh that she immediately deletes. They could be work related, but they’re most likely not.

Dating someone she works with was an absolutely horrible idea that she’ll probably never do again. Walsh is definitely an asshole, one that’s worse than all of the others, but he kind of ruined that workplace peace that she had for awhile. They’d both been stat checkers together, spent their days going blind reading spreadsheets and becoming friends, and when they both got promotions to journalists (ones who actually got to write articles) at the same time, she was pretty sure that it was fate or something crazy like that. They got to have the same job, the same schedule, and she was in that phase of infatuation in a new relationship that it made her stomach constantly feel like it was in those pleasantly painful knots.

Then she interviewed and auditioned for the on-air job to work with the Yankees.

It’s a moment that’s changed her life in an immeasurable amount of ways, but the first and most obvious – before Killian Jones 2k18 – was that her boyfriend of over a year resented her. He resented her, belittled her for what she did for a living, and it all felt so painstakingly familiar that she had to break up with him before he damaged her beyond repair too.

The fact that he was cheating definitely helped that decision.

So for him to still work under one hundred feet away from her in the office and still send her emails on a regular basis is a pretty big sting.

There is no one who got more enjoyment out of her being asked out on live television than Walsh Osborne.

Ruby: I am in the bathroom curling my hair. Meet you by the seventh floor receptionist desk in ten.

Emma: Where did you get a curling iron?

Ruby: The makeup room in the studio.

Of course she did.

Closing out her computer and slipping her booties back on, she leaves her office and locks it up before making her way through the cubicles, specifically going out of her way to avoid Walsh’s desk since she knows he’s still in the office, and waits by the receptionist area with David’s present in her hand. There’s no one sitting there, all of the calls being forwarded through the machine, and she idly wonders where in the world Jacob is.

“We have got to get whatever curling iron it is they use in hair and makeup,” Ruby sighs as she walks into the room, heels that she was not wearing this morning now on her feet and her hair curled into perfectly styled waves. “Seriously, it’s fantastic.”

“It’s, like, over three hundred dollars.”

“We can split it. You ready to go? Graham is going to meet us there.”

“Does he have David’s present?”

“Yep.” Ruby loops her arm through Emma’s elbow, pulling her closer, before walking toward the elevators. “He wins the award for the best boyfriend today.”

“Who is he in competition with?”

“Your non-existent boyfriend.”

She pinches Ruby’s arm, but she doesn’t say anything as the elevator opens and they walk inside. It’s always such a pain to go to David and Mary Margaret’s townhome from the office, if only because of the amount of times they have to switch trains, but it gives she and Ruby time to talk about their days and scroll through their phone, checking up on everything that they’ve missed while working.

(She usually finds time to look while at work. Knowing what’s happening in baseball players’ lives is important to her job, right? It doesn’t make her creepy if they put it online.)

Plus, it’s a Friday afternoon, and that’s always the best time to see people dressed in odd costumes and eating full on turkeys on the subway.

Seriously. That happened once. It wasn’t even Thanksgiving.

By the time they get to the townhouse, it’s past six, and she can see cars parked up and down the street, Mary Margaret’s SUV sitting right in front of their home. She insists on driving everywhere, even when she comes into Manhattan, and Emma will never understand that. But she guesses that they live a bit outside of the most crowded parts of the city and the Mary Margaret is always toting Leo around to school and soccer practice or moving all of her crafts that she takes to her classroom. Emma loves her sister-in-law (it’s easier to say than foster mom’s son’s wife), but she is one of those people whose entire life could be found on a Pinterest board where Emma is more thrift store mashup even with her life being more established lately.

Not that there’s anything wrong with living life like that. It’s simply not Emma’s cup of tea.

“So, how many fortieth birthday themed things do you think Mary Margaret has in their house?”

“I mean, obviously forty.”

“Obviously.”

Graham is sitting on the front steps when they walk up, a small envelope in his hand as he stares down at his phone, and Ruby whistles, making him actually jump from his seat.

“What the hell?” he grumbles, clutching his hand and the envelope over his heart. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

“It depends. Am I the beneficiary of your life insurance plan?”

“Oh my God,” Emma chuckles, shaking her head from side to side as she adjusts the box underneath her arm. “You two are disturbed.”

“Only my girlfriend is.” He stands from the steps and moves closer to quickly press his lips against Ruby’s. “You two ready to go inside?”

“Were you too scared to go inside without us, babe?”

“If I’m honest, yes. I’m not entirely sure what kind of party awaits us.”

“You and me both.”

Emma steps up the stairs and opens the door, knowing that it’s unlocked and that she can just let herself in. She immediately hears the sound of people talking, most noticeably Leo in his high-pitched voice, but everything looks as normal as it always does. The living room is still neatly arranged, a mixture of white and gray furniture, most of it antique, all scattered throughout. The dining room has place settings arranged, but no one sitting there, so she walks to the back of the home where the kitchen is to find everyone all standing around the island eating off of the veggie place that’s set out.

Huh. So maybe David turning forty means that everything is low-key. That’s a refreshing change of pace.

“Emma,” Leo screeches when he sees her, hopping down from the countertop and running toward her, pushing her back with the force of his hug.

“Hey, kid,” she laughs as she moves David’s present so that she can hug Leo back. He’s getting so big, is nearly as tall as she is now, and he’s only ten. She can’t imagine what he’s going to be like when he gets older. She doesn’t really want to. She’s that aunt who gushes about remembering the day that her nephew was born and grossing him out by talking about it. “Why are you letting all of these people eat my food?”

“Because you don’t like vegetables.”

“I definitely do.”

“You never eat collards, and I always have to.”

“Well, that’s because I don’t like collards.”

Leo scrunches up his nose, his face twisted in disgust like he’s eating those collards, before he grabs her hand and starts trying to tug her back to the entryway. “Come on, Emma, I want to show you my new Captain America shield.”

“I’ve got to go say hi to your parents, but why don’t you go get it and bring it down to show me?”

“Okay.”

He nods his head and then runs upstairs, his footsteps loud, and she turns back toward the kitchen to start talking to people who most likely don’t have Captain America shields in their bedroom. Well, they could. He’s kind of a big deal.

America’s ass and all that.

David is swiping a carrot through a bit of dip, and she takes the opportunity to put her present on the table before wrapping her arms around David’s stomach. He’s so incredibly warm, as always, and she appreciates the solid nature of him as his hand comes up to cup the back of her head, his lips pressing into her hairline.

“Happy birthday, old man.”

“Excuse me. I am in the prime of my life.”

She rolls her eyes, unable to help herself before pulling back and patting his chest. “Sure, if you think so.”

“I do. I’m glad you made it today.”

“And miss your birthday so that I have to hear it every day at work? Never.”

“That wouldn’t happen.”

“It would,” Ruby adds in. “It would be one of those things that you’d bring up every opportunity you get. You’d feed it into her earpiece while she was on air so that she’d do that thing with her nose where it scrunches up all weird to make her look like a mouse.”

“I do not do that.”

“You do, sweetie,” Mary Margaret adds in, opening up the refrigerator and grabbing a bowl of what Emma sincerely hopes is Mary Margaret’s pasta salad. “It’s so, but it does make you look like a mouse. Or like you smelled something bad.”

“Well, I am next to a bunch of sweaty men. I could smell something bad.”

“True.”

“And Ruby, you can’t say anything. You talk in my earpiece all of the time.”

“That’s my job.”

“It’s not your job to talk about assess in pinstripes.”

“Eh,” she protests, clicking her tongue and tilting her head to the side. “I think it might be.”

“I’m sorry,” a woman Emma doesn’t know says, breaking Emma out of their little bubble to remember that there are other people in this house. “What is it that you do?”

“Oh,” she sighs, her mouth suddenly dry. She’s not conceited, she doesn’t think, but it’s been awhile since she met someone who wasn’t in her circle and didn’t know about her job. “I’m a reporter for the Yankees. Emma Swan. It’s nice to meet you – ”

“Jasmine Anwar. I teach with Mary Margaret.”

“She’s my teacher,” Leo adds in, running back in the room with a shield that’s nearly bigger than his body. “But I get to call her Miss Jasmine when she’s here, which is super cool because my friends don’t get to do that.”

“That’s our secret, though, Leo.”

“I know, I know. Emma, look at my shield.”

“Leo, it’s time to eat,” Mary Margaret says. “You can show off your shield afterwards, okay?”

“I thought we were eating cake afterwards.”

“We are.”

“So, when can I show off my shield?”

“After the cake, Leo,” David sighs before clapping his hands together. “Let’s eat.”

Inside the bowl was, indeed, Mary Margaret’s pasta salad, and in the oven was a tray of baked chicken, rolls, and macaroni and cheese. It’s the kind of meal that Ruth would make on the weekend or whenever David came home for a holiday, and for someone who eats cereal and Chinese takeout when Graham doesn’t feel like cooking, this is absolutely the best case scenario for her.

Thank goodness for David turning forty and Mary Margaret deciding to keep it low key with just a few friends instead of everyone from both of their offices.

(His thirtieth birthday was insane, especially when she thinks about the fact that Mary Margaret planned it while seven months pregnant.)

Most of the conversation halts with everyone eating, just a few murmurs here and there, but then Ruby gets a glass of wine in here – possibly two – and while Ruby can deal with liquor no problem, red wine gets to her. It’s the strangest thing, but Ruby’s already loose filter becomes, well, looser.

“No, do you guys remember the time,” Ruby hiccups, sipping on her drink while Emma very gracefully shovels more macaroni and cheese into her mouth, “that we were out in LA for work, and David nearly got arrested for walking out of a Walmart with a boxed fan because he threw away the receipt at self-checkout and they checked him at the door?”

“This is not that great of a story, Ruby,” David huffs, crossing his arms over his chest and tipping his beer bottle up to his lips.

“But it is,” Graham protests. “It was a twenty-dollar fan, man. All you had to do was pay for it again, but instead you were one more protest away from getting taken off to jail.”

“I paid for the damn fan. It was on the security video.”

“Yeah,” Emma sighs as she slides her plate onto the coffee table, “but we only know that because you literally demanded to speak to the manager, had to sweet talk your way into the security office, and we spent three hours inside that building all because you can’t sleep without a fan in the room.”

“To be fair, you and I did have a great time while we were waiting. We bought that purple hair dye and streaked your hair.”

“Which was really dumb because I had to be on camera the next day.”

“It washed out.”

“Really? Because I swear I still have purple in my hair if it’s in the right light.”

She tugs at strands of her hair to prove a point while laughter bubbles in her stomach. God, she loves her friends. They’re the actual best. She doesn’t know how she got lucky enough to have them in her life.

“Your purple streaks are probably what made Jones ask you out. He saw that you had a wild side and couldn’t pass that opportunity up.”

She takes that thing about loving her friends back.

She groans, sinking down further into the couch and wishing that she had Leo’s Captain America shield to hide her face so that no one can see the blush that’s rising from her cheeks. Today is apparently a day to bring this up once every hour. It might as well go on her grave stone at this point.

Okay, that’s a little dramatic.

It can at least go in her obituary.

That doesn’t make it any better.

“Emma, can you get me Killian Jones’s autograph?” Leo questions, looking up at her from where he’s very enthusiastically scarfing down another plate of macaroni. He’s not going to have any room for cake at this rate.

“I’m not sure if I can, kid.”

“But you know him! He asked you on a date!”

She’s going to dye all of her hair purple, change her name, and move countries. That’s even more dramatic, but she seems to be on a role with being dramatic tonight.

Italy would be nice. There’s lots of pasta there.

“I’ll ask, kid.”

“I want it on a hat.”

“Leo,” Mary Margaret scolds, “use your manners.”

“I want it on a hat please,” he corrects before shoveling more food in his mouth. “Can we have cake now?”

#catch me if you can #cs fic #cs ff #Captain Swan #captain swan fic

76 notes · View notes