#like i got to the point where i had to contend with how to draw the wheelchair

[flecks-of-stardust]

[image description: a half finished pencil drawing of the Hollow Knight, otherwise known as Glimmer in my au. They are sitting in a power wheelchair with a high backrest and headrest. They have a blanket wrapped around their waist, and it obscures their body below that point, leaving only their massive feet poking out. In their lap is a mosscreep, which they are petting with their hand; it is clearly enjoying the attention. Glimmer’s body and arm are shaded, but their feet are not. They look ahead, expressionless as Vessels tend to be, vaguely off to their right. Their scar goes through their right eye, splitting into two cracks between their gigantic horns. Where their left arm would otherwise be is a mass of melted carapace that fuses their torso together. end image description]

@shadowyscarletowls okay really tumblr? fuck it, i’m tagging you in the notes. god fucking dammit.

i had to be honest with myself, but i’m never going to finish this. i got to the wheelchair details and totally lost motivation. i don’t know how to draw wheelchairs, i’m planning on redesigning how bug wheelchairs work anyway, and i’ve changed how the vessels’ legs work, so this is now completely outdated. but for what it’s worth, i really liked this design while i was still working on it. i’m just never going to finish it, and you deserve to see what i came up with.

this doesn’t really make it obvious how ridiculously disproportionate they are asdkjhskj i suppose that’s part of the point though. they Look proportionate until you measure them. that is always how it works for glimmer, and it’s honestly really funny. how has their neck not snapped from the weight of their shell tbh.

#hollow knight #my art #the hollow knight #glimmer #like i got to the point where i had to contend with how to draw the wheelchair #and what angle to do it from so it made sense with glimmer. and also worked with the blanket #aaaaaand i just gave up #i moved on to other projects #so i'm officially retiring this piece. sometimes this shit happens #now if tumblr would Actually let me fucking tag you #and not eat more of my asks : )

[batsplat]

Your post about sete/vale rivalry is literally so informative it's like a pivotal post to fully understand the way valentino's mind works. You're his friend just up to the point you are not (mainly after perceived crimes not backed up by any real proof apparently). Valentino literally turbodivorced every guy he was friendly with in the paddock (and the irony of two of those turbodivorces happening in the same place isn't lost on me)

I did do my best to keep marc out of that post and let the parallels speak for themselves but like. yes

what's interesting to me about this rivalry is that it's... kind of his first rodeo. I mean he'd obviously had rivals before and a feud and all that and him and biaggi were constantly *gestures* - but one of the most common complaints about valentino is that he switches up towards you when you actually become a serious threat. which!! I still fully believe to some extent is natural, this is sports, they're competing, and I take more seriously with some of valentino's victims than with others. (melandri is always the one where I'm a bit? valentino no offence but why would you bother, in 2005 there wasn't a title fight and in 2006 valentino actually got on really well with two of the four other main contenders and at the very least didn't actively have a problem with dani. so maybe just a melandri problem question mark.) but I do feel like sete was... maybe not the first, but the first that was this extreme. and, very much topic for another post, but he really does learn a lot from the sete rivalry. a lot of the tactics and performance art and all of that, how he uses all of it to demoralise his enemies - this rivalry was kinda the blueprint

but, at the same time, of course it was a different valentino that marc ended up fighting, and not just in terms of how fast and competitive valentino was at that stage of his career. this is something that's quite hard to get across sometimes, because the natural inclination is to just... look at all the past instances in which valentino was a dick and conclude that he has, in fact, always been a dick. but he wasn't just statically malevolent for a twenty plus year career, and it's important to... reinsert context to assess how he developed as a rider and as a character during that time. it's not twenty non-stop years of valentino feuding. and marc is facing a valentino who had inevitably changed as a result of years of injury and poor results on a poor bike. valentino was pretty open in 2012 that he was returning to yamaha after two years on a donkey of a bike to, y'know, see if he was still fast, if he still had it in him - because he genuinely did not know (stop me if this reminds you of anyone more recently). he was so frustrated in 2013 with constantly finishing in fourth place that he took the truly radical step of firing his crew chief jb. one more try, one more change up to see if he could still be fast

it was only in 2014, where, okay he was losing to marc, but he could feel that he was competitive again, he could semi-regularly beat jorge and dani at the very least... then comes misano and he beats marc in a direct fight, draws an error out of him, gets him to crash, and marc shows up at his ranch and manages to strongly signal that he does actually really want to beat valentino. and that, in a way, shows that he was beginning to take valentino seriously as a competitor again (which I would suggest he wasn't doing at the end of 2013). that's something that's easy to miss about the ranch episode: yes, it's notable how much they were treating each other like hardened rivals, but it was also notable they were doing so in 2014, given the kind of season marc was having. maybe it truly was the worst possible timing. maybe it truly was the race in misano that made both of them go. hey. this really could be happening

but it's still a humbled version of valentino, it's still a version of valentino who has already kind of had to make his peace with the fact his time might very much be over. to me, in a way it's more dramatically satisfying if he did make peace with it, if he was more or less all right with marc making the sport his own. okay, there's always going to be a little bit of bitterness, a little bit of envy... because he wished he could still do what marc was doing, of course he did. but by the end of 2013, he knew it was more likely than not he would never be involved in another title fight. he thought his career might be ending after the 2014 season. he told the world if he wasn't competitive in the early races in 2014 then that would be that, and I think he meant it

there was no guarantee he'd have a season like 2015 - sure, he was working harder than ever and making radical personnel choices, all in the hope he still had something more to give... but he didn't know it would happen. it was really really unlikely!! there's a giddiness to him in early 2015, almost like he couldn't quite believe himself he'd get that chance. and then, yes, he does withdraw from marc, he does go back into title fight mode... but relatively speaking, this is still a more agreeable version of valentino. this is still a version of valentino who is determined to not start shit with jorge - it's odd to watch, but in those 2015 pressers valentino is constantly engaging him in conversation, at a time in which the marc chatter was already dropping off pretty sharpish

(incidentally, I think vale was proper pissed off at how jorge reacted to the whole sepang thing and how jorge was angry with valentino, which is very funny to me. like at catalunya 2016 vale's going!! I actually made an effort with this bitch!! I was nice to him for three years, does that count for nothing??)

valentino also doesn't blow shit up over assen, even though by his standards marc should be giving him plenty of reason to. he's definitely cooled off towards marc, but he's still giving him the benefit of the doubt where he wouldn't have done so with past rivals - which, yes, I do think partly reflects how he felt about marc, but also reflects how he was approaching that year and that phase of his career as a whole. he didn't really want drama; he wasn't really looking for any distractions from the actual title fight. which doesn't mean that he wasn't already changing his behaviour towards his competitors in response to the demands of the season - it's just a question of the extent. here from a write-up of assen 2015 (I don't entirely agree on the point of the effectiveness of valentino's mind games, though I do agree - like valentino himself does - with the general idea that most of the work needs to be done on-track):

in the end, he cracked. I guess that's what generally happens when you put someone under that kind of pressure - you make them revert to type. valentino wasn't arrogant or entitled or over-confident in that season, he was desperate. he'd been given this unexpected chance and he was throwing everything he had into making it work. body, mind, soul, all of it, wringing himself out in pursuit of this dream. he could feel it slipping away at several points that season... that four race jorge win streak where he led every single lap and it was kind of like? okay, you just can't do anything about that. valentino can't match that, not at this stage of his career. or brno, after which they were level on points and jorge led on countback and it just felt like valentino so obviously had a consistent pace deficit that surely this could only go one way. all these moments where it felt like it might actually be over, in the least dramatic way imaginable. in many ways, this wasn't really a title fight that should ever have been so close - and it's to valentino's credit as a rider, his versatility and willpower, that he was even able to push things as far as he did. but he did know he was hanging on by a thread, and he ended up playing the last hand he felt he had available

obviously, it wasn't really rational calculation that made him do what he did in sepang - though there probably was an element of, y'know, might as well. but he believed he detected a pattern of behaviour in marc - not entirely incorrectly, because it did feel like marc approached his battles with valentino differently - and fashioned himself a conspiracy on the basis of it. he hoped it could change the momentum one last time; he decided to make one final roll of the dice. and then, of course, marc reacted in a way that has ensured valentino will never stop believing in his conspiracy theory. because of course marc did, because of course he never would have taken it lying down. because valentino knew from the moment marc engaged him in that battle at sepang that it was almost certainly all over, because he lost his temper - which usually helps him, except when it doesn't. because they both lost their tempers and ended up just wanting to hurt each other, to prove a point. because that's who they both are

the main point I'm trying to make here is kind of.... it's just how I personally read the sete stuff - yes, these are the same patterns of behaviour, yes, a lot of parallels do obviously present themselves. I've long felt that sete is the single most significant valentino feud to understanding what happened with marc. he's the only other one who valentino was friends with, the only other one valentino felt hurt by on a personal level, the only other one who valentino changed his behaviour towards from one day to the next. and I think under the right circumstances, if you give valentino enough of an excuse and enough of a prize to aim for and have planted enough seeds of suspicion in advance... you can get this situation where the competitive paranoia takes control and he buys into this whole betrayal narrative and he decides he needs to go nuclear. and it also gave him a script to follow - one he knew could work because it had. except of course it could have gone very wrong in 2004 too. what happens if he's so desperately determined to ruin sete that he bins it in phillip island and finds himself only barely ahead in the points going into the title decider? compare that race to phillip island 2009 - obviously, there's a sizeable difference between the level of opposition (especially at that circuit) and the '09 race probably wasn't winnable, but he still ends up eventually deciding to settle for second behind casey because he doesn't want to risk losing the championship to jorge. he's not casey's biggest fan either, but he never came close to losing his head fighting him. it's different. he might do some of his finest riding when he's angry, but where there's anger there's also volatility. and, on occasion, there's also some really bad choices

if 2004 is the moment where he's properly learning to play these games, then 2015 is him falling back on these tools when he really had basically discarded them. it'd been five years since he'd engaged in mind games in earnest (I know him and casey were constantly at it in 2011-12, but whatever the hell that was about, whatever part of their psyches they were appeasing there, it obviously had fuck all to do with on-track competition). that's a long time! there's a 2014 interview where he's asked about his work on the 'mental side' against his rivals:

the first thing he immediately stresses is that there's zero point in doing any of this if you're not fast enough on-track to back it up. if you are fast, sure, you can do some off-track 'work', especially if you know it makes your rivals suffer :) but it won't have the same effect without the on-track performance. so even if we want to say valentino hadn't mellowed post-2012, even if he hadn't grown one jot humbler in his heart of hearts, even if he wasn't swayed by any genuine fondness for marc, he still knew the maths just didn't work out in his favour with his current opponents. he couldn't deploy his favourite tactics against jorge because jorge insisted on spending the entire season either two spots ahead or three spots behind valentino, and the off-track stuff just can't work if you're never sharing space on-track. it could and did work against marc, but he wasn't trying to score psychological victories against marc! certainly not by the time they reached assen and marc was basically out of that title fight. so there wouldn't have been any point in trying to fuck with either of them in that way off-track and, well, it could easily backfire. which is something valentino understood perfectly well until they were 88.9% of the way through the season, and then he changed his mind at what was almost the very last possible moment. which I think speaks to how desperate valentino was to make a mistake like he did at sepang: he felt it was all he had left to try

the other way in which marc comes into this whole thing is that.... I mean, he knew about all this stuff! this is the thing right, maybe he wasn't watching the sepang 2004 press conference as an eleven year old and later going 'huh' but broadly speaking, he will obviously have been aware of how this went down, qatar controversy and all of it. he's sitting right there in that jerez 2015 presser when valentino is asked about sete and in response valentino says sete played 'dirty games'. he's obviously aware of the whole jerez 2005 situation, not least because he copied valentino's overtake in his third ever premier class race. which in turn sete was watching unfold, and is still having thoughts about in 2023:

so it's kind of... y'know, you've got marc, you've got someone who's still very much the heir apparent despite all the drama between him and valentino. if you're sete, do you look at marc and see somebody who valentino hurt in similar ways to what he did to you, or do you look at marc and see another version of valentino? do you see both? it's again that thing of, if you have a problem with some of valentino's more aggressive riding then you will definitely have a problem with marc. because of course marc is the escalation, because valentino generally picked his moments a bit more and adjusted his levels of aggression more to the situation, whereas marc is mostly just Like That. so sure, if you're sete gibernau you can look at marc and see another one of valentino's victims, but at the end of the day you're also going to see his legacy

and this from 2017:

not an original thing to say obviously, half of motogp has said it at one point or another. but. still. meaningful to me!

that tension between 'fellow valentino rival' and 'valentino's successor' is imo inherent to the jerez pass situation, because (along with laguna seca) it's an example of marc actively inserting himself into valentino's legacy. and the thing is, right, these aren't just neutral fun passes that everyone remembers because they looked cool: they're the biggest flashpoints of their respective feuds. marc did to jorge what valentino did to sete - and then he did the most valentino thing imaginable and went to jorge when he must have known jorge would still be furious, making him publicly reject his handshake and starting up a whole lot of discourse™ that would take forever to die down. marc knew immediately how controversial what he did would be and was completely at home in the chaos. it's not just the pass that does valentino proud, it's the shamelessness

while that race might not have had the same repercussions as '05, at the end of the day you do have to remember that those passes have a lot of baggage and controversy attached that marc is also making himself a part of. in the case of laguna, it's valentino addressing livio suppo in the presser because of all the grief suppo and casey had given valentino over the '08 overtake. in the case of the jerez pass, it's sete talking about how alienated he is by this whole approach to riding that marc so completely embodies. and the whole thing has come up quite a few times since 2013, because everyone loves bringing up last corner passes at least once a year when they show up again at jerez

so for instance we have this clip from 2016 (fourth race of the season, vibes still in hell), where the riders are asked whether they'd prefer to be in first, second or third position heading into that final corner. not all too much to say about this one, really. jorge, who it seems has at long last learned his lesson about what to do when you've got a lunatic sitting on your rear wheel headed into the final corner of a race, stresses that he'd protect the inside line - not least because these two fuckers would dive on the inside through the grass if you give them half a chance. also, decent gag from marc! good on him. not always easy for those who have decided they hate him so much so that they refuse to laugh at anything he says

then we have this from 2017 - where sete is in the room - asking four riders who they'd want to arrive at jerez's final corner with. three guys give pretty boring answers, though you'll note in 2017 valentino does actually mention his battle with sete (*gestures with his head in sete's direction*) in the same breath as the one between "marc and jorge". those three boring answers are followed by a great response courtesy of jorge. the question doesn't actually specify, but obviously jorge immediately zeroes in on valentino and marc since they are. you know. the two guys with a history of doing last corner jerez crimes. and they're also two confirmed lunatics, though jorge believes that valentino at least might be a little less reckless now that he's a little older. hey, maybe even marc has become 3% more sensible at the advanced age of 24 (funnily enough, vale when making that overtake in '05 was two years older than marc is in this clip). it's a sweet moment - but, without wanting to belabour the obvious, it's also another way of showing how irrevocably linked both the passes and the blokes executing them are. both valentino and marc are 'hard brakers', to put it lightly. two peas in a pod, from a man who would know

we do also of course get sete reacting to valentino's answer. idk what this facial expression is but I sure am compelled by it (thank u to dani pedrosa for working with sete in 2017 so that we'd get live sete reaction shots. I am very grateful)

okay so those two I included because. well it's just kind of neat and fun that this is a parallel they won't ever escape. linked legacies and all that. but I am actually building up to a point here, and it's to do with how even post-2015, it's not like marc is always overflowing with sympathy and compassion for valentino's other victims. he knows his lore! he will know at least the general details of the sete relationship and how it deteriorated and what valentino did to him afterwards! so let's bring in austria 2017, a time at which the vibes between the two of them aren't actually. catastrophic. exhibit a:

so in this presser, valentino is asked if his overtake on jorge at catalunya '09 is the favourite of his career, and he says it was special because it was the last corner - he can't remember any other examples of him making a last corner overtake in the premier class. at which point marc taps valentino to point out sete:

the expression marc makes in the thumbnail - that's how he looks when he's eagerly waiting for valentino to put two and two together. the thing is, right, this whole feuding business, the way valentino treated his rivals, how he was pretty awful to them... all of it will have been stuff that marc actively enjoyed as a fan. and even post-2015, when marc has experienced some of the very worst valentino has to offer, marc still finds the whole jerez thing pretty funny, not just the overtake but what it meant for the relationship between valentino and sete. he makes valentino aware of sete in the room, because of course he would never forget valentino's greatest hits. like, remember why this exchange is funny: everybody knows this overtake was a super controversial thing and a big source of tension between the two of them and valentino's forgotten about it. and marc's laughing at this!! in 2017!! "after we have a bit problems" and marc thinks it's hilarious!! buddy

one more presser moment, from 2019. just a bit of context here - earlier in the presser they were asked about dani getting a corner named after him at jerez and valentino went 'yeah good for him but I wouldn't want a corner named after me !!' and marc talked about how he'd gotten a corner at aragon named after him the year before. so now, the riders are asked what their favourite bit of the jerez circuit is. the joke here goes a) marc says 'last corner' the way he does because everyone knows he did a terrorism there, b) jack miller says 'you mean jorge lorenzo corner' because everyone knows it's funny marc did a terrorism on jorge there like a day after jorge got the corner named after him, and c) marc says 'it's valentino corner' because everyone knows his move was copying the move valentino did on sete. and... 'valentino corner'... first of all why would you do this to your literal teammate jorge lorenzo... but again the whole reason this exchange is funny is because the premise is that they did the same thing, valentino to sete and marc to jorge. implicitly, it's making the link between the pair of them and how they terrorised their rivals in the same way. still. in 2019

speaking of legacies, there's a moment in the 2016 catalunya presser where valentino is asked how that duel compares to his past duels in 2007 and 2009 at that circuit (notice the blatant and unchallenged sete erasure - 2004 and 2005 were really great but okay). and valentino says he counts it on the same level as the jorge fight - "was three great battles with three great opponents". which, y'know, I really love 2016, I think it's fantastic, but marc makes a mistake on the penultimate lap and denies us the most dramatic of finales. like I think it's completely reasonable and nice for valentino to count it in that same camp as the 2009 duel, but I also think it wouldn't have been crazy or disrespectful or anything if he'd gone 'yeah that was great but not quite the same thing'. this definitely might be reading too much into it (surely not) but given how valentino has since occasionally left marc out of the rivalries list, said he wasn't his toughest rival etc etc, I do think it's kinda notable that during that moment of 'reconciliation', valentino allowed marc to be part of his legacy - even if it's just in a small way. 'great valentino catalunya battles' is a pretty cool group of races to be a part of, y'know? the infamous overtakes, the duels, these are the things people remember. these are the things marc remembered, as valentino's fan - inevitably, it'll mean something to him. it's a legacy he wants to be a part of, by fighting valentino, by emulating valentino, and sometimes valentino lets him and sometimes he'd rather leave marc out in the cold. you'll note that in 2019 he doesn't really engage with the "valentino corner" gag from marc and instead goes with the far more neutral turn 5 as his own pick

in the very very immediate aftermath of sepang (aka december 2015), marc did openly make the comparison between himself and valentino's other rivals:

and it's informed his whole approach since then - it's a big part of why he's tried to be quiet about the drama with valentino over the years. he knows how valentino behaves towards his rivals, he always has. he knows he can't beat valentino off-track... but (beyond his undeniable mental resilience) he's just fortunate enough that with his talent and the way their career windows have overlapped, more often than not he's been able to out-perform valentino on the track. and y'know, it's an interesting element to the whole thing I feel... marc was a fan of valentino's for a lot of reasons - he was very much a fan of the complete package, if you will. including what valentino did to his enemies! it's not like that aspect of vale was some kind of closely guarded secret; it was like a top three valentino rossi talking point for years and years. (part of the subtext of assen 2015 is marc not really enjoying being on the receiving end of one of those classic valentino scam wins, when marc had been intending to do that to valentino.) again, those overtakes of valentino's weren't just famous because they were cool, they were famous because they helped valentino fuck with his rivals. it's not just about emulating his on-track aggression, it's about emulating how valentino did his best to get in his rivals' heads. when we talk about marc 'being a fan' of valentino, then it shouldn't be ignored that this involved marc being a fan of what an absolute and utter asshole valentino was. and like with all things relating to valentino, I'd wager marc has pretty complicated feelings about this. at the end of the day that's also part of his make up as a rider... but it also really burnt him personally...

it's almost like an identification thing, isn't it. if you're marc and you're thinking about valentino's past rivalries, whose shoes are you placing yourself in? in many ways it should be valentino's rivals, because of course some of their experiences mirror marc's. and there's a rare moment in the winter of 2015, when he's still in the process of trying to make sense of everything that's happened, where he does make the connection. but apart from that, he's shied away from it - even when he's criticising valentino, he's generally not framing what valentino did to marc as indicative of some broader character flaw. it's casey and jorge who explicitly make that link, not marc. he's still kind of... idk, separating that out. obviously, marc would far rather be valentino's successor than another one of valentino's victims, even if he hasn't really been given a choice in the matter and has ended up being both. I don't really have any evidence to back this up, but my guess is that deep down he feels like what valentino did to him was different from what he did to those other guys. and in some ways he's right and in some ways he's wrong

unfortunate, isn't it. you're a fan of somebody with a reputation for fucking with his enemies, which is fun and neat and you kinda want to copy how he does it - maybe put your own spin on the whole thing but you're still into the general vibe. you enter the sport at a time when you can still fight your hero, but he's kinda washed and he's too old to be starting new feuds (*bzzzzt!!* incorrect! you are never too old to start feuds) so there's no real danger. and you share a bond you think on some level is different from whatever those other guys had going on, even sete gibernau, whoever tf that is. and then you become real rivals and realise how extremely not enjoyable it is to be losing to him yourself and you really want to show him and maybe you do push it a little far along the way. but it'll be okay. it's all fine... until he decides it's time to destroy you. and on one level you do obviously see the parallels because you're not an idiot... but on the other hand, none of that stuff, none of what he did to those other guys - it wasn't ever going to stop you from being a fan of his. it's the bits he did to you that are the problem. and at the end of the day, you'll never quite be able to let go of the twelve year old boy inside of you who found jerez 2005 really, really cool

anyway

#anitalianfrie #rosquez #// #sg15 #4693 #society if tumblr allowed you to upload more than one video per post >>>> #I hate how speculative the last few paragraphs are. badly sourced psychological analysis but well #this wasn't actually meant to be a sepang 2015 post bUT this was a follow-up post waiting to be written lbr. give me an excuse etc #anyway this post is incredibly incoherent but. shrug. idk how to fix it so whatever #i've seen a few posts here that slightly have the tone of 'oh if only marc had known how valentino behaved towards casey stoner' #listen. he did know. he probably thought it was fantastic. idk what to tell you #you'll note the dec 2015 quote implies casey 'lost' the off-track battle with valentino which I'm not sure casey would be a massive fan of #marc and vale both had a bit of a case of not like other girls about each other and y'know in a way that's still true. just in a sadder way

[janmisali]

Number Tournament: Honorable Mentions

well, you've all asked for it, and I guess there's no point in waiting any further now that round one is almost over. here's some highlights from the numbers that didn't get enough nominations to make it into the tournament. (as you can work out from looking at how many nominations the numbers that made it into the tournament got, my cutoff was seven nominations, which left room for me to hand-pick three numbers that only got six to fill in the bottom seeds)

six nominations

these are the numbers that were the closest of all to making the cut. in the end, I picked ten, Rayo's number, and omega to fill in seeds 62-64, but four other numbers got six nominations but didn't make it:

25: perfectly fine square number. notably funnier than 24

81: another square. I only wanted one "boring normal integer" for the bottom seeds and like come on it had to be ten.

5040: Plato's favorite number, a very fun one

42069: both 420 and 69 already made the cut, so this would have been excessive

and now for some miscellaneous fun ideas that not enough people suggested to make the cut!

cool math things

c (the speed of light) could have been a strong contender, but physics fans were pretty much universally putting their efforts behind the fine-structure constant and the Avogadro constant, leaving other universal constants behind

the Euler-Masceroni constant got five nominations super early on in the process, some of which were even intentional (there are so many things named after Euler but I made the call that people who said "Euler's constant" without specifying were talking about this one) but never got any further than that

a lot of infinite ordinals more interesting than the standard omega were in the running, but given that omega itself only barely made it in, numbers like omega to the omega power never stood a chance. of course, given how well omega did in round one maybe those other bigger infinities could have held their own if only more people suggested them before the tournament began

Not a Number's presence in the tournament is I think very fun, but other floating point things were also nominated, just not as frequently. negative zero was a fun one, as are the handful of nominations for just slightly-off multiples of one tenth

besides star, a lot of game theory not-really-number numbers had a few fans supporting them, such as dud (deathless universal draw), a couple of tiny numbers, and one suggestion for {69|420}

meme numbers

fans of boobs were split between 80085, 58008, 8008135, and 5318008, so none of the boob numbers made it individually

perhaps even more disappointingly, only five people suggested 1312

1337 is a super dead meme so that one being unpopular isn't as surprising. but then literally nobody suggested 9001? weird!

the AACS encryption key (an illegal number) only got a handful of suggestions, which is a shame because that's a really fun one

only three people suggested "your credit card number" but if it made it past the cutoff I 100% would have put that in the tournament

meta jokes

a few people suggested variations of "the number that wins the tournament", which I think is a funnier meta joke than either of the ones that actually made the cut

a couple people also did versions of "the sum of all other numbers in the bracket" (or "all other numbers people suggested in this google form"), with a couple people who said that also thankfully adding in some conditions to only include numbers where you can actually do that

a couple people have asked me what the smallest natural number was that nobody suggested, and unfortunately (by which I mean I love this) I can't answer that because a couple people suggested "the smallest natural number nobody else suggests"

another fun one was "the number of notes on this tumblr post", which only one person suggested

three separate people did "five (the word five not the number)", "5 (the symbol not the number it represents)" and "V (the roman numeral)" (looking at them all together it kinda looks like this was the same person all three times but that's because I'm paraphrasing all of them)

googologisms and otherwise big numbers

shockingly, the famously large numbers googol and Graham's number didn't get nearly as much support as the googologisms that made it to the bracket

five people suggested numbers in the Busy Beaver sequence, but none of them suggested the same Busy Beaver number

there were also things like "the smallest counterexample to the Collatz conjecture", fully hypothetical numbers

"zillion", "bajillion", and "fuckton" got two nominations each, any of which would have been extremely fun to see in the tournament

other

a couple people just said "fibonacci number" which. do you mean like the whole sequence? maybe these should have counted for phi

two people suggested "a grizzly bear". I'm assuming that's a reference I'm not getting, because it's way too specific of a joke for two people to say that independently

there was one suggestion that was the coordinates to a restaurant in yemen called burger king 2

anyway there's literally thousands of these, and I have no intentions of at any point making a full comprehensive list of what people suggested, but I think this is a pretty good sample of what the nominees were like. there were a lot of really good candidates, but I think the 64 that made it into the tournament are a pretty dang good set of numbers!

thank you to everyone who suggested your favorite numbers, it was genuinely very fun reading through everyone's suggestions.

#number tournament #jan misali #math #mathblr

[khaoticdax]

"I want Valeria Garza to pull my hair and spit in my mouth."

Spit In My Mouth

Training sucked, no matter who you asked. Training especially sucked in Las Almas. And, of course, training was never done in just a tank top and shorts. It was always done in full gear to make sure cartel soldiers were up to par whenever and wherever they needed to be.

From practicing entry tactics in the shoot house, to lifting weights. But today. Today's training was sparing. Making sure the cartel soldiers are able to handle themselves if they ever lost their weapons or ran out of ammo.

It was never fun, even when people got pitted against those they didn't like. Y/n would know this from experience considering this match was one of those matches. They got pitted against a lower ranking member who always slacked off but never got caught. It infuriated y/n. No one did anything about it. They were about to make sure this punk would have a couple of bruises to remind them of when they were caught slacking off again.

It wasn't y/n's first sparring match of the day. They had won all of the others except for one, which is a fairly good track record against these men who train most of their lives. The punk seemed excited to fight someone who was ranked higher than them, especially one who hadn't lost most of the day.

The kid was eager to start the fight and came out swinging - literally. The punch was aimed for y/n's right cheek. Regardless of where the punch was aimed y/n dodged it easily, counter attacking with a kick to the shin. Let the punk think he could win, and give y/n a bit longer to kick his ass. Another lousy punch, and another, then another. It was like it was the only move the kid had. All of them dodged and countered. One counter was a punch to the gut. Another, a kick to the chest. The punk started grinning and swiftly gave a front kick towards y/n - hitting them in the chest. Groaning, y/n bared their teeth and swiftly punched the kid in the jaw. The punk's head flung backwards as the rest of his body followed.

The crowd that had gathered cheered as a few men came to drag the unconscious body away. There was only one person among the crowd that wasn't cheering, and this person had just joined for this fight in particular. It was the boss.

Valeria Garza.

Apparently the boss wanted to come see the soldier that had been kicking everyone's ass. Maybe they would deserve a little bit of extra attention.

Y/n enjoyed the crowd, hyping them up even further with taunting comments about "any other contenders". Little did y/n know who was going to step up next.

"Let's see how well you do against me, soldado."

Y/n turned immediately on their heels to face Valeria, who had a wide smirk on her face. All y/n could do is nod, and take a few steps back into the sparing area. Valeria followed closely behind, the smirk never disappearing from her face.

Valeria stopped only a few feet from y/n, her hands staying down by her side. Y/n brought their hands back up to guard the face and feared the consequences of what came next. If they hit their boss, it would end badly for them - they were sure of it. It might even result in a bullet to the brain. If they didn't even give the fight a shot, it might end just as badly. Would Valeria take kindly to a soldier going easy on her? Probably not.

As y/n counted to four, they took swing towards Valeria's abdomen. Easily blocked by their opponent, and countered with a kick to the pressure point just above the knee cap.

"Puedes hacerlo mejor que eso…" Valeria taunted as y/n hissed in pain.

Growling in anger, y/n quickly stood and took an unexpected swing to the right side of Valeria's jaw - knocking her backwards and forcing her to grab her jaw.

"Mierda!..."

Y/n's eyes widened in shock and fear. They hadn't expected the punch to land, let alone be seeming to draw blood out of Valeria's mouth.

The crowd went silent, and some even began to leave - afraid of what was going to happen next. Before y/n could even begin to mutter an apology, Valeria was right in front of them. They expected anger to have filled their eyes, but it was something else they couldn't put their finger on. There y/n stood, speechless until Valeria reached her left hand up and roughly grabbed y/n's hair, pulling them down to almost kneeling in front of her. Growling, Valeria glared down at them as she bared her bloody teeth.

"You should know better than to punch the hand that feeds you, los querido…"

Valeria whispered only loud enough for y/n to hear it before she roughly forced open their mouth with her left hand. They still couldn't speak, were too stunned to do so. Too unsure of what was going on. Those feelings only got worse as Valeria let out a ptui noise and spat some of the blood that had been in her mouth into y/n's. The same blood that had come about from the punch.

Valeria glared down at y/n one last time, her signature smirk reappearing on her face before she turned and walked away. The rest of the crowd had dispersed at this time and left y/n kneeling on the ground in shock with the spit of Valeria's blood in their mouth.

#video games #valeria garza x reader #valeria x reader #valeria garza #el sin nombre #mw2 #mw2 fanfic #Cod mw2 #modern warfare 2 #gn!reader

[firstelevens]

Hey Zainab! taking this moment for a second to just say I see you around and I think you're cool. Anyways, for the SamBucky ask - either: 👔 Zipping or Buttoning His Jacket for/Putting a Tie on Him or 💥 A Surprise Encounter please

Hi, Mexi! That's so kind of you to say! I think you're super cool, too! Also both of these were such great options that it took FOREVER for me to choose--thanks for sending them in!

👔 Zipping or Buttoning His Jacket for/Putting a Tie on Him

Sam’s been an Avenger for six months, and he’s still not used to the glamor of it all. Yeah, there are days when an EMP fries his wings and he finds himself parachuting straight into a swamp, but then there are nights like this, where they get put up in an opulent hotel and invited to a gala as thanks for foiling a kidnapping plot against the Governor of Gibraltar.

The wind on the water reminds Sam of home, so he’s got the sliding door to the balcony open, the smell of sunshine blowing into his suite along with the breeze. He takes little peeks at the sunset while he gets ready, crisply ironing his shirt and adjusting his cufflinks—little silver crawdads, a present from Sarah on his birthday a few years ago—before contending with his tie.

Normally it would be a snap; a lifetime of doing his tie for church every Sunday meant that a half-Windsor knot had been muscle memory for years now. At some point during today’s rescue mission, though, Sam had managed to hurt his right hand enough that it’s a lot slower going than it should be, and trying to make his left hand do what his right hand should is just making his brain hurt.

He’s distracted, restarting the knot for the third time when he hears a noise on his balcony and whips around. His gun is on the other side of the bedroom, locked up with the rest of his gear, but Sam’s always got a knife within reach, and he’s throwing it at the figure in the doorway before they’ve even resolved into anything more than shadow.

When the person easily catches it, it’s with the sound of metal clinking against metal, and Sam feels the tension immediately leave his body.

“Turning your back on an unlocked door?” asks Bucky, sounding entirely too smug. “What are they even teaching you up at Stark’s fancy compound?”

“How to draw annoying cyborgs to your hotel suite, apparently,” says Sam, and very deliberately turns his back to Bucky as he starts in on his tie again.

“Sweetheart, if you wanted me in your bedroom, all you had to do was ask,” says Bucky. Sam doesn’t need to look in the mirror to know that he’s smirking.

“Apparently, I didn’t even have to do that,” he shoots back. He’s not sure if he imagines the way that Bucky’s neck flushes behind him. Sam means to say something else teasing, in part because it usually seems like Bucky could use the laugh, but then he realizes he’s looped the tie the wrong way around again and yanks it loose for a fourth time, mumbling an expletive as he does.

“The hell are you even doing, Wilson; how’d you get this far without learning to tie a tie?”

Sam holds up his bandaged right hand in response, and Bucky tuts disapprovingly. He’s by Sam’s side in three paces, huffing as he turns Sam by the shoulder.

“Some team leader Rogers is,” Bucky mutters, grabbing the ends of Sam’s tie and smoothing them out. “Doesn’t he know that—”

Bucky cuts himself off, finally seeming to realize that he’s got his hands on Sam, in closer proximity than the two of them have ever been. Sam watches as Bucky’s eyes come up to meet his, then drop back down to his grip on Sam’s tie.

A grimace flickers across his face, and he starts to pull his hands away, but Sam settles his own hands on top of Bucky’s.

“What?” he asks, with a grin that he hopes is encouraging. “You’re gonna let me go out there looking all scruffy? Leave me hanging so Steve can steal the spotlight?”

The tightness in Bucky’s jaw eases just a bit. He breathes in once, twice, thrice before looking up at Sam again. There’s a question in his eyes that Sam hopes is answered when he nods.

Half a beat later, Bucky is smoothing out the ends of the tie again and working on a knot, focused enough on his task that Sam can take the opportunity to study him: the dark fringe of his eyelashes, the slight curl of his hair in the sea air. There’s an almost-healed cut by his lip that Sam wants to ask about, and dark circles like bruises that he knows not to bring up.

He’s so distracted cataloguing the changes on Bucky’s face that he doesn’t realize that the tie has already been tied, not until Bucky smoothes it out one last time.

“There,” he says, bringing his hands back down and stepping away from Sam. “Now you’re not such a disgrace to whoever taught you to tie one of those.”

Sam snorts, shaking his head. “I’m sure my daddy would be thrilled to know you protected his legacy.”

He gets a small smile for that in return, just the barest lift at the corner of Bucky’s mouth, but much more real than the teasing smirk from before. It makes warmth thrum through Sam’s veins.

“Thanks for the help, Barnes.”

“Anytime,” says Bucky, and makes for the balcony again. 

Sam knows better than to try to keep him where he is, and this is more of a goodbye than he usually gets, so he’s surprised to hear Bucky say his name from the doorway as he turns to put on his dinner jacket.

“Hey, Wilson?”

“Yeah?”

“Tie or no tie, nobody else has got a shot at that spotlight with you around.”

Sam feels his jaw drop, but Bucky’s gone before he can even turn around, the balcony door clicking shut behind him.

#sambucky #thatmexisaurusrex #zainab does ask meme things #idk what this is y'all it just happened #'ficlet' is a state of mind okay #my fic

[voidsentprinces]

Before going further I feel like I should make a ramble post about Emet-Selch. Like any villain in the series I am kind of lukewarm on him. I don't ship with him. I just sort of nod him in passing when the narrative wants him around.

But, Personally, I feel Emet-Selch is our Lex Luthor. He had all that power and the ability to do good but chose not to for his own reasonings. He IS a tragic figure but a figure who has done and cause a lot of death and a lot of bad. As the Emperor of Garlemald, he is the reason for most of the bad happening around the world at time of A Realm Reborn. Occupation of Doma causing Yotsuyu, the coup of Ala Mhigo and then invasion leading to Fordola. Knowingly sending Nael and her Legion to investigate Dalamud knowing full well of tempering and what would follow. Leading to Gaius's decision to go off on his own, he must of known Lahabrea's involvement with the XIVth Legion and shrugged it off. And then when that Legion is wiped out at Praetorium. Chooses that point to destablize Garlemald in a Civil War. Even when Varis ascends its a shaky one, he loses his childhood friend and Gaius's replacement to the Warring Triad. Ala Mhigo and Doma break the chains of tyranny rule. Cause Garlemald to go scorched earth, razing Dalmasca in the process.

Which leads to causing the Eastern Alliance to forge against it while contending with the Eorzean Alliance. Causing Varis to look into the Black Rose which succeeds in one time line already. But fails in this one. Leading to the world to burn in Fandaniel's ambition and Zenos's apathy. Speaking of Zenos, Emet-Selch turns a blind eye to his great grandson's suffering. Beaten on the daily to near death until he can kill his master and become the monster of the Empire and later to burn it to the ground. Which in the irony of irony leads Zenos in become instrumental to the destruction of a half formed Zodiark, Emet's prized God amongst Gods. Not to mention Emet causing interplanetary and dimensional genocide when aiding in Calamities.

Like, despite my light hearted jabs and depictions of him in some shitposts. I am under no illusion, he is a really bad guy. A kind of tragic villain who had all the power in the world and decided to use it for ill because he felt the ends justified the means. Even if he ignored the big question as to how they were going to rejoin the Thirteenth Shard which was steeped in void from Igeyorhm's failure. He is very flawed, contemptuous and charismatic enough to draw an entire Empire with his quirky sassiness. At the end of the day he was a megalomanical dictator. So like know that while I am making these somewhat postive Emet-Selch posts, my position is like:

But, its fiction. Enjoy your characters as you take em. Like all villains I ain't gonna rain on your parade if you like them. Enjoy your stuff. Its not like you're shipping yourself with Josef Stalin and people are now reimaging him like that one Founding Fathers OC. That was...uhh...that was fucking surreal.

Also while you're here I am room temperature with Zenos. But like I've made many a post about him practically just sitting around and doing nothing for a large part of the story. So I don't feel like repeating myself ad naseum. And my burning passion for Asahi and Fandaniel by proxy is only because I never got a cutscene where I straight up sucker punch them sons of bitches. I mean we even get to beat up Teledji Adeleji in Palace of the Dead. And Ilberd before he introduces his scalesona. Kind of want to lower Yuyuhase and Laurentius into Hell's Lid though.

[archandshri]

The vision for an illustration breakdown from Shri - 27/04/2024

Hey Archie and everyone!

It's lovely to hear you taking control over your health and not letting anyone/society's expectations of a working/hustle culture control your life - leading to burnout. It really does feel like directly fighting against the capitalistic view when we value fun and rest above work and their view of 'success'

I also couldn't agree more with you - fairs are such a magical place, I've definitely got the best compliments and feedback from them, it always reminded me of the importance art has on people sometimes; always leaving me a bit dazed.

As promised my slightly late blog post is here. (It didn't allow me to edit my original post so)

I mentioned I just did a really big hand-in yesterday with Third Bear Press, so I don't want to go to ham on this post.

I did think about talking about my recent hand in but it's still too soon (I've been staring at those pages for two weeks straight and many weeks before that)

But if you want to have a cheeky look at it go check out the Kickstarter with Third Bear Press!

link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thirdbearpress/boxes-2

Anyway actually getting into the blog, I wanted to talk about something I've been pondering recently.

Archie and I were talking a while ago about how they're a bit frustrated with the difference between their vision for an illustration and their skill set - when your skill set doesn't match your creative vision.

And I indeed, I had some thoughts about it.

(also this is not supposed to be an @ at you Archie, I just went on a really long thought tangent).

My first thought was "I used to feel that all the time" Then I was like "Wow I haven't felt that for a long time" Then I thought "Wow that kinda sounds a bit fullhead?!"

But then I was like "Hold up, back up. I don't think it has to do completely with the skillset, it also has to do with the visions/expectations itself?" because I can't remember the last time I had that experience of having that illustration idea the same way I did a few years ago.

They're different, so it got me thinking why?

Breaking down my thoughts

Also, slight disclaimer: I did no research whatsoever for this so it's literally just my thoughts. Anyways, enjoy!

The vision/idea of an illustration

I don't have the same vision for an illustration anymore as I used to. Before I used to start illustrations/projects with a distinct image in mind, and then draw from there.

Nowadays I think of the idea/image and then clarify it with the message/thing I'm trying to convey through the image. Having this clarification on what you are trying to say is so helpful when hitting issues because you can always refuse back to that as a touchstone.

Without it shit hits the fan then it's harder to take that step back and reevaluate the image.

The minds-eye and the vision/idea

So this section of pondering reminded me a lot of the book I read What We See When We Read by Peter Mendelsund (very good book with a lot of nice pictures). This book discusses what we see when we read (hence the title), one of the main points of the book is what our brain actually images/pictures when reading text.

Here is an extract because it explains it better:

These readers contend that the success of a work of fiction hinges on the putative authenticity of the characters. Some readers go further and suggest that the only way they can enjoy a novel is if the main characters are easily visible: "Can you picture, in your mind, what Anna Karenina looks like?" I ask. "Yes," they say, "as if she were standing here in front of me." "What does her nose look like?" "I hadn't thought it out; but now that I think of it, she would be the kind of person who would have a nose like .. "But wait-how did you picture her before I asked? Noseless?" "Well..." "Does she have a heavy brow? Bangs? Where does she hold her weight? Does she slouch? Does she have laugh lines?" (Only a very tedious writer would tell you this much About a character)

pg 24 of What We See When We Read by Peter Mendelsund

This strangeness of the brain of feeling/believing we can see a character in your mind's eye in full clarity - but at the same time, not actually seeing any details?

This is what I think also happens when we have an illustration vision/idea for a piece of artwork, being able to 'see it' but at the same time not.

This then can cause a lot of issues in the fulfilment of this vision for an illustration, because how can you ever go to the standard of your idea if you don't even know what it is exactly your idea is?

The skillset

This I wanted to touch on because although there is more to it then a skillset, skillset does have a play in this - but maybe not in the way you expect it. Although yes if your skillset is better it's easier to meet these expectations for an illustration, I also believe it has a lot do to with processes and how to handle issues in illustration pieces.

So before university, my process for illustration was very simple.

idea for illustration

Sketch out illustration

Line the sketch

Colour the illustration

Finished

And if at any point in this process, the illustration won't working or I run into an issue - I kinda just gave up on it?

My process now:

Idea on illustration (along with what I'm trying to convey through it)

Research (sometimes, depending on the project)

Thumbnails

Initial sketch

Fleshed out sketch

Line

Colour

Texture

Finished

And at any point I run into an issue I solve it, for example, if the hand passion is wrong and just resketch it until I find one that's good.

Obviously, these a big elements of being skilled enough to be able to identify how something is wrong and how to fix it - so there is a sense of drawing mileage by being able to identify those things.

Anyways those our my thought on it - let me know if you guys have any thoughts/ideas on it too!

Thanks for reading my rambling thoughts

Hope everyone has a lovely dinner (I had a really nice roasted cauliflower with other picky bits)

All the good vibes

Shri

#art blog #artist blog #artists on tumblr #illustration blog #art #art process #illustration #comic artist #smileyshri #archillustrates #illustrator #artwork #drawing #art thoughts

[bellhopping]

merry christmas fellas, here's my little summary of art

Generally I'd say I've improved a lot throughout this year. Got a proper drawing tablet, switched drawing programs, finally begun working on using more then one type of brush... it's certainly been journey! A journey with many ups and downs, but one I am glad I went on anyhow.

Under the cut is individual uploads of every piece of art in this image, alongside a writeups about their creation. Cheers!

[1/25/23, Medibang Paint]

Starting off with a pretty alright one, drew this to commerate the release of a game I'd been interested in for the past 4 or 5 years. I think it could use some tweaks, but for something drawn in mobile medibang I'm still pretty proud of it.

[N/A, N/A]

This is where my february drawing would go... IF I HAD ONE !!!

I did not draw much digitally in February, on account of my tablet randomly breaking right at the start of the month. I did draw some stuff traditionally, but I don't feel like fishing it out at this moment lol

[3/31/23, Krita]

One of my first proper drawings in krita, and of a character I should really draw more of. This was made for trans day of visibility & comes with a trans pride palette to boot, though I ended up choosing the normal palette since the other one kind of sucks. Also could've done better on the posing, but I was still getting used to the ins & outs of drawing tablet usage so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[4/22/23]

Drawing I made for earth day, honestly a solid contender for best thing I've drawn all year. I did pretty good on the pose, still dig the background a fair bit, & overall think the piece came out damn cool!

[5/12/23, Krita]

An expirement with line thickness, featuring one of my favorite ocs. Despite it's roughness you can tell I had gotten a hang of Krita's core functions by now.

[6/17/23, Krita]

Cover art for the prolouge of CAT-Astrophe Comic, the webcomic my brother & I have been working on. Overall been really happy with my work on the comic so far, I've slowly but surely been getting better at each part of the process and am still making good progress on pages n such ^^

[7/9/23, Krita]

Fanart of a character from a game, drawn for my pal Rinbin after they bought me Rain World. This single handedly inspired me to draw more robots, definitely one thing I 100% intend to follow up on next year.

[8/1/23, MS Paint]

Drawn based off of someone elses post, I don't remember what it was really. Honestly still really damn proud of everything in this!!!

[9/7/23, Krita]

Drew some snakes/snake adjacent pokemon for snektember. I'd say this is around the point where I "mastered" krita, by this point I actively knew how to use a majority of featues & had even begun downloading outside brushes.

[10/20/23, Krita]

Overhaul of a character I made & barely used in 2022, her name is now Olive. I based the whole squidog thing off of something in a dream.

[11/26/23, MS Paint]

Fanart of a webcomic I really fucking like !!!!! Not much more to say I just really dig this one, fucking love drawing in MS Paint.

[12/20/23, Krita]

And, as if to repeat last year, I end this one with a DreamSide main cast image!

Really proud of how much all of my designs have improved throughout the year, from the small tweaks to gigantic overhauls! I finally feel ready to take the next step forward, so to speak.

And that's everything! Thank you all for your time, and accompanying me on this journey. It was certainly a rough one in many aspects, but every year is rough for me so I've gotten used to it. See you all later :>

#bellspeaks #my art #long post

[day-at-rhodes-island]

Warfarin’s second operator record is fantastic, it’s definitely a top contender for my favorite record so far, but all the talking about vampire social norms has got me thinking about Closure (again).

It took Warfarin centuries before she got to the point where she decided to start resisting the thirst for blood, and then “two whole centuries” of learning to do that to get to where she’s at today.

Here’s the thing, Closure is also at the point where she’s uninterested in blood, and she is disinterested to the degree that Warfarin has a voice line specifically pointing it out. So Closure is, by my current estimate, about 45 years old (at the very least she’s confirmed to be significantly younger than Warfarin), but she shows even less of a draw to blood than the vampire who’s been training herself for a few centuries.

This leaves us with a few options as to why this might be:

1. Closure is a less pure vampire variant and had less thirst to begin with. This is one of the more likely options, but right now it seems like Closure may actually have a stronger vampire lineage than Warfarin.

2. Closure is a lot older than we think she is. This would be great, but it still doesn’t explain how she has a better control over it than Warfarin, who is definitely way older than she is.

3. Theresa altered her mind to remove it. Doesn’t seem like something Theresa would have ever done, unless Closure asked her to I guess.

4. Closure just doesn’t get the urge to drink blood, and never has. This seems like the most likely option. If this is the case though, it makes her issues with her family less: ‘I don’t like the traditions of my family,’ and more: ‘who I am is anathema to the traditions of my family.’ It would also mean that that Closure cultivated a group of friends online to escape a family who wouldn’t accept her.

#yes it's more closureposting #she's my blorbo of choice What more can I say? #arknights #closure #ramblings

[yennasun]

A battle of wills

Summary: second, against all odds, had coaxed the retired MT out of his searing hate for the USFC. He'd finally gotten the ex-champion in his corner as his mentor and trainer, passing down all of his wisdom to the young contender. Second had garnered a reputation as an explosive knockout artist but many had doubted his stamina, a power puncher never lasts into the late rounds, right?

Thwack

The sound rumbled through the air as the top contender's body had went limp and collapsed, the knockout had been highlight-reel worthy.

The two had traded right hands and stepped in, but second had stepped off at an angle while he threw his left hook, the other man threw his at the same time but seconds superior speed and advantageous angle ensured he caught him clean.

The ref didn't even count. He simply took one look at his fallen foe and waved the fight off.

He walked back to his corner, worried for his opponent but satisfied with the win, MT said that the worry was a part of "the game."

"There'll come a point where you'll realize that they sighed up for this, same way you did. Whatever happens to them, they know it's always a possibility just as you do."

"And what about the slaves, the ones who DIDNT sign up for this?"

MT Drew upon his own experience, all those crippling knockouts he'd committed out of fear of what would happen if he didn't

"Then you'd better be ready to fight to the death, in their eyes it's their life or yours. Spare them no mercy, I promise they wouldn't do the same for you."

Like a prophecy, MTs words had come true. The champ was one such person.

MT lectured him as second trained.

"This guy is serious business, he's not some cookie-cutter paper champ waiting for a fresh young up-and-comer like you to take him out."

As he trained, second took in the words. He would never make the mistake of being overconfident, no matter how much hype was around him, which was alot to say the least.

He was the new big draw, They'd began to call him the next mango, the next legend ever since the terror's mysterious disappearance...if only they knew who was training him.

"You can't ever tell anyone who I am, should you make a public appearance."

"Why not?"

"..."

"I can't tell you that just...just do as I ask, please."

He'd used his uncanny power to bruise his way to an 88-0 record, none of his fights had gone the distance, 88 perfect knockouts. Even still, he had his doubts...

The words played through his head, the past drowning out the present while he trained on autopilot.

After some time, he came back to reality and caught MT mid-sentence.

"-is a down-in-the-trenches, rough and tough S.O.B, who's been seasoned by fire. I want you to treat this like a match between gladiators, be ready to dig deep within yourself to find the mental and physical fortitude to finish this fight."

"Yes coach." Second continued punching before MT stopped him.

"Alright, it's been 2 hours. Let's go for a run." MT got his gear on and the two left the gym him and green designed, they stepped outside and the crisp air and surrounding bright green forest nearly alleviated seconds worries.

The two started at a brisk jog, and MT continued. Seconds nerves came back in waves, more like one bid tsunami.

"This man is dangerous, he's one of the most well-conditioned fighters I've seen in recent years, he can go and go and keep going..." seconds worries were starting to mount more, he didn't need this right now.

He picked up his pace, running from his doubts more than he was MT.

"-he'll keep going even when you can't, he'll try and break you mentally, make you lose your will to fight!" MT caught up to him, his voice hardening with intensity.

Now second had taken off in a sprint.

Second had kept sprinting for minutes, sure he'd lost mt. Until...

"He hits hard, very hard! And his body attack is brutal, tailor-made to sap your energy! And he won't take you out in one punch, he'll beat you slowly over the course of the fight! Not only that, but he's tough as a boulder. I've seen his tapes, and he shrugs off blows that would level a building!" Second snapped

"Then what do you want me to do about it!?" He yelled, more of an accusation than a question.

"That's what I'm trying to teach you. Even when your body and mind can take no more, to March on off of sheer force of will." Second knew what mango was talking about, not from personal experience, but rather, from mangos experience.

Mango didn't know, but second knew his secret. Searching through the fight records of the best fighters of the early 2000s, almost all of them had one little blemish on their records, all to mango.

So he dug up the decrepit and forgotten corpse of mangos career that he never told second and sat slack-jawed.

He then looked for any footage of his fights and found a highlight reel as big as a feature-length film.

He knew what mango was talking about. He just didn't understand how he did it, taking such horrible maulings but still coming out on top in the end. He nearly pissed himself just watching the beatings mango would take.

But he always thrashed back, always came back somehow. He simply out-willed his opponents.

Shutting his laptop, he promised himself he'd never tell anyone. He was naive, but not stupid. He must have had a reason to not tell anyone.

Now he dug MTs fights up once again, trying to study whatever he could off of his mentor. The footwork, angles, defense and punch selection were nothing new, much less what second was looking for. He was searching for all the moments mango had to "dig deep" to pull a win out his ass, searching for anything that connected each instance together.

And then he found it, when mango had to go through the trenches, when he was dead tired...his opponent was tired too, it was less of a battle between a tired man and a fresh one, and more of a battle of wills from two exhausted fighters who want nothing more than to win.

He knew he'd have to do something different, this guy wasn't gonna go down like the rest.

In the following weeks, mango had second training at a psychotically high rate that would earn a wink and a smile from his creator. He took all the necessary steps so that second could accomplish his dreams, but he also had second working defense to lessen the damage he'd take.

He had second training in clinch-fighting, the art of tying someone's arms up at close range, smothering and stifling their punches while putting yourself into a position to slip tight punches through.

"The best positions to be in against a volume puncher like this, is either too far for him to catch you, or too close to get you with anything worthwhile." Mango had to him

Mango still had alot to prove, with everything he did and all the secrets he kept, second and the others were right to not fully trust him.

That said, second trusted his intuition to fighting as though he were a scholar in it.

But he needed more than tactics to stifle his opponents unending barrage of punches, he need to prepare to get hit.

Luckily, The medicine balls were also made very useful. This person was a body puncher, so he had to get second prepared for the agony he'd surely have to endure.

Whenever second would get tired, not exhausted, tired, he'd be there to push him that last little bit. Eventually he even stopped doing that.

I won't be there to push him while he's fighting...

Sure, he'd be in his corner to inspire him, but that's different. That's during the resting period, it's much harder to stay in good spirits during the fight.

The two also studied his fights, looking for tendencies and habits.

"When he throws the right hand from a crouched position, he shuffles his feet and lunges forwards." MT pointed out.

"His favorite and most effective punch is the left hook to the body. He trained himself to throw the perfect liver shot, and a body shot like that can be the deciding factor of how a fight goes." He went on.

"If you feel a light tap on the right side of your guard or head, be prepared for him to bury that left to you body. It's very quick, made perfect by hours, days-MONTHS of obsessive repetition."

The two continued to study the films and second also noticed something.

"This guys not much of a mover...it looks like he plods forwards, very flat-footed." Mango gave him an approving grunt.

"Spot on, and he never makes attempts to cut off his opponents. Just drives at them in a straight line. Keep him in front of you but don't let him get too close, that's where he likes to be. Get him from a bunch of different angles." MT advised.

The training continued, MT had second doing planks and push ups on his fingers or fists, dumbell twirls, footwork training, and even more.

MT made sure to take special emphasis on seconds stamina, the little hollowhead had incredible power, and MTs knowledge and coaching ensured second always had an efficient way to deliver that power, but when a big puncher hits a man as hard as he can and the other fighter doesn't go down, it can take alot out of you.

Before long, second was in his dressing room, wraps tight around his hands and orange trunks adorning his waist with a silence that never seemed so loud.

He looked to MT for reassurance, then asked the million dollar question.

"How do..." he hesitated

"What's on your mind?" MT asked

"This is gonna sound like a stupid question but...how do I make another fighter tired?" He finished

MT took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying his best to put this in layman's terms.

Finally, he came up with an answer.

"You make him work harder than he's ever worked before." Second rose a perplexed eyebrow

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there's many ways to do this. You can tire someone out by making them move away from you or towards you. You can drain their strength by body punching, you can make them miss and counter punch..." mt etopped for a second, finally giving second a clear-cut answer hed been hoping for

"A fighter doesn't get tired because he's exhausted. A fighter gets tired because he no longer thinks he can win."

Second took those words in, and began to form a gameplan.

It wasn't much right now. So far, it was to keep him away and lead him into punches. But he'd refine it during the fight.

"You ready to go?" MT asked

Second nodded his head, and MT grabbed seconds shoulder and clicked the link.

The two were surrounded by darkness for a few seconds, before loading into the arena.

The massive pillars amidst the dessert wasteland shined like lighthouses in a desert storm, the heat was unbearable.

...

The heat was perfect.

He'd already learned the other fighters name, Earle "smoke" Stevens. Coincidentally the same name as his manager...

The crowd roared in applause as the two fighters entered the arena.

The walk to the center seemed felt like a marathon, but second couldn't lose sight of the gameplan no matter what.

Now the two stood face to face, Earle was a bit shorter than second but bulkier.

"Ladies and gentlesticks, we now move on to our main event. For the undisputed, welterweight championship of the world."

The announcer awaited even a little bit of reprieve in the crowds cheers.

"In the red corner, standing at 5'8 even, weighing in at 149 and-a-half pounds. With a record of 209 wins, 3 losses and 183 big wins by way of knockout. Introducing the welterweight champion of the world, Earle "Smoke" Stevens!"

The crowd once again boomed in its satisfaction, Earle was definitely a crowd-pleaser.

"And in the blue corner, standing at 5'11 even, weighing in a 147 pounds even. With a record of 88 wins, 0 losses with all wins by way of knockout. The challenger, Orange "The second Coming" becker!"

There were many cheers, but a few boos were mixed in the cacophony. A few people didn't want second as champ, today was the only day he'd be happy to disappoint.

The two fighters eyed eachother, as did their coaches.

"Alright boys, you are to listen to my instructions and obey my commands at all times. Touch up and let's get started."

The two backed up and the buzzer sounded for the first round.

Second began to follow his gameplan and was fairly successful, staying at range to strike from different angles.

As expected, Earle drove forwards in a straight line and a steady pace.

Second had to make sure not to over commit to taking him out early. It may seem easy now, but Earle was too tough for that. Second would be putting himself exactly where Earle wanted him.

That didn't mean he didn't coast until Earle got going, as Earle tried to drive his head into his chest to open up his midsection, second would use his strength and longer arms to hold him away.

Earle began to swing for seconds body, but he remembered the tactics MT taught him, framing off Earle's shoulders to throw the punches off course.

The first went to second easily, but he knew it wouldn't be like that the whole fight.

In the second round, he continued with his tactics in keeping the fight slow paced. If Earle wasn't countering, then there wasn't much use in changing things up until he did.

The second and third rounds went much the same way, nothing of note happened otherwise.

Then he came up with a new strategy.

He was planning on turning up the heat in the 5th, and then slow down in the last second. Then continue to slow in the next, he wanted Earle to start turning up as well.

That's what he planned, anyways.

In the 4th, Earle came out faster.

He proved he had underrated defense. It wasn't pretty, but it was effective.

His lower center of gravity and crouched position made it easier to get under second's busy jab, he found his way in soon enough.

Earle had managed to sneak in some tight body shots before second tied his arms up and snuck in some of his own. They weren't particularly heavy punches. After all, second had longer arms that tended to work against him at close range.

But he could tie Earles' arms up easily and smother any follow-up attacks.

In the last 10 seconds of the 4th, second tied Earles arms up again, but Earle threw a tight left hook-nearly throwing over his own head to catch second.

He went back to his corner, and MT fretted over him uncharacteristically.

"Look at me second, just for a bit." MT lightly grabbed seconds face and turned his head to inspect his eyes.

He took a deep breath.

"Alright, how you feeling?" He asked

"Well...huh...I think I'm starting to work out a plan, I'm gonna go out on fire next round and try to get him started sooner."

"Bait him into thinking you wore yourself out, good plan. But I have an idea to add onto that..." second perked up slightly.

"I'm all ears, because I have a feeling that this guy's gonna wisen up eventually."

"Don't show him your power until late, make him think you're all hype. Make him think you got nothing left. then when you're both tired late in rhe fight, his punch output will slow, his defense will be non-existant and you'll have the power advantage." Second nodded his head, slowly wrapping it around this new strategy.

The buzzer for the 5th started and second came out fast, taking care to not show Earle the explosive power that made him so feared.

His footwork was much more active, constantly hunting for angles like a jackal and capitalizing on them with the reflexes of a cheetah.

They may not have been hard punches, but they definitely got Earles attention. He hoped he didn't catch on.

He still needed a few rounds to map out Earles' tendencies, and this was the perfect way to do it.

When second was out of range, he probed at Earles defense with jabs and feints, trying to get consistent reactions to capitalize on.

When he was in range, he tagged Earle like a backalley wall in gang territory.

He didn't have the speed Earle did, but he could connect his shots at a very high rate because of MTs wisdom.

He began to slow down later on, and as if on cue, Earle began to pick up the pace.

He grabbed Earle in a simple collar-tie clinch, letting Earle land a few body shots to really sell his act. Earle wasn't a fighter known for the power behind his punches, he was a fighter known for throwing alot of them.

"When you go out for the 6th, use your defense. It'll really help to convince him that you've spent yourself." MT advised.

Second did as told, but when he wasn't throwing punches, Earle was barreling in and swarming him with body punches, and now they were really starting to add up.

Bide your time, bide your time just hold on...

He kept reminding himself that this was all part of the plan, but just his defense wasn't enough. A cagey veteran like Earle knew all kinds of tricks to keep up with the young bucks.

At the end of the round, Earle began to land on seconds head.

The round couldn't end soon enough.

MT came to second, seeming slightly nervous.

"You alright...? Can you see fine?"

"Yeah, I can see fine...why the concern so suddenly."

"No reason, just trying to look out for you." He admitted

"He's getting rough with you. Don't be afraid to do it back. You can still throw punches, just throw them sparingly." MT didn't need to spell it out, second knew exactly what he meant.

That didn't mean it would work flawlessly.

Earle began to steam forwards, closing the distance quick and continuing to hammer shots to his body.

Earle pressed up against second and leaned his weight on him, using his lower center of gravity to control seconds upper body.

Second would now shove him back, throw occasional punches to try and keep him off.

But soon enough, second found himself really throwing more than he intended.

What else was he supposed to do? He couldn't keep Earle away otherwise... but it felt like whenever second opened up to attack, Earle was already waiting with a punch.

At the end of the 7th, second felt a light tap on his right side and brought his elbow down more, even when he blocked it the left body hook still hurt...

At least it didn't connect clean.

Mango was very antsy when he got to his corner.

"He get you bad with that left?" He asked

Second shook his head, taking a deep breath

"Alright, stay away from that left at all costs, fucks sake I heard it all the way from here. That left'll kill ya." MT rubbed a damp cloth on seconds face as he spoke.

"Same plan, but turn it up to 11. Rough-house with him, foul him if you have just for the love of everything don't take as many punches as you just did." MT sputtered.

The buzzer went off and mango watched second, already bruised and hurt, March back into the fire to repeat it all again.

It reminded him of...of him...

He couldn't let second fall victim to the same siren song he did, nothing was worth permanent damage. He'd trade all the glory and fame in the world just to be able to see out of his right eye properly, to not have to put makeup on everytime he left the house...

It wasn't worth it, so MT would look out for the hollowhead.

Second went back out 8th, exhausted but determined to take this fight into deep waters.

Earle trudged forwards in his couch, always coming forwards like a slasher film villain, stalking and walking second down like a bulldog.

Second began to use his jab, peppering away at Earles face, even going as far as to use throwaway punches just to keep Earle on the defensive.

Second glided in and put of range, goading Earle to overextend, but every time Earle did, he was too quick for second to capitalize on it.

He'd lunge in, and right as second wad throwing a right over his left arm, he'd duck under or cross his right hand over his face to block the punch.

Second was now playing a game of inches, using every bit of reach he had to his advantage, timing his jab to catch Earle as he was coming in or coming up.

Earle landed his share as well, but due to seconds more active clinch-fighting, even going as far as to use some wrestling tactics, his offense was stifled.

"You're doing good. You're doing great, actually!" MT praised him

"Just don't get too careless. The last thing you want is for him to catch you and have your legs go. That's how he puts people away. He tires them so they can't run from him anymore..."

Midway through the 9th, Earle had adjusted to seconds clinching, now opting to lean straight into him and even planting his head on seconds chest.

It was downhill from there, Earle kept working seconds mid section, and he found himself working way harder than intended to keep Earle off of him.

The 10th wasn't much different. In an act of desperation, second decided to give Earle a small sample of the firepower he was packing.

Second landed his own left, usually the shorter fighter isn't used to being hit in the body by a taller fighter since their elbows already act as an extra layer of armor.

But Earle had gotten careless, and as Earle backed up and reset, second feinted a jab and stepped into a hard left to the body and that sounded like thunder but struck like lightning.

Earle winced and backed off ever so slightly, trying not to show that he was hurt.

Once Earle had gotten his bearings, he began to alternate his body punches to go to seconds head. The relentless combinations were like hail raining down on him, his sides began to feel sore and it hurt to breath.

MT went back to second in the corner, sweating. The young stick had taken a ferocious beating in the final seconds of that last round, and he wasn't about to sit by while his student got years beaten off his life.

He was faced with a tough decision. He hated watching second get hurt, but he also knew the hollow head had what it took to come out of this on top.

He let the fight go. It was still a bit early to stop it.

In the 11th, second once again tried to slow the fight down and goad Earle into turning the heat up. And turn the heat up, Earle did.

The pace he was at was unbearable and the desert heat began to take its toll, all the conditioning training in the world couldn't prepare anyone for this...

Just bide your time, push through and keep going...you can do this!

MT winced at the punishment second was taking, a certain...instinct...told him to throw the towel in, to save the boy from the harsh punishment he was voluntarily enduring, he'd live to fight another day and go home intact.

But second had yet to fully execute hid gameplan, in fact in seconds mind, everything was going according to plan.

In the 12th, Earle had finally shown himself to be anything less than a machine. He'd finally slowed down, and instead of getting into close range to angle his body shots, he instead rested on the inside.

He was still throwing punches, but his work rate had slowed down.

Second finally turned up the heat, finally exposing his power to Earle.

He landed thudding, vicious punches that jerked Earles head around and had him stumbling like a belligerent drunkard.

Second hit Earles with deadly rights and punishing lefts, forcing the freight train pressure fighter on the back foot.

Now, second was on the attack. patiently stalking after Earle, using his footwork to cut off any escape he could make.

But at the end of the round, he'd gotten over eager.

I can finish the fight now, I can do this! I can be a champion! He thought to himself

But he let his ambition cloud his better judgement. He aired it out, throwing everything he had.

MT watched the spectacle in horror.

"Slow down, dammit! Stick to the plan, stick to it!" He shouted loudly.

At the end of the round, second was breathing out of his mouth heavily.

"Why'd you do that, orange? Why!" He grabbed seconds shoulders and desperately shook him.

"I thought that...maybe if...if I...I got him now that..." second said through deep breaths.

"I don't care what you thought... you better have some steam left in you. Otherwise, this guys gonna tear you apart!" Mango shouted, his voice breaking with fear.

Second did not, in fact, have any steam left in him. The 13th was a horrible spectacle of violence and brutality, a homage to bloodsport and savagery but an insult to anything civilized.

Earle threw all the water including the sink at second, a tsunami of punches crashed into the challenger and began to erode his will...or so everyone thought, especially after second had been knocked down for the first time in his career.

He'd been caught off balance by a right hand as he was exiting close range, his foot went out under him and he fell on a knee.

The ref counted.

"1"

"2"

"3"

"4"

"5"

"6"

"7"

"8"

Second stood up, using the seconds to take a few deep breaths.

"Can you continue?" The ref asked

Second nodded

"Alright, show me somethin'." The ref demanded.

Second put his guard up and the ref allowed the fight to go.

And miraculously, Earle had stopped punching.

He came forwards, wheezing with his hands dropping ever so slightly.

In the last bit of the round, second gave him a brutal right to remember him by.

Earle began inexplicably stumbing over his own feet and needed assistance going back to his own corner.

Meanwhile, second sat in his corner.

MT ran up to him, shaking, on the verge of tears.

"I don't know what's going on with you orange, but...b-but yo-u can't keep taking punches like this." Looking upon seconds bloody face was like talons ripping at an old wound, the wound in question would've almost looked as bloody as second did.

Second looked to MTs hand, and in it he saw a white Towel.

No, no no no! Not after all this!

Then mango said the words second had been dreading.

"I'm gonna stop the fight..." second grabbed at MTs arm and laughed.

It wasn't the laugh of someone who'd lost hope. It was the laughter of someone who'd won l.

Then MTs mind wandered to a similar situation, with a similar orange stick.

MT had taken such a vicious beating, he'd taken punches that would've killed another fighter. He'd kept up with his reputation of being "too tough for his own good."

Rooney had ran to him in the corner, tears spilling down his eyes, white towel in hand. It'd been like watching his own son get beaten and there was nothing he could do about it...

Except that there was...

"I can't watch this anymore, kid! You...you look like you're gonna die out there...it looks like that's the only way you're gonna lose is if someone kills you and that's what I'm afraid of...it's over kid, live to fight another day, r-right?" MT stood up and kissed the top of Rooneys head.

"Don't cry...I'm gonna do it."

Second had snapped MT out of his momentary flashback.

"It's alright mango...I...I've won...just you watch..." mango fought himself fiercely, what if second really could pull this off.

Mango himself was confident in his ability to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, but that's an easy assumption to make when he was the one getting hurt...

Now he has to worry about someone else's health, someone who has people who love him...

He held up 2 fingers.

"Two rounds...if you can come back then I'll let it go, but if I keep seeing this" he gestured to second

"Then I'm stopping it. Now get out there and knock that fucker on his ass!" He yelled

As it turned out, second wouldn't even need 2 rounds to do just that.

Earles pace and slowed to a crawl, second had gotten him to punch himself out of juice and now he was ripe for the picking.

Second now let his hands fly, wrecking balls crashed into Earles steel-jaw.

Earle was once again on the back foot, but this time second kept the pressure on, forcing Earle into mid range exchanges he had no chance of winning.

Now it was Earle trying to keep second off of him.

Earle threw sloppy, desperate punches to try and keep up with the young upstart but it was in vain.

Earle dipped down and shuffled his feet forwards, lunging into a right hand, desperate to end the fight with one punch...but this time he'd been too sloppy, and he wasn't a one-punch knockout artist like second.

He was ready, he'd already started throwing his own right and caught Earle flush on the chin, with both earle's feet of the ground AND turning his head into seconds punch.

The right handed bomb second detonated on Earles chin sounded like a bolt-action rifle going off and the crowd sat in stunned silence as Earles entire body went in the direction seconds punch was going, landing clumsily in the sand that matted both their bloody faces.

The crowd went quiet, the refs count was never more clearly heard than it was now.

Earle lie there, eyes half lidded and dazed. His body was immobile as he tried to pick his head up off the ground.

"1"

"2"

"3"

...

The ref didn't even finish the count. He waved the fight off as even IF Earle had gotten up from the punch that nearly took his head off, he wouldn't have been fit to continue regardless.

The crowd roared back to life, showering the new champ in cheers and baptizing him with praise.

Second threw his arms up and screamed an exhausted bellow of victory and relief.

Mango ran up to him, ecstatic that second had really pulled it off.

They'd gone home and celebrated, the rest of the gang nearly asphyxiating him with hugs.

After 13 consecutive title defense, all by knockout, he decided to retire for good.

The decision had come partially from the advice of mango, but also from the worries of his colleagues...

What really did it for him, was watching mangos fights when he'd already been fighting for over 25 years.

This time, mango walked in on him.

"Oh ahh...I'm sorry MT I just...I was curious." Instead of answering, mango stared at the still-playing video with sadness and regret in his eyes.

He watched the several batterings he'd taken and could remember as though they'd happened just the other day, and even though he'd won many of them or went the full 20 rounds without hitting the deck, that didn't mean it was a good thing.

"This is what out-staying your welcome gets you in the fight world...I'd much rather have gone out on top and missed out on a few big wins than having to go through...that." Second turned back to the video, replaying it and watching closely.

He's never been knocked out but...is it much better to take multiple punches standing than to take one and go down?

He made his official announcement.

"I'd like to announce my retirement from the usfc. I have accomplished everything I wanted to here in this organization, but now I have friends and family who love me and I them. I don't want to stick around too long and get hurt trying to make a big comeback. If mango couldn't do it then...well, I'm not gonna try."

Not long after, he was invited onto a talk show to reflect on his career.

He lamented on how it felt to not only he the first undefeated champion but also to have a perfect knockout rate. Simple questions.

"It feels nice, to have set the bar. I just hope someone can surpass my record someday."

"Yes, i doubt that'll happen anytime soon though...anyways, where does your punching power come from? Is it natural or is it trained?" The host asked.

"Well, some of it is natural. Every power puncher has that natural power. Whenever I hit a bag or catch someone clean, I can feel it all the way up to my shoulder." He stopped for a second, looking at mango in the live audience, inconspicuous but oblivious to what second was about to do.

"But just having power isn't enough to conquer a fight, much less an entire division. You have to be trained to efficiently deliver that power and have a plan at all times...and I'd like to speak about the person who's responsible for teach me that...the person who taught me everything I know..."

"No, no no don't do it kid." Mango mumbled to himself through clenched teeth.

"The one person who's solely responsible for every accomplishment I made, with the real mango "terror" tango please make his way to the stage!"

Everyone turned to him, suddenly he felt like he was under a microscope.

Guess I have to now...

He stood up and began walking to the stage to a round of applause.

Sitting down on the vacant chair next to second, in slight embarrassment, he continued.

"The great champion and..." he turned to meet eyes with MT.

"Great man, who has graciously passed his wisdom down to me, who has worked with me for countless months, who has allowed me to accomplish my dreams, who has always insisted that his identity be kept secret because he didn't want me living in his shadow, deserves just as much credit for my accomplishments as I do."

---------------------------------------------------

Oohhh boy, been awhile since I wrote something for this au. Sorry about that, I do have plans to continue, but I just moved a few months ago.

I ended up doing a poll on this before going into work, and I was gonna go with whatever style was leading after I got out of work, which happened to be an intelligent power puncher.

I began writing this not long after, but I checked it again, and once the poll finished, aggressive counter puncher was leading. Sorry about that, lol.

I wasn't sure whether to make his power punching slower but heavy-handed like George foreman or heavy-handed and explosive like Julian Jackson, so I did both, lol.

#alan becker #animation vs minecraft #avm #animator vs animation #avm king orange #au #ava #usfc #avm the second coming #Drabbles

[rust-bearer]

https://www.tumblr.com/were--ralph/738710446832500736/you-become-infected-in-a-zombie-apocalypse-how-do

Link to a poll for reactions to getting bitten by a zombie above, and I figured I’d send it your way because it makes really good brain material for thinking about what our poor survivors might do in such a terrible situation.

I gave some simple answers for Combaticons/First Aid in a separate post but I’d love to hear your thoughts on it, if you had any. Bonus points if you’re like “character x wouldn’t do any of the above, they’d do this” etc etc honestly no wrong answers but I love the endless potential. Also, you probably already know this, but any and all characters you wanna study for this would be great, I’m down for anything. Just love your zombie au thoughts ngl.

Ok I spent a few days thinking about this one. And obviously I’m going to go with First Aid first because of course I will.

Drawing inspiration from Delphi, the infected patients pose no threat as we know. Aside from wandering around maybe, and dying. First Aid isn’t shown to be very affected by this- both literally and metaphorically. And even before he found out he was ‘immune’, he and Ambulon took on the burden of care for those infected. (Meanwhile, Pharma- KNOWING exactly how this disease worked, how it infects, how it triggers, what it does to you- hid.). It speaks a lot to how First Aid is. The same sort of, self sacrifice and care and firm badassary without meaning to.

So First Aid would logically get infected in the zombie au. If it was any sort of real life scenario. Maybe he’s a carrier for the disease actually. But, he absolutely would realize he’s infected when he’s bitten. Even if it’s a scenario where only 99% of bites lead to zombification, he would treat it as 100%. He would never risk anyone’s life for even the idea that maybe he could survive.

If he’s fast enough, I can see him severing his own limb. Otherwise, he doesn’t tell anyone. He is infected and he’s going to die, and so he quietly leaves one day under some pretense. He still has one last thing to give everyone else, and that’s hope; hope that he’s okay, and he’s alive out there, even if he’s dead and he knows he’s dead. He gives them that hope. And he goes to die alone.

Vortex never really saw much of a big deal on zombies. ‘Turning’ into one isn’t a change, in his eyes, it’s just sort of… a logical conclusion to his life, he thinks. Any life. It’s not so bad. You live forever, probably, you’re never hungry, you don’t even kill each other- only the guys you want to. And that doesn’t seem so bad. So if he’s infected, he’s the wild card that might not tell anyone, or might tell everyone. Who knows what he does.

Swindle blames someone else. He likes his family, but uh, hey, come on, him? Infected? There’s a 1% survival chance too, and he’s got all these meds stockpiled; come on, as if he’d die? You don’t really believe that, right? And he’s not even infected; it was someone else. Someone else got bitten. He wasn’t bitten, he was scratched. This even his blood. This is just a bruise. Don’t look under his sleeve.

Brawl doesn’t have much feelings of sorrow about the thing. If it was later on in the apocalypse, he’d be remorseful, and even scared. But early on, it’s just… well, that’s that then. He’ll go down fighting. He tells everyone, and then goes out and kills as many zombies as he can before he dies to.

Onslaught is also a contender for chopping off his own limb. Though, this isn’t like First Aid, who knows medicine and knows where to cut, how to cut, what to do; this is, grab a knife, and cut. Of course he’d tell the group. But only because he isn’t going to die. He’s the guy who’s not in denial, he absolutely believes he can beat this infection. The person who fights anesthesia before surgery. That kind of guy. Sort of a flipped mirror of First Aid too; where there’s life, there’s hope.

Blast Off tells a few people. Maybe only one, even. He doesn’t want to die, but he’s- he’s realistic. It’s terrifying, isn’t it? To suddenly realize your mortality. He doesn’t want to die. But maybe that’s all he can do now. He tries to hold it off, but it doesn’t work; and the group can’t decide what to do with him. He asks First Aid, in the end, to help him out. He doesn’t want to die as a zombie; he wants to die human. So Blast Off spends the last day alive with his family, shooting zombies from afar. Before he, quietly, turns in and does the same to himself. First Aid will lie and say he died in his sleep.

#first aid #zombie au #vortex #transformers #Onsalught #brawl #blast off #swindle #BIG biiig long post #many thoughts

[aimlessarchery]

TOA Anniversary Munday!

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is.

Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing!

Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together.

tagging: anybody/everybody!

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Name: Maddie

Pronouns: they/she

Birthday (no year): January 12

Where are you from? What is your time zone? US East Coast, EST

Roleplay experience: probably about ~10 years on-and-off between forums, chat rp, and tumblr

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Got any pets? two dogs! Seamus is an Australian Shepherd, and Keegan is a rescue mutt. I love them both very dearly

Favorite time of year: Fall

Some interests and things you like: drawing/painting, RPGS, video game music (listening to, finding notation of + transcribing for piano)

Some funfacts & trivia about you: i'm left-handed and an eldest sibling, which means i accidentally taught my younger sister how to play guitar hero backwards

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? oh man. childhood favorites that stick with me are Pokemon, Kingdom Hearts, and Final Fantasy. I've dipped into Tales of, though the only one I've completed is Vesperia (beloved game). Octopath Traveler 1 and 2 are both amazing. Splatoon is my favorite shooter. I've gotten lost in Pillars of Eternity for hundreds of hours. I think my fav Elder Scrolls game has become Oblivion for some reason. Sometimes I dive into sim games like Planet Zoo or Two Point Hospital for a bit. I like video games!!

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: hard to pick a type, but some of my favs are Ampharos, Ivysaur, and Furret!

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How did you get into Fire Emblem? downloaded the Awakening demo and played it like 10 times in a row. decided that buying myself the game was going to be my first "treat yourself" purchase when i moved out for college

What Fire Emblem games have you played? completed: Sacred Stones, Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, Awakening, Shadows of Valentia, Three Houses (VW, CF, most of AM) actively in progress: Blazing Blade, Three Hopes, Silver Snow route of 3H started, but only barely: Gaiden, Genealogy, Shadow Dragon (DS), New Mystery of the Emblem

First Fire Emblem game: Awakening

Favorite Fire Emblem game: Tellius Duology (hard to separate them for me haha), with SOV as a strong contender as well

Any Fire Emblem crushes? ...and if I was also a little aquiver with python from lukas's performance in the SOV DLC what of it

If you’ve played the following games, who was your first S support? - Awakening: Stahl - Fates: Azama - Three Houses: Shamir

Favorite Fire Emblem class: hmm...archers and mages, maybe. it's always satisfying when the chip damage is enough to save a front liner from retaliation, and even more satisfying when a crit or adept procs and the ranged unit is like "nah dw i got this"

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class? my gut says wind mage. idk why tho besides the lack of athleticism needed for a physical class lol

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? Golden Deer!

If you were an Engage character, which Emblem would you Engage with? I have not played engage but i want a ghost ike to be my bestie...

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How did you find TOA? Lucius was over at my house and pitched it to me one night while we were reminiscing about FERP on tumblr. pulled up the rank chart on my computer to explain it to me and everything lmao

Current TOA muses: Python and Caspar

Who was your first TOA muse? If you don’t have them anymore, could you see yourself picking them up again? Python was my first! He's definitely the one I'm most confident in, and I see him as kind of my "bedrock muse" for now.

Have you had any other TOA muses? I had Reyson for a short-ish time!

Do you think you have a type of character you gravitate towards? I think I'm still feeling out the difference between "types of characters i gravitate toward liking" and "types of characters I gravitate toward writing". I do think I feel most comfortable writing supporting characters with enough backstory for me to tease out and build up from there!

What do you believe you enjoy writing the most? I love character connection. Whether it's spoken aloud or not, I like little moments where I can have my muse compare a character to someone else they know, or see each other in a different way. I also love when characters have conflicting views and motivations and have to deal with that in one way or another!

Favorite TOA-related memory: KKE Team Guard coming together for that crazy rapid-fire chat that Ree sprung on us for the finale is definitely a strong one! It was so fun seeing different characters shine throughout the conversations, and on my own end I loved having an opportunity to let Python lose his cool for once >:3

How do you pronounce TOA? each letter pronounced individually: tee-oh-ay

Got any delusions that didn’t see the light of day in TOA that you’d like to share? I've only got fleeting thoughts that I would have to let simmer longer, especially when I would have to let someone go to fill the slot (I have accepted that 2 is my personal limit). That said, I've got a few guys hidden behind my back on the off-chance that I feel like it's time for a change ;0

#[ ooc ] #[ dash meme ] #// ty for making this neffi this is so sweet

[shina913]

🌈🤍🎉 for the writers ask plz 😍😍😍

Thank you for this ask!!! This got longer than expected so I'll put a cut below.

🌈is there a fic that you worked *really fucking hard on* that no one would ever know? maybe a scene/theme you struggled with?

I can't pick just one fic LOL so I'll tell you the ones that I remember struggling with:

Scale and Scions are fics that I think fall under the "Fics I worked really fucking hard on." For both fics, I contended not only with writer's block (for Scale and Scions) but I also had to do a bunch of research (for Scale) to make parts of the plot seem believable. For Scale--yeah, sure--I didn't have to do all of that but I wanted to and I'm really proud for being able to push those into writing. I'm also really happy with how it turned out and at some point, I would like to dabble in that genre again! I like challenging myself that way.

For Scions (which is an ongoing series), it's incredibly difficult for me to write because 1) it gets very emotional and 2) I'm basically trying to juggle four different stories and squeezing them into one fic. Ofc, I have my main characters but I really like the idea of having these four siblings who all have different things going on in their lives--being brought together by something that they have in common. I'm hoping I can finish it in the next few weeks!!

A couple of other scenes that I struggled with were in my fic, Coquet. There was a medical emergency that I wrote in and same thing--I had to look up videos and do research lol just for the one scene!!! The second instance was the following chapter after that medical emergency--I had to map out this complex scene where several of my principal characters were in it. It was supposed to be a big reveal and I needed to physically draw--on paper--where everyone was supposed to be standing or coming from 😅 AND THEN write it all out. It was wild!!!

And I know it's not that deep but...I like it and it's what I live for!

🤍what's one fic of yours you think people didn't "get"?

Hmm...I'm not sure. I don't get much actual feedback these days so it's hard for me to tell which fic people didn't understand. 😩

🎉how often do you celebrate completing & posting a work? how often do you give yourself the credit/validation that you seek from others when you post? (if you don't, you should!)

Oh, I always celebrate a completed series and reblog/pay tribute to my fic "anniversaries!" I may not be happy with how some of them have turned out or there may be little things that I'm not completely satisfied with BUT I love all of my stories. It's very important to me to boost myself, in that way.

While I appreciate being validated by reader comments/reviews, it is just as vital for me to have confidence in my own content whether it's through self-reblogs or queued posts. That part is incredibly hard to do, IMO, because I question myself all the time. But on the other hand, it's what also fuels my writing. I'm just happy that some people would take the time to read or interact with my stuff. It's a rarity on this platform but I do treasure any and all interactions that I receive (as long as they're respectful, ofc)!

#shina anon asks #fic writer asks

[imvexshesvax]

Not to be like, "this has to be temporary because my favs are dead/dying and I refuse to accept it" because if it shakes out that Orym and or Fearne and or Laudna are done then that's the game and I'll be sad but them's the breaks.

However! This felt very pointed.

Yes, Otohan got a very high initiative which helped in keeping the Hells down but they felt primed to bounce around the map and do damage. Being able to switch places with your echos? Psionic Leap? On top of having legendary actions? Otohan was going to be running circles around the Hells no matter where she was in the lineup. And Otohan was set on getting Imogen to break.

Furthermore, and somewhat predictably considering the character relationships, the Hells rather quickly proved to not be willing to scatter as originally planned so really all Otohan had to do was get one person down to draw back the others. Imogen wouldn't leave Laudna, Fearne wouldn't leave Orym, Orym is the definition of last man out the door, and FCG's a healer so if someone fell and they knew they'd go back. Chetney and Ashton were the only two I could sort of see running for the hills by themselves. Then Chet refused to leave and Ashton kept coming back so they're all tied down. Like this party could've been the one to be able to scatter and meet back up but Otohan was at the top rather than the bottom of the order.

Put together, the only thing really stopping Otohan from wiping out the Hells was Imogen coming back and letting go or a series of incredible rolls.

Now maybe Matt is more ruthless than I thought but I find it hard to believe he would wipe out the rest of the party for one character's development. Especially because he had Laura roll a wisdom save when Laudna was knocked out. Not to say it wasn't in character because it definitely made sense. Relationship with Laudna or no Imogen was under a lot of stress and here was a power that could potentially save her friends and Imogen is scared of losing her friends but she's also scared of whatever this power could do and it does come down to, roll to see whether you keep your head. However, it was also taking the decision to not let go out of Laura's hands and putting it into the dice. Because if Imogen does let go then Otohan achieves their goal and is prevented from, at least immediately, continuing on their killing spree and it moves the encounter along so that the encounter can end and the remaining Hells can figure out what they're doing next. Again, it's possible that Matt was going to have Otohan just destroy the Hells bar Imogen. Maybe this type of scenario is in one of the agreements and discussions they've had about what could happen. But it seems like a lot to place on one character to me.

Now, maybe that wisdom save, and any potential future ones if Laura had rolled differently, was Matt pumping the breaks and the Hells will have to contend with the question of who to bring back. However, either way, again with how pointed this encounter felt, I find it hard to believe there isn't some way back from this.

#like maybe this is the evolution of this campaign #but it just feels like it doesn't quite fit #long post #ramblings #cr spoilers #cr3 #c3ep33 #artana voe to the rescue perhaps? #does treshi have something they can pull off his corpse bc i can't imagine this won't take longer than 10min to resolve? #can they put otohan in the hole?? #but anyway #I'm not trying to reduce fcg here to being the stereotypical cleric is the healer #but they have time and again sought out situations to at least try to help and continually try to heal people #even casting spare the dying on some random npcs #also imogen's wisdom save reminds me a lot of aabria saying that she casts blight #the situations don't align perfectly but it keeps popping up in my head #idk just your friends are under threat and you can potentially do something but if you do you risk so much

[wheelsoflaughterblog]

Fantastic promotion for  Owners Group Excitement building for festival-winning syndicate as it bids for more Cheltenham Grade 1 glory with Stage StarStage Star gave the Owners Group one of their biggest victories at the Cheltenham Festival last year and the 4,000-strong syndicate hopes for yet another dream result when its flagship runner lines up in the Ryanair Chase in two weeks' time. The Paul Nicholls-trained eight-year-old claimed his first Grade 1 chase success in the Turners last year and has been pointed towards the Ryanair ever since, having added victory in the Paddy Power Gold Cup with an impressive performance back at the track in November. Despite being pulled up on his last start at Cheltenham on New Year's Day, Stage Star has done nothing but please racing manager Dan Downie in his preparation for the festival and the syndicate is determined to savour the build up to the Grade 1 clash with potential rivals Banbridge and Envoi Allen on March 14. "We're really excited," said Downie. "We've been here before but we're really grateful to have another chance in a big festival race like this and we're all just trying to enjoy the experience while it happens. "Paul has been really happy with him in the build up to the race. His run on New Year's Day was below par but he's been fine since and goes well fresh. I think he's pretty versatile in terms of ground, so soft ground isn't a concern and we couldn't be more positive about his chances."Stage Star's victory last season was the second Cheltenham Festival success for the Owners Group, which was established in 2014 and landed the 2019 Triumph Hurdle with Pentland Hills. The 9-2 Ryanair contender has become its star performer after landing the Grade 1 Challow in 2021 before developing into a top-class chaser. "He was so impressive at the festival last year and all the owners have had a great run with him from day one, and he's just improved from bumpers into winning as a novice chaser," Downie said. "It's been incredible, it's hard to describe how exciting his win was at the meeting last year. It was lovely for all the guys there and Paul was so fantastic in making sure those not in the paddock felt just as much a part of it. It was very special. These horses don't come along very often, so it's important to appreciate them when they do."With ownership of Stage Star divided into 4,000 shares, the Owners Group will operate an automated draw to determine who will be able to attend the festival. Its success has allowed Downie to continue to develop the syndicate in search of more potential Grade 1 performers. He said: "It's really great to have syndicate-owned horses in races like this and it's obviously where the sport is heading. Horses like Stage Star are a boost to the Owners Group, as well as other runners like Maximillian last season who are able to run in Grade 1 races. The fact that people can get involved at the top level for a relatively low outlay is very important. "We've got some really nice horses coming through and we've always said we can't rest on our laurels. We're building our new team for next season at the moment and everything is looking good, we've got some lovely prospects."

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kate Bilsborough (@horse.kate)

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#OWNERS GROUP SYNDICATES

[jrpneblog]

Jordan re-writes the Storey and snatches the win for North End

We won`t know for a while yet just how important that last minute winner from Jordan Storey will prove to be, but it certainly lifted the spirits of everyone inside Deepdale after a week of licking our wounds following the Blackpool defeat. This wasn`t really a classic game of football and looked nailed on for a 1-1 draw before Deepdale erupted right at the end of the game. It all started off pretty badly, really, with Middlesbrough taking the lead as early as the eighth minute after a ball across the goal beat everyone apart from Akpom at the back post. We gradually weaved our way back into thing and Riis lit up the Stadium when he smashed home the equaliser ten minutes from the break. In the second half there were a couple of chances for both sides but in time added on Storey headed home for North End and made a dull Autumn afternoon so much brighter for the Deepdale faithful.

Ryan Lowe made two changes from the side beaten last weekend with Ryan Ledson and Greg Cunningham being replaced by Alan Browne and Robbie Brady. The manager also went with a different formation moving to a back four and playing a 4-1-4-1 with Potts and Fernandez occupying the full back berths. It didn`t start well for North End and we were quickly a goal down. A corner in from the Preston right seemed to beat everybody and Akpom put the Smoggies in the lead inside ten minutes scoring at the back post. It took a little while for the formation to settle with four at the back but North End started to get on top and after a penalty shout just before the half hour we were level in the thirty fifth minute. A Lindsay hook was challenged for by Browne with the ball falling nicely to Emil Riis who smashed home his fifth goal in five games against Boro and put North End, deservedly, level going into the break.

No changes at half time for the home side but it was the visitors who had the early chances with Woodman saving North End on a couple of occasions in front of the 2,839 travelling fans from Teesside. North End thought they had taken the lead twenty minutes into the second half when Alan Browne put the ball in the net but Riis was flagged offside in the build up and the visitors had escaped. To be fair in the latter stages of the game North End were just about looking the more likely to win the game but once again the final ball was missing as we went for the winner. Ledson, Hughes, Johnson and Evans were all introduced at various points in the second half trying to give North End that little bit extra. In the ninety first minute North End got a free kick in the right half position and Ledson floated a cross over to the back post where Lindsay was waiting to head the ball back across the goal to Storey who gleefully headed home and the points were secured for North End.

So here we are at the end of October and this was only North End`s second home win. Fortunately we have been considerably better on the road so far this season and the win on Saturday sees us just three points outside the final play off place which is occupied by Swansea City who we entertain at Deepdale on Tuesday evening. As I commented at the outset we won`t know for a while just how good a win this was but if we can beat the Swans under the lights this week then we will be right up there on the tails of the play off contenders. This Championship is getting crazier by the week and oh how we are ruing not signing that extra striker in August who may well swung a couple of those draws our way earlier on in the season. However a win is a win and if we can take another six or seven points from the remaining three games before the World Cup break it will leave us in good shape to challenge ahead of that absolutely critical January transfer window for the club.

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PRESTON 2-1 MIDDLESBROUGH

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WOODMAN 7

POTTS 7 STOREY 8 LINDSAY8 FERNANDEZ 7

WHITEMAN 7

BRADY 8 BROWNE 7 McCANN 7 WOODBURN 6

RIIS 7

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Subs:-

LEDSON 7

HUGHES 7

JOHNSON 6

EVANS 6

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MOTM: Liam Lindsay

Attendance 16,984

Preston Fans 14,145 (83.28%)