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dizzydennis · 3 years

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My ideas for Sonic Riders 4!

Title:

Sonic Riders: Drift Dimension

I have a lot of ideas for a potential Sonic Riders sequel and I hope you can enjoy what I have to say. I am very passionate about the Sonic series and would love to see the Babylon Rogues again. I wrote a lot, but any comments or feedback would be wonderful! Check it out under this cut!

Story:

I would like the story mode to continue to split between Team Sonic and the Babylon Rogues. For the sake of making this cohesive, I will write out the narrative linearly.

Set a few years after King Doc’s tournament, Wave has convinced Jet to allow her to continue to investigate Babylon Garden even more under the promise that it would improve their Extreme Gears. The 3 Babylon Rogues go deep within the ruins of Babylon Garden by using their gravity modules (from Zero Gravity.) Wave is still worried about the black hole that could occur, but her calculations assure her that it won’t be a problem. However, while in the heart of this floating island, the gravity modules float into the rocky ruins and activate a bright light as Babylon Garden powers up.

Tails pilots the Tornado with Sonic, Knuckles, and Amy in tow. He detected the massive energy surge that cause Babylon Garden to light up. It seems like the garden is warping reality around it, but with their courage, they enter into the void.

It seems that Babylon Garden has teleported to another world. With their airship being grounded due to the warp, the Babylon Rogues hop onto their Extreme Gears to explore. Before long, they encounter a massive airship that completely dwarfs their own. Upon being captured, they learn that Jet’s father, Kaze, is the leader of this group known as the Babylon Legion. The Rogues have been reunited with their ancestors and family. Naturally, they’re overjoyed! Especially Jet who has been longing for his father for years.

Shortly after, Sonic and his friends encounter the airship and are reunited with the Babylon Rogues. Their fun meeting soon turns dire as the Babylon Legion surround and arrest Knuckles.

Later, Jet inquires about why they apprehended Knuckles. Kaze explains that years ago when they crash landed on Sonic’s planet, they had encountered a terrible Echidna Clan who were power hungry to conquer others. When the Babylon Legion refused to give their advance technology to the Echidna Clan, they were seen as enemies. When there were murmurs that the Echidna Clan had awakened a god of destruction, the Babylon Legion tried to get reactivate Babylon Garden to allow them to leave the planet.

Instead, Babylon Garden was stricken deep into the planet and the Babylon Legion was warped to parts unknown. Jet was baffled by what he heard, but he trusted his father. Upon meeting with Sonic and the others, they discuss what happened and that there were plenty of holes in Kaze’s story. Jet, upset that others would accuse his father, argues with them. However, there was one point that Storm brings up that cannot be ignored. How were Jet, Wave, and Storm on Sonic’s planet if the Babylon Legion were teleported to this planet?

They learn that when they were younger, Kaze had volunteered the three for an experiment to see if they could return, but in doing so, the 3 Babylon Rogues were stranded on their own with no real memory of what had happened.

The Babylon Rogues have to choose between siding with Team Sonic or the Babylon Legion, but they soon find out that Kaze intends to use his technology to convert Babylon Garden into Mecha Babylon. Having learned from the Echidna Clan, power needs to be met with power. Therefore, Kaze wants to teleport back to Sonic’s planet with Mecha Babylon being the ultimate weapon; a fortified island with weapons and a metal shell.

All the heroes band together to stop Kaze from reaching the inner ruins of Babylon Garden to allow it to teleport back to Sonic’s planet. During the climax, Kaze activates the portal only for Sonic and Jet to work together to knock him off of it. Torn between going with Sonic or staying with Kaze and the Babylon Legion, Jet ultimately decides that he must go back with Sonic. He claims that “The Babylon Legion had their chance,” as Sonic grabs his hand and the two dive into the portal.

Cut back to Sonic’s planet, Babylon Garden continues to float around the planet, perfectly reflecting Angel Island. Here, Knuckles and Storm reflect that the Echidna Clan and the Babylon Legion were a lot more similar than they were different. Wave notes that it isn’t one’s lineage that defines who they are, but what they do to better that lineage for future generations. Jet and Sonic use that as a means to claim that they’re the fastest as they race across Babylon Garden. Kaze’s words echo through Jet’s mind as he overtakes Sonic and the two ride off into the distance.

Stages:

Tundra Peaks / Frigid Avalanche – A snowbound stage high in the mountains that mixes canyons, rocky hillsides, and snow. The former stage features nice, mountain villages while the latter stage takes place with massive avalanches falling around the player.

Future Mall / Shopping Calamity – A futuristic city that leads into a massive shopping mall. Players would weave in and out of stores while making their way to a large building outside. The latter stage would be at night where a certain band of robots might be trying to get away with a robbery and chase.

Tubular Coastline / Hurricane Seaboard – A gorgeous beach that runs along side an advance city. You can choose to ride along the sand or take to the waves to get some boosts by performing tricks on the water. Be careful of the storm coming in the latter stage that alters the stage in a crazy way!

Thrill Park / Cursed Midway – A theme park with roller coasters, log flumes, and plenty of other rides. Be warned though, the haunted house gets a bit intense at night and changes the entire park!

Neon Woodland / Forest Illumination – A forest hidden within a valley that glows with luminous mushrooms and vines that glow as they are touched. This place really comes alive late at night when a rave party is going on!

Babylon Garden / Mecha Babylon – While not a remake of the original Sonic Riders track, this version would start on the outside of Babylon Garden as you go deep within the floating island. The mechanized version of this stage is far more dangerous with lasers and robots about; players would fire themselves across the island via giant turrets. Mecha Babylon would be the final boss fight against Kaze.

Dimension Hops / Nostalgia Trip – This is a bonus track where you hop between dimensional pockets of Metal City, Aquatic Capital, and Dolphin Resort. It’s a celebration of the Sonic Riders series. Nostalgia Trip sends players through Green Hill Zone (of course it’s here), Final Rush, and Sunset Heights. This one celebrates the Sonic series. These two tracks would not share music.

SEGA Heroics / SEGA Darkness – Much like the other SEGA fan service stages in the series, this one instead separates the two stages between the heroes of SEGA’s rich history and the villains. Lots of fun to be had here!

Playable Characters:

Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles Tails Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Jet the Hawk, Wave the Swallow, Storm the Albatross, Amy Rose, Kaze the Hawk, Shadow the Hedgehog, Rouge the Bat, Cream the Rabbit, Blaze the Cat, Silver the Hedgehog, Vector the Crocodile, Dr. Eggman, NiGHTS, Kazuma Kiryu, Arle Nadja

Gameplay:

The gameplay would avoid the failings of Sonic Free Riders. Motion controls have been pushed since Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity and they’d be mostly dropped here. The game would implement the AIR system, but with the multiple routes with the gravity modules. Due to plot reasons, the gravity modules themselves can’t be used, so this mechanic would just be a movement of the Extreme Gears. Speed, Fly, and Power routes would still be available based on the characters and not the gears... and would hopefully be better balanced. The springs would be taken out as they were so painfully contextual in previous games. One thing from Sonic Free Riders would be certain items to change the course of the races including missiles, ink traps, and a few others. The grab mechanic to reach out to the left or right can be brought over too as it holds a lot of potential. Also, the vibrant visuals from Free Riders should be carried over! Moreover, the boost from the original game would be present. Lastly, the game would feel faster. Drifting, much like Team Sonic Racing would be emphasized more in this game.

Typical features would include the Story, Grand Prix, Battle Mode, Time Trials, Character Profiles, Gear Shop, Gear Gallery, Online Multiplayer, and Options. Let’s have alternate costumes for the characters too! Also, the Grand Prix mode would have character specific endings that would be simplistic, but still a treat and motivation to play through it with each character!

That’s basically it for my ideas. I know it’s just a pipe dream, but I would love for a Sonic Riders game to really get into the old stories and characterizations of the original two games, while adding some heart for the Babylon Rogues. It doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel, but rather just create a fun racing game that focuses on these amazing characters.

#Sonic the Hedgehog #Sonic Riders #Jet the Hawk #Babylon Rogues #Shadow the Hedgehog #SEGA

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linkspooky · 4 years

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The Unforgivable One

Someone in my inbox accused me of not treating the heroes like “flawed human beings”. However I think they had a fundamentaly misunderstanding of the way I read characters, both heroes and villains. I don’t see people as good or bad. I see everyone as equally human and flawed. Bad people don’t do bad things because they’re psychopaths, they often do these things for very understandable and human reasons. You can often hurt someone for very normal reasons. Abusers are in fact human too, and often they don’t really see themselves as bad people. Most people are not in fact cackling villains but in fact perfectly normal human beings going through mental gymnastics to justify themselves. So with that in mind let’s take a look at the incredibly flawed human being that is Todoroki Enji. Obvious content warning for discussion of child abuse under the readmore. If you can’t stomach it please don’t read this post for your own safety.

1. Endeavor’s Motivations

Endeavor’s motivations aren’t hard to understand, because they’re basically the same as Bakugo’s his foil. This is something the manga itself has commented upon. Bakugo gives us a view into the mindset of teen Endeavor and likely the attitude that led him to becoming the adult he is.

Endeavor is, in a way, as much of a victim of hero society as Bakugo is. In the fact that Enji has been negatively influenced by a lot of the views of hero society. Bakugo and Endeavor both have incredibly flashy quirks more suited to combat and defeating villains rather than saving people which makes them the ideal of hero society’s quirk prejudgice. People are not born equal, that’s the words that the manga start with, and it’s imporatnt to notice that people like Bakugo and Endeavor are heavily favored by hero society but that too comes with its own unique set of pressures. As hero society is ultimately a very toxic system overall that holds up an unhealthy ideal.

Bakugo is a bully, ultimately. He wants to make other people feel small to make himself feel big. Endeavor is the grown up version of that same bully. However, Bakugo while being a bully Bakugo also has an extremely uhealthy mindset where he is constantly piling up pressure on himself and never really feeling satisfied. A mindset which instead of trying to correct Hero society praises Bakugo for having, and encourages.

Let me explain. Basically, Bakugo and Endeavor are both the living embodiment of “damned by faint praise.” They are constantly being praised and told how special they are because of their quirks. However, while this may have been enough for them early on in their lives while they are little kids they eventually get the sense that they haven’t really earned the massive amounts of praise people give them.

This causes both of them to be struck with a serious case of what most people call “Imposter’s Syndrome”, they don’t really feel like they’re the ones getting praised. They don’t feel like they’ve earned it. This is when one of their first mental traps springs. They decide they have to become the really great person that everyone sees them as. They’re always specifically aware of how short they fall as a hero from the expectations of everyone around them, and they are constantly working to make the difference up.

Endeavor and Bakugo are people who have incredible drive, and also an incredible motivation to improve themselves. This has been stated before by the story several times but none of these are bad traits to have. Wanting to improve yourself. Wanting to live up to everyone’s expectations of you, or even your own expectations of yourself can lead to you pushing yourself to do good things.

However, the problem is for both Bakugo and Endeavor that no matter how much they build themselves up in their head they’re building on very flimsy foundations. Both of them are building towers of sand, or houses of cards. They have a lot of self-confidence in themselves but it’s always fragile. Because they have confidence, but no security in themselves. They are extremely insecure individuals.

They both pile up an incredible amounts of stress and pressure on themselves to be the best, or at least to be as good as they think they should be, but they also both suffer from the two same critical flaws. Number one, they have been taught no healthy ways to deal with this negative buildup of stress. This is once again one of the faults of hero society, if people are strong then nobody around them will ever see them as week.

Bakugo is kidnapped by a villain at the start of the manga, not a single person is worried that he might be traumatized from nearly being killed. Of course not he has an incredibly powerful quirk. He’s strong, so he must not suffer from trauma like the weak kids.

Bakugo is uniquely pressured because he has a strong quirk, everyone around him expects him to be strong at all times and Bakugo himself does not allow himself to show any vulnerability. Bakugo legitimately believes that if he was strong enough, he would never fail, never lose. Bakugo basically doesn’t allow himself to be human in any of the ways that count. Bakugo only sees himself but that’s a double edged sword, when things go wrong the fault has to be with Bakugo, it’s because Bakugo was weak. So, Bakugo has been severely emotionally neglected by the institutions around him including UA, which after Bakugo has been kidnapped by several murderous villains did not think to check if a fifteen year old was traumatized and mentally healthy enough to return to classes.

The second flaw in their mindset is that they are continually forced to prove themselves. They work hard, but feel no satisfaction no matter what they accomplish. Even if they have the most resolved cases, even if they get number one in the tournament. This is because once again, the enormous pressure and expectations they push onto themselves. If a Straight A student gets A’s, it’s not extraordinary he’s merely doing what’s expected. If a C student gets an A that’s an accomplishment. Their expectations are so high for themselves that they can literally never be met, and therefore they feel no relief from the constant piling up of expectations and stress.

This is why Bakugo is fundamentally insecure. He’s not good enough to meet his own standards, and it seems like everyone else exists to prove how small he is. Bakugo sees the world as everyone else looking down on him because he’s so stuck in his own head. Bakugo cannot emotionally process this, and because of that at even the smallest upset he starts crying and acting like a child because he just can’t handle these emotions. He’s unstable, mentally always in a very precarious place.

What Bakugo wants is to feel good about himself. He wants to feel like all his hard work is accomplishing something. However, Bakugo’s self esteem comes not from what he’s accomplished but rather that feeling of being better than others, the societal pressure to be the best, which is why he not only has to be the strongest but has to put others down below him. Not only that, but if he feels like somebody is disrespecting him or not taking him seriously then Bakugo even goes as far as to lash out violently. He literally tried to attack an unconscious Todoroki (who was holding back due ot having flashbacks of his father in the middle of a fight against Bakugo... hmm, i wonder why). Bakugo’s mindset is very insular. Bakugo just kind of assumes that everybody thinks exactly the same way he does, because he’s not emotionally intelligent really to understand other people. So he just assumes Todoroki holding back is an intentional insult against him and gets angry. In Bakugo’s mind it’s justifable to be violent against an unconscious Todoroki, because Todoroki’s the one intentionally provoking him and looking down on him.

Bakugo and Endeavor go through a similiar arc. They both build these giant towers on foundations of sand, only to watch them crumble and be left with nothing. They both realize that they were fighting for the wrong thing all this time.

When they realize they were fighting for the wrong thing, all they can feel is emptiness and their own personal disatisfaction. Bakugo and Endeavor were chasing something they were never really going to have in the first place, because even if they became the number one hero, even if they were the strongest in the world it would never be enough for them. Which means they’ve accumulated all this stress but have no healthy way to deal with it so they vent it out. Literally the only thing Bakugo can think of to do when he’s at his limit is beat up Deku one more time and try to make himself feel strong again and prove that his way of doing things wasn’t wrong.

Bakugo and Endeavor find themselves at similiar points. They both realize everything they were devoting themselves for was wrong from the start, and they were never going to get what they wanted out of life. While Endeavor’s reasons are not necessarily sympathetic, they are at least understandable and human. Endeavor feels like he’s owed a reward for all of his hard work. He wants to feel like he’s someone special and important. Endeavor and Bakugo are selfish yes, but a selfish drive doesn’t have to be a bad thing necessarily. Endeavor and Bakugo are always pushing themselves to be the absolute best version of themselves because they believe in society’s pressure to be the best wholeheartedly. They’re also continually made to feel worse than everyone around them. Their tremendous egos are actually fueld by very small insecurities.

They also much like human beings don’t absolutely think they are right all the time. Bakugo and Endeavor both have hit their limits so to speak. Their struggles are sisyphian. They push the boulder up the hill, watch it roll down, push the boulder up the hill, watch it roll down and are slowly realizing that all of their struggles are getting them absolutely nowhere. At which point both of them begin to self reflect and think they may have been going about things all wrong from the start. Bakugo and Endeavor both have some awareness of how unhealthy their mindset is, or at least that it’s not getting them what they want. They are sometimes capable of questioning themselves and where they’ve gone wrong.

2. A Show Parent

Psychological projection is a defense mechanism people subconsciously employ in order to cope with difficult feelings or emotions. Psychological projection involves projecting undesirable feelings or emotions onto someone else, rather than admitting to or dealing with the unwanted feelings.

Endeavor is constantly battling with his own feelings of inferiority in weakness. However rather than process these feelings in healthy ways, Endeavor has always chosen to take his feelings out on his family. The reason why is because from the start Endeavor has viewed his family in a selfish way, they existed, and continue to exist for him and not the other way around.

The way Enji projects on his family is actually for pretty common every day reasons. Enji himself feels like he can’t achieve what he wanted out of life. He wasn’t good enough to become number one, he couldn’t hack it and therefore he’ll never be good enough. That’s why he made the decision to instead try to live vicariously through Shoto, who he sees as an extension of himself. Enji has projected all of his wants and desires entirely onto Shoto. When he was raising Shoto, it was never about having Shoto’s needs met, but rather what Enji’s wants were.

Enji feels that he himself is not good enough so he projects himself onto Shoto to accomplish what he can’t, belcause he thinks he will be able to find the fulfillment he’s seeking that way. It’s the same as a person with dreams of becoming an actor pushing their child onto the stage at young ages instead of letting them go to school with all of the other kids. It’s the same as a person who wasn’t able to achieve their dreams in sports pushing their kid to be good at sports. In that sense Enji is not Todoroki’s father, he is his coach, or his manager. He’s not responsible for taking care of a child he’s raising them for a purpose.

This is the reason why we see Enji get physically angry at Shoto. Enji has so thoroughly projected himself onto Shoto, that anything Shoto wants outside of what Enji wants, Enji perceives as resistance. Enji does not seem to get that a five year old can’t take the intensive training because he sees himself as that five year old. He thinks that Shoto must just not want it enough. That he’s not motivated enough. That he’s resisting him purposefully. It’s the same reason as Bakugo getting violent towards the unconscious Shoto near the end, when Shoto stopped fighting him seriously Bakugo in his fragility perceived it as Shoto holding back from him on purpose because he was looking down on him.

If Shoto succeeds then Enji expects to feel that success. If Shoto fails that means Enji is not only reminded of his own inferiority again, but he also is forced to relive his lost dreams. Shoto doesn’t know any of that though, he’s just Shoto, just a kid, so of course he’s going to fall short of Enji’s extremely schewed expectations which is where the negative feedback loop beings.

Because, even though Enji is using his family to try to make himself feel better that doesn’t work either. The truth is Enji can’t live vicariously through his son. Shoto’s success is not his success, and Shoto himself even wants nothing to do with him anymore. Enji has been using his family for completely selfish reasons up to this point and we reach a point in the narrative where Enji at least seems to grasp the fallout of his actions. Enji is at least aware of the fact that his family doesn’t like him, and that he’s done a bad.

Reconciliation and calm are both stages that are written into the cycle of abuse for a reason. Most abusers are not heartless monsters, but rather humans. The frightening thing is abuse is a very normal thing, that arises from normal circumstances. Almost anybody can become an abuser, because it’s an abuse of power, it’s a cycle people get trapped in. A lot of abusers realize that what they are doing is wrong, this is called th reconciliation stage of abuse. Most people do in fact feel bad about it when they hurt another person and want to make ammends.

The reason abuse repeats however is because the core behavior does not change, and the power dynamic remains in place. Abusers apologize for the wounds they caused, but don’t really address the problems of their behavior on a deeper level, and because of that they let the tensions build again and another incident always occurs.

So what we are seeing post All Might retirement is not really a change in Enji’s behavior, because the core of who he is remains the same. He has perhaps had a change in motivation, he’s realized that trying to be the number one hero is never going to get him what he wants, and the way he’s treated his family has made his family hate him. However, he never addresses the core of the issue which is that he thinks his family exists for his sake. This is not my analysis these are things Enji has literally said, not in the tournament arc but post Kamino. Endeavor still says I’m going to leave everything to Shoto. Not even asking what Shoto wants to be. He still sees Shoto as his heir who exists to carry on his legacy.

Enji is still essentially doing exactly what he did before and expecting a different result. He even says so to Shoto, if he’s a good enough hero, then Shoto will watch him, and be proud of him. These are Endeavor’s own selfish motivaions and not what the other people around him really want him to do. He’s doing this for the acknowledgement he thinks he deserves, and the attention from his family he thinks he deserves and not really for altruisitic or heroic reasons.

Enji repeats a lot of his behavior from before. He still piles attention and attention onto Shoto that Shoto does not want. He is still essentially projecting himself onto Shoto and the rest of his family, that behavior has not changed, it’s just his method. He thinks if he becomes number one dad now instead of number one hero that will get him the sense of accomplishment he craves. The problem is underneath all of his actions, Enji has yet to really grasp what he did wrong. He doesn’t grasp how selfish his actions are. He doesn’t seem to understand how messed up it is, that he seems to think his family exists for his sake. He found a wife, he had children, he had Shoto, not because he wanted to make a family happy but because he wanted to use them to further his own amibtions to become a hero.

Enji is both capable of realizing that he hurt people, and feeling genuine remorse fo his actions but also not really making any signficant changes for his behavior. The fact that both of these can be true simultaneously is what allows abuse to continue.

While he knows he did something wrong you also get a sense he doesn’t truly understand how truly heinous some of his actions were. Enji always has this narrative inside of his head that he simply made a mistake somewhere along the way, that he acted without even realizing what he was doing.

It’s not that Natsuo is angry with him and will never stop being angry with him, it’s that Enji has somehow said the wrong words by mistake. It’s not that Enji violently beat a child because he was angry that child wasn’t living up to his impossible standards, but Enji somehow just ignored Shoto’s wishes.

He always makes it sound like it was accidental, like he didn’t know what he was doing, like he somehow didn’t mean to abuse them. He wasn’t beating up a little kid he just ignored Shoto’s wishes and it somehow went wrong along the way. This complete lack of culpability that Enji has towards his own actions is also what leads him to repeat several really bad aspects of his behavior, such as hyperfocusing on Shoto to the point of ignoring Fuyumi and Natsuo, forcing Shoto to live up to his legacy and accept his help, still vicariously living through Shoto instead of letting Shoto be his own person.

Enji doesn’t address the root cause of the behavior and doesn’t change himself in any real way. The bad behavior repeats. The cycle continues. What Enji has been avoiding and what he needs to acknowledge is that there was genuine malice in the way he treated his kids. He sees his whole family as existing for his sake, to meet his own emotional needs and when they failed he always took it out on them.

For Enji it’s always Enji first and everyone else second. It’s always primarily about what Enji wants. He doesn’t seem other people, only himself, and what he wants. That’s why when Shoto literally has half of his face burned off as a result of Enji’s actions, all Enji really cares about is that it’s going to interrupt Shoto’s training.

Whenever Enji’s family existed outside of what he wanted them to be, or got in his way in any significant way he always vented his frustation on them. He resorts to hitting for the same reason that Bakugo always feels the need to bully Deku. A grown up bully. Enji needs to make others feel small to feel assured of his own bigness. Deku has to always be underneath Bakugo, otherwise Bakugo’s worthless. Enji has to put his family back in their place. If they resist or show desires of their own otuside of what Enji needs for them he turns violent to try to force them back. It all arises from an incredibly unhealthy way of viewing himself and his own emotions yes, but it’s also something that other people suffer the consequences of.

His family exists for his sake, which is why he’s at the same time both extremely controlling of them, but also just straight up ignores the ones who aren’t useful to him.

These aren’t a result of Enji going too far, these are all intentional cases of neglect. Especially if you consider the way Natsuo and the others were treated. Enji didn’t even bother to take care of them and raise them as his children because they weren’t of any use to his ambitions.

He straight up had no presence in their lives whatsoever. These are things he intentionally chose to do. For his own selfish reasons, because he thought his children existed for his own happiness and not the other way around that he was not responsible for his children.

These aren’t things that can happen on accident. Neglect is as much of an abusive behavior as what was done to Shoto. It’s a parent failing even their basic responsibilities as a parent to be present and around in their child’s life.

Even the children he neglects he still controls though. When Natsuo’s cooking wasn’t good enough, Enji forced him to stop cooking anymore.

Enji had to have intentionally does these things, but when confronted with them he always acts clueless. He even claims to Natsuo’s face it was never his intention to shut any of them out of his life, even though he literally says on panel in the past that Shoto shouldn’t pay attention to his siblings because his brothers were failures.

He’s even referred to his other children as things like Shoto is somehow different from them. So how can both of these things be true at the same time? Enji had to have chosen to done these things to intentionally neglect his family, so how can he claim he never meant to shut them out of his life? How can Enji both get genuinely hateful of his children, especially Shoto when they don’t act the way he wants them to, and yet also want to do the best for his family? How can he be completely absent in Natsuo’s life his entire life and yet claim to have wanted the best for him? How is Enji capable of feeling genuine remorse for his actions and realizing that they are wrong, and still have done what he did? It’s at this point we reach the psyhological excuses. The great many hoops that he’s jumped through and mental gymnastics Enji has performed to justify himself.

3. The Shadow of the Hero

So there seems to be two contradictory sides to Enji. There is Endeavor the hero who stops at nothing to be number one who sees nothing else but his ambition and his burning drive to be better, and then there’s Todoroki Enji the family man who just seems to be sort of awkward, emotionally absent, and not at all present in his children’s lives.

Endeavor is overconfident, short tempered, and also an extremely volatile person who will get violently angry if the wrong buttons are pushed. Enji is very quiet and almost self reflective. As if Endeavor is almost always burning, and Enji is burnt out. We see this same kind of emotional dissonance happen with Bakugo too, Bakugo is either on top of the world at which point he’s firing on all cyllinders and acts like an overenthusiastic angry idiot, or he’s very quiet, withdrawn and tends to dump on himself a lot. It’s important to remember that neither of them handle their emotions in any kind of remotely healthy way, so in Enji’s case it makes sense that when he’s not angry he just becomes kind of withdrawn and empty. A person who doesn’t know how to deal with emotions becomes very emotionally awkward when they’re asked to do anything besides, be angry, or punch a villain.

However it goes to a much more extreme extent with Endeavor. To the point where it does almost seem like there are two people. There’s the much more calmer, and reasonable Enji that he has been showing around his family lately.

Which even Natsuo says that this change is so sudden and different it’s unnatural. I call this “good behavior” Enji. It’s when he’s restraining himself and holding himself back because he has at least realized that a lot of his interactions with his family in the past were wrong. But good behavior once again doesn’t necessarily mean a change in one’s self, because as stated above there’s a stage in the cycle of abuse specifically for when the abuser starts acting better for a period of time.

There has always been two faces to Endeavor. Not only does Endeavor see himself that way, but that’s also the way the public in general reacts to him. There is Endeavor the hero, and Enji the person. Shoto even comments on this word for word, that he knows Enji is a very respectable hero especially to the public but that doesn’t cancel out a single thing he did.

This is where we get into the psychological excuses. Enji’s arc deals with heavy Jungian themes, specifically that of the shadow.

In Jungian psychology, the "shadow", "Id", or "shadow aspect/archetype" may refer to (1) an unconscious aspect of the personality which the conscious ego does not identify in itself, or (2) the entirety of the unconscious, i.e., everything of which a person is not fully conscious. In short, the shadow is the unknown side.

Because one tends to reject or remain ignorant of the least desirable aspects of one's personality, the shadow is largely negative. There are, however, positive aspects that may also remain hidden in one's shadow (especially in people with low self-esteem, anxieties, and false beliefs).

For Enji, his conscious personality is Endeavor the hero. That’s the one everyone sees and reacts to. However, his shadow his the actions he’s done to his own family, what he keeps hidden and concealed from the world. The things he refuses to acknowledge such as how selfish his actions truly were.

Enji has a narrative for himself where everything he did was just because he wanted to be the best possible hero he can be. Even though his actions are entirely selfish, he’s convinced himself that he’s doing these things for Shoto, for his family. The problem is Enji’s entire identity is so focused around being a hero that he doesn’t really have an identity, or much of a personality outside of his career as a hero which is why he’s so underdeveloped as a person. Being a hero is his life. He doesn’t see the parts of his life that don’t relate to his career as a hero.

He’s able to ignore the selfish aspect of his actions. All of the contrdictory parts of his actions because he’s in denial. He still sees himself as that hero who wanted to be number one. He thinks everything he did was in favor of that and he just messed up along the way. It doesn’t occur to him that he had geniune malice towards his children, or his family because he chooses to ignore those inconvenient points of his psychology.

Enji is, two people in a sense. It’s because he revolves everything in his life around being the best hero he absolutely can be, that he doesn’t see how his actions are downright villainous. Enji is essentially trying to have it both ways. He thinks he can become the best hero that he can be, and also the best dad at the same time.

However, his behavior is the same. He’s not trying to prove himself as a father not really, he’s just doing the same thing he always did which is put his job as a hero above everything else. Enji is just so completely in his own head, so in denial of his own actions that he just doesn’t see these things.

Enji’s actions are a shadow that have escaped from him because his way of atoning and fighting against his past actions is to just do the same thing he’s always did and try his best as a hero. Even though being a hero is literally what caused him to abuse his family, and Natsuo and Todoroki have both pointed out several times that being a good hero doesn’t really atone for what he did in any real way.

Enji’s narrative for himself is that his attempt to be number one was a good thing. That his striving to be the best hero he could be was a good thing. It just somehow got bad results for him. He doesn’t really understand how he got to point A and point B, and part of that is again society’s image of Endeavor the Hero is pretty messed up too. Everyone around him praises Endeavor for being a hero while absolutely nobody talks about what happened in his home life and therefore Endeavor faces no real consequences for it.

Everyone sees this heroic figure out of the image that Enji projects. Because that’s the light. That’s who he is on the surface. If you look on the surface of his actions only you just see a guy who doesn’t know how to give up, and was trying his best to be number one. It almost looks heroic to see his struggle. However, once again if you only view things from the surface you can’t really understand him or his actions. Which is why Endeavor only viewing himself as Endeavor the hero misses his own shadow and what he’s done to the other people around him.

The person who Endeavor thinks he is, and who Enji really is are two different people. This is because of that unacknowledged shadow. It’s because Endeavor has this huge selfish element to his actions that he’s just completely in denial of. Not because he doesn’t feel guilt for his actions, but because he does and he’s avoiding it.

Enji sees himself in the high end Nomu he struggles against, but even that is an incorrect viewing of himself. Nomus are victims, ultimately. They were people who were kidnapped and had multiple quirks loaded into them in the name of mad science. The Nomu is Todoroki, Enji is Ujiko. He’s the one who created several children trying to mix quirks together for his own purposes and then dodged responsibility for that for years. He’s not the monster, he’s Doctor Frankenstein himself.

Enji when confronted with these behaviors, with the absolute worst of his personality, and the dark sides of all of his intentions never acknowledges them. He never tries to integrate them into who he is as a person. He just tries to fight against them and defeat them.

“Unless we do conscious work on it, the shadow is almost always projected; that is it is neatly liad on someone or something else we do so we do not take responsibility for it.” Robert Jonson

You don’t destroy a shadow. You don’t make the bad things you’ve done and the bad parts of your personality go away. The only way to defeat the shadow is to integrate it and consciously acknowledge that you are like this. This shadow stuff is not something I’m applying to the text either, the text directly references it.

This is Jungian symbolism. The light of the conscious mind creates the shadow. It’s because people only pay attention to Endeavor that hero, that his shadow Enji the person becomes thicker and blacker. The longer people go without acknowledging it, the darker his shadow will become.

Which is why Dabi is in a way his shadow as well. The violent parts of his personality that Enji has failed to acknowledge or do anything about, part of Enji that still believes that the only thing that matters is strength.

Enji would never approve of Dabi’s actions, and yet Enji also created Dabi. Once again think of frankenstein and the monster. Dabi wouldn’t even exist if Enji had never abused his family. The monster argues against Doctor Frankenstein that yes he has murdered people, but he never would have existed in the first place unless the doctor had created him which manes the doctor shares respsonsibility for even the unintended consequences of his actions. A person is responsible for their shadow, intentional or not. Dabi is the shadow of Endeavor’s actions in human form.

He exists to bring into conflict what Enji has been ignoring. That he can’t be good to his family and be a good hero at the same time, because his drive to be a hero was the source of his abusive behavior in the first place and drove him to do what he did to his family.

Enji is a very selfish person who hasn’t confronted his own selfishness in any significant way. Do I care that he’s only atoning for selfish reasons. No, that’s not the problem exactly. You could argue that all atonement is selfish in nature. The fact that Bakugo and Enji are very self-driven individuals is not necessarily the problem, it’s not a bad thing to want to be selfish, or even desire to better yourself. It can lead to good things. It’s that in Enji’s case, his selfishness always comes at the expense of others. He completely shuts people out and doesn’t even see them. All he sees is what he wants to see. Above all else this viewpoint of the world is very narrow and self-serving. He only sees the surface of his own actions. He only ever sees himself as the hero and can’t acknowledge that to his family he’s the villain.

Enji only ever saw himself and his self-centered view of the world, and everybody else, including the children he was responsible for and the wife he forced a marriage on only ever got in his way, which is why he resented them. If Enji wants to atone that’s one thing, but if Enji wants to stop being such a selfish person and truly do things for the sake of his family as he’s stated he wants to in the past that means acknowledging his actions.

Enji continues to be a hero because that’s what he wants, it’s what he’s built his whole life around. He even sees his path forward to atonement as just continuing to do his job as a hero, even when he’s told by Natsuo that won’t work. Which is why the only real substantial way for Enji to change is to actually have to give something up. To acknowledge that he’s in fact a bad hero. He even stated himself, there’s something he wants even more than being a hero now. He wants Toya to be there.

Which is why Dabi is such an important character because he not only forces Enji to realize the worst of his actions but also to choose, between what is best for himself and his career as a hero which is the only thing he’s ever really cared about and what is best for his family. It’s only in the confrontation with his shadow that we can see what Enji is really made of.

#todoroki enji #endeavor #meta #mha meta #my hero academia meta #bakugo katsuki #todoroki touya #foiling #dabi

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when-they-write-stuff · 4 years

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I'm really curious about 39. “I want to marry you.” but like asked in a serious way. So glad you're back, take care 🤗

The first time Derek came swinging through Stiles’s window without permission, Stiles freaked out so hard, he ended up launching his can of coke at Derek’s face.

The man had fallen off the roof in his own surprise. He hadn’t seemed very happy about that.

But when Stiles had started to realize that hey, maybe Derek Hale wasn’t such a giant creeper, he still didn’t expect the late-night visits, okay? Even Scott didn’t do nearly as much stalking. Well, not over him. Maybe over Allison. But he only went creepy werewolf on Stiles occasionally, which he really appreciated.

Derek seemed to be a different story.

The first time he came swinging through Stiles’s window without permission, Stiles threw a can of coke at his face, Derek fell off the roof with a barked curse, and then he hadn’t come back to the house for an entire month.

That had been fine by Stiles at the time. And Derek knocked more often than not now.

Sometimes, he came to talk about the Monster of the Week. Sometimes, he came to chew Stiles out for putting himself in danger when they were facing the Monster of the Week. Sometimes, he just came to sit broodingly in the corner and that was something Stiles still had yet to understand.

Sometimes, Derek came with food.

Stiles may or may not have made that a mandatory rule when the man came anytime before eight in the morning or after eleven at night.

“Oh my god,” Stiles said, taking the offered bag Derek had brought that night. The moment he opened it, the best smell in the world came wafting out and Stiles moaned. “Curly fries. Oh my god, Sourwolf, I want to marry you.”

In a split second, Derek’s face had gone from neutrally blank to bright red. Except Stiles was much too busy digging the container of fries out to really notice.

He might have been a little intrigued if he had.

“So,” Stiles said, stuffing a few into his mouth and glancing back up. “What is it tonight? Hunters? Witches? I know for a fact I haven’t done anything wrong lately, so if you’re here to go all bossy Alpha on me—”

“It’s nothing like that,” Derek said. Stiles narrowed his eyes, still chewing.

“Uh, okay?”

“I was in the area,” Derek said, suddenly focusing on the floor. Stiles swallowed and continued to study the man, a little more carefully this time. Because he was pretty sure something was off.

“So you got me fries?”

Derek froze. He stared at the floor as if it was the most interesting thing in the world before turning around. Stiles stared in confusion as Derek pulled himself right back out the window; without another word or hint. Without literally anything. In a second, Stiles was left alone in his room with a bag of curly fries and he had no idea what had just happened.

But Derek was gone and Stiles was alone.

He was so confused.

There was this one time Stiles had been awake for so long, he’d started to think he was living in a TV show and he was pretty sure their entire group was basically the Scooby-Doo gang brought to life with a lot more tragedy.

If Derek’s plans never worked out, did that make him Fred? He thought the man might kill him if Stiles even dared call him Scooby.

But that wasn’t the point. The point was, they had been chasing a witch around Beacon Hills for two weeks now and Stiles hadn’t slept in three days. Every time he thought they were getting close, it was another dead end. And Stiles was about to tear his hair out.

He was half-asleep at the loft when Derek came looming over the couch. Stiles nearly startled out of his own skin, sure he was seeing things for a moment. But that was definitely the growly-brows that he knew so well.

He closed his laptop and smiled tiredly at the man. Derek frowned harder.

“You smell tired.”

Stiles rolled his eyes. “Oh, thank god, I thought you were going to say I smell- smell for a second there. Which might be fair, because I might have forgotten to shower this… week? But it’d still be rude and I might’ve had to punch you.”

From across the room, Erica snorted into her cereal. Derek shot her a red-eyed glare before fixing Stiles with a dark look again. “You need to get some sleep.”

“Yeah, no kidding. And once the witch is caught, dude, I will sleep for at least a straight day.”

“No,” Derek growled. Stiles blinked.

“Uh, no?”

“No. You need to sleep now.”

Stiles stared at him for a long moment. Then he shook his head and opened his laptop again, only to squawk in protest as Derek grabbed it off his lap, closing it again and setting it on the coffee table. The moment Stiles tried to reach for it, the man gave him a threatening look.

Stiles carefully drew his hands back.

“Okay, Sourwolf, use your words. What’s happening here?”

“You haven’t slept in days,” Derek said gruffly. “Now you need to either go home and get some sleep or sleep here, I don’t care. But you need rest. You’re not going to do the pack any good if you’re sleep-deprived.”

“Oh, I’m so glad to see this is for the betterment of the pack, then.”

Derek narrowed his eyes. Stiles sighed, flopping back onto the couch. He would never admit out loud that even doing that was like a weight had been taken off his shoulders. But maybe he could do with a little power nap.

Derek was still looming over him like a giant fluffy thundercloud. Stiles raised an eyebrow, gesturing down at himself.

“Dude, see? I’m resting. You can stop being all grumpy Alpha now.”

Derek looked at him for a long moment. Then he turned away, disappearing down the hall, and Stiles watched him until he was out of sight. Then he sighed, turning his gaze up toward the ceiling.

But Derek came back after only a few seconds with a blanket and pillow. Stiles sat straight back up.

“Dude, what are those?”

“I don’t know, Stiles. What do they look like to you?”

“You’re using sarcasm. I’m confused.”

Derek gave him a look that screaming nothing other than; ‘Of course, you are’ and Stiles frowned at that. But then the man was tucking the pillow at the end of the couch and draping the blanket over him, and Stiles felt a bit like a child being tucked into bed.

“You know, Sourwolf,” he said, laying back down. “We have to be married for you to be so marital about this. I’m just saying.”

Derek froze, standing over him. The man’s jaw ticked and Stiles was sure he was going to get his throat ripped out for a second. But then Derek just turned away, shooting Erica another red-eyed look as she continued to laugh, and Stiles was left alone.

He blinked at the ceiling again, head spinning.

Because he was pretty sure he still had no idea what had just happened.

Movie nights had quickly become a pack favorite and that had thrown Stiles through a loop at first. Because he was pretty sure the pack would have a ‘to the death’ tournament before ever agreeing mutually on a movie. But then they figured out a pretty fair system which was really just Lydia tending to make the final decisions, and everyone was really just too scared to risk disputing her.

Even Derek never said a word.

That might’ve been why they watched romcoms and Hallmark movies more often than anything else, but Stiles didn’t really hate it. Pack nights meant spending his Friday nights with the pack instead of alone at home while his dad worked. They meant pizza, popcorn, and the occasional accompanying board game that almost always ended in declarations of revenge.

They were nice. Or something.

Because Derek was the one with the secret fortune, he always ended up buying the pack an entire stack of pizzas. Stiles had felt a little bad at first but then Derek got this glow when he ordered and passed out his pack’s favorite pizzas, and Stiles hadn’t said a word after that.

They’d already picked out some rom-com movie by the time Derek showed up with the pizzas and the pack was instantly crowding around him, each searching for their own. Stiles stayed lounging on the couch, fast-forwarding through the commercials, when Derek came over and set a box in his lap. Blinking, Stiles glanced up.

“Usually, I share with Scott.”

Derek’s ears turned red and he didn’t say a word, dropping onto the couch at Stiles’s side and facing the TV. Stiles continued to eye him, waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it never did. Carefully, as if it was going to grow arms, legs, and maybe attempt to eat him, Stiles lifted up the top.

It didn’t attempt to attack or eat him. He blinked at the pizza for a moment and then stared at Derek again.

“This is black olive and pepperoni.”

Derek gave him a flat look. Stiles narrowed his eyes.

“I never get black olives.”

“But you like them.”

“Yeah, but Scott doesn’t.”

“So?”

“Usually, I share with Scott.”

Derek rolled his eyes and faced the TV again. Stiles was half-aware of the pack watching them from their own spots and pizzas, but he proceeded to act like the rest of the loft was empty. Derek was very determinedly avoiding his gaze now and Stiles was ninety-percent sure that no one actually knew about his secret favorite pizza. Other than his dad, maybe. But Scott hated black olives so in return, Stiles never even bothered with that order.

Lydia muttered something about tension from the side and then the movie was officially starting. Slowly, Stiles tore his gaze away and faced the TV.

Derek moved closer and for a second, Stiles’s breaths caught. But then the man just took a slice of his pizza and Stiles stared at him incredulously.

“Derek.”

“What?”

“I’m so confused right now.”

Derek looked defensive. “Maybe you don’t always have to share a pizza with Scott.”

Stiles glanced across the coffee table, but Scott was wrapped around Allison and didn’t appear to have heard a word they said. When he looked back at Derek, he could’ve sworn the man looked a little smug, grunting and pulling the pizza closer to himself.

“Whatever. Don’t eat all my pizza.”

“I did buy it.”

“Oh, I see. So the Sourwolf is a fan of black olives too, huh?”

Derek shrugged and took another slice. Stiles made a few noises of protest which earned him shushing from all around the room. He gave the rest of the pack a stink eye and then turned it to Derek.

“You’re eating all of my pizza.”

“I’ll buy you another.”

“Soon? Tonight? Is this a marriage proposal, Sourwolf?”

“You’re an idiot, Stiles.”

But Stiles just eyed the man and his red face and wondered if he really was. He stared until it had probably been too long and Derek gave him another flat, slightly murderous look, and then tore his gaze away. But he wasn’t even paying attention to the movie now.

And he didn’t for the rest of the night.

Not with Derek sitting right up next to him, so close that Stiles could probably fall asleep on his shoulder if he wanted to. Not that he ever would. He appreciated having a throat. But he was also pretty sure there was plenty of space further down the couch.

Not that Stiles was complaining. Not at all.

He was just… intrigued.

Stiles sat in the middle of his bed with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and tried to pretend the man sitting a few feet away wasn’t Derek Hale.

It was nearing midnight and Stiles had attempted to kick Derek out, he really had! But then the man had grunted something about needing help with the wendigo that they were tracking and Stiles found himself unable to dispute that. Which might have been why he was sitting in his pjs while Derek Hale poured over the research he’d attempted; two empty fast food bags abandoned a little ways over and Stiles’s open laptop playing the first Avengers as he claimed a need for the second distraction.

This was probably a dumb idea. Because his dad was home, Derek had never come over when his dad was home, and every time Stiles heard a noise outside his bedroom door or downstairs, he had to smother the fight or flight urge.

It wasn’t like his dad didn’t know Derek swung by sometimes, but… Stiles didn’t often divulge the consistency of Derek’s nightly visits. He was terrified his dad might have words to say about that if he did.

“Hey, dude,” Stiles said, glancing back over. “Remember that one time you used to be afraid of my father? Yeah, I do too. When did that change?”

“We’re not doing anything wrong.”

“Oh wow, no. Not at all. Other than werewolf stuff at midnight in the middle of a school week.”

Derek blinked, glancing up from the bestiary. He actually looked confused and Stiles wondered for the first time if Derek even realized the hours that had passed since he’d shown up. Through the window of course, because Derek might claim to not be scared of his dad, but he never actually used the front door, did he?

Stiles wondered if that was a werewolf thing. But no… that was vampires, right? The whole, invite-only shebang.

Derek glanced at the laptop screen and winced. Stiles barked a laugh.

“Oh my god, Sourwolf, you totally lost track of time. What, does being around this amazing token human make the hours blur by? I always knew you liked me.”

“Shut up, Stiles.”

“The classic response. I think that means I’m starting to get through to you. Or underneath your skin. Or something.”

“Like a parasite.”

“Hey, rude!”

Derek just smirked at him. Literally smirked. Stiles didn’t really know what to do with the way his heart fluttered at that and he very pointedly fixed his gaze back on the laptop screen. Derek shuffled around a little bit more, gathering up the papers, and Stiles blinked at him.

“Uh, what are you doing?”

“... Leaving.”

“Okay, dude. Why?”

“It’s past midnight and your father is home.”

“Oh my god,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes. “Look, he already knows you show up and random times like a total creeper. Heck, from the things he asks me sometimes, I’d be worried he thinks we’re married or something. If you hear him come upstairs, just duck under the bed or something.”

Derek’s expression was flat but his ears were burning bright red. “Stiles, I’m not hiding underneath your bed from your father.”

“I mean… there’s always the closet, but—”

“Good night, Stiles.”

Stiles clamped his mouth shut and watched the man set the stack of papers and books on his desk. He offered his best glare when Derek glanced back, but the man didn’t seem to care. In a couple of seconds, Stiles’s window was being pushed up, the cool night air was breezing in, and then Derek was gone.

Stiles stared at the window for a moment longer, still glaring. That slipped away into a small frown, which slipped away into nothing. Sighing, Stiles shut his laptop and pulled himself up.

It was then that he realized Derek had forgotten his jacket on the back of Stiles’s desk.

For some reason, that made him smile.

The intruding pack took Stiles because he smelled like Derek. Which meant maybe wearing the man’s leather jacket around all the time and conveniently ‘forgetting’ to bring it back to the loft during pack nights wasn’t the best idea he’d ever had.

But Stiles didn’t always have the best ideas. So whatever.

He may or may not have been conveniently wearing Derek’s jacket when he was taken from the school parking lot and at first, he was pretty sure they thought he was Derek. But then when he severely lacked in blazing red eyes and fangs, Stiles was hit over the head and stuffed into the trunk; not the best way for them to introduce themselves, if he had a say in it.

He didn’t get a say in it.

By the time the car stopped moving and Stiles was moderately coming back to consciousness, he was hauled out and dumped to the ground with enough force to nearly knock him out again. His ears rang and Stiles groaned, a foot sinking into his stomach the moment he tried to make a sound.

“Can it, kid.”

Stiles clenched his jaw, eyes squeezed shut in pain. The ground beneath him was cool; probably cement. The sound of footsteps around him echoed through the air and Stiles had put two and two together before he was opening his eyes again.

What was it with the Beacon Hills big-bads always living in abandoned warehouses? Stiles would just like to ask.

The pack wasn’t very big when Stiles glanced around. A handful of blue-eyed betas gave him guarded looks as the man that Stiles could only assume was the Alpha stepped out of the shadows. He flinched away as the wolf approached and promptly scrambled up, only to be kicked back down by a beta behind him again.

Laughter filled the air. Stiles scowled.

“You realize Derek’s going to kick all of your little furry asses, right?”

Laughter turned to growls. The man paused in front of Stiles and offered a sharp-toothed grin. “Derek Hale. The Alpha to a bunch of teenagers.”

“Have you ever pissed off a teenager? Cause it never ends well. Especially if they have furry problems and terrible control.”

“You smell like the Alpha.”

Stiles felt his face turn a little hot. “That’s an innocent mistake.”

The man must have heard his heart skip an audible beat because his expression turned even more amused. Stiles scrambled back as he took a step forward; but a sharp growl at his back had him freezing. Swallowing hard, Stiles turned back forward.

“What do you want with Derek?”

“We wanted to talk.”

“Dude, you nearly ripped my throat out earlier. That’s a crappy start to a conversation.”

The Alpha’s expression was nothing but sinister. Stiles dropped his gaze to the floor before the Alpha moved closer and he was on his guard again. Because he wasn’t Derek. So what the hell did they want with him?

“Clearly, kid, you matter to the Alpha.”

Stiles looked up in surprise, but the man looked completely serious. Despite himself, Stiles rolled his eyes. “Yeah, about as much as a parasite living underneath his skin.”

The man’s eyes narrowed. Stiles snorted.

“It’s an inside joke.”

“I see. If we killed you, how much would it hurt him?”

Stiles’s blood went cold. He froze in his position and tried to ignore the growls that erupted behind him. A shiver crept down his spine and he silently wondered how long he’d have to ramble for in order to keep his throat intact until Scott, Derek, or someone came.

“I’m a thorn in Derek’s side,” Stiles said weakly. “Seriously, dude. He won’t care if you kill me.”

“So you’re useless then.”

Stiles swallowed hard. “Uh, no? I know some really good jokes and have been told that my rambling is the perfect way to pass the time. I mean, if you really want me to shut up then grunt, growling, and the occasional shove into the closest wall is usually Derek’s go-to. Might I recommend that?”

The Alpha stepped closer and Stiles scrambled up. This time, there was no one there to kick him back down and he stumbled in panic across the warehouse as the pack advanced closer. Stiles would really rather not be found by his dad mangled and torn apart, thank you very much. He’d really rather not go that way.

Stiles had wolfsbane mace in his backpack. But that had been left on the ground when he’d been taken.

“Look, look,” Stiles said, throwing up his hands. “I’m sure we could make an arrangement here! How about you let me go, I’ll give you a thirty-minute head start to run from Beacon Hills, and then never mention to my pack how ugly you all were?”

Eyes lit up the darkness; four pairs of blue and one pair of red. Stiles chuckled weakly.

“Or I could just never mention the ugly part ever again?”

The Alpha’s face shifted and a squeak built up in Stiles’s throat as the man moved forward, fangs and claws gleaming. But before he could have his throat ripped out, there was an echoing roar that filled the air, followed by a series of howls.

Sometimes, Stiles hated the pack’s timing. Sometimes, he was just relieved they actually showed up.

The Alpha whirled around and howled back. Stiles stood stock-still as he spotted Derek coming out of the darkness and the man’s eyes snapped to him first, face fully shifted.

“Stiles, get back!”

He really didn’t need to be told twice. Stiles scrambled back as the others moved forward, wishing for nothing more than his mace or baseball bat. He was totally going to start carrying a knife on his person. Goddammit, he was going to start carrying multiple knives on his person.

Stiles didn’t make it far before there was a pain ripping through his shoulder and he was yanked back. He went hard to the floor, vision spotted red with pain, and then he spotted one of the betas from earlier. The one who’d kept kicking him around.

Stiles snarled, trying to pull himself back up. The man’s blue eyes shone in the dim light.

“Don’t mean anything to the Alpha, huh, kid?”

“I really think he just hates doing research,” Stiles said, scrambling back. “I also have a theory he doesn’t know how to properly work a computer. Or you know, I’ve just gotten underneath his skin. Like a parasite.”

“Inside joke?”

Stiles offered his most winning smile. “Inside joke.”

The beta snarled and leaped forward.

In the past, Stiles had been used as bait, become a popular accidental target, and spent too many of his weekday nights running through the preserve for his life. So he was able to dodge swiping claws fairly easily, pinwheeling around the beta with a yelp. Stiles retreated away and caught sight of his friends beyond the approaching ‘wolf, noticing with a sinking heart that they were all still engaged.

The beta seemed to realize that as well because he approached slowly. Claws out, fangs bared. Stiles moved backward until he was tripping over a bunch of cargo boxes and wood planks, and then he realized he was nearing the wall.

“Guess you don’t mean quite enough, kid.”

Stiles’s breaths lodged in his throat. God, he could not die like this.

He grabbed the nearest wood plank, swinging as the beta leaped forward again. It cracked off the side of his skull and the man roared, stumbling sideways. Stiles attempted to use that chance to make a break for the others, but he really should have known better than attempting to outrun a werewolf.

He was tackled back to the floor in less than five seconds, flipping to his back and kicking wildly out. It was times like this Stiles really wished for a pair of his own claws.

The beta dug claws into his shoulders. Stiles howled in pain.

Then the man was being yanked off.

Stiles caught a blur of movement. There was a thud and a whimper as the beta was shoved into the nearest wall and Stiles thought he caught the metallic scent of blood. Glancing blearily up, Stiles caught a flash of red eyes and Derek’s shaking body as he restrained a set of claws against the man’s neck.

“Your pack turned tail and ran,” Derek snarled. “This is your chance to follow them. But if I ever catch even the slightest whiff of your scent back in Beacon Hills, next time, I’ll rip out your throat. With my teeth. Got it?”

The man nodded. There were hands helping Stiles up as the beta moved around Derek and took off. He was gone from the warehouse in a matter of moments.

Stiles groaned as Erica steadied him by the shoulders a little too roughly, swaying on his feet. Derek’s red eyes flashed as he turned around and she quickly drew back.

“Perfect timing as always Sourwolf,” Stiles said, attempting a small grin. But dammit, he hurt. “Quite nice. Very romantic. I’d totally propose or something right now, but if I get down on one knee I don’t think I’ll be getting back up.”

Derek growled again. Stiles winced.

“Keep the grunts and growls on the down low, dude. I’m fine.”

“You’re hurt.”

“I’m moderately fine.”

Derek’s gaze snapped beyond his shoulder. “Go after the pack and make sure they are out of Beacon Hills tonight. I don’t want them even attempting to stick around. And call Scott. Tell him his best friend was hurt while he was skipping school with Allison and I’d like to have a chat.”

Stiles winced at that. “Oh my god, dude, please don’t do that. No chats needed. I’m moderately fine!”

“You,” Derek said, fixing his red eyes back on where Stiles stood. The shiver he got from that wasn’t fair at all. “Are going to a hospital.”

“Or maybe I could just take a shower and the loft and avoid freaking out my dad?”

There was blood making his shirt— and Derek’s jacket— stick to his skin, Stiles noticed. The leather had actually provided a little more protection against the beta’s claws, though. It was better than being in nothing but a thin t-shirt. Derek stepped forward, searching him up and down, and his face did something funny.

Stiles’s stomach twisted. He dropped his gaze.

“Fine. If you don’t say anything, I’ll go to the hospital. But only because I might need stitches.”

The sound that left Derek’s throat was nothing but feral. Maybe with a little bit of a whine? But Stiles just hunched deeper into the jacket and turned away, not waiting for the man. The other betas were already gone. Stiles had thought Scott might have been with them, but his heart sunk a little when he realized the boy had not been.

Though it's not like he could have known, right? Stiles could have been anywhere. He’d skipped out on classes before.

Usually for pack stuff.

He waited silently by the Camaro parked outside of the warehouse for Derek, still looking anywhere but the man’s face. And the ride to the hospital was a tense one.

Derek never asked for his jacket back. Just checked him in, stayed until Melissa came, muttered something about Scott and the others, and then was gone. Stiles didn’t know how he was supposed to feel about that.

He needed stitches. And when his dad had shown up, he’d seemed too relieved to be furious.

Stiles supposed it was the little things.

He didn’t see Derek for a little while after that.

He didn’t know if it was because Derek was avoiding him or Stiles was avoiding Derek… but he wasn’t outright trying to, okay? He just didn’t go to a few pack meetings and Derek stopped swinging through his window every other night. Stiles stopped wondering if he would. Scott had a come by a few times for a solid two weeks and then he tapered off too.

Stiles threw himself into upcoming finals for his first senior semester. He couldn’t tell if his dad seemed relieved at this or worried at how little Stiles was leaving the house.

The man had even tried to bring it up a few times. Or, more so, he tried to bring up Derek.

Stiles did his best to just wave it all off.

So four weeks passed. To say Stiles was settling into the lull of things would be completely accurate and he was actually starting to remember what it was like to have a regular schedule. Not like he didn’t kind of miss pack movie nights, unexpected Derek Hale visits, or running around Beacon Hills for his life because... maybe he did? Just a little bit. Stiles figured he’d just give it time. So he could look Derek in the eyes without feeling like he was going to drown in embarrassment.

Derek’s jacket hung in his closet. Stiles hadn’t touched it since returning home from the hospital and he was pretty sure it was still covered in blood. Though, dammit, if Derek wanted it back, he could come get the thing himself.

And then Derek did come.

The last thing Stiles had expected was a visitor, so when his window was opened without a warning, his first reaction was to leap out of bed and launch the closest thing nearby at the intruder. Much like the first time.

Except this time, it wasn’t a soda.

There was a loud grunt and a curse as Stiles’s fifth-grade soccer trophy bounced off of Derek’s head. This time, the man didn’t fall off the roof, which Stiles thought was a plus. But he did look downright pissed off.

“Dammit, Stiles!”

“Dammit Stiles? Dammit, Stiles? Dude, what have we established about knocking!”

Derek glared with red eyes, pulling himself all the way into the room. Stiles glared right back, folding his arms over his chest and raising an eyebrow.

“What the hell are you doing here anyway?”

“What does it look like?”

“Uh, I dunno. Crawling into my bedroom like a total creeper after nearly a month of radio silence?”

Derek’s eye twitched. But Stiles didn’t budge.

“I’m fine, if that’s why you came. Or, your jacket’s in the closet. I…” he faltered a little bit, uncrossing his arms and dropping down onto the edge of his best. “I didn’t wash it. But I can do that and bring it by the loft later if that’s what you’d prefer.”

Derek was looking at him like he’d grown horns now. Stiles scowled.

“What?”

“I didn’t come for the jacket.”

Stiles looked at him for a long moment. His scowl slipped. “Oh.”

“I did come to see if you were okay.”

“I’m fine.”

“The stitches are out?”

“One week ago.”

“Oh,” Derek said and this time he was the quiet one. The man nodded, eyes dropping to his feet. “That’s good.”

“Yeah, well, you can go now.”

Grey-green eyes snapped back up. Derek actually looked startled. “You want me to leave?”

“You want to stay?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Oh geez,” Stiles said, his anger mounting again. “Dude, I don’t know. Maybe because you haven’t come by in ages. You know, after dumping me at the hospital and then making like it was hot. I’m so sorry if I did something to offend you. I’m so sorry if me nearly dying was offensive to you!”

“Do you know why you nearly died, Stiles?”

“Because the token human is always the easiest to take a jab at?”

“No, you idiot. Because you smelled like me!”

Stiles froze, all of his anger dissipating. Derek looked at him with red eyes and if he was honest, Stiles had known that. He’d been an idiot. He’d pranced around in a leather jacket that made him feel all gooey for some reason and in return, the big baddies actually thought he mattered. Actually thought that Stiles Stilinski, token human, mattered.

Mattered to Derek Hale.

“You smelled like me,” Derek said, stepping closer. “And that got you hurt.”

“So what, you take off for a few weeks? What, Derek? What do I smell like now? Do I even smell like pack anymore?”

Derek’s face fell. Stiles felt his stomach twist.

“I don’t, do I?”

“It gets you hurt. I shouldn’t have— started things.”

Stiles stared at him for a long moment. Then he swallowed hard, retreating a step back. “Things? What, like the research projects? The pack nights? Cause that’s not allowed, is it? Derek Hale isn’t allowed to let people think he cares. Well dammit, Sourwolf, you were really good at that. I almost fell for it too.”

Derek’s eyes flashed for a moment. Shaking his head, Stiles turned around and pulled the closet open, pulling out the man’s jacket. It was still a little bloody when he shoved it into Derek’s hands and the man visibly flinched.

“Just… tell Scott the things your pack needs. I don’t have to come over anymore, dude. And you don’t either.”

Derek’s face was tight when he looked at Stiles, expression betraying nothing. The man nodded and started to turn away and Stiles clenched his jaw hard, looking at the floor. Because dammit, he’d messed things up. He’d turned a good thing sour.

He should have returned the stupid jacket right away. He shouldn’t have been so dumb.

Silence fell over the room. When Stiles dared glance back up, Derek was looking at the jacket in his hands. The man’s shoulders were tense and he just stood there. Window open, the cool night air breezing in. His grip was white-knuckled around the jacket.

Stiles clenched his jaw even tighter when the man turned around.

“I do care.”

Stiles’s heart skipped a beat. Derek dropped the jacket to the floor, nudging it away, and then glanced back up. Grey-green eyes searched Stiles’s face.

“I— I do care. And I’d like to care. For a while. But I can’t do that if you get hurt and I can’t do that if you die, Stiles.”

“I’m not going to die.”

The man gave him an exasperated look. Stiles swallowed hard.

“... I don’t plan on dying?”

“But you can’t say that for sure.”

Stiles looked at him for a long moment. Then he stepped forward and brushed the tips of his fingers against Derek’s. The man shuddered, catching his hands, and Stiles offered a small smile. “Okay, so I can’t. But come on, dude, that’s the thing about promises. I promise stupid stuff all the time. Remember that time I vowed I was gonna marry you just because you brought me curly fries?”

Derek’s face turned red. Stiles grinned harder.

“How about you care a little, I care a little, and we trust that’s going to be enough? Because hell, dude, I don’t plan on dying anytime soon. I really don't plan on dying soon. And I mean, am I really much safer tagging at the pack’s heels instead of being a part of it? Instead of being… the Alpha’s?”

Derek’s eyes were red now. And they were locked on Stiles’s face as he shrugged.

“I just require the occasional curly fry delivery every now and then because you were in the area. And you’re not allowed to run after dropping them off.”

Derek didn’t say a word. Stiles raised a brow.

“Sourpuss?”

“You’d be mine,” Derek said. Stiles grinned.

“I mean, I don’t know a ton about marriage, but is that like a proposal? Because I am an eighteen-year-old teenager, Sourwolf, and I still need to finish high school. But yeah, I’d probably be okay with being werewolf married to you one day. Of course, that’s going to require a bit more bribing than some curly fries—”

Stiles cut off mid-sentence. Because suddenly, there were lips on his own, effectively shutting him up, and Stiles’s brain logged off as he realized Derek Hale was kissing him. Derek Hale. Of course, maybe he should have expected if because possible werewolf proposals—

Derek drew back for only a second. “Stop thinking so hard.”

And Stiles just grinned. Because Derek Hale was kissing him, Derek Hale cared, and Stiles was totally going to start making sure he used the front door instead of the window. His dad was going to have to be slowly introduced to this.

Or you know… with time. A little bit more time.

Stiles kissed Derek harder and decided maybe it could take just a little bit more time.

- -

I swear, this was not supposed to nearly be 6k words. But I wanted to make it 5+1 things and then I couldn't decide where I wanted to end it. So here we are! Thank you so much for the prompt nonnie, I had so much fun!

(if you enjoy my writing, consider supporting your student writer? You can also request a prompt if you’d like!). https://ko-fi.com/rh27writer

#teen wolf #sterek #derek hale #stiles stilinski #derek x stiles #all the fluff and humor #light angst #5+1 things #prompt #ficlet

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glacizata · 5 years

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Rosalie’s Bubble Fight Tounament: Intro

This piece is a for fun writing project. I haven’t been writing much but I decided that I might as well share this. It involves characters from a bunch of different projects and since it’s more a piece for myself it might not make much sense to those who read it...

“Viola went a bit all out for this, huh.” Today, something special was happening in everyone’s favorite mystic’s sanctuary. Rosalie and Viola were hosting a special tournament for a sport Rosalie thought up called bubble fighting and a whole bunch of us were invited. She never told us what bubble fighting is, but knowing that this is coming from the mind of a bubblegum witch, I can easily imagine.

With my best friend Ce behind me, I opened the door into Viola’s paradise, a colourful field full of pastel trees that grew candy on its branches and pure turquoise lakes that hold the beauty that you would usually only see in a postcard. Today though, the whole place was decorated for Rosalie’s tourney, with party banners going from tree to tree, balloons with strings reaching into the high skies, and 16 flags lined up on the field where Rosalie was set up. My flag was lilac with a black and white maid headband in the center, a bit too on the nose for the Dreamscape’s top maid, but I’m not going to complain.

“Viola’s a bit eccentric, but it does help bring up the spirit.” Ce peeked from the door that went from Viola’s candy store to the field of this paradise… Ah, mystic magic, it makes my head hurt sometimes. “You think they’ll bring your flag down if you lose?”

“Maybe, can’t wait to see just our two flags flying in the wind, huh Ce?” I slid downhill, hoping to get to Rosalie’s little stand with some style, although I started to flail about trying not to eat dirt in front of everyone.

“My, you’re confident today Violet.” Ce’s voice trailed off as I reached the bottom of the hill. She took her time getting to the bottom before joining me in front of Rosalie and her stand, which was painted with pictures of a rainbow of bubblegum bubbles, which was probably Viola’s idea.

Rosalie tapped the table of her little stand with her fingertips, looking into the distance. Next to her was Viola, who was spending her time blowing an overwhelming blue bubble.

“We’re here!” I called out to the magical duo fighting their boredom. Rosalie glanced toward us and perked up at the sight of Ce’s presence.

“Hey Violet. Hello Ce.” She gave Ce a wave and a smile; the blush on her face holding the highest amount of subtlety. “It’s good to see you two here. You two ready for the tournament?”

“As much as we can be…” Ce scratched the back of her head. “You didn’t really give us much to figure out what bubble fighting even is?”

“Mmph!” Viola’s bubble popped, covering both herself and the corner of the stand in a blue mess. “It’s an idea the two of us came up with!”

“Please try not to cover the sign up table in gum Viola.” Rosalie let out a sigh.

“Sorry… Anyways, after watching Rosalie fly about with her bubbles for long enough, I thought we could make up a game where two people fly around and try to pop each other’s bubble’s til there’s only one left flying!” She scraped the gum off her face and went back to chewing.

“That’s a simple version. Each person gets 3 bubbleloons, a pair of heeled boots and a pair of special gloves.” Rosalie turned around, and headed over to a large purple chest in the back of the stand. After a few seconds of rifling around in it, she pulled out two pairs of boots and gloves, one a black set and the other a white set. “Here you two go, I made sure they’re your style. The white gloves and boots are for our favorite maid and the silky black gloves go to the graceful Catherine.” She handed us the boots and gloves, leaving mine on the counter as she tried to place Ce’s gloves in her hands.

“I already have gloves through?” I flashed Rosalie my gloved hand.

“Yeah, but these ones have magical affinities encoded in them. Viola, blow another bubble.” Rosalie put on her own pair of black gloves while Viola went to work on another blue bubble. “The left hand is encoded with the gust affinity and the right hand has the taste affinity encoded in.”

“Are we supposed to eat the gloves?” I asked, taking a sniff of the right handed glove, which ended up smelling like silk and nothing special.

“No, the gloves aren’t for eating.” Rosalie started to laugh but stopped herself to continue the tutorial. “The left glove is used to move around. Just flick your wrist in the direction you want and…” She moved her wrist upwards, making a puff of wind under Viola’s bubble that made it bob up and down. Viola’s eyes widened until it stopped moving, where she blew a breath of relief. “You’ll give yourself and your bubbleloons a windy boost.” Rosalie glanced at Viola’s bubble, which was growing quite big. “The right glove has the taste affinity in it reacts with the magic in the bubbleloons, like so…” Rosalie winded her right hand back and slashed at Viola’s bubble with her finger tips, causing it to pop all over her again.

“Hey!” Viola stared down Rosalie, although all she got out of it was ignored.

“Your right glove is going to be your main way of popping your opponent’s bubbleloons aside from the heel of your boots. They only burst the bubbles, so don’t worry about it hurting your opponent more than a slap normally would.”

“Try not to slap your opponent though…”

“Yeah, Naoki will have to give you a yellow card for that.” Rosalie pointed to Naoki, who was flying over the arena with the help of her hot air balloon dress.

“Oh, so there are more rules.” Ce said while putting on her own gloves.

“Yeah but it’s simple stuff. Viola wrote them down on the sign that she hung on the side. Have a look.” Ce and I walked to the side of the stand, which had a large chalkboard hung on it. The rules were written in a rainbow of colours, surrounded by doodles that Viola had too much fun with.

Aim for the bubbleloons and not the person. Don’t attack your opponent directly! -Yellow

Don’t attack the ref (lovely Miss Naoki)! -Red

Don’t pop my (it’s me, Viola) bubbleloons! I’m the announcer! -Red

Don’t fly outside the arena lake and cushion, we don’t want you to be hurt. -Yellow

No using magic, or any other kinds of abilities unless you both agreed to! -Red

No special equipment besides the gloves and boots unless it was also agreed to! -Red

Play nice, don’t be a brat! -Yellow and I’ll be disappointed in you...

Have fun!

Yellow card- Warning, three yellows become a red.

Red card - Naoki will pop your bubbleloons and disqualify you. She may be nice, but she’s the ref!

We headed back to the front, armed with the knowledge of what not to do. Viola was busy getting gum off the stand and her hair, while Rosalie waved us over.

“All read up?”

“Yeah, I think the rules are pretty easy to understand. How about you Violet?” Ce glanced at me.

“It’s basically don’t beat people up and don’t cheat, I feel like I can follow that.”

“That’s good.” Rosalie held her hand out to Viola, who gave her two pouches. She handed me a lilac pouch, and Ce a black and red pouch. “These have your bubbleloons, they’re in the shape of little tablets.” She pulled a pink, squishy tablet from her own pouch.

“Don’t chew them though” Viola leaned over the table and pointed at a weird machine of swirling pipes and tubes in the distance. “We have a machine that will blow them up for you with the right amount of air and no spit.” Not being covered in your own slobber sounds like a plus to me.

“This sounds like it’s going to be fun. Did you two figure out the brackets yet?” I was feeling curious about my first opponent, for all I know, I might have to knock my best friend out of the sky.

“Not everyone came here yet, so we’re waiting. It’ll be ready in about half an hour though.” Rosalie pointed outward, to what looked like the arena. “If you guys want to practice, then go for it. Just don’t pop all your bubbleloons, we only have so many extras.”

“Besides that, have fun!”

“We will!” Ce didn’t seem to have the enthusiasm that I did, but that smile on her face made her seem happy enough.

The two of us made our way to the arena, which was a round lake with a giant, blue inflatable cushion in the middle which covered most of the lake. Two pillars, one a pastel orange and one a powder blue, were on either side of the arena with a large platform on top of each pillar.

Our first stop was the bubbleloon inflator. The machine looked like someone smashed three french horns, a bike pump and tuba together before giving it to Viola so she can add her own little charm. It was a mess of colourful tubes that ended in three different slots to place the bubbleloon tablets, each slot kind of far from each other, with a big pump in the middle. In front of us, Crimi was using the machine, placing blood red tablets in the slots. She pulled up the pump’s plunger before pushing it down with force and backing up, right into Ce.

“Oh, sorry!” Crimi stepped to the side. “Are you two going to participating?”

“Of course, this is gonna fun and kinda interesting. Never thought I would be flying around with balloons for sport, but I guess this is what having magical friends get you.” Ce said.

Crimi’s bubbleloons grew as the tube monstrocity blew more air into them. They had a barely translucent crimson look to them, that worked with Crimi style of cute, frilly gothic dress and blood red hair. The pipe coming from the top of the machine let out the noise of sad tuba, which I guess means it’s done. Crimi pulled her bubbleloons from the machine, each with their own little black string that tied up their end that made me really question how this machine works… I should just leave it at Viola sanctuary magic though. She tied them around her waist, smiling at the bubble trio bobbing above her head that started to tug her upwards.

“I’m going to practice now, I don’t want to be flying around blind. See you two on the battlefi...bubblefield.” With a laugh and a swoosh of her left hand, Crimi was blown into the air.

“We should probably do the same.” Ce said looking at everyone flying about over the arena. “Makes me kind of regret not going with Rosalie all those times she asked to fly with her.” She toyed with her ponytail a bit before taking out three of her own bubbleloons that she put into the machine. With a push of the pump, they started to inflate. Ce’s bubbleloons looked different from everyone elses. While everyone else had a single colour for theirs, Ce’s had a near crimson colour with a black pattern that pretended to be lace over the top, fit with little hearts in the lacy pattern.

“Rosalie isn’t even being close to subtle huh.” I tried to stifle my laughs, but with all that blush on her face, I could tell Ce could notice.

“She just knows my style well, alright… Just blow up your bubbleloons so we can get started.” Ce grabbed and tied her bubbleloons around herself before flying to the air with a face full of blush.

While teasing Ce is fun, it was time for me to touch the sky. I put in my bubbleloons, pumped them up to their full pale lilac glory, and then I flicked my hand up to bring me above the lake with the others. A gale pushed me and by bubbleloons upward. I should have expected this, but I was still caught off guard. Flailing about though wasn’t a good idea as every time I jerked my left hand, I was blown another direction.

“Violet! Relax your hand!” I put my arms to my side and tried to stay still… which ended up working in the end. There I floated in midair, bobbing up and down as my heart slowed. While I regained my composure, Ami flew on next to me, dark purple bubbleloons that matched her long hair above her. “Are you alright. I’m guessing this is your first time?”

“Yeah… Have you done this before?”

“Peri has dragged me to fly with these on several occasios, but this is the first time I’ve used the gloves or done any of this bubble fighting.”

“Oh… Uh” I was about to put my hand to my face, but I paused to make sure I didn’t push myself off to who knows where.

“Don’t be embarrassed, Peri did the same thing. Also as a tip, the gloves only work with sudden movements.” Ami slowly waved with her left hand. That’s good to hear, last thing I want is an itch or something to be my doom.

“Thank you Ami.”

“My, it’s no problem. Try to have fun now, I have to find Peri before everything starts.” She flew off towards the others flying about, leaving me with my bubbleloons.

If flapping my arms like a fool is what’s gonna cause me to end up in a turquoise bath, then I should practice controlling my movements then. I spend my time flicking in all directions, trying to ignore the urge to flail that comes with being tossed through the skies. After getting used to it though, it felt kind of nice. The boost from the wind gave my heart a little rush and slowing to the gentle float of the bubbleloons gave the whole deal a bit of grace. It was also nice to take a look at the bubbleloons themselves and how their skin shines a bright lilac in the sunlight; It’s gonna be a bit of a shame if any of them pop.

Soon, I just started to float there to relax my nerves. Well, until…

“Everyone come to the field, Everyone! The tournament is now starting!” Naoki called out over the arena, causing everyone to float down back to the stand. I joined them, meeting up with Ce who had found Naomi while flying through the sky.

“Heya Violet!” When Naomi saw me drifting to the ground below, she flew up to grab me in a mid-air hug.

“Aw, you two are so cute!” Viola’s voice rang through the crowd with her glitter-covered microphone in hand. “Oh sorry! I forgot this thing was on…” Everyone was staring at us with their own expression, most happy like Tia and Luna, but some just looked bored, like Lynn. The two of us reached the ground, slightly embarrassed having our affection announced, but eh.

“Anyways, is everyone ready to start the first ever, Sweet Paradise bubble fight tournament!” We joined in on the cheer, anticipation filling up the field as much as our bubbleloons did. She slid out of the way of the large chalkboard behind her. “Here’s the tournament bracket for all our wonderful participants!” With a snap of her finger, white dust surround the chalkboard, only for a gust of wind to blow it away to reveal who was against who. “And our first two contestants are… The balloon loving artist of the skies, Gem and The book of emotion’s chosen, Ribbon! Head up to a podium for the start of your match.”

While everyone else was getting ready and focusing on the first match, I look at the bracket to see who I’ll be against. My match looks to be next, against Peri. Great… I’ll either have to lose or make Ami vengeful, at least she’s on the other side of the bracket. Maybe we’ll meet in the finals. Naomi looks to be going against Crimi and Ce versus Rosalynn. Ce’s also on the other side of the bracket, so less chance of ruining that friendship.

“Do you two feel confident?” Ce glanced between me and Naomi, her face holding some anxiety.

“Yeah, I feel pretty ready to burst some of these girl’s bubbles.” I was more excited than I thought I would be, fighting high in the sky probably does that people.

“I’m sure I can take down anyone, even Violet.” Naomi shot me a smirk.

“Hey!” The three of us had a laugh that ended up interrupted by Viola’s tapping on the microphone. Everything was ready for the first match. Gem and Ribbon stood on top of their own pillar, a lake across from each other with Naoki around the middle. Viola floated in the air between the contestants with the help of five pastel blue bubbleloons. Her adorable, frilly dress that matched her bubbleloons mixed with her brown pigtails that flopped all over made her look like a magical girl idol. That’s not too far off from the truth though for Viola.

#writing #for fun #Rosalie #Violet #Ce #Viola

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princessesofauradon · 5 years

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Holiday headcanons for your OC’s?

Adelaide absolutely loves the holiday season, she just hates the cold that comes along with it.

She starts preparing for the holidays on the very first day of November. Adelaide is the kind of person who plans exactly what to get everyone and has it all wrapped and ready to go by the first week of December.

She sits by the fire with a giant mug of hot chocolate and hums along to any holiday songs that happen to be playing

She knows the words to all of them by heart

Adelaide loves the cheesy Christmas movies that air every year. Her favorite is Elf, without a doubt

When the snow falls though, that is a completely different story

She’s in a terrible mood when there’s snow outside, particularly on the day/night of the first snow

Once she gets over that first day of shock she doesn’t mind it. She still won’t go outside voluntarily but she likes looking through the window

After the snow has gathered on the floor she likes watching more fall on top of it, it’s almost as relaxing to her as looking up at the stars

The absolute only time she will ever voluntarily go out in the snow is on Christmas Day

Every year Ben makes the same joke about it being “a Christmas miracle” and every year she laughs and pretends it’s funny

Kellan and Lana don’t really celebrate Christmas themselves per se. Instead, every year they have these giant celebrations for Dionysus to celebrate his birth

He doesn’t like to be outshined so the parties tend to get bigger and grander as they go on. Very rarely does it end well

During the month of December Kellan, and later Lana and Uma, tend to spend more time in Olympus than they do in Auradon.

Kellan likes pointing out all the ways in which Arendelle’s Christmas traditions are basically derived from what his family used to do (and sort of still does)

They do love helping their friends celebrate Christmas though

Lana quickly learns to love the snow and she drags Ben outside all the time. Very often they’ll show up hours later without a care in the world

Kellan’s favorite part of the holiday season is all the holiday songs. He’s knows nearly every single one and can play it without hesitation

He’s like a little kid when it comes to the snow. He starts snowball fights and has races sledding down the hill. He gets tired within an hour and goes inside to watch everyone else with Adelaide

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the day after Christmas they spend up on Olympus with their family. It’s one of the very rare occasions when everyone gets along perfectly fine, they laugh and make jokes and surprisingly don’t get too crazy. They are not to be disturbed by anybody or anything and surprisingly that promise is always kept

Eva, Jasin, and Adrian love the holiday season. Partially because they’re from Arendelle aka the unofficial winter Captial in all of Auradon’s kingdom, but also because they genuinely like it.

Adrian likes it the most. He’s just like his mom in the sense that the snow just fascinates him. Snow always hits Arendelle before it hits Auradon so he will text Eva no matter what time it is and tell her to keep a lookout

He is literally the best as ice skating and it is the only time he shows off. He spins and jumps and twirls like its nobodies business

One of his favorite things of the season is the ringing of the Jule Bell. Every year they go sledding and have a snowball tournament (not just a single fight, a full out tournament), they make dinner together and bake literally hundreds of Christmas cookies

Jasin likes the winter, how could he not? It’s just not his favorite

Mainly it’s because the fjord freezes over and he’s landlocked. Towards the beginning of the winter, he has a lot of fun. He loves watching the snow fall and lowkey makes the best warm glogg (it’s actually one of the only things he can make). Once the holidays pass and there’s nothing to look forward to he quickly grows tired of the cold

Christmas is his favorite holiday by far, he absolutely adores the festivities surrounding it. Every year he has Jane help him plan this little festival for all the kids in Arendelle on the Guardian from where it’s docked for the winter. He gets people to donate presents for them and he, along with a few others, spend a solid week wrapping them all. Every now and then North crashes the party and insists that he’s not Santa, he just pays really good attention

Eva loves the winter, especially because it’s the time of year where she’s in her element. Literally and figuratively

She’s been known to walk around outside with no jacket on. At most, she’ll wear a sweater. The only coats she owns are because they look good “I don’t get cold. I’m made of it”

When she first started at Auradon Prep she took it upon herself to decorate her and Audrey’s room just like the castle back in Arendelle. Since then it’s sort of expanded to the rest of the school. Her dad visits a lot, especially on snow days. “Dad, we can’t have snow days. We live here” “You can if you make snow fall fast enough” More often than not Kristoff and Sven tag along cause “the castle gets boring sometimes”

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efffwfw3ew · 2 years

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However, according to the New York Times, from October 15 to November 23 last year, the last few weeks of Trump’s fierce struggle with Biden, as Trump’s approval rate in polls fell, the wealthy Republican Party Fund owners basically stopped helping Trump, which became a new sign that they are ready to cooperate with Biden. For example, Marvel Entertainment CEO Isaac Perlmutter donated US$21 million to Trump’s Super Political Action Committee "America Priority Action", but he has not donated to the Trump team since mid-October. . In addition, many big money owners did not provide funds in the subsequent legal battles initiated by Trump.

　　 After the riots on Capitol Hill, President Trump’s business allies began to distance themselves from him. The "National Manufacturers Association" of the United States, which has thousands of member companies, was originally a supporter of Trump, but it was the first to call on Vice President Pence to "activate the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to remove the president."

　　 Even some of Trump's friends who supported him in the past seem to be alienating him. Schwarzman, the chief executive of the private equity giant Blackstone Group and Trump's long-time close friend, has not donated to any groups that support Trump in recent weeks. The head of the U.S. Professional Golf Association said that it will no longer hold tournaments at Trump Golf Club in New Jersey. Some entrepreneurs said that they would consider not renting the Trump International Hotel and office buildings under Trump's name. German "Der Spiegel" weekly said on the 17th that "the Trump brand has completely failed." Now, the name Trump is of little use in the business world. Whether it's real estate, golf courses or ice rinks: the once precious image has been destroyed, and even European companies no longer do business with Trump.

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hthhhtht · 2 years

Text

"Capital leaves the market and shows its'political muscle'!" The ugliness and cruelty of American money politics gave Trump a heavy blow to Trump who was about to leave the White House.

　　As one of the "most pro-business presidents", Trump has allowed Wall Street giants and multinational corporations to earn a lot of real money in the past four years. However, before and after this election, especially after the Capitol riots, the relationship between American capital and the poorly performing Trump has deteriorated rapidly. More and more companies and big money owners are collaborating with Trump and the Republican Party that opposes the recognition of the election results. The parliamentarians "seceded their seats." German "Capital" magazine wrote: "Dozens of large American companies are stepping on the brakes. They cover almost all economic sectors, from Wall Street to the oil industry to the large technology companies in Silicon Valley. Money plays a decisive role in the American electoral system. This role is often disgraceful." As a "game trader" in electoral politics, the capital power of the United States is currently busy "punishing" Trump and his followers, but in the long run, it is out of Will the big money owners who consider their own interests really sever ties with the Republican Party?

　　"Abandoned by capital, Trump brand completely failed"

　　 It is well known that the Republican Party has been regarded as the "party of large corporations" for decades. The Republican Party's support for low taxes and loose regulation is like a nectar to corporate giants who are eager to increase profits and avoid government entanglement. Therefore, CEOs and large companies are reliable funders of Republicans on the ballot.

　　 Some Silicon Valley giants are equally thorough with Trump. Although Silicon Valley generally supports the Democratic Party, Oracle has maintained a close relationship with the White House in the past few years, and company executives have also donated money to the Trump campaign. Oracle CEO Safra Katz and the company’s founder Larry Ellison believe that the Capitol Hill riots have had a negative impact on Trump’s ruling legacy, and the two have been with Trump since 2016. Hot relationship. At the beginning of last year, Trump participated in a fundraiser for the re-election campaign at Ellison's home in California.

　　 The bigger trouble is yet to come. In the past 10 days, dozens of large companies, including Bank of America, Disney, and AT&T, have announced the suspension of donations to all politicians who support the Capitol riots or refuse to recognize the results of the election and the political action committees that support them. . In addition to Trump, the banned also included dozens of heavyweight Republican senators and congressmen, including Cruz and Holly.

　　 According to a report from the Washington Post on the 15th, some American companies said they plan to suspend political donations to 147 members of Congress who opposed the election certification results. Marriott International, the world's largest hotel group, and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, the largest medical insurance organization in the United States, have announced that they will suspend donations to Republican congressmen who openly challenged Biden's victory. The chemical giant Dow Chemical said that for any congressman who voted against the election results, all political contributions will be suspended. The suspension will last for one election cycle, with two years for the House of Representatives and six years for the Senators.

　　 After the Capitol riots, many American technology giants, including Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, and AT&T, have expressed their reassessment or suspension of political donations. Hallmark cards, known for making greeting cards, even demanded refunds from two Republican senators Holly and Marshall. In the past two years, the company has donated $7,000 to Holly's campaign and $5,000 to Marshall's campaign. American online payment company Stripe also said that it will no longer process payments for Trump's campaign. A Bank of America spokesperson said that the "shocking attack on Congress" will affect the agency's decision to donate in the 2022 congressional mid-term elections.

A former U.S. government official from the Republican Party told the Global Times reporter that the reason Trump and his supporters in the Republican Party were abandoned and punished by capital forces was because it undermined the "rules of the game" of American democracy. Obviously forgot that the real traders of the game are these capital forces. Of course, there are a few exceptions. The American Bankers Association is one of the biggest donors to Republicans who oppose the election results. It currently has no plans to suspend donations.

　　 "In America, money is the breast milk of politics"

　　 Another article in the "New York Times" was titled "Capital Departure" that some heavyweight investment banks and banks are suspending all political donations. For example, Goldman Sachs will freeze its donations to the Political Action Committee and will "comprehensively evaluate the behavior of politicians during this period." But it is worth mentioning that the Trump administration’s economic team has a close relationship with Wall Street Financial Group, and there are many "Golden Sachs"-Treasury Secretary Mnuchin worked for Goldman Sachs and Soros Fund Management Company successively, and served as White House economic adviser. Cohen also served as the president of Goldman Sachs.

　　 JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, the two largest banks in the United States, stated that they will suspend all federal donations to Republican and Democratic lawmakers for six months. Citigroup’s head of global government affairs, Wolff, stated in a memo to employees, “We will not support candidates who do not respect the rule of law.” The memorandum also stated that Citigroup had donated money to Missouri Republican Senator Holly, who took the lead in opposing the certification of Biden’s victory in 2019, because the group has many employees in the state. According to statistics from the U.S. Political Donation Database, Citigroup donated $742,000 to federal candidates from 2019 to 2020, of which 56% went to Republican candidates.

　　 As stated by the Russian Satellite News Network, large American companies and special interest groups are throwing money away in exchange for these "seed players" to "repay the money" when they gain power. According to Vox News, in 2018, Trump’s White House Budget Office Director Mike Mahwani told 1,300 bankers and loan industry professionals at a meeting: “My office is classed in Congress. If You are a lobbyist who has never donated funds, and I will not speak to you. If you are a donor, I might speak to you."

Former California State Speaker Jesse Unlu said: "In the United States, money is the breast milk of politics." The Washington Post article also wrote: "The first lesson of political reporting is to understand the importance of money. Political reporters need data to provide substantive content for the report. The amount of money raised is the hardware. To find clues in the candidate’s bank account, the richer has the power. The more money the candidate raises, it is used for production and advertising. The more funds you have.” Sheldon Adelson, founder of Las Vegas Sands Group, who died on January 12, was a super player of “money politics”. The American media ridiculed that those Republicans who are interested in running for Congress and even the President would go to the casino to meet Adelson. Such a meeting is like the former accepting the latter's "interview". In the two general elections in 2016 and 2020, Adelson is the Republican party’s largest funder.

　　 The website of the Center for American Progress stated that the United States is facing a crisis of corporate seizure of democratic government. Corporate economic power has been transformed into political power, which has a catastrophic impact on people’s lives. The dominance of corporate and commercial interests is not only reflected in election expenses, but also in lobbying elected officials and decision makers.

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roninkairi · 7 years

Text

Twilight of the Wii-U, Part 1

In 5 days time, the Nintendo Switch will finally be released to the general public along with the newest Legend of Zelda game, Breath of the Wild. Ironically, this game will also be known as the final release for the Nintendo Wii-U from Nintendo (other games from indie developers may be made, but at this point we will assume they will focus mainly on Switch support)

Considering the average life span of most systems, the Switch’s release comes at a time when the Wii-U can no longer be supported by first and second party support solely. Sure there are a few 3rd party games, but not the number needed to sustain the system. Fortunately though, there are a few gems to get and devote some time to, and there a a LOT of other games you may have overlooked in these past 5-6 years. So I decided to draw up a list of must have Wii-U titles that you really should give a go.

AND NO, I AM NOT GONNA SAY BREATH OF THE WILD BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY I DO NOT HAVE IT YET.

With that said...

SONIC AND ALL STAR RACING TRANSFORMED

It may not be Sonic’s first foray into the racing genre (Looking right at you Sonic R), but this game is a welcome addition to the mascot racing franchise. Along with many of Sonic’s friends and foes, you get racers and courses from various titles in the SEGA library (Yeah, even Panzer Dragoon gets a course here) and features of all guest stars Wreck It Ralph. And the races are pretty challenging; you will be driving down a hill one minute, next lap your ride will turn into a jet and scream across the skies firing missiles at your opponents. And we also get the return of Segata Sanshiro, proving that not even the death of the Dreamcast can keep a damn tough man down.

Now speaking of Sonic…

SONIC LOST WORLDS

Ok, lets face facts; the first two Sonic Boom titles sucked. (the 3rd one however did not thankfully) but this one was really decent. There was more emphasis on action and running than in the previous games and the DLC from Nintendo of all people was pretty freaking sweet.

SHANTAE AND THE PIRATE’S CURSE

If you are suffering from a severe lack of 2D MetroidVania like games, this game is for you. From those genius programmers at Wayfoward (who also did another must have game, DuckTales Remastered) the game has a great script and a pretty solid game world to explore. While it may be on the short side for some, it is fun and you can challenge yourself to speed runs to unlock art. And the sense of humor is very self aware.

RUNBOW

Basically the game is best described as “how to screw over your friends almost as badly as in Mario Party”, but instead of Mario, we get to run and jump with a collection of various characters, some from games you really, REALLY need to try (Like Shovel Knight and Guacamelee). The shifting colors that can give or take away needed platforms at a moment’s notice add to the frantic pace as you try to outwit the other players and reach the goal. But do not blame me when your buddy decides to use an item to swap yplaces with you, you really should have seen it coming you bastard don’t blame me for your screw ups—

I digress…

TEKKEN TAG TOURNAMENT WII-U EDITion

Yes, believe it or not, Tekken is on the Wii-U. And along with the DLC from the previous edition, you get a few more Nintendo themed costumes and play modes. Because nothing says “I will kill you until you die from it” like a giant Steve Fox dressed as Fox McCloud.

NINJA GAIDEN 3: RAZOR’S EDGE

So, funny story, when this game was released people were complaining about Nintendo not having mature rated games on their systems and were understandably worried, as this looked to be a straight port. The opposite however proved to be true; Razor’s Edge brought back many of the elements from past NG games that was removed from the original, plus removed certain scenes and actions that were controversial. And, amazingly enough, the violent content was INCREASED. (Seriously, did you ever think you would play a game where Kasumi of all kunoichi would rip a guy in two with her blade?) And the game is also tough as balls. Good luck with Stage 3 the first time around on Normal…

That will do it for this part. Next time, I will focus on 1st and 2nd party games.

#Nintendo #Wii-U #Sonic The Hedgehog #Sonic And All Stars Racing Transformed #Sonic Lost Worlds #Shantae And The Pirate's Curse #Runbow #Shantae #Tekken #tekken tag tournament 2 #Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge #Ryu Hayabusa

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jade-mod · 7 years

Photo

‘Nother slow day at work, so gonna babble a bit about my longest-running D&D character, Boffin Barrow.

(Sorry can't put under a read more break right now, will try to remember to fix when home)

Pictured above is not Boffin as I know him best, but rather an aged version of the 'original’ Boffin- requested by the DM of that campaign to be used as an NPC in a new campaign he was running set in the same world. This Boffin started out as the most generic halfling rogue imaginable- but slowly distinguished himself over time. Here he is retired from the adventuring life, after reaching the top in his Thieves Guild, now he runs the world’s first chain of taverns- the Fat Apple. The particular establishment he looks over is situated on the top of a giant flying sea turtle.

Boffin, however, developed the most in a DIFFERENT campaign in which he got much more playtime- a campaign started in college and still running today. THAT Boffin has become known by some as 'Boffin the Mad’, to most as “Boffin Barrow, Emperor of the Moon, King of Taradonia, God of the Flaverons, Prince of Halflings etc. etc. etc.” (he has accrued quite the list of titles, some more legitimate than others).

But let’s start at the beginning. Boffin comes from a large clan of halflings, who resided in a literal Barrow complex- constantly at odds with the former inhabitants: various wights and other undead. Boffin learned young to hate such beings, and how to effectively fight them.

Boffin eventually left his overcrowded home to seek his fortune- and the rest is history. Meeting up first with Pewter the Half-orc, another traveler "from the east", and shared in a good many adventures with him before encountering later additions to the party. The two of them had a bad habit of asking too many questions of local NPCs, always earning them a "you're not from around here, are you?" Boffin ended up spending most of his early loot on fine clothes, and began telling people he was the "Prince of Halflings".

After winning a local tournament, he was invited to dine with the royal family, who Boffin got along well with and managed to convince them that he too was a royal. He later helped them clear out a local evil cult, and was granted his first real title, Thain of Henging, a small town centered around a stone circle which was the center of the cults' activity. He turned it into a spooky tourist destination, and began advertising for it while continuing his adventures.

Boffin eventually traveled north to unclaimed land known as "The Waste"- which he was surprised to find not a wasteland, but merely undeveloped and sparsely inhabited. He found a suitable hill in which to make his new home, and in a subterranean pond beneath discovered Minerva the nymph. Boffin had encountered nymphs before and did not like them- they were always trying to charm him and drown him. But Minerva seemed uninterested in the usual nymph sleaziness- seeming happy just to have someone reasonable to talk too after a long life alone in a cave. She did however later conspire to marry Boffin, and after a wacky series of shenanigans succeeded.

Boffin claimed "The Waste" for himself, and experienced in the ways of advertising after running Henging, promoted his new kingdom with the slogan "everything is better in The Waste!", encouraging immigration through promises of free land and no taxes. The city of Barrow formed around his hill, and he founded the Kingdom of Taradonia (Tarodin being a god of Wisdom that had been favoring Boffin). As with most things Boffiny, the title was still a bit of an exaggeration- the "kingdom" being barely the size of an English shire (though being subdivided into four "shires" of its own.

Running a kingdom doesn't stop Boffin from adventuring- Minerva often rules in his stead- and frankly does a better job of it- she's quite clever- not that much administering actually needs to be done- most actual governing and lawmaking is done by local Moots.

There's a lot more I COULD say about Boffin and his adventures, but that sounds like a good basic history for now! I'll probably expand on him later, or answer questions about him if anyone's curious!

#d&d #dungeons and dragons #gamestuff #Boffin Barrow #halfling #character #d&d character #long post #art #my art

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preciousmetals0 · 4 years

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March Madness; Disney Sadness; Apple Gladness

March Madness; Disney Sadness; Apple Gladness:

Friday Four Play: The “Take It to the Limit” Edition

The third time’s the charm, right?

That’s what they say, anyway. Dow futures hit the circuit breakers once again this morning as markets took it to the limit … one more time.

Most of us are sad after Wall Street experienced its worst day since 1987’s Black Monday. The rest of us are wondering what to do with the rest of March now that March Madness is officially canceled.

Now that’s madness!

But it’s not only the NCAA tournament. The NBA suspended its season, as did the NHL, Major League Soccer and European soccer.

The MLB delayed opening day for at least two weeks and canceled spring training.

The PGA will still hold tournaments, but without spectators. Who will the announcers shush now? It’s just not the same!

It’s clearly a bad time to be a sportsball fan.

Getting back to the heart of the matter, Wall Street’s in rally mode today. Optimism is growing over a promised White House coronavirus bill … though what’s ultimately in this bill may or may not help you through the night.

Wall Street has been living life in the fast lane, with easy money driving massive bullish trading in the city.

Right now, however, we need to learn to be still. Remain calm. Don’t get lured into either the rush to sell or the rush to buy. Today’s rally may just turn out to be a sucker’s rally, so there’s no need to rush into today’s buying spree, guns blazing, like a desperado.

After all, the markets won’t have their pretty maids all in a row for some time. If you don’t plan to invest properly for the long run, you’re in for a heartache tonight … I know.

So, put me on Wall Street and show me a sign. And take it to the limit … one more time.

And now for something completely different … here’s your Friday Four Play:

No. 1: A Whole New World

I don’t know what timeline we’re stuck in, but I never thought I’d see the day when The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) closed all its parks at once.

From Florida to Paris, Disney announced this morning that it will cease all park operations as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus.

“In an abundance of caution and in the best interest of our guests and employees, we are proceeding with the closure of our theme parks at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and Disneyland Paris Resort, beginning at the close of business on Sunday, March 15, through the end of the month,” Disney said in a statement.

Here at Great Stuff, we expected this announcement and anticipated that it’d lead to heavy selling pressure. However, since the closures arrived on a rally day for the markets, DIS stock is actually gaining despite the news.

We wanted to tell you that this would be a buying opportunity for DIS. But now … I think we’ll hold off until investors finally digest this historic event — especially since park revenue makes up about 26% of Disney’s total sales for the year. Ouch.

No. 2: Slackin’ Off

On the surface, Slack Technologies Inc. (NYSE: WORK) appeared to put in a solid fourth quarter. Earnings and revenue (which jumped 49%) each topped analysts’ expectations.

However, guidance for both the first quarter and the full year were on the light side. This was especially disconcerting for Wall Street, which expected big things from a company that enables working from home through the COVID-19 outbreak.

Digging deeper into the report, we find that fourth-quarter losses more than doubled year over year. What’s more, most of the new users flooding into Slack due to the coronavirus are free users. Convincing those freemium users to buy amid uncertain market conditions will be tough indeed.

As a result, Wall Street sent Slack packin’ to the tune of more than 25% today.

No. 3: The Beginning of the End?

The last time we checked in on Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL), the iPhone maker was shuttering its retail locations across China and issuing profit warnings — a veritable canary in a coal mine.

It’s fitting, then, that Apple is now the dove carrying an olive branch of hope.

What’s that, little bird? Oh, Apple is reopening all 42 of its Chinese retail locations?! That’s great news!

But there’s more…

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) analyst Aaron Rakers upgraded Apple stock from equal weight to overweight. Why? Rakers expects Apple to outperform, noting that the tech giant is “under-owned in large cap fundament funds.”

Wait … you mean to tell me that, after two weeks of the harshest selling we’ve seen in years (decades, even) … funds don’t own enough AAPL shares?

Fascinating … it’s not like everyone was dumping nearly every stock they owned recently, including Apple. Tell me more! Is water wet? Is the sky blue? Can sheep bladders really be used to prevent earthquakes?

Now, even the good news comes with a warning: “While it is still admittedly difficult (impossible) to gauge the fundamental impact Apple may realize from the COVID-19 outbreak, at current levels we think shares offer a compelling risk / reward for long-term patient investors.”

Is Rakers too soon? Too late? Either way, we’ll see what kind of financial shape Apple is in when the company reports its second-quarter earnings in a couple of months.

AAPL shares are up about 4.2% at last check. Nice.

No. 4: Occidentally on Purpose

For some, market collapses are a time to hunker down, save capital and prepare for the worst. For others, it’s time to go hunting.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that activist investor Carl Icahn gobbled up nearly 10% of Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s (NYSE: OXY) shares during the recent market downturn. That’s right: In the middle of the Russia/Saudi Arabia pillow fight over oil prices, when oil service companies were getting beaten to death, Carl drank Occidental’s milkshake … drank it right up.

Icahn not believe it, and neither could Occidental. Today, the company’s board adopted a “poison pill” to prevent Carl from completely taking over. The pill (definitely not the little blue kind) is designed to limit shareholder rights for one year should any one shareholder acquire 15% or more of OXY shares outstanding.

Basically, Occidental just turned off the tap on Icahn’s share-siphoning program. Investors aren’t happy, however, as OXY is one of the few stocks struggling in today’s broad market rally.

Great Stuff: Happy Little Trees

Weeks like this make me want to put on Bob Ross and drift off to thoughts of happy little trees.

If this week’s whiplash was tough for you, you aren’t alone. Although … let’s not kid ourselves.

We aren’t through this yet. We have no idea how markets will react as the virus seeps deeper and deeper into the bowels of America. There will be more volatility to come — I’d almost guarantee it, but you know … irrational markets and all.

Just remember…

Optimism is just as contagious as the virus … and all the worry that comes with it. If you’re searching for some much-needed positivity to start the weekend, search no more.

No matter what the markets look like now, we will get through this. Business will go on. Life … uhhh … finds a way!

And you better believe that Mickey Mouse ain’t dead.

At times like this, you can count on Banyan Hill expert Paul Mampilly to keep looking forward.

Paul’s “Strong Hands” approach to investing is crucial for times like this. He believes America will emerge from the coronavirus stronger than ever … no matter how long it takes. And the mega trends that he follows (such as 5G and precision medicine) won’t die to market panic.

Click here to learn about Paul Mampilly’s vision for a new, rebuilt United States — America 2.0 … complete with Strong Hands and happy little trees.

That’s all for this week. But don’t fret, you can get more meme-y market goodness by following us on Facebook and Twitter!

Until next time, good trading!

Regards,

Joseph Hargett

Editor, Great Stuff

0 notes

goldira01 · 4 years

Link

Friday Four Play: The “Take It to the Limit” Edition

The third time’s the charm, right?

That’s what they say, anyway. Dow futures hit the circuit breakers once again this morning as markets took it to the limit … one more time.

Now that’s madness!

But it’s not only the NCAA tournament. The NBA suspended its season, as did the NHL, Major League Soccer and European soccer.

The MLB delayed opening day for at least two weeks and canceled spring training.

The PGA will still hold tournaments, but without spectators. Who will the announcers shush now? It’s just not the same!

It’s clearly a bad time to be a sportsball fan.

Wall Street has been living life in the fast lane, with easy money driving massive bullish trading in the city.

After all, the markets won’t have their pretty maids all in a row for some time. If you don’t plan to invest properly for the long run, you’re in for a heartache tonight … I know.

So, put me on Wall Street and show me a sign. And take it to the limit … one more time.

And now for something completely different … here’s your Friday Four Play:

No. 1: A Whole New World

I don’t know what timeline we’re stuck in, but I never thought I’d see the day when The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) closed all its parks at once.

From Florida to Paris, Disney announced this morning that it will cease all park operations as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus.

No. 2: Slackin’ Off

On the surface, Slack Technologies Inc. (NYSE: WORK) appeared to put in a solid fourth quarter. Earnings and revenue (which jumped 49%) each topped analysts’ expectations.

As a result, Wall Street sent Slack packin’ to the tune of more than 25% today.

No. 3: The Beginning of the End?

The last time we checked in on Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL), the iPhone maker was shuttering its retail locations across China and issuing profit warnings — a veritable canary in a coal mine.

It’s fitting, then, that Apple is now the dove carrying an olive branch of hope.

What’s that, little bird? Oh, Apple is reopening all 42 of its Chinese retail locations?! That’s great news!

But there’s more…

Wait … you mean to tell me that, after two weeks of the harshest selling we’ve seen in years (decades, even) … funds don’t own enough AAPL shares?

Is Rakers too soon? Too late? Either way, we’ll see what kind of financial shape Apple is in when the company reports its second-quarter earnings in a couple of months.

AAPL shares are up about 4.2% at last check. Nice.

No. 4: Occidentally on Purpose

For some, market collapses are a time to hunker down, save capital and prepare for the worst. For others, it’s time to go hunting.

Basically, Occidental just turned off the tap on Icahn’s share-siphoning program. Investors aren’t happy, however, as OXY is one of the few stocks struggling in today’s broad market rally.

Great Stuff: Happy Little Trees

Weeks like this make me want to put on Bob Ross and drift off to thoughts of happy little trees.

If this week’s whiplash was tough for you, you aren’t alone. Although … let’s not kid ourselves.

Just remember…

Optimism is just as contagious as the virus … and all the worry that comes with it. If you’re searching for some much-needed positivity to start the weekend, search no more.

No matter what the markets look like now, we will get through this. Business will go on. Life … uhhh … finds a way!

And you better believe that Mickey Mouse ain’t dead.

At times like this, you can count on Banyan Hill expert Paul Mampilly to keep looking forward.

Click here to learn about Paul Mampilly’s vision for a new, rebuilt United States — America 2.0 … complete with Strong Hands and happy little trees.

That’s all for this week. But don’t fret, you can get more meme-y market goodness by following us on Facebook and Twitter!

Until next time, good trading!

Regards,

Joseph Hargett

Editor, Great Stuff

#Timor Invest

0 notes

clanmccrackengaming · 5 years

Text

With the threat of the Death Knight taken care of and with Flayn safely turned to the loving care of her brother, we can look to the month ahead. This month I am instructed that this month the monastery hosts the traditional Battle of Eagle and Lion. Prior to digging in, there are the usual certifications to take care of.

Mage

Armored Knight

Chapter 6

Week 1: Explore

Starting off with explore, because what else would I do, the main thing that everyone seems to be worried about is a fishing tournament being held in Flayn ‘s Honor. Basically catch the biggest fish that Flayn is requesting. In an odd turn, I was actually disappointed that I caught the 5 star fish she wanted on the first cast. Oh well.

I asked Ingrid to help out this month

Choir practice. A student wanted me to deliver a love letter to Lady Rhea; Rhea wasn’t even remotely impressed. To finish off my activity points I trained Swords with Rhea, and faith with Manuella. Ate a meal with Claude and Leonie, and another with Petra and Ingrid.

Week 2: Fight

Because of my current professor rank, I now get to participate in 2 battles a fight phase. There is still a paralogue available but I am not confident at all about being able to tackle it just yet. Instead I decide to clear out the active quests I have. The first one, Banish the Bandits is really easy. Its the same map as the mock battle in chapter 2, starting in the exact same place. My tactics are not anything special, bait each enemy one at a time, gang up on them, and heal up for the next one. I gained the following levels:

Marianne hit level 14 with her customary terrible level up

Petra, following Marianne’s terrible example also has a bad level

Petra was the MVP

The second battle, Best of the Best, pitted me against the best of Felix’s house. Again nothing special, Tanks and Spanks.

Sigh

>.<

Petra…

So at this point I am starting to worry. So far this chapter I am 5 for 5 Terrible levels

Week 3: Explore

Before exploring, Lysithea and Petra tested for certifications. Lysithea took the Priest class, and Petra attempted to go for Pegasus knight.

With as terrible as her RNG has been, I had serious doubts about her ability to pass this.

I spent all my time eating with students in an attempt to max out all of their motivation and to get Ingrid to ask to be in my house.

Week 4: Fight

Again I get 2 fights.

First up is Battle in the mountains

Petra… I am going to bench you if you keep this up

Is… is that one of those mythical 3 stat level ups?

ANOTHER 3!? Is this reality?

Now I know I am dreaming, if Marianne was able to get a 4.

No. Petra is not the MVP. She cant be the MVP till she gets a level that doesn’t suck.

The second battle was one that I had actually never played before. So this was pretty interesting. it involved fighting 4 giant worms in the sand. Sadly the sand hampers movement of everyone but mages and flyers. So it was interesting. Though this mechanic was offset somewhat by the fact that the worms had such a great movement that I didn’t even really have to leave the starting area. They all came to me.

Et tu, Claude?

Assignment

The battle of Eagle and Wolf takes place in the place of an old battle. It pits the three houses against each other in a battle royal, much like the mock battle. The main differences are that I get access to the entire house and not just 5, I am the only teacher on the field this time, and the winner is the house that defeats the most people. I suspect that it is possible to lose the map, even if you are the last one remaining, if you don’t defeat enough opposing members.

Honestly I have to say that I was surprised at how easy this battle was. I was expecting something absolutely brutal but that wasn’t the case. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that this battle carries the no-permadeath rule of the mock battle before but it was a breeze. Each house actively fought each other. Both Dimitri and Edelgaurd sent troops at me, and each other. Instead of just attempting to overwhelm me. Because of that, I really didn’t have to engage more than 1 or 2 units at a time.

Two main things of note

First, Bernedetta starts the map on top of the center hill and controls the Batista which has a massive range on it. I ended up losing Lysithea in the third turn because of her She needs to be taken out as soon as possible if you want to advance farther into the map.

Second, your opponents have access to rules that you don’t have. Namely, as they defeat units, they get higher and higher boosted stats. If you let them defeat too many units, they will become disgustingly powerful. even more so then their boosted levels would give them. By the end of the battle, Edelgard and Dimitri were both strong enough to one shot anyone they came in contact with.

You can see here, had Byleth not gotten the crit he got, Dimitri would have 1 rounded me easily.

Other than those though, the map was a breeze. No need to go into a step by step.

Here are the levels I got:

100% garbage levels so far…

See this Petra? 2 6 stat levels in a single battle. Why cant you do this!?

This chapter was terrible for me level up wise. I hope some of these characters are still recoverable.

Overview

Byleth +2 Levels: +1HP, +2Str, +2Mag, +1Dex, +2Spd, +1Lck, +1Def, +2Cha Petra +4 Levels: +4Str, +1Dex, +1Spd, +1Lck, +1Res Claude +2 Levels: +1Mag, +2Dex, +1Spd, +1Def, +1Res, +1Cha Lysithea +2 Levels: +1Mag, +2Dex, +1Def, +1Res Flayn +1 Level: +1HP, +1Dex, +1Spd Leonie +1 Level: +1Dex, +1Spd Marianne +2 Levels: +1Mag, +1Dex, +2Spd, +1Lck, +1Cha Hilda +1 Level: +1HP, +1Spd, +1Lck Raphael +1 Level: +1HP, +1Str, +1Lck Lorenz +1 Level: +1Mag, +1Spd

Total number of levels gained: 103

Total number of unsatisfactory levels ( >= 2 Stat ups): 37

Total number of null levels (0 Stat ups): 0

Remember the Fallen

FE Golden Deer Maddening: Chapter 7 With the threat of the Death Knight taken care of and with Flayn safely turned to the loving care of her brother, we can look to the month ahead.

#Chapter 7 #Fire Emblem: Three Houses #Golden Deer #Journal #Maddening

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danalberard · 6 years

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18 Ways to Enjoy Winter in Buffalo in 2018

Ice biking. Tobogganing. Skiing, skating and snowshoeing. And a winter festival nearly every weekend.

Buffalo is one of America’s great winter cities. We’re famous for our lake effect snow, and make the most of it with a full slate of seasonal activities and events. It’s the Buffalo winter The Weather Channel doesn’t show you.

Here are 18 ways to enjoy winter 2018 in Buffalo.

1. The Ice at Canalside – This is the epicenter of Buffalo’s winter fun. One of the country’s largest outdoor skating rinks, built on a historic replica of the Erie Canal, became an instant hit when it opened in December of 2014. Attractions like the dynamic nightly illumination of a nearby grain elevator and an indoor winter pavilion add to the fun.

2. The Larkinville Ice Festival – Jan. 27 – Larkinville’s third annual winter celebration includes live music, vendors, snowman making, winter craft market, and winter versions of Kan-Jam, pickleball and cornhole. Warm up afterward with a cold beer across the street at Hydraulic Hearth or Flying Bison Brewing Co.

3. The Buffalo Auto Show – Feb. 8-11 – Winter means the latest and greatest sets of wheels have just hit the market. Shop around for one, or just picture yourself in a new car at this annual winter staple held at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center.

Chestnut Ridge Tobogganing

4. Chestnut Ridge Winter Festival – Jan. 28 – The giant fireplace inside the Chestnut Ridge Park lodge will be roaring. Outside, one of the region’s largest sledding hills with views of downtown Buffalo will be ready for sledding and tobogganing. Marshmallow roasting, arts and crafts and hayrides are all part of the fun too.

5. Snowshoes & Hot Cocoa – Jan 28 & Feb. 3 – Borrow a pair of snowshoes from the Martin House for a trip through Delaware Park and finish the trek at the Martin House for some hot cocoa! Afterwards participants have the option of taking a tour of the beautiful house. FREE for snowshoeing and hot chocolate. Optional Darwin Martin House tour $10 a person.

6. 2018 Labatt Blue Pond Hockey – Feb. 11-18 – One of the largest and most prominent pond hockey tournaments in the country takes place on Buffalo’s waterfront at RiverWorks.

Ice Bikes of Buffalo at Canalside

7. Ice Biking – Take a ride on the Buffalo sensation that’s sweeping the nation. The Ice Bikes of Buffalo, fitted with a stainless steel frame to allow for easy pedaling and steering on the ice, have become an instant classic since debuting at the Ice at Canalside, which also offers skating, curling and other opportunities for winter fun.

8. Niagara Falls in the Winter – Mist from the falls freezes on the surrounding trees, creating an ice covered forest. And during an especially cold winter, portions of the falls even appear to freeze.

9. Lumagination at the Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens – Wednesdays through Saturdays starting January 25 through February 21. See this Buffalo institution in a whole new light at night, as colorful illumination gives the gardens an entirely different look and feel.

10. Watching a Queen City Roller Girls Match – Since moving to Buffalo RiverWorks’ new roller derby track, the Queen City Roller Girls’ tournaments have become a must-see event on Buffalo’s waterfront.

11. Hot Spots – A coffeehouse boom has taken over Buffalo, with more cozy spots caffeinating the city than ever before. Head to Tipico Coffee, Daily Planet Coffee Co., public espresso + coffee or more for a liquid warm up.

12. Soup, There It Is! Attend Buffalo Soup-Fest at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center on January 28. Buffalo is best to experience by the bowlful!

13. Catch a hockey game at HarborCenter – The new $200 million complex on Buffalo’s waterfront offers plenty of opportunities for watching great hockey as the home ice for the Canisius College Golden Griffins and the Buffalo Beauts women’s team.

14. See ‘Art of the Senses’ at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery – Need an afternoon-long break from winter? Now through January 28th, Out of Sight! Art of the Senses brings together contemporary works of art that actively engage with how our bodies meet the wider world through the five basic senses.

The downhill trails at Kissing Bridge.

15. Rotary Rink Skating – The original outdoor downtown skating rink continues to be an affordable option for families. Admission is free, and skate rentals are only $2 for children and $3 for adults.

16. Arctic Edge at the Buffalo Zoo – Cold days are perfect for checking out the state-of-the-art polar bear exhibit that recently debuted at the Buffalo Zoo.

17. Skiing at Kissing Bridge – Slalom, schuss and shred powder on the dozen of downhill trails available at Kissing Bridge, less than 40 minutes from downtown Buffalo.

18. Comfort Food – Buffalo winters work up an appetite only satisfied by some of the world’s best comfort foods whether it’s the fried chicken from Toutant, fish fry from Gene McCarthy’s, Mac ‘n cheese & collard greens from Mattie’s or the legendary spaghetti parm from Chef’s.

Looking for more winter inspiration? Download our new winter guide.

The post 18 Ways to Enjoy Winter in Buffalo in 2018 appeared first on Visit Buffalo Niagara.

from Blog – Visit Buffalo Niagara http://www.visitbuffaloniagara.com/18-ways-enjoy-winter-buffalo-2018/

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junker-town · 7 years

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Top daily fantasy football plays for Week 10 of the NFL season

With Week 10 of the NFL season upon us, we take a look at some of the best values to be found on DraftKings and FanDuel, and some players worth fading.

SB Nation will be bringing you the top Daily Fantasy options each week through the regular season and into the playoffs. We have a small sample size of which offenses look good to target, and others we should avoid until further notice. As for who should be in your lineups, here are the top value plays of the week, with an eye toward low ownership and high upside.

Quarterback

Matt Stafford, Detroit Lions vs. Cleveland Browns ($6,800 DK, $8,200 FD)

It’s an absolute dream matchup for Stafford, yet he comes in as the third-highest quarterback on DraftKings. One wonders if he would have swapped places with top-priced QB Dak Prescott if Stafford’s Week 9 gem was on Sunday and the Ezekiel Elliott news came out before pricing was released. Basically, Stafford is underpriced for his matchup and recent production, a fact that DFS player should exploit.

Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams vs. Houston Texans ($6,700 DK, $8,200 FD)

For the reasons listed above, Stafford figures to be the most-owned quarterback on the board, which makes Goff a nice tournament pivot at $100 less. Not that Goff won’t be similarly high-owned, but the difference between him and Stafford ought to be enough to justify the pivot. Goff is coming off a four-touchdown game and could come close to repeating it against a poor Texans pass defense.

Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers at Indianapolis Colts ($6,600 DK, $7,600 FD)

It’s always a little dicey recommending Big Ben on the road. But with two weeks to heal up and prepare, and facing the truly dreadful Colts pass defense, Roethlisberger looks as good a play as he has been all season. The only concern here is that Le’Veon Bell has such a good matchup that Roethlisberger might not be needed as much. But part of what makes Bell so attractive is the Colts’ 32nd-ranked defense against pass-catching backs, so Roethlisberger could soak up yards and touchdowns just through short passes to Bell.

Josh McCown, New York Jets at Tampa Bay Buccaneers ($6,100 DK, $7,400 FD)

McCown finally got a significant price bump this week, as he moves out of the 5K range for the first time this season. And deservedly so, as McCown continues to put up solid numbers. With a passing and rushing touchdown in Week 9 against the Bills, McCown made it six straight weeks with multiple touchdowns. The Buccaneers sport one of the most torchable pass defenses in the league and the Jets will be without Matt Forte, putting more onus on McCown to deliver.

Discount Darling: Ryan Fitzpatrick, Buccaneers vs. Jets ($4,900 DK, $6,100 FD)

On the other side of the ball in Tampa we have a REVENGE GAME! as Fitzy takes on his former team. At first blush, this seems like a bad week to target Fitzpatrick, with Mike Evans serving a one-game suspension. But the Bucs still have DeSean Jackson, Adam Humphries and Cameron Brate, making Fitzpatrick a sneaky, cheap option.

Avoid: Eli Manning, New York Giants at San Francisco 49ers ($5,100 DK, $6,700 FD)

Normally, we’d be all aboard a matchup against the 49ers defense, but things are falling apart in the Giants’ locker room and it’s hard to know where the team’s head and heart are going to be this Sunday. If the Giants come out focused and angry, Eli might actually be a solid play. If the Giants mail it in, Manning might not see the second half. Too risky to call here.

Also consider: Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys; Tyrod Taylor, Buffalo Bills; Case Keenum, Minnesota Vikings.

Running back

Carlos Hyde, San Francisco 49ers vs. New York Giants ($6,300 DK, $6,700 FD)

You don’t hear a lot about him because he plays for an 0-8 team, but Hyde has been one of the more productive backs in the league this year, with the second-most targets and third-most catches at the position. With Pierre Garcon and George Kittle out of action, even more burden falls on Hyde to produce. That’s a great thing this week against a Giants team ranked near the bottom of the league in run defense and coming very close to quitting on their season. The 49ers will never get a better chance to win than this week and Hyde figures to play a major role in it.

Jordan Howard, Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers ($6,100 DK, $7,200 FD)

The Packers are another team that really struggles against the run, ranking in the bottom third in overall DVOA and pass-catching backs in particular. Like Hyde in San Francisco, Howard benefits from playing on a team that thinks run first. Howard has been around 20 carries a game all year and he should see that kind of volume again. The Packers are coming off a short week and the Bears are off the bye, which favors the Bears run game even more than usual.

Joe Mixon, Cincinnati Bengals at Tennessee Titans ($4,900 DK, $6,200 FD)

Jeremy Hill has been ruled out of this week’s game, which should allow Mixon to pick some extra carries and targets. Mixon’s carries have been increasing each of the past three weeks, but what could make him particularly valuable this week are his targets. Mixon has been getting around three or four a game the past three weeks. If that number increases this week, it should be noted that the Titans are a bottom-five defense against pass-catching backs.

Orleans Darkwa, Giants at 49ers ($4,500 DK, $5,300 FD)

The Giants as a team are imploding, but Darkwa is showing signs of life. When he gets a large dose of carries, he’s able to produce. The hope this week is that the Giants give Darkwa a 15-20 carry game, which he should convert into fantasy-friendly numbers against arguably the worst run defense in the league.

Discount Darling: Bilal Powell, New York Jets at Tampa Bay Buccaneers ($4,000 DK, $6,000 FD)

Matt Forte has been ruled out of Sunday’s game, which vaults Powell into a prime volume spot against the lowly Bucs. Powell had the game of the year against Jacksonville (32 DK points) when Forte was out in Week 4, so even with Elijah McGuire expected to carve out his own role, Powell is capable of a massive output as the lead man.

Avoid: Alfred Morris, Dallas Cowboys at Atlanta Falcons ($5,500 DK, $5,400 FD)

Morris is likely to get the start in the first of six games without Ezekiel Elliott, but this figures to be a true RBBC with Darren McFadden and Rod Smith. At $5,500, and with so much value on the board, it’s hard to trust a back who might lose out to a “hot hand” scenario.

Also consider: Leonard Fournette, Jacksonville Jaguars; Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints; Jerick McKinnon, Minnesota Vikings.

Wide receiver

Julio Jones, Atlanta Falcons vs. Dallas Cowboys ($8,000 DK, $8,000 FD)

Jones was cleared to play on Friday and as frustrating as he and the Falcons’ offense have been this season, there’s no denying that Jones is starting to make some serious noise, with games of 24 and 20 DK points in the past three weeks. The Cowboys do not have a scary secondary and the Falcons will likely look to put the ball in the air with Devonta Freeman unable to get things going. Jones’ injury designation is going to pull his ownership way down, making him a tremendous pivot off Antonio Brown.

Dez Bryant, Cowboys at Falcons ($6,900 DK, $7,500 FD)

And while we’re on the subject of big-play receivers with injury designations who are expected to play Sunday… Bryant is likely to see a much-lower ownership after not practicing until Friday. But he is expected to go, and with Elliott suspended, a greater share of the offense is going to head his way. That should be fantasy gold against Robert Alford, who is ranked near the bottom of the league in terms of yards allowed.

Marvin Jones Jr., Detroit Lions vs. Cleveland Browns ($6,200 DK, $6,400 FD)

Another beneficiary of pricing coming out before the Monday night game is Jones, who exploded for 32 DK points against the Packers and only saw his salary raise $100. He is now an absolute bargain at $6,200 considering his heavy involvement (11 targets in consecutive games) and the matchup against the terrible Browns at home. Even his ownership should stay somewhat low with Golden Tate still the more recognizable name in the offense.

Robert Woods, Los Angeles Rams vs. Houston Texans ($5,000 DK, $6,200 FD)

Woods had the breakout game of the week against the Giants, scoring twice and running circles around the demoralized defense. The Texans’ defense isn’t in that much better shape since losing J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus. Woods has been a steady performer for weeks in this offense and should continue to get looks, yards and scores.

Discount Darling: Adam Humphries, Buccaneers vs. Jets ($3,100 DK, $4,800 FD)

If Mike Evans had been suspended before pricing came out, Humphries would not be $3,100. Humphries had a decent role in the offense early in the season but has tailed off the past three weeks. However, with Evans out and Ryan Fitzpatrick in, Humphries could be in store for a large role this week. When Fitzpatrick played the final 2½ quarters against the Cardinals in Week 6, Humphries had seven targets and caught six. A game like that against the Jets would easily pay off his salary, while opening up all sorts of roster possibilities in the high end.

Avoid: Kelvin Benjamin, Buffalo Bills vs. New Orleans Saints ($5,100 DK, $6,700 FD)

In just about any other matchup, I’d be all for unveiling Benjamin playing his first game with his new team. But Benjamin is going to have to contend with Marshon Lattimore and that screams stay away, especially since we don’t really know how Benjamin and Tyrod Taylor are going to fare together.

Also consider: Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers; Adam Thielen, Minnesota Vikings; Robby Anderson, New York Jets.

Tight end

Kyle Rudolph, Minnesota Vikings at Washington ($4,600 DK, $5,400 FD)

Rudolph seems underpriced considering his consistent 7-9 targets per game in a matchup with a team ranked near the bottom of the league in defense against the tight end position. His ownership is also expected to be on the low side, making him a terrific tournament option.

Cameron Brate, Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. New York Jets ($4,100 DK, $5,700 FD)

Brate’s ownership will not be low, thanks to a solid matchup and certain target richness thanks to Evans’ suspension. Brate and Fitzpatrick also have a terrific small sample together, as Brate caught 4 of 4 passes, including a touchdown, in the Week 6 game where Fitzpatrick replaced an injured Jameis Winston.

Eric Ebron, Detroit Lions vs. Cleveland Browns ($3,100 DK, $5,300 FD)

Ebron is back among the land of the living after a nice showing on Monday night. Ebron caught just three passes, but it felt like 30 considering what a non-factor he’s been most of the year. If that game has turned his corner, then this week could be smash city against the league’s worst tight end defense.

Austin Hooper, Atlanta Falcons vs. Dallas Cowboys ($3,000 DK, $4,900 FD)

The Cowboys generally give up decent production to tight ends and Hooper has seen six targets in back-to-back games. He’s got some upside potential at a discount price.

Discount Darling: Garrett Celek, San Francisco 49ers vs. New York Giants ($2,500 DK, $4,500 FD)

The Giants are right there with the Browns in terms of allowing massive production to tight ends. With George Kittle ruled out, Celek is the main receiving option this week. The Giants are also in tank territory, which should give C.J. Beathard extra time to locate his new tight end. We could see Celek pay off his salary at 7 or 8K this week.

Avoid: Jack Doyle, Indianapolis Colts vs. Pittsburgh Steelers ($5,200 DK, $6,100 FD)

Given all he’s done over the past few weeks, Doyle should be a popular play, even at his hugely inflated salary. And that makes him a must-fade, especially against a Steelers defense that is the anti-Giants.

Also consider: Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys; Hunter Henry, San Diego Chargers; Tyler Kroft, Cincinnati Bengals.

Defense

Detroit Lions vs. Cleveland Browns ($3,800 DK, $5,300 FD)

Pittsburgh Steelers at Indianapolis Colts ($3,700 DK, $4,600 FD)

Los Angeles Rams vs. Houston Texans ($3,600 DK, $5,400 FD)

Minnesota Vikings at Washington ($3,100 DK, $4,800 FD)

Discount Darling: San Francisco 49ers vs. New York Giants ($2,600 DK, $4,300 FD)

Avoid: Giants at 49ers ($3,200 DK, $4,400 FD)

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d-dumais-blog · 7 years

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Top 10 Tournaments in Anime

My Hero Academia is easily the hottest show right now. It dominates my twitter timeline, cosplayers are showing up in force for it at conventions, and it’s popular with critics and a mainstream audience. Its popularity far exceeds that of the first season, and there are a few reasons why. First off, the production of this season was handled much better, giving the entire staff more time per episode. The show is also better paced this season, progressing at a steady clip and not falling into shounen trappings of too much recap to waste time; something memorable happens in every episode. Third and most importantly season two kicked off with a tournament! TOURNAMENT ARC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It feels like tournaments are built for anime, and anime is built for tournaments. The structure of a tournament allows several characters to be highlighted, provides an established reason for conflict, and almost guarantees that our two strongest fighters are going to face off against one another at some point because they will both progress further into the tournament. It’s perfect and really every show should have one. Tournament arcs are often the best arc of whichever show they appear in, and some series have built their entire show around tournaments. I’m going to talking about and ranking my favorite tournaments in anime of all time.

Judging Criteria

· Tournament structure

· Quality of participants, how many do I know and care about, and how much do I care about them

· Quality of the fights, both for the main character, and side characters

· Resolution to the tournament: how different is the world for our main characters after the tournament

· I will be ranking based solely on anime and not on manga

. I will be judging animation quality, direction, music, and all parts that make an anime unique from other media.

· Only one tournament per franchise. It doesn’t matter how the franchise is split up in anime form, there can be only one. I don’t want this whole list to be two shows.

· This should be obvious but I have to have seen the tournament in anime form, sorry Dressrosa arc

With that out of the way let’s take a look at the list!

#10: Mobile Fighter G Gundam

The heart wants what the heart wants, and despite its numerous problems I still love G Gundam. It was one of my first giant robot shows growing up, and I became immediately hooked. I thought Shining Finger was the coolest attack ever, and really twenty years later it’s still pretty damn cool. The premise in G Gundam is that there’s a tournament held between Neo Japan, Neo American and all the other neo countries that now exist as space colonies. Basically they send Gundam pilots down to earth to fight robot battles and the winning country gets controlling interest in space government. The show is exactly as absurd as it sounds, and it’s filled with even more terrible stereotypes than you could possibly imagine. This tournament gets points for its absurd premise and great characters, no matter how terribly offensive they are. There are also a number of great fights in the series, such as the fight between current and previous King of Hearts, Domon in the Shining Gundam and Master Asia in his Master Gundam. The show lasts far too long and the stereotypes are HIGHLY offensive, but it’s still a fun romp through 90s mecha that all revolves around an absurdly beautiful tournament.

#9: Kill La Kill: Naturals Election Tournament

Kill La Kill is bad ass, every aspect of it is awesome. The series breaks into a tournament starting in episode eight and lasting through twelve and it is every bit as awesome as the rest of the series. The tournament format is simple, free for all with five ascending platforms; those that reach the top of these platforms compete in a king of the hill tournament. Basically Ryuko has to work her way through all four members of the elite four with the promise of information on her father’s death if she wins. As she progresses through the gauntlet we bear witness to some of the best fights the series has to offer, and a surprise fifth opponent shows her face at the end which acts as the catalyst into the show switching focus to events and characters outside the school. The four major fights in this tournament are excellent. Each is beautifully animated, and the accompanying music elevates the fights to unforgettable status, especially in the fight with Nonon. All of the fights with the elite four also provide a setting for a more in depth character introduction through well executed flashbacks and great character moments taking place both in and out of the ring. I’m a sucker for a good gauntlet, and it’s a tournament thrown in the middle of one of my favorite modern anime; it scores major marks there. It however loses points for the lack of motivation and overall impact on story. This tournament acts primarily as a transition between arcs more than its own individual story.

#8: Fairy Tail: Grand Magic Games

Do you guys remember when Fairy Tail was good? I sure do, this arc was great, you know until it was interrupted by another far worse arc…. Regardless I really enjoyed the Grand Magic Games. It’s split into various stages, multiple of which have their highlights, but the tournament is best when the ensemble cast is given ample opportunity to fight amongst each other. Stand outs include: Jellal vs. Jura, Natsu & Gajil vs. twin dragons Sting & Rogue, and my personal favorite, Laxus vs. the entirety of Raven Tail. The arc introduces us to the Sabertooth guild, and reunites our main characters with returning supporting cast from Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, and others. If this arc hadn’t ended in the extremely disappointing Dragon Festival arc it probably would have ranked higher. This arc distills the Fairy Tail experience; extremely large ensemble cast with some fun ideas and good fights, but given enough time it will disappoint you.

#7: Hunter X Hunter (2011): Heaven’s Arena

The first series where choosing a single tournament is a little tough, and that’s no surprise since it comes from famed mangaka Yoshihiro Togashi. I’m a big fan of the Hunter Exam arc, but this arc dwarfs it entirely. This tournament is the first example on this list of powering up during the tournament. This arc introduces nen, the primary power system in Hunter X Hunter. Gon and Killua increase in strength exponentially during this arc and it acts as a baseline for their growth and abilities for the remainder of the show. This tournament loses some points on tournament structure in that it’s not really a tournament. The Heaven’s Arena is a tower of 250 floors where contestants compete for money until reaching floor 200; at which points all battles are fought strictly for glory. The highlight of this arc comes when Gon and Hisoka fight in an epic fist fight almost entirely void of super natural nonsense. Nen is only used to bring the two fighters closer together so that there are only ever fists flying. There’s even the much awaited first hit to Hisoka’s face at which point Gon returns his badge from the Hunter Exam, an excellent callback. This series just barely misses out on the top five because of technicality. While I love it, there’s no denying this isn’t a real tournament, and Gon and Killua only enter to earn money and train, but still earns its spot for phenomenal fights and great character growth.

#6: Fate Zero

Let’s round out the bottom half with the best thing to ever come out of the highly popular Type Moon franchise. The Fourth Holy Grail War takes place before any of the games and is written by Gen Urobuchi, setting it apart from the rest of the franchise’s many adaptations. The story revolves around teams of two in an all out free for all using any means at their disposal to take out their opponents as they fight across 1990’s Japan. The teams are comprised of a magic user and a summoned heroic spirit who is a reincarnation of legends of history and myth. Gilgamesh, Alexander the Great, the knight king Arthur Pendragon all gather to fight one another. This tournament is full of collusion, underhanded tricks, and betrayals. This is easily the darkest entry on the list, and that’s no surprise considering its author’s famed nickname, Gen the butcher. It’s also the establishing anime for studio Ufotable who is now largely considered one of the best in 3D animation. Gorgeous visuals, excellent music, expert fight choreography, phenomenal writing both in storytelling and conversational dialogue all add up to an unforgettable tournament. The battle between Kiritsugu Emiya and Kirei Kotomine ranks among the best fights in anime of all time. The end of the tournament asks more questions than it answers, but it still works as a standalone experience and sets the stage for the rest of the Fate series to take place.

#5: Naruto: Chunin Exam

We head into the top five with the shounen big three. Despite the original manga ending back in 2014, the series has lived on in new manga, anime and even light novels. It’s been nearly eighteen years since the manga’s launch and it’s still, in my opinion, never gotten better than this gym from the original Naruto anime. This tournament takes place before power levels get silly, and the cast is at a reasonable enough size where you can be invested in all of the major characters. It’s also our introduction to so many of the most important characters in the franchise such as Negi, Kabuto, Orochimaru, and Gaara. It’s also the first introduction of another jinchuriki. The test has three stages: a written exam, a survival game, and then finally an all out one on one tournament. The three on three nature of the first two phases are fun and all three of our main protagonists at this point in the story are given a chance to shine, but the tournament at the end is the icing on the cake. Naruto has some good fights, especially his match against Neji, but Sasuke steals the show. Sasuke finally starts learning to use his sharingan and learns his signature chidori attack, and he also gets the final match against Gaara. The arc ends in catastrophe and the first major battle to take place in the Leaf since before the events of the show. Both arenas the tournament takes place in are awesome, with the second providing a large crowd for the entire village to watch. This tournament gets points all around, great fights, great contestants, simple and yet elegant structure. It only misses out on a higher position because of the strength of our next four entries.

#4: Dragon Ball: 23 World Martial Arts Tournament

Would it really be a list of the best tournaments without a Dragon Ball tournament on here? Talk about a tough choice, Dragon Ball is probably more famous for its tournaments than any other anime. Just missing out on the top three spots, we’ve got my favorite tournament in all of Dragon Ball. The 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, or as it’s known in English, the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament is the final arc in Dragon Ball prior to the release of Dragon Ball Z, and what a fitting end it is. Throughout this arc Goku defeats the previous champion who defeated him in the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament, Tien, defeats the demon king Piccolo, and marries his childhood sweetheart Chi-chi. It’s also notable for being the only world martial arts tournament that Goku ever wins. This tournament puts the emphasis on hand to hand combat over the bombastic energy attacks that dominate later Dragon Ball Z and Super tournaments, but it’s not devoid of power levels or threat. Piccolo plans on destroying the whole world and even Earth’s guardian Kami comes to compete in this tournament. This tournament is the good stuff, like eating your favorite home cooked meal; it’s nostalgic and pure in its goodness. It’s hard to think of a better classic tournament in anime. Hard however is not impossible.

#3: My Hero Academia: Sports Festival

We start the top three with the inspiration for the list in the first place. The newest release on this list is phenomenal. The festival starts with a few extra events, before finally breaking into a series of one on one fights. The bangers in this tournament start in the first round and last through the finals. The tournament is filled with incredible character building for characters that are all so strong they could play lead in their own show. I could write lengthy character studies on everyone from minor opponents like Shinzo to heavy hitters like best boy Shoto Todoroki. I could give an entire lecture on animation techniques in these fights and how lighting, line work, and color dynamic all help build a scene and depict power. I could talk at length about how interesting the various motivations of each competitor are and why these varying ideals shape a more complete understanding of heroism and justice. The point is I can sit here and talk all day about this tournament and what it does right, but honestly it’s deserving of its own blog post entirely if not several of its own posts. I’ll certainly be revisiting this tournament and discussing it further, but I’ll state the simple, the obvious. This tournament is incredible and should be watched by all. The results of each fight make sense and nothing happens because of mere plot convenience. Prior preparations, well defined powers, and clear consequences for every action help make this tournament extremely compelling. I spent every week anxiously waiting for the next episode and I was far from alone. The entire anime community seemed to band together to watch this because it was obvious something special was unfolding before our eyes. Because of its recency I’ll avoid in major spoilers; I’ll simply say every fight in this arc is worth watching especially those with Bakugo and Todoroki in them, it’s really something special.

#2: Ping Pong the Animation: Prefectural Qualifier

Would it really be a list of anime tournaments without some sports anime goodness? Our second place entry epitomizes what makes sports anime so good, and also goes on to achieve so much more. This series is a coming of age story for five different incredibly compelling characters that all just happen to play a lot of ping pong. It is significantly shorter than most entries on the list, the entire series clocks in at eleven episodes and the tournament takes place during the last five. With that in mind it’s a feat of pure genius that it accomplishes so much. This series tackles motivation, suicide, friendship, acceptance, burden of success, the difficulties of high expectations, the importance of friendship, and even what it means to be a hero. In the last entry I stated that each character feels like they could be the main character of their own show; this series is similar except in that they are all each the star and main character of this show. The show does a phenomenal job of splitting time between each character so that the viewer fully understands their reasons for play, their life philosophies, and their personal relationships both with those they compete against and those that helped them prepare for competition. The show shines because of its deep characters, but they aren’t the only part of the show that’s incredible. The show’s music by Kensuke Ushio, who recently scored the excellent A Silent Voice film, matches the story perfectly with its odd blend of sounds and styles, mixing heavy base with upbeat pop, and calming guitar riffs with heavy synth and soft foreign language vocals. The animation is distinct and gorgeous. Strong character designs help clearly definite each character by how they walk, their simple body language. The way and reason each individual smiles tells you more about their character than most shows tell you about their main character through their entire run. Visual metaphors litter the screen during matches, from Kong sighing out an airplane to Kazama literally embodying a dragon as he returns Peco’s balls from the other side of the net. From impressive wipes, to gorgeous scene composition through splitting the characters with various panels and real world objects like the net, there’s a lot in this tournament for sakuga fans to love.

This tournament is also by far the most realistic of any entry on this list, and not only because it doesn’t have any super powers, but because of its attention to detail in preparation, and its love of its own structure. We’ll start with the focus on preparation. We get to watch each player extensively as they train for this tournament and we’re allowed to view the results of this training through the subsequent matches in the tournament. Peco trains rigorously to change his style, and learn new moves, which ultimately results in his unique style of pips in or pips out depending on side of paddle that he uses to overthrow the unbeatable Kazama. This training also however causes his knee injury that almost ends his tournament and his career before it even begins. Kong and Kazama both train rigorously against robots, both with date from perspective opponents. Unfortunately they are underprepared for Peco who inevitably defeats them. Though Kazama’s rigorous strength and body training do allow him dominant games before the match finally goes the way of Peco. Meanwhile on the opposite end of the bracket Smile’s training has taught him more about life than about ping pong and this is good because his side of the bracket is remarkably easier. His only “challenge” comes by way of Sanada until his finals match vs. Peco arrives. His training however prepares him for this matchup against Peco as he has already been forced to ask himself what he’ll do in the event that playing at his best might ruin his best friend’s career as a table tennis player before it has a chance to truly begin. The arc also pays special attention to the structure of a tournament, acknowledging that it’s not entirely fair. Take for example Kong; Kong is an extremely talented player who should have travelled far, but he is eliminated in the second round. We know Kong has the potential for greatness, he is shown to be a pro player in the series’ ending scenes, but his failure to properly prepare for his tough bracket ultimately led to a disappointing and premature end to the tournament for him. Matches occur simultaneously and this limits who can watch which matches. The bracket layout is used to tell the story to both the audience and the viewers of the tournament in anime such as Manabu. There’s an attention to detail and respect for the structure of a tournament that this show possesses that is so often overlooked when the magic of TV allows you to skip over so many of these details in favor of plot convenience. This anime is a personal favorite, and this tournament arc is exemplary. I could go on gushing, but this section is already far too long and it’s time to talk about the grand daddy of all tournaments.

#1: Yu Yu Hakusho: Dark Tournament

Could there be any doubt? This list wouldn’t be complete without the quintessential anime tournament. Yoshihiro Togashi makes his second appearance on this list with his predecessor to the highly acclaimed Hunter X Hunter series, Yu Yu Hakusho. Yu Yu Hakusho seems to solve all its problems with a tournament. Genkai needs to pass on her super powers? Tournament. Some evil dude wants to have demons invade the world and bring chaos? Tournament. Political unrest in the world of demons? Let’s throw a mother fucking TOURNAMENT!!!! It’s no surprise with this much practice in the art of shounen battle tournaments that the best would come from this storied franchise that helped define the genre. The structure is simple and yet brilliant, teams of five compete against one another in front of a grand audience of demons and unsavory humans till they are either forced out of the ring, give up or are unable to fight. Killing your opponent is not required, but it is encouraged. Other rules are left to the discretion of team captains. This freedom in rules allows for the series to take some liberties with its fights and mix things up when appropriate. Most of the fights are one on one fights between combatants, but a strong one vs. five performance from younger Toguro does a good job of building up hype and establishing threat levels. This tournament really has it all, gorgeous visuals, excellent character growth, powering up, death, and the most epic fights in tournament anime history. Each team has a cast of memorable characters, there’s a reason I’ll never forget Dr. Ichigaki Team, Team Masho, Team Uraotogi, and of course Team Rokuyukai.

The series also has some of the earliest directorial work of famed Director, and my personal favorite, Akiyuki Shinbo who clearly establishes his style with strong colors and trippy visuals with scenes like the first use of the Dragon of the Darkness Flame, and Yusuke inheriting Genkai’s spirit wave. While we’re here let’s just take a brief moment to appreciate the fact that the Dragon of the Darkness Flame is probably the coolest attack in any anime with the best name and the greatest visuals! Okay I’m going to stop fanboying about how bad ass and awesome Hiei is, sorry about that. The Dragon of the Darkness Flame attack however does highlight what’s so great about this tournament; so much of this arc would be an amazing finale to any other series. Yusuke vs. Jin the wind god could have capped any tournament, Genkai vs. the younger Toguro brother has more raw emotion and power in it than nearly in other fight and takes place entirely separate from tournament audiences, and of course who could forget the epic knife edge death match between Yusuke and Chu. These fights would all work as finales to most tournaments because they last the entire length of the episode. While other tournament anime rarely gives this much time to earlier bouts, nearly all of the battles with our protagonists last the full length of an episode. Fights are only cut short in order to emphasize the overwhelming power of a single fighter over his or her opponent.

If all of these fights could so perfectly conclude any tournament, how do you satisfying end that feels even greater than all of the previous match ups? The final fight between Yusuke and Toguro is a four episode brawl that goes beyond the constraints of tournament rules to a one on one fight to the death with nothing left on the table. Both competitors initially hold back and continue to power up as the fight progresses until finally we’ve reached peek battle shounen. Between Toguro’s percentage based power levels and Yusuke’s spiritual training weights, there’s a lot of hyping up to be sure, but there’s also a lot of payoff. These two trade fists with impact. This fight isn’t devoid of large energy attacks such as Yusuke’s signature spirit gun, but it honestly feels like a strong right hook from Toguro causes more damage so the fight sticks to its roots and continues to be about a punk kid fist fighting the biggest baddest thug to ever walk the earth. This fight isn’t all muscle and no heart though; both fighters have their own convictions they’re fighting for, and the recent death of Genkai still weighs heavy on Yusuke’s heart. Though emotions run rampant and we reach our climax when Kuwabara nobly sacrifices himself so that Yusuke can break down his emotional walls and finally fully give himself to something. Yusuke has always done everything half assed, and that won’t cut it here, so he needs a reminder of why he’s fighting, and who he’s fighting for. In true shounen glory Yusuke understands the importance of his friends and the fact that his friends are the only thing he has ever been willing to give himself to entirely, he just believes this to be a discovery made too late because of his own failings and immaturity. He’s angry; angry with Toguro, angry at the world, but more than any of that he’s angry with himself.

“A mulberry is a tree and Kuwabara is a man,” what excellent final words as Kuwabara marches forward to face his final moments in order to help his friend progress and grow. As we all know these are not Kuwabara’s final moments and he does make a triumphant return, but the words are powerful and are not the only quote I remember distinctly from this tournament. One of the most important quotes comes when Kuwabara is talking to Keiko about why they are at the tournament; he explains that while yes they do have to fight in order to save the world, that doesn’t mean they don’t’ want to fight. Yusuke wants to fight Toguro, and Toguro wants to fight Yusuke, separate from the ramifications of what this final battle means for the rest of the world and demon society, the two simply want to beat each other up. Yusuke looks up to Toguro, he knows he shouldn’t and he knows he’s evil, but really he can’t help himself. Toguro has power, more power than any human Yusuke has ever seen. Yusuke lacks a father figure, or any semblance of an older male role model, and it’s easy to understand why Toguro so easily slots into that role. Toguro on the other hand has spent his entire life questioning his decision. It’s a decision he made long ago, and he’s had to live with the consequences. He’s not necessarily unhappy with his current state, but he’ll always wonder if his life would have been better had he chosen to remain human and pursue power without demonic influence. The only way for him to know if his decision was a mistake is to fight a human with the power and training of his old team mate and friend Genkai. Yusuke was perfect for Toguro, the thing he had waited his entire life for, the answer to his questions and doubts about himself. And Toguro is perfect for Yusuke, a glimpse into the abyss; a depiction of what’s possible if Yusuke truly stopped caring about everything besides his power and his fighting prowess. Yusuke gets to look over the edge of the cliff and see clearly before deciding whether or not to dive in completely.

In this way, both Yusuke and Toguro accomplish their goals in this tournament. Yusuke saves the world and protects his friends and girlfriend he cares deeply for; he also learns about himself and what he values most. He even overcomes the overwhelming obstacle that had seemed an impossible hurdle to him back at the end of the spirit detective saga. Toguro on the other hand can finally accept responsibility for his mistake and answer the doubts that had plagued him over the years. He willingly partakes in his own form of reconciliation for his acts through eternal damnation. The two battle loving fighters are also rewarded with the most legendary fight to ever grace any tournament.

The tournament through its run accomplishes so much I haven’t even talked about. Sakyo manages to be a threatening villain in a shounen battle series without ever having thrown a single punch, and even gets a short lived but touching romance with Kuwabara’s sister. Koto is a walking talking rule book and shoutcast extraordinaire in the form of a battle loving fox girl announcer, putting all other tournament announcers to shame. The very brief training sequence for our four protagonists sufficiently powers them up during the arc without wasting anytime. Even Yusuke’s extended training in the cave with Genkai as he inherits or energy is perfectly paced, and contains some of the strongest visuals in the tournament (compliments of strong direction by Shinbo) despite the lack of any combat. The whole damn tournament is a master class in how to properly execute every aspect of a tournament. It doesn’t succeed at one thing, it succeeds at all things: gorgeous fights, strong thematic overtones, a wide array of memorable characters, deep introspective on our main cast both hero and villain, properly building and managing hype all while maintaining an enjoyable pace, strict rule structure and formatting of the tournament that allows for variance when necessary but never strays to far venturing into side game territory, underdogs becoming heroes. There’s literally no part of this tournament I dislike and it’s hard to imagine a series will ever do a better tournament, but you know I’ll be there with deep in depth analysis when time comes.

Recap

Well we finally made it to the end of this list. Thanks a ton if you stuck around to the end, it ended up being way longer than I had originally anticipated. I’m encroaching on five thousand words before editing, and to be honest I won’t have much time to edit this because it was supposed to be up days ago. I will definitely be revisiting this list at a later date to make edits and elaborate where necessary. When I started working on this I thought to myself oh this will be fun, I love hate top tens and I know tournaments in anime better than I know myself so should be easy. Well that was extremely dumb of me clearly, I had even planned a dishonorable mentions and honorable mentions for shows like Tenjou Tenge and Flame of Recca respectively but I really don’t have time to get into how disappointing Tenjou Tenge is, just know it’s very disappointing. I said a post a week and this one unfortunately took too long, which means I’m going to push out a second blog post this week to make up for the lack of one last week. Again thank you for making it this far and I’ll see you again on Friday! Hopefully this time with something much much shorter.

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