radio414

Christopher knew exactly what Hector was doing. He was trying to play matchmaker with him. A fine game to play -- it wasn’t like Chris didn’t appreciate the attention -- but he still couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Any girl Hector was able to find in this city probably wasn’t going to be worth the trouble when -- not if, but when -- he came home. And if she did have a surname, Hector would have mentioned it. Or he would have heard of her already. Still, thinking about all that allowed him to pass the time as his breakfast was prepared. Chris wondered if that was why Hector did it -- getting his customers to think about anything other than how long their meal was taking. He dismissed the idea, mostly because, well, that didn’t seem like Hector’s style, but he didn’t put it away entirely. There was that primal part of him that did indeed want to see what this girl was all about. The eggs had been prepared just the way Christopher liked them, which was just as well given that he wasn’t sure Hector would have listened if, say, he’d asked for them Benedict or some other fancy method he could recall from his youth. He pondered asking anyway at some point. Not today, though, and especially not with the eggs and toast already in front of him. A voice from the door called out, “Well well, glad to see this place didn’t get shut down while I was gone.” It was not a voice Chris recognized, though Hector seemed to. By the look on his face, too, it wasn’t a very welcome recognition. “Leo,” Hector said his name was, though when Chris glanced over his shoulder to take a look, he didn’t see much in the way of resemblance to his feline namesake. He looked more like a shrew (though “Migale” was probably a worse name. And who knew exactly what animal their kid looked like until they grew up anyway?). “I thought you were in jail,” Hector said. The last word there pricked Chris’ ears a little, alerting him to exactly how close his guess at Leo’s appearance had been. It also got him looking over his shoulder again. He hadn’t been to jail just yet, although a couple of his escapades had been a little too close for comfort. Needless to say, he was pretty happy keeping it that way. It was almost enough to just ignore the bar’s newest customer entirely. Almost. When Leo breached his little cylinder of ignorance, crossing it with fingers and then his whole hand picking apart his breakfast -- his breakfast -- that was where he drew the line. He didn’t stand up just yet, but he did make an open comment. “I assume you’re going to pay for those eggs?” he said. “I dunno, you can pay Hector or you can pay me, but I’d like some reassurance that you’re at least down something in exchange for your meal.”

Congratulations everyone! I do have to admit I'm not sure how I feel losing by one vote a bunch of times but it's not like Skaia hasn't been deserving. Second place to that isn't so bad. Also I've been going around looking at all the award badges. They look great!

Hey everyone! Threads like this one are starting to pop up, and given my status as the forum's only radio, I figured I was obligated to start this one. The idea, I'm sure, is pretty simple: Do you have an artist, album, or even song from this year that stands above its peers? I'd have made this one of those "of the decade" questions, but my music tastes have drastically changed over the past ten years (ten years ago, I was listening to my mom's ABBA CDs, and while those are still fire, it's not really what I listen to anymore) and I assume a lot of yours still have as well. If you do have a definitive artist/album/song "of the decade", feel free to share it, but if that's too broad, well, what new things have you been listening to? I myself have a bunch of album answers for this question. In no particular order: Bill Callahan's Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest, a folk album with songs that blend together enough for easy continuous listening while I'm working on something unrelated, while also having some poetic sequences if you do start paying attention. Sample Song: Ballad of the Hulk King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard had two albums come out this year, Fishing for Fishies and Infest the Rat's Nest, and while the fact that this band released two albums of such quality at all is impressive, but the fact that they are in two completely different genres (boogie rock and metal respectively) is, well, if that weren't King Gizz's whole thing, it'd be mindblowing to me. It's still really impressive though. Sample Songs: This Thing and Self-Immolate I just discovered Fat White Family this year, and while their previous albums have not quite hit the sweet-spot for me that Serf's Up! has, that doesn't mean the album isn't really, really good in my eyes. They're labeled as "post-punk" on Wikipedia, and I guess that makes sense? I don't really genres. I just know the album is wall-to-wall bangers and that's enough for me. Sample Song: Kim's Sunsets It wasn't just me, but most of the world that came across Black Midi this year with their debut album Schlagenheim. This is another rock-adjacent album ("math rock," if you care) that admittedly can fall apart sometimes -- some of the vocals are an... acquired taste and we'll leave it at that -- but expresses an energy in the meantime that I and a lot of other people think shows some promise for their next few albums as they develop. Sample song: Ducter Last but certainly not least, Boards of Canada released Peel Session, an old set they played on John Peel's BBC radio show. Boards has been notorious for, well, not releasing songs they've made even on upcoming albums, leaving fans to keep circulating the tapes, so this is a big get and does not disappoint. As for the type of music, I've heard Boards of Canada described as like ambient music, but replacing the nature sounds with synths and a downtempo drumbeat (apparently this is called "Intelligent Dance Music" which seems demeaning to all the other dance musics?). Anyway, it's great. Sample Song: XYZ So that's five (okay, technically six). And that five isn't even counting PUP's new album, or Leafcutter John's. I heard people really liked Tyler the Creator's new album, though I didn't get to that one. Plus King Crimson and Tool both finally released their music on digital storefronts so that's exciting. It's all exciting, really. I guess I'll close all this by asking the same question I started this all with: What have you listened to that stands out this year? If you can (you don't have to), what about this decade?

“Fangs,” Charlie had said. Peter resisted the urge to run a finger along his molars. He also resisted the urge to respond to the other part of Charlie’s smart remark with something like, “I’m not your buddy, pal.” That one was much harder. Instead, he focused back up (his mental parents were applauding him for that, at least) and surveyed the board. Charlie had a bevy of spells and/or traps at their disposal and Peter wasn’t entirely sure he could deal with all of them. Their monster, on the other hand, now that it had finished demolishing one of his marquee cards, was that a weak point? “Draw!” Peter called out. This time, he shuffled it into his hand immediately. The plan had already formed in his mind. “First thing’s first. I’ll play The Melody of Awakening Dragon. I discard one more card -- that’ll be the Master I just searched up -- and I get to find two new monsters. One, I suppose, will be another Blue-Eyes to replace the one you just destroyed.” A card popped out of Peter’s duel disk. It spun around in the air, revealing itself to all observers to be the card Peter had just announced. But he wasn’t finished, and his disk whirred in anticipation of Peter’s next decision. “The other one, well, it’s technically a Blue-Eyes, but this one gets a little extra to go with it,” Peter said, and just as he said it, another card popped out. LIke he had described, the card had much the same artwork, but it had that telltale orange-adjacent border revealing itself to be something more. “I’m going to use the first part of that ‘little extra’ right now, actually. If I reveal a Blue-Eyes White Dragon in my hand, I can put this Blue-Eyes Alternative Dragon right into play!” Peter said. He slotted the card right into his duel disk and out on the field of play emerged a dragon quite similar to the one Charlie had destroyed just a turn ago. It was as gargantuan in size, its eyes were the same shade of blue, and its metallic scales gleamed as white as white could be. There was definitely something different about it, but exactly what was difficult to place. “Now, let’s talk about the second ‘little extra’ piece Alternative Dragon comes with,” Peter said. “If I forego attacking with it, I can destroy any monster on the field. For example… what about your, ah-” Peter almost said “abomination,” but managed to restrain himself. “What about your Frightfur Leo? What do you have to say about that?” “Oh my, that’s pretty scary…” Charlie said, “but I can’t let him get hurt! In response, I activate De-Fusion!” The lion let out a loud roar before glowing, then splitting into energy that reformed into Owl and Saw in defense positions. “By returning him to the Extra Deck, I can revive his materials!” Peter grimaced. That had not been part of the plan. His dragon even looked silly as it reared up ready to tear the lion to shreds before coming down on nothing but air. It crashed down with a heavy thud, but even such an intimidating noise lost its luster without any frightfur-shredding giving it that extra oomph. He wasn’t done with his turn just yet, though. “I’m not finished with my turn yet,” he said. “I admit it was a setback, but you asked to see more fangs. I’ll activate Return of the Dragon Lords, which will allow me return that Blue-Eyes you so unhelpfully destroyed.” Out popped the card from the Graveyard slot on Peter’s duel disk, which he took and placed right into a Monster Zone. “I think I’ll put him right next to his friend,” he said. Now that the two dragons -- the Blue-Eyes White Dragon and its Alternative counterpart -- were side by side, it was almost comically easy to tell them apart. The Alternative dragon had a chrome-like sheen compared to the other’s dazzling white. Not that people had too much time to compare the two. Peter said, “The final thing Blue-Eyes Alternative Dragon can do is act as Blue-Eyes White Dragon. So if I had, say, a Fusion Monster that could be Special Summoned by sending two Blue-Eyes to the Graveyard, I could do that. Well, I just so happen to have one. “I summon Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon!” The two holographic images of Alternative and White roared together and leapt up into the air, where they began to fly in a circle centered around Peter. Each dragon appeared to be constantly chasing the other’s tail, but neither made a move to catch the other. Instead, they flew faster and faster, each matching the other’s speed in a way that, if it hadn’t been a computer simulation, would have been impressive given the synchronicity and teamwork involved. Faster and faster they flew along their ouroboran paths, blurring the lines between one dragon and the next, until down crashed a mighty dragon not dissimilar to either of them, only this one had two heads. Two heads! Twice as many gleaming blue eyes, twice as many teeth, twice as many- “Twin-Burst Dragon gets to attack two monsters a turn,” Peter said. “I can’t help but notice you have exactly that number. “Battle! Blue-Eyes Twin Burst, destroy that Owl and its buzzsaw friend!” Light shone from both of the dragon’s mouths as the dragon rose up until it was hovering several feet off the ground. Its rise had moved it forward some, too, and the staggering height difference between it and its two opponents was made all the more apparent by how close together they all were. The beams of light made quick work this time; the monsters were torn apart by their sheer brilliance, and the Twin Burst dragon landed back on Peter’s side of the field. “Now I’m done,” Peter said. “How was that?”

The one recurring dream Christopher Ellwood had (though this is not to say he always had this dream, nor should it imply that he dreamed very often) was that his entire life ever since, oh, say, around his eighteenth birthday had just been some sort of elaborate fabrication. He was never sure how it would be done -- when he woke up, he always assumed some incomprehensibly complex illusion magic (not that he knew much of anything about magic) was involved -- only that he wanted to wake up will all consequences since then simply erased. Because that’s what this was, right? One giant consequence made up of so, so many smaller consequences. Every day that he spent outside of Ellwood manor, every morning the sun shone past that grotesque wyrm and through his window and right onto his face, that was yet another consequence to add to the whole. But! He was awake now, and being awake, in Chris’ experience, was a good way to sober up from all that nostalgic wistfulness for the past. So too was the retching next door and the rabble outside chatting up a storm; neither were things he’d hear if he was truly waking up back home. And now that he was awake and sobered up, there was really only one thing left to do: Actually get out of bed. How familiar that tavern hall had become! Christopher could imagine drawing it all up on the back of his hand; he could even mark out all the uneven tables and shaky chairs if he thought about it long enough. There weren’t too many buildings he could say the same thing about. The people, too, were just as recognizable, and not just its ever-loyal owner and minder Hector. How many regulars was Chris on a by-name basis with? How many had he done a job for (of course, not all relationships were good relationships -- how many of those jobs had been botched?)? He could probably take a guess at the name of everyone currently present and he’d get more right than not. Rather than do that, though, Chris figured he should start by addressing the person already speaking to him. Hector, gods bless him, was already behind the bar tending to customers, and was gesturing at Chris to sit down. “Did you sleep well, kid?” he said. “I know Donald had a late night. Hope he didn’t wake you. How about you sit down and I’ll grab you a bite to eat?” “Please don’t call me kid,” Christopher said, starting from the top. “I know that’s not gonna get you to stop, but at the same time, that’s not gonna keep me from asking every time either. Anyway, I slept okay.” He took a moment to move over to where Hector was pointing. “Donald didn’t wake me up, at least. I was out working pretty late myself, so when I got back, I just dropped like a rock.” He shrugged. “Work went well enough, though. Breakfast sounds like as good a celebration for that as any. What’s in the kitchen this morning?”

Because it's recommended by me? Because of its emphasis on vocals (Paul and Storm were originally part of an a capella group)? Because it's tangentially related to Christmas? Who can say? This was the other Melissa/Gabby dance song option

[COWCOW] December 25th in the OOC subforum. It’s a place and date I’m certain my guest at this time will not forget. I’m talking about a relatively new yet well-regarded RPer, radio4- [RADIO414] Nothing means nothing! [COWCOW] Noth- [RADIO414] Nothing means nothing, Cow, nope! No more. [COWCOW] “Nothing means nothing.” What do you mean by that? [RADIO414] I’m talking about all the way to the top, yeah. I’m justifiably in a situation I’d rather not be in, but the cream will rise to the top, oh yeah. “Radio silence,” they say, yeah, but I got more to offer than Forum Admin Jack Tormey thinks that I got, yeah, and let me tell you something right now: Cards stacked against radio414 in the RP Awards and let me say it, yeah, let me say it out loud, and let me POINT to the forum admins and mods and members. I, radio414, am not happy with your decisions voting in the RP Awards, yeah, I am the cream of the NCM RP subforum and there is no doubt about it. [COWCOW] Well, wait a minute- [RADIO414] Yeah, you Lord Cowcow, you know that I’m the cream of the crop! [COWCOW] Well, wait a minute, radio, I’ve got to ask you very seriously, do you blame Mr. Jack Tormey, the distinguished Admin of Neo Card Maker, for not being clear frontrunner in any of the RP Award categories? [RADIO414] Yeah I do, yeah. Outside interference. IN MY MOMENT OF GLORY, yeah, and now I’m living in a nightmare. And I am the cream. And now, not only the Best Writer and Most Helpful awards must fall, but the Best RPer award! ‘Cause Skaia, yeah, I am the cream, yeah. The cream of the crop. And there is no one that does it better than the Macho Man Radio Savage! Advance Clause, casual rules, it doesn’t matter, I’m better than you are, yeah. And I’m talking to everyone who participates in the Role-Playing Forums. And I’m even talking to Forum Admin Jack Tormey, yeah. I’m on my way, and nothing is gonna stop me! Nothing’s gonna stop me. [COWCOW] You know, just out of curiosity, radio, and I certainly don’t want to diminish your tremendous, uh, God-given talents, but I’m very curious, you post when you say you will, but that isn’t always very often. [RADIO414] Yeah, sometimes I take a break. Does the number of RPs I’m in affect my post schedule? Yeah? Nothing, zero, pure writer, yeah, and I’ve been, yeah, I’ve been maligned from the top to the bottom and ‘cause they can’t handle the Macho Man Radio Savage: THE CREAM OF THE CROP! Nobody does it better!

(to be listened to on 12/23)

The table was quiet as both Melissa and Gabriela finished their respective meals. They’d already had dinner conversation back when they actually had dinner and the “what’s next?” question had already been answered so that -- for lack of a better phrase -- was off the table as well. Besides, after Melissa’s proposal and Gabriela’s confirmation, the hamburgers were merely an afterthought in Melissa’s mind. She idly chewed on hers, but her mind was elsewhere. This was it, after all. The final moments. They both finished soon enough and Melissa collected all the trash and added it to the pile in the corner, which, when all combined, formed a ball just bigger than Melissa’s fist. “Let’s find a trash can first,” Melissa said, repeating her earlier assertion, reminding Gabriela in case she had forgotten and reminding herself because she oh so wanted to just be somewhere else already. The noise blasting from the dance was almost intolerable at that point and the chatter around her, too, seemed more energized than before. Melissa cupped both her hands together, cradling the ball of trash between them, and looked up at Gabriela. “Ready to go?”I want to touch you, but I’ve forgotten how I said I didn’t need you, but look at me nowFinding a trash can was easy. Blue Yonder had so, so many, and they were all evenly spaced out around its campus. It would have been more impressive, actually, if they hadn’t found one. Harder, though, was navigating from that point, but only just. Melissa had told Gabriela she had a few ideas in mind for where they could go but she really only had one, and it was getting to that specific point instead of finding one of many that was the real challenge. This was all mostly alleviated by the truth behind Gabriela’s words. “I shall allow you to lead me,” she had said. She hadn’t been lying; even as Melissa forged ahead, doing things like identifying buildings so she could regain a sense of where she was, she felt no pull behind her. Melissa knew Gabriela was there without having to look behind her, but they moved in synchronicity, linked only by a pair of clasped hands. It was a link Melissa dared not break, but on the other hand, she was never really worried that it would.You can never be sure of the people that you know They don’t want to show you their sadnessThey were close now. Even in the dark, things were starting to look familiar. She almost wanted Gabriela to- no, not yet. It was another too-apropos phrase, but Melissa wanted to keep her date in the dark just a little bit longer. Not that she was hearing any complaints from Gabriela begging to not be. That was what she most appreciated about the moments, actually. The near silence. Their journey had taken them far, far away from Kickoff and not the only noise was the ambient sounds around them. Crickets were chirping. Trees were rustling in a light breeze. Her and her companion’s gentle footfalls. That was all. And yet, It was enough to rejuvenate her and give her the confidence to keep moving forward. She could feel herself subconsciously moving faster, too. Until… Until she stopped. And she turned around. “Alright, Gabriela, I want you to close your eyes,” Melissa said. “It’ll just be for a moment, I promise.” Once she was sure she had done so, she released her grip on Gabriela’s hand and pulled out her phone. A few deft swipes later and Melissa had queued up a song. But before it could play, she looked back up at Gabriela. “This- this isn’t an incredibly special place,” Melissa said. “To most- maybe everyone else, this is just another spot on Blue Yonder’s campus; it’s a couple more steps they have to walk between classes. You wouldn’t have given it a second thought either, and that’s okay. “This is my spot. “It was the start of last year. I was a freshman and, well, if you can believe it, I was kind of a mess my freshman year. One afternoon -- this was in Autumn, um, so just a bit later than this time last year -- I don’t even remember what happened, but I was just going. And I mean not even caring what direction I went in, as long as I was moving. I was that sort of upset. “When I got to here, though, I stopped. Are your eyes still closed?” Melissa checked again to see that they were. “Okay, so I want to try and imagine the scene I found myself in. Just for me. The trees over here? They were explosions of color. Reds, oranges, yellows, if you can think of a Fall leaf color, it was there on one of these trees. The grasses below them? They were kind of long -- maybe it’d been a while since they’d been mowed -- but they were a beautiful deep, verdant green. And the sky above? As if to complete the rainbow, it was as blue as the sky could be. “Nobody else was around to notice any of this. It was just me. And just when I had noticed it all, the wind picked up. The grass, it was long enough that it looked like it was waving at me, moving back and forth in the wind like it did. And the leaves, some of them got caught in the breeze; they let go of their tree and swirled around, chasing each other this way and that, until a whole cluster of them blew right through me. And in that moment, I could feel the worries I had had being blown away too. “I don’t come back here too often, but I do always recognize it when I do pass it. And while it’s never been quite the same as it had that day, I still remember it as vividly as I just described it to you now. She gave a weak, sheepish smile. “You can open your eyes now. Sorry, that was a little self-indulgent of me. Um. Anyway, the last thing- the only thing we missed leaving Kickoff like this was the slow dance. But if you’ll have me, we can do that here, in this spot only you and I will ever know the importance of.” She held out her hand. “Though I guess that means you’ll have to follow me one more time.” Gabriela hesitated. Melissa didn’t blame her, though. She could feel it too, how the silence added emphasis in the magical way that only silence did. If she hadn’t already been talking for so long, Melissa would have wanted to keep quiet too. She wondered how she looked to Gabriela, too, in that punctuating silence. Did she look different? Was there some ephemeral quality of hers that only came out in times like this? Not that any of that mattered. Gabriela took Melissa’s hand again and said, “I think, at least for tonight, I would be happy to follow you anywhere. I place my fate in your hands.” Melissa’s smile improved. “Thank you,” she said. She guided her partner’s hands to her shoulder and placed them there before moving her hands down to Gabriela’s hips. “Start just like this, and then step, step, step, step.” Melissa lead through a few more music-less motions before, satisfied, she said, “Alright, Gabby, here we go,” and pressed play.If you see me passing by Please hold me deep in your heart And just remember, I want to help you I don’t want to hurt you Just remember, I want to help you I don’t want to hurt youYou turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, -Psalm 30:11 (NIV)

When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” -John 6:12 (NIV)Melissa wasn’t sure how to respond to Gabriela’s most recent comments. Her initial impulse was, “Well, you’re welcome to them,” but that didn’t scan well at all in her head. Was she even supposed to respond at all? She took a bite of her hamburger in an attempt to stall for time, but the only thing she could really think of was a nod and an “Mm” in acknowledgment. Because Gabriela was right, it was a shame that people wasted food. Oh, that was something she could say. “We’ll just have to make sure not to waste ours, I guess.” The other big comment Gabriela made was about the dance. “What comes next?” she’d asked. “I’d rather this not end… if I can help it.” Gabriela’s question caught Melissa mid-chew, which fortunately was enough to keep her from immediately blurting out “I don’t want it to either” or something to that effect. She desperately ran through the schedule in her head, but the earlier moments had been the ones she’d had the most down pat. Everything after that… She swallowed, then took a breath to prepare the bad news. “I don’t- I’m not sure what comes next,” she said. “The schedule that got posted was pretty clear on some things -- the duel, um, dancing, obviously, stuff like that, but after dancing it got kind of vague. Maybe there’s a Kickoff Court vote, but, um, I’m sorry, if you wanted me to drum up support for you, I didn’t do any of that.” In her head, Melissa noted that Gabriela probably wouldn’t have beaten Ashley Rendleman or whoever was making a serious effort anyway, but she didn’t say that part out loud. Right as Melissa finished speaking, a large -- or rather, larger than normal -- cheer erupted from the dance hall for reasons Melissa was unable to piece together from the surrounding chatter. Melissa winced. It reminded her too much of the first day of the year. Most social events did, really, but the extra unchecked explosion of social energy made another serious dent in her mental armor. She had to say it, she realized. “If I’m being honest with you, Gabriela, I don’t actually want to find out what the hosts have planned for the rest of the evening. I’ve already- I feel like I’ve done enough already, but I can’t- I can’t keep doing this. We don’t have to go our separate ways -- the night’s still going, I mean, but all that…” Instead of finishing her sentence, Melissa just gestured at the dance hall and hoped Gabriela understood. It took more than a few moments (and more than a few more bites of hamburger) before Melissa spoke again. “We can go somewhere else if you want. I- I might have a few ideas.”

Peter looked around like Charlie might have been talking to somebody else, as if the context didn’t immediately make readily apparent who Charlie was challenging. There was some grotesque part of him that was actually glad for the challenge. Charlie hadn’t recognized him, after all, so why not teach the ignoramus a lesson? But also, like, if he’d already crossed one threshold by walking through the gymnasium’s doorway, it felt like this was the second, much more final threshold of actually participating. He could hear his parents whispering in his head. Some of the advice was old; one of the first things they’d ever said to him was, “Always accept a challenge. You’ll never improve if you never play,” but some of it consisted of more recent remarks. “Knock ‘em dead!” Peter heard his dad say. There was nothing for it. “Alright,” Peter said. He walked over to the other side of the gymnasium and powered on his own duel disk. He could already feel his mind zeroing in on the task ahead of him. Just had to beat one of the captains on his first day, right? What could be easier? As the hum of each duel disk aligned, merging together to create the opening harmonies of a new song, both duelists let out that all-too-familiar cry: It's time to duel! “You’re the captain,” Peter said, “so I’ll defer and let you go first.” “Aww, how sweet!” Charlie grinned and drew their starting hand, “Who am I to turn down such a little gentleman? And since you let me go first, I’ll begin this game with Toy Vendor!” As Charlie slid a spell card into their disk, a gachapon machine rose behind them, a good 3 feet taller than their owner, with arms on either side of it waiting to dispense. With a nod, Charlie placed a card from their hand into the graveyard. “You see, once per turn, I can pay Toy Vendor a card, then draw and reveal the top card of my deck. If it’s a Fluffal monster, I can special summon a monster from my hand. So, let’s go, Toy Vendor!” Throwing their hand back, a coin flew from it, growing larger until it fit perfectly fit into the vendor’s slot, causing it to come to life. Cranking itself, it rumbled a bit before a capsule rolled out, popping onto the field in front of Charlie. As it hit the ground, the blue bottom and white top fell apart, revealing a stuffed puppy! The winged dog, barely smaller than Charlie, yipped and wagged its tail as the co-captain giggled. “Aww, I got Dog! Look how cute he is! And it’s such a good puppy, too, letting me find another Fluffal monster from my deck! So I’ll add Fluffal Owl, and I’ll normal summon it right away!” Charlie slapped the card down, and a stuffed owl gently floated down to the field with a hoot, landing right next to the dog. Unlike its fluffy partner, Owl only stood about a foot and a half tall, making soft bird noises. “Owl is also a good cutie, so then I get to add Fusion Substitute from my deck to my hand when it’s summoned! They’re such helpful toys!” Charlie giggled with glee as they set a single card face-down, then held their hand out to Peter. “And I think that’s just about enough for now. Your turn~” “Is every monster in your deck cute or just these ones?” Peter asked. “Of course! I love cuties, and there’s all shapes and kinds in here! After all, you should love what you play, right?” “Hm,” Peter said. Half of the hm was just asserting that he’d heard Charlie at all; the other half was his reaction to looking at his hand again. “What do you do…” he mumbled under his breath. It was a rhetorical question, of course. He knew what all his cards did -- it wasn’t like he had to reread every card that came into his hand -- but he knew he had to impress at least a little bit. “Alright, well, the first part of every turn is the draw step, so I guess I’ll do that,” Peter said. “And then I’ll-” He paused, and looked closer at the card he drew. “Well, I can save that for later, I guess.” His mom’s words echoed in his head. “Table talk! Get to the point!” Right. Peter put the card in with the rest of his hand and pulled out another. “I’ll summon my own searcher, Sage with Eyes of Blue!” The card materialized in front of him and out came a tall -- taller than Peter, at least -- magician, his staff already in hand. Once he had settled into position, he raised his staff above his head and a beam of light stretched out, wrapping itself around the mage once, twice, before materializing into a card. “He finds another level one Light tuner, in this case, Master with Eyes of Blue,” Peter said. He flashed the card to his opponent before adding it in with the rest. Could Charlie actually see it all the way over there? Not that it really mattered, something would have stopped him if he did something wrong, right? Anyway, “Fortunately for me, I have another Sage in my hand, so I can use its second effect. By discarding it and sending the Sage in play to the Graveyard --” the magician in front of him dissolved into holographic light, but it didn’t dissipate “I can summon a, no, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my deck!” The sage’s light, still strong even though the magician had long left the board started to shift and change shape. It had already been taller than Peter and it was growing even more now. And it was growing wings. And claws. And teeth. What finally emerged from the remnants of Peter's Sage was as magnificent a creature of destruction as described on its flavor text. Peter wasted no time using it. “Battle!” he said. “Blue-Eyes, attack Fluffal Dog!” The dragon roared and raised its head. A point of solid white appeared inside its open mouth, and though it started out small, it only grew. It became larger and larger at a speed that was only increasing, until the entire inside of the Blue-Eyes' mouth was a pure white. Only then did it lower its head again and unleash all that energy in a straight line, and the pure white barrelled towards the dog at quite a speed. (Charlie: 8000 -> 6700) “Oh no!” Charlie cried out as the dog was blasted to fluffy bits, sniffling for a moment, before bursting out a smile. “Well, it’s okay. After all, I activated Fluffal Crane when it was destroyed, adding Dog back to my hand and drawing a card!” “Alright,” Peter said. It wasn’t alright, but he said it all the same. “I’ll just set one card, then, and pass it back to you.”

Best RPer: Skaia Best Host: Chaos Sonic Best Character Design: Hakima (Cheshire Toon) Best World Design: Best Writer: Sethera (Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd) Best Reliable: Cowcow Best Cooperative: rep Best Helpful: Skaia Best in Chat: Blake Best RP: Yugioh! Skies Going into detail takes too long -- I know for a fact I'll get long-winded all up in this post -- but I can provide justifications if you PM me.

what about chinese metal (some variant of black/death idk genres) about the nanking massacre?

Peter only got a quick glance around the room before people started to notice he was there but what he saw was about what he’d expected. The size of the gymnasium had betrayed the expected size of the duel team, after all, and the outbursts of coming from the sidewall also betrayed -- in Peter’s mind -- the sort of seriousness his soon-to-be teammates were taking the whole affair. The only thing that really caught him off-guard was the co-Captain(?) Charlie asking him to introduce himself. He’d have thought… well, it didn’t matter. Maybe it was a formality anyway. “My name’s -” Someone who was neither Charlie nor Peter spoke up -- “Avi,” Charlie had said, right? -- cutting Peter off. “You’re Peter, aren’t you?” Avi said. “The third or something.” Well, that was close enough to what Peter had been expecting. He still winced a little at Avi’s “the third” comment -- without a surname attached the name just sounded like a king’s name and he was pretty sure he wasn’t that. “Peter Wilson, that’s me. Just ‘Peter’ is -” Avi cut him off again. “I met your parents a couple of years ago. Good duelists. I take it you didn’t take after them if you're here?” Peter almost said, “I don’t remember my parents mentioning you so maybe I could say the same thing,” but he managed to bite his tongue. Some of that hesitance was a simple worry that he was about to make one of those bad first impressions his parents always warned him about, but his larger worry was that, if Avi was telling the truth, there was the possibility he’d be able to relay the snark back to his parents, and as bad as bad first impressions were, bad first impressions that his parents knew about were even worse. All of this was compounded by the fact that Avi loomed large over Peter. Normally, Peter would be used to that sort of thing -- grown-ups were grown-ups and fourteen-year-olds were fourteen-year-olds, after all -- but Avi had to be, like, a foot taller than him. “You’re definitely the genius one, right? So small!” someone else said. Peter looked over, and while he couldn’t quite remember their name just yet, there was really only one person it could have come from: a girl who, despite her best efforts, still had crumbs on her cheeks. She, Peter found, was easier to respond to. “Sorry, um, your captain already said I can’t be a genius because my parents enrolled me in a historically great school that, uh, quote ‘is just in a liiitle slump right now.’ That’s, uh, those are their words.” And now that he’d started talking, Peter found it easier to keep talking. He turned back to the captains, especially Avi. “I don’t know. I’m only fourteen, after all. But I don’t think I would be here if I wasn’t pretty good, I mean.”

not yui but

Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. -Genesis 9:3 (NIV)Melissa smiled when she heard Gabriela was alright. Not that she’d expected anything else, really, so maybe the smile was also that she’d been able to catch her? Whichever it was, the smile remained as Gabriela thanked her in the way only Gabriela would. “An honored guest?” Melissa said, “Um, is this in addition to all the other times I’ll be honored in Romvania or do they all compound together into one very honorable ceremony?” Not that she minded or wanted to actually call out Gabriela on any of those promises, but she was interested. The interest was quickly revealed to be of the idle sort, though, as when Gabriela said she wanted food, or “nourishment” for “dark power such as hers,” Melissa developed a new plan. Gabriela’s request had also reminded Melissa how hungry she’d gotten after she lost her own dinner during the duel. Fortunately, she’d also heard that Fast Food (the food truck, not, like catering or anything) would be outside during the dance portion and that seemed like a good place to sate both of their hunger, so she took Gabriela by the hand -- “Alright, let’s fix that,” she said -- and guided her back outside the dance hall. There were still a bunch of other people around, either in line or eating or otherwise idling around, though it was certainly less crowded than the masses still indoors. The volumes of the music and the chatter had been reversed, too; Melissa could still hear the thumping bass and maybe when she paid attention she could hear some of the melody, but most of the noise came from the fragments of conversation around her. “My parents were always like, ‘If someone asks you to dance, you should be courteous and give them at least one. More can come if you want to after that, or you can leave, but give them the one.’ I don’t know. I’m not seeing anyone here who I’d want to dance with.” “I’m not dancing until the deejay plays something with some actual artistic merit. If they open the floor to requests, first thing I’m doing is going in and suggesting some King Gizz because otherwise I’m going to lose my mind.” “Who’d you vote for Kickoff King and Queen? I was thinking Chaderson and Rendleman but I could be persuaded otherwise…” And so on. Regardless of anything else, Melissa at least appreciated that it made the line move a little faster, and pretty soon both of them had a burger in hand. Luckily for both of them, too, a picnic table just cleared out nearby. It was a little dirty still -- one of the table’s occupants hadn’t even thrown out their leftovers -- but Melissa took care of that. She gathered it all into one corner of the table and looked back at Gabriela. “I don’t- if we go looking for a trash can now someone’ll probably take the spot without us,” she said, “um, but is this okay? I think that ketchup is still fresh so you might have to watch your elbow, but…?”

Peter always found phone conversations with his parents -- especially the ones where they put him on speaker and huddled over their phone analyzing his every word (like this one was) -- to be kind of like a rhythm game. They’d ask a question or say something and he’d have to respond quick enough that they didn’t think he was taking too long, yet slow enough that they thought he was still thinking about the answers. Maybe that was just because his parents had tried to instill that same sense of timing in other areas of his life, though it wasn’t like he’d be able to excel at an instrument or anything when most of his free time had been dedicated to cards. “You’re not lost, are you?” his mom said. “No, mom, there are only a few gyms and I know where this one is already. It’s by, uh, it’s by the classroom that community service club you said I should join uses.” Peter’s father piped in. “Oh, you did decide to join that! Good for you.” Inwardly, Peter wondered if he’d ever actually had any choice in the matter, and he mouthed along to his father’s follow-up “You know, stuff like that always looks real good, especially when you get older.” “Is everyone there treating you okay?” “Yes, mom. There are only a few people in that club anyway, and this one girl there barely talks to anyone, too. I think they just want-” “A girl! Is she cute?” “Mom!” It was a rare outburst and an especially rare break in the conversation’s rhythm, but Peter was pretty sure he was justified. She’d interrupted him first, after all. “Sorry! Sorry!” his mom said. “I’m just teasing you, honey. You know that, right?” Peter reached the gymnasium entrance and peeked in. It was definitely the place, though there weren’t too many people inside just yet. He wondered if he was supposed to wait outside for everyone else, or wait even more and be fashionably late. His parents had always been like that. “If you show up just a little bit late,” his father would say, “you show that you knew the time and you care about being there -- this is especially true if you apologize when you come in -- but by being late at all you get to be the center of attention when you come in.” Maybe he could just not show up at all, too. Maybe he could weave this grand lie for his parents where he wasn’t actually a duelist but pretended he was just for his parents and that’d- No, that was just a bad idea from the getgo. They’d find out. They always found out. “Honey? You still there?” Ah beans, Peter thought to himself. He’d gotten his thoughts sidetracked and forgot about the most important one. “Yes, mom. Sorry, I was- I just got to the gym and was making sure-” It was his father’s turn to interrupt him this time. “Oh, you did? That’s great, Pete! Knock ‘em dead!” Peter winced at, well, everything in what his father just said. Mostly it was the nickname, but the other parts, too, only served to remind him exactly why he was doing this and it wasn’t something he was particularly fond of being reminded. His mom broke through his thoughts again. “I suppose you want us to hang up now, don’t you?” “I guess,” Peter said. His parents both laughed. “I guess,” his mom echoed back at him. “Alright, honey, you’ve got this! We’ll be cheering for you.” There was a small beep and they were gone. Peter stared at the gymnasium door and his mind again wondered what he was supposed to be doing. Waiting… Not waiting… Either way, too, was he supposed to introduce himself and act like people already didn’t know who he was? Or was that too humble where he shouldn’t be? He knew what his parents wanted from him (“Be proud of who you are!” “We just want the best for you.”), but what did everybody else? He sighed, opened the door, and crossed the threshold.

Elsie tried not to react as the Nathaniel melted back into Tricky before her very eyes, though due to exhaustion, her elation at winning, or perhaps a mix of both, she couldn’t entirely suppress a wry smile. Being right about the magic circle had rejuvenated her somewhat; she wasn’t breathing quite as heavy as she was before, and watching this transformation was in the process of improving her even more. A shapeshifter! She might have guessed if she hadn’t been so focused on everything else. It made sense, after all. Why introduce someone new like that after all the introductions that had gone on back in the conference room? “That was fun though, right?” Tricky said. It was mostly, right? It wasn’t like he’d displayed any real ability to threaten her until she’d willingly landed and he started shoving her around. And even then, the second he found himself unable to trap her, that was it. Everything else was just throwing hailstones and lightning around, and who didn’t love that? So was it fun? “I guess,” Elsie said. The shoving part, being more recent, was fresher in Elsie’s mind than the fun parts, and part of her couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if she’d realized too late where Tricky wanted her to go. She had Corbin to thank for that realization, but he’d flittered off when Tricky had shoved her. Only now that it was all over did he land back on Elsie’s broomstick. “Did you have fun?” Elsie asked him. “You need to be more aware of your surroundings, I think,” Corbin said. “I’m not always going to be able to call your shots or point out some weird rocks on the ground for you.” Elsie rolled her eyes. She’d forgotten Corbin’s idea of fun was lecturing her. “You also should have known just calling out someone’s trick isn’t going to get them to stop using it. Especially when their name is something like ‘Tricky.’” “Yeah, okay, I got it,” Elsie said. “Anything else?” “Probably. Those are the two big points, though.” Elsie was about to say something back when someone else came into the arena: Alexandre. He didn’t seem to be approaching, though. Instead, he moved over and leaned against the wall. Elsie waved at him and called out, “Hallo! Do you know who else is coming? I’m kind of tapped out for right now, but I’d enjoy watching someone else.”

Then young women will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow. -Jeremiah 31:13 (NIV)At the exact moment Gabriela stumbled, Melissa had a realization. Hugging Elizabeth in the restroom and hugging Gabriela just after had been two entirely different experiences, and yet, although she understood that with a certainty that surprised even her, she still found it difficult to mentally enunciate the exact differences between those two moments. As far as she remembered, she’d been in more or less the same headspace both times, but… Maybe she’d held Gabriela a bit tighter than she had Elizabeth? But if that was true -- and Melissa wasn’t entirely sure that it was -- that was only part of it, she felt. And it was a small part, a part that barely allowed her to make any actual progress towards understanding the actual “why” of it all. Gabriela was falling now… How much did she value knowing each of them? Melissa knew the answer in regards to Elizabeth at least almost immediately. Who else would she have called out to when she trapped herself in the restroom? Who else would have been able to talk her out of it? Nobody else had come to mind then and nobody else was coming to mind as she thought about it now. That still didn’t explain the hug, though. Melissa instinctively opened her arms to catch her falling date. It took her a few more split-seconds to realize what exactly was about to happen, and only then did she brace herself. At the exact moment of collision, Melissa let out a soft -- even soft for her -- “oh,” and Gabriela’s momentum sent her back a step as well. The world seemed to freeze; the music even faded out and the deejay started going through their introduction and hyping up the crowd. Their words were unintelligible to Melissa. She was still trying to process what exactly was happening. This embrace was different, too, though it was different in the same unexplainable ways. Time resumed quickly enough. In fact, it seemed to come in right as the next song started. Melissa felt no closer to figuring anything out, but she released Gabriela from her hold and asked, “Are you okay? You’re not dizzy or anything, are you? Do you need some water?” She remembered that there was a food truck outside, too, if Gabriela needed food. The lyrics kicked in on the overhead speakers: Right now, I’m in a state of mind I wanna be in like all the time...