LordCowCow

^ My thoughts are the same tbh. I know her personality and looks and really like both. Shantae for Smash I do like Katou tbh, and she's legit probably really fitting of the term "waifu" but just falls a bit short compared to my own nominations

I didn't get super into One Piece but I gotta say that I find the designs for the female characters kinda weird.

Okay! Most of the matches were really close, the least was still only 3 votes apart, but we have our top 4! Lethe (Path of Radiance) Marcia (Path of Radiance) Morgan (Awakening) Severa (Awakening) I'll make the matches tomorrow and put em up. Getting close to the finish folks. And interestingly it's 2 from PoR and 2 from Awakening.

"Hey! Wait up!" "Wait? No can do!" Valerie said and, with a laugh, picked up the pace. She wasn't about to slow down for anyone. If he wanted to follow her that's all well and good but he knew where she was going. No reason to match his pace. The river, well, it was a river. At first glance there didn't seem to be much to it beyond that. Then she heard some noise from the shrubs on the opposite side. Crouching a bit as the unknown man came out she was fully prepared for attack when...he opened up his mask and spoke to them pretty friendly like, if demeaning. Though that was enough to bother the young girl. "Kids? Scouts?" Valerie said, then shook her head. "We're...well, I don't know about him, but I'm the future top hero, monsters and villains are kinda my thing ya know?" "Hero?!" The man said with a smile, stroking his chin. "They're startin' you kids young on that stuff huh? Aren't you a little to young to be aimin' that high uh....what's your name?" "Age doesn't matter! No matter how old you are when you decide a goal you gotta go for it with all you got! The name's Valerie Clark; don't forget it you'll be hearing that name for years to come!" She narrowed her eyes. "You're not a hero are you? What are you doing here?" "You got spunk kid. You'll need it if you wanna be a guy like me." When the girl started to pry, his eyebrow perked up. "Oh? What makes you think I'm not a hero, young Valerie?" Valerie considered for a moment what she should say here. Then, just deciding to go for it, "We weren't told about any heroes searching this area. Our teacher should have mentioned that much." "Oh my. Pretty and perceptive. You're quite dangerous aren't you." The man smiled, before bowing. "I can assure you that I am indeed a Hero. I protect innocent lives with a shield of my body." Valerie didn't budge from her spot. "What's your Hero name then?" She couldn't claim to know all the heroes by appearance but she should have heard of the majority by name at least. "I'm sure you've heard of the legendary hero Spring Lock! Well you're lookin' at him!" He said, flexing with a smile. Valerie twitched, instinctively glancing back for a moment, where they had come from, where their chaperon had went off to find a park ranger. Which meant...her head snapped back towards the man. Something was wrong.

"By the way, I didn't catch your name earlier. Mine's Stella." "Oh, sorry, suppose in all the excitement I forgot to say. I'm Arnold, it's a pleasure to meet you Stella." The boy responded before the two made their way to the hanger. He watched as the pilots got out of their mechs and gave them all a friendly wave. "I must say that was rather impressive. Leaping into the fray like that. Takes a lot of courage to do something like that. I wanted to come down here to thank you all for dealing with those...ruffians, as you did. It's good to know that there are people like you going to class with me. Though I suppose it gives me a lot to live up to now." --- The first thing Kelsey did, well, the first thing she did was stumble on her way down, missing one of the handholds. But once she made it to, for lack of better term, ground level she noticed Stella and ran for her. "congratulations on your win out there." Kelsey raised her hand up and moved it as though to give Stella's waving hand a high-five, but instead interlocked their fingers above the two girls' heads. "Thanks! It was pretty great wasn't it? Those guys had some really paper thin mechs didn't they? I didn't know how exciting it was to shoot those guns. It was awesome!" She turned around towards the rest, still holding onto Stella, and asked "What about you guys? That was my first time actually using that thing besides VR stuff. Feels so different don't it?" Arnold, beside Stella, gave a amicably laugh. "Well, can't say she isn't energetic." Kelsey narrowed her eyes. "Hey, who's this guy?" She whispered to Stella. The mechanic girl who had made the announcement came from around a stack of spare parts. "Yes, good job, whatever, look I can't really fix up your machines if you're all crowding around my workspace." She didn't look directly at any of them as she said this. Instead her eyes were already scanning the various mechs and muttering fixes under her breath. OOC

"so, should we, um, pick Qresa to go to next then?" "I...I guess." Keres said, not sure how to respond to being asked to decide this. It was probably the best option as they were. Though she did wonder how they would handle some of the more naturally dangerous places if any more of them...No, she shouldn't think like that. Meanwhile as the Chosen were filing out of the tower Damien was busy playing a game of eye spy with Kloqah and the mule. "I spy...oh, what do I spy here?" He said as he noticed Pyrrha. He slid on over to the girl with a wide smile on his face. "Well, I can't say I expected them to come out of that place with someone so cute...The name's Damien. I'm the chaperone on this little adventure. And you are...?" ----- Eventually the group gathered around the teleportation device in what was becoming almost routine. Keres focused intently on their destination. There was a bridge that connected to Qresa that was near one of the major cities there and that would be their destination. With luck they'd manage to reach the place without any hassle. Taking a deep breath they plunged once more into the magic of teleportation. Book 2: The Hidden King of the Grassland BGM Qresa was immediately a much different experience than the one they had when entering the desert. They appeared on a paved, if beaten, road. The land before them was filled with grass. In the near area the grass was cut short but the farther they looked the taller they could see the grass getting until at some point it was likely chest height of the average traveler. Though the road seemed large enough for two carriages to ride upon it side by side so this seemed to not be a hindrance as far as travel went. Off in the distance they could see various grazing animals, horses, cattle, and sheep, wandering about. Though the group would notice that these animals, even separate species, kept close together for fear of predators. Similarly to the desert, however, was the fort that was placed on the end of the bridge. Though it seemed much more well taken care of than the one in the desert. Adding to the differences the doors were flung wide open and several armored knights were already coming out to greet them. The one in the lead, who was the only whose helmet had a red plume atop it, spoke up. "And these must be the Chosen we were told about. Greetings, Chosen, and welcome to Qresa!" "The Chosen, them? Are you certain?" One of the other knights asked. "No, I'm Sir Perior. Sir Tann is still inside. I think you need surgery on your eyes, lad." Sir Perior said with a laugh. "Ah, perhaps you're right. My apologizes. Sir Jury, if you would." The third knight nodded and raised a glowing hand over his fellow's eyes. "Your sight gets worse every day, you'll have to retire soon enough." Sir Jury looked back at the group. "Sorry for the odd circumstance." "Oi, I'm right here, no need to call me odd." The knight, whose eyes were being healed, muttered. "Oh stay still, Sir Cumstance, else this won't work." Sir Jury replied. Sir Perior cleared his throat. "Right, yes, well as I said, greetings Chosen. I hope that your journey will be a successful one."

After IC

Team Mac, Day 23, Ogren "You're... not with my mom, are you?" Tornadus smirked and ignored Mac's "Ew, gross." "Well, I don't know, lot of ladies spent a lot of nights with me before. Who's to say one of them wasn't your mom? But...no, that's not what I meant. The scent I smell is the scent of power. Of Legendary power. You kiddies have been very busy, haven't you?" There was an almost accusatory tone to his voice that Mac didn't like. "Hey! We didn't do anything bad! We've been busy helping you guys! I haven't even gotten a chance to fight any of you myself except one. I thought you Legends were supposed to accept challenges whenever they came!" "Little outdated knowledge you've got there. Don't you know? We're in the off-season. We need some time off after all. Especially with people trying to kill us." Elsa stepped forward, hands on her hips, and looked Tornadus straight in the eye. "That's all well and good but can you tone it down a little? You're blowing away the flowers." Tornadus threw his head back and laughed. "Man, people are so spunky these days aren't they?" He then pointed at Kazo. "Except you, why's that? You're bigger than both of these lovely ladies so how come I can see you shaking in your boots?" Team Neo Not Dark, Day 33, I'll Stop With the Lyrics Now "After we find this kid, I'm going to go look for my brother again. Let my bleeding heart sidetrack me too much as it is," This time it was the Poliwrath who seemed to relax a little. Or, rather, had a somewhat guilty look on her face. The Starmie seemed to pick up something worrisome about what Denku said, however, as they started to shift back and forth while he talked. "Well...but, well, why is finding this kid so important anyw-gah!" The Starmie fell backwards as they were struck by metal bars directly on the head. They rolled back and forth on the ground, clutching their forehead, the red gem showing on their collarbone flashing. "Damn it, it was a trick!" The Poliwrath said and reached out to throw Denku. Then a large torrent of water struck the woman and send her flying backwards. Both the guards helped each other to their feet and glared at the group. But more specifically at the man emerging from the cell. Gisei was holding one arm, with a huge claw-like appendage attached to it, out towards them. The bindings having snapped off from the force of the Hydro Pump. "I suggest we make this quick." He said. Team Alola, Day 27, Trailsau "HEATRAN! I'VE COME TO FIGHT!!" "ABOUT DAMN TIME" Came the Legend's response. He then backed away from the lip of the volcano while the two made their way to the top. Once they both were there they would see that Heatran was standing on a small island, a dozen feet in diameter, of volcanic rock. Which had four paths of similar material reaching the lip of the volcano in each direction. Several, smaller, islands floated in between each path but much of the area was made up of the lava from the volcano. The heat was intense to the point that even the Fire and Water types would feel it negatively but Heatran seemed to be perfectly fine. BGM "It has been too long since someone came to fight me. The volcano is angry." Heatran said. "And all that they have to send me are these children. Very well...I am Heatran, the very embodiment of the willpower of the Legends. Try and last more than a moment." He then looked upward, opened up his jaw unnaturally wide, and bursts of flame shot out into the air and then fell down in a plume along the lip of the volcano where the two who had just finished climbing were standing. --- "Alright, uh, with that detour out of the way... me and my friends up there were asked to, er... make sure you two are doing okay," Nani had run into the group, with Trevor literally carrying each kid under a separate arm, making their way back towards the outskirts of the city. One of them simply stuck their tongue out at Nani. The other actually spoke up. "The old man already told us. We don't need no looking after!" She pouted at Nani, head hanging upside down. Trevor sighed, shifting the two to keep them from falling, and slowed his movement. "Did...they really go up there?" Trevor said. "He seems extra angry today..." Team Karaoke, Day 37, Deadlands "but, we've had a pretty good track record of meeting friendly legends so far. So, I bet we can make good with this one too." Gwendoline gave an awkward laugh. "Y-yeah, I'm sure...I'm sure it'll be fine. Legends are...good people, right?" She asked, clearly unconvinced. "It's a large part as to why I became a chaser in the first place." "That's just like you." Gwen said. "But I'd be careful, I've heard some scary things about Hoopa before. You wouldn't want to get on their bad side I'm sure." It was somewhat difficult, for the non-natives, to tell when night was falling. The darkness didn't seem to be much changed as the hours passed, but eventually Gwen declared that it was time to rest up. She hummed cheerily as she gathered up a very small amount of brush and sticks. "Nine, could you, er, shedinja some light on the situation?" She asked with a nervous giggle. The group sat around the fire in silence for a while and then Gwen turned to say something to Kayla and noticed that the girl had gotten up and was now hovering somewhere outside of the light of the fire, looking up at the sky. Team Showdown, Day 31, Oasis "...use these things like a fan maybe?" Normally Isole would balk at such a suggestion. Putting herself in as awkward a situation as that. At the moment however. "Yes, do it, Arceus how can anyone stand this. Why did we come here again?" Her tone was almost whiny and it seemed the hotter she got the more her cold exterior, literally and figuratively, melted away. Ain't she cute? "Bite me." Isole snapped back. Then quickly seemed to lose any trace of fight in her as the heat drained her energy and caused her head to droop. "Honestly, I'm not here cause I was feelin' nostalgic. I'm on a mission to chase down Landorus. I figured you'd know where to look for 'em...seein' as you're so old an stuff." The nearby people inside turned to look at Taiga as she said that as if she had grown a second head. Meanwhile the old lady shook her head. "Yes I remember now, you're just as bold and rude as you were then, I do hope you weren't like this to that young man in Fryst. It has been such a long time since I've seen him. Always was a strange kid, but always one who wanted to keep people safe...what were we talking about again? Oh, yes, Landorus. I don't know where you might find him. I hear he rests under the ground most of the time." She stared into Taiga's face for a while and then said. "Now if you don't need me for anything. I have an old friend upstairs who I don't want to keep waiting. He's been away for such a long time so I'm sure you can imagine we have a lot to discuss." She waited a moment before turning and shuffling her way to the stairs once more.

Mother's Day is....difficult. Especially this year. One of my mom's sister's, who died 20 years ago, birthday was on this day so that's what comes to her mind first. And we learned that my grandpa, her father, died earlier this month. So it's a rough day for her. Mostly I try and not stress her out much and take care of things. My sister got her a rosebush and a dumbo figure though.

I think this topic is suitable for regular General. Anyway, I never really did. A lot of the toys I played with were my brother's old toys and didn't really collect anything specifically myself. Had some Hot Wheels but that's about it.

@Tormented fight fight fight

Shantae (Shantae)

Marcia (FE9) Versus Jill (FE9) Match ends 5/13 9 PM CST

Lute (FE8) Morgan, Female (FE13) Match ends 5/13 9 PM CST

Lethe (FE9) Versus Maribelle (FE13) Match ends 5/13 9 PM CST

Severa (FE13) Versus Katarina (FE12) Match ends 5/13 9 PM CST

Hotaru sat there, nibbling idly on the same bagel, as she listened in on the conversations around her. She didn't really want to but that was all there was to do as a distraction. "Let's say we succeed at our job and are given sufficient funding to restore the city to a tolerable state. What would be the first thing you do to start it back on the proper path?" There it was again. Those two girls. Talking about fixing things. Hotaru listened in a bit more intently after that. She started running one hand through her hair nervously. Why was this conversation making her so uncomfortable? They were just a couple of idealists talking about a ridiculous dream. As if any of them had any chance to dream... "There's no point in trying to focus on rebuilding as long as the gang wars are still going on... But then what would you start with?" "There's no point in trying at all." Hotaru blurted out in her gloomy, barely audible, tone. Her fingers paused in the middle of going though her hair and she trembled slightly as she realized that she was engaging in conversation. Maybe if she just kept staring straight ahead they would ignore her. But she couldn't stop herself from glancing to the side, at the two, every few seconds. Stupid. So stupid. What was she doing?

"Oh, it's the Chuuni," That wasn't the first time someone had called her that. What did it even mean? She hadn't heard the term before. Perhaps she should look it up sometime... "Why do you need an escort, aren't you supposed to be 'all powerful and unstoppable' or whatever?" Hiraku said in a slightly mocking tone. "Or are you just lost and don't want to admit it?" Yes. "No!" Gabriela said with as stomp of her foot. "The fact that you even suggest something like that is absolutely unacceptable. I don't know how things are in your country but it is the most natural thing for a princess such as I to be given an escort. Normally it would be more than this but I graciously offered you and Melissa the honor of doing it yourselves." She was incredibly embarrassed. Gabby hadn't been prepared to talk with someone who disliked her so much. She didn't know what to do to change that, either, beyond completely changing course. Which wasn't something she was willing to do after she had so solidly made her name and attitude known. The only thing she could think was to appeal to Melissa. The girl was awkward, sure, but Gabby felt that the girl wasn't the type that was easy to yell at. "Is that not right?" Gabriela said, turning towards the girl. "This is simply the proper way to do things, yes?"

So the results will also double as the list of characters for the next round as this is now the top 8 (quarterfinals) Lute, winning by 1 Marcia, only getting a couple votes over the RNG nominee Severa, who dominated Forde Morgan, also by 1 Lethe, also also by 1 Jill who doubled Frederick Maribelle, by 1, which honestly surprised me a lot And Katarina by a large amount Will try and get the polls up tomorrow

baa

Kartana

Keres stood there like a statue. Just looking straight ahead without giving acknowledgement to the people in the room. The other Chosen, barring the new one, had gone off to do their tasks. But Keres herself didn't have any business here and even if she had she wasn't sure she would be welcome in most other parts of this tower. Not that she felt particularly welcome here. While the three talked among themselves James would shoot her looks of discontent and annoyance. They didn't like her. Didn't like that she had been the one, of all the students, current and former, here to be chosen. For Keres's part she wasn't very pleased to be here either. Though her face didn't show it the girl was relieved when Ryia returned. The only sign of this she showed was her turning and leaning slightly towards the soldier. "I'm um, not really great with maps so I uh, don't know what's similar to here. So, would you um, be able to teach me about them?" Keres wasn't sure how to respond. She didn't expect to be approached on something like that. "Erm...okay." She said. "Maybe out there?" She added. She didn't want to keep discussing things here. Not in front of all of them. She gestured towards the other Chosen and waved her over. Then, in the general direction of the council, she said "We're going." Saleh nodded, "I wish you luck in your journey. You're free to return at any time." --- Outside of the tower Keres took a deep breath. Relieved at being out of there finally. She turned back towards Ryia, opened her mouth, hesitated, and closed her mouth again. The mage coughed and started up again. "None are exactly...like Haven. But the closest I guess would be Bresa or Qresa. To the south-east and south. They have the most...flat land." She hesitated. "There's...a lot of differences still." She looked away, not sure how to continue. Or even what it is that Ryia was looking for.

"I want to see what's down there though. And maybe catch one of the little guys for myself." "But why?" Naomi questioned, ambling after the two. "Whatcha gon' find? There's water lotsa places." The shop they found wasn't large, so most things inside were crammed together and cluttered, merchandise hung over the aisles and, in some cases, in the aisle. As they made their way to the desk Naomi got herself hooked on a fishing pole. She felt the tug on the back of her shirt and just stood there. With a shrug she decided that this was as far as she was going to get. Meanwhile the woman at the desk, a girl with wide eyes and blazing red hair, looked excited to see the group. "Hello hello, welcome to the shop and all that. So, you wanna go diving do you? Not many people hit me up for that. Guess no one wants a Skrelp in their hair." She then gave a short, loud, laugh. "Well, we do got some that we can rent out. You're gonna need a guide to help you out though. And it just so happens there's someone who can instruct you right here." She looked to the left, then right, then back at Oswald. She put a hand up to the side of her mouth as if whispering a secret and said, in the same volume, "It's me." She stood up straighter and planted her fists on her hips. "And it won't cost you much at all, unless you break something. So where you folks intended to explore?"

Hotaru wasn't sure how long she had been there when suddenly she was being told to go elsewhere. "First you tell her to relax then you tell her to get moving. Make up your damn mind." Dragonecro grumbled. Hotaru didn't mind much though. It wasn't as though she was particularly attached to where she was at the moment. Still she waited until she was alone again before making her way out of the water. She halfheartedly dried herself off and slipped her regular clothing back on. The dampness made the material cling uncomfortably but she didn't do anything to fix it. Instead she simple made her way back to the meeting table once again. It was filled with food. The strong smell, pleasant to most, gave her a queasy feeling in her stomach. She felt a tight, uncomfortable, feeling that she knew would soon become painful unless she did something about it. With a sigh she slipped her way towards the table, trying to avoid eye contact with anyone, and pulled a chair back. She winced at the loud, to her, noise the chair made and silently sat down. Keeping her hair over her eyes and looking straight forward she reached out and grabbed a bagel and began taking small bites out of it. She hoped that this breakfast thing would be over fast. Then she could...go somewhere else? Maybe it would be better if this just didn't end at all. Then she wouldn't have to think about what she'd do next.