OblivionWalker

Stormlight is long, for sure. I’m fortunate that I’ve always been a very fast reader so I can mow through things pretty quickly. I used to listen to more audiobooks at my previous job but I don’t so much any more. I’ll have to see if I can get that at our local library!

Bran Sand, my beloved. You'll have to let me know what you think and I'm very curious about the second nonfiction you mentioned. Probably about the war, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein?

To the VHL: I write this letter to all of you on a day that holds a lot of meaning to me as well as many others like me. For a long time, I always wondered if I was ever going to find the place that I truly belonged, if indeed such a place even existed. I was always "different". When others liked to be around people, I was more comfortable on my own or with smaller groups. When others were looking forward to gym class, I was looking forward to English class, where I could read when I was finished with my homework or even math class because numbers always made more sense to me than people ever did. Even within the confines of my own family, I was the oddball. The different one. My brother and sisters were never mean, and my parents never treated us differently, but I know it was difficult for my parents to plan parties to celebrate things for me because they knew that I hated having to be the center of attention or in a crowded room. They did their best, for which I will be eternally grateful. I was allowed to be myself, whatever that ended up being and I know others may not have such a luxury, in either the families they were born into or the place in which they might be living at the moment. That feeling of wondering when I'd find where I truly belonged only seemed to deepen once I started to play hockey. Others weren't as kind to me growing up, calling me things like "Frankenstein" when I hit a growth spurt after already being six foot two and it made me wonder what other things they would say to me if they really knew me. So I kept a lot of things hidden away and locked up. I thought that if my family and my close friends knew me, that would be enough. I sequestered myself into my neat little box and bided my time. But the more time I've spent playing, meeting new people and seeing places that seemed beyond my imagination, I've come to a decision. No longer am I content to just stay in my little box. No longer am I going to hide just because someone else might not be comfortable with who I am. No longer am I going to hide because there's nothing for me to be ashamed of. In that spirit and on this day that has come to be known as "Coming Out Day", I've decided to make something known about myself to my new friends, my peers and those who will eventually be my peers when I finally reach the VHL proper. My name is Stanislav Kovalenko. I'm a hockey player, a son, a brother, a grandson. . . and I'm gay. I have a boyfriend, whom I love very much and is the best thing in my life and even though there's little corners of my mind that tell me he could do better, all I can do is try my best to make sure that he knows that and never regrets giving me a chance. If there are other people out there who feel right now like I did, like there's no place for them to belong or like there won't be people who will accept them, I can promise you that place exists. Those people are out there waiting to meet you. For me? That place is the VHL. Sincerely, Slava Kovalenko (word count: 587)

Worlds Collide - Marianas Trench

Jacob was my gm for the Junior Showcase Tournament in Season 94 and as a first gen and completely new to everything, he was super welcoming and made that time on the Rush really feel special. He will always have a place in my heart as one of my first gm's along with Grape, who was cool with Ottawa as well.

Everyone’s mileage is going to vary on who won what but seeing all of this arguing in a thread meant to celebrate people is just a really bad look. Can’t we let people enjoy their awards for even a few hours without getting up in arms about it? The votes were counted, it’s over and done with. No amount of discourse is going to change that. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion but if I was one of the winners coming in here and seeing people saying I didn’t deserve it when it was out of my control would make me feel pretty shitty but maybe that’s just me. Surely there’s more appropriate places to have those discussions than here.

Thanks for all your hard work, @LucyXpher!

I added “and friends” for a reason

Honored to be nominated for top defenseman!

As the Team Asia gm, I approve this message.

They didn’t but I did. Come to the Asia side, Plate. We have vibes and lots of food.

If there’s not enough players from that specific continent/geographic area, we get to draft players not taken by the other teams to round things out. At least for this tournament, you’re mine Plate.

1. I did until I had to get to sleep for work! 2. I think we can go all the way and get the cup. We made it to the second round last year and there's no reason we can't go all the way. 3. With a higher cap, I can really develop Slava. I feel like I started off with a good base and now I can continue to build on it. 4. Given that I hoped for 20 points last season and ended up with 89, I feel like it could be reasonable to seek 100 this season. 5. There's a bot that does a "question of the day", something like that could be fun. 6. A really pale turquoise on an old car. Never seen a color like it before or since and I think about it sometimes.

Team Asia may be small, so we called in some reinforcements from friends in other nations! Here is the official roster for Season 95 Team Asia and Friends. LW - Steven Nichols @SlyDigi RW- Alex Ovechkin llll @Bruh RW - Doc Hudson @ThunderCloud C - Jay Sikes @JaySmacksss F - Kyle Evans @Kyle Evans C - Jackson Jeannot @Lucas anton RW - Arochimaru Shahar @Zurgzz C - Andreas Andreasen @Rjdixon01 C - Joel Jakobs @Plate D - Bubbles Lafleur @AJW D - Boris Bone-Breaker @RileyL D - Cysteine @Bea D - Narnia Shaw @Dabnad G - Ricky Lafleur @DarkSpyro G - Vladimir Trunov @qripll We're here for a good time, not for a long time. Asia LR Discord Invite: https://discord.gg/j3nQX4bD When you come in, choose your role as Team Asia in the “roles” section please.

The Scarlet Opera - Heaven Is A Place On Earth (Belinda Carlisle cover)

Lee > Plate.

from: skovalenko@google.ca to: rharrington@google.ca Sonechko, I’m really proud of you for going second overall!!! You’re going to be amazing in Moscow and it’ll be unbelievable to see you out there on the ice. Baba and Dido wanted me to pass along their own well wishes as well, which I promised them I would. So there you go. Baba insists that such a momentous occasion needs some dumplings and she’s already in full cooking mode. Please come and save me from this mountain of varynyky before it topples over and buries me alive. Or at least until they spill into my lap and burn the hell out of me because baba likes to take them out of the pan when they’re hotter than the hinges of Satan’s door. Yours always, Slava P.S. There’s also something I wanted to talk to you about with Coming Out Day being Friday the 11th. It’s nothing bad, just something I want to post publicly. (word count: 161 words)

Review: As a Critter/Vox Machina fan, this fills my soul with a depth of delight that, upon further reflection, is most like frightening and so I will attempt to contain myself. This is definitely a strong start on what will be Grog's journey into the VHL. The only critique I have is the length and I will out myself here as well as offer my services: I have role played a LOT in the past and continue to write with people for fun so if you ever want commentary from Grog's Vox Machina friends, PLEASE hit me up. I would love to help because this is such a fun idea. (word count: 111 words)

Review: This was a very fun look around the league and I appreciate the gumption in asking if we could do two .com pieces even though Papa Bek said no and sent us all to bed without dessert. Hence, why you are getting this slightly silly review. If there is one piece of critique that I could offer, please, PLEASE don't have a dark background as well as dark text. When I'm trying to read things on my phone at work, it's nearly impossible. As you were! (word count: 87)

While awaiting the next game for the Royals in the Junior Showcase Tournament, Slava Kovalenko thought it might be interesting to take a look at what was going on in the world of news. Picking up the paper, he idly leafed through it until he came to a mock draft that someone had proposed. Even thinking about the draft was enough to make him nervous at the best of times and a little nauseous at the worst. He had no idea what a team might value him at, as far as picks went and when he saw that he had been picked to go sixth overall, he shrugged a broad shoulder. That seemed fair enough. He knew he wasn’t like some of the others in the draft, including his own boyfriend, River Harrington and Slava just hoped that wherever it was he ended up going, it was somewhere that he could make a true difference and also be there to help make his team better. Resolutely closing the paper and setting it aside, Slava reached for his stick. It was still a ways out and driving himself crazy thinking about what ifs wasn’t going to change anything or make him a better player. It was time to play. (word count: 208)

1. I think if we can just finish more of our chances, we could push up the table. 2. Slava’s performed okay but I would like to see more from him. 3. Brandon I think. 4. Excited and also slightly nauseous. 5. Depends on what you want to do but I always recommend the Olympic Peninsula. 6. It’s always fun and it’s been interesting to see how this one is going as compared to last year.