====== SSMAS Issue 451 ====== ===== CONTRIBUTIONS WELCOME ===== Hey everyone, Editor Wreath here! As you may have noticed, things have been moving kinda slowly during this Off-Season. I blame the Blood Frenzy series -- none of the Gladiators who take part in Blood Frenzy are //exciting// enough to write about! They're just... kinda sad and a bit desperate :( But all of that can change now! Season XXXVI is about to begin and I want to make this Season the biggest in //Super Special Mega Awesome Stuff// history! Send in your fic! Your art! Your poetry! Your headcanons! We've already got so much material to work with, so let's make this Season as beautiful as we can! ===== FIC: BLOCK AND TACKLE ===== **Title**: Point of No Return\\ **Rating**: Teen (may go up in future chapters!)\\ **Summary**: Block hasn't spoken to Tackle properly since... well. Since it all happened, last year. Still, when Doomigator falls victim to a mysterious sickness, can the two work together to reach an understanding?\\ ===== ARENA RIVALRY OOOOO ===== UMBA is back!!! Sure, we're all SUPER excited about the Fights, but let's take a minute to talk about the EVEN MORE EXCITING bit of Arena life! That's right, Trainer rivalries!!! Like, did you see how Zephyr looked in that press conference when someone asked about the rumour that Chaser would be coming back to the Arena this Season? Oh. My. STARS. He's always stupidly pretty but angry!Zephyr is... ugh, it was beautiful. Chaser, if you're reading this, //please// continue doing whatever it was you did to make him hate you so much. Then on the adorable side of things, we've got Crabgrass and Thistle. You know, Crabgrass himself wrote in, all eager to know if we'd be declaring the two of them as rivals? Awww. Let's hope the two of them have some matches together this Season -- that dynamic is JUST TOO FUN! For you hardcore battle enthusiasts out there, my contacts tell me that Socket and Crash are involved in a pretty intense rivalry! That last fight seems to have been the tipping point; Socket has apparently been grumbling to anyone who'll listen that Crash's Mechagraviton is a "second-rate lump of junk." Maybe they're gearing up for a grudge match? You've got this, Crash! Show them what you're made of! Last but not least, we've heard that Zenith has got it in for Arena maintenance expert Damage Control. Why is Zenith picking fights with someone who doesn't appear to be interested in taking their rivalry to the League? WHO KNOWS! Poor thing has never been sensible with their reputation. I hope they sort this out soon -- I'm //such// a fan of Damage Control's recent Arena modifications! ===== FAN CREATION TOURNAMENT LET'S DO THIS THING ===== OKAY LISTEN UP. What we're NOT gonna do is let some boring generic thing win again. We gotta give them something GOOD. Something that they're not going to RIP UP as soon as they see it like they did last time. I HAVE A PLAN. What if we collab'd to write a play???? No, a MUSICAL?????? Bet no one's sent a musical into the Fan Creation Competition before! ===== GBOWeekly ===== A collection of Fan-submitted thoughts on Giant Block of Wood: * Why does no one appreciate the whole point of GBoW? It's the biggest "screw you" to everyone who takes the Arena too seriously and trust me, we need that. * FUCK GIANT BLOCK OF WOOD AND FUCK CANON AND FUCK ANYONE WHO STILL THINKS THIS JOKE IS FUNNY * i wanna do art on it for that competition anyone else in * I love and cherish Giant Block of Wood don't be so mean about it :( * what if we tipped it over has anyone tried that * If you cut GBoW in half would you make two GBoWs?