Fairly large announcement today: Team events are finally on TopDeck. Whether you're doing Team Trios or Riftbound 2v2, you can now sign up as one team and play together. We handle things like multi formats for Trios, properly seating players across each other, as well as team captains managing their own teams. โฌ
I went to In-N-Out and ordered a cheeseburger. The cashier, a calm young woman named Destiny, asked me a question I did not expect.
"You want that Animal Style?"
I paused.
I did not know what this meant. But a samurai does not admit he does not know. So I answered with weight.
"...Animal Style."
"Cool. So that's mustard-grilled, extra spread, grilled onions, pickles. Yeah?"
I understood now. This was a sacred permission. For one meal, I was being told to put down my manners at the door. To eat the way a beast eats, without shame. I had waited my whole life for someone to give me this order.
"Yes," I said. "I will become the animal."
Destiny did not blink. "...Okay. You want your fries Animal Style too?"
I stopped. Even the potatoes?
"The potatoes also become animals?"
"I mean, they get cheese and sauce and grilled onions, so..."
"Then yes. Let the potatoes abandon their restraint as well."
"...Got it." She was the calmest woman I have ever met. "3x3, 4x4, or just the one?"
I did not know these numbers, but I knew a challenge when I heard one. "How many must I face?"
"It's, like, how many patties you want."
"How many is the most honorable?"
"...Four is a lot."
"Then four. A warrior does not ask for fewer."
She wrote it down without argument. A 4x4, Animal Style, with animal fries. She warned me once, kindly. "That's gonna be huge." I told her I was counting on it.
It arrived. It was a tower. Cheese and sauce ran down my hands the moment I lifted it. There was no clean way to eat it. There was no dignified way. That was the entire point.
I ate it like a beast. Both hands, no honor, grilled onion on my chin, and I have to be honest with you, it was the best thing I have ever put in my mouth.
For thirty years I have kept my manners at every table in the world.
They handed me a burger and told me to be an animal, and I have never felt so free.
So tell me, America.
The whole country knows the secret menu. What else are you hiding in plain sight?
And "Animal Style." Was I eating the animal, or finally becoming one?
Today I'm very excited to announce that judge tools are finally here on the mobile app!
Time extensions, penalties, results, and more are all available through the app. You can now run the event from the floor ๐
Pretty sure this is gonna revolutionize judging.
Anyone affected by recent changes in the TO software scene, TopDeck is here to help. Use code TOPDECKHELP when signing up for the software to get 1 month free, on top of the 2 week trial. Weโre here to assist anyone transitioning, especially those with events this weekend.
I finally made it to WAFFLE HOUSE.
The staff are always friendly, and when I asked if they would sell me a menu, they sold me one for $5.
Next time, Iโll be back at 3 a.m. for fight time.
#WAFFLEHOUSE