I'd rather have a Dragon Quest Slime stress ball, but these Cactuar, Chocobo and Moogle ones will do in a pinch

I can't say I've ever had much interest in owning or even using a stress ball, but I'm giving the idea serious consideration after setting eyes on the Final Fantasy-themed ones that can be seen throughout this post.

If these were plushes or something of the sort, I'd point to the Chocobo and Moogle varieties as potential purchases, but what kind of monster would I have to be to enjoy pulverizing the faces of those adorable mascots?

I probably wouldn't have the same problem squishing Cactuar's noggin between my fingers, though, so let's say that's the one I'd go with if I were to go ahead and buy a Final Fantasy stress ball.

Shopncsx.com is selling these beauties for $15.90 apiece, by the way, with orders expected to begin shipping sometime next month.

I know next to nothing about Freedom Wars or its mascot, Propa-kun, but I kind of want this adorable sofubi figure anyway

Freedom Wars, for those of you who've never heard of it, is a Vita game that was developed by SCE Japan Studio and released in that part of the world in June. (It'll hit store shelves of one sort or another throughout Europe and North America this October.)

Here's a brief summary of the game pulled from its Wikipedia page: "Set in the distant future at a time when the majority of humankind are imprisoned in penal city-states known as Panopticons that wage war against one another, Freedom Wars involves players cooperating together to fight against enemies and contribute toward their Panopticon."

OK, so that isn't really the most illuminating of synopses. Still, word of mouth related to the game is pretty positive, so it's still occupying a space on my surprisingly lengthy Vita wish list.

Another reason I may pick up a copy of Freedom Wars after I acquire a Vita: its mascot, "Propa-kun," is all kinds of adorable, as evidenced by the sofubi figures based on the character that are now being sold--for just under $37--by folks at shopncsx.com (and elsewhere, I'm sure).

Each figure is nearly six inches tall and made out of soft vinyl, in case you're curious. Also, the folks at NCS expect pre-orders to ship sometime in November.

A trio of terrific(ally gay) tumblrs

Last weekend, I promoted (by way of this post) one of the many tumblrs I tend to frequent. I thought I'd promote a few others today--namely, the trio of tumblrs operated by regular commenter Steve Pixel.

* F*CK YEAH CHO ANIKI!!!!!!!--As its name implies, the focus of this NSFW (not safe for work) tumblr is the series of Masaya/NCS Corp. shmups that feature scantily-clad muscle men and surreal imagery. Cho Aniki isn't its sole focus, though; it also includes GIFs, illustrations and screenshots of games, manga and anime that are stylistically similar to the Super Big Brother titles.

* Obscure Video Games--Although I love the aforementioned tumblr with all of my heart, I'd by lying if I said I preferred it to this one, which focuses on  GIFs, illustrations and screenshots of "weird old games that most people have forgotten." A good example: the crazy PC Engine cover art seen below, which has long been one of my favorites (due to the mustachioed, muscle-bound dude at its center, of course).

* Pixelboys--Last, but not least, is this tumblr, which focuses on male nudity in video games. As I'm sure you can tell by that description, it's completely NSFW--unless, of course, your workplace allows you to look at pixelated and polygonal penises and such.

So, there you have it--three more game-related tumblrs to check out next time you're in the mood for such things. If you know of any others that I should be aware of, by the way, please let me know about them in the comments section below.

Note: only two of the tumblrs discussed above are explicitly gay. Still, all three are quite terrific.