#Ox Baker

[wrestlingarsenal]

I get the sense that he has a dungeon in his basement and I kind of want to be locked in it.

[guyincognitojr]

[father-of-wrestling]

[mostbelovednjpwtournament]

Most Beloved NJPW Wrestler Tournament

[ringthedamnbell]

Top Five Underappreciated Influencers in Pro Wrestling

Top Five Underappreciated Influencers in Pro Wrestling

Rob Faint The Top Five wrestlers who don’t get enough credit for their contributions to the professional wrestling business. Wrestlers who don’t nearly get discussed enough for what they helped build in this industry. Continue reading Top Five Underappreciated Influencers in Pro Wrestling

[wrestlingatthemovies]

Escape From New York

In an alternate timeline where New York City has been isolated from the rest of the world and used as a dumping ground to place the worst members of society, a highly decorated marine turned bank robber is sent in to rescue a kidnapped president.

During one scene the anti-hero protagonist is pitted in a gladiatorial battle inside a battered old wrestling ring against a brute portrayed by former NWA Hall of Famer Ox Baker. The duo have a back and forth battle using spiked clubs and dustbin lids for shields.

Features Wrestler:

Ox Baker as Slag

Wrestle Rating:

4.5 out of 5 audio cassettes

An excellent action movie by acclaimed directed John Carpenter that introduced the world to infamous Snake Plissken character. Ox was a great choice for the role and displays some traditional heel mannerisms to rile up the crowd.

[classicprowrestling]

Gino Hernandez vs Ox Baker - 1979

[advancedcorpsematerials]

Flyer for gre/ay tour. Come out n see them n me if you're in any of these places on any of these dates

[islanddads]

one thing about tj klune he’s going to create a socially awkward little guy who doesn’t quite know how to respond to literally any situation that they’ve been put in and i am going to eat it up every time!!! because heck if that is not me!!!!

[drconstellation]

The Altar of Eccles Cakes

(updated 21 Oct 2023, for Grain Offerings example) (updated 21 Nov 2023, for link to First Temptation)

The mysterious plate of Eccles cakes. Are they really to "calm people down?' And why do they just ...disappear? They must be there for a reason?

Yes, they certainly are. They are just the first course of a fascinating meal on offer in S2.

So far, most of the meta around the Eccles cakes has focused on the meaning of their name. Eccles is an old name for church. We could view it as Aziraphale trying to calm Crowley down. They are also known as "squashed fly cakes." The white outside and the black inside could be seen as a metaphor relating to Gabriel. Or it hints at the Roger the Stunt Fly, that contain Gabriel's memories, flying around the book shop, who's purpose we don't find out about until the end. There is even a link to the 1650 Sorry Dance that Aziraphale mentioned, in that were banned by Oliver Cromwell for being pagan! (Did I get that right? I've not kept the post link.)

[Edit: They also represent the First Temptation as Jesus fasts in the wilderness for 40 days before the Entry into Jerusalem at the start of the Passion narratives, where bread was made from stones.]

Take another look at the blocking in this shot. The dark horse statue, representing Crowley - even wearing his sunglasses! - has the placating plate of Eccles cakes placed before it, in supplication. Yeah, it didn't work this time, but it's the thought that counts. What we have here is Aziraphale making an Sin offering to the altar of Crowley, to ask for atonement in advance for what he has done (taking Gabriel in.)

Once you frame it in that reference, you realize its not the only altar offering made during S2. It also adds a bit more depth to some of the other scenes, where they have all been mentioned already in some way, but it certainly helps to explain the Eccles cakes!

Firstly, we need to mention the main types of altar offering that are made:

Burnt offerings - for general atonement of sins and for expression of devotion to God. It could be a bull, a ram, goat, or a bird in the form of a dove or pigeon. Such as this magnificent example in the Job minisode.

Aziraphale certainly devoted himself to the sin of gluttony on that occasion. (hang on, that didn't come out the right way, did it...?) But he was still devoted to God, despite his nocturnal conversation with Crowley while they waited out the storm in the cellar.

Grain offerings - a voluntary expression of devotion to God. This was grain prepared in different way, but always seasoned, unsweetened and unleavened. Recall at Gomorrah Lot offered to prepare the visiting angels unleavened bread as part of a meal.

Originally when I wrote this post I didn't think I had any Grain offering examples, but a few days later as I was writing my post on The Ineffable Ducks I realized where the missing S2 Grain offering was - in S2E1, when Crowley yells at the Azerbaijani spies in St James Park. The ducks are usually offered bread, which is leavened with yeast, so technically not quite correct, but when you review all the instances of feeding the ducks crumbs or bread crumbs it certainly fits. Unless you are Crowley, and you'd rather have the current state of quiet "frozen peas" between Heaven and Hell. See my Ineffable Ducks post for an elaboration.

Peace offering - This could be cattle, sheep or goat without defect, but the main purpose to was consecrate a meal between two or more parties before God and share that meal in a fellowship of peace and commitment to each other's future prosperity.

You know where we see one of these? At the eldritch ball!

I did see a nice meta about the vol-au-vents recently, mainly about their name, but I don't seem to have saved it, and can't find it again. They are usually filled with chicken (a bird) and the eldritch ball is ostensibly the shopkeepers monthly meeting, after all, where they are there to talk about their mutual prosperity in the future. Just so happens its also an opportunity for Aziraphale to talk to Crowley about their future...oh, and Nina and Maggie's, as well, of course!

Sin offering - atonement or unintentional sin. It would have the elements of a Burnt offering, as well as a Peace offering, but not be shared. These are what the plate of Eccles cakes are, so they were never meant to be eaten. They were an olive branch to Crowley regarding Gabriel, but he turned it down. So they softly and suddenly vanish away, never to be met with again.*

There is one more altar offering that needs to mentioned, another Sin offering. The one Crowley consumed in Elspeth's place in The Resurrectionists minisode in 1832 Edinburgh - the laudanum.

It pretty clear to most observers that Crowley did a good and "kind deed" for Elspeth here, which angered Hell in the process and then he was dragged forcibly downstairs to be duly punished for it. There is a post here from atlas-hope that suggests this is a parallel of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, drinking the cup of God's wrath to absolve Christians of their sins. They point out the laudanum is even poured into a goblet. Crumbs, that's a hefty bit of spiritual lifting, dear demon. What were you thinking, Anthony J. Crowley? It might cast that conversation you had with the carpenter back on the mountain in a new light, or least make us look back twice at it. (Plenty of time for contemplation before S3 arrives...)

Remember, a Sin offering has elements of both a Burnt offering and a Peace offering: a giant Crowley gets Elspeth to promise to devote the rest of her life to being "properly good, not just pretendy good" and the money Aziraphale is forced to donate to her ensures her future prosperity. Sounds like a win-win situation there, Elspeth!

[*OK, if you don't get the ref, its from the Hunting of the Snark. The Snark represents happiness, a most elusive thing to find, and more often than not its a fruitless search, and you find the terrible Boojum instead. During the third verse the Baker recounts the lecture his uncle gives him about how to hunt the Snark, and to be aware of his fate if he is unlucky enough to encounter a Boojum. It kind of fits in with S2, I feel.]

[john-gosh-darnielle]

I bet you never expected me

[guyincognitojr]

[father-of-wrestling]

[mostbelovednjpwtournament]

Most Beloved WWE Wrestler Tournament

[ringthedamnbell]

Top Five Glaring Omissions from the WWE Hall of Fame

Top Five Glaring Omissions from the WWE Hall of Fame

Rob Faint The WWE Hall of Fame is home to some of the greatest superstars of all time.  Andre, Bruno, Hogan, Savage, Flair-they are all there.  In reviewing the roster there are some big names missing, some people who deserve to be enshrined in the HOF.  In this article I will mention notable championships held, some other interesting facts, and I will speculate on why they are not in the…

[the-whispers-of-death]

The Stone Multiverse

I know everyone's been asking me for a masterlist on the Stone variants, but unfortunately there is just way too much content to sift through (especially for Criminal!Stone, y'all love Criminal!Stone) and Tumblr search feature is just... it's not good, so this is not a masterlist.

However, this is a list of all of the Stone variants that I currently have. Because I myself need this list. And there's just so many of them and there'll probably be more of them.

(EDIT: I have decided that I will not only list them, but I will give some ((I say some because only some of them are giving me ideas)) of the Stone variants story posts of moments that I believe are important to their life/AUs. This is also for anyone who's new, so they know something important about the Stone variants.)

Stone variants:

Canon!Stone (technically not a Stone variant, but I do reference Stone as Canon!Stone to differentiate him from actual Stone variants. So, we're putting him on the list.)

Girl Dad!Stone

Grim Reaper!Stone

Criminal!Stone

Baker!Stone

Feral!Stone

Serial Killer!Stone

Experiment!Stone

Vampire!Stone

Werewolf!Stone

Actor!Stone

Ox Hybrid!Stone

Naga!Stone

Felon!Stone

Traumaless!Stone

Yonuthia!Stone

Doctor!Stone

God!Stone

Knight!Stone

Devil!Stone

Boxer!Stone

This is most likely not a complete list because Stone variants always pop up randomly, so this will be updated when a new one is made!