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surveys-at-your-service · 4 years ago

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Survey #365

“i’m numb to the pleasure, but still feel the pain”

Are there palm trees where you live? No. Do you own any Hello Kitty stuff? If so, what? No. What’s your favorite flavor of ice pop? Blue raspberry. Do you like animal print? What’s your favorite print? Not really. I think animal "print" only really looks nice on, well, animals. Does your dad have any facial hair? Yes. What do you think of foot tattoos? They're not my favorite, but some look nice. I myself wanna get "11121" (a Silent Hill 4 reference) "carved" onto the top of my feet. Do you like bugs or do they scare you? Some do. I've gotten more into them though as my passion for tarantulas expanded to other inverts, like mantises. Ever seen the movie Chernobyl Diaries? If so, did you like it? If not, do you want to see it? I haven't, but I'd be willing to watch it. I find the whole Chernobyl incident to be extremely fascinating, so I'd probably like it. Did your senior class in high school have a class trip? Where did you go? Bitch I wish. :/ Do you have an instagram account? What’s your username? Yeah, two: brittanymphotography and eldritch_obscura. Do you like Gir from Invader Zim? I think he's cute. Do you or would you ever own a gun? Why or why not? No thanks. If I'm not mistaken, I can't legally obtain one anyway because of my suicidal history. I'm fine with having like, pepper spray and a bat handy by the bed, lol. If it was offered for free by a professional, would you get your hair dyed platinum blonde? For FREE? Fuck yeah I'd try it. What do you normally order at Dunkin Donuts? A chocolate frosted donut, and sometimes a plain/cake one. Do you watch football? Favorite teams? No. What about WWE? Favorite wrestler? That's an even bigger no. Funniest thing you’ve ever heard a teacher say? Okay so this is hard to actually explain and it be funny. I had this amazing, kinda charismatically awkward history teacher in high school, and when talking about some legal stuff I can't remember, she deadass quoted "Without Me" by Eminem ("if the FCC won't let me be...") like so casually and everyone fucking died, just from knowing her and her personality. It was just very unexpected. Do you wear a lot of makeup? What do you think of girls who do? No. Girls can wear however much makeup they please. Do you have a savings account? Are you good at saving money? No. I can't really answer the second question because of me never having a steady flow of money. Would you rather have a relationship or casual flings? Relationship, 100%. I would never have a casual fling. Do you know anyone that’s part Native American? Yes. Who was your favorite Spice Girl? I remember none of them. Have you ever tried to poison someone? Yikes, no. Have you ever saved anyone from a fire? No. Have you ever had a seizure? No. I've had sudden spasms, but never a full-on seizure. Have you ever had an out-of-body experience? No. Have you ever had a black eye? No. Have you ever had a tooth pulled? No. Have you ever had pneumonia? I have not. Have you ever had tubes put in your ears? Yes, as a baby. Have you ever been shot with an arrow or bullet? Thank god no. Have you ever had kidney stones? No. Have you even been bitten by an venomous animal? No. Have you ever thought about being in the military? Fuck no. I wouldn't qualify, anyway. Have you ever been sedated or put under anesthesia? Yeah. Have you ever used shrooms or any other hallucinogen? No. What upcoming event are you most looking forward to? I can barely believe my tat appointment is almost here lakjsd;ajwlej;rwe What was the last song you heard? I'm currently listening to Motionless In White's synthwave edit of "Voices" they just put out. I looooove it. What time did you wake up today? Maybe like, 5:20? Is there a vase in the room you’re in? No. Have you recently been insulted? Yes. Compared to someone else of your age and gender; do you feel that you have a lot to offer someone? N O P E How many days a week do you work? I'm unemployed. Is there ONE person you feel more connected to than others? Yes. What is your worst relationship quality? I obsess over the person probably leaving, so especially at the beginning, I'm paranoid and distrustful. I want to emphasize that I'm not the asshole that snoops through her partner's phone out of distrust, but still, the fear is just there. What was your most recent serious injury? A serious one? Man idk. I've had a lot or negligible and smaller ones, but a big one... *shrug* What were you most recently happy about? I was happy to see "synthwave" in this video title, haha. Are you a fan of cake? Oh yes. What is your favorite insect? Butterflies. Is your town beautiful? Ew, no. Do you prefer the city or the country? THE COUNTRY. Have you ever witnessed an eclipse? Lots of lunar eclipses. Do you wear lipstick often? No. You’re going on a date with someone you like. What would you like to do? Considering the pandemic, probably just like... grab fast food and sit and eat at a park. That'd be cute. You’re hanging out with your best friend. What would you like to do? It'd be nice to get back to Avatar: The Last Airbender while hanging out with Doris (her beardie that I adore), too. Have you ever written or considered writing a play? No. Who is considered the “black sheep” of your family? Why? Ha, me. To begin, I like all the "dark" stuff, I'm the unreligious one, the one with political beliefs unlike most of my family, I'm not doing what I should be... Why is your favorite movie your favorite movie? It's just a masterpiece. I love love love animals, African one especially, and I find it to be an amazing story of courage and dedication to family. Plus I shamelessly love all the songs, haha. What’s an odor you hate? GASOLINE. FUCK. What’s a sound you hate? Fingernails on a chalkboard. Or screech-y noises in general. If money was no issue, what would you like to do right now? I was initially gonna say go to Yellowstone, but fuck that hot weather this time of year. So, this brings us back to Venus' terrarium; I'd want to get a new one and better materials. What’s something you’re so good at that you take pride in your skill? I wouldn't say I'm "so good" at it, but I do take pride in my writing. What’s something you’d never ever dare to ask another person? Hm. Under ANY circumstance, I guess "are you pregnant?" There's almost like... no situation where I'd be comfortable asking somebody that. What’s the worst/best thing you’ve done without your parents knowing? We're not getting into that lmao. Do you know anyone who has a hearing deficit? No. What is one thing stopping you from becoming a veterinarian? I could never stand seeing so many hurt and dying animals and still be okay at the end of the day. Are there any opinions you used to have even a few years ago that you look back on and think, “I can’t believe I ever thought that way”? THERE ARE!!!!!!!!!!! A LOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The last time you cried, what was wrong? I fell and skinned my knees when stepping over this barrier Mom made to keep the damn dog out of the hallway and thus my room to fuck with the cat and eat his food. I previously twisted my ankle, fell backwards, and had one other accident with it despite moving stuff, and I didn't cry from pain, just massive frustration. I want this dog GONE. Do you like multi-choice tests or tests you have to write out? Multiple choice. Who last called you ‘beautiful’? Couldn't tell ya, bud. Have you ever caught a firefly? Yeah, I did that lots as a kid. Do you own any camouflage? No. What’s the stinkiest pet you’ve ever had? Uhhh I dunno. Have you ever been on the news? For what? No. Have you ever seen one of your friends get arrested? No. Do you put sprinkles on anything? No, I hate sprinkles. How do you like your steak? Medium well. Long hair on guys: yes or no? Yaaaaaaaas. Is there a basement in your house? If so, what is it used for? No. When was the last time you started a new medication? It's been a while. What is your favourite type of nut? Cashews, I think. Where did you eat the best pizza you’ve ever eaten in your life? I'm so fuckin basic, like my genuine answer is Domino's lmaooo. Did you ever watch The Rugrats when you were a kid? Yeah, I loved that show. I even had the two video games; I was obsessed with the first one in particular. Do you know anyone who was adopted? Yes. Do your parents’ professions match their college degrees? No. Do you write shopping lists on paper or just remember it in your head? I don't do the shopping, so. But I would definitely need to write it down. Have you ever used a lawnmower? No. Have you ever consumed so much alcohol that you vomited? No. Can you tie balloons? No, actually. My hands are just too shaky. When was the last time you were at a pet store? A few weeks ago when we got rats for Venus. Ugh, it is SO overpriced; they come in a box of two, and as I feed her twice a month, it's honestly quite a bit of money. Like if I remember correctly, it's around $16. FOR TWO. SMALL. RATS. I've recommended we just buy them in bulk NOT from an overpriced chain pet store, but the problem with that is then we have *too* many, and the nutritional value of frozen rats apparently does degrade with time, so I don't want to feed my snake poor food. So it's just an annoying thing we have to do. Have you ever taken a pregnancy test? Not like, an at-home one. I've been tested before surgery, but that was just a safety protocol. Does your ex still think about you? "The" ex, probably not. Honestly, who is the last person to tell you that they love you? My mom. What is the last state you were in besides your own? Virginia. Would you go down to see the Titanic if given the chance? Man, that's kinda tempting. Maybe. It'd be super cool. Have you ever seen the Hollywood sign in real life? No. Did you ever see a scorpion in the wild? No, they don't live here. Do you type the proper way? Have you ever typed on a manual typewriter? Yes to both. What was your maternal grandmother’s first name? Cecelia. Name a word that people use locally that outsiders probably can’t pronounce. Conetoe. You said it wrong.

#survey #surveys #questions #lyrics: ''voices'' by motionless in white

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duhragonball · 5 years ago

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Describing Stuff

I’ve had this rattling around in my brain for a while, and I’ve got the day off and I’m trying to get used to this ergonomic keyboard I bought, so I figure I’ll write about this for a while.

Recently, I’ve been seeing more examples of really terrible writing where a male author describes a female character, and they seem to go out of their way to make it awkward and creepy and weird. I don’t really feel like quoting any excerpts here, but you can find all sorts of examples on Twitter @men_write_women .

I feel like the common thread with all the ones I’ve seen is this compulsion to describe a woman in exhausting detail. It always seems to boil down to how sexy the woman is, and why exactly she’s sexy, or what flaws she has that disqualify her from being sexy. It’s sexist, because the emphasis is on the character as a sex fantasy for the author, and presumably the reader. If the character has any other purpose in the story, it’s going to be undermined by a 500-word treatise on what her boobs look like. It also insults and dismisses a sizable portion of the audience that, you know, may not be that into boobs.

Writing is about setting priorities. People talk about unlimited creative freedom and building entire universes at the point of their humble quills, and that’s horseshit. Writing is all about deciding which parts of your daydream to keep and which to leave out. You can’t capture every tiny detail of a character, or and object, or a scene. Even if you could, it would take too long to document it all, and the reality is that the reader’s not going to parse that much information anyway. So you have to decide which parts are important and which ones aren’t. And if you blow 1,000 words trying to explain why breasts are cool, you’re sending a message to the reader about what your priorities are. The message is: “I’m horny right now, and my libido is more important to me than this character or your enjoyment of the story.” I don’t think that’s the message authors want to send.

There’s also probably some ego bound up in this. Every excerpt I see on @men_write_women seems to be completely unaware of any of the others. It’s like each writer has deluded himself into thinking he’s the first person to try to describe sexy ladies in print. That, or they think it’s been done before, but never quite right. I sense such an enthusiasm whenever I read these things, like the author is going to pull out all the stops and come up with this literary salute to badonkadonk. And it always ends up looking absurd, because they overthink it. How can they not overthink it? They're trying to come up with an extra-special description of something people see all the time. I’m pretty sure that’s how the word “badonkadonk” was invented, because no existing words were sufficient.

I’m going to talk about professional wrestling here in a minute, but first, let’s class the joint up by looking at the poem “Trees” by Alfred Joyce Kilmer.

I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast; A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray; A tree that may in Summer wear A nest of robins in her hair; Upon whose bosom snow has lain; Who intimately lives with rain. Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree.

It’s that last line that made me think of the poem just now, because Kilmer recognized that he could never hope to recreate the beauty of a tree in mere words. At best, he could only string together a few lines to remind people of how nice trees look, which is an achievement in itself, but it’s never going to be as good as the real thing. If poems about trees can be beautiful, then how much more beautiful a poem is the tree itself?

But look at all the stuff he leaves out. He doesn’t mention the trunk at all, or the rough texture of the bark, or the way the leaves turn color in the fall. That’s because Kilmer wasn’t writing a monograph about the appearance of a tree for space aliens who’ve never seen one. He was making the assumption that his readers were already familiar with trees and referencing imagery they might have seen before.

I think the same trick can be applied to women (or any humans for that matter), since readers can be trusted to know what they look like. I also think it’s safe to assume that the inherent beauty of humans is comparable to that of trees, so a quick, simple description can be plenty.

That’s kind of my approach to this sort of thing. I’ve always struggled with describing things in stories, mainly because I would see these lengthy, detailed descriptions in books, and I thought I was supposed to imitate that and couldn’t really pull it off. But eventually I realized that I didn’t need to, and maybe I’m better off if I don’t even try. One of the stories that clinched this for me was “Gold” by Isaac Asimov. The main character is contracted to make a movie adaptation out of a book, which happens to resemble another Asimov story, The Gods Themselves. The problem is that the aliens in the book are sparingly described, so the guy has no idea where to begin. Through the author character, Asimov defends his own writing style, opting to keep things fairly abstract, and relying on the reader to fill in the gaps.

I could relate to this, because when I read Les Miserables in high school, I couldn’t get past Jean Valjean’s name, because it reminded me of Jean Paul-Valley, the DC Comics character who filled in as Batman while Bruce Wayne was injured in 1993-1994. Try as I might, I could not shake the image of Valjean trudging through the novel in an armored Batman costume. So eventually I stopped trying, and ran with it. I have no idea what Valjean was supposed to have looked like. Victor Hugo might have described him, but I only ever imagined a young man with long blond hair and glasses. Wearing an armored Batman costume.

I’m not sure exactly when I put it all together, but eventually I realized that it’s all theater of the mind, and ultimately the reader is going to imagine whatever the reader wants, regardless of what you put on the page. If you say this guy wore blue and the reader likes red better, they’ll just start imagining it’s red. They may know factually that it’s blue, but you can’t stop them from making that switch. Now, knowing that, doesn’t it seem a bit futile to describe exactly what shade of blue it is? You can pontificate about the profundity of the color blue, and how the guy’s shirt was the color of the ocean on a blustery afternoon off the shore of Maine, but your reader is like “Nah, mate, I like red better”, then you’re probably wasting words.

I’m not saying it’s pointless to specify details. If a reader was completely unwilling to cooperate with your story, then they’re probably not reading it in the first place. But I think writers need to make peace with the fact that readers are looking for cues and stage directions for their imaginations, not immutable details. That’s why it’s so important to prioritize. Take the most important details and get them out there up front, when the reader is most receptive to them. Boob size is not important. If boob size is one of the top three details for your character, then you either haven’t finished creating the character, or you probably don’t actually have any use for the character.

Just to demonstrate what I mean, I’m going to try to write a description of AEW referee Aubrey Edwards, as if she were a fictional character in a story. I wasn’t sure what to use for an example, but I watched All Out Saturday and she officiated the main event, so I decided to go with her. That’s her on the left, but I probably didn’t need to tell you that, since I think we all know how to spot a referee.

Now, first and foremost, if I were writing a story about a wrestling match, I probably wouldn’t bother mentioning the referee much at all. Their whole role in these events is to be as inconspicuous as possible. They just enforce the rules; it’s the wrestlers who are supposed to be the main attraction. I’d probably just keep it simple.

“The referee was a woman, but Dirk Hardcastle paid little mind to her. His main concern lay in the competitors, and which of them, if either was his archnemesis, Tad Plowshare, in disguise.”

Or I might not even go that far, and just use “she/her” pronouns whenever the referee is mentioned. I want the reader to think about where Tad Plowshare is, not the referee.

Of course, if the big twist is that the ref is important, then I have to go into a little more detail, because now she’s in the spotlight.

“It couldn’t be. Dirk knew it had to be true from the way she looked directly at him and smiled deviously. He would recognize that sinister grin on a thousand different faces. But he had already ruled out the officials and production staff as suspects. He had been so certain of this that he had ignored the referee completely, but she was definitely the one. And now that it was too late, Tad Plowshare dropped the act entirely. She pulled off the tie that held her brunette ponytail in place, and removed the black nitrile gloves from her hands. Only moments ago, her expressions and movements had been those of a consummate professional, focused entirely upon adjudicating the match. Her bright red lipstick had been the only sign that she had any sort of personal life outside of her work. Now, as she laughed in triumph, the red on her lips only reminded Hardcastle of the blood of thousands of innocents, which would soon be spilled as a consequence of his failure.”

Maybe I’m laying this on too thick, but the core things I’m trying to convey about Edwards are her no-nonsense attitude, the way she wears her hair in a ponytail, and the red lipstick she wears, which seems to contradict her serious demeanor. I wouldn’t even bother describing her referee uniform, because everyone has a general idea of what those look like. The other night, I found it kind of odd how the stripes on AEW’s refs look wider than what I’m used to seeing, but a lot of wrestling refs don’t even wear stripes at all, so it really doesn’t matter a lot. I’d probably only bring it up if there was a need to mention variations in uniform. Like if she was officiating water polo instead.

What I don’t need to spend a lot of time on is her figure. I don’t see much point in talking about how fat or thin she is unless I plan to have her crawl through a ventilation shaft, and then I could just confine it to “She fit”. And that doesn’t tell you anything because you don’t know how big the ductwork is.

Physical attractiveness is something I try to shy away from, because I figure that’s a subjective thing, and I don’t see much point in trying to cram my own standards down anyone’s throat. I don’t think it does much good to just declare that such-and-such character is attractive; it’s better to have another character do it instead, and that way it says something about both characters. This one finds the other one to be hot. If I want examples of what they find so hot in the other character, I’ll try to keep it vague. “Well, Dirk Hardcastle has a cute chin. What’s cute about it? Who knows? Who cares? The character who’s admiring his chin, that’s who. But why should it need to be explained in greater depth than that.

The handy thing about this approach is that it leaves large swaths of Dirk’s body open to interpretation. He could look like a troll doll and still have a “cute chin”. He could have chest hair or not, be chubby or skinny, and so forth. So if you want to join in the notion that he’s attractive, you can rule in your own type, whatever that is.

I don’t know if that’s making any sense, but that’s how I try to approach it. When I read these long things about knife-like boobs or gentle slopes of buttcracks or whatever, it annoys me because it feels like whoever wrote that was losing a game they never should have bothered trying to play. All they needed to do was have the character who’s looking at this woman be like “Wow, this is the hottest lady I’ve ever seen” or something like that, describe whatever sexy dress she’s got on (briefly), and you’re done. And only do that when you need to. Dirk Hardcastle doesn’t have time to size up all the ladies, not while that bastard Tad Plowshare’s running loose.

#/#//#///#////#/////#writing

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lauraisblogging · 5 years ago

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ACTORS AND ACTRESSES IN QUESTION

This is going to be my favourite portion of this process, especially with my interest in getting to know the people behind the characters. I feel like I should focus on around 5 female actresses and then 5 male actors, meaning I’m gathering enough content but not too much that it’s overwhelming.

1. Florence Pugh

Pugh is an English born actress who made her acting debut in 2014 in the film ‘The Falling’, but then began to gain recognition for her work in ‘Lady Macbeth’ (2016).

Though her real breakthrough didn’t happen until 2019, her portrayal of the wrestler Paige in the biographical sports movie ‘Fighting with My Family’ produced by Dwayne Johnson. Following her success from ‘Fighting with My Family’, one of her strongest pieces ‘Midsommar’ was released with her portraying an emotionally damaged woman Dani. She finally peaked with her portrayal of Amy March in ‘Little Women’, which resulted in her receiving not only a BAFTA nomination but also an Academy Award nomination.

While these are some of her best pieces of work have you heard about her upcoming movies or her past pieces that didn’t receive half as much recognition.

2. Victoria Pedretti

Pedretti is an American born actress who made her acting debut in 2014, participating in two short films. During this time she was focused on her studies, though once she graduated she was represented by The Gersh Agency.

Some of you may know her for her portrayal of Eleanor Crain in the hit Netflix horror series ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ which was released in 2018, this resulted in her receiving both Saturn Award and MTV Award nominations. Though her real climb to success didn’t really begin until 2019 in which she starred in Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’, then in the same year gained real recognition for her portrayal of Love Quinn in the Netflix Thriller ‘You’ and will return to the role for the third Season.

While this is what she’s best known for you should check out some of her beginning projects, as well as those up and coming.

3. Ana De Armas

De Armas is a Cuban-Spanish actress who made her acting debut back in 2006, in the Spanish film ‘Una rosa de Francia’. Following this she went on to star in the television show El Internado from 2007-2010.

She then began the transition to working in American films, her first being ‘Knock Knock’, which also starred Keanu Reeves. After this she made starred in two other movies, before making her initial breakthrough as the AI hologram Joi in Blade Runner 2049 (2017). Her next big hit was in the mystery film Knives Out (2019), starring as Marta Cabrera.

While this is what she’s known for she has a vast selection of other great projects, as well as her upcoming work in ‘Deep Water’ and the drama film ‘Blonde’ which is all about Marilyn.

4. Letitia Wright

Wright is a Guyanese-English actress who began her professional career in 2011, starring in multiple British TV shows including Doctor Who, Black Mirror and Humans.

In 2015 she began to make her breakthrough after starring in the award-winning film ‘Urban Hymn, following this her portrayal of Shuri in ‘Black Panther’ was the beginning of her global recognition. With this she reprised the role in both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. In 2019 she received the BAFTA Rising Star Award.

Although her role of Shuri in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is what she’s known for, she has a number of upcoming projects outside of it. Just to name a few would be ‘Guava Island’, ‘Death on the Nile’ or the recently announced project ‘The Silent Twins’ based on the true story of June and Jennifer Gibbons.

5. Maya Hawke

Hawke is an American actress and model, known for being the daughter of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke. In 2017 she made her screen debut as Jo March in the BBC adaption of ‘Little Women’.

Though she gained real recognition in 2019 from her portrayal of Robin Buckley in the third season of ‘Stranger Things’. In the beginning Hawke was the main actress being consider for Sofia Coppola’s adaption of ‘The Little Mermaid’ but Universal pictures had other ideas. Another key point of Hawke’s career was her role in Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’.

As well as reprising her role of Robin in the next season ‘Stranger Things’, she also starred in ‘Human Capital’ and has the upcoming project ‘Mainstream’. Aside from filmography she’s also releasing music on the side.

1. Daniel Kaluuya

Kaluuya is both a British actor and writer, who started his career as a teenager in the theatre. He made appearances in the hit television series ‘Skins’, in which he also wrote a few episodes for. He began to gain real recognition after starring as the lead in ‘Sucker Punch’, an award winning playwright.

He then began progressing onto the silver screen, starring in ‘Black Mirror’ and two BBC series’ ‘Psychoville’ and ‘The Fades’. Following these projects he made steps towards film as Agent Colin Tucker in ‘Johnny English Reborn’ and Black Death in ‘Kick-Ass’. Though in saying this his breakthrough role came with ‘Get Out’, a horror movie that attracted critical acclaim, resulting in reviews highlighting the strength of his acting abilities. Following the success of ‘Get Out’ his next hit came with ‘Black Panther’ which was impactful to many, globally.

While this only covers a few of Kaluuya’s successes and what he is known for, he has a number of other projects worth checking out such as ‘Widows’, ‘Queen & Slim’ and even an upcoming Fred Hampton project which currently remains untitled.

2. George MacKay

Mackay is a British actor who started his acting career at an early age, after being discovered by an acting scout in 2002 asking if he’d be interested in starring in P.J. Hogan’s adaption of ‘Peter Pan’, which ended up being his big break.

Following this he went on to star in ‘The Thief Lord’, which was a film adaption of Cornelia Funke’s best selling novel. His focus changed television projects before once again delving into film. In 2008 he starred in the movie ‘Defiance’ and although he ended up injured before even shooting his first scene, he was eager to still eager started. He started gaining real recognition in 2013, in which he portrayed Eddie in ‘How I Live Now’ alongside Saorise Ronan, followed by the role of Davy in the musical film ‘Sunshine on Leith.

Some of his work that’s definitely work checking out would be ‘Pride’, covering the journey of a young 20 year old and the struggles of being gay in homophobic Britain, ‘Where Hands Touch’, which is about the relationship between a member of Hitler Youth in Nazi Germany and a biracial girl. His most recent piece of work which gained recognition was his role of William Schofield, a young World War I soldier in ‘1917′.

3. Kedar Williams-Stirling

Williams-Stirling is a British actor who began his professional career in 2007 starring in an episode of ‘The Bill’, since then he’s worked on multiple projects in both film and television.

He started to gain recognition after his roles in the British films ‘Shank’ and ‘Montana’, another key part of the beginning of his career was his role in the CBBC television series ‘Wolfblood. Williams-Stirling began to become familiar with a wider audience of people with his role in ‘Sex Education’, alongside Gillian Anderson and Asa Butterfield.

While this is what he’s known for he’s had quite a few other projects such as ‘Will’, ‘Two Graves’ and ‘Changeland’.

4. Dacre Montgomery

Montgomery is an Australian born actor best known for his portrayal of Jason Lee Scott in ‘Power Rangers. Alongside acting he also uses his spare time to share his poetry via his podcast “DKMH”.

He started his professional career in 2010, starring in a short film called ‘Betrand the Terrible’ and then in 2011 starred in a TV Pilot entitled ‘Family Tree’. As well as doing short films he also had a part in a music video for an Australian deathcore band.

His breakthrough onto the big screen came with ‘Power Rangers’, starring as the Red Ranger. He also reached an even wider audience in 2017 thanks to his portrayal of Billy Hargrove in Netflix’s hit series ‘Stranger Things’, reprising the role in 2019. Another project he was a part of was ‘The True History of the Kelly Gang’, alongside Nicholas Hoult and Russell Crowe.

While this is what he’s known for he has a few other projects called ‘A Few Less Men’, ‘Better Watch Out’ and the upcoming project ‘The Broken Heart Gallery’.

5. Logan Lerman

Lerman is an American actor who is best known his portrayal of Percy Jackson. He started his career early staring in the likes of advertisements and commercials before moving towards the series ‘Jack & Bobby’, followed by the movies ‘The Butterfly Effect’ and ‘Hoot’.

He began to gain recognition for his roles in ‘3:10 to Yuma’, ‘The Number 23′, ‘Meet Bill’ and of course ‘Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightening Thief’. With such a vast filmography focusing on various different genres, he went from starring in ‘The Three Musketeers’ one year to starring in ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ the next. The height of his career was in the late 2000s, early 2010s after this time the amount of projects he had slowed down slightly. Alongside acting he’s also featured as an executive producer in both ‘Indignation’ and ‘The Vanishing of Sidney Hall’.

Recently Lerman has made it back onto our screens through the Amazon Prime series ‘Hunters’, as well as the upcoming film project ‘Shirley’.

#ixd303 #ixd303 research

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sbutheatrearts-blog · 7 years ago

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25 Fun Facts about Japanese Culture

By Vivien Safi Chanda

Konnichiwa Seawolves! That was “hello” in Japanese. Not familiar with Japanese vocabulary or culture? I want to switch that one up by giving you a quick and fun way to learn as much about Japan as possible. Be ready to explore Japanese culture in 25 fun and interesting facts:

Japanese Geography

1. First of all Japan is not called “Japan” in Japanese. You already got tricked. Once upon a time people believed that Japan was the first country to see the sunrise in the East. Therefore, Japanese people call their mother land Nihon or Nippon which translates to the “Land of the Rising Sun”.

2. Speaking of the Sun (which feels so long ago us Seawolves could enjoy warm weather), Japan consists of over 6,800 islands. As you know, Japan is an island itself but all the small islands around it are part of the Japanese territory. The four largest ones are Honshu (island Tokyo is based on), Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku.

Let us talk about food

3.Most of you probably relate Japan to its cuisine (I mean who does not love sushi), but did you know that Japan has the third longest life expectancy worldwide! On average they live four years longer than Americans.

4.How is that possible with more than 3,000 McDonald’s in their country, making this the largest number of McDonald restaurants outside of the United States? Furthermore, Japan has around 5 million vending machines all over the place. These vending machines sell basically everything! Hot beverages, liquor, food, underwear, light bulbs, condoms, living crabs, and the list goes on! The only way I can explain their long life expectancy is the fact that…

5… Japanese are the population with the largest fish consume worldwide. To throw some numbers at you: 17 million tons each year are either imported into Japan or locally produced. Additionally, over 20% of their protein is obtained through seafood.

6.Apart from seafood Japanese are known for their love to ramen noodles. 5 billion servings of instant ramen noodles are eaten in Japan per year.

7.In order to enjoy their noodles as quickly as possible Japanese tend to slurp a lot. Slurping cools down the hot noodles and indicates that the food is delicious. If you do not slurp, you are being rude to the cook. So slurp up!

8.Finally, sushi. Who does not know it, who does not love it. Sushi has been around for quite a while now. It all began in China in about the second century A.D. where sushi was an easy way to preserve fish. In the early 17th century Japanese natives came up with the idea of eating raw fish with rice.

9.In order to enjoy all of these typical Japanese dishes around 25 billion pairs of waribashi (disposable chopsticks) are used in Japan each year which is equivalent to about 10 million trees.

Japanese Locals

10.I bet the Japanese ��diet” - how I would call it - is the reason why Japan has the highest amount of elderly people living there. To be exact 50,000 people are over the age of 100! In other words they have more elderly people in Japan than children.

11.Due to the low birth rate compared to elderly people living in Japan, adult diapers are sold more than baby diapers.

12.Another thing Japanese have more than children are pets. Japanese tend to spoil their pets such as dogs more than they would with their own children. It is common in Japan to spend up to $250 or more for a “poodle pullover”.

13.Japanese are also very superstitious. Since the number shi (four) sounds similar to the Japanese word for death, they tend to avoid that number as much as they can. While it is common in the Western culture to sell sets of dishes of four or six, Japanese sets are sold either in threes or fives. Even tall buildings and skyscrapers skip the level four.

Tokyo

14.Speaking of skyscrapers. The Tokyo metropolitan area is the largest worldwide with 35 million inhabitants. In comparison, the New York Metro area accounts for “only” 20 million people.

15.Imagine the hectic space people in the Tokyo metro area face on a regular basis! This might be the reason why employers are so easy on their employees when it comes to taking naps, called inemuri, at work. Inemuri translates to “sleep while being present”. It is an expression - or a cultural Japanese practice - of being a hardworking individual who is successful and therefore, all public spaces are normal to take inemuris: trains, benches, cafes, etc.

16.Hard to believe a Japanese train would be a peaceful and restful place to take a nap at. Tokyo’s main train station Shinjuku is known to be the busiest in the world with 2 million people using public transportation (Penn Station has about 600,000 people passing through). At times trains are so crowded that additional railway staff pushes and crams people inside the train.

Fun Activities in Japan

17.Sounds like it could be exhausting at times, right? So what do Japanese people do to relax and enjoy themselves? One activity Japanese love in their free time is reading comics. Cartooning started in Japan in the 12th century, and today more paper is used in order to produce comics for consumerism than toilet paper in Japan.

18.Another thing Japanese natives love more than anything else is their smartphones. About 90% of all Japanese phones are waterproof because Japanese people rarely separate from their “technological love” (not even while being in the shower or bath tub).

19. The sport Japanese enjoy the most is baseball. Who would have guessed that!? Baseball is called yakyu and was introduced by an American teacher in Japan. Since 1873 yakyu is the most popular sport at Japanese Universities. They have two professional baseball leagues and even high school games are broadcasted on national TV as well as university games.

20.The one sport you probably would have associated with Japan is Sumo wrestling. You are not wrong. Sumo wrestlers are very popular in Japan. Besides the traditional Sumo wrestling there are different contests between Sumo wrestlers as well. One common contest is the “crying sumo” where wrestlers compete to see who can make a baby cry first.

Customs to consider

21.If all of these fun activities do not help to cope with their exhausting everyday lives, Japanese tend to drink a lot of coffee. This hot beverage is so popular in Japan that they import 85% of Jamaica’s total coffee production!

22.What do Japanese have with their revitalizing coffee? Probably a cigarette. It is hard to find a non-smoking area in Japan. Even restaurants allow people to smoke inside. This habit is, predominantly, in the interest of profit making politicians.

Last but not least...

23.If Japanese do leave Japan - which happens more often than people immigrating to Japan (98% of Japan’s population are born and raised in Japan) - they are likely to move to Brazil. Based on cultural and economic exchange, today, Brazil has the largest Japanese community outside of Japan (1,5 million Japanese) and vice versa. About 300,000 Brazilians live in Japan making them the biggest non-Asian ethnic group in Japan.

24.With its second lowest homicide rate in the world, Japan seems like a good place to move. Do not judge a book by its cover! Even though its homicide rate is very low, Japan is home to the “suicide forest” Aokigahara. This forest is the second most popular place in the world to commit suicide and is considered “the perfect place to die”. (Number one is the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.)

25.You might consider moving (or visiting) Japan after all, especially if you have crooked teeth. They are considered attractive in Japan and women actually go to the dentist to achieve the so called yaeba (crooked teeth). Bai Bai braces!

Vivien Safi Chanda is an exchange student from Germany studying at SBU for two semester. Back home in Germany, Vivien is studying “Interdisciplinary American Studies” with an emphasis on African-American history. This summer she will be interning for a PR agency in Berlin, Germany before returning back to the University of Tuebingen for her senior year.

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aceandsparrow · 6 years ago

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Survivor 37: Premiere

[S] Dumb gimmick is dumb. I don't even really get how that one team is Goliath. [A] I have a feeling that the “overcoming adversity” tribe will be as blah as the “game-changers.”

[S] Oh god. Even the contestants are talking about snakes now.

[S] Oh look, Goliath are laughing at David as they climb on the boat. What a bunch of assholes.

[A] WHY IS THE DUDE FROM SCHOOL OF ROCK ON THE GOLIATH TRIBE?!

[S] These tribes need names other than David and Goliath. [A] Agreed. When they’ve had other gimmicks, the gimmicks weren’t the team names (like it wasn’t the “Brains” tribe).

[A] I’m going to hate Angelina. Calling it now.

[A] They’re doing a really good job not highlighting Hennigan in the opening (most famous of their contestants this season). Sidenote: I remember watching him on Tough Enough WAY back in the day.

[A] Oh the southern pronunciation of “lawyer”… *eyeroll*

[A] “Guy in the back.” Seriously, Jeff, you know who he is. And now I see why they didn’t highlight him in the opening because he was featured immediately. Good job. [S] I have no idea who this professional wrestler is...

[A] Mike, you have no right calling Christian “Big Bang Theory.”

[S] Orange team should do slide puzzle and make purple team do the 3D puzzle. I see they agree. [A] Give Goliaths the cube puzzle. Not everyone can envision puzzles in 3D.

[A] The entitlement/confidence coming from some of these Goliath contestants is too much.

[A] Okay, I understand it’s his brand to show the muscles, but why did doctor chick strip to her bra? That was entirely not necessary.

[S] That challenge was so stacked against the purple team...

[A] Pat has the opportunity to either be endearing or overbearing. I’m hoping for the former, fear for the later.

[S] Mike wrote School of Rock in addition to starring in it? I did not realize. [A] Really? I knew he starred in it but I didn’t know he wrote it until it came up during the Amazing Race.

[A] Oh gawd. Really? Flirting already? This is Survivor, not the Bachelor. Please stop. [S] This seems early for flirting in a game of Survivor. [A] “There’s been people who found love on Survivor.” – yes and that’s generally all they get from Survivor, so…enjoy that, buddy.

[A] My fear was correct. Pat is overbearing. And a bit annoying. Bummer.

[A] So I saw a headline that someone goes home in a freak accident and watching this I’m putting my money on Pat (she says as Pat is up in the tree wildly swinging the machete).

[A] Mike has a target on his back because he was on the Amazing Race (he didn’t do well) and he supposedly has money (so does John, yet he’s not mentioned). As usual, the “strong” tribe is going to make dumb decisions.

[A] Why must the lawyer be the scheming type? Stop perpetuating the stereotype!

[S] There are two attorneys? [A] The other one is lying low so you’d never know.

[A] His excitement at catching that octopus is kid-on-Christmas level and I love it.

[S] Nick isn't wrong. It is very easy to avoid work if you are good at it. But people do notice.

[A] Is that the same immunity idol as the previous season? Because it looks identical and that is just lazy production.

[S] There is a BIT of rain during this challenge. [A] Damn, that is some weather. Love watching Jeff just act like nothing is out of the ordinary.

[A] Okay, I didn’t want to be right about Pat. [S] Poor Pat. Gonna be awkward if Orange still has to vote someone out...

[A] That really is a freak accident. [S] He's in so much pain. He can't stop shaking. Scary. [A] He is making me tear up a little bit. That sucks so much. [S] Glad he's okay.

#survivor #survivor 37 #david vs goliath

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lesbianuravity · 7 years ago

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A RIOTT, A BARON, and a GRAVE!

When you get the opportunity to interview a superstar from WWE, you jump on the opportunity. When you get the chance to photograph and interview three WWE Superstars, you get on the phone and book one of your best photographers and writers and have them fly 3,000 miles across the country to find their way backstage at the Staples Center in Los Angeles…and that’s exactly what we did!So, from the safety of your homesit back and get “personal” with Ruby Riott, Baron Corbin and Corey Graves.

INKED: You are one of the most tattooed personalities in WWE, when did you get your first tattoo? COREY GRAVES: I was 15 years old and my parents used it as a bargaining tool to get my grades up. It worked I got straight A’s and a tattoo right on the outside of my calf. It’s a cross, and I have known at least 10 different people that have the exact same one.

How was your transition from Superstar to commentator? It was tough, but I had no choice. If I wanted to survive here I had to make my way and fully embrace it. It was a long and difficult transition, but now I love it, and I can’t think of doing anything else.

What is your favorite part about hosting WWE Superstar Ink? I love getting to hear the back stories about the tattoos from the guys and ladies on the show. I love the tattoo industry and I have spent a lot of my time in that world and it’s always interesting to find out the meaning behind why people get the tattoos they get.

You worked in a tattoo shop. Were you a wrestler during that time? Yes, I was a wrestler during that time. I worked in a tattoo shop as a piercer for about seven years to support my wrestling habit. It was a great job, and the people I met during that time are some of my best friends to this day.

Describe your personality in three words. Eclectic, sarcastic and nonsensical. How do your fans motivate you? I try to never lose sight that I was once a fan. I followed this dream to be a superstar and that’s why I am still in this business— because I love it. I try to be respectful and to never forget what makes me a fan. Do you feel like you’re living your dream? Yes, 100 percent. I am employed by WWE and I love WWE. Hopefully one day I will be the voice of WWE, and I feel like I am this generation’s voice of WWE.

How was the transition from commentator on NXT to being a commentator on Raw and SmackDown? NXT prepared me tremendously for Monday Night Raw, but the main difference is that you are live. The live element is really exciting to me because what people don’t realize is Raw and SmackDown change constantly during the day. We can have a meeting at the beginning of the day and by the time we go on the air the show can be completely different.

So, tell me what really motivates you professionally. I’ve been in the sports entertainment industry for more than half of my life. Being in WWE is so great, and I love that I have finally settled into a role that I am good at. Now, I just want to go down in history as one of the greats: like Bobby Heenan, or Jessie “The Body” Ventura or Gorilla Monsoon.

How do you define success? In my personal life, I have a beautiful wife and three amazing children, and we have a beautiful home and life together. As far as my career, I have succeeded because I never think of myself as successful. I keep grinding so I can keep getting better and keep evolving. I never want to settle.

What’s next for Corey Graves? I would love to try something outside of WWE in the entertainment world. I’m not exactly sure what that entails but it could be hosting a show or doing stand-up comedy or being in a movie. I never got into this business to be famous, but I really enjoy entertaining and the entertainment business. ———————————————————————————————————

INKED: When did your love for wrestling begin? BARON CORBIN: Believe it or not, tattoos kind of drew me in to wrestling because as a kid in Kansas City where I’m from, wrestling has such a rich history. Me and my dad would go to shows at Memorial Hall, and we would watch wrestling on TV. I was exposed to guys that were big and athletic like Bam Bam Bigelow. He had flames tattooed on his head and I thought he was just awesome and the definition of a tough guy.

You mentioned your father as a big influencer. Tell me about that. He definitely was. My dad was an iron worker, he was tough as nails. He pushed me to be the best. I always tell the story about when I was in a karate tournament and I took 4th place. They gave me a trophy and he told me people in 4th place didn’t get a trophy and he tossed it out the car window [laughing]. He helped me become very mentally tough and he pushed me to be the best person and athlete I can be.

When did know you wanted to be a professional wrestler? Definitely as a kid. At my dad’s funeral, we told the story about my mom coming home and my dad and I were having a wrestling match and the house was shaking. She said she could see it from outside. We had these big living room brawls with my brother and my dad and it was the best time ever.

Who were some of your heros in the ring when you were growing up? It goes back to Bam Bam Bigelow and Big Boss Man, and just these big guys who could really move.

When did you start getting tattoos? When I was 18 I got my very first tattoo. It’s a horrible tattoo, it’s a Japanese or Chinese symbol for strength with two weird Celtic knots. I keep thinking I’m going to get it covered up with a big back piece or something but in that moment, it stirred the pot and I just kept getting covered. Then I got a giant dragon on my thigh, and a giant tree on the back of my leg, then I started getting my chest done and then I got portraits of my grandfather and my dad. My mom hates every single one of them.

Are there any tattoos inspired by your wrestling career? Yes. The one I just got, actually. I got lobo on the back of my head/ear area and it means “wolf” in Spanish. My wife is Spanish, and I want my children to speak Spanish, and I am the Lone Wolf in WWE. Corey Graves actually gave me that name. My character rides the line of that darker world and I have a bunch of horror movie tattoos, as well as Jack the Ripper.

Tell us about Liars Club. Liars Club is my clothing line. And I have a couple of tattoo artists that help me with designs. It’s about that vibe of even though our appearance may not be acceptable we can still take over the world.

What’s next for Baron Corbin? WWE Championship all the way. That’s why I came to WWE, I want to be the WWE Champion, and I feel like everybody should want that, and if they don’t they don’t belong here. ——————————————————————————————————— INKED: You were not the high school girl jock, correct? RUBY RIOTT: I wasn’t very good at most sports growing up. I wasn’t into cheerleading or volleyball or track. I was mostly into theater. Although I am very athletic, I think the reason I didn’t play sports in high school was because there were so many rules.

Music played a big part in your life as an adolescent. Can you tell us about that? I struggled with a bit of an identity crisis when I was young. I came from a broken home because my parents divorced when I was young. So, music became my outlet and my escape. How does music influence your life today? It’s a huge part of my life, it’s part of my creative process on a daily basis. I am constantly listening to music and I have a few songs that I listen to before every match that really put me in the mind space that I need to be in.You took your name in WWE from the band Rancid’s “Ruby Soho.” What other elements of punk rock do you bring in the ring with you? Pretty much everything. My entrance is very UK punk-based. Our Riott Squad T-shirts are influenced by a Sex Pistols album. What do the fans mean to you? They are the reason I strive to do my best each time I get in the ring. SO many amazing female Superstars have come before me blazing the trail, and I feel like it’s my responsibility to show girls who may not necessarily fit in or don’t feel like they belong that they don’t have to change.Who are some of the female superstars you looked up to when you first got into the game? When I was younger I used to watch Lita and Molly Holly and Jazz. All three of them in their own way were my favorites. I was drawn to them because they were trailblazers. They looked different, they acted different, and I was hooked. You worked so hard to get to this point. Are you living your dream right now? One hundred percent, every day! I never want to take this for granted. Being able to wake up every day and have a career that I don’t even consider to be work is such a blessing. Where did you get your first tattoo? I got my first tattoo at this small hole-in-the wall tattoo shop in Mishawaka, Indiana. It’s the music notes to “What a Wonderful World’ by Louis Armstrong. It’s not very well done, but it has so much meaning because my dad used to sing that song to me when I was very young. When did your love for tattoos begin? It was around the same time that I discovered punk rock and fell in love with music. Tattoos were another way for me to express myself. I remember the first time I saw Kat Von D; I saw how much amazing artwork she had all over her body, and I knew it was something that I could relate to and wanted to get into. How many tattoos do you have? I believe I have about 26. I think! A lot of them are blended together so it may be more than that. Probably over 40 hours of work due to some of the detail. What’s next for Ruby Riott? One day I will become SmackDown Women’s Champion, and one day I will be in the grandest stage of all: WrestleMania.

#Baron Corbin #Corey Graves #Ruby Riott

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orbemnews · 4 years ago

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This little-known Japanese fruit now has a cult following As the group vice president of produce and floral at the grocery store chain Albertsons, Callahan is essentially a produce trend-spotter by trade — and he’s eaten a lot of fruit. But he described Sumo Citrus as unique. “The eating experience, there’s just nothing like it,” he said. The fruit may appear unappealing at first: It looks like a small, wrinkly orange with a knob akin to the top knot worn by the Sumo wrestlers for which it’s named. But it’s actually a hybrid of navel oranges, pomelos and mandarins and tastes like an extra-sweet mandarin. It peels easily, thanks in part to that knobby handle, and doesn’t make your fingers too sticky. But Sumo Citrus didn’t go crazy in the United States, at least not right away. In the years immediately after Callahan took that first bite, the fruit’s popularity grew slowly. There wasn’t much of the fruit to go around, anyway — AC Brands, the company behind Sumo Citrus, started selling its produce here in 2011 and increased its crop over time. But as more hit stores, more sold. And then once production hit a critical mass, Callahan’s prediction started to come true. Now, once you start paying attention, it may feel like the Sumo Citrus is everywhere. That could be because over the past two years, AC Brands — confident in both its relationship with retailers and in the size of its crop — invested in a major marketing push to place Sumo in front of the right consumers. It has built (and built off) buzz from Instagram influencers, and placed splashy magazine ads and targeted billboards to attract consumers willing to shell out up to $4 per pound of fruit. Over the past year, consumers spent nearly $62 million on Sumo Citrus fruits, according to Nielsen, still a small sliver of the $2.1 billion mandarin market. To make sure people try the product — and back up that price — AC Brands has been spreading the Sumo Citrus gospel. In its branding, it nods to the fruit’s heritage and to how it’s grown (painstakingly, carefully, with attention paid to each fruit). The short selling season that could be a drawback has also been used as an upside, helping the company to build buzz. Before the fruit hits the shelves for a period from January to April and again during a brief window in the fall, the brand can generate hype, and then encourage shoppers not to miss their chance to get it. US sales have jumped around 35% each year since March 2018, according to Nielsen data. “When you walk in our stores, in a lot of cases, you’re going to see them right at the front door with a great big display,” Callahan said. “Because we know the customers are hungry for them, and they want them.” But fruit marketing can be a fickle business. People who love Sumo Citrus today might find a new fruit to love tomorrow. And professionals like Callahan are always looking for the next big thing. So AC Brands has only a little while to ensure the product has the staying power to keep selling when the next hot fruit starts to trend. Sumo comes to America Sumo Citrus is the brand name for a type of fruit called shiranui, which is commonly referred to as the Dekopon, itself a brand name, in its home country of Japan. The fruit was born in the early 1970s. By the 1990s, it had become a popular, beloved fruit in Japan, selling for as much as $10 a pop, the self-described “Fruit Detective” David Karp wrote in a 2011 Los Angeles Times article titled “The Dekopon arrives in California.” Karp described a years-long effort by American growers to get their hands on the seedlings. Some smuggled the product over and were forced to cut trees down by the government, which feared that they would spread harmful plant viruses in the country. Eventually, Suntreat, which has since become AC Brands, was able to legally set up shiranui groves in California, an effort it undertook in secret. The growers involved “had signed confidentiality and exclusive marketing agreements with Suntreat,” Karp wrote. “No one was supposed to even breathe the word ‘Dekopon.'” By 2011, the company was ready to make its secret public and to introduce the new fruit to Americans under a different name. AC Brands didn’t think that the name shiranui or Dekopon would make sense to US consumers. So it came up with something new. “The Sumo Citrus brand was created because of … what the fruit looks like,” Sunnia Gull, director of brand management at AC Brands, told CNN Business. “It’s this giant fruit” compared to a traditional mandarin, she said, with “that top knot, which is sort of like what a Sumo wrestler has in the ring.” When branding something new, like a hybrid fruit, you want to go with something that is “approachable, easy to spell [and] easy to ask for in a store,” said David Placek, founder and president of Lexicon Branding, which helps companies name products. Plus, he said, by turning that knobby top into a feature, AC Brands is taking “what would be possibly a disadvantage, the way the fruit actually looks, [and] turning that into an advantage.” Ultimately, marketers are “looking for a story,” he said — something that will explain to consumers why this product is better than the rest, and why they should buy it. The most pampered fruit in the world Sumo Citrus is “probably the world’s most pampered fruit,” said Albertsons’ Callahan. A lot goes into making sure that the Sumo Citrus fruits that reach grocery stores are tasty enough to convince customers that they’re worth the price. “The trees are hand-pruned and trimmed,” said Gull. “The skin of the Sumo Citrus is actually so delicate that there’s this sort of clay that is put on, a sunscreen, over the summer,” for protection, she said. “We’re talking about every piece of fruit,” she emphasized. Each fruit is hand-picked and packed in pallets to make sure they don’t bruise on the way to stores. Other, sturdier citrus fruit don’t need quite as much attention. Scaling that process up could be challenging, said Roland Fumasi, a food and agribusiness research analyst at Rabobank, an agriculture focused bank. People won’t spend on a pricey fruit if they’re disappointed by the product. “You have to be careful that your quality control is maintained.” And, he noted, there’s a careful balance of supply and demand for AC Brands to consider, as there is for any product. Grow too little and it could miss out on potential sales. Grow too much and it might have to cut prices — or watch as that pampered fruit rots unsold. Influencers and New Yorker ads Some people may have first learned about Sumo Citrus through the Instagram of Eva Chen, director of fashion partnerships at Instagram and an influencer in her own right with 1.6 million followers. Chen has been raving about the fruit online since 2019. One recent photo shows Chen in her classic #evachenpose — feet casually up on the back seat of a car, with shoes, purse and a snack, often a fruit, on display — with a Sumo mandarin. One post from last year shows Chen illustrated in the manner of the surrealist artist Magritte, a floating Sumo blocking her bowler hat-topped head. Another shows her pulling a stack of Sumo Citrus crates, looking stylish in an Oscar de La Renta top and Chanel flats. The all-caps, multi-exclamatory caption reads “SUMO CITRUS FOR THE WHOLE OFFICE!!!” Chen’s initial interest in Sumo was “all organic,” Gull said. “There was nothing paid around that.” But over the past few years Sumo has started paid partnerships with influencers in an effort to reach more millennials. Online, influencers with slim bodies and wide smiles post photos of themselves with the fruit, promising giveaways. They often use the hashtag #healthyobsession, positioning the fruit as a health food. Sumo also sent Jenna Fischer, known for her role as Pam on “The Office,” a tree of her own. On the Sumo Citrus instagram account you can see a smiling Fischer kneeling beside the young tree, sporting a bright orange “Sumo Citrus” beanie. AC Brands declined to say how much it spends on marketing. In addition to social media campaigns, it has launched targeted ads to reach high-income individuals — those who might not bat an eye over the cost of the fruit. “We partnered with New Yorker magazine as well as Bon Appetit,” Gull said. “There’s electronic vehicle charging stations outside some key retailers, we’re advertising there and testing that,” she said. Sumo has also posted small billboard advertising in Boston, LA and Minneapolis, “key” markets where Sumo consumption grew last season. AC Brands also distributes marketing materials to retailers to help advertise the product in stores. Last year, it introduced new purple displays to grocers. Sumo also holds a contest, with prizes, for retail partners that have put together the most creative in-store display. Getting top billing in the grocery aisle Creating buzz online is one thing. Making a splash in grocery stores is an entirely different challenge. That depends in large part on convincing retailers to place products in highly-visible, well-trafficked locations. A big, prominent display can encourage people who may not have heard of the fruit to try it. At Stop and Shop, which has been carrying Sumo Citrus for over four years, customers can often find the product near the front of the produce section, said Joe Connolly, the chain’s category manager for produce. “If we brought them in and we just displayed them in the citrus section, amongst everything else, they’d probably be lost,” he said. So far, the strategy is working. “Each and every year we’ve been selling more and more of them,” he said. That doesn’t mean it’ll work forever. Sumo Citrus is starting to see competition. Fowler Packing, which sells mandarins under the Peelz brand, announced last month that it is adding a Dekopon product to the Peelz portfolio, which is already well known among mandarin lovers. Trinity Fruit Company, which sells peaches, pomegranates and mandarins among other fruit, recently started selling Big Honey Dekopons. Big Honeys, which have the same taste profile as Sumo Citrus, have gotten some buzz in niche markets: Earlier this year, the Produce Moms blog named the Big Honey one of the its 21 Must-Try Produce Items in 2021, after the “plumsicle” but ahead of the PinkGlow Pineapple, which is pink on the inside. And one day, Sumo Citrus could be dethroned by an even trendier citrus. Items that were hot one year can go out of vogue, and grocers have no reason to try to revitalize the sale of a flailing product — they can just move on to the next big disruptor in the space. It’s happened before, Albertsons’ Callahan said. “Seeded watermelons used to be the watermelon to buy,” he said. “And we were able to develop a seedless watermelon, and all of a sudden the seedless watermelon basically took over.” (Of course, trends can be cyclical: seeded watermelons are starting to make a comeback, he noted.) Another example? Red apples, which have been squeezed by more popular varieties. “There’s so many apples that are better than red apples today. Honeycrisp really changed the apple industry, it was really that first apple that just exploded across the country.” Already, Callahan is excited about a new product. “We’ve got this new lemon plum that we’re just starting to get ahold of that we’ve had really for the last couple of years,” he said. “It’s certainly not something that’s across the country and every one of our stores, but it’s really gaining popularity,” he said. “That’s one that I can see coming on.” Source link Orbem News #cult #Fruit #Japanese #Littleknown

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brokenwinchesterr · 7 years ago

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Some Things Never Change- Seth Rollins x Reader

This is my piece for @fan-fiction-galore and @thewriterformerlytaggedas 31 Little Wrestling Fics writing challenge. I’m not gonna lie. There was a few times I thought about dropping out because I had homecoming this week and tbh it kicked my ass. I had one day last week when I came home from planning where I just cried. It was such a cluster fuck and the people who were helping plan the dance we were doing weren't doing their part. I ended up doing most of it and I paid for most of the shit anyway. Regardless I made it through and I'm pretty proud of this. I also edited it but I'm not sure how good I've done so please let me know if something is fucked up and ill fix it!

I hope you all enjoy and please leave me feedback! I know deep down this isn't my best work but I really enjoyed writing it and I think it turned out pretty good.

Pairing: Seth Rollins x Reader, if you squint really hard Bayley x Corey Word Count: 4,448 (this is a lot more than planned) Warnings: Language, bullying I guess ( Corey is a real asshole) A/N: okay THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT. So as mentioned above Corey really is an asshole. I wrote him like that because in real life I hate him. I have never hated anyone like I hate him. Now I'm not trying to force you all to hate him and I’m not trying to say fuck you if you like Corey. I’m trying to avoid issues of people who like Corey by warning y'all.

IF YOU LIKE COREY AND DONT WANT TO SEE HIM GET KINDA SHIT ON DONT READ THIS!!

I’ve warned you all.

The life of an athlete was a though one. Constantly traveling and putting their lives on the line could be stressful. Being a professional wrestler was seemingly more taxing than any other athletic job because it's not just being an athlete it's being an actor. That meant that days off were rare. Days off when everyone could just hang out and have fun together as themselves were rare. That's how they all got themselves into this mess. They were in the town of Appleton; a place in Wisconsin, exploring some ruins of a house which is supposed to be haunted. That's according to some locals anyway. They had been sitting in silence until Sami spoke up.

" Whose idea was this anyway?" Sami asked. Seth immediately pointed at Y/N who had her head buried in her phone. She was trying to find the exact location of the house which was not an easy task.

" Literally everything about this is illegal!" Sami exclaimed, concern written all over his features.

" You're completely right, Sami, but it's the season of halloween and we have to be spoopy.'' Y/N responded looking up at him.

" Spoopy?" Bray asked, meeting her eyes in the rearview mirror. Y/N nodded. He just raised his eyebrows in response, and shook his head, before turning his focus back to the road. They had somehow managed to coerce him to driving; Sami sat in the passenger seat (though with a lot of protest. He always claimed Bray freaked him out) with Seth directly behind him, and Y/N to his left. Behind Y/N was Bayley, who felt the need to continuously play with her hair. She claimed it was 'as soft as a baby's butt.' To Bayley's right was Corey Graves, a long time friend of Seth's.

They had been on the road for quite a while until it was becoming clear that the long drive was getting to everyone. By everyone, mostly Y/N and Corey. Tensions were at an all time high between the two who were, for some random reason, arguing about the show Supernatural; something Corey had never even seen before. So of course, Y/N being the die-hard fan she is began to get irritated because ,'' who was this idiot to say it's shit when he's never seen it before.''

" You know a show is shit when the bump it for another show.'' He shot back, talking about when the twelfth season of Supernatural got bumped for the first season Riverdale.

She took a breath, ready to destroy his claim, but she paused, and instead said," Y'know what Corey? I'm not gonna argue with you. I'm just gonna let you keep blowing smoke out of your ass because it's what you do best.'' You could hear in her voice that she was tired of the constant issues from Corey. She looked over to Seth, giving him a look that said,' I told you he was going to be a problem.' Bayley suggested they play the quiet game, and for the rest of the ride, they sat in silence.

Once they got into town, Y/N suggested that they should pull over because she still had to find the actual address of the house. She decided to call an old friend to see if he knew where it was located. Scary things and adventuring were his specialties.

"Hello?" Spoke a gruff voice through the phone.

"Elton! Hey I'm so glad you answered," Y/N responded," I have a huge favor to ask you."

" Sure what's up?"

" So I managed to drag some friends to that place in Wisconsin that I was telling you about. We made it to the town, but now I'm not sure exactly where to go and I was wondering if you remembered where the actual house was?"

" Oh, um yeah, give me a sec to grab my computer."

There was a short pause, some rustling, then some barking, which Y/N assumed was from Circa, Elton's dog, and then he was back on the receiver with a," Sorry. It was buried under a bunch of new shirts."

Elton owned a clothing brand and he was currently in the process of creating new products. It was something he'd been working on for a long time.

" You'll have to tell me all about the shirts another time, but right now I really need to know where the house is."

" Alright. So, when you first pull into town, your gonna want to take an immediate left. It's not gonna look like it's a road, but I promise you, it's there. Then the road is gonna continue for a few miles and then it'll come to a 'T'. Go right. Follow the road and you'll see the house. It's fenced off and it's a little bit of a hike to get to it, but honestly it's not that bad. I'm not sure how you're gonna get through the fence but I'm sure you'll figure it out."

" Awesome! Thank you so much Elton! I don't know what I'd do with out you.'' Y/N spoke a smile beginning to grace her features. She truly loved and appreciated her friends.

" You'd probably die.'' he responded with a chuckle.

" True. True.''

"Be safe, and I'll see you soon, yeah?"

" Of course.'' Y/N answered as she hung up the phone. A lunch meet up was already in her schedule.

" So what's the deal.'' Seth asked.

Y/N let out a breath," He said it's an immediate left on a road that doesn't look like a road but is actually a road. I'm assuming it's back the way we came just 'cause we've already been driving for quite a while.''

" There was a little opening between some trees not to long ago.'' Bayley spoke up.

" Then that's probably it! Great, now let's get back on the road.'' Sami said jumping into the conversation, while motioning at the car. Everyone loaded up and they began the shortish drive to the house.

Surprisingly they had made it without very many problems. The only thing was Corey’s constant talking, but when is it not a problem for Y/N.

" It looks more like ruins of a house than an actual house. I was expecting this huge thing.'' Seth said, motioning with his hands, leaning against the car door he just closed.

" Well appearances don't always matter.'' Y/N replied to him, poking his chest to punctuate each word.

" Are you trying to call me ugly with out actually saying it?" He responded pulling her in for a hug.

" Why would I do that?'' Y/N looked up at him.

" You never know.'' A small smile appeared. He leaned down and just as his lips were about to meet Y/N's, they heard Corey's voice." Alright lovebirds if we're gonna do this I'd rather it not be dark, so can we hurry it up?"

Y/N let out a screeching noise and looked to Corey,'' No one gives a fuck. Literally. We got here like, five seconds ago. Plus, we have no idea how we're gonna get through this fence yet.''

" We could probably hop it to be honest.''Seth said, running his hands up and down Y/N's sides.

" Um, I don't know Seth. Some of us are kind of short.'' Bayley said, speaking of herself and Y/N.

" We'll help.'' Sami responded.

Seth was the first one over, with Y/N passing the ouija board through the slit where the fence panels connected. Sami had a backpack that he through over next, and looked to one of the girls.

" Who's going next?"

They looked to each other and the fence. It was pretty damn high.

" Hey, both of you look at me.'' Seth spoke through the fence, sensing the fear. '' Its just like climbing a steel cage. You can do it.''

" I'll go.'' Bayley said after a few moments of silence. She looked as nervous as she was for her Mania match. Sami stood at the fence ready to boost her while the other three stood back to catch her incase she fell. When she reached the top it didn't take her long to drop onto the ground of the other side of the fence.

" Wow. I don't know if I'll be able to handle a real ghost if I can't handle this.'' She added, wiping the sweat from her hands. Sami pulled himself up and over next, leaving Y/N, Bray, and Corey on the other side.

" Your turn.'' Corey said, ready to boost her.

" Fuck you.'' She responded as she put her foot in his hands as a rest. Once she had almost steadied herself at the top, she felt Corey's grip on her leg release, and had she not had a good center of gravity she would have toppled to the ground. Instead she had managed to shift herself so she fell towards the other three in the group.

" Fuck.'' She spoke, feeling Seth's arms steady her on her feet.

" Corey what the hell?" Seth asked.

" I-I'm sorry, I don't know what happened.''

" He nearly passed out.'' Bray said finally.

" Why though?"

" I'm not to sure."

"Let's just.. get everyone on the same side of the fence please.'' Bayley said turning to face the house on the hill, as the other two men made their way over.

The outside of the house wasn't very bad. Of course, it was run down, the paint was peeling, and most of the grass and brush were dead, but it was two stories plus an attic, had a decent sized yard, and was probably the talk of the town before it was haunted and abandoned. To Y/N, all the caution tape and signs were no big deal, just a part of exploring, but of course, Corey couldn't keep his mouth shut. He went on a whole rant about how they could get arrested for this and how lucky she was that he didn't call their boss and complain that she was doing illegal stuff. Once they had managed to make it to the door Y/N sprawled out on the steps and groaned.

" This is my life now," Y/N started, speaking in a melodramatic manor, " I have climbed this hill and now I will die upon it."

" C'mon you're fine.'' Seth responded pulling her up into him and pressing a kiss to her forehead. He had been keeping her close ever since the incident at the fence.

'' We were only hiking for like twenty minutes.'' Sami said questioningly, shaking his head.

" Do we really want to do this?" Bayley asked. She was the only other female on the roster willing to come with them to the supposed 'haunted' ruins. They were going to bring Dean as well but with some last minute plans with Renee they 'settled with Corey' as Y/N would put it. Everyone else was too scared.

" We'll be fine, they don't seem to angry.'' Bray spoke, stoically. Bayley and Y/N locked eyes, sharing a worried glance.

" Good to know buddy,'' Seth said patting Bray on the shoulder and walking to the door. Corey remained at the bottom of the steps. Before Seth could even reach to open the door they began to hear noises coming from inside the house.

" God damn it, why are we doing this!'' Corey finally snapped,'' and why the hell did you bring a Ouija board, you know how I feel about that shit!" he said motioning to Y/N, who held it in her hands. Him and Y/N didn't get along to well, that was for sure established, if she was with Seth and Seth and Corey were friends then that made her and Corey friends, kind of. They shared a mutual hatred that Everyone knew about and that was how their relationship worked. Hell even people who didn't know them knew it. The vibes they had when they were around each other were absolutely toxic. Couldn't they keep their feelings at bay for one night?

" Because it's Halloween time, stupid.'' She replied as if it were obvious, " we're at a haunted house, and it's gonna get dark eventually. Why else would I have it?''

" The house is not haunted.''

''Bet.'' Y/N began.

" Alright, Alright, enough you two.'' Seth spoke locking eyes with the woman he called his girlfriend. She shook her head mumbling a whatever and pushing past him reaching to open the door.

" I wouldn't do that just yet,'' Sami spoke hurriedly, before Y/N could open the door, " I agree with Bayley. Are we really sure we want to do this?''

" I'm 100 percent sure. I don't know about y'all but I'm going in. We just did all that hiking and not to mention the fucking fence.'' Y/N said forcing her way around Sami and into the house.

" I don't want to leave her here a lone.'' Seth answered, shrugging. Bray said nothing and walked in behind Seth.

" I want to see if this house is really haunted.'' Corey responded, following closely behind the other two men.

" I'm with you on this one Sami but these are our friends.. Do we really want to leave them here alone so the could possibly get hurt?'' Bayley asked walking up the steps and standing next to Sami.

Sami just shook his head and said," C'mon.''

The inside of the house was dirty to say the least. When you walked in, immediately to the left was a flight of stairs, to the right of that was a door, probably to the basement, and a broken-looking table. There was definitely a lot of random clutter in the house before it became abandoned. To the direct right, was what seemed like the living room, and when you walked into it and went left, the kitchen was attached at the other side of the room.

Everyone was mostly looking around the living room. There were a lot of pictures considering how long it had been abandoned. Y/N had decided that she wanted to go explore the upstairs floor. When you walk up the stairs it runs directly into a corridor with quite a dew doors on each side. She was assuming that the people who built this house either had a very large family or they had a lot of stuff. She noticed there were quite a few pictures on the walls here too. They were all of the same man. He was always wearing a party hat and had some other person or pet in the photo with him. Just as she was about to enter the first room she heard her name being called from downstairs.

" They're ready to play the ouija board." Seth said to her.

" Alright then.'' She said plopping onto the ground in the middle of the living room.

They all filled in the circle around her,watching as Bray set the planchette on 'G'.

" If you don't want to play or don't believe, leave the circle.'' He spoke solemnly.

Corey stood up leaving Bray, Seth, Bayley, and Y/N sitting in a weird-square formation.

" Be careful when asking the questions. If you're joking or don't want to know the answer don't ask it,'' Y/N added,'' follow my lead to start.''

Everyone placed two fingers on the planchette and Y/N said,'' Ouija, we are here,'' while moving the planchette in three circles.

" Okay. It's ready.''

" Who wants to ask the first question?'' Seth asked looking around the group.

" I'll go,'' Bayley spoke. Y/N looked at her bewildered. '' If I'm gonna do it, might as well go all in.'' She finished shrugging. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing mind and heart.

" Are there any spirits here that would like to talk to us?” Bayley asked, a small quiver to her voice.

They sat for a few seconds, waiting for something to happen. Just as Y/N was about to say something she felt a movement under her fingers and she shut her eyes, afraid to look down. Was this really happening? When she opened her eyes the planchette rested on 'yes'.

" Fuck,'' Seth whispered in a faulty voice,'' I don't want to do this anymore.'' He took his fingers off the planchette.

" No! You're not supposed to do that!" Y/N screamed, nearly removing her fingers as well.

'' Why? What's gonna happen? I can't just put them back on?'' He asked, fear evident in his features. Y/N could tell he was trying to mask it, but she knew him all to well.

" It don't work like that.'' Bray responded.

" Well, why the hell not?" Seth asked. Y/N was about to respond when a groan sounded from somewhere around the house.

" Old houses make noises. It's normal,'' Y/N said. Another groan was heard,".... right?''

" Of course they do.'' Corey said. But it wasn't in a sarcastic or rude way. That gave a little shock to everyone. It’s crazy what fear does to a person.

" Am I gonna die now or something?'' Seth asked.

" No, you should be fine. I'm not entirely sure though.'' Bray responded.

" Let's just ask another question.'' Bayley said quickly.

" When did you die?'' Y/N asked, trying to relieve some of the tension in the air. It was thick like butter. The planchette remained still, and then flung itself off the board and into the wall

" It didn't like that question.'' Seth exclaimed.

The front door which they left open was slammed shut, causing many photos to fall of their places on the wall. Everyone looked around waiting to see what would happen next. Crashes could be heard from the kitchen where leftover dishes and cutlery were crashing to the ground.

" Upstairs!'' Bray shouted, grabbing the Ouija board and throwing it at the wall. The group watched as it broke to pieces." Go!"

Everyone bounded up the stairs and Sami had made a hard right into the first room. Everyone stood, trying to catch their breath.

Seth opened his mouth to speak but the only thing that was heard was the sound of the door slamming.

The next thing Y/N knew, she was being thrown into a wall; the force of the collision had her seeing stars. She heard the fearful screams of Bayley as other object got thrown around the room. She had heard that playing the ouija board wrong angered spirits, but to this extent? It was a little much. What had they done wrong? Corey was the only one who didn't want to play and he didn't. The weren't being intentionally disrespectful and even though Bray was pretty weird when it came to demonic stuff she believed him when he had said that they weren't too angry. Why was he wrong? By the time she had regained her bearings, things had calmed down. Bayley wasn't screaming but she was sitting in a corner, letting the sobs overtake her and Corey had wandered over to her to try to calm her down. You could still hear objects being thrown around the rest of the house as different doors continued to slam. Sami looked as if he might have started crying. Y/N was looking around the room and noticed immediately that things were wrong. Bray was lying in the center of the room in a heap. Y/N also noticed that Seth was no where to be seen.

' He's probably in a different room.' She though, more like hoped, to herself as she raced over to Bray's side.

The last thing she needed was to have to explain that she got him killed because they went to a literal haunted house. She had noticed that Bray had blood running down from his nose. The moment she placed her hand on his chest to feel for a beat, his eyes shot open and he looked around, frantically, as if he were expecting more damage than that had actually been done. He knew one thing for sure. They had to get out of that house. She helped pull him to his feet and ran to the door. It was closed. In her head she was praying it wasn't locked. What would they even do if it was? No one would be around to hear them scream, let alone to save them. She breathed a huge sigh of relief when the knob turned. She looked behind her to see everyone up and ready to follow her next move. Bayley was clearly leaning on Corey, while Bray stood on his own, leaning his weight to one side of his body. Sami stood in the back ready for whatever may come, with his arms wrapped around himself.

What had Y/N gotten herself and her friends into? She was about to cry herself when the checked every room on the second floor and saw no sign of Seth. Everything in the living room and kitchen looked the same, except for one thing. The door that lead to what they thought was the basement was closed. Sami and Corey had gone to check the other side of the first floor, after leaving Bray and Bayley sitting on the floor of the living room. Y/N remained in front of the basement door. She knew deep down that they were going to have to go in there. There was no other option. To her, it didn't matter what the others thought. If they wanted to leave they could. She was not about to leave a man who she had spent the better part of a year with. He wouldn't leave her.

Soon Y/N felt the presence of the guys behind her.

" We need to leave, now. Let's just go down there, not let our fear get to us, and grab Seth.'' Corey said.

" What if he isn't down there?'' Sami asked.

" Are you fucking ser-" Y/N started.

" No I don't mean it like that. I just mean what if he actually isn't down there.''

Y/N was at a loss for words. She didn't want to think is he wasn't down there. He had to be.

" We'll cross that bridge if we get to it.'' Corey spoke reaching to open the door. He took a breath and swung the flat of wood in. It was dark, and seemingly cold; way colder than the rest of the house. Y/N had never appreciated Corey more.

" We got this.'' Sami said pulling a flashlight out of his bag. Corey grabbed the flashlight from him and took the lead. As the trio descended down the steps Y/N automatically had an uneasy feeling. She was ready to go home and curl in a ball.

The basement was full to the brim. There were shelves upon shelves of survival stuff. MRI'S, medkits, canned food, jugs of water. What the hell was this? One thing in particular Y/N noticed was a random door in the wall. Corey and Sami had checked everything during the time she was looking around. This guy must have been a real doomsday prepper.

" Nothing.'' Corey said, looking at her with an underlying sadness. This was his best friend. Y/N motioned to the door she had just been staring at.

" That's the only place we haven't checked."

" Then let's get to it.'' Corey responded, reaching for the door. Sami grabbed a steel bar from one of the shelves. Y/N looked at him.

" What? Just in case.''

'' What are you going to do beat the ghost to death?"

" Maybe.''

Corey shook his head heaving the heavy metal door open. Y/N peaked her head in and let out a gasp. Seth was in a chair with a party hat strapped to his head. Just as she was about to step in, a man appeared. He was wearing a party hat just like Seth's. Y/N recognized him to be the man from all the pictures from upstairs.

" Want to join the party?" The thing spoke. Y/N nearly let out a scream before she felt some one pull her by the back of her shirt. She looked to Corey who had pulled her out of the doorway and away from the ghost. Sami had decided to chuck the steel bar and it 'hit' the ghost. The bar clattered to the ground. It faltered for a second and disappeared.

" I can't believe that actually worked!'' Sami exclaimed as Corey pat him on the back. Y/N ran over to the chair where Seth was beginning to stir. He groaned and opened his eyes looking at her.

" Hey. Oh my god. Hi.'' Y/N started babbling. " I thought you were gone.''

" No. I'm okay.'' He responded, letting out a groan, sitting up in the chair.

" We should go.'' Sami suggested.'' I don't know how long that ghost is gonna be gone for.'' He picked up the steel bar. Just in case. Y/N helped Seth rise to his feet and he placed his arm around her shoulder. They made their way up the stairs in silence, and as soon as Bayley caught sight of them she was up and asking a bunch of questions.

" Can we do this in the car? I wanna get out of here.'' Seth said as his grip tightened on Y/N.

" Oh yeah, of course. Sorry.'' Bayley replied. She pulled Bray up with her and then they set out to leave.

Y/N breathed a sigh of relief as Sami swung the front door open. She clung to Seth like she hadn't seen him in years, afraid he'd get taken from her again. Maybe actual haunted places were a no go. She was glad that at least everyone was a little closer than before.

Once they had made it back over the fence and into the car, everyone paused and took a breath.

" That was the fucking worst idea ever.'' Corey griped.

" I know, and I'm sorry. Looking back on it, I probably should've picked a fake haunted place.'' Y/N responded. Sami started the car and let out a little laugh.

" Now this is something I thought I'd never see. Y/N and Corey getting along. Sort of.''

" Ha Ha. Fantastic. Relish in it somewhere far away from here." Bray spoke up from the back.

" Okay, Okay I'm going.'' Sami said.

" What if we went to fright fest at six flags?" Y/N asked.

" NO!”

#31 little wrestling fics #seth rollins imagine #seth rollins #bray wyatt #Sami zayn #Corey graves #bayley #seth rollins x reader #wwe #wwe imagine #brokenwinchesterr #bucksvseverybody #literally this was harder than it should have been #homecoming kicked my ass #fml

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fandoms-fandoms-everywhere99 · 7 years ago

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I was tagged by @xsimplynaex

I tag : @smackingtalk @pendragxns @dragonbound135 @dorkyvillain @facethefandom

General.

How many Facebook friends do you know in real life : about 90%?

Do you have any pets : not right now, I did have a hamster.

Do you want to change your name : only really put a hyphen between my fist and middle name.

What did you do for your last birthday : we rented a room in a restraunt and had my extended family over for a big meal.

What were you doing at midnight last night : I was talking to @smackingtalk while I studied for a test I have today.

Name something you can't wait for : seeing my family in ugly Christmas jumpers on Christmas day.

When was the last time you saw your mum : like 2 minutes ago.

What are you listening to right now : The in the heights soundtrack.

Have you ever spoken to a person named Tom : yea family members.

Something that is getting on your nerves : my mum and little sister constantly fighting.

Most visited website : Tumblr and sometimes YouTube or Facebook.

Hair colour : Naturally Brown but right now it's a purple/red colour.

Long or Short Hair : Short (It goes to my shoulders).

Do you have a crush on someone : Nope.

What do you like about yourself : Physically, I like my eyes. Personality wise, i like that I can be really determined in achieving things if I put my mind to it.

Blood Type : O+ I remember cause I was told the same day I fainted after donating blood hah.

Nickname : MURDER/Billy from my friends and Clo or Chipmunk from family.

Relationship status : Single.

Zodiac : Taurus!

Pronouns : She/Her.

Favourite Tv show : Oh god that's hard emm Doctor Who, Friends, One Tree Hill and Parks and Recreation.

Tattoos : None yet.

Right or left handed : Right.

Surgery : 1 when I was a baby.

Sport : I used to dance, swim, play football, gymnastics and I'm hoping soon to start wrestling!

Pair of shoes : Some cheap black pair out of Primark.

Eating : Nothing right now as I'm on a bus.

Drinking : Water.

I'm about to : Get into uni and fail my physics test.

Waiting for : Christmas!

Want : for my family and friends to all be happy and healthy.

Get married : probably but not for a long time.

Career : Honestly not sure what's going to happen, I'm at uni for physics rn but not sure if I want a job in that anymore. Dream job is to be a professional wrestler though.

Kissed a stranger : No.

Drank Hard Liquor : Yes.

Lost glasses/contact lenses : yea...in the woods by my old school.

Turned someone down : yea.

Had your heart broken : No.

Been Arrested : Nope.

Fallen for a friend : Unfortunately yes.

Cried when someone died : Obviously.

The Last.

Drink : Water.

Phone call : The fast food place just up the road for dinner last night.

Text message : my friend.

Song you listened to : Breath from in the heights.

Time you cried : A week or two ago due to bad news.

Have you Ever.

Dated someone twice : No.

Kissed someone and regretted it : No.

Been cheated on : No.

Lost someone special : Yes.

Been depressed : No.

Gotten drunk and thrown up : Nope.

3 Favorite Colours.

Blue, green and silver.

In The Last Year Have You.

Made new friends : YES!

Fallen out of love : No.

Laughed until you cried : hah yea.

Found out someone was talking about you : yea but nothing bad.

Met someone who has changed you : No.

Find out who your friends are : yea, becomes clear once you leave school.

Kissed someone on your Facebook List : No.

Which Is Better.

Hugs or Kisses : Hugs.

Lips or eyes : Eyes.

Shorter or Taller : Taller.

Older or younger : Older.

Nice arms or nice stomach : Arms.

Hook up or Relationship : Relationship.

Trouble maker or hesitant : Usually hesitant but depends on who I'm with.

Do You Believe In.

Yourself : I try.

Miracles : yea.

Love at first sight : Nah.

Santa Clause : No.

Kiss on the first date : sure!

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easyobsession · 7 years ago

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dwts25 cast announcement (aka lo is STILL recapping this crap?)

Jesus lord help us all, the shit storm covered in glitter is back for its 25th season and while I’m highly doubtful I’ll post weekly because I’m still upset over last season and pretty fed up with a certain pro at the moment, I’m feeling generous and somewhat indebted to tradition to at least do a post on the cast reveal.

Wow, that was a long ass sentence.

*A quick sidenote before we start- you guys, I actually know who all except 4 of these people are!! This might be a record. Good on you, ABC.

The Guys

DEREK FISHER with pro partner SHARNA BURGESS

Speaking of people I don’t know… He’s an athlete, what do you expect? He used to be a basketball player, right? Does he still play? Was he any good? They got Kobe Bryant to send a message, but is that because of Derek or just ABC’s connections? I have no clue. Instant judgment says he won’t be great.

DREW SCOTT with pro partner EMMA SLATER

Who doesn’t love the Property Brothers? When I first heard about Drew as a possible contestant, I wasn’t shocked. He and his brother seem pretty easygoing and willing try almost anything- and out of the two I think Drew is a little less likely to worry about the stereotypical possibility of looking “less masculine.” I think Drew could be good- he’s insanely tall, which might work against him, but he seems really excited and I bet he works hard. I’m excited about him.

FRANKIE MUNIZ with pro partner WITNEY CARSON

Loved Malcolm in the Middle. And Agent Cody Banks, with Hillary Duff? AND BIG FAT LIAR, WITH AMANDA BYNES BEFORE SHE LOST HER MIND? And that Disney Channel movie (back when they were DCOMs) where he was in a kid in a wheelchair that raced in a soapbox derby? God, what a throwback. Apparently since then he’s gotten pretty into racing for real, however I don’t see us having another James Hinchcliff on our hands. Even in the 2 second intro they did on GMA he looked stiff and awkward. I don’t see this lasting long at all. Shame.

JORDAN FISHER with pro partner LINDSAY ARNOLD

Forget Hamilton, this boy is from the Disney Channel! Liv and Maddie, anyone? TEEN BEACH MOVIE? It’s Seacat, y’all! He’s gonna kill it and it’s gonna be so fun to watch. I think he and Lindsay (who shall from this moment on be known this season as LindsAY, not to be confused with fellow contestant LindsEY) will be a great team with a lot of energy. He won’t win though, due to the Disney Channel curse. In true Disney star tradition though, he will likely get second place. (Somewhere in the distance Kyle Massey, Zendaya, and Corbin Bleu are having a Disney Kid/DWTS Runners Up club meeting. Meanwhile Sabrina Bryan is nearby plotting to burn down ABC headquarters.)

NICK LACHEY with pro partner PETA MURGATROYD

First One Tree Hill, now this. The man is out to conquer the world. I don’t think he’ll be as good as Drew (his brother, not the other contestant this season) and I almost think his wife will outdo him by just a hair. That said, I don’t see him being awful. Along the lines of boyband members, I can see him maybe a little behind the others like Nick Carter and Lance Bass, and probably not nearly as good as Wanya Morris or Joey Fatone. I think Nick will start off okay and slowly work his way up, but I don’t think it’ll be a fast or easy process. But as long as he and Vanessa don’t bitch and moan about their spouses like Carlos and Alexa PenaVega did, I’ll be happy.

TERRELL OWENS with pro partner CHERYL BURKE

It’s Terrell like Cheryl, not Tuh-rell. He is (was?) in the NFL. That sums up my knowledge of this man. I assume he was (is?) pretty good from the way people talk about him? He looks pretty graceful and I doubt they’d give Cheryl anyone too shitty since it’s such a big deal she’s back. I don’t know. The only football knowledge I have is from Friday Night Lights. Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t fuck it up in the ballroom.

The Girls

BARBARA CORCORAN with pro partner KEO MOTSEPE

I actually have watched quite a bit of Shark Tank since Robert Herjavec’s season, so I know Barbara! She’s 68, so good for her, though since she’s with Keo we know she won’t last long. Though I doubt she’ll be much good, I know Barbara is very spunky and look forward to seeing her.

DEBBIE GIBSON with pro partner ALAN BERSTEN

One of the 4 I don’t know. Apparently she had a hit in the 80s that I’ve never heard of and she’s currently battling Lyme disease, which I also know nothing about. But after a quick trip to the trusty Mayo Clinc’s website, I learned that Lyme disease is basically a bacterial disease transmitted by deer tick bites (check yourself, kids!), with symptoms that can include a rash, flu-like symptoms, joint pains, and neurological problems. So Debbie has a lot going on. All of that said, I can see her being a bit like one of the higher-skilled housewives when it comes to skill- not epic, but not too bad.

LINDSEY STERLING with pro partner MARK BALLAS

I think I’m rooting for her to win. Of course we’ve all seen her- she’s performed on the show multiple times (Maks and Meryl, week 3 Foxtrot. Look it up.), She’s cute as button and apparently she and Mark have known each other for a while. I’m excited. I think she’ll do well. It’s gonna be weird seeing her dance with a person though instead of her violin.

NIKKI BELLA with pro partner ARTEM CHIGVINTSEV

I’m a WWE girl, so I know Nikki. Since the proposal at Wrestlemania in April she’s taken time off from wrestling, but she’s still around starring on the WWE reality show Total Divas as well as the spinoff Total Bellas, starring her and her twin sister Brie. Whether or not she’ll be any good is a huge question mark, because while being in amazing physical shape, obviously wrestling has a little less finesse than dancing. Fellow WWE superstar Chris Jericho competed in season 12 with Cheryl and came in 6th (he wasn’t great, and he’ll gladly tell you that himself), however I think Nikki being a woman gives her an advantage over the male wrestlers. The guys in WWE don’t have to worry about being sexy (though some are- Seth Rollins, call me) but the girls, while times have progressed and are now seen as equals in terms of talent, do have to be a little more graceful, so to speak. All of this being said, I’m not sure how well she’ll do. But I’m excited to find out.

SASHA PIETERSE with pro partner GLEB SAVCHENKO

I didn’t watch Pretty Little Liars, but I know who she is. Another one too cute for words. I hope she does well.

VANESSA LACHEY with pro partner MAKSIM CHMERKOVSKIY

I don’t really know what Vanessa has done aside from being a wife/mom and a TRL VJ back in the day. But she looks like she can shake her booty and I think she’ll do well with Maks. I can see them being a lot of fun. I also think she and Nick seem less timid than Carlos and Alexa, and I’m crossing my fingers that they understand the concept of the show is to win with your partner, not cry about how much you wish could be dancing with your husband instead (because that’s NOT HOW IT WORKS, ALEXA). So I’m pumped. I also hope the troupe is prepared to open the DWTS daycare for all of these children that will need watching while the mommies and daddies go to work.

VICTORIA ARLEN with pro partner VAL CHMERKOVSKIY

The final cast member I do not know. I looked up her story though, and I can see why Val has been so pumped about her. She seems AMAZING. For those of you also in the dark, here’s some info I’m copying from the internet:

“At the age of 11, Victoria developed two rare conditions and lost the ability to speak, eat, walk and move. She slipped into a vegetative state in which recovery was unlikely. She spent nearly 4 years "locked" inside her own body, completely aware of what was going on, just unable to move or communicate. Doctors believed there was little hope of survival and recovery was unlikely. In 2010, Victoria began the nearly impossible fight back to life. She learned how to speak, eat, and move all over again. She competed in the 2012 Summer Paralympics held in London as a member of Team USA and she won four medals: one gold and three silver. In April 2015, she made the transition from professional athlete to sportscaster and joined ESPN as one of the youngest on air talents hired by the company. In April of 2016, she defied yet another odd and learned to walk after spending nearly a decade paralyzed from the waist down.”

And she’s TWENTY-TWO, Y’ALL. Let’s all take a quick moment to examine our lives- WE’RE ALL FAILURES. LOOK AT THIS GIRL. SHE’S A REAL LIFE SUPERHERO. Also one of the ones I’m excited to see and rooting for (despite some shit I won’t get into. Check my twitter. It’s there somewhere).

The Troupe and Pro Decisions

TIME TO POP BOTTLES, Y’ALL. YOU KNOWN DAMN WELL WHY I’M CELEBRATING. However I’m also hesitantly holding back bc until the first episode airs and a little blonde man doesn’t magically come out dancing with his celebrity partner along the lines of Michelle Obama, Ellen DeGeneres, Christ himself, I won’t be 100% convinced we’ll get such a huge season without God’s Gift To Movement. (#SQUEREK- MY VALDAYA FAM CAN ENJOY THAT THROWBACK. YOU’RE WELCOME.)

On a completely different topic, Mark is back. Woot! With his creativity and LindsEY’s talent with a violin, I’m super pumped to see what he comes up with.

Also Alan has been upgraded to a pro. Yay Alan!

I’m sad Sasha isn’t a pro this season because we all love him and he’s done so great with his past partners, but I think a large part of him being a pro depends on if they can find someone that balances will with his height. So I’m sad, but happy he’ll be around at least on troupe.

On a similar note though, who cares about height? Sasha is clearly a great teacher. Keo, however, though I’ve got mad love for the man, has proven time and time again that he needs some time on troupe to work on his teaching skills. I realize Barbara won’t ever be the next Laurie Hernandez, but regardless. I’m not happy they moved him up.

I’m also sad that a few favorites won’t be around like Karina and Tony. (dude, Karina went from this to attempting to date Chad from Jojo’s season of the Bachelorette on that new E! show. What the hell happened to our girl?)

The Judges

As far as I know they’re the same. Yippee -.- but guess what I’m pissed about y’all! SHIRLEY BALLAS IS JOINING THE JUDGING PANEL OF STRICTLY COME DANCING. WHICH IS NOT DWTS. WHY DO THEY GET HER AND WE’RE STUCK WITH CARRIE ANN AND JULES? What sick form of bullshit is this? I’ve said before I want both of Mark’s parents on the panel, plus Anna Trebunskaya (who just had a baby boy- CONGRATULATIONS ANNA!!!) and if Maks is competing and can’t judge, then Bruno, because I love his insanity and inappropriate innuendos. So damn you, Strictly!!

Predictions (in no specific order)

EARLY EXIT/THE BILLY RAY SCHOOL OF DANCE: Barb, Derek, Frankie

MIDDLE OF THE ROAD/BE GLAD YOU DON’T HAVE TO LEARN 46 NUMBERS FOR THE FINALE: Nikki, Terrell, Nick, Sasha, Debbie

GOING ALL THE WAY/STILL FINDING GLITTER IN YOUR DRAIN 6 MONTHS LATER: Jordan, LindsEY, Vanessa maybe, Victoria, Drew

For the final 3? As of lately I’m questioning damn near everything in my life, but I’ll give it a shot. Final 3 LindsEY, Jordan, Victoria. I’d normally guess Jordan for second, but with these girls I’ll guess Jordan 3rd and…. gah, this is hard. I want to say LindsEY will win, but I almost think Victoria will get it. I have a feeling this will flip-flop a lot. Okay, final guess pre-premiere is Jordan 3rd, LindsEY 2nd, and Victoria wins. But I’m not 100%.

Whew. Thank god I’m finally done writing this. If you actually read the whole thing, god love ya.

I’m still on social media @lauthom93 and love a good discussion, debate, or argument- not just about DWTS but anything at all, so hit me up there or right here on tumblr.

Back to my regularly scheduled madness. You know I’m sending love and gestures kids shouldn’t mimic.

Lo.

#dwts 25 #dancing with the stars #dancing with the stars season 25 #valdaya #opinion piece #lo recaps things

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closetofanxiety · 8 years ago

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Show Reviews: F1rst Wrestling’s “Wrestlepalooza X”

I got on a fucking airplane and flew to Minneapolis, Minn. to see a wrestling show! What the hell is wrong with me? You know what, though, I had a blast. Let’s take a look at the grappling, rapping, and burlesque:

When: Saturday, June 3, 2017

Where: Minneapolis, Minn., at the famous Seventh Street Entry nightclub (Hold Steady lyric: “Summer ‘88 was all heat and intensity / saw the Youth of Today at the Seventh Street Entry / There were skins in the pit / Some of them tried to kill me”)

What: Wrestlepalooza X, Arik Cannon’s twice-annual hipster wrestling extravaganza

Who: Me and my old high school friend Paul, who has never seen wrestling in his life

F1rst Wrestling Championship Match: Arik Cannon (c) vs Airwolf

Yes, they started with a title match. They don’t care about your stinking rules! First, before the match, some general notes: this place was absolutely packed (it was a sellout) and the crowd was, hands down, the most energetic wrestling crowd I’ve ever been in. Like Beyond Wrestling, there were no seats (although unlike Beyond, they had bike rack security barriers around the ring), so it was kind of a rock concert ambiance. And people were just, from the opening video montage, completely bananas. The energy level never really flagged until the last match. It was a hugely fun crowd to be part of: booing the heels, cheering the babyfaces, and only a few dodgy chants. I was not prepared for how balls-to-the-wall tjhis Minneapolis wrestling crowd was going to be. Good for them!

Anyway, the match was OK. Airwolf is a student at the wrestling school run by Cannon along with Molly Holly and Shawn Daivari. He’s a masked high flyer and is 17 years old. He looked good in spots but is still really green. This match featured the most delicate, gingerly-done Canadian destroyer I have ever seen, even in our current season of Canadian destroyers. But the crowd was nuts for everything, from armdrags to headlocks. It was insane. Cannon bladed at some point, which was the first shock of the night for Paul. Cannon retained, and then called Molly Holly and Shawn Daivari to the ring to present Airwolf with his certificate of graduation from the wrestling school. Nice!

Rating: Two Skins in the Pit.

Paul comment: “Is that real blood?”

DDT Ironman Heavymetal Weight Championship Match: Joey Ryan (c) vs Grado

“That guy’s not even in shape!” Paul said as Grado came out to a huge ovation. It’s true. Grado smokes cigarettes and eats McDonald’s. But he is still a massively entertaining professional wrestler, at least if you like That Kind Of Thing, and I do. This was pure comedy, obviously, from Joey Ryan’s Blow-Pop spot in the beginning to Grado dumping out Doritos onto the canvas instead of thumbtacks. The Joey Ryan Dick Spot, of course, was the centerpiece of the match, which Grado won, to a huge pop. But then one of the night’s burlesque dancers, Queenie Von Curves, came out and danced so sexxxily that Grado fainted, enabling her to cover him for the pin. Then Joey Ryan beat her with a rollup, and dashed off with his title. True but unlikely fact: I am a former DDT Ironman Heavymetal Weight Champion, having won it momentarily at Americanrana last year. This match would be hell to watch on tape, but was a blast live.

Rating: Three Skins in the Pit.

Paul comment: “This is very homoerotic. Do they know that?”

Rap Music Interlude

Prof, a guy in the Rhymesayers family tree who was named Minneapolis’ 19th best rapper in 2012 by City Pages, came out and did a fun set with his DJ, Willy Wonka. This is going to come as a huge shock, I know, but I’m not really au fait with the latest hip hop, or even the hip hop that was big in the 2000s. My era was the late 1980s. If someone’s made a better hip hop album than “Follow the Leader,” I haven’t heard it. After the brief set, evil heel faction Darin Corbin and the Whirlwind Gentlemen came out and exchanged unpleasant sentiments with Prof and Wonka. Darin Corbin in particular got insane amounts of heat from the crowd.

Jake Parnell vs. Scott Story vs. Venom

I got a feeling these were all local guys. This was a fun, short sprint, with each guy getting an opportunity to show off a little bit. I was most impressed by Venom, who is a huge dude but very agile in the ring. Not a lot of flash in this match, but a a good amount of crisp, well-planned wrestling. Venom gets the win.

Rating: Three Skins in the Pit

Paul comment: “Why isn’t that one guy taking off his shirt?”

Burlesque Interlude

Listen, folks, God bless the gals who do this, and God bless the people who love it, but burlesque is extremely not my thing. I’m a repressed Irish Catholic from New England, for starters, and even if I weren’t, there’s a weird history-class vibe to burlesque performances, like they’re not so much “This is sexxxy!” as they are “This would have been sexxxy to your grandparents, please appreciate the craft and dedication!” The crowd enjoyed it, though!

Chuck Taylor vs. Mat Fitchett

I was really looking forward to this, since I’ve seen Fitchett in a bunch of AAW shows but never in person. Holy cow, this was easily the match of the night. I mean, I know, but it would have stood out even on a card that wasn’t mostly comedy. Taylor worked pure heel, and even got the crowd to boo him, eschewing all comedy gimmicks, while Fitchett just came out like a house on fire and tore the place down. I’ve seen huricanranas so many times that they barely even register anymore, but he hit one on Taylor that looked like the textbook definition of the move. It was fun to see this match with someone who’d never been to wrestling before, because Paul was completely blown away. Short, loads of action, a lot of fun.

Rating: Four Skins in the Pit

Paul comment: “I know this is fake, but I’m pretty sure that guy’s really unconscious now.”

Rap Music Interlude

Gonna be honest, I did not feel the event was clamoring for another 20-minute medley of underground hip hop songs. Prof and Wonka were back and still having fun, although this time the crowd was maybe a smidge less willing to throw our hands in the air and wave them like we just don’t care. At the end, Darin Corbin and the Whirlwind Gentlemen again came out and squared off with Prof and Wonka, beating the two rapmen up.

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Darin Corbin and the Whirlwind Gentlemen (Jack Manly and Remy Marcel) vs. Ryan Cruz, The Estonian Thunderfrog, and Wildcat

Corbin’s ex-tag team partner, Ryan Cruz, wasn’t going to see Minneapolis’ 19th best rapper mistreated that way, so he came out to a huge pop, and eventually brought along Estonian Thunderfrog, who I’d seen in Chikara, and Wildcat, a doughy guy with a cat mask who makes a clawing-the-air gesture and chants “Meow! Meow! Meow!” The crowd fucking loved this guy. Every man-jack person in that building was screaming “Meow! Meow! Meow!” What a world.

The match was pretty good, if an odd mixture of a legitimately hot grudge feud between Cruz and Corbin mixed in with, essentially, four comedy guys. The heels cheat to get the upper hand, but just as they’re about to pin Cruz, Prof and Wonka come out and clean house. Prof actually gives Darin Corbin a credible-looking power bomb and then a chokeslam, enabling the good guys to get the win. This got maybe the biggest pop of the night, which is saying something, since this crowd was hot as pistol. This crowd popped for burlesque. Also, kudos to Corbin for being willing to get his ass kicked by a skinny rapper. RIP ROGERS WOULD NEVER STAND FOR THAT, BOY, YOU GOT TA PROTECT THE BIDNESS!

Rating: Three and a half Skins in the Pit.

Paul comment: “Why does the frog get to have a giant weapon but nobody else does?”

Burlesque Interlude

Different dancer. The first one was Scarlet Revolver, this one was Queenie Von Curves, who, like me, is a former DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Champion. She danced to that “Girls Run the World” song or whatever it’s called. I think burlesque dancers should all have to use old-timey music, like with those double entendre saxophones. Really commit to it.

Drago vs. Fire Ant

Fire Ant was a last-minute replacement for Aerostar, who got caught up in some visa issues at the border. I was excited to see Drago, but this was a slog. Either because these guys haven’t really worked together before or other reasons, it was full of awkward moments and clunky transitions. Also, Fire Ant did basically all the work in this, as Drago was phoning it the fuck in until the home stretch. This was the only match where the crowd’s energy was notably dissipated, but people were tired and this match was not great. Paul liked it, though, because of Drago’s mask. He loved Drago. Paul was really, really drunk at this point in the show and got into an argument with our cab driver about Boko Haram on the way home. What times these are.

Rating: Two Skins in the Pit.

Paul comment: “Draaaaaaaaaaaago!”

#Wrestlepalooza #indie wrestling #makin' towns #show reviews #F1rst Wrestling

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ambreignsfans · 8 years ago

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Roman Reigns rolls with the Falcons, wants Romo for the 49ers and doesn’t mind if you boo him (The Undefeated)

The WWE superstar talks crowd reception, beef with John Cena and those dad jeans

Love him or hate him — and some really hate him — Roman Reigns is one of the top performers in the high-flying, death-defying world of WWE. Reigns, whose real name is Leati Joseph Anoa’i, signed with the professional wrestling juggernaut in 2010 and has risen to the top of the card in a very short time.

Since he debuted on television in 2012, Reigns has beaten down some of the industry’s most prominent names in wrestling — Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, Triple H, John Cena and even his cousin, The Rock. Reigns, 31, is a former U.S. champion, tag team champion, and three-time WWE heavyweight champion. For nearly two years, he was a part of one of the most popular and era-defining stables in wrestling, The Shield. Alongside fellow young superstars Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, the trio ran roughshod over the entire company, gaining the adoration and respect of millions along the way. He won the 2015 Royal Rumble and has been the headliner for the past two WrestleManias, the company’s largest promotional event each year.

Before signing with WWE, Reigns was a three-year defensive starter on the football team at Georgia Tech, nabbing All-ACC honors in his senior season alongside future Hall of Fame wide receiver Calvin Johnson. He later signed free-agent contracts with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Minnesota Vikings in 2007 before turning his attention to professional wrestling.

What’s helped accelerate his ascent in WWE has been a mixture of a revered family tree, unparalleled athleticism and Hollywood leading-man good looks. The half-Samoan, half-Italian Florida native favors Justice League’s Jason Momoa and is built like an NBA small forward. With the strength to easily lift up 400-pound men like Big Show and the verticality to clear 5-foot-high ring ropes in a single bound. Most of his abilities, though, can be chalked up to genetics: Reigns comes from a respected Samoan wrestling heritage that includes ersatz Japanese sumo wrestler Yokozuna, master-of-the-stinkface Rikishiand box-office magnet Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. While Reigns was one of the hottest commodities the WWE had in the early months of 2014, his popularity has nosedived over the past 2 1/2 years. He’s loathed by hard-core male fans who believe Reigns is being force-fed to the audience by WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon and executive vice president Paul “Triple H” Levesque. Crowds have booed Reigns out of almost every arena across the country. That has not stopped Reigns, though, as he’s set to compete for the Universal championship on Sunday at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view in San Antonio, looking to become just the third competitor to ever hold that championship belt.

tweets: @wweromanreigns

Super Bowl pick?

A-T-L. I played at Georgia Tech, so I’ve got to stick with Atlanta.

Favorite team that always disappoints you?

[San Francisco] 49ers. I’m a 49ers fan and a [Los Angeles] Lakers fan, so it’s been a hellacious year. Nothing good so far.

Who do you see as the quarterback next year for San Francisco?

Oh, man. Let’s get [Tony] Romo. Why not? I don’t even know if we can get him.

Favorite throwback TV show?

I was huge on [ABC’s] TGIF: Family Matters, Boy Meets World, all those. Saved by the Bell, that’s up there, too. My [kid is] still watching Saved by the Bell. My kid actually watches Full House still.

She watches it on Netflix?

Yeah, well, they actually have a Fuller House, and D.J., one of the little girls, is the main character now. What’s old is new, I guess, right?

Who’s the most famous person following you on Twitter?

There’s a couple of porn stars that follow. I don’t know if we can use that. I don’t follow anyone. There’s no line of communication from me. [Minutes later.]

Mr. Belding [from Saved by the Bell] is following me. I don’t think he’s the most famous, but he’s the one I have off the top of my head.

Is it better to look perfect and late, or just OK and on time?

I’ll be late. Island time, man. If I have a flaw, it’s not being on time. Sometimes. If it’s very important, and it’s a hard call time, then you’ve got to be there. But if it’s just a standard day, then I’ll probably be an hour and a half late. So, I’m not the most punctual, but I show up looking pretty good, though.

How do you handle all the ladies’ attention?

I ignore it. It’s weird because it came out of nowhere. When I played football, I was a little bit heavier, so I was a ham. With this role, I’ve lost my weight. I’m a married man. I love my wife and I love my [daughter]. That’s the most important thing. It’s flattering to have women who are attracted to you and like what you do, but at the end of the day, it only takes one woman to make your life right.

Who has the best spear in professional wrestling?

Me, no doubt. You can’t ask me that.

Who’s second?

I’d have to say Goldberg.

What type of injuries have you had to perform through?

All kinds of little stuff. That’s one thing in our profession: Nobody’s healthy. Everybody’s nicked up, everybody’s got bruises and little tears. For the past couple of years, my knees have been a little banged up. It’s tough running in that ring, because it bounces. It’s not like running on a nice grass turf or anything. Every once in a while my elbows will swell up. If you ever meet a healthy wrestler, it’s because he’s not wrestling.

What’s with those dad jeans?

Those things were expensive, man. I got them in Las Vegas. I’m not a jean guy; I actually just started wearing them more often now, [and] they’re definitely not those jeans. Those were, like, my first pair of jeans I ever bought that were supposed to be fashionable, and I was like, ‘What the heck? These are supposed to be cool jeans.’ They’re stretchy a little bit and they had all sorts of cool bedazzles and stuff on the butt. I was like, ‘Man, these are going to be a hit.’ Next thing I know, they’re on the internet making fun of it, and I was like, ‘Man, I wasted almost $250 on these things … This sucks.’

You recently got into a war of words with John Cena on Twitter. What are your thoughts on him?

In real life, he’s a nice guy … but it is what it is. He’s an alpha male, I’m an alpha male. We’re both kind of in the same territory, so we’re going to bump heads. I’m not here to make friends, I’m here to dominate and hold it down for me and my family. I’ll do whatever it takes to do that, and I’m not going to let anybody — and that includes John Cena — get in my way.

#roman reigns #the undefeated #interview

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aceofstars101-blog · 8 years ago

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To this day by Shane koyczan

When I was a kid, I hid my heart under the bed, because my mother said, “If you’re not careful, someday someone’s going to break it.” Take it from me: Under the bed is not a good hiding spot. I know because I’ve been shot down so many times, I get altitude sickness just from standing up for myself. But that’s what we were told. “Stand up for yourself.” And that’s hard to do if you don’t know who you are. We were expected to define ourselves at such an early age, and if we didn’t do it, others did it for us. Geek. Fatty. Slut. Fag.

And at the same time we were being told what we were, we were being asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I always thought that was an unfair question. It presupposes that we can’t be what we already are. We were kids.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a man. I wanted a registered retirement savings plan that would keep me in candy long enough to make old age sweet.

When I was a kid, I wanted to shave. Now, not so much.

When I was eight, I wanted to be a marine biologist. When I was nine, I saw the movie “Jaws,” and thought to myself, “No, thank you.”

And when I was 10, I was told that my parents left because they didn’t want me. When I was 11, I wanted to be left alone. When I was 12, I wanted to die. When I was 13, I wanted to kill a kid. When I was 14, I was asked to seriously consider a career path.

I said, “I’d like to be a writer.”

And they said, “Choose something realistic.”

So I said, “Professional wrestler.”

And they said, “Don’t be stupid.”

See, they asked me what I wanted to be, then told me what not to be.

And I wasn’t the only one. We were being told that we somehow must become what we are not, sacrificing what we are to inherit the masquerade of what we will be. I was being told to accept the identity that others will give me.

And I wondered, what made my dreams so easy to dismiss? Granted, my dreams are shy, because they’re Canadian.

My dreams are self-conscious and overly apologetic. They’re standing alone at the high school dance, and they’ve never been kissed. See, my dreams got called names too. Silly. Foolish. Impossible. But I kept dreaming. I was going to be a wrestler. I had it all figured out. I was going to be The Garbage Man.

My finishing move was going to be The Trash Compactor. My saying was going to be, “I’m taking out the trash!”

And then this guy, Duke “The Dumpster” Droese, stole my entire shtick.

I was crushed, as if by a trash compactor.

I thought to myself, “What now? Where do I turn?”

Poetry.

Like a boomerang, the thing I loved came back to me. One of the first lines of poetry I can remember writing was in response to a world that demanded I hate myself. From age 15 to 18, I hated myself for becoming the thing that I loathed: a bully.

When I was 19, I wrote, “I will love myself despite the ease with which I lean toward the opposite.”

Standing up for yourself doesn’t have to mean embracing violence.

When I was a kid, I traded in homework assignments for friendship, then gave each friend a late slip for never showing up on time, and in most cases, not at all. I gave myself a hall pass to get through each broken promise. And I remember this plan, born out of frustration from a kid who kept calling me “Yogi,” then pointed at my tummy and said, “Too many picnic baskets.” Turns out it’s not that hard to trick someone, and one day before class, I said,“Yeah, you can copy my homework,” and I gave him all the wrong answers that I’d written down the night before. He got his paper back expecting a near-perfect score, and couldn’t believe it when he looked across the room at me and held up a zero. I knew I didn’t have to hold up my paper of 28 out of 30, but my satisfaction was complete when he looked at me, puzzled, and I thought to myself,

“Smarter than the average bear, motherfucker.”

This is who I am. This is how I stand up for myself.

When I was a kid, I used to think that pork chops and karate chops were the same thing. I thought they were both pork chops. My grandmother thought it was cute, and because they were my favorite, she let me keep doing it. Not really a big deal. One day, before I realized fat kids are not designed to climb trees, I fell out of a tree and bruised the right side of my body. I didn’t want to tell my grandmother because I was scared I’d get in trouble for playing somewhere I shouldn’t have been. The gym teacher noticed the bruise, and I got sent to the principal’s office. From there, I was sent to another small room with a really nice lady who asked me all kinds of questions about my life at home. I saw no reason to lie. As far as I was concerned, life was pretty good. I told her, whenever I’m sad, my grandmother gives me karate chops.

This led to a full-scale investigation, and I was removed from the house for three days, until they finally decided to ask how I got the bruises. News of this silly little story quickly spread through the school, and I earned my first nickname: Porkchop. To this day, I hate pork chops.

I’m not the only kid who grew up this way, surrounded by people who used to say that rhyme about sticks and stones, as if broken bones hurt more than the names we got called, and we got called them all. So we grew up believing no one would ever fall in love with us, that we’d be lonely forever, that we’d never meet someone to make us feel like the sun was something they built for us in their toolshed. So broken heartstrings bled the blues, and we tried to empty ourselves so we’d feel nothing. Don’t tell me that hurts less than a broken bone, that an ingrown life is something surgeons can cut away, that there’s no way for it to metastasize; it does.

She was eight years old, our first day of grade three when she got called ugly. We both got moved to the back of class so we would stop getting bombarded by spitballs. But the school halls were a battleground. We found ourselves outnumbered day after wretched day. We used to stay inside for recess, because outside was worse.Outside, we’d have to rehearse running away, or learn to stay still like statues, giving no clues that we were there. In grade five, they taped a sign to the front of her desk that read,

“Beware of dog.”

To this day, despite a loving husband, she doesn’t think she’s beautiful, because of a birthmark that takes up a little less than half her face. Kids used to say, “She looks like a wrong answer that someone tried to erase, but couldn’t quite get the job done.” And they’ll never understand that she’s raising two kids whose definition of beauty begins with the word “Mom,” because they see her heart before they see her skin, because she’s only ever always been amazing.

He was a broken branch grafted onto a different family tree, adopted, not because his parents opted for a different destiny. He was three when he became a mixed drink of one part left alone and two parts tragedy, started therapy in eighth grade, had a personality made up of tests and pills, lived like the uphills were mountains and the downhills were cliffs, four-fifths suicidal, a tidal wave of antidepressants, and an adolescent being called “Popper,” one part because of the pills, 99 parts because of the cruelty. He tried to kill himself in grade 10 when a kid who could still go home to Mom and Dad had the audacity to tell him, “Get over it.” As if depression is something that could be remedied by any of the contents found in a first-aid kit.

To this day, he is a stick of TNT lit from both ends, could describe to you in detail the way the sky bends in the moment before it’s about to fall, and despite an army of friends who all call him an inspiration, he remains a conversation piece between people who can’t understand sometimes being drug-free has less to do with addictionand more to do with sanity.

We weren’t the only kids who grew up this way. To this day, kids are still being called names. The classics were “Hey, stupid,” “Hey, spaz.” Seems like every school has an arsenal of names getting updated every year. And if a kid breaks in a school and no one around chooses to hear, do they make a sound? Are they just background noise from a soundtrack stuck on repeat, when people say things like, “Kids can be cruel.” Every school was a big top circus tent, and the pecking order went from acrobats to lion tamers, from clowns to carnies, all of these miles ahead of who we were. We were freaks – lobster-claw boys and bearded ladies, oddities juggling depression and loneliness,playing solitaire, spin the bottle, trying to kiss the wounded parts of ourselves and heal, but at night, while the others slept, we kept walking the tightrope. It was practice, and yes, some of us fell.

But I want to tell them that all of this is just debris left over when we finally decide to smash all the things we thought we used to be, and if you can’t see anything beautiful about yourself, get a better mirror, look a little closer, stare a little longer, because there’s something inside you that made you keep trying despite everyone who told you to quit.You built a cast around your broken heart and signed it yourself, “They were wrong.” Because maybe you didn’t belong to a group or a clique. Maybe they decided to pick you last for basketball or everything. Maybe you used to bring bruises and broken teeth to show-and-tell, but never told, because how can you hold your ground if everyone around you wants to bury you beneath it? You have to believe that they were wrong. They have to be wrong. Why else would we still be here?

We grew up learning to cheer on the underdog because we see ourselves in them. We stem from a root planted in the belief that we are not what we were called. We are not abandoned cars stalled out and sitting empty on some highway, and if in some way we are, don’t worry. We only got out to walk and get gas. We are graduating members from the class of We Made It, not the faded echoes of voices crying out, “Names will never hurt me.” Of course they did.

But our lives will only ever always continue to be a balancing act that has less to do with pain and more to do with beauty.

-Shane Koyczan.

#shane koyczan #to this day #poem #beautiful

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