#dalton castle imagine

[diskaywrites]

𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙁****** 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙈𝙮 𝙎𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙩 #𝟭𝟭: 𝙎𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙗𝙮 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙚 𝘽𝙤𝙮𝙨 𝙋𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜: 𝘿𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙤𝙣 𝘾𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙭 𝙅𝙤𝙚 𝙃𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙮 𝙈𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙊𝙛: 𝘿𝙖𝙠𝙤𝙩𝙖 𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙙𝙧𝙮 (𝙊𝘾) 𝙑𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚: 𝙈𝙖𝙞𝙣

.✽✦✽.◦.✽✦✽..✽✦✽.◦.✽✦✽..✽✦✽.◦.✽✦✽..✽✦✽.◦.✽✦✽..✽✦✽.◦.✽

It wasn't that Dalton Castle wasn't proud of the man he once called his tag team partner. On the contrary, Dalton had never been prouder. Joe Hendry had taken the world by storm with one little song. It was remarkable how he had exploded onto the public scene, seemingly overnight. To the world, Joe Hendry was destined to be a star.

And yet here Dalton sat, unable to do the one thing he loved since the injury but watching those he loved live that life.

The match with Roderick Strong had left Dalton unable to compete for the rest of the year. It broke his heart, between watching his husband Dakota Heraldry make his return to the ring for the death match scene in the UK and Joe's rise, to see others living the only life he had ever wanted. So, in an effort to find something to do while his husband was in the UK, Dalton had decided that for once he was going to be the annoyance in Joe's life.

The dirt sheets would have a field day if they caught word of Dalton showing up backstage for a company he didn't work for, especially during a major premium live event like No Mercy. He knew he should lay low, dress to blend in, but he was 𝑫𝒂𝒍����𝒐𝒏 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒍𝒆. Subtlety had never been his strong suit. The blue sequin jumpsuit was matched with albino peacock feathers, one of the trademarks of his looks, to match the colors that Joe would wear in the main event. Even if the cameras wouldn't be focused on him, it was no reason for Dalton to dress like a slob in his eyes.

His perfectly manicured hand rasped against the door of the locker room that had Joe's name taped to the door, a perk of being in the main event. He gave a warm grin as the door opened, Joe standing before him with a puzzled look, "Dalton?"

Dalton beamed, outstretching his arms to his sides with a wide grin, "Joe!"

"𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆?"

It was Dalton's turn to look confused. The statement hadn't sounded as excited as Dalton had planned it out in his head. In fact, the statement sounded familiar. Joe sounded almost like Dalton did when he...wait...

Joe was 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 annoyed by his presence!

"You don't sound happy to see me, Joe," Dalton huffed, blowing a strand of chestnut brown hair out of his face, "why is that?"

"You didn't tell me ya were comin'," Joe rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest, "What am I supposed to sound like?"

"Happy that I graced you with my presence!" Dalton protested, hands on his hips, "Like I w-"

"You're never happy when I just show up!" Joe interrupted, raising a finger to jab into Dalton's chest, "𝐘𝐎𝐔 always sound annoyed to see 𝐌𝐄!"

"Well 𝐘𝐎𝐔 always show up at the wrong time!" Dalton poked Joe in the chest back, "𝐈 show up at the right time!"

The two men stood fuming, watching each other with heaving chests before Joe spoke up, "You're here to watch me become champ?"

Dalton gave a sharp nod, "I'm here to watch you be the champ you've always deserved to be."

Joe moved forward, wrapping his arms around Dalton for a tight hug, "I'm glad to have you here, you absolute annoyance."

"And I'm always glad to be there for the ever constant thorn in my side."

[grizzledyoungimpact]

Bedbound

Whumpuary 2024 January 9-10th, 2024 Can't Move/"Stay. Please."/Kidnapped Dalton Castle/Dakota Heraldry (OC)

"Not again," Dalton Castle whispered to himself as he laid looking up at the ceiling of the hotel room, "please God, not again..."

It had been almost seven years since the match in which Dalton had first injured his back. He didn't blame anyone for this injury, how could he? It was a cumulation of opponents and his own hubris. Had he realized something was wrong early on, maybe he could have stopped it from getting as bad as it had, but he was champion. For the first time in his career, he had been Ring of Honor Champion and no one could take that away from him.

The only person who could ruin it was himself.

His career had not been where he wanted it to be lately. The loss of his chance to be Ring of Honor Television champion at the hands of Johnny ROH or Johnny Honor or whatever he was calling himself at Final Battle had started that downfall. It had broken his heart to know that the one championship he had worked for was stolen from him by someone who simply didn't care. The loss had shaken Dalton to his core.

It was supposed to change the night before at World's End.

Before the actual show, there had been a twenty, or was it nineteen including Luchasaurus, man battle royal. Dalton had entered with the intention on making the prize, a contract for a match for the TNT Championship, his own. There was a hope that he had lost in his eyes once again. There had been that hope up until his husband, his Dakota, had swiftly eliminated him from the match.

The same Dakota who was now coming back into the hotel room as Dalton laid in bed, unable to get up.

"Being a lazy bones today, birdie?" Dakota tried to gently ask as he sat the Starbucks he had brought back for the both of them on the nightstand. When Dalton didn't answer, Dakota pursed his lips and put a hand on his hip, "You're still not talking to me?"

"I can't get up," Dalton's voice was an almost hoarse whisper.

"Can't or won't birdie? C'mon. I got cake pops for breakfast," Dakota jiggled the bad before setting it down alongside the drinks of the nightstand.

"C...can't," Dalton answered, eyes still on the ceiling, "my back spasmed and I..."

Dakota swiftly got into Dalton's bag that sat at the foot of the bed. He produced the Tylenol bottle and fished inside of it for two of the pills. He laid on the bed next to Dalton, giving the gentle command of, "Open."

Dalton opened his mouth, allowing his partner to put the pills in his mouth. It was followed by the straw of his drink, an iced coffee, to swallow down his medication. "Thanks bear," Dalton gave a soft smile before his expression turned back into a scowl, "but I'm still mad at you."

Dalton rolled his eyes, moving to lay his head on Dalton's chest, "You can be mad all you want, birdie. I'm gonna be here anyways."

[writingwenches]

Iron Price – fish out of water

summary – small drabble about a House Greyjoy character, dreaming of going to the capitol to be a fancy lady, and taking her life into her own hands.

contains – Reader/You (she/her), no physical description, potential mysteries. Set before or at the beginning of the Dance

pairings – could go with either Team Green princeling, or anyone else if she came to the Red Keep sooner. Let me know if you're interested in this type of character and anything you'd like to see~

You had been trained to pay the iron price, broken by the salt and sweat of the sea. The Iron Islands offered little in the way of comfort, the craggy stone shores, and rocky terrain did not make for an easy ride or leisurely stroll. You were made to work for your pleasures. 

While others of the islands spend time reaping and whoring, you find your comfort in life’s simpler work. You take your time on your needlework, even though your mother never required it of you. You learned to read from books of great histories left behind by the Maesters banished from the Keep by your father for questioning his authority and the authors of the Drowned God. 

You weren’t sure what you believed, other than your fondness for maps. You have sailed the oceans of the world through the tapestries and scrolls, treasured by the Greyjoy fleet. New and updated maps from all over the known, and unknown world, flowed into the Keep with every tide. 

You could only imagine what treasures hid behind the walls of a real keep. A real castle, not some spit of stones in the sorrowful sea, surrounded by rocks and grey, but rather the grandness of the Red Keep in Kingslanding, surrounded by flying dragons and handsome lords. 

You were on a voyage in the cold and unforgiving north when you heard news of your father’s death, a long and treacherous one lead by your elder brother, The Red Kraken. He immediately ordered his fleet home, to claim his rightful place on the Salt Throne, as was his birthright. 

Your brother sat upon the Seastone Chair and called you and your younger sister before him. You were all so similar in ages, your childhood had been tangled together as Dalton had aged. You had grown custom to following his orders, as a faithful crewmate to the fierce captain. 

He had been the one to make fun of you for your likes of girlish things, tossing your embroidery overboard whenever he found you hiding it from the other crew. He knew of your desires, and he denied you anyway. 

“The Crown has sent a raven, all the way from King’s Landing,” he laughed, admiring the fancy paper, curled up tightly into a scroll. “They offer me a position on their councils, and a place in their halls.” It was clear that your brother had no intention of bending any knees and wearing fancy dress. 

“Dacey,” the new Lord Greyjoy mentioned to your younger sister, “you shall sail to King’s Landing with our answer. You can offer yourself to them, take a salt husband, whatever you wish, I care not–“

“Brother!” you pleaded, “You know it has been my wish to–“ 

He stopped you, not interested in what you had to say. “You are too valuable to loose, sister. You follow my orders too well,” he smiled a toothless grin, “I could not hope to lose you.”

You knew him to be cruel, you were a lowly member of the crew, only fit to scrub the deck and wrap the sails. Your brother mocked you, not allowing you to follow your dream. 

“Brother, please,” you try to bargain with him, try to make him see reason. “I could be an asset to you, I could sail to the capitol in your stead, I could represent House Greyjoy–“ 

“You!” he shouted, rising from his place on the Seastone Chair. “Are not fit to call yourself Greyjoy, you have not earned the name.”

“And yet my sister younger has?” he challenge, turning your ire onto the girl. 

“You are simply jealous!” she countered, knowing it to be true in her bones. “You are not true iron born. I bet mother bedded some weak landwalker to come up with something as ugly as–“

You struck your sister with your closed palm, aiming for her nose but hitting her eye. The two girls scrapped at one another until their brother pulled them apart. “My word is final!” he demanded, putting an end to the womanly foolishness. 

— 

“Presenting, Lady Dacey, of House Greyjoy, envoy from the Iron Islands,” the booming voice called as you are ushered into the great throne room of the Red Keep. It was more glorious and wondrous than you could have ever imagined. The hall was so high, you could practically imagine a dragon flying beneath the domed roof. The columns were carved with detailed conjurings of battles won with dragon fire and blood. 

The ladies were all dressed in gowns so fine and fashionable, you could hardly stop yourself from reaching out and feeling each unique fabric your eyes had never seen before. 

You had arrived, at your new life. You had made it. And you had paid the Iron Price. 

“Your Grace,” you bow before the King of the Seven Kingdoms. “It is truly an honor,” you smile. “I can not wait to serve you in any way I can.” 

“It is good to see an Iron Islander in their rightful place, on their knees before the throne,” the eldest brother said, his eyelids heavy as he gazed down at you. 

“Your namesake changed our traditions, yes,” you spoke, your head still bowed respectfully. “We only bow to one king, and he sits upon the Iron Throne.” 

[calla-celtigar]

creatures of the sea

a dialogue within @asongofgoldenfireandblackblood, a closed starter with @daltongreyjoy-asoiaf-rp

The crab and the kraken. Lady Calla Celtigar did not miss the irony of her meeting in the beauty of the Red Keep’s lush gardens, the season leading to the bloom of intricate red and yellow flowers. Calla had been fond of the gardens since the day she arrived in King’s Landing many years ago. There were few flowers on Claw Isle, more stone and moss than flower and wood. However, King’s Landing tamed beasts in these gardens, both man and animal. Calla Celtigar was curious to see if it would do the same to Lord Greyjoy, the infamous Red Kraken. 

Her small fleet of trading ships had sent word-filled trepidation over the arrival of some of the Greyjoy fleet. Dalton Greyjoy had made an impression across Westeros, even to her Celtigar men who solely traveled the Narrow Sea. She heard the omens of ships with black and gold squids. But Calla did not fear Dalton Greyjoy due to his purpose of travel. The lords of Westeros had come to swear loyalty before to the dragon. Perhaps the kraken could not be tamed, but he could be made to bow.

Calla pondered these thoughts as she winded through the rows of shrubbery and curated flowers, politely nodding to the other ladies of the court who walked past. It had been some time since she had the moment to enjoy the space due to her duties to Princess Rhaenyra, and it was clear that her absence had been noted. However, the ladies kept their distance in the path due to the hunting hound that padded beside her. Her maids had tended to Moddey as best they could, but her old hound preferred her company in such places as this. His grey fur had been soft under her fingertips as she walked, and the dog instinctively leaned on the folds of her velvet dress as she turned a corner. Moddey had always been quiet as a shadow, but he made his presence known by physical touch. She had wondered how Moddey had ever been a trained wolf hound until she looked at the scars that marred his muzzle. Many of the pelts Lord Bartimos displayed in his court Moddey had a part in her grandsire's travels to Crackclaw Point and beyond.

The hound was a predator in the garden and not the only one as Calla set her eyes upon the Lord of the Iron Islands. He looked all the parts of the Greyjoys she had both heard and read about. He was hewn out of dark sea stone, unyielding and weathered. She looked over him, memorizing the details she could only imagine before this encounter.

“Lord Greyjoy.” Calla stepped forward to him with a deep incline of her head, her ringed hands wrung behind her back. There was no smile on her face but neutral respect for one of the realm's most powerful lords. Rarely had a Celtigar interacted with a Greyjoy in history.

“I appreciate the time you have taken to meet with me today.” She waved a hand forward, beckoning him forward as she began to walk down an alternate path, Moddey trailing behind her now with dark eyes. She turned her head to Dalton, pearls swaying in her hair as she did so. Two creatures of the sea, walking on land because of duty.

“I hope the city and the Red Keep are treating you and your family well.” Calla had done her research before preparing this meeting with him, learning the number of his wives and his children. The Red Keep would be crawling with krakens in the coming days. She had already heard the whispers in the halls of the castle. The children were uncouth and illborn, and their father a vicious heathen. Calla was curious about what Lord Greyjoy would do when the words came to his ear. But those were words of the future and in no way the purpose of her arranged meeting.

“Do you enjoy history, Lord Greyjoy?” Calla let the question hang in the air as they walked, the stone clicking under their feet as they slowly moved forward. Perhaps he would appreciate a blunt offer, but she sensed otherwise when treating with the man who paid the Iron Price.

[bracketsoffear]

Other Leitner Reading List

The full list of submissions for the Unaffiliated Leitner bracket. Bold titles are ones which were accepted to appear in the bracket. Synopses and propaganda can be found below the cut. Be warned, however, that these may contain spoilers!

Allende, Isabel: Ripper

Beauregard, Aron: Playground Borges, Jorge Luis: Averroës's Search Borges, Jorge Luis: El Aleph Bosch, Pseudonymous: The Secret Series Breed-Wrisley, Kira and Scott Cawthon: Five Nights At Freddy's: The Silver Eyes Bulgakov, Mikhail: The Master and Margarita Burroughs, William S.: Naked Lunch Byng, Georgia: Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism

Carroll, Lewis: The Hunting of the Snark

Denning, G.S.: Warlock Holmes DeTerlizzi, Tony: The Search for WondLa

El-Mohtar, Amal and Max Gladstone: This Is How You Lose the Time War

Fforde, Jasper: Thursday Next series

Gaiman, Neil & Terry Pratchett: Good Omens Grahame-Smith, Seth: How to Survive a Horror Movie: All the Skills to Dodge the Kills Grimm, Brothers: Grimm's Fairy Tales

Holt, Tom: Doughnut Hussie, Andrew: Homestuck

Johnson, Jeremy Robert: We Live Inside You

Langlois, Amelie C.: The Sister Verse Series Lewis, C.S.: The Silver Chair Lovecraft, H.P.: The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath Lubar, David: Weenies series Lyons, Steve: The Crooked World

Nash, Ogden: A Tale of the 13th Floor

Osman, Richard: The Thursday Murder Club

Pinkwater, Daniel: Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy from Mars Pirinçci, Akif: Felidae

Rix, Jamie: Grizzly Tales For Gruesome Kids

Scieszka, Jon: The Stinky Cheese Man Shannon, David: No, David! Sims, Jonathan: Thirteen Storeys Skipp, John: Don't Push the Button Stine, R.L.: Goosebumps

Theis, Jim: The Eye of Argon Tokuda-Hall, Maggie: The Mermaid The Witch and The Sea Traditional (German): Der Struwwelpeter Trumbo,  Dalton: Johnny Got His Gun

Van Allsburg, Chris: The Mysteries of Harris Burdick Vasquez, Jhonen: Squee's Wonderful Big Giant Book of Unspeakable Horrors

Allende, Isabel: Ripper

Seventeen-year-old Amanda Martin is fascinated by crime. She is currently obsessed with a game called "Ripper" which she plays online with players from around the world. With the assistance of her beloved grandfather, she guides the group (Sherlock, Esmeralda, Colonel Paddington, and Abatha) in their objective of solve crimes inspired by those of Jack the Ripper. When a series of grisly murders starts taking place in the San Francisco area where she leaves, she is fascinated by then and finds herself steering the group toward solving these real life murders.

But the game stops being fun when her mother, free-spirited Indiana Jackson, goes missing.

Beauregard, Aron: Playground

Three low-income families have been given a handsome retainer to join Geraldine Borden for a day at her cliffside estate. All the parents must do to collect the rest of their money is allow their children to test out the revolutionary playground equipment Geraldine has been working on for decades. But there’s a reason the structures in the bowels of her gothic castle have taken so long to develop—they were never meant to see the light of day.

When a band of dysfunctional children is suddenly thrust into a diabolical realm of violence, they must grow up instantly to have a chance at survival. Will they find a way to put their differences aside, or be swallowed up by the insidious architecture all around them?

Borges, Jorge Luis: Averroës's Search

The story very much reminds me of the domain in MAG183: Monument. "The story imagines the difficulty of Averroës, the famed Islamic philosopher and translator, in translating Aristotle's Poetics because he was not able to understand what a play was, owing to the absence of live theatrical performances from Averroës' cultural milieu, in contrast to that of ancient Greece. In the story, Averroës casually observes some children play-acting, then later hears a traveler ineptly describe an actual theatrical performance he once saw in a distant land, but still fails to understand that the tragedies and comedies of which Aristotle writes are a kind of performance art, rather than merely literature.

The process of writing the story is meant to parallel the events in the story itself; Borges writes in an afterword to the story that his attempt to understand Averroës was as doomed as Averroës's attempt to understand drama. "I felt that the work mocked me, foiled me, thwarted me. I felt that Averroës, trying to imagine what a play is without ever having suspected what a theater is, was no more absurd than I, trying to imagine Averroës yet with no more material than a few snatches from Renan, Lane, and Asín Palacios.""

Borges, Jorge Luis: El Aleph

I am not sure if this counts as it is a collection of short stories, so I will also submit my personal choice that best fits an unaligned Leitner in my opinion. "The title work, "The Aleph", describes a point in space that contains all other spaces at once. The work also presents the idea of infinite time. Borges writes in the original afterword, dated May 3, 1949 (Buenos Aires), that most of the stories belong to the genre of fantasy, mentioning themes such as identity and immortality."

Bosch, Pseudonymous: The Secret Series

The series is about two children who are not named Cass and Max-Ernest. Cass is a survivalist, while Max-Ernest has a condition (though no one knows quite what his condition is). One day, they are swept into the dangerous world of the Terces Society and the Midnight Sun...and the Secret.

Features alchemy, the quest for immortality, time travel, a very Lemony narrator, and the exploration of all five senses.

Breed-Wrisley, Kira and Scott Cawthon: Five Nights At Freddy's: The Silver Eyes

From the creator of the bestselling horror video game series Five Nights at Freddy's.Ten years after the horrific murders at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza that ripped their town apart, Charlie, whose father owned the restaurant, and her childhood friends reunite on the anniversary of the tragedy and find themselves at the old pizza place which had been locked up and abandoned for years. After they discover a way inside, they realize that things are not as they used to be. The four adult-sized animatronic mascots that once entertained patrons have changed. They now have a dark secret . . . and a murderous agenda.

Bulgakov, Mikhail: The Master and Margarita

One hot spring, the devil arrives in Moscow, accompanied by a retinue that includes a beautiful naked witch and an immense talking black cat with a fondness for chess and vodka. The visitors quickly wreak havoc in a city that refuses to believe in either God or Satan. But they also bring peace to two unhappy Muscovites: one is the Master, a writer pilloried for daring to write a novel about Christ and Pontius Pilate; the other is Margarita, who loves the Master so deeply that she is willing literally to go to hell for him.

Burroughs, William S.: Naked Lunch

It follows Bill Lee through Interzone: a surreal, orgiastic wasteland of drugs, depravity, political plots, paranoia, sadistic medical experiments and endless, gnawing addiction. The book is structured as a series of loosely connected vignettes, intended by Burroughs to be read in any order, and the main character takes on various aliases as he travels from the U.S. to Mexico, eventually to Tangier and the dreamlike Interzone. Burroughs wrote in his introduction that "The title means exactly what the words say: naked lunch, a frozen moment when everyone sees what is on the end of every fork."

Could this book be considered as being aligned to the Spiral? Could it be Flesh? I don't know, but it is certainly something or other.

Byng, Georgia: Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism

Molly Moon is a British preteen living in a terrible orphanage. Just before her only friend is adopted and moves to America without saying goodbye, she finds a rare book on hypnotism, and gains the ability to hypnotize anyone through eye contact and make them do whatever she wants. She heads off to America to find her friend, hypnotizing people all the way. Meanwhile, a sinister wanna-be hypnotist stalks her... and he is willing to do anything to get the book in his hands.

Sequels deal with further developing psychic powers, including body-hopping, weather control, and even time travel.

Carroll, Lewis: The Hunting of the Snark

An epic poem which hits quite a few different fears; the Hunt is an obvious one, and given the author, so is the Spiral. The sea voyage has elements of Vast, and various characters can be read as Flesh, Stranger, and even Web. The poem seems to end with the Lonely; " He had softly and suddenly vanished away — For the Snark was a Boojum, you see."

Denning, G.S.: Warlock Holmes

A Sherlock Holmes parody in which the titular detective is a rather abstracted mage, Watson is the brains of the outfit, and Gregson and Lestrade are an ogre and a vampire, respectively. Together, they investigate supernatural crime in Victorian England.

DeTerlizzi, Tony: The Search for WondLa

The Search for WondLa is the first book in a trilogy about a human girl, Eva Nine, in a strange and unfamiliar world.

She actually spends a lot of this book believing she is the last of her species surrounded by all sorts of strange creatures she can never quite feel close to (lonely, extinction) while being hunted by a trophy hunter who wants to give her to a mysterious queen.

On why it's Lonely: a large portion of the book is spent with someone she cannot communicate with and feels distant from, alongside the general Lonely vibes of "last human" stories.

On why it's Extinction: This is earth. A long-destroyed earth, specifically (she visits the ruins of NYC, I have proof), and these alien races have moved in now that the humans are all "gone" (complicated). It's heavily implied the earth was destroyed in some nuclear war or natural disaster, with the alien species having restored the earth from a wasteland.

On why it's hunt: she spends the entire book being hunted and being afraid because of that, what more do I need to say?

On why it belongs here: quite the fear cocktail for a children's book, isn't it?

El-Mohtar, Amal and Max Gladstone: This Is How You Lose the Time War

The novel is about two agents on rival sides of a time war, Red and Blue, who are both working to ensure that their respective futures — the highly technological Agency and the biological Garden — come to pass. Despite their opposing organizations, Red and Blue begin exchanging letters across time and space, and develop affection for each other that threatens not only them, but the entire time war.

Fforde, Jasper: Thursday Next series

Thursday Next lives in an Alternate History. In her world, Time Travel, cloning and genetic engineering are commonplace; resurrected dodos are the household pet of choice. The obscenely powerful Goliath Corporation, which nearly singlehandedly reconstructed England after World War II, now runs the country as a virtual police state. And literature, particularly classic literature, is very, very, very Serious Business. Writers are revered with nearly spiritual devotion, controversial claims about books and authors can be criminal, and an entire police squad, the LiteraTecs, exist to keep the literary scene in order. Thursday works for just such a unit in Swindon, with her friend and colleague, the exceedingly polite Bowden Cable.

In the course of rescuing her Gadgeteer Genius uncle Mycroft from international arch-criminal Acheron Hades, a gleefully evil individual with supernatural powers, Thursday discovers the Great Library, a sort of pocket dimension that exists 'behind the scenes' of all works of literature, where all literary characters live. They're self-aware, acting out their roles when a person reads a book but chilling out and living their own lives as soon as they close it. The Great Library is governed by the Council of Genres and kept in line by Jurisfiction, another police force whose task it is to make sure the plot of every book stays the same every time someone reads it. (Insofar as they can.)

Such is the universe of Jasper Fforde's meta-fictional masterpiece, the Thursday Next series. The author hangs a lampshade on everything and anything relating to classic literature, the tropes of police fiction and spy fiction, and even the relationship between a work of fiction and its audience. Heavy on wordplay and puns, the series deals with the tireless heroine's adventures balancing her work as an agent of Jurisfiction in the Great Library and LiteraTec in the outside world, to say nothing of her responsibilities as a wife and mother.

Gaiman, Neil & Terry Pratchett: Good Omens

Blank

Grahame-Smith, Seth: How to Survive a Horror Movie: All the Skills to Dodge the Kills

Every month or so, a new horror movie hits #1 at the box office no wonder there are dozens of new fright films slated for release in 2007. But if you find yourself trapped in one of these movies, there's no need to be afraid. How to Survive a Horror Movie teaches readers how to cope with every kind of horror movie obstacle, from ax-wielding psychopaths to haunted Japanese VHS tapes. Chapters include:

-How to Survive a Night of Babysitting -How to Convince the Skeptical Local Sheriff -How to Perform an Exorcism -How to Tell If You've Been Dead Since the Beginning of the Movie -How to Vanquish a Murderous Doll

Full of illustrated instructions on avoiding ghosts, serial killers, haunted cars, murderous pets, telekinetic prom queens, and countless other hazards, How to Survive a Horror Movie is essential reading for movie buffs of all ages!

Grimm, Brothers: Grimm's Fairy Tales

Can't beat the classics, especially when the original versions feature cannibalism, murder, mutilation, and torture!

Holt, Tom: Doughnut

Multiversal travel is made possible through mathematics and fried dough.

Hussie, Andrew: Homestuck

This thing is a tome of madness, chaos, and early 2000s Internet culture (oops, tautology!)

***

you know why

Johnson, Jeremy Robert: We Live Inside You

"We are within you, and we are growing. Watching. Waiting for your empires to fall. It won't be long now. We are the fear of death that drives you and the terrible hunger that reshapes you in its name. We are the vengeance born from senseless slaughter and the pulsing reptile desire that negates your consciousness. We are the lie on your lips, the collapsing star in your heart, and the still-warm gun in your shaking hands. The illusion of control is all we'll allow you, and no matter what you do... WE LIVE INSIDE YOU"

This book is one of those story collections that everybody should read. In turns fascinating, poignant, scary and all too human, Jeremy Robert Johnson taps into the nightmare psyche that threatens to eat you every moment of your life. Each story highlights another gremlin that snacks on your nerves, tells you things you don't want to hear.

Langlois, Amelie C.: The Sister Verse Series

John, an unstable detective living in an alternate future, is plagued by hallucinations of a malevolent, shapeshifting entity, known as the Lord in White, that haunted his childhood. While he struggles to maintain his grip on reality, he soon discovers that his world is a terrifying illusion designed to make him suffer. Surreal, horrifying, and unflinchingly brutal – enter a world of blood and fear. Enter the Sister Verse.

The series reads like a fever dream. The world reflects the fears of all the characters in the most bizarre way possible, and things continue to unravel the further they go, typically ending in a forest made of liquid meat that surrounds a black hole shaped like a willow with teeth. It is revealed in the first book that the whole reality John and the rest of the cast of characters live in and themselves was created by the Lord in White for his own amusement. The Lord in White is completely aware that it’s in a fictional universe, and is implied to have the power to rewrite parts of the story, being the avatar of the Sister Verse. It often refers to the reader directly, as well as real world occurrences and future in-universe events, to the point that it literally recites lines from the book. And that's just the first book in the series, with the Lovecraftian horror continuing further in the sequels as the past of the Dreadlands is revealed, along with the past of its characters.

Lewis, C.S.: The Silver Chair

"Eustace and Jill escape from the bullies at school through a strange door in the wall, which, for once, is unlocked. It leads to the open moor...or does it? Once again Aslan has a task for the children, and Narnia needs them. Through dangers untold and caverns deep and dark, they pursue the quest that brings them face to face with the evil Witch. She must be defeated if Prince Rillian is to be saved."

Lovecraft, H.P.: The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath

Uncelebrated writer and illustrious dreamer Randolph Carter dreams three times of a majestic sunset city, but each time he is abruptly snatched away before he can see it up close. When he prays to the gods of dream to reveal the whereabouts of the phantasmal city, they do not answer, and his dreams of the city stop altogether. Undaunted, Carter decides to use all his talents in the dream-world to find the legendary mountain Kadath, where the wiser Earth Gods live, in order to ask them for the location of his beloved sunset city. He initiates a quest through the depths of the Dreamlands, finding the weirdest things and meeting the strangest friends and foes.

Unknowingly to Carter, a powerful entity is bent on making him desist of his quest...

Lubar, David: Weenies series

A series of horror story collections for kids which range from the funny to the weird to the outright twisted.

Lyons, Steve: The Crooked World

Synopsis: The people of the Crooked World lead an idyllic existence.

Take Streaky Bacon, for example. This jovial farmer wants nothing more from life than a huge blunderbuss, with which he can blast away at his crop-stealing nemesis. And then there's Angel Falls, a racing driver with a string of victories to her name. Sure, her trusted guardian might occasionally put on a mask and menace her for her prize money, but that's just life, right? And for Jasper the cat, nothing could be more pleasant than a nice, long nap in his kitchen — so long as that darn mouse doesn't jam his tail into the plug socket again.

But somebody is about to shatter all those lives. Somebody is about to change everything — and it's possible that no one on the Crooked World will ever be happy again.

The Doctor's TARDIS is about to arrive. And when it does... That's all folks!

Propaganda: okay. okay okayokayokkay. I can be normal about this book (a lie). The TARDIS lands on a planet that operates on cartoon logic. The Doctor immediately gets shot in the chest and everyone is very confused when he doesn't immediately heal. The travelers have inadvertently introduced the real world into this Saturday Morning fantasyland, with concepts like death and sex and social inequality. For the first time, people can die permanently. The two-bit villains unite to nuke the heroic characters. The Scooby gang actually do discover the flayed corpse of God. In the middle of it all is the Doctor at maximum Nyarlathotep, fomenting revolution and drastic metaphysical upheaval in his strange, too-real clothes. If nothing else, vote for this book for actually making me cry over the death of Scrappy Fuckin' Doo!

Nash, Ogden: A Tale of the 13th Floor

A poem which warns against murderous retribution and illustrates the hellish fate of killers tied forever to their victims in the afterlife. Link: https://allpoetry.com/A-Tale-Of-The-Thirteenth-Floor

Osman, Richard: The Thursday Murder Club

“In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders. But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves. Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it's too late?”

While it seems like a shoe-in for the Hunt with tracking down who did the crime, the book goes in areas that could consider being touched by the Lonely, the End, and the Eye. After all, this does take place in a retirement village — people die, people are lonely and these four senior citizens want to get to the bottom of this mystery.

Pinkwater, Daniel: Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy from Mars

Leonard Neeble has been unhappy since his parents moved from the big city to suburban Kangaroo Park, New Jersey. His new school, Bat Masterson Jr. High, is terrible, and he has no friends since his classmates are snobbish louts who won't be friends with him because he's portly.

Things change once a new student shows up from The Bronx: Alan Mendelsohn, a trollish student who shuts the school down by telling everyone he's from Mars. After they both get suspended for acting out, the two boys journey to Downtown Hogboro, where they start a Mind Control course that teaches them telekinesis and, eventually, how to travel between dimensions.

Pirinçci, Akif: Felidae

Francis is a cat who has moved with his owner to a city in Germany. There, he comes across a mystery involving the murders of several neighborhood cats. Think Warriors, but it is a murder mystery written for adults. It has a lot of Slaughter and Hunt going on, but the killer's motives and backstory would honestly make him a prime Avatar for the Extinction.

The serial killer, Claudandus aka Pascal, is purely motivated by a deep hatred of humans after a traumatic past as the victim of some truly sadistic animal experiments in which he and other cats were used as lab rats, which leads him to try to create a race of "genetically perfect" cats while murdering those he considers to be inferior. He dreams of a future in which humans have been replaced as the dominant species by this future breed of cats, the narration even including an imaginary scenerio of the very last human trying to hide in the ruins of civilization before being hunted down like prey.

Rix, Jamie: Grizzly Tales For Gruesome Kids

A series of cautionary tales for lovers of screams! Getting a haircut? eating spaghetti? Having a birthday party? You may think these all sound like very ordinary things to do. But read on and see just how grizzly they can be!

Scieszka, Jon: The Stinky Cheese Man

it scared the FUCK out of me as a child, I have no idea why and I don't remember what it was about, and just its art style still creeps me out and I'm in my thirties now. That's got to count for something, yeah? ...okay this prolly isn't a great one for the tournament, but if you're struggling to fill in the brackets.

Shannon, David: No, David!

When David Shannon was five years old, he wrote and illustrated his first book. On every page were these words: NO, DAVID! . . . and a picture of David doing things he was not supposed to do.Now David is all grown up. But some things never change. . . .Twenty years after its initial publication, No, David! remains a perennial household favorite, delighting children, parents, and teachers alike. David is a beloved character, whose unabashed good humor, mischievous smile, and laughter-inducing antics underline the love parents have for their children -- even when they misbehave.

Sims, Jonathan: Thirteen Storeys

"You're cordially invited to dinner. Penthouse access is available via the broken freight elevator. Black tie optional.

A dinner party is held in the penthouse of a multimillion-pound development. All the guests are strangers - even to their host, the billionaire owner of the building. None of them know why they were selected to receive his invitation. Whether privileged or deprived, besides a postcode, they share only one thing in common - they've all experienced a shocking disturbance within the building's walls.

By the end of the night, their host is dead, and none of the guests ever said what happened. His death remains one of the biggest unsolved mysteries - until now.

But are you ready for their stories?"

Skipp, John: Don't Push the Button

We all know horror. It's in our face every day. You can try to negotiate the nightmare but total chaos and destruction is just one button-push away.

In this intensely personal collection of short stories, screenplays, and essays, the author walks you through the light and the dark with an unflinching eye. Revealing both the best and worst of us, one laugh and scream at a time.

It ain't pretty. But it's beautiful. Once you go all the way.

Stine, R.L.: Goosebumps

It is a series of horror novels written for very young audiences. The protagonists in these stories are teens or pre-teens who find themselves in frightening circumstances, often involving the supernatural, the paranormal or the occult. The best way to describe these books is that they are The Twilight Zone for pre-adolescents, with a twist at the end of every book (sometimes cruel, sometimes not, sometimes non-existent, which is a twist in and of itself given the series). It has spawned a pair of television series, a video games series, a comic series and merchandise, as well as a pair of feature films.

While the books are written for children and so they might not be that scary, they can still get quite creepy, and you might find one book for every Entity if you search hard enough. The book covers can also get really creepy to look at, too.

Theis, Jim: The Eye of Argon

Described as "the worst fantasy novella ever", The Eye of Argon is a story by then 16 year-old Jim Theis. It's the tale of Grignr, a foul-mouthed barbarian warrior who is trying to escape the dungeons of Evil Overlord Agaphim and rescue a young woman named Carthena from a pagan cult who want to sacrifice her to their idol — a statue with one eye called "The Eye of Argon". (A "scarlet emerald", complete with some interesting plumbing.)

Published in the fanzine OSFAN 7 in 1970, the story is well known for its abundant cliches, shoddy spelling, flat characters, wooden dialogue and overly colourful writing. Every woman is a "wench", eyes are "emerald orbs". Almost nothing is ever "said" — instead it is "queried" or "ejaculated" or "husked" or "stated whimsicoracally". There's an extended scene involving elderly cult priests groping Carthena, and she is described earlier as a "half-naked harlot… with a lithe, opaque nose".

The most widely-known and circulated copy of the story comes to an abrupt and unsatisfactory halt, and for many years it was believed that the ending was lost forever (or even, in some quarters, that the story was never completed). Recent years have seen the separate discoveries of two intact copies of the fanzine in which The Eye of Argon debuted, so it is now known how the tale ends. (With multiple exclamation marks, it turns out.)

At science fiction conventions, The Eye of Argon is now a sort of parlor game. All participants sit in a circle with a hard copy of the story, and the first one starts reading aloud — pronouncing every word as it's misspelled, and including every adjective. When they finally burst into laughter, the copy is passed to the next person. If a person manages to make it through more than a page, the copy is sometimes passed anyway, on the grounds that the reader must have special training as a news anchor.

Tokuda-Hall, Maggie: The Mermaid The Witch and The Sea

Follows mainly two characters – Evelyn, the daughter of a wealthy family, sent off on a ship to an arranged marriage, and Flora, known by the alias Florian, a pirate on said ship. This ship is a conship, as it takes people on long travels only to sell them as slaves. Themes of the vast, stranger, the end, the slaughter, and the desolation are commonly present throughout the book

Traditional (German): Der Struwwelpeter

1845 German children's book filled with cautionary tales. These cautionary tales are more grim than others, however — they often end in death or dismemberment for the child. They are a source of plenty of nightmare fuel, too.

Notable examples: The Dreadful Story of Harriet/Pauline and the Matches - Desolation, she plays with matches and burns to death. The Story of the Wild Huntsman - Hunt, a hare steals a hunter's rifle and eyeglasses and hunts him. The Story of Little Suck-a-Thumb - Flesh(?), Conrad is warned by his mother not to suck his thumbs, but he does anyway. So a tailor appears and snips them off. The Story of Flying Robert - Vast, Robert goes outside during a storm and the wind picks up his umbrella, carrying him off never to be seen again.

Trumbo,  Dalton: Johnny Got His Gun

It follows a young man named Joe Bonham, who, after becoming grievously injured during World War I, is left deaf, blind, dumb, and without any limbs. Throughout the novel, Joe reminisces about the life that he's lost, waxes philosophical about war and conscription, and tries desperately to communicate with the doctors keeping him alive.

The novel is heavily about the horrors of war, which would make it Slaughter, but in Joe's plight there's also another sort of horror: He can't move, he can't see, he can't speak. He is effectively trapped in his own body, a torment that could be but it's not quite Buried. There's also some argument for the Spiral to be there as well, as his condition makes it hard for him and the reader to know when he's awake or when he's dreaming, to say nothing on how the horrible situation he's in affects his sanity.

"I don't know whether I'm alive and dreaming or dead and remembering."

Van Allsburg, Chris: The Mysteries of Harris Burdick

Downloadable PDF: https://mrsgraveswebsite.weebly.com/uploads/1/2/6/8/12686140/the_mysteries_of_harris_burdick.pdf

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick consists of a series of images, ostensibly created by Harris Burdick, a man who has mysteriously disappeared. Each image is accompanied by a title and a single line of text, which encourage readers to create their own stories.

Vasquez, Jhonen: Squee's Wonderful Big Giant Book of Unspeakable Horrors

Squee (named after the sound he makes when he's afraid) is a little boy whose short life is an unending parade of horrors. His parents outwardly detest him to the point where his father watches footage of his birth played in reverse for amusement, and the only kid in school who likes him is the Antichrist, who Squee is terrified of. He has never, ever, ever, had a good dream. Through the course of the book, he is visited by aliens, ghosts, zombies, time travelers and the serial killer next door.

Though Squee is as frightened by all this as anyone else might be, he takes it in his stride with a passive resilience that only a child could possess and the help of Shmee, his teddy bear and 'trauma-sponge.' He gets through the horrors just by being a simple-minded kid. Adults dwell on the past and the future. Kids live squarely in the present, daydream about flying and drink Tang until they forget it all. He takes for granted that the world is scary and just goes to school each day, provided he hasn't been abducted by aliens.

[thedadkraken]

» Everyone knows the crimes I do for fun, imagine the ones I do for love.

w.— @rightfvl-lysa

Dalton looked at the map, thoughtful. The last map to sit on his desk like this was broken to pieces by Toron, and the replacement wasn't as intricate as he would like. The new map of the Narrow Sea adorned the walls of his cabin, it serve as a good decoration, but an ornament wasn't a guide. The shores of Fair Island were well known to him, they had traveled and raided every coast on the westerlands. Dalton no longer needed any ink or paper to lead him to Faircastle. The Raven was a recognizable ship for House Farman, his black sails with a red kraken terrorized anyone who learned what they meant. If Garth Farman was smart, he'd have expected their attack a long time ago.

—You know the castle better than I do... —He smiled, it was difficult to not smile around Lysa. « How many times have we planned this? I lost count. » The drawn lines lost and won meaning over the years. Lysa's frustration grew along side their children. If there was one thing Dalton understood well, it was the confusion over a father's lack of support.— and I can't appreciate our plan enough. It will be done, just wait.

« He had twenty five years to prepare, he better have a good defense. » Dalton made sure to never raid Fair Island before, not because he felt any particular love for his in-laws, but because an enemy who never learn how to defend themselves was easier to defeat. Lysa's brother could practice swordplay as much as he could, but playing would never match fighting or experience.

He looks at the map one last time, before setting his eyes on Lysa and kissing her knuckles. —I told you Faircastle was going to be yours, my dear.— He stepped out of his cabin, his sword resting on his side, the sun shone before his eyes. The white towers grew taller as they came closer. Attacking on broad daylight gave Garth Farman a little advantage; they would see them coming from the distance. —I swear it'll be yours before the sunset. When have I broke a oath to you?

He looked at the castle, even from the distance, Dalton could see their lack of archers. He chuckled, perhaps it would be easy. Suspiciously easy. « What are you hiding? » Lysa was perfectly capable of defending herself, but Dalton would always worry for her. « She won't stay back, so there's no point begging her. » — My dear, I think this counts as my wedding anniversary gift for you. — He signaled his men to disembark.

[r-truth]

love my aew mutuals posting the name of the wrestler they see on tv without context like yeah. i can imagine what *reads posts* christian cage and dalton castle might be doing on tv lets go !!!

[aliandramartell-1]

Negociations, with: @daltongreyjoy-asoiaf-rp

THE GREYJOY FLEET WAS NEVER A SIGHT FOR SORE EYES. The princess of Dorne knew, however, that incredibly this time it didn't mean trouble.

Dorne had stood strong and alone during the reign of the Targaryen dynasty in Westeros. Of course, they had been at odds with Westeros.

Multiple times.

Even though her father made sure Aliandra Martell was well versed in history, especially dornish history. Aliandra couldn't recall all the conflicts they had with the Targaryen family.

The Targaryens’ desire for Dorne to join Westeros was almost as strong as the Targaryens to inbreed among themselves.

Dorne would stand alone, however, Aliandra knew that they needed allies.

Strong allies.

The free cities had been less focused on trade and their economic success. Instead had developed some political ambitions. Aliandra couldn't imagine what would happen if Dorne didn't catch up.

So when she received the letter from Dalton Greyjoy, the Lord of the Iron Islands, it was almost like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

When Dalton Greyjoy entered Sunspear. He was alone.

Perhaps a sign of good faith or a sign of foolishness.

Dalton Greyjoy was known for his multiple numbers of wives and children so Aliandra had prepared to host all of them. Her servants had to rush, of course, Dalton Greyjoy didn't even wait for her answer to arrive.

It was probably only arriving now.

Aliandra’s brown eyes analyzed the Lord of the Iron Islands for split seconds, almost trying to avail his character.

The Greyjoys weren't known for their good intentions, they were ruthless.

As were the Martells, afterall “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken” was their motto. Her family was just well more versed in politics, the Greyjoys sneaky ways were shown in more violent ways.

“Welcome Lord Greyjoy, I hope our journey was easy. Most westerosi nobles don't come here under their free will. Should we cut to the chase and start our talk?”, Aliandra asked directly as she began to walk towards the inside of the castle.

[wrestlingisfake]

Final Battle preview

Athena vs. Billie Starkz - Athena has held the ROH women's world championship for a little over a year, and this will be her 19th (!) title defense. She's 1-0 against the challenger, having defeated Starkz in a non-title match on June 25.

Shortly afterward, Athena took Billie under her wing--it's been so long that I've completely forgotten when, or why. For weeks ROH aired skits about Starkz being a "minion in training," but always disappointing Athena compared to Lexy Nair (who was also undergoing training for some reason). After Athena proclaimed that Lexy had "graduated" but Billie didn't make the cut, Billie snapped. On the December 14 show (taped last week) Starkz did a run-in on Athena, demonstrating all the viciousness she learned from her former mentor, and Athena suffered a legit broken nose.

Presumably this match will follow the old trope of "I taught you everything you know, but I didn't teach you everything I know." Either Billie has learned from Athena how to beat Athena, or she hasn't. Or maybe she can beat Athena by rejecting Athena's teachings, I don't know. It's safe to say she'll put up more of a fight than she did in June, but I'm not convinced it'll be enough. At the last ROH pay-per-view, they had be thinking Willow Nightingale could unseat the champion, but it didn't happen. And with all due respect to Starkz, she's not at Willow Nightingale's level--not yet anyway.

I'm in favor of seeing a title change. Athena's done all she can do in ROH except kickstart a women's tag team division (and if she was gonna do that, Billie would still be her sidekick). A sympathetic babyface champion would be a nice change of pace--someone who can play the underdog against the likes of Leyla Hirsch, Marina Shafir, or Mercedes Martinez. I would have preferred doing it six months ago with Willow, but much like Athena Willow should be on AEW television at this point. So I'll take Billie as ROH champion, but I'm not at all confident that ROH is going to give it to me.

Jon Moxley & Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Mark Briscoe & Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler - This is billed as a "fight without honor," which just means the match can't end by disqualification or count-out. The idea is to pay tribute to Mark's brother Jay Briscoe, who was killed in a car accident on January 17, 2023. Jay and Mark began an epic rivalry with FTR (Dax and Cash) at Final Battle 2021, which concluded with Jay's last match at Final Battle 2022.

From what I can tell, the Blackpool Combat Club are heading into this match looking to honor Jay rather than play the heels. But the BCC are particularly good at acting like sadistic assholes even when they're supposed to be good guys. This is Claudio's first ROH match since September. Danielson, an ROH hall-of-famer, hasn't wrestled for the brand since 2009. It's been just as long for Moxley, except his ROH experience was just dark matches--this will be his on-screen debut with the promotion.

Moxley, Danielson, Castagnoli, and Briscoe are all booked in AEW's Continental Classic; in fact, Bryan and Claudio have tournament matches slated for tomorrow, and they'll face each other next week. Moxley has probably clinched a spot in the semfinals, and Briscoe is already mathematically eliminated. I doubt this match will affect the complexion of the tournament, but you can count on the announcers to bring it up a time or two.

I would imagine the goal here is to recreate the bloody chaos from the Briscoe-FTR matches last year. The BCC shouldn't have any difficulty holding up their end of that. I'd normally pick the BCC to win, but given the tribute angle it'd be promotional malpractice to book any finish except a Mark Briscoe victory.

Dalton Castle vs. Komander vs. Kyle Fletcher vs. Lee Johnson vs. Lee Moriarty vs. ??? - This is the final in a "survival of the fittest" tournament; the winner will be awarded the ROH television title, which Samoa Joe vacated on November 8. Each of the participants won a qualifying match to get here, except the mystery sixth entrant. The final is contested under elimination rules, so whenever someone loses a fall they leave and the match continues until only one man remains, who is declared the winner. Note that Komander's AAA cruiserweight title is not at stake in this contest.

I have no idea who the sixth participant could be, but it seems like he has to be a heavy favorite to win the whole thing. I'd be happy to see Bandido, Mark Davis, or PAC return, but I'm not sure any of them really work as a shocking comeback that will upset the balance of this match. A new guy coming in could work. Shelton Benjamin and Dolph Ziggler are free, right? Oh well, just in case the sixth guy isn't cool enough to win, I'll fall back on Castle as my go-to guy.

Keith Lee vs. Shane Taylor - Lee and Taylor were a tag team in ROH years ago, but they split up with Keith jumped to NXT. A year ago Taylor made it known that he resented Lee over this, so they clashed in a two-on-two match, which Lee's team won. Then nothing really happened for a long time, until Taylor suddenly brought it up again and they decided to do run it back one-on-one. I suppose it'd be interesting if Taylor upset Lee, but I don't expect it to happen here.

Wheeler Yuta vs. Tom Lawlor - Yuta is defending the ROH pure title, so this match is under pure rules: You can only use the ropes to break a hold up to three times, and you can only get away with one strike to the face, and so on. Lawlor has been a regular in MLW and NJPW STRONG, but he hasn't gotten many opportunities to appear with AEW/ROH. Yuta likes to bully opponents with his grappling expertise, but Tom has MMA power so that probably won't work here. Yuta will retain, I'm sure, but he'll need every trick in his book.

Ethan Page vs. Tony Nese - This is an "I quit" match, so the only way to win is to compel your opponent to verbally submit by literally saying the words "I quit." Over the past few months, these two have gone 1-1 against each other, and I guess Nese cheated to win the first match and refused to shake Page's hand in the second. I don't know, I don't really care why they're fighting.

An "I quit" match can go one of two ways--either both guys absolutely torture each other for a long time, or one guy chickens out and quits over the threat of something that doesn't seem so bad. I'm not sure which we'll get here. I really hope we don't get some bullshit where the heels trick the referee into thinking Ethan quit. I mean, Rock vs. Mankind was 25 years ago, and I don't think anyone's pulled that shit since then, but I'm still hot over it. Ideally, Nese should quit because of something really dangerous-looking.

El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Black Taurus - Vikingo is defending the AAA mega championship. Taurus is a AAA regular but I mainly associate him with appearing in Impact, so it's a little surprising to see him here. Of course, I never seem to see him win at anything, so this should be an easy win for Vikingo.

Brian Cage & Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun vs. Shane Haste & Kosei Fujita & Bad Dude Tito - Cage's team is putting the ROH trios title on the line. The Gates of Agony (Kaun and Liona) just returned from New Japan's World Tag League tournament, where they went 2-5. One of those five losses came at the hands of Shane Haste and his regular partner Mikey Nicholls. I'm not sure why Nicholls isn't here, but their associates in TMDK are here. The important thing is Haste is the one with the cool hat and the cool music, and Tito is literally named BAD DUDE. Fujita is their young boy, though, and that poor little guy is going to get squashed real real bad. Champs retain.

Ross Von Erich & Marshall Von Erich vs. Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd - This is set for the pre-show. Ross and Marshall are the sons of Kevin Von Erich, who has a movie coming soon about his career wrestling in Dallas. This show is being held just outside Dallas. You do the math. I dig the Outrunners (Magnum and Floyd) but this just ain't their lucky day.

[my-chaos-radio-2010s-list]

C'Mon - Kesha

Cake By The Ocean - DNCE

California Gurls - Katy Perry

Call Your Girlfriend - Robyn

Called Out In The Dark - Snow Patrol

Can’t Stop The Feeling - Justin Timberlake

Canto Del Pilón - Milk & Sugar feat. Maria Marquez

Capital Letters - Hailee Steinfeld, BloodPop

Castles - Freya Ridings

Catch & Release - Matt Simons, Deepend

Chained To The Rhythm - Katy Perry

Cheap Thrills - Sia

Cheyenne - Jason Derulo

Ciao Adios - Anne-Marie

Circles - Post Malone

Classic - MTKO

Classic - The Knox feat. POWERS

Closer - Tegan And Sara

Cloud Raider - Paul Kalkbrenner

Club Can’t Handle Me - Flo Rida, David Guetta

Cold Little Heart - Michael Kiwanuka

Colors - Halsey

Come & Get It - Selena Gomez

Comethru - Jeremy Zucker

Coming Home - Diddy - Dirty Money, Skylar Grey

Coming Home - Sheppard

Commander - Kelly Rowland feat. David Guetta

Concrete Angel - Gareth Emery feat. Christina Novelli

Cool For The Summer - Demi Lovato

Cool Kids - Echo Smith

Cool Me Down - Margaret

Crazy - Kat Dahlia

Crazy - Lost Frequencies, Zonderling

Crazy Kids - Kesha

Criminal - Britney Spears

Criminals - MS MR

Crush - Yuna feat. Usher

Crybaby - Paloma Faith

Crying For No Reason - Katy B

Crystallize - Kylie Minogue

-

Dance Monkey - Tones And I

Dark Horse - Katy Perry

Dear Darlin’ - Olly Murs

Dear Future Husband - Meghan Trainor

Dedication To My Ex (Miss That) - Lloyd, André 3000

Demons - Imagine Dragons

Despacito - Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee

Diamond Heart - Alan Walker, Sophia Somajo

Diamonds - Rihanna

Dirty Talk - Wynter Gordon

distance - Chrisitna Perry feat. Jason Mraz

Dive - Salvatore Ganacci feat. Enya and Alex Aris

DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love - Usher, Pitbull

Do I Wanna Know? - Arctic Monkeys

Do It Like A Dude - Jessie J

Do Wah Doo - Kate Nash

Domino - Jessie J

Don’t Be So Hard On Yourself - Jess Glynne

Don’t Be So Shy - Imany

Don't Hold Your Breathe - Nicole Scherzinger

Don’t Worry - Madcon feat. Ray Dalton

Don't You Worry Child - Swedish House Mafia, John Martin

Drive By - Train

Dusk Till Dawn - ZAYN feat. Sia

Dynamite - Taio Cruz

-

E.T. - Katy Perry

Eastside - benny blanco, Halsey & Khalid

Easy Love - Sigala

Échame La Culpa - Luis Fonsi, Demi Lovato

End Of Night - Dido

Everything At Once - Lenka

Everything Now - Arcade Fire

Ex’s & Oh’s - Elle King

Expect - Girl's Day

[ghostofviperwrites]

Free Spirit

Requested by Anonymous

Pairing:  Dalton Castle/FC

Category:   angst  

Warnings:  None  

6.            “Baby as soon as you meet me, you’ll wish that you never did” -  Alone - Halsey

Dalton Castle frowned as once again his phone call to you went unanswered.   If it wasn’t such a regular occurrence he would be more concerned.   With a sigh he resumed getting ready for his match, his heart heavy.  

Said he tried to phone me

But I never have time

He said that I never listen

But I don’t even try

He knew he shouldn’t have fallen for you.  You had warned him that you were a free spirit, not one to be tied down, but he had persisted.   Dalton insisted that he could handle you and your ways, but now he wasn’t so sure.   He was the one on the road for weeks on end, but you were the one that was never around.    Dalton didn’t think you cheating on him, or anything like that, you just weren’t one to sit around waiting for a phone cal.  

After his match he tried again, this time on your house phone with the same results.   He tried not to get discouraged, but it was hard.  Dalton knew you lived in your own world, alone in your own head, flittering about life without thought to others.   He had persisted knowing all of this and prepared to handle it.  But as the months wore on he was beginning to think he had a made a mistake.  

I know you’re dying to meet me

But I can just tell you this

Baby as soon as you meet me

You’ll wish that you never did

Dalton wished he could say things were different when he was home with you, but it was just more of the same.   You came and went by your own schedule and he never knew when you would turn it.   He didn’t know why he was so drawn to you.  You had to be the most self-absorbed person he had ever met, but you also glowed with an inner peace that was irresistible to him.   He knew you didn’t have a malicious bone in your body, it was just how you were.  

With a smile Dalton declined invitations from his friends to go out for a bite to eat and walked across the street to his hotel room.  He needed to think.  It was time to evaluate his feelings and the state of your relationship.   When it had first started out he was positive he would be happy with you.  It sounded perfect.  With his heavy travel schedule it was hard to find someone tolerant of it outside the business and a girlfriend who really didn’t care when you came or went seemed ideal. But when he couldn’t even get five minutes on the phone with you, couldn’t even get a text acknowledgement it brought him down.  His friends had noticed.  They mentioned his change in personality over the last month or so.  The happy go lucky always smiling Dalton Castle was slowly fading away.  He was angry and brooding much too often.  And he knew exactly where they all placed the blame.  And they weren’t wrong.  Shoulders slumping Dalton sat up in bed and grabbed his phone.   No surprise you didn’t answer.  This time he left a message.

“It’s me.  I can’t do this anymore.  I’m letting you go.”  Dalton said to your voice mail, hanging up with a heavy heart.   He knew deep inside he had done the right thing, but it still hurt.   For the sake of his heart, this time he was the one running away.  

I know I always go missing

And you’re lying awake

But if you ask why I’m distant

Oh, I’m running away

[grizzledyoungimpact]

Febuwhump Day #12: Semi-Conscious

Febuwhump 2024 February 12th, 2024 Semi-Conscious Dalton Castle/Dakota Heraldry (OC) Gladiator AU

Dalton was glad as he fell to his knees in the center of the pit that he was not given a negative pollice verso, the show of the thumb that determined if a man in his position lived or died. It was the only mercy that the emperor could give him, it was the only mercy that the emperor had ever given him. As he fell on his face in the dirt, bleeding from the side, Dalton knew he needed a miracle.

He had not been expecting someone so splendid.

The next time Dalton opened his eyes, the haze of the room brought on by the battle he had gone through had set a blur amongst everything. He had been stripped of his helm and armor, causing Dalton to try and sit up in worry. They were important to him, a tribute to the goddess that he had dedicated himself to as a young man. The armor was emblazed with the image of a peacock, beautiful but fierce in the way it protected. The helm was decorated with the bright plumage of the peacock, again a symbol to the goddess Juno.

What he realized was that he was naked, a bandage around his sides.

"Good, you're awake," came the gentle male voice from the corner of the room. Dalton had expected his friend and a member of his familia gladiatorum, the troop of fellow gladiators who he worked and trained with, but this was not true. The figure, though Dalton could barely see him, was smaller and more handsome. He wore a purple tunic, which signified him as one of the emperor's slaves. "I worried for a moment."

"You...who..." Dalton could recognize his voice was wobbly, uneven. He would not remember this blur, he was certain of that, even if he wasn't sure the vision in front of him was real.

The figure stepped closer with a small tub of water, sitting on the edge of the cot where Dalton laid. "You are very lucky, you know. Most would have been put to death, the emperor is not a forgiving man."

"Who..."

"You may call me Dakota," the man brought the wet rag to Dalton's head, trying to cool skin that Dalton did not know was burning up, "I am no one."

"You are a genius of the pit," Dalton smiled up at his savior, eyes fluttering closed to lead him back into an unconscious state.

[ambootyos]

Just Another Day (Valentine’s Day Fic)

A/N: Second Valentine’s Day fic of the year!! This one is pure fluff, for my favorite Party Peacock. Enjoy!!

Word Count: 639

Tags: @originalbish98 @theprestigious0ne @thegenericluchadora @dorkyvillain @sheaxdevitt @baybayforlife @reigns420 @bolieve-that @laziestgirlintheworld @wrestlingismyguiltypleasure @i-ship-it-okay @breakfastwiththesun @littlebluespoon @earl-01 @thirstiswet @princesstoniii @lunatic-svillain

I promise you, I’ll never understand this holiday.

Valentine’s Day. Ugh. I hated every part of it. You were expected to put so much thought into one day, and it was never enough, and someone always got their feelings hurt, some how, some way.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to worry about it. I was single this year, and the only person I was spending today with, was my best friend, Dalton. I knew he’d make today fun, he always did.

I heard a knock on my door, and smiled when I answered it.

“I’m here! You know, to make you forget that you’re single, as you pretend you aren’t a hopeless romantic.” He teased, as he walked in. I rolled my eyes.

“Oh, ha, ha.” I said sarcastically.

He breathed a laugh, and draped his arm around me. “You know I’m kidding.” He said, causing me to chuckle.

“Just shut up, and watch movies with me.” I teased, playfully smacking his chest.

Dalton, didn’t seem focused on the movie. His mind seemed to be elsewhere. I paused the movie, snapped my fingers, and chuckled to get his attention. He smiled at me, and raised his brows awaiting a response.

“Are you okay? You seem distracted.”

He nodded, and cleared his throat. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just..” He trailed off, before taking a deep breath, and biting his lip. “Do you think..maybe you’d enjoy this day better, if maybe you were dating someone, you already enjoyed spending time with?” He asked.

“Like who?” I asked, completely clueless as to what he was getting at. He exhaled sharply, and rolled his eyes as he started to blush.

“Are you really gonna make me spell it out for you?”

“Please do! I’m beyond confused right now!” I exclaimed.

He took a deep breath, and shook his head. “Like...me maybe?”

My eyes widened, and I tried to find a fitting response, but my mind went blank. I didn’t know how to feel about any of this.

“Y-You?” I choked out, sounding more shocked than I meant to. He frowned, and shook his head.

“Uh..nevermind. I shouldn’t have said anything..it was stupid.” He mumbled, refusing to look me in the eye for even a second.

I felt horrible. I didn’t mean to hurt his feelings like that. I just, didn’t know how to react. It was all so sudden. I bit my lip, and touched his shoulder.  “Dalton..listen..” I trailed off, but he jerked away.

“I think..I’m just gonna head out. I’m a bit tired. I’ll..call you tomorrow.” He said nervously, before walking out, not even giving me the chance to say anything else.

I went to my room and plopped down on my bed, before screaming into my pillow. I was beyond frustrated with myself. I could’ve handled that so much better!

Obviously I liked Dalton. I just never expected anything to ever happen. So, I guess I didn’t know how to handle it when he actually felt the same. Now, I’d probably ruined everything.

I tried, and failed to get some sleep, before deciding to call him early the next morning.

“H-Hello?” He said nervously.

“Dalton? We need to talk.” I smiled, but he just sighed.

“Before you say anything else, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have just dropped that on you. It wasn’t fair. We can just..forget it ever happened.” He explained, a bit of disappointment in his voice.

“What if I don’t wanna forget it?” I spoke up, refusing to let fear get the best of me this time. “What if I like you too?” I breathed a laugh.

“Wait..really?” He chuckled.

“I told you, we need to talk.” I flirted. “Just be here soon.”

“On my way.” He replied, sounding happier than before.

Maybe Valentine’s Day wasn’t so bad after all..

[you-tolkien-to-me]

Sooo. I just found out that i have the same birthday as Dalton Castle. I am so happy! He was born  March 4, 1986. And I was born March 4, 2000. We birthday buddies.

[bustcr-moved]

.

[fluffyhales]

Why won't people write for Dalton Castle? He's such a precious bean who deserves the world. Talented in the ring, great on the mic. The fact that he just happens to be so hot is a bonus. Strut your stuff peacock baby!