#especially with the timing in which he wore it

[7s3ven]

SINGLE DAD! X BABYSITTER! READER HAS ME FROTHING OMGG. Even better when the rest of TF 141 is involved

part 1 | part 2 (coming soon - rest of tf 141 introduced)

master list

MDNI 18+

Warnings: big age gap, babysitter! reader, reader is in medical school (but still legal guys)

You told yourself it was just a temporary summer job, something to fill your pockets over the Summer break as you moved into another year of university. Medical bills were not easy to pay off and your old job that paid the bare minimum did not help you in the least. All it taught you was that you had a nasty uppercut (from the time you actually hit someone and got fired).

So, you found yourself standing in front of John Price’s house. You stared up at the tall building, brows raised in surprise. He had understated how big his house was… it even had a garden and a pool. You may as well consider it a mansion.

You quickly rang the doorbell, smoothening out your tight blouse. Your much more appropriate one was in the wash so you prayed whoever answered the door did not notice.

It was a tall middle-aged who greeted you, beard cleanly trimmed and… a hat on his head. “Y/N L/N?” He asked you. You swiftly nodded, softly smiling when he stepped aside.

“So, medical school, huh? Training to become a doctor?” He asks as he brews you a cup of tea while you read over his terms and conditions.

“A surgeon, sir. Not much better, though.” You offer him another smile, hoping to ease the awkward tension.

“Right. Next time I need surgery, I’ll call you up.” He takes a sip from your tea, which you notice but you say nothing. “Just checkin’ the temperature. Wouldn’t want ya to burn yourself.” He hands you the mug, his fingers lingering on your skin for a moment too long.

“I assume this is only a quick job for you? Just away to gain a bit of money to pay those student fees off?”

Your cheeks heat up in embarrassment as you nod. “Yes, sir. I know I should have clarified it but I’m a little desperate at this point. Besides, no retail places want to hire me… after I hit someone.”

Your words intrigued him. He let out a low chuckle as he sat across from you. “Now I’m interested.”

“Well… there’s not much to it… a guy kept staring at my chest. He said some vulgar stuff and next thing I knew, I was punching him.”

Price shrugs, leaning back in his seat. “The lad was askin’ for it. So, what do you think about the job? You’ll honestly be a glorified babysitter. Just do some cleaning and cookin’ here and there and make my baby happy and you’ll get a nice pay check every week.”

It all happened in a blur. You agreed to the job and weeks later, you found yourself at Price’s house more than your apartment. You hadn’t stepped foot into your apartment since two days ago, Price generously allowing you to use one of the guest rooms.

“Lila has a sleepover tomorrow.” Price mentions as you’re reading the instructions on how to make cookies for Lila’s bake sale.

Based on the cooking skills you had seen from Price, you doubted he could bake very well. In fact, all he could cook was steak, which was general knowledge for dads.

“I can drop her off if needed.” You offer while opening the packet of flour only for it to explode in your face. You smacked your lips together, grimacing. “Not a word.” You mutter to Price who’s chuckling under his breath.

“Wasn’t gon’ a say anything, love.” He helps wipe the flour dust off your face, still grinning in amusement.

In all honesty, your relationship with Price felt a little too domesticated, especially right now as you wore a frilly apron he had bought just for you.

“Your skirt’s too short, by the way.” Price grumbles, attempting to tug it down. “You sure no creeps stared at you on your way ‘ere? Wouldn’t want ya in danger.”

You push his hands away from your hips. “Even if people were staring, I’ll just punch them.”

You had tried to maintain a professional relationship with your boss but it was hard when he carelessly manhandled you and treated you like his wife rather than his daughter’s babysitter.

And all professional behaviour came crashing down when he unexpectedly stood behind you as you whisked the cookie batter.

“You look like a coke addict.” Price jokes, referring to the flour that still stained your face. “Like you got it everywhere but up your nose.”

“I can assure you, sir, I have never tried coke unless my friend daring me to snort sherbet counts.”

Price grins at your biting remark, his heavy hands falling to your waist. “Yeah? Heard it doesn’t feel too good with sherbet.”

“Not in the slightest.”

His hands trail dangerously low but you don’t have the courage to ask him to stop… nor do you really want him too. He seems to sense your willingness as he rests his face in the crook of your neck, body pressed up tightly against yours.

You feel more like his spoiled wife than a medical student just trying to pay her bills.

“You’re pretty, ya know that? Surprised you don’ have a boyfriend… or girlfriend. Or partner. Dunno what your label is.”

With shaking hands, you place the bowl filled with cookie batter to the side, afraid you’ll only spill it.

“Never met a woman as soft as you… most think I chased Lila’s mother away. But nah. Her mother ran off, leavin’ me with a baby. Not that I’m complaining, I love Lila… and without her, I wouldn’ have met you.”

You’re reduced to listening to Price’s words, stuck between his larger frame and the marbled kitchen counter.

“Sir.” You whisper but it reaches his keen ears. Everything after that is a distorted blur and you find yourself bent over the counter, clad in nothing but the apron, with Price right behind you.

Price was a mystery to you. How could a man be turned on by something as simple as an apron? Though, he was a single dad so it made sense.

Price is muttering praises in your ears as your knees tremble, threatening to buckle. You never imagined you’d be in your employer’s kitchen, having your back blown out by the man himself.

His hands were hungrily climbing your body, gripping every bit of exposed skin he could find. If it wasn’t for him holding you upright, you would have toppled to the ground in a heartbeat.

You feel Price lift a hand to grip your hair, tugging at your locks. He’s in a desperate stupor but you’re not any better, pushing back your hips to meet his harsh thrusts.

“Gon’ a fill ya up. Give you a baby of yer own. Fuck… be so pretty just like you. My perfect little wife.” He grunts in your ear. You have no energy to correct him; that you’re not actually his wife but you’d have no complaints if he bought you a ring.

If anything, his words spur you on more.

Your chest is heaving by the time you near your release. You’re whining like a damn dog, high pitched noises slipping past your saliva-slicked lips. And you only grow in volume as Price speeds up, pressing his body against your back.

He’s older than you, that’s a fact you knew from the start, but he’s definitely more experienced as well. His well thought out words have the desired effect on you as the coil in your stomach snaps.

Your fluids drip down your exposed legs, hitting the tiles kitchen ground in thick droplets. You hear Price swear under his breath, quickly pulling out and staining your back white.

He doesn’t say anything for a moment as he rests his forehead on your shoulder. Then he leads you towards his bathroom, ushering you inside and handing you a spare set of clothes.

“Imma place your old ones in the washing, yeah?” He mutters, pressing a soft kiss to your cheek before leaving you to wash off.

You sit on the shower floor for a good five minutes, replaying the moment in your head. When you finally cleanse yourself of sweat, you slip Price’s shirt over your head, inhaling the intoxicating smell of his cologne. It was the one you liked too.

His clothes engulfed you as you stumbled back into the kitchen, hobbling a little.

“I guess I’ll… get going then.” You murmur, fidgeting with your hands.

Price reaches out a hand to brush a strand of hair away from your face. Then he nods. “See you tomorrow night, lovie.”

Right, you still had to finish those cookies and pick up your clothes.

[soldearestsoulmate]

Inspired by the Bad End of the game.

Something small. Angst time. (and venting I guess. depression rocks lol)

The sound of the clock ticking that hung on the wall always sounded loudest in these moments.

He hated it, but Sol endured it. Since he had no choice after all.

He silently waited in his seat for the woman sitting across from him to finish looking through his book...His book full of drawings, sketches, of what he made this week.

She hummed lowly, closely looking at one of the drawings. "I see you drew them again...Quite the memory you have to have picked up all their details, Mr. Brugmansia."

Sol didn't respond to that...He was used to hearing this by now. How many times has these sessions happened? He lost count...

"The rest however...You still can't let that day go, I see...The more you cling to that day. The less likelihood we can make progress on your healing to be released, you know?"

Now Sol let out a low chuckle, it sounded forced, and exhausted.

"You know I'm never getting out of here, doctor..." He spoke with a look that said it all...He was tired, drained...but not because of these sessions, these repeated days.

No...He was tired of living these days without them...

Without you...

"...Then I guess there's no point in this session then. I can skip straight to filling out the paper work for your medica--"

"NO! Please...Just...Can you not do it...This once? Please? I...I rarely can feel not numb anymore since coming here. It's...You don't understand how horrible it feels...To feel like a zombie...A stranger in your own body...It's like..."

"I completely understand, Mr. Brugmansia. That only means the medication is working. It's for your own good. You don't want a repeat of what happened last time, after all...Right?"

Sol looked down at his lap, his hands clenched into fists as he remembered. It wasn't his fault those bastards said that stuff about you. They deserved it...Deserved having their heads bashed in...and put into comas. It was all for you.

The woman opened his sketchbook again, and flipped through a few pages until stopping on one.

"May I ask why you drew him in color this time?" She showed the page...Which had Crowe in it...Usually he'll be colored in black and white or in red...for blood.

"...I had my reasons..."

"Speak then."

"You wouldn't understand."

"Try me." She leaned back in her seat, getting her pen and clipboard ready, prepared to write and take down notes.

Sol sighed and then spoke. "...The night the medication wore off earlier than usual...I had a dream again...A vivid one...I saw them again, but they were...They looked and felt so real. I didn't want to wake up...Not be away from them again..." He smiled at the memory, then paused, his smile fading. "Though they asked me of something. I hated it...I hated the request, but for them...I did it. It was for them..."

"Mhm...By "them", you mean Y/n correct?" Sol nodded lightly. Hearing their name spoken made his heart ache.

"...They said they love the way I bring color and life through my art...That's why I draw them a lot...To--"

"To bring them back to life." She felt pity for the man before him, but not enough. Especially after knowing what he done.

"They wanted to see...Ichabod...with life again...Even after I took it, they asked of me to bring it back, bring him back." He gave a smile, desperation in his eyes as he looked at her. "THAT HAS TO MEAN SOMETHING, RIGHT?! THAT MEANS THEY STILL LOVE ME AND TRUST ME! THEY'RE WATCHING ME! WAITING FOR ME! MY PUMPKIN! MY SOULMATE LOVES ME! EVEN AFTER WHAT HAPPENED, THEY UNDERSTOOD, AND KNEW I DID IT FOR THEM! FOR US!! THEY LOVE ME!!"

It'll be a lie to say she wasn't startled by his outburst, especially with the crazed look in his eyes, but worked to remain calm in her seat. Until he looked to calm himself with a lovestruck smile over his own delusion of what he thought that dream meant. Over believing you actually spoke to him...and met him again.

"...Of course you did, Solivan...Of course." She wrote down a few more things, then clicked her pen shut. "Our session is over now. Please, do eat your food tonight, Mr. Brugmansia. As well, get plenty of rest."

After Sol left the room, with cuffed hands and escorted out by some men, like always. Luckily with no fight this time like the other times.

The woman sighed and rubbed her eyes in frustration. "He's not showing signs of improvement...His delusions truly have a tight hold on him...A change of medication might be best...or a higher dosage..."

[writingmeraki]

patch you right up — a r.c drabble.

★ pairing: rafe cameron x frenemy!reader, enemies to ?? ★ genre: hurt/comfort, unresolved feelings. ★ warnings: cussing, mentions of being drunk, violence, mentions of wounds and treating them. ★ a/n : urm very...random, silly, might not make sense but it was rotting in my mind, lmk what you think <3 ★ w.c : 1.1k

“This was very fucking stupid of me.”

Hissing in pain as the hydrogen peroxide made contact with your torn knuckles on your hand, you held your bruised jaw with the free hand and looked away from the blood glistening because of the light above.

“Oh you don’t say?” His voice was mocking, nothing new but it held an underlying annoyance you could somehow detect. 

Sighing, you pulled your hand abruptly, which earned you a sharp turn of his head in your direction and his dark blue eyes glaring at you, “What are you doing?”

“You don’t have to do this-”

“Shut up.”

“No I mean it, Rafe. It’s my fault, ‘ll patch it up myself.”

It did not help how horrible your head seemed to ache as you shut your eyes briefly, everything felt overwhelming, especially with him being this close to you. Him just anywhere near you was enough to drive you a little over the edge and it seemed to get worse when you had a bit too much liquid courage in your system. 

“Look at me.” You hated how easily you complied as you opened your eyes to find him staring at you, only this time, they were much softer.

That wasn’t hard to do, considering the position you were in. On his impossibly large bathroom counter as he stood between your legs, really you didn’t have much to look at. 

“It’s not your fault, alright?” You spited it when people would always give you fake sentences for the sake of being ‘kind’, it was all sugar coated shit to you. But somehow when Rafe Cameron said that to you, your heart felt like it would combust then and there.

It didn’t help how the daziness was elevated as you scanned his features up close. He was unrealistically beautiful, carved gently.

Because he was who he was, you knew he meant what he said. For all the time you knew him, he was one to be honest. About how he felt, about what he felt and for who he felt. Though, when you questioned yourself what he might feel for you now, you’d say you don’t know.

Nodding along to his words, you leaned to your left, luckily having a wall to support you and not embarrassingly falling, you’d done enough that night. 

Without more words, he gently grabbed your hand and finished cleaning up the burst skin and spilled blood. You once again shut your eyes, this time tightly as you clenched your jaw when he applied ointment.

“ ‘hurts.” The treating part made you wince even more than when you were getting the injury. Probably how most of the adrenaline wore out by now.

“I know, ‘almost done.” He gently spoke up as he concentrated on patching up a bandage around your hand.

A quiet silence filled the space for a moment, and even though you did feel out of it, you could sense he had something to say.

“Why-why’d you do it?” He said as he finished with your hand, instructing you to sit up straight. His hand on your jaw did make you more alert even though he was very…gently doing it. It was colder than you expected, and you were sure he could feel how warm you were getting when he was slowly caressing it with a delicate touch.

“That’s outta bruise badly.” His eyes held remorse and his frown deepened. You didn’t even realize your own gaze lingered on his lips.

Gulping, your eyes darted away from his face. Maybe it was the guilt or the buzz, but you murmured out,

“...I- it was well…It was stupid but I- couldn’t control myself. I got mad.”

His hand paused and he raised an eyebrow in curiosity. This was new. 

“They- they were saying stupid shit. I knew they were doing it to rile me and well they did that just right. It was fine when it was about me, I ignored it but I couldn’t stand the rest.”

Something in his chest flared as his confusion was slowly turning into realization but he continued letting you speak,

“They began talking shit about…about you.” You recalled the tone they used, the words they called him and you could feel the familiar annoyance and anger build up as they replayed in your mind.

“And I couldn’t stand it alright. I just…no one talks shit about you. No one except me. I mean, the fucking audacity to even say those…those things when they’re probably even worse!”

He blinked a few times to make sure he heard you right. You’d looked to the side, scowling as you clicked your tongue.

“Next thing I knew, I’d just hit someone and then the same happened to me. I guess maybe I deserved one but you should see the other idiot’s face.” You finally looked back into his eyes, a slight smile on your face when you recalled hearing the other dude’s nose definitely crunching and you were sure it would never be the same. You’d made it very sure.

He did not know what to feel. Amusement? Shock? Disbelief? But over them all, his heart fluttered wildly as his eyes scanned your face. The same one that had been haunting his mind since the first time he’d seen you, the first time he’d ever have someone make him more mad than anything yet made him want you closer. You were simply driving him insane since he’d met you. 

He just never realized, until now, that maybe he was never the only one who felt the same.

Tilting your head, you licked your lower lip, his gaze moving there for a brief moment, you said, “But you know what?”

One corner of your lip turned up as you smirked lightly, “I don’t regret it. I’d do it again in fact.”

His tongue felt heavy as the words clogged up in his throat, he gulped down the knot formed as he clenched his hand that was beside you, over the counter edge. He stared intently into your eyes, you could feel your heart beating faster as you leaned closer. 

Before you knew it, his lips were on yours as you fluttered your eyes shut, hand going over his neck and pulling him impossibly closer. His hands moved to your hips, pressing into them as if he was afraid you’d disappear and it was all a dream.

It was messy as you’d expect from two people whose own feelings were a mess, your non-injured hand ran over his hair and he groaned into the kiss. You might as well have just combusted then and there. 

Feeling the need to breathe, you gently pulled away, resting your forehead on his as his hand came up to your face, caressing it gently.

“You’re fucking insane, you know that right?” He breathed out as he tried to steady his own breathing and rapidly beating heart.

“Over you? Fuck yeah.”

extra a/n : ...yeah I'm sorry if the uhm kissing part sucked...it's been a very whole while.

all written works as well as images and edits (unless credited) belong to pri. do not plagiarise, repost, re-edit or claim as yours. pics mostly found on pinterest.

writingmeraki Ⓒ 2024

feedback is always appreciated 💌 ! links : main navi ! | misc masterlist | main masterlist | info !

[thelien-art]

Ñolofinwë, Anairë & Grandchildren

Latest portraits

Children of Ñolofinwë - Fëanáro, Nerdanel & Telperinquar - Sons of Fëanáro

Now for Arafinwe and kids!!

HC:

Fingolfin: Fingolfin did look up to Feanor a lot when he was younger and would try to act like him, wearing white, red, and gold, as well as trying to become a smith one time, but later when it became clear for him Feanor had no real interest he began doing a mix of being the opposite of Feanor as well as just trying things he thought he would like before wondering if either Feanor or Finwe would approve. While I think his relationship with Finwe was great I still think it had its flaws, especially when Finwe decided to go with Feanor to exile after Fingolfin had been threatened BY Feanor, neither do I think he ever felt that close to the Vanya, as after all he was a Noldor prince, and while not the first in line, he wasn´t the last either. Of his siblings, he was closest to Lalwen and would take her counsel highest. I do think that upon his death he thought he did what was best, after all, all was hopeless, but maybe he could sacrifice himself for more peace for his people, and while doing that, maybe he could see Anairë again? I also think he took much pride in his grandchildren, although only being aware of one, and made a big deal out of being there for all his children, supporting them in whatever they wanted and helping them try different things, as long as they would never fight among themself.

Anairë: Anairë came from a noble family and knew Fingolfin in his youth before they decided to marry. After Finarfin married Eärwen, who Anairë became close friends with, she would happily take her children to visit their uncle and aunt, building expressly upon Turgon and Finrod´s friendship. While I think she took pride in being fully Noldo she did not support Feanor, thinking him rash in his speeches, and neither could she follow her people after the first kinslaying both because of the humiliation she felt upon seeing it as well as the grief, and later would move in with Finarfin and Eärwen, grieving for her lost children and husband.

Idril: As a half Vanya (5/8 Vanya??) she leans a lot into her mother´s traditions, both by covering up her hair as well as not braiding it, and while the Vanya doesn´t wear as much jewelry as the Noldor they do wear big pieces when they do, and Idril finds some kind of middle ground. I think she used to wear some gold, like her mother, before the crossing of the ice where she lost both her mother and legs (last part is a HC). While before she chose to only wear silver it was because she idolized Anairë and wanted to be like her, while after it was some kind of denial later becoming a fashion choice (?). - I do HC that the first year after Elenwë´s death Idril only wore her mother's jewelry to feel close to her, but after having to accept her mother was gone she would try to avoid anything that would remind her too much of her.

Maeglin: I know I talk about it at every chance, but I HC ËOL AS A MAIA AND I WILL NOT BE TOLD OTHERWISE, so I give Maeglin glowing eyes too for that reason. Turgon, when it gets pointed out to him, because his whole family and most of his Lords have glowing eyes, just shrugs it off and blames Melian for it. I like to think that while there wasn´t a lot of galvorn Maeglin still learned how to forge with it, he and Aredhel have jewelry made with it. He dyes his hair tips light purple as is costume to some of the Avari, to color it, as that he thinks Ëol is a Avari and he therefore is part. Yes, he has dark purple hair after Ëol but thinks that´s just something some people do have, after all some of the Sinda (Luthien&Daeron) have blue hair and Ëol purple, why can´t he have it too?? Nobody really notices as he dyes it anyway, and Aredhel is 99% sure Ëol is a Maia which is why Maeglin too has purple hair, but why would that matter, he is mama´s boy after all.

Gil-Galad: I am fully convinced Ereinion is just some guy - I HC Gil as an adopted child of Fingon, later adopted by Orodreth, and lastly Cirdan. Most of his jewelry is taken from Fingon and Orodreth, more or less without permission (light kleptomania), Orodreth would pretty much ignore it, whereas Fingon would find it funny and "accidentally" loose piece Ereinion would have shown in interest in, making a big deal out of looking for it before shrugging with a laugh declaring he didn´t care and whoever found it could keep it in front of Ereinion. Most of this is because of his upbringing, I HC him as a child of Angband, later becoming a bad habit, although he would only take things from people very close to him and give it back if asked. His vitiligo is also from Angband, as I HC those born close to Ainur suffer effects from it either physical or mental, which means that the biggest amount of elvers with born disadvantaged come from Angband, whereas the Ainur wouldn´t even try to lower the effect they have on elvers and humans, thereafter Valinor (but only certain places - where the Ainur "lives" which means that very few elvers actually live there, so it is very very few, although I do HC Edrahil of being affected by the Ainur in Valinor), and lastly Doriath.

[yridenergyridenergy]

Live report - Tour24 Who Is This Hell For? 2024/11/21 at Zepp Sapporo

Setlist:

Ruten no tou

AMON

Hageshisa to, kono mune no naka de karamitsuita shakunetsu no yami

Keigaku no yoku

Magayasou

Celebrate Empty Howls

Mitsu to tsuba

DIABOLOS

VINUSHKA

OBSCURE

Ochita koto no aru sora

The Inferno

-encore-

The Devil In Me

Values of Madness

Uroko

Eddie

My thoughts overall today are:

- so many echoes of Kyo's voice!

- This took me back to the first few times I saw Dir en grey live, in Canada, and the first times in Japan too. Times that were easier, where I was doing fine. The last time I saw them in Sapporo, in 2019, was also literally the beginning of this somewhat debilitating medical condition, caused by my own mistake. Therefore, this whole setlist, the songs and their meaning, conveyed a lot for me in this instance.

Shinya walked on stage dressed in all white. For some reason, it seemed like it was the first time that I could see him properly at his drum set. He was a literal prince! He looked so majestic, so strong. Magayasou especially was HIS time to shine! His drumming is so disorganized, and there was almost rancour and disdain behind one of his side hits during one of the songs, like if anybody had been standing there, they would have been utterly knocked out before they could blink. Also, regarding Shinya, Die tried to interact, but it seemed like Toshiya was the one who was successful in catching Shinya's glance, unless Shinya would have looked that way whether Toshiya was standing there or not hah. And it seemed to me like Shinya was truly peering at us from time to time, which I'd somehow never noticed.

Die was wearing some kind of light black tunic on top of a black tank top whose collar was very low, and he had leather short shorts on top of tights with a swirly design.

Regarding Die, the verdict is clear: he mouths total nonsense hahah. It really isn't the lyrics most of the time. He's just pumping us up by gaping his mouth a few times. He smiled so much throughout the show. I can't remember which song it was, but when it ended, he looked so ecstatic and proud, it reminded me of a high school girl finishing the performance of her life! I think that image stems from how young and happy he looked hah. His long hair kept getting stuck on his guitars.

Toshiya wore a black satin outfit with loooong panels below the sleeves. He had not only his thighs but his shoulders bare too. He had at least some lipstick, from what I remember. Toshiya was totally dramatic and expressive, like we know him to be hah.

Kaoru always impresses me by how he doesn't appear to sweat, and yet he wears the most layers in the band! He had the entire emperor look, baggy pants tucked into high boots, kind of like a horse rider, and the white dress shirt, cape, etc. He had makeup to accentuate his temples, as well as a bit of lining around his eyes, I think?

Kyo came on stage last of course, wearing all black. T-shirt tucked into clean black straight pants, black ribbed socks and shiny black work shoes. No makeup whatsoever. His hair was maybe an inch long. The tattoo next to his right eye is really visible, but this time I was on the kamite side, so I couldn't observe it much. And yeah, he has filled up the space below his jaw to outline his face. It looks like random lines: what pops up is a circular space left almost blank in the centre of his throat like to indicate where to do a tracheotomy, one line left blank on the sides, his Damned tattoo, and the two melded faces on the right side of his neck. If "Truth" is still written below his chin, it's barely distinguishable. Kyo's barbed wire tattoo sticks out a lot from his hairline at the top, despite the length of his hair right now.

It seemed like Kyo got really into the songs mostly at Diabolos. He also peeked at his lyrics memo sheets a lot, not that I blame him.

Ruten no tou was really cool. After "Sora yo", Kyo's voice is doubled in canon echoes, until the part where, in the studio recording, he does a light-pitched sigh, but in this live performance, it was merely an exhale.

The audience would have left Ruten no tou to end and transition into the next song in silence if I hadn't initiated a cheer, which happened a couple of other times. The only moment where we did let the band transition in silence was after Keigaku no yoku, because it would have been super inappropriate to cheer after he ended the song in: "Ore wa sakebu... HAYAKU SHINEEE!!" He ad-libbed Keigaku no yoku for at least the first half. No real clue what he said, it sounded like he was murmuring with the mic too close to his lips. Oh and it was awesome when they echoed Kyo's high-pitched sounds after the harder parts.

AMON was quite cool too. I don't remember anything special right now, other than that it was yet another moment where Shinya's drumming shone.

Hageshisa to, and frankly all of the other songs too, seemed to get the reaction that the band wanted. Everyone pitched in and headbanged as usual. Kyo had us sing a few parts and he did the traditional a capella: "Dive, like hell, and desTROY". Toshiya did his spins with very wide and dramatic movements, but it was clearly because there was no other way to avoid his super long sleeve fabric from interfering with him playing the bass hah.

Magayasou, I literally paid attention mostly to Shinya because of how badass his drumming is in that song. I just remember that I've definitely seen Kyo way more involved in that song in the past, but not now.

Oh, I don't recall which song exactly it was in the first few, but it was funny seeing Kaoru and Die hurry back from the edge of the stage to their mics whenever they realized that: "Oops, I've got backup vocals in 3, 2, 1..." Toshiya almost seemed to follow Kaoru with his stare when it happened like Kaoru snapped out of a trance.

During Celebrate Empty Howls, it feels like the performance was even more energetic from Kyo and the others when I last saw it in an assigned-seat hall. Either way, it involved Toshiya, Die and Kaoru coming to the front to tease us, switching sides once in a while. Toshiya's always all smiles, while Kaoru at most winks stoically hah.

The second pause happened between Celebrate Empty Howls and Mitsu to Tsuba, which felt kind of awkward. Overall, I felt like adding one or two Inward Screams would have livened up Kyo's performance slightly, or at least greatly changed it and the atmosphere of the songs.

Mitsu to Tsuba is mostly Die's time to shine. He knows the effect he has on us and he likes all the distortions he can get out of his guitar.

By the way, other than the SE, I actually don't recall seeing much AI-generated footage in the backdrop videos! The SE had images of a hooded stalker of sorts walking toward a bridge at night, a clown, photographs transposed in a circle to piece together probably someone supposed to be a criminal, etc. The music is a bit unmemorizable, but it had a beat that prompted us to clap to it while we waited for Shinya to show up.

Diabolos was amazing! Die was almost mocking us laughing during the segments where we headbang for three consecutive parts, which happens two other times in the song. I don't know if people seemed tired.

Kyo had us shouting "Blue Velvet" a couple of times. But the song evoked a lot in him, it showed. He was really into it.

The backdrop video of Diabolos caught my attention because it seems like when we sing about "Blue Velvet", we're... cooking a pig? There's just a charred pig head on a cut tree trunk, along with other imagery that makes it clear that the pig was cooked. An African tribesman with white lines of makeup all over his face and body is shown afterward. I'm not sure that that is ever what I would have associated with "Blue Velvet".

Oh, it was crazy, the anticipation building up to the "Saa ningen o yamero" part of this song. Kyo just shouted each line with deep breaks in between, to punch each point. Reading the official lyrics again, I'm pretty sure that Kyo completely changed the lyrics before "Saa ningen o yamero", actually, because it involved more stuff like: "You, and my self too, "

I think it might have been in Diabolos that Toshiya copied Kyo's stance with their left hand raised, leaning backward with their side facing us. It must have been during the climax line: " I raise my vacant eyes toward the sky".

Vinushka, again, I've seen Kyo more intense in this song in some live recordings, but it was nice and felt anyway. For some reason, the parallel between Kyo bringing his mic slowly toward his mouth for the "Aaaah... Vinushka" part while the background video shows the nuclear bomb approaching the viewer from above only just struck me. It's the same movement of two points slowly connecting to express impeding doom, that seems calm and quiet before the explosion.

Obscure involved a lot of headbanging, Toshiya spinning, etc. We didn't see much hah.

Ochita koto no aru sora started kind of like before Obscure finished, it took me a while to recognize the melody. Kyo had us sing some parts. I was really looking forward to witnessing this song live for the first time!

The Inferno came and I knew that it was the last song of the main setlist, which happened way too quickly! Sure, there were two long songs, but it felt way too short! Kyo wanted us to participate in the song a few times and he gestured the cut-throat at the very start and a couple of other times throughout the song, but I don't think he headbanged himself.

Kyo threw his mic backward JUST short of Shinya's drum set and walked off the stage before the song had even finished, leaving the other members to complete the last bit of the melody. Die was especially happy, he stayed behind to play moooore distortion, as long as he could, several seconds after everybody else had left the stage. His smile was wide!

The members returned for the encore rather quickly considering that Toshiya's assistant was still tuning his bass hah. Shinya had a sleeveless black shirt with the super big gold necklace in the style that he, Kaoru and Kyo have worn since The Perfume of Sins! Die has cut the sleeves from the black 27-years sweater but he was still wearing mostly the same clothes underneath. His arms are really defined, but Toshiya has totally surpassed him in muscle mass, woah. Buffest member in the band. Kaoru only took off his cape; how the hell does he not sweat! Toshiya had the grey sweater from the tour merch and his pants/boots with his thighs exposed. Kyo hadn't changed.

Although he did it once, or max twice during the main set, Kyo egged us on with "Sapporo!" several times in the encore, asking us over and over whether we could go on, become one, etc.

Oh man, The Devil In Me! I still completely disagree with the band's decision to rely heavily on backtracks, especially for the part "Jinkaku hitei o abite" which literally was recorded by the backup vocalists? What the fuck. But it's so cool and intense to watch Kyo lose it, growling, folding, swinging his mic cord up and down as he pours his self-hate. For the last minute or so of the song, he climbed on his crate, wrapped his red mic cord around his neck without theatrics, and sang with just enough length of the cord to follow his right arm as it curled toward his mouth. Otherwise, if he extended his arm too much, it would have tightened the noose. At the end of the song, while the instrumental continues for quite a while, he slowly sheds, or rather shrugs off one part of the mic cord from him. First, the noose is undone. Then, the cord draped on his left shoulder is shrugged off, which leaves just the one on his right side, which comes off while he stares almost in challenge at the horizon. Shedding a weight from his shoulders, from his existence literally, but not looking 100% relieved whatsoever.

Values of Madness has me headbanging intensely, so I'm not sure what happened, to be honest. Die was smiling, I think. Kyo stayed quiet to demand us to sing sometimes, which he seemed satisfied with. I don't know if it was in this song or another one, but Kyo was stalking his way in front of his crate when he must have stomped on his mic cord, because he stopped abruptly on his track to fix that before a real problem occurred.

In all three of the last songs, it was funny because the members would visit different sides of the stage, then went back to their spot when the song ended, but then another hyper song started and they went right back out there, repeating this dance once more for Eddie hah.

For the last song, Kyo asked us if we could go on, and he seemed taken aback by the response he got from the shimote side on the left, because he was like: "Huh? Are you alive?" So then that part of the crowd finally put their all into the cheer. Kyo turned to the kamite, and it sounded like we were way more at 100% intensity than shimote from the start. He asked us a second time anyway, and then, after a second of quiet on his part, he did his sudden a capella crescendo: "aaaaaAAAAAAAAAAHH" with his 'claw' rising progressively, which had us all jumping and cheering. Eddie started and Kyo asked us to sing some parts, sometimes taking off his ear monitor. It wasn't clear on his face whether he was satisfied though, so probably not.

Kyo threw one of his water bottles kind of carelessly into the crowd, letting the cap and straw disconnect and all the water spray randomly onto us. Then, he promptly left. Shinya took a long time to come down from his platform, it seemed. Toshiya and Die had already started throwing picks and water. Die did the fountain/water sprouting move from close to his chest, like we saw him do in one or two videos. Toshiya and him sprayed us so much, they seemed to take a lot of pleasure in it. All three who were left on stage threw picks for a while, and I remember Kaoru stoically waving his index at us, as though teasing or chastising us for some reason hah.

Toshiya left with a smile and a modest bow and hand wave. Kaoru also waved us goodbye after throwing everything he had. Die was last, throwing his towel far but not close to the balcony like he sometimes aims to do. He intently looks at whoever catches his towel, like it means a lot to him to watch their reaction. He was really all smiles, mouthing stuff that resembled "arigatou" to us, and then he waved at us on his final way out.

What a blast, overall! I'm probably forgetting some stuff, but less than if I tried to write this live report any other time after today. I hope they play the setlist with Phenomenon in Sendai!

Oh and at one point, I was like: "Who the hell is filming the show with their cellphone? They played the reminder of the rules so often and so clearly." But it was Fujieda filming Shinya, so I guess that's the video we're getting tomorrow hah.

[fandomhopper-shit]

𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐭

Regina George x Female Reader

Summary : After the bus incident regina started to become more aware of everything around her one thing that stuck out to her was the cute girl that sat at the back of her algebra class, turns out she wasn't the only one to see that after all the girl seemed to be the Teacher's Pet

Warnings: Ooc Regina? Internal and External Homophobia, Forced Religion, Manipulation, Perverted old men,Terrible Parents, Swearing, Mentions of Forced Marriage, Protective Regina and Mild Scopophobia [Fear of Being looked at]

A/N: This is probably gonna be terrible like my other one so i will probably keep this in my drafts part 2 will come out just not eventually

Regina's Pov :

Walking back through the halls of North shore was a completely different experience for me since i wasn't the queen be anymore i started to see more of the 'background characters' as the old me would say, there were so many underrated cliques that honestly looked kinda cool and fun to hang out with for example ; The goths their make up looked so complicated but it fit them just as much as their clothes then there was the softball girls who looked like they could kick your ass but when you looked close enough they were just a bunch of goofy masc's but I would never tell any of them this to their faces I was reformed but I was still Regina George.

I walked into my Homeroom and saw a new teacher, I guess since it was a new year so there were bound to be some new people but what really caught my eye was the girl sat in the back of the classroom near the window, she was pretty. Really pretty. She wore a red oversized hoodie that was covered in white stars that were painted on there were other splatters of paint on it which just made it all the more unique then she had a plaid skirt that fell comfortably onto her thighs she wore thigh high socks with vans that once again had stars painted all over them but this time they re painted baby pink. It was adorable she looked too innocent to be going to a school like North shore.

I snapped out of my daze when the final bell rang I looked around for new seat and lit up when i saw one in front of the cutie, I quickly walked towards it before any other jock could take it. When i sat down she glanced away from the window towards me and a look of fear i think passed her face i couldn't tell because her face went blank as soon as she looked back at the window completely ignoring my presence I frowned and turned my head back around to see the new teacher looking at her with a weird glint in his eye it made me suspicious but i pushed it aside when he started speaking.

I think i could speak for everyone when I say we were surprised at the strong Southern accent the man had "Y'all bring to your books out we're gonna be looking' over some extra stuff y'all'd've see last year" He paused and let his eyes scan the entire classroom looking onto the girl behind me who refused to raise her head and meet his gaze and for some reason he smirked showing off his rancid brown smoker teeth then he went back to having a passive look, something about him made me and all the other girls and guys in class extremely uncomfortable he was watching us as if we were pieces of meat or worse Toys "Alright everyone My name is Mr Rockefeller, y'all will address me as such ye hear." He had a threatening undertone causing everyone even the football jocks to shrink into thir seats and nod.

The lesson went on and the uncomfortable energy increased especially when he was walking round the classroom 'helping' students with the work, by pure luck he didn't come over to me but he did spend half the lesson with the mystery girl behind me whispering things to her i could hear her swallowing and shuffling uncomfortably in her seat. I couldn't hear everything he was saying but i definitely caught bits and pieces that made me sick to my stomach, the bell rang and we all rushed towards the door I was about to make it out the door when I heard him call someone back "Ms (L/N) please stay behind I' do like to discuss some matters with you," He had the same weird glint in his eyes as he had at the start of the lesson it was unnerving and borderline predatory my posture stiffened i wanted to say something but my body didn't let me luckily Ms Norbury came in "Mr Rockefeller i'm sorry but Miss (L/N) must come with me to sort out the rest of classes as well as her clubs that her parents signed her up for her," She said not noticing the tense atmosphere in the room, i didn't even notice the breath that left my body.

Ms Norbury turned to me "Ah Regina just the girl i wanted to see, as a part of your new leaf you wouldn't mind if you could show miss (L/N) around the school and take her to her clubs you wouldn't mind that would you Great thank you," she rushed past me after a message popped up on her phone, leaving me stood in the entrance of the classroom while the new teacher and Student were stood in the classroom. The man looked like he was about to murder someone and the girl looked sort of relived but terrified, after a few seconds of awkward seconds she slowly walked towards me like a timid little deer avoiding my eyes and handed me a piece of paper i looked it over and realised it was practically a copy of mine, I smiled to myself "Well looks like we have very class together besides Pe but right now we have English so let's go," I gave the teacher an awkward wave as he glared at me as if i ruined his life, guiding her out the classroom we walked in silence she was constantly avoiding everyones eyes who turned to us so in response i glared at them and they turned away. Just cause i was turning a new leaf didn't mean couldn't install the fear of god into them.

We reached the classroom, walked in and i let her pick the seat she was most comfortable in which was closer to the back window I sat next to her and passed her back her schedule "After this we have History which is at top floor Then Art, Math and Lunch if you want you can sit with my friends?" I shifted in my seat nervously when she didn't reply for a good 30 seconds had i overstepped was she uncomfortable oh god shit shit shit i didn't mean to do that what do i do maybe i ca-

My spiralling was cut off when i heard a small southern voice quiet enough that i almost thought i imagined it "Your okay, don't wanna disturb y'all," She whispered letting her hair fall infant of her face to avoid my eyes as if she said something wrong, Her accent was similar to Mr Rockefeller's except more pleasant and it reminded me of a little mouse it was adorable. "We'd love to have you with us (Y/N) don't worry they'll love you," i gently let my hand hover over her arm not actually touching her but letting her know i was there, in homeroom she seemed to hate physical touch she flinched when someone brushed their hand on hers when she let them borrow a pen not to mention the way she was shaking like a leaf when Mr Rockefeller was practically pressing himself up behind her "I'll make sure they don't bombard you too much, if you get overwhelmed by them I'll take you out of there just tap my knee is that good? " the short time i've known her i guess you could say i'm protective of her.

She gave me a small smile so small in fact I almost missed it, the lesson carried on till the bell rang and everyone filed out chatting with their friends in the middle of the hall way it looked normal to me but she looked like she was overwhelmed her eyes were darting all over the place and she was shaking slightly without a single thought i hovered my hand over the small of her back and guided her to the top floor towards our history class, by the time we got there she had calmed down and was almost leaning in to my touch but i was probably imagining it we made it and the lesson went on as normal other than the teacher welcoming everyone.

@dandelions4us

[mc-lukanette]

"Clear as a music note, sincere as a melody. You've been the song stuck in my head since the day we first met."

Luka meant every word of it. He hadn't known Marinette for long but he knew people. Whether one called it intuition, a sixth sense, or nothing more than a "feeling," he didn't care. Marinette was a special girl and anyone who didn't know didn't understand her. It was the way she talked, the way she laughed, and even the way she was constantly stumbling over herself because she cared so much about others.

He felt it in her designs and had seen the process himself, how she would sit in the same spot for hours until someone snapped her out of it. He wore his Kitty Section costume proudly because of it and swore that it made him play better, just by having a piece of her with him.

That was all he needed, as far as he was concerned. Whether she loved him or not was irrelevant, and he only confessed at all in the first place because he wanted to alleviate whatever doubts she'd had. He was just happy to know her and to be called her friend.

She looked so beautiful against the colorful stage lights too. Had he not needed to leave, he might've told her so. He only hoped she wouldn't run off to let them take all the credit if there were any interviews afterward. She was just as big a part of the band as he was.

He smiled and released her shoulder, turning around to face the stage where he was set to play with the others. He took one step, two steps—

and then his wrist was snagged, pulling him back. He tried to keep his balance, especially as another hand grabbed at his jacket to bring him downwards. Everything was happening too fast, his vision only able to register the blur that was Marinette's face coming towards him.

Heat flooded his system as her lips came into contact with his skin, just to the side of his mouth. She'd kissed him on the cheek before, but that had come off entirely friendly as opposed to the one she'd given him now.

"Worse" still was that he knew she'd missed her intended target in her rush, which was definitely not his cheek.

It was over too soon, but he registered the voices behind him calling him to the stage as Marinette let him go and pulled away. Despite the bold move, she looked away sheepishly and cleared her throat, her blush obvious even in the lighting.

"U-um... good luck?" she said, giving him a fluttery wave.

His shoes felt like they were filled with very selective lead, keeping him firmly in place unless he was moving towards her specifically. Alas, his bandmates were still calling and not going would've ruined all the effort Marinette had put into getting them to this point.

Thus, he turned - for real this time - and went to set up with the others.

—————

Luka somehow managed to concentrate throughout the entire performance. The nice thing about his Kitty Section mask was that he could look around freely without being noticed, particularly at the siren of a girl standing in the background watching his every move. Her fingers were steepled in front of her mouth, making it hard to gauge her exact expression, but her eyes never left his.

Each note he played felt like a pleasant shock through his body, a positive feedback loop that kept going throughout the whole song. It'd happened before when he was in a good mood, playing his feelings through the strings, but not like this.

Not after being kissed by the one he was in love with, and not on a stage where the energy surrounding him was so high. Whenever he turned to the other bandmates, they were staring at him in bewilderment, but not in any bad way. He wasn't overshadowing them or throwing off the song, he was just more of what was already there, and the stage crew was getting into it.

It was fantastic.

By the time everything was over and the recording was done, there was nothing stopping him anymore. He wordlessly passed his guitar to a confused Rose, then walked off the stage, past the crew, and past a reporter who had snuck in and was asking him questions he didn't bother listening to. He pushed his mask up and took a straight path directly towards Marinette, who was bouncing from the thrill of the moment.

"That was incredible, Luka!" she squealed. "It sounded even better than in the video! People are going to love it, I—"

He grabbed her face and kissed her. It momentarily occurred to him that he could've said something romantic like, "I only played so well because you were there," which was true, but kissing her the way she'd tried to kiss him seemed like a far more appropriate response to what she'd done.

It felt equivalent to getting to play a song she'd written just for him, which was almost a shame. Had he known she could've made noises like she was just by him kissing her, he would've suggested a different type of song for the music video.

There was a shriek in the background that was probably Rose, which he paid no mind to. He broke the kiss, but remained hunched over to Marinette's level, still holding her blushing face and cherishing the warmth against his palms.

"Did you love it?" he asked quietly, stroking her cheeks. "That's all I care about."

Her voice had raised an octave when she replied, "O-of course? I said it was incredible! I love you—it! A lot!"

She managed to fit her hands between his, covering her face with an embarrassed whine. He sighed blissfully, dropping his hands to wrap his arms around her and bury his face into her shoulder.

"I can't believe you tried to kiss me," he began, then added even though he could've left it at that, "right before I had to go on stage."

"Sorry," came the muffled apology behind her hands, though he smirked when he caught the hint of not actually being sorry in her voice. She returned his embrace, squeezing and shaking a little as she whispered, "I should've done it sooner."

When Luka had thought just a few minutes ago that he would've been perfectly happy just getting to know Marinette and be her friend, he meant it, but he wasn't about to complain about being thrice as perfectly happy either.

[dtchloedecker]

Chloe was relieved to her that Lucifer wanted to be with her tonight and to hear that he was done with Eve. Not because for selfish reasons...okay, not JUST for selfish reasons, but for Lucifer's sake. Maybe he'll stop questioning himself....or maybe he won't. She started whatever was going on with Lucifer and hurt him, making it easy for Eve to get to him. Lucifer may have forgiven Chloe, but she knew that the scar she made still ran deep and she was going to do what she could to fix it. She was especially happy to hear that he was where he was meant to be and leaned into his touch. He was so close, all she had to do was raise her head a little bit and- Wait, no! Stop it, Decker! She snapped herself out of it. Now was NOT the time for this. He'd JUST broken up with Eve. Chloe wasn't going to be his rebound girl.

"So, I'll take care of dinner and you take care of the wine and the cushion thing?" Without waiting for an answer, Chloe grabbed the bag with their dinner and took it into the kitchen. Before taking care of it, she went into a nearby closet and pulled out an electric candle she used as a Christmas decoration. Then, she went into Trixie's room and found a straw hat with fake flowers on it that she never wore. Chloe removed one of the flowers and then made her way into the kitchen and pulled a glass out of the cabinet for it given that she didn't have an appropriately-sized vase. She brought the flower and candle, which she turned on, into the living room and arranged them accordingly on the coffee table. "This was the best I could do on short notice," she told Lucifer with a shy smile.

@lucifermorningstxr

As happy as Lucifer was that Chloe appreciated his having her back, it was of equal importance to him that she knew how desperately he had awaited this moment with her. It was as if he'd been waiting an eternity for this chance with his favourite human. In no way did he want her to think he was only here because of his verbal commitment to be. "Detective, it's not like that at all. I mean, yes I gave you my word, but I wouldn't have reiterated it if I didn't mean it. I wouldn't have been done what I did if I didn't intend to be with you tonight." His gentle touch on her firmed with his words in a most pleasant way. "No bender could hold a flame to a night with you, Detective. And I'm an expert on flames." He smirked, his eyes twinkling at the piece of pure Heaven in front of him.

With his arm now around Chloe, Lucifer smiled and nodded at her setup suggestion. "I couldn't have thought of a better plan myself." He knew exactly what she was getting at, mimicking their date with a new one, and he couldn't have agreed more. He wanted nothing more than a special night with his favourite human, and a redo of their date with a fresh one was exactly what the proverbial doctor ordered. When Chloe turned to him, posing her question about his status with Eve, he was more than happy to confirm it all for her. He'd been desperate for another chance with her, and he wasn't about to let anything get in the way this time. No amount of first women, psychotic priests, or damningly frustrating prophecies would stand between them now. Even if Lucifer had yet to explain the latter to Chloe, he was determined more than ever in his eternity to make it work for him, for them. In reply, he simply nodded and tightened his hand against her. "Yes, Detective. We're through. We decided it was best left in the past, whereas you and I... well, we're here now." His gaze softened as he stared at he features in front of him. He could look upon Chloe's beauty forever, but then again, as a celestial being, he could work to arrange that. Regardless, he nodded again and rubbed her cheek a bit before continuing. "I've realised what's best for me now, who's best for me now and the man I want to be. I'm exactly where I'm meant to be, Detective."

[malakaie]

House of Black + the Morrigan

I’ve been thinking a lot about the gear @tommyend and the House of Black wore at All In 2024, and what’s transpired both within and outside the House since then. I wanted to lay out what I’ve been able to find and interpret and what it may mean for the future of the faction. There’s some interesting implications for the overall metanarrative of AEW that I’ve decided to save for a follow-up post as this is already quite lengthy, but this is the foundation for things to hopefully follow.

As is fairly typical with PPVs, the House of Black tends to wear gear to the ring that has a particularly special significance; while there are recurring images of importance (mostly in the form of colour palettes, Malakai’s eye, and the masks he wears on a given show) seen at other times, the PPV gear always stands out, and All In is no exception.

Initially – based on the hint in this post – I had wondered if the “3 spirits” in question might be the Furies, which may not have been far off. @gravekeptsecret found this post for me in which the artist who made Malakai’s mask acknowledges the Morrigan more explicitly, which has essentially been the starting point for the analysis to follow. I wasn’t very familiar with the Morrigan as a folkloric/mythological figure, so I went digging, and while I don’t think I’ve been able to identify every image or symbol in the gear from All In, I did notice a few things with some potentially very interesting implications.

There have been a number of attempts to translate or break down the etymology of the “Morrigan” over the years; the most prevalent that I’ve seen analyse her name in one of two ways. One is to translate the first syllable mor as “great” or big,” and to translate rigan as “queen” – so “Great Queen,” put together. The other – and perhaps more significant for our purposes here – is to suggest that mor shares an etymological root with the Old High German mara and the Anglo-Saxon maere, through which we eventually arrive at the modern English “nightmare.” This produces an approximate translation that sits closer to “Phantom Queen.”

Some of the complexity around understanding the nature of the Morrigan and the beliefs surrounding her comes from the process of transcribing ideas that were largely conveyed through an oral tradition, especially when much of this writing was carried out by Christian scribes and monks as well as classical scholars. These writers inevitably had some of their own ideas that bled into how we understand the Morrigan today – but, interestingly, has also resulted in her name appearing in the glossaries of Christian and biblical texts in some places. For example, in the Vulgate (a 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible), the word ‘morigain’ is seen defined as ‘lamia, the Greek child-devouring female witch’. Elsewhere, in the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, morigain is identified as the “night hag”; we’ll come back to this idea in more depth a bit later on.

All of this seems to be describing a single or unified figure—so why 3 spirits? Triple or triune deities were fairly common in the Celtic traditions from which the Morrigan arose; and as mentioned we do seem to run into some trouble here arising from different translations, the discrepancies between different records of oral tradition, etc., but there are nonetheless three personages (by various names) that are largely linked into a trio under the “Morrigan” umbrella.

I was able to find a few iterations. One describes the trio as Neman (also spelled Nemain, translated in some sources as Terror or Panic), Macha, and Morrigu (also spelled Morrigan). In other sources we see Badhb replacing Nemain; or we see Macha, Morrigan, and Badhb as the trio. In any event, taken together, these three figures get described as a group of three sisters (Morrigna), or as supernatural beings who haunt the battlefield (Badba).

A recurring image surrounding this triad – and one that appears in numerous places on the House’s gear at All In – relates to crows, ravens, or carrion birds more broadly. With the capacity for shapeshifting, the Morrigan ‘frequently appeared among opposing armies as crows or ravens, sinister black carrion birds of death’.

In terms of crows specifically, there seems to be a suggestion that crows were often represented not only as omens of what was to come, but as agents in fulfilling it; this has some significance for Malakai specifically that I’ll get into later, but it conveys some interesting ideas about how “fate” was understood in this context.

For now it’s enough to say that the Morrigan appearing in the form of a bird or a crow ‘frequently denotes an ill omen, usually one that heralds a death’. Because these birds were often understood as scavengers, they tended to gather near battlefields waiting for corpses to eat. They weren’t necessarily interpreted as being evil creatures – which is something that has been a significant part of the House’s portrayal as neither unequivocally good nor unequivocally evil as well – but their presence nonetheless suggested some kind of impending danger or threat that would affect the living.

I want to also return to the “hag” imagery surrounding the Morrigan here. I think there are two major points of interest. The first is visual: all three men of the House had gear made involving claws and horns in some capacity. Malakai’s long-haired bone mask might be particularly striking, but all three of them—in addition to the crow imagery—seem to be coming in this most ominous form, this form most connected with death and war and tragedy and terror. They’re accompanied by a silent standard-bearer who also forms part of this war-like image.

In one description of the Morrigan in her hag-like form, she’s depicted “with grey dishevelled hair, blood-draggled, and with sharp-boned arms and fingers crook’d and spare, dabbling and washing in the ford, where mid-leg deep she stood beside a heap of heads and limbs that swam in oozing blood.” When asked who she was and what she was doing during this episode, the Morrigan announced that she was the Washer of the Ford and that the human remains she was washing were those of an armed force that was about to be killed in the coming battle. There’s some fairly clear similarity between this description and the long dark hair that’s part of Malakai’s mask; the presence of horns and claws; the patches of red in all three of their jackets. Red, especially, is a colour associated with war and death in the Celtic context; and Malakai has also linked the colour red with moments of particularly significant change in the history of the House and their opponents.

The hag or crone within Celtic folklore is often also presented as interpreting or prophesying the future, and has ‘the ability to transform into a raven, a crow, a hare, or a weasel,’ not dissimilar from the Morrigan’s own shapeshifting powers. There’s a strong link with the figure of the banshee as well in this respect.

Since the banshee is often understood to be a member of the fairy castes, it’s interesting that in some sources the Morrigan is also depicted as living in the sidhe, hills and raths and ring forts around the countryside that may have eventually evolved into beliefs about the faery palaces. These were often ruins of Stone Age structures and frequently play a role in Irish stories of faeries avenging themselves on humans who interfered with these dwelling places. (As a side note, Malakai mentions a ‘hollow’ and a ‘stone abyss’ in the caption of one of his recent Instagram posts which may be connected.)

I also want to briefly mention that there’s patches of grey fur stitched into their clothes at All In. I’m not absolutely certain of this, but I think that may be linked to one of the shapeshifting appearances of the Morrigan, when she appears as a grey wolf to attack the hero Cu Chulainn as part of her revenge for him rejecting her. We’ve seen more grey in the House of Black’s gear in general recently as well, which suggests a certain moral ambiguity (no man is ever truly good…) as well as a possible link with banshees who were often depicted wearing white or grey clothing, so that may also be a link between the colour grey and impending death.

Another image I noticed on all three ring jackets appears to be heads or skulls on stakes, which you can make out pretty well in this photo in addition to the grey fur patches.

This seems to have a link with two of the figures typically understood in connection with the Morrigan, namely Macha and Badhb. There’s mentions of the ‘mast,’ or food, of Macha being the heads of men slain in battle, in various sources, which may in part be tied to beliefs about the head being the residing place of the human soul. However, we also see a similar idea in one of the myths when, after the death of Cu Chulainn, Conall Cernach (another Irish hero) ‘returns to Ulster with Cu Chulainn’s head along with the heads of the warriors’ who killed him. Conall Cernach then proceeds to ‘[place] the cuailli Badbha [or] ‘stakes of the Badb’ all around a meadow,’ namely placing the heads of the men he has killed on stakes as trophies by way of his revenge. It’s possible then that the “mast of Macha” and the “stakes of the Badb” ‘referred to the same martial practice,’ so I find it interesting that this image appeared in multiple places on the House of Black’s gear.

The last symbol I was able to make out I’m admittedly not sure about, but it appears in a few places and seems to be three arrows in a bow. I wasn’t able to find additional mythological significance for this symbol, but there are three men in the House, and the House rules do point to imagery around arrows as well: “My past has shaped and guided me; it is not a crutch, but an arrow.” The presence of arrows could suggest preparing for a hunt, while the crossed swords on the standard-bearer’s flag is a symbol usually associated with readiness for war or battle. Taken together with the scythe symbol that we most often see associated with the House of Black, we have essentially three phases or aspects of the life and death cycle: hunting, war and death, and reaping or harvest. (credit to @gravekeptsecret for figuring this out)

(image credits fluxtidedesigns and soy_takeda)

Having laid out the symbols I’ve been able to make out, I think it’s worth visiting a little more of what the Morrigan (alone or as a triad) are more specifically portrayed as doing, since I think that has some interesting implications for the House’s current storyline and the way the faction seems to be evolving.

Prophesying or forecasting an impending death – whether in the form of a carrion bird, or in the form of the various hag-like figures that appear and are also reflected in the All In gear – is perhaps the easiest place to start. This wouldn’t be the first time that the House has engaged with the idea of death not as a permanent ending but rather as part of the process of change and renewal, and I think it’s within that same context that they’ve appeared here as a trio of war/death goddesses. After the war, what grows from the battlefield? What life comes after the violence, once the quiet falls again and the decay left behind is able to feed and replenish the soil?

I want to put all of this back in the context of the post where I started. I don’t think it’s the only place Malakai’s mentioned the presence of “omens” or other entities “possessing” the vessel that was Tommy End, but it’s a fairly recent one, so we’ll use it for our purposes here. It’s interesting in the context of the entity calling itself Malakai also being referred to as a “messenger,” where it shares a name (albeit with the Dutch spelling) with the biblical prophet Malachi. If Malakai serves as a mouthpiece for other entities, or has done so in the past, when they have something to say or express—or, in the most literal interpretation of the word “omen,” to warn the AEW locker room and fans about—the it stands to reason that the Morrigan could be speaking through him, too, in some way. It stands to reason that if the entity calling itself Malakai could enter through the damaged eye, that that could be a possible entrance point for other spirits or entities to come and go, too.

However, for a possession to take place, there has to have been a human soul, right? There’s some, I think, deliberate vagueness about the transition from Aleister Black to Malakai Black – but this video package posted pretty early in Malakai’s time with AEW makes the transition from Tommy End to Malakai Black fairly explicit.

[Excerpt of the transcript:

Doctor 1: You know you shouldn't get in fights with the other patients, especially Matthew.

MB: You mean being pushed into the stairs. That's what you mean.

Doctor 1: Tom, how many times have we talked about this? That didn't happen. It's all in your head.

MB: All in my head. Speaking of in my head, how's your neck?

Doctor 2: See, this is your problem. You think everything's a joke, and we're sitting here trying to help you. All you have to do is go to your meetings. Take your medicine. Maybe you'll start improving. You've been here for five years!

Doctor 1: Tom, I have to agree with my young colleague over here. It's been five years. You're not getting any better, Tom.

MB: Last time. Last time I'm gonna say this. My name isn't Tom. My name is -

Doctor 2: Your name is Tom! [...] We gotta get some help. Tom, can you hear us right now?

[...] Doctor 1: Tommy? Are you okay?

MB: I'm fine. You, on the other hand. You won't be. Doc, in all the years of digging through my head, you never thought that any of this was real?

Doctor 2: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Tom.

MB: Tom? My name isn't Tom. My name is Malakai.]

It’s heavily implied that the spirit or demon Malakai entered through the eye that was wounded by Buddy Matthews when they were both in WWE.

It’s also shown, however, that there seem to be multiple competing voices or entities in Tommy’s/Malakai’s head, and it looks like a battle that Tommy is losing in this instance. It’s the repeated insistence by the doctors in this video that “your name is Tom” that lets those other voices come more strongly to the forefront, and ultimately win. We kind of see neither hide nor hair of “Tom” for years after that; it doesn’t seem to always or exclusively be “Malakai” that’s in control, but if there are other entities that show up, they don’t seem to be human in nature or intent either.

Later, though, we see a pair of video packages that also didn’t air on TV (to my knowledge) but were posted to Malakai’s Instagram fairly close together. I’d seen them before, but hadn’t quite made the connection between the two; if you watch them together, they start to sound increasingly like a dialogue between two different characters.

For one, Malakai’s voice is noticeably different in tone and timbre between them; but the wording is different, too. The first video (dated February 5) is more vulnerable, confused, maybe even afraid – like someone who’s just woken up from a nightmare and hasn’t quite found the line between the reality and the dream. The second video (dated April 5) is more confrontational, maybe even angry in places, arrogant in others. I don’t think we’ve seen this dialogue come into its full fruition yet, but based on the wording (transcribed below), I feel fairly confident in saying that this is a dialogue between “Tom” and “Malakai” … which implies Tom has never been dead, just dormant or suppressed.

[February 5 transcript:

"What is your name? I feel like I woke up in a dream and I do not know who I am. But you, you who bears the name Messenger, are you trying to tell me who I am? Or are you trying to tell me who you are, because who are you? Because you are inside my head. Who are you? Other than the sentences you keep shouting at me. The same sentences over and over like a poem, going back and forth and screaming at me - deep in the shadows where whispers dwell, ancient tales there lie to tell, revered in mystery, his presence known, keeping secrets in the night alone, forging paths where light dares not tread, amidst the silence his words are spread, through the twilight his figure looms, harbinger of faith, in the glooms, echoing strength in the silent night, ruling the darkness with quiet might. What is my name?"]

[April 5 transcript:

"See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me, then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come. But who can endure the day of his coming? You will know my name. Without me we would still be shackled. I saved us, I was the oxygen in your lungs and now, now you claim I am drowning you. You owe us. Saviour of mankind, I don't think so. I could care less about your moral crusade. Across 24 years, a march both saviour and condemned. Which mountain do you choose to end it all?"]

Equally importantly, in the second “Malakai” video, the character or entity present here seems to present “Tom” with a choice, but it’s a complicated one. He makes it quite clear that he’s not going anywhere, that whatever “Tom” does he’s going to have to do it with “Malakai” present whether he likes it or not. But there’s still a choice to be made: Saviour or condemned – which will we be?

I realized, thinking about this, that this is something not unlike what Malakai has done to his opponents before. He takes certain options away from them, or at least makes them so unbearable or impossible that the only avenue is the one he wants them to take, but still at the end of the day doesn’t seem to have the power to truly force anyone’s hand. He puts FTR in an impossible situation: you can choose your family and “die,” or you can walk through the doors of the House and join them – but you have to walk through the doors willingly. They don’t abduct FTR or simply spirit them away. They create a condition where the alternative – not joining the House – is something insupportable.

He puts Copeland in an impossible situation: cling to your false humanity now that I’ve taken from you and forced you to confront the truth of yourself – or willingly walk through the doors of the House and join them. It almost feels as though there’s some kind of restriction, whether it’s a literal limitation on his power or some kind of code that he holds himself to, that prevents him from simply forcing people to do things.

It's compelling to me, then, that the same logic seems to apply to the internal conflict implied by these two video packages. Malakai doesn’t intend to go anywhere. He doesn’t intend to vacate the vessel he’s taken as his own. But he places the choice of what that means squarely back in Tom’s hands. He only makes it clear that, whatever “Tom” chooses, doing it without Malakai present isn’t a possibility, isn’t an option. It’s reminiscent in some ways of the temptation of the serpent in Eden: the serpent doesn’t tell Adam and Eve they have to eat from the tree. He only plants the idea that not eating from the tree would be worse, because it would leave them in ignorance of good and evil. Eve and Adam ultimately make the choice on their own. (credit again to @gravekeptsecret for connecting these ideas)

There’s also a Bible passage quoted (no doubt intentionally from Malachi 3) in the second video that I think is worth setting down more fully as below:

‘“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver […]’

There’s more to this passage but for this context this is the most important part, I think: if it leads to the House of Black itself being put through a cleansing fire, what comes afterward? Who can endure this process of purification and change? Will they survive it?

This seems to be a fairly slow-burning storyline, something that has been quietly in the works for weeks or even months now, but it’s notable that we’ve seen a fairly significant change in the House’s behaviour since All In.

They shook Pac’s hand after his victory at All In.

Brody shakes Darby’s hand after their match. That’s in large part a nod to their history as shoot friends and kayfabe opponents, but it’s nonetheless a new development; the house has been pretty sparing with their displays of respect for their opponents in the past.

Buddy does engage from a place of being a bit arrogant and challenging in his match against Adam Cole, but it seems to be with the intent of trying to bring the best out of him – in a sense, not unlike the Morrigan goading Irish folkloric heroes to try and get them engaged in, and ultimately victorious through, an impending battle. To what end? Why is it more important that Adam Cole be ready to fight than it is for Buddy to win the match? Why do both Buddy and Malakai shake Adam’s hand afterward, if not because the deal is done? They got what they wanted out of him. The Adam Cole who leaves the ring, having beaten Buddy, has confronted his weakness and vulnerability in a way the Adam Cole who entered the ring had not.

Malakai, in turn, shows a new approach to his match against Cole. He’s given – quite literally handed – the easy option of targeting Adam’s ankle, and explicitly refuses it. He says he’s not going to do that, that he doesn’t want that from Adam. He wants it to be an honest fight, wherein Adam gives the best that he can. When the fight draws to a close, Malakai doesn’t just lose. He welcomes it. He gestures, quite explicitly, for Adam to put an end to the fight, and – in keeping with the promo he gave before the match – an end to him, in some way. He’s invited – or challenged – Adam to silence the voices in his head (that, it seems, have been there since he first came to AEW, and arguably longer), and when the opportunity arises he gets Adam to do it. He accepts his “death” or defeat with deliberateness and intent.

[Excerpt of the promo transcript:

"Maybe I want you to be the person to end all of this for me, to silence these things that I have in my head. Maybe I want you to muffle the noises. Because if you don't, I will drag you down so deep that the blackest black you have ever seen will not compare to what I will show you."]

@gravekeptsecret pointed out that Malakai’s posture toward the end of this match reminded him of capacocha sacrifices or sokushinbutsu/self-mummification practices of extreme asceticism among Buddhist monks, which I found particularly interesting. I’ve linked some articles below if you want to read more about both. There’s almost a dignity in that. It’s over. He can reconcile “Tom” and “Malakai” and find some way forward if the noise in his head falls quiet, if he doesn’t have to keep up the constant fighting.

As a brief sidebar here, the timing of the matches against Adam is interesting. While the Morrigan’s first appearance in AEW happens toward the end of August, I don’t think we’ve necessarily seen another entity appear so clearly and obviously since then, and it stands out that the matches with Adam Cole both surrounded the date of Samhain. It’s a date on which both faeries and spirits of the dead were/are believed to have the capacity to emerge and move freely among living humans. Similarly, in some stories, the Morrigan emerges at Samhain from Oweynagat Cave, which is said to be a passage to or connection point with the Otherworld.

The week following, Malakai wears a mask we haven’t seen before to his match against FTR. While it shares some commonality with other masks that have been associated with the House – we’ve seen a number of versions of it in black, black and green, black and red, black and gold, white and gold – this is, I believe, the first time we’re seeing this mask in pure white. And it’s not just pure white: there are deep cracks in the mask. Like it’s falling apart. Like there’s some fault line in the things it represents that are going to give way to something new that can grow from those cracks. White representing newness, innocence, vulnerability. White representing light. White representing peace.

This has coincided with many other, arguably more subtle, things –

House of Black trying to call the referee’s attention to their opponents cheating/using illegal manoeuvres when they’ve had no issues cheating in the past, whether or on their own or through Julia’s interference (see: Kings of the Black Throne vs. Premier Athletes, Rampage 12.07.2024)

Buddy increasingly gaining the audience’s favour behind him in the wake of being “attacked” by Christian Cage

House of Black starting to leave through the face tunnel (see: Collision 22.06.2024; Dynamite 06.11.2024)

Buddy holding Brody back from chasing after FTR when they were challenged for the tag team match (Collision 09.11.2024)

FTR singling out Malakai in their Dynamite match and denying him the tag out to Brody in a way that’s more commonly seen done by heels to face opponents (in fact, this is something House of Black have done many times) (Dynamite 13.11.2024)

The nature of the House is changing. In what ways or to what end, only time will tell, but it’s noticeable, and I feel quite strongly that it’s something to do with the Malakai/Tom interplay going on in the background.

As I mentioned earlier, all these images and ideas together pose some interesting questions about how we understand Malakai as a “prophet” or messenger in this context. Is he just delivering the information about what will happen? Or is he, perhaps more likely, creating the conditions such that the omens he warns of do happen? Much like the Morrigan, he might have only been warning of or prophesying the future of the House up until now – but even the Morrigan sometimes interfered and created the conditions for victory or defeat of the Irish heroes and their enemies, and much like Malakai carefully manoeuvring his opponents to the outcome he wants, I don’t think we can rule out a similar level of calculation here, even if “Tom” isn’t consciously aware of it.

I don’t know for sure where all of this is going, and I’m definitely speculating here, but I know – or strongly believe – one thing: Tom is awake. He might be changing the course of the House’s future. By appearing as the Morrigan, the three men of the House together could certainly be argued to be forecasting a “death,” and further to have had a hand in creating an environment in which that “prophecy” or omen could come true.

What if the death that’s being forecasted isn’t someone else’s, but rather their own?

What if the House of Black as we know it is dying, to be reborn from those ashes as something altogether new?

---

Sources:

Olivia L. Blessing: "The Morrigan: A Trinity United" (2010)

Angelique Gulermovich-Epstein: "War Goddess: THe Morrigan and Her Germano-Celtic Counterparts" (1998)

W. M. Hennessey: "On the Goddess of War of the Ancient Irish" (1866)

Alexander Haggerty Krappe: "The Valkyrie Episode in the Njals Saga" (1928)

Alicia Karen Littleford: "The Divine Feminine: A Study of the Cyclical Representation of Life and Death in Irish and Norse Female Supernatural Figures" (2023)

Nancy Ann Parker: "The Mythical and Mortal Crone: Recollecting and Reclaiming the Sacred Regeneratrix" (2009)

Emily Asia Ruch: "Wyrd Webs and Woven Words: Archetypal Expressions of Fate in Classical, Celtic, and Norse Mythology" (2021)

Marie-Louise Sjoestedt: "Gods and Heroes of the Celts," translation by Myles Dillon (1994)

Courtney Weber & Lora O'Brien: "The Morrigan: Celtic goddess of magick and might" (2019)

Capacocha

Self-mummification/sokushinbutsu

[queenbeedarling]

Headcanon (but basically canon):

Home and Peach are in a queer platonic relationship. They just don't know what a qpr is, so they get a little confused sometimes. But they just shrug off said confusion because why be confused when can bicker with each other like an old married couple?

[carcarrot]

OH MY GOD A YEAR AGO TODAY .

[raspberry-gloaming]

All I know about the new descendants movie is osmosis from tumblr and combining that with the media I think of when someone says Alice in Wonderland is making for tbh the movie in my brain is probs very different than what I've heard the new one is like.

And that media is the Royal Ballet's Alice in Wonderland. Its a lovely comic ballet, and my favourite dances are The Mad Hatter's Tea Party (tap! in a ballet! also in this clip played by Steven McRae, who i want to know more about and watch more of his stuff as i have heard good things about from other dancers I know), and the Tart Adage, which is frickin hilarious. (also the way that the King of Hearts just droops around in the background and its like yup. thats Red's dad apparently.)

So uh everyone should watch these clips simply because they're amazing and I love them.

[freebooter4ever]

awww basketball again

[astro-inthestars]

ALMOST FORGOT TO TELL YOU GUYS BUT I BOUGHT A BINDER!!!!! (in SECRET) AND I WORE IT TO SCHOOL FOR THE FIRST TIME TODAY!!!

[milo-is-rambling]

Day whatever it is recap!

[crispnebula]

lady grey:favourite outfit?

oolong: ideal romantic partner?

peppermint:what’s your favourite holiday and why?

rooiboos: 3 facts about my family

lady grey:favourite outfit?

Hmmm this is difficult, I'd have to say a shirt over a tshirt or a jacket over a tshirt I feel like those are good outfits. If you're wearing a shirt as an over or just that, you have to roll up your sleeves, dems da rulez. But also since I've been wearing formals regularly I feel like a good set of formals is also amazing

oolong: ideal romantic partner?

ooh smart, funny, can take a joke, have similar political beliefs(I feel like that's usually overlooked) but also cheesy (sometimes), understanding, supportive, someone who i can really have good conversations with, like stare-at-the-stars-on-the-rooftop conversations about everything and nothing at all and i think at last mutual respect and trust

peppermint:what’s your favourite holiday and why?

honestly, anyone where i get to rest. but maybe diwali most, because food and sweets 😋

rooiboos: 3 facts about my family

my sister just completed her masters in comp sci

my mom makes really cool festival items like diyas and rangolis and torans and stuff and people love them

my dad was recently appreciated as the treasurer of our panchayat