#excellent this is exactly what i wanted from wrestling

[riverlarking]

CM PUNK & DREW MCINTYRE — WWE SummerSlam 2024

[dearestro]

Saturday Mornings

Summary: Even lazy mornings can be exciting...for some people. Part of the Chase Miniseries.

Warnings: Innuendos and crude language.

You squinted your eyes at the sudden stream of light as you awoke from your slumber. Your husband buried his face in the crook of your neck with his arms wrapped tightly around your waist. It was early Saturday morning, so everyone got to sleep in. Of course, you felt that Robert had other plans than sleeping this morning as he not only kissed your neck but you could also feel something prodding your thigh. You rolled over to face him as he started nipping at your skin.

"Really?" You raised a brow as his hands crept up your body.

"Come on." He almost whined. "Layla's not up. We have time..." He murmured against your skin. "And how else am I supposed to deal with this?" He said, his body flush against yours so that you could feel exactly what he was talking about.

"Well, you have a hand, don't you?" You teased as he continued to trail his lips all over your skin. You looked at the clock before sighing. "I suppose we have time-" You were cut off as a squeal escaped your lips when he rolled on top of you but were quickly quieted when he pressed his lips to yours. As hands trailed bodies and mouths fought for dominance, you were suddenly interrupted. 

"Mommy? Daddy? What are you doing?" You froze at the little girl's voice, thankful you both were still clothed...although boxers and modest lingerie wasn't the greatest to be caught in...

"We're-we're-" You struggled to find an excuse not wanting to have 'the talk' with a five year old.

"We're wrestling, sweetheart. Daddy's winning." You rolled your eyes at your husband's excuse before turning back to your daughter.

"Why don't you go downstairs? I'll be down in a minute to get breakfast, baby." She nodded before pattering to the kitchen. You went to get up as soon as she was out of sight, but someone had other plans. "Babe, we can't do this now. I have to get up and get her breakfast before she comes up here again."

"I can be quick!" Your husband whined.

"Oh, I know just how quick you can be, but even that's not quick enough for a hungry toddler." You chuckled as he frowned at the jab before getting off of you.

"Well, what am I supposed to do with..." He motioned to his nether regions as you leaned down to kiss his cheek.

"Take a cold shower and pray she doesn't remember this moment when she's old enough to realize what 'wrestling' actually means." You went into the closet to put on a robe and some slippers before coming back out. "Or do it yourself." You shrugged as you turned to leave. "But not on the bed!" You shouted over your shoulder, not wanting to have to do laundry because your husband couldn't be bothered to do it into the toilet. 

You made your way to the kitchen and found Layla sitting patiently at the table.

"Fruit?" She nodded her head as you got her a little bowl (no strawberries as they had been restricted to special occasions only after the last incident) and some juice as she waited. By the time you were finished and had given the food to the little girl, Robert had joined your side.

"Who won?" Layla asked, finally breaking the silence. Robert looked down at the little girl confusion spread across his features.

"What?" The girl giggled at her dad's confusion. 

"When wrestling!" 

"I did!" You said as you smirked at your husband before bending down to your daughter and mock whispering, "Daddy's not a very good wrestler." She laughed at the 'secret' you had just told her. From behind, you could hear him scoff.

"Please. I'm an excellent wrestler. I demand a rematch!" You smiled before wrapping your arms around his neck and pecking his lips. 

"Sure you are, baby." You mocked his pouting.

"Well, if the two of you are only gonna make fun of me, I guess I won't make pancakes." You frowned, letting go of him.

"Noo!" Your daughter whined.

"Not until I get an apology." Robert said as he crossed his arms and turned his back to the girls.

"Sorry, Daddy!" He didn't budge, so you sighed and came up behind him. Your arms wrapped around his waist.

"Sorry, Daddy." His face went red at the innocent sentence, and you felt a slight lift in his pants. 

"Say that again." He whispered so your daughter wouldn't hear. You smirked as you walked in front of him and put your lips near his ear. You could hear his breath catch and see the tent in his shorts rise.

"No." You whispered into the shell of his ear. You kissed his cheek and started to back away as you looked down at the sight before you and smirked. "Take care of yourself...again. I'll make the pancakes. And don't forget to wash your hands!" You said, making sure to keep things out of the toddler's sight and earshot. He groaned before awkwardly shuffling away.

"Alright then, babygirl! Do you want blueberries in your pancakes?" You turned to see your daughter just about finished with her fruit and juice. She nodded eagerly. "Well, coming right up!"

[kayfabe-is-king]

I have thoughts from last night's Dynamite and this is all within kayfabe. It's disjointed and patchy but that's because my mind has been going a mile a minute for the past week. So once again, welcome to my Ted Talk!

It was very fitting that Mox and Co. (are we still calling them the Blackpool Combat Club because that doesn't seem extreme enough at this point) attacked during the match between The Elite and The Conglomeration. That match showed in stark detail the very best and the very worst of what AEW has become. The Elite concerned more with glory and money (literal money raining down on Okada as he walks down to the ring) than about what is best for the company as a whole. And truthfully, they're coming off like a joke now in comparison to Moxley's Death Squad. Meanwhile, The Conglomeration was born of betrayal and people coming together because they a) love this sport and b) still believe in All Elite Wrestling. I lost track of the number of times Excalibur, Nigel or Tony alluded to Orange Cassidy being a leader.

“Why aren’t they coming to help?” Schiavone asked. 

Because The Elite now represent exactly what Moxley is railing against - egos and fat paychecks. This new era is a direct response to The Elite's frankly laughable "take over" of AEW. Moxley watched them, said "hold my (non-alcoholic) beer" and then showed how you really take over a wrestling promotion.

During that horror movie trailer masquerading as a wrestling promo, Moxley mentioned all the wrestlers in the back not being given a chance while overblown egos are sitting atop the AEW food chain. This, to him, is a purpose... a cause. And if he has to hurt people to achieve said goal?

"It's the cost of doing business."

Thing is - Moxley's done this song and dance before. Remember this:

(credit to @softambrollins for the two gifs above)

Once again (much like with The Shield) in Moxley's mind, something he believed in has been corrupted. The difference is that now he has the power and the muscle behind him to do something about it. He feels like it's his moral obligation to stamp out the "corruption" that has infested AEW. Something he couldn't really do when The Shield fell apart. This is Moxley exorcising those ghosts... and you know, beating the shit out of people.

If you look at the people coming to The Conglomeration's aide last night, you'll see they have something in common. These are people in the back that haven't really been used properly in a while. Private Party, who really should have had a title run by now. The Dark Order, consistently being tossed around creative with no real direction since the death of Brodie Lee. Top Flight hasn't found it's groove even though they put on consistently great matches time and again (I did laugh my ass off when Action Andretti did that springboard from the ropes and Moxley was like "nah, bro" and clocked him in the back of the head).

And while Daniel Garcia has been given pushes lately, I don't think he's been properly and consistently booked until this angle (and if they don't take the belt off of Jack and give it to Danny, there's no justice in this world). I believe these choices were intentional. A way to pull people into a long running storyline that were floundering.

Even on the BCC's side, you have Marina Shafir - an excellent technical wrestler who AEW has batted around with no real direction. Moxley has said time and again how much he admires her, so of course he wanted her as a part of this angle. She is the perfect soldier - brutal, efficient and loyal. The look of devastation on her face when she was ejected from ringside at Wrestledream? That's the look of a dedicated soldier who has (in her mind) let down her commanding officer. She will go toe to toe against anyone who stands in Moxley's way. And am I the only one wondering about that key around her neck?

Here's something else to think about. Tony Schiavone has seen the attempted hostile takeover of a wrestling promotion before. He was ringside as the New World Order was born and watched their path of destruction in WCW. Imagine seeing history repeating itself and not being able to do anything about it. Even worse, imagine seeing history repeat itself... but worse. This is the nWo dialed to 11 and unencumbered by silly little things like laws against attempted murder. 

Someone at commentary also asked where the belt was. It was never about the belt and Moxley purposely handed it off to Claudio for that very reason. He doesn’t care about the glory. He genuinely believes what he’s doing is what is necessary. And there is nothing more frightening than someone so fine with committing acts of brutality because they truly believe that is the only way. 

Now we come to our most conflicted Moxley disciple. And if you don't think he's still very much conflicted, you haven't been paying attention. Wheeler using the Busaiku Knee on Orange Cassidy while dressed like Bryan was intentional. Sure, he may have drunk the new BCC’s kool aid, but he still very much respects Bryan. He saw what he did to Bryan at Wrestldream as mercy (whether or not you agree, it's still how he saw his actions). To him, he finally put Bryan to "rest" and now feels it is his responsibility to continue Bryan’s legacy.

And that is where him and Daniel Garcia will clash in glorious battle. They are the ying and yang to each other - both love this sport and both see Bryan as their hero. One is just following the darker path that William Regal himself has laid for the likes of Moxley. While the other one believes in Bryan's way. They are the next generation of the power struggle between Bryan and Moxley - their proxies if you will. This is the most elaborate game of Risk come to life.

I have seen some people say this new storyline is "going too far". I get it - it's hardcore and some people didn't grow up watching ECW. They may not know that Terry Funk did the plastic bag spot long before they were even born. But I vividly remember those days (I was ringside for some of them - Terry Funk is hands down one of the nicest wrestlers I've ever met). And I for one, love where all of this is going. I watched the nWo from its rise to its demise and this new paradigm shift blows it out of the water. This is the evolution of that iconic angle and they picked the perfect people to do it. 

Side note - shout out to Renee for consistently doing her job with a high level of professionalism. And also pretending like her husband isn't committing attempted murder every week. Imagine how awkward it's been for her around the water cooler lately.

[highlordofkrypton]

TALK TO ME ABOUT CASSIAN X TAMLIN BROTP PLEASE?

I WAS IN BED WHEN YOU SENT ME THIS I HAD TO WAIT UNTIL I COULD GET TO A COMPUTER AHHHHH I love talking about this himbroship I'm buzzing where do I even start omg omg

This is 10000000% fanon, but it's good, happy, soft and silly!

Cassian and Tamlin met during the First Hybern War; Rhysand was like 'hey ya'll meet my new friend' and like any normal person Cassian was like OH YEAH, TAMLIN'S NOSE MEET MY FOREHEAD

They ended up wrestling bc the broness called to one another, so obviously they had to test each other

It's now a normal greeting for them for Cassian to barrel into Tamlin and tussle with him; Tamlin loves it because it's the relationship he never had with his brothers

Cassian is THE shorter older brother, he's at least 30 years older than Tamlin, but Tamlin is 6'5"+ and Cassian is built like a BAKED BEAN

Tamlin is definitely the more introverted one because he's insecure, but Cassian will double down on ANYTHING Tamlin says or wants. OH UR VEGETARIAN BRO??? BEANS ARE THE SHIT AND GRASS TOO

Cassian doesn't know what exactly vegetarians eat except grass and beans, he tried once and cried he did not like whatever the hell a 'bean patty' is

Having a friend outside of the Night Court is a really fascinating experience to Cassian because even though they both had different upbringings, they have similar... vibes? Tamlin is quiet and curious, Cassian and loud and will put his hands/mouth on anything to figure out what the hell this new thing is. They both had 2 brothers with a MEH dad, warrior training, they punch first and ask questions later, it's just really cool to connect with someone on that level

It's also nice for Cassian to be able to chill w/ someone else and get an outside POV when he's going through something w/ his brothers

Cassian 10000% percent vibes with Tamlin's let's just fuck off and live in nature, it's very peaceful

Tamlin's great great great great great grandmother is a willow tree who has the hots for Cassian, lots of shh shhh and stroking his face with her vines when he's being so dumb

Cassian is seemingly more hot-headed than Tamlin, but Tamlin is the one with rage issues; it actually helps Tamlin a lot to have a friend who will BLURT OUT the first thing that comes to mind especially when confronted with something shitty like 'YO DUDE THAT'S A FUCKED UP THING TO SAY' and 'OK U WANNA GO?? MET ME IN THE PRYTHIAN PARKING LOT 1V1 ME'

Cassian's bluntness also helps drag Tamlin out of depressive slumps. Trauma can really re-wire someone's brain and make you act out, but Cassian also turns his loud honesty on Tamlin like 'FIRST DON'T TALK ABOUT MY BEST FRIEND LIKE THAT' and 'YOU'RE BEING A DICK is this how you feel or is this a reaction my broski' -- his heavy hand is an excellent contrast to Tamlin's other best friend LUCIEN

The humour shared between Tamlin and Cassian makes zero sense to anyone. At all. They will die laughing at a bag of 70% cacao and Cassian will over the 'o' and they've been laughing at 'caca' for the last 10 minutes. It's very freeing for them.

Tamlin loves fruit, Cassian general does not eat fruit or vegetables. Tamlin introduced Cassian to a giant fruit bat and lied to say 'he's very disappointed u don't eat ur greens' and CASSIAN TOOK THAT PERSONALLY??? he eats mangoes now and other tropical fruits to honour his batcestors bat-ancestors???

Yes, they can have an entire conversation in 'bruh's

IF we transpose this friendship that started in the canon 'Tamlin trained with the Illyrians in the war' to TODAY, Cassian never recovered from the falling out between Rhysand and Tamlin. It's really difficult for him to reconcile what happened to HIS family with his friend he knew, loved and trusted. When Rhysand vanished, his first instinct would have been to go see Tamlin for help (but there's a lot of guilt for not checking on him either since Cassian knew Tamlin didn't have.... a support system like him).

In Modern AU, Cassian and Tamlin have DEFINITELY those ugly shirts wit each other's face on them and their names in ✨GLITTER✨

Fuck it, Cassian gets really into shirt printing and just prints shirts for them for every occasion, they're ugly on purpose -- he also has swim shorts that are just Tamlin's face going 8D all over them

Cassian started the 'BIG STRETCHY' trend whenever Tamlin stretches and it's law EVERYONE DOES IT NO MATTER WHO THEY ARE

Anyway, I love them a lot and ummmm I absolutely not normal about them I will DIE on their bestie hill

THANK YOU FOR THIS ASK I HOPE U LIKED READING IT AS MUCH AS I LIKED RAMBLING ABOUT IT

[bun-lapin]

YuYu the Universe - Chapter 1 (part 1)

Summary: The start of Yuna and Yuuji's adventures in another world

Word Count: 1.5k Genre: Slice of life Characters: (oc) Yuna Linh, (oc) Yuuji Han (intro post here) CW: light swearing, getting run over by a carriage for isekai reasons (author's note at the end of the post so I can yap a little longer lol)

Next Part - Fic on AO3

Walking alone down the side of an empty street, the young man’s steps are slow and distracted. He wears a clean and tidy high school uniform and absentmindedly tucks a strand of dark purple hair behind his ear. The late afternoon sunlight feels warm on his back but the heat is slowly fading with the passing hour. He holds the open book in his hands closer and closer to his face, trying to make out the words on the page with the dimming light.

“You know, it’s probably not a good idea to read and walk at the same time.”

Without looking up from his book, Yuuji replies, “I’m perfectly capable of multitasking, Yuna.” He glances up and raises an eyebrow at the girl standing in front of him.

Standing with one hand on her hip, Yuna’s posture is confident and combative despite her petite stature. She wears the same uniform as him but the fabric is more wrinkled and she has her jacket tied around her waist. A light breeze brushes her shoulder-length pink hair across her cheeks and she breaks out into a wide grin. In a playful voice, she teases, “Fine! Ignore me. Just don’t come crying to me if you end up falling on your face.”

Yuuji closes his book with a snap and jokingly replies, “Well! We wouldn’t want to ruin my beautiful face now, would we?” He walks over to her and lightly taps the book on top of her head.

The two of them begin walking together and continue down the street. Swatting the book away from her head, Yuna laughs and teases, “Hey now! Who said anything about you having a beautiful face?”

A dark cloud seems to pass over Yuuji’s face and he heaves a giant sigh, “Definitely not Jeff.”

Yuna blinks in confusion. “Who’s that?”

“He’s that guy I’ve been talking to for the past month!” Yuuji yells with a reproachful glare. Grimacing with emotional pain, he quickly covers his face with his hands. In a slightly muffled and miserable voice he adds, “He hasn’t replied to any of my messages for like a week! He definitely ghosted me!”

Shaking her head with an aggravated expression on her face, Yuna mutters, “Ugh! Fuck Jeff!”

In a voice still muffled by his hands, Yuuji quietly complains, “That was the plan…”

After taking a moment to roll her eyes, Yuna reaches over and pulls his hands away from his face. “You know what I mean! That guy is the worst! He doesn’t deserve to speak with my smartest, handsomest, most charming best friend!”

Yuuji sniffs and shoots her an appreciative half-smile, “Those are all very excellent points. And I thought I was supposed to be the smart one?”

Yuna grins and points triumphantly at Yuuji, “Exactly! So quit being a dum-dum about this guy who’s not even worth your time and come back to your senses!” With a softer smile, she lightly punches him in the shoulder and adds, “Don’t forget, I’ve always got your back!”

He smiles back at her, “Thanks, Yuna.” Looking up with a wistful sigh, Yuuji shrugs and says, “I guess I can’t stay hung up on this guy forever. Honestly, my luck has been absolutely garbage these days.”

Yuna’s eyes light up with a sudden idea. Turning to him, she practically shouts, “Oh! I know just the thing to cheer you up!” She then swiftly drops down into a martial arts stance.

Holding his book up like a small shield, Yuuji cries out in panicked voice, “No!! Yuna, no!! Please! DO NOT try to wrestle me!”

Still in her fighting stance, she replies with an excited grin, “It’s not really wrestling! I learned a new judo throw today!”

“THAT’S EVEN WORSE!” Aggressively waving his book in the air between them, Yuuji yells, “Stay back, you menace! You better not try anything! This is a library book!”

In a lightning fast move, Yuna grabs the book from his hands and skips away. “Yoink! Got your weapon!” She gleefully races down to the end of the street with her friend in close pursuit. Reaching an intersection, she stops to allow Yuuji to catch up to her and casually flips through the book as she waits.

“Is this a new series? What’s this one about?” she asks him, handing back the book once he finally reaches her.

Yuuji, almost alarmingly out of breath from the short run, coughs and sputters out, “It-it’s an isekai.”

They take a moment so that he can catch his breath. Then, after turning right at the intersection, they continue their walk.

“An isekai, huh?” Yuna repeats in a thoughtful tone. She seems to turn the words around in her mind for a few minutes. Turning to him, she asks, “Hey. Serious question time. If it were possible, would you really want to be sent to another world?”

Glancing down at his book, Yuuji considers the question for a moment before nodding towards Yuna. “Yeah, I think so.” With a tired and almost cynical look on his face, he adds, “Not a lot going on for me in this one, so might as well try another world.”

His steps slow and he comes to a stop. Looking at his book with a small frown, he considers the recent string of romantic disappointments that have built up in his heart.

Yuna smiles sympathetically towards her friend. Standing on her tiptoes, she reaches up and softly pats Yuuji on the head.

He flashes her a small, appreciative grin and then playfully shoos her hand away. As they continue walking down the street, Yuuji clears his throat and says with a feigned air of bravado, “Alright! That’s enough with the pity party.” Raising an eyebrow, he directs the question back towards her, “What about you? Would you ever want to be in an isekai adventure story?”

Looking up at the sky with a contemplative expression, Yuna lets out a long, humming kind of sigh. After briefly considering the question, she shakes her head with a smile and answers, “Nah! I don’t think I’d want to!”

Yuuji tilts his head and gives her a puzzled look. “Well, that’s unexpected! Aren’t you all about having fun and fighting? Think about all the bad guys you could beat up in a fantasy world.”

Yuna laughs and replies, “Good point!” Her smile falls a little and she continues in a more serious tone, “But suddenly waking up all by yourself in a strange world? Where absolutely everything is different? That’d be so scary! It’d be like your first day at a new school, you know? Starting over somewhere new without a single familiar face in sight…” Her voice trails off and she stares up into the sky with a somewhat anxious look in her eyes.

Yuuji watches her with a thoughtful expression on his face. Breaking out into a gentle smile, he then reaches over to ruffle her hair. After making sure he has her attention, he says in a reassuring voice, “Don’t worry about that kind of stuff. That’ll never happen! Just like you always have my back, I’ll always be there for you.”

Yuna laughs, “Guess we’re stuck with each other forever!”

They make a turn down a broad alleyway. Looking down at his book, a thought suddenly occurs to Yuuji and he asks, “What if we could go on an isekai adventure together?”

“Together? You mean, being transported to another world with my best friend?” Yuna pretends to think over the question before breaking out into a bright smile, “In that case, I’d definitely wanna go!”

Yuuji laughs and replies, “An isekai story with us as the main characters would be pretty crazy! I think I’d want to read a story like that!” Shaking his head with a sigh, he continues, “But, unfortunately, that would never-”

“That’s a really confused looking horse.”

“Wha-!? Horse??” Yuuji whips his head up to look. Sure enough, at the end of the alleyway, there stands a small, black carriage attached to a very confused looking horse. Although the alleyway is technically wide enough for the horse and carriage, it’s a close fit. More pressing than that though, is how out of place it looks for this part of the city.

The pair of humans and the horse stare at each other for a few moments in perplexed silence. The horse turns its head from side to side, as if trying to see either of the two humans more clearly than the other.

As the minutes pass, the sun begins to set and dark shadows creep into the already dimly lit alley. Finally breaking the silence, Yuna clears her throat and asks, “So… should we like, call the police or something? Animal control? Who are the authorities in this situation?”

Yuuji grimaces from the headache-inducing confusion this situation has caused. Shaking his head, he answers, “Let’s just turn around and go back-”

NEIGH~!!

The sudden sound of clattering carriage wheels and galloping hooves cuts him off. The pair quickly turn to see the strange horse barreling down the alley straight for them. Instinctively grabbing each other, both Yuna and Yuuji scream as the carriage descends upon them.

~ To Be Continued ~

Series Page - Next Part

A/N: I finally did it! I finally got over my crippling fear of writing Yuu OC content and wrote something for Yuna and Yuuji! I really wanted to write a slice of life fic because it's my favorite genre <3 I'll be splitting up the chapters into 2 parts since they're a little longer. Also, since this is my first multi-chapter fic, I'm starting a tag list for this series! Please message me or leave a comment if you'd like to be added to the tag list! This series will also be added to AO3 eventually so keep an eye out for that link if you prefer to read there~! <3

Tag List: @twstfanblog

[wanderingwomanwondering]

I’ve decided that - in part - eddie wasn’t prominent in buck’s coma dream bc he had his back! In the real world, eddie clipped buck to the harness before the lightning strike, then immediately after the strike he lowered him back down to solid ground, and got his heart started again before demanding that the doctors do more. In comaland buck’s first thought was that he indeed had an excellent spotter at his back - Eddie!

Then what did eddie do? He snuck chris into buck’s room even though kids aren’t allowed in the icu which subconsciously helped buck realize that he had to go back to the dream version of the hospital to find his way back to the real world. It was the final piece of the puzzle for him to start getting out of the dream and back to reality.

Everything before that was buck seeing his contribution to the lives of the people around him but he couldn’t actively wrestle his “demons” - aka the parts of himself still tied to the lie that he’s worthless - and fight to see said worth breaking the glass wall into the real world until eddie brought chris in to talk to him. Eddie plus chris were metaphorically at buck’s back pushing him towards his worthiness so they weren’t visible players in comaland! This point also works with the fact that buck is probably still oblivious to exactly what the diaz boys mean to him. Even chris who we do see once in comaland is near the exit looking for his dad but buck isn’t ready to see himself as chris’ dad which makes total sense rn bc the coma arc was about buck seeing his worth and he’s worthy whether or not he sees himself as chris’ second dad.

Buck may have had to do his own work to learn a big lesson about his worth during that coma dream but he wanted/needed support from eddie and chris. Those two have shaped buck just as much as he shaped them! Dream!Bobby wasn’t able to guide buck on the last leg of his coma journey until chris & eddie got buck back to the dream hospital. They were pivotal in buck’s process even though he didn’t consciously realize that in comaland.

In other news the “follow your heart” implications of carla bringing chris (canonical stand-in for eddie’s heart at various times in the narrative) to the hospital and quietly with a wink urging eddie to work around the “reserved/repressed but utterly devastated guy” policy restrictions in order to get chris/eddie’s heart into the room with coma buck is a whole other post!! GAH!!!

*lies all the way down* I won’t be accepting criticism at this time gimme a minute

[sevikagf]

i have questions about the blackthorne siblings. what's their dynamic? do they have the disney channel original dynamic of cool older sister annoyed at her rowdy younger brother? are they both cut from the same cool, intimidating, goth cloth?

yo ariana this went insane actually off the rails here you go

—

So actually, they have a pretty tough relationship and it doesn’t help that their personalities are the way that they are and it causes them to clash constantly.

Neri is the stubborn one with an attitude and-at the time- thought the world was hers. She’s beautiful and rich and has a very commanding presence. She didn’t really care if she hurt anyone and she definitely didn’t let herself be hurt by anyone.

Being the older sister, Neri has a lot of responsibilities she never wanted. She rebels by throwing herself into alcohol and sex and violence. gods, she loves violence and blood and not like in the murdery way but like fights with fists and knives and once someone wrestled a druid in wild shape and it almost ended badly. She was notorious for being involved in a lot of terrible shit, which never looked good on the Blackthorne family - and that’s exactly what she wanted.

She had a terrible relationship with her father all the way up to the day he died and an even more sour relationship with her mother, but in her own way always tried to take care of Niko- she loved and cared for him as her parents never had. even as her father praised and respected her younger brother while he had only shown hatred and resentment towards his daughter.

Niko looked up to his father and almost became a carbon copy of him in his mannerisms and way of thinking. He’s cold and collected, very straightforward and weary of others intentions. In a way though, he’s mean as fuck.

He learned how to fight from the man and that became all he knew and something he excelled at. He spent day and night fighting with different weapons. Niko felt he had to impress their father- always told to be better than his sister. He grew his own resentment towards his sister as he only saw this negative side to her be brushed off by his family as if they were letting her get away with it. They grew further apart when their father died and their mother’s already dwindling mental health grew worse and Neri left, unable to handle the pain their mother caused.

So yes, they are the same, in a way.

[askhunterclarington]

"You couldn't handle me even if I came with instructions."

Wait, is that HUNTER CLARINGTON they kinda look a lot like GAVIN LEATHERWOOD, don’t they? I heard the TWENTY year old is known as the ELITIST around McKinley. It seems like they auditioned to be in THE DALTON ACADEMY WARBLERS which is so lame? People at campus have said they’re HARDWORKING, but don’t be fooled since they’re also MERCILESS. Rumor has it, you can find them at LACROSSE and the WRESTLING TEAM (CAPTAIN) when they aren’t belting show tunes. Their entire vibe revolves around GREEN EYES AND WHISKERS, LACED UP BOOTS AND MILITARY FOLDS and LONG RUNS ON THE BEACH AT SUNRISE but no one pays attention to that here in Ohio.

Auditioning with I don't want to be by Gavin DeGraw

From the outside looking in, Hunter had the perfect upbringing. The perfect family, the perfect home, and the ability and support in whatever he dreamed of pursuing. From the inside though, that was the farthest from the truth. His father sets the rules, and Hunter follows them. With the threat of losing a multi-million dollar inheritance and his father's chain of businesses looming over his head constantly, there aren't many other options, leaving Hunter feeling pretty helpless. His father is a strict man, and one that doesn't mess around. So when Hunter is told to "Jump!", there's no other response besides "How high?"

This incredible amount of pressure is what lead Hunter to take certain matters into his own hands in high school. Stealing the trophy of his school's rival wrestling team the day before a big competition seemed like a good idea in the moment but almost landed him in hot water. Hunter had been told by his father to win at all costs, and what better a way to throw off the other team's focus than taking their most treasured possession? When his father found out, he was able to talk the principal out of a suspension with a nice donation to the school. His father had his own form of punishment though, sending Hunter off to military camp to straighten out his rebellious ways.

Hunter isn't sure exactly at what point things shifted at home, all he knows is that he went away to military camp during summer break of his freshman year of high school, and when he came back his parents were practically strangers inside their own home - purely putting on a front for others in public. His father isn't subtle about the many other women catching his attention these days, and Hunter has no idea why his mother is still hanging around and hasn't left yet. Maybe it's the money - or maybe she's hanging onto some delusion that he'll realise an error in his ways and change. Whatever it is, what Hunter does know is that it's left him with a great bitterness when it comes to love and relationships. Mess around, have fun, and leave in the morning before the other person wakes up. That's the motto he lives by, and it hasn't let him down so far. Some would think it's an incredibly lonely way to live, Hunter would call it safe.

Hunter's main focus now is finishing school, and doing his best to excel in his extra-curricular's with a pretty intense training regime. Maybe if he can do those things, his father will be proud and he'll finally get the love and recognition he's always hoped for.

BASICS OF HUNTER;

Full Name: Hunter Pronouns: He/Him Hometown: San Diego, CA Birthday & Star sign : January 4th - Capricorn Relationship Status: Single Sexuality: Bisexual (unexplored) Occupation: Student Sports/clubs: Wrestling team (Captain), Lacrosse (Defender) Glee club: Dalton Academy Warbler Major: Business

WANTED CONNECTIONS;

Ex-Situationship: There was chemistry, there was a connection, talking, casual dates etc. But for some reason one (or both) just couldn't commit. Enemy : Pretty self-explanatory. They cannot stand one another. Could be something that's happened in the past, a general differ in character, anything really. Gym Buddy: Everyone needs that support system to help encourage them in those days where you really just aren't motivated. *Definitely open to anything else also! If anyone is looking for something to be filled and think Hunter could be the man for the job, I'm more than happy to assist!

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Eh, Thursday Afternoon Toriyama posting is fun for now. I'm surprised by how much I've thought about it lately. Not like I'm usually the type to dwell on celebrity deaths heavily, but Toriyama's taken up as much of my mind as when Prince & David Bowie passed close to each other or having the two windows I followed pro wrestling line up with Owen Hart's, Eddie Guerrero's, and Chris Benoit's sudden deaths. We'll touch on it in time but y'all saw Oda is taking a break because of it right? So far I've re-watched a huge chunk of Dragonball and binged the excellent review by Totally Not Mark for Z. I don't think a lot of anime fans, myself included, ever gave Toriyama a fair shake for how truly good DB could actually be.

Like...think about Meruem & Komugi in Hunter x Hunter. How lauded that story is. How much controversy but praise Oda generated by taking such a freewheeling goofy direction with such a late stage of his story. Both of those are just elements of the Majin Buu Saga. Meruem has Cell's design and Buu's arc. And Mr. Satan saving the day by being a good friend and mentor to the Majin? I've always loved that. My actual first exposure was that stretch of the story, staying at a friend's house while Cartoon Network ran a marathon. I liked Videl and we got to see this wonderfully epic clash of titans:

I remember going back to school in the fifth grade, telling some guy friends who liked the screaming and blowing up Earth shit all about how I finally saw DBZ and they were horrified by how much I loved this nonsense. Mr. Satan is a legend and Goten/Trunks pulling a Vincent Adultman is iconic. But...ma cherie. Android 18 is objectively the coolest thing to come out of that series. You may disagree but it's objective so that would make you wrong. I mean, the Androids alone are already cool as hell for being such a solid callback to the earlier Red Ribbon Army arc. Who could forget 8? Guy was classic. First we have a couple of goofy ones then BAM! kickass young sibling pair named Lapis & Lazuli which is a high watermark in a world with some truly weird names. Since I'll be on about another favorite pair likely somewhat inspired by them tomorrow might as well say it.

That's not exactly off the wall right? Kiku & Izo, Jodio & Dragona, that combat sibling pair of a sister that's feminine but fierce and a kinda fey brother you definitely shouldn't underestimate? Nothing new under the sun but the trope certainly echoes from the Cell Saga. And honestly, can't help but notice that side of Okiku I always want to come out more. Lazuli's best moment that made me love her so much:

I do like how when she recognizes Goten & Trunks she just takes them out via disqualification using Krillin's disk technique. But I adore the conclusion now as much as I did then. Knowing Mr. Satan was enough of a preening dickhead to pay her double for the glory of the win and throwing the fight. Same flavor as what makes me love Kiku and the Yokozuna as much as I do with a distinctly Nami blend. Tell me those two couldn't play good cop/bad cop to shake someone down.

Honestly a lot of the way I see contemporary One Piece makes sense through that lens, the way the Buu Saga took a different approach was bold and controversial but got the series back to its roots. I bet Toriyama had a lot of fun with it. And thank you for the archetype I love so much even if I didn't fully appreciate the Ur-pair until after I came to love their inspiration.

This is probably too much to get into today, but you can't divorce this from what we know about the Cell Saga, how there was so much editorial meddling when it came to the villains. The more meta elements of how I see Kiku & Yamato, how one is set to age like fine wine even if she wasn't the flashiest and the other will probably never be as popular as you were at the start even if you started white hot. The Android Pair vs. Cell are a great example. Fans as a collective sometimes don't really know what they want, I get why Eiichiro Oda opines about "authors becoming slaves to readers." Weekly serialization is a wonderland. And that wonderland gave us something really cool along the way to giving editors another Frieza.

[gerogerigaogaigar]

Ok so I did my selection of albums and that post blew up as much as any of my posts do so now everyone I live with wants me to review their favorite albums. Since I'm a benevolent overlord I have acquiesced and so here are ten albums that my husband Felix wants you all to listen to as reviewed by me.

Fire On Fire - The Orchard

I was polite with my choices, but my dear husband decided to open his list with a one off side project by members of Cerberus Shoal. If you don't know the sorta post rock-y sorta folk band Cerberus Shoal then understand that this album is obscure even by the standards of that band's fans. Gone are the post rock tendencies of the parent band and instead the focus is solely on new weird Americana. New weird america is a musical movement that takes American primitivist and psychedelic folk music and mashes it up into something that is inevitably either pretentious garbage or revelatory beauty. This album is the latter. The music plods along with the grace of a broken machine. The music sounds like it is rusting as it moves and the nasally vocals grind along with the hulking monstrosities that are the songs of The Orchard. The music I'm describing may not sound pleasant, but the cacophony comes together in a harmonic cohesion that does for folk music what Charles Ives did for the symphony. There are many more artists that have a similar sound to Fire On Fire, but this album has a uniquely lumbering quality that is not recreated nearly as well by most other artists in the scene.

Sweet Trip - You Will Never Know Why

You Will Never Know Why is a major departure from Sweet Trips usual sound. The glitch elements have been dialed back, although electronic sounds still populate the album, and it is basically a straightforward shoegaze album. It pulls ahead of competitors partly for the incorporation of electronic music but also for excellent vocals that capture a sterile whispiness. Plus the bass which is so bubbly and tends to rise to the top of mixes to add counterpoint melody on top of the dual vocals. As usual for the genre layering is the key to the beautiful sound. The songs will lily along as bright shimmering sounds plink into the mix and fade out only to be replaced by some other noise.

Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog

While I'm still a fan of the first two Iron & Wine albums Shepherds Dog is clearly where he comes into his own as a performer. The instrumentation is punched up a bit with the occasional touch of horn or honky tonk piano to give the album a more dynamic feel. And the style has incorporated a little bit more rock edge as well. Songs like White Tooth Man help balance the album so that slower number like Resurrection Fern can really shine. Lyrically I can't tell you exactly what is going on in any given song. Sam Beam writes in little snapshots of ideas and paint an impression of a feeling rather than tell a story. I get the idea that he is rather scared of Americana though. And there is something about dog metaphors that really makes this man's brain go brrrrr. Overall I think The Shepherd's Dog is the most balanced of all the Iron & Wine albums I've heard. Successfully towing the line between folk rock and art rock.

Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

A legend among pretentious sadboys but always skirting the mainstream is Sufjan Stevens. Although he started out making indie folk his style quickly evolved and on Illinois (or Sufjan Stevens Invites You To: Come On Feel The Illinoise as the album cover says) he hit the first major stride of his career. Illinois features insanely elaborate arrangements that show a wide range of influences from minimalist composers to 70s singer songriters to show tunes. The songs all seem to be exercises in elaborate time signature and rhyme scheme or clever wordplay and in depth metaphor.

Now to address the obvious. This album is ostensibly about the state of Illinois. This is true in the same way that I said Beat The Champ was about wrestling. Some songs reflect heavily on things about the state. John Wayne Gacy Jr. Is a biography of the Illinois born serial killer, They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh! is about the abundance of ghost town in the state. Other songs make reference to the state but are a little more vague. Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Stepmother!, Casimir Pulaski Day, and The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us! are really just personal stories that Sufjan Stevens has decided to set in Illinois. And the stories vary from very grand high concept things to very intimate and personal. Sometimes so personal that I am dubious of how much he stretches the truth to make these songs. But whether I buy it or not the arrangements are equally grand and intimate so the mood is always well designed.

Röyksopp - Melody A.M.

Some downtempo music is meant to get you up and dancing, some downtempo is trying to evoke complex feeling in the listener. Melody A.M. is aiming for something in between. It lays down tight grooves with bubbly bass lines and drops a variety of melodic sounds overtop with elements of downtempo, trip-hop, house, disco, and ambient music all present. It hits all the points for being a driving at night all contemplative style album, but it pulls back on the moodyness and leaves you with a gentle friendly sound instead. Lullabye melodies floating over house beats. The result is just an immensely pleasant listen. Melody A.M. is effective because it does more than just play on the current trends from when it was released, it pulls bit of electronic music from decades past from Tangerine Dream to Giorgio Moroder to Vangelis there is a lot of the past buried in this record. And the resulting love of slightly corny music makes the album feel so sincere without having to be deeply intellectual.

The Mountain Goats - All Hail West Texas

During the recording of The Coroner's Gambit John Darnielle's trusty Panasonic RX-FT500 boombox shit the bed and he started working with newer technology. All Hail West Texas is the album he recorded after that busted Panasonic miraculously came back to life one day.

To listeners who got into The Mountain Goats through Tallahassee and later the lo fi production might be a little hard to take, but you will learn to love the tape hiss that is a staple of early Mountain Goats recordings. Truly it becomes it's own instrument being the only sound on the album outside of Darnielle's voice and guitar.

But this is Mountain Goats you are here for lyricism. John Darnielle has said that he writes songs of love and redemption for people that would never listen to his music. All Hail West Texas starts right off with one of the best examples of this. The Best Ever Death Metal Band Out Of Denton is so simple and so beautiful, and maybe the most emotionally affecting songs to feature the refrain of "hail Satan!" The album is about outcasts, toxic couples, traumatized kids. According to the cover it is "fourteen songs about seven people, two houses, a motorcycle, and a locked treatment facility for adolescent boys." The cryptic interconnectedness will drive you insane if you try to hard to figure it out so I'm sorry Felix I will not be analyzing the characters and storylines that are supposedly here. That's your job.

DJ Yoda - How To Cut And Paste Country Western Edition

You press play this album. The first thing you hear is backing beat from Fix Up, Look Sharp and then Thank God I'm A Country Boy by John Denver starts playing and then Dolly Parton's Nine To Five and then it transitions into a country version of Rapper's Delight. You are in the unhinged world of DJ Yoda who is trying to prove a point here. The point is that you can make a DJ mix out of anything if you are creative enough.

DJ Yoda is known for his use of humor and this mix is one of the more obvious instances considering that the whole concept is a bit of a joke. He puts a beat over I'll Fly Away and that is funny. He uses a sample of Johnny Cash on sesame Street. He uses a country cover of Gin And Juice. It's weird, but because Yoda is a master DJ he manages to never lose the flow, often transitioning songs by losing the beat and just playing the country music straight before dropping a beat in. He also frequently transitions between different versions of a song like Johnny Cash's Ring Of Fire seamlessly turning into a reggae cover by This Kid Named Miles.

The beauty of DJ mixes is already the way they can recontextualize songs in a way that is interesting. I think it goes without saying that you will have a lot of songs recontextualized for you if you listen to this mix.

Mariya Takeuchi - Variety

There was a time when the internet became really obsessed with the song Plastic Love. This was based partially in the fact that the song is a banger but also that people were sharing the picture sleeve for her Sweetest Music single as a lesbian thirst trap. So the Tumblr City Pop era was short lived but I never forgot.

The first thing you might notice about Variety is that it's very retro. The production is a mix of Phil Spector and Motown Styles. And musically it often follows suit. But the old school rock ballad style is also met with bits of 70s adult contemporary and disco. The result is songs that sound like Ronettes tracks with a Donna Summer bass line as the backbone. Songs that sound like James Taylor started using synths. Takeuchi has a voice that perfectly melds these styles into something cohesive so that the dance music style of Plastic Love can flow into the 60s girl group sound of Honki De Only You (Let's Get Married) without missing a beat.

City Pop may have been a niche phase for westerners with an internet addiction but it was one of the most dominant musical styles of the 70s and 80 in Japan. I had strongly considered this album as a 'should have been on the list' pick. If you listen to this album because of my review and like it do seek out more city pop, the genre is a goldmine that the West has barely scraped the surface of. Hell if you like this album DM me and I will rec you more Japanese pop from the 70s and 80s.

Murder By Death - Who Will Survive, And What Will Be Left Of Them?

With a name like Who Will Survive And What Will Be Left Of Them? by Murder By Death you would probably expect this to be death metal, but nope it's a gothic country rock album. Who Will Survive tells the story of a small Mexican border town that is cursed by the devil. The meat of the album is made up of songs that describe the ways that the townsfolk respond to the curse and their inevitable demise. The theme that runs through the album is mainly how people respond to mortality. Some people try to escape the town like in Pillar Of Salt which tells a sorta Orpheus and Eurydice adjacent tale. Some people think their tough like the narrator of The Desert Is One Fire who scoffs at the people sleeping in the shelters. Others give in to despair like the suicidal narrator of Three Men Hanging.

Along with the individual stories the narrative trickles out details about the nature of the curse. We quickly learn that the dead are rising from their graves as zombies, crops start to fail, the earth becomes unworkable, at least one person either physically or mentally decays as they approach the town border. The horror themed lyricism is backed by country rock music that creates the ominous atmosphere needed with the help of an ever present cello that takes a lot of melodic duty. It's a solidly spooky album that demands multiple listens just to parse out more of the story.

Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi - Rome

Danger Mouse is an interesting figure. Producer and musician interchangeably he can be found both as a featured performer, solo artist or as a producer credit nearly anywhere you look and he runs the gamut from extremely mainstream projects to the highly personal and artsy. Rome is most certainly the latter. On it Danger Mouse works with Italian composer Daniele Luppi to create a pop album inspired by the soundtracks to spaghetti westerns. In addition to Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi additional vocals and songwriting are added by Jack White and Norah Jones. White and Jones are natural fits for the slightly polished slightly lo fi sound of the album which is accomplished by recording on vintage equipment and working with musicians who had actually recorded on spaghetti westerns, notably The Good, The Bad And The Ugly.

While it has a lot of musicians and equipment used to record these classic soundtrack the music itself is a little more in the vein of traditional pop veering in the direction of spaghetti western on the instrumental tracks. This keeps the album from feeling strictly like an imitation and let's it be it's own thing.

[jellydishes]

Mallory Surana was fussing with her riding gloves as she crossed Vigil's Keep's courtyard on her way back from a patrol. The left glove was just the slightest bit too tight on the pinky finger, but at least it gave her an excellent excuse for avoiding eye contact both during and after the patrol. Fortunately or unfortunately, that excuse didn't quite hold up when she raised her eyes to see another warden sitting on the steps leading back into the keep.

She recognized them (her, she thought might be the correct pronouns...?) as one of the newer wardens, comparatively speaking. Mallory had spotted her going about her duties around the keep for the past few years, but while the other warden had certainly made one sort of impression in the looks department, it hadn't been enough to help Mallory muscle past several layers of social anxiety and awkwardness in order to formally introduce herself at any point.

That said, Mallory ordinarily would've just walked around her and continued about her business because whatever was going on was clearly none of hers, but... Something about the way the other warden was clutching a sheet of parchment and staring at it gave her pause. She hovered just shy of the bottom step for several seconds, waffling over whether it was appropriate or not to butt into what had to be personal business, before eventually deciding that whatever was out there aside from the Maker watched over fools but not cowards, and asked, "Bad news?"

The dark haired warden lifted eyes that were the most astonishing shade of brown that looked almost gold in the light, and blinked at her. "I- Well I just-" she stammered, before sagging a bit. "Yes." She gripped her hands into fists on her legs, but she was looking past Mallory and out over the courtyard as if there were answers to be found there. "I got a letter yesterday from one of my sister's best friends," she said in a tone that made it quite clear that it wasn't an enjoyable sort of letter even before she said, "It said that my sister had almost died while fighting- I guess you could call it a duel? A duel. A stupid, pig-headed, reckless fight she shouldn't have agreed to in the first place, but she did, and now apparently they don't know if she's going to live or not," she blurted out in a rush.

Mallory could only stand there wordlessly for a few seconds while the other warden clearly wrestled with herself for a bit before saying, "The last letter I sent to her was so angry. I was glad I wrote it at the time, but... What if that's the last thing I'll have ever said to her? What if she dies tomorrow, and goes to the Maker thinking I hate her?"

Mallory frowned and started to reach out to her, but let her hand drop. "Then you'll just have to carry that with you," she said. That must have not been the right thing to say, because whatsername winced as if Mallory had slapped her with that dratted riding glove. Shit. "I just mean that you can't change what's been said, right? And you can't change what your sister feels about it, either. Only thing you can do at this point is make room for it in the list of baggage we all carry on our backs."

The other warden looked away. Shit again, shit city. "I guess so," she laughed humorlessly.

Mallory was scrambling for something actually comforting to say, but all that came out of her mouth was, "You believe in all that chantry crap, right? Based on using the Maker's name? Might as well pray, for all the good that'll do."

The other warden's pale cheeks were growing red. "I don't want to talk about this anymore," she muttered.

"At least wait until I finish chewing on my foot before you leave the dinner table," Mallory said on automatic. It was an old joke she'd shared with Jowan and the other apprentices, but it didn't exactly seem to have landed well this time, because the warden jerked to her feet, crumpling the parchment between her fingers.

"I think I'd prefer to scrub the latrine with my face, thank you," she said, turned, and stomped up the stairs, leaving Mallory staring after her rather helplessly.

"That probably could've gone better!" Chirped a familiar voice from behind her. Mallory half turned to see Sigrun smiling up at her. "Guess Hawke wasn't a fan of your particular brand of charm, eh?"

"I guess not," Mallory sighed, then paused. "That's her name then, Hawke? Why does that sound familiar...?"

"It's Bethany, actually. Bethany Hawke. You really need to read the duty roster more thoroughly, it's kind of important for making the rank and file think you give at least a portion of a shit. And anyway, it should. Her sister is Marian Hawke. You know, the champion of Kirkwall?"

Mallory stood there for several long seconds as the wheels in her brain turned, connecting what Bethany had said about her sister having fought a duel with the political reports that had come her way via seneshal Varel. "Fuck."

"Yup!" Sigrun agreed cheerfully. "You should probably apologize or something, I hear commanders of the grey usually go for that kind of thing."

"Ugh..."

"So do people who think the person who was just insulted and stomped away are pretty, and who probably want to get that non-relationship off on a better foot!"

Mallory gaped at her. "I never said-!"

"You didn't have to. I've seen you stare at her often enough that if you were of a more artistic bent, I'd accuse you of trying to build a statue of her in your mind."

"I- I do not-"

"Sure you do. It's okay! But it would be more okay if you walked back a bit of the more uh, notable things you just said. Like insulting her religion. I'm given to understand Hawke takes a lot of comfort in 'that crap,'" Sigrun said, and patted Mallory's back when she groaned.

"I really fucked it up, huh?"

"You really did," Sigrun said sympathetically.

"Shit."

[sophia-sol]

I was chatting about the Temeraire books with some folks and promised to provide some fic recs, of gen about dragons and aviators, and of shipfic about Laurence/Tharkay. So here we go! I wanted to get this out with relative promptness so I didn't take the time to write out exactly what I particularly love about each of these fics, as that requires both a reread and a percolation of thoughts for every fic on the list, so please take it on assumption that each of these fics is excellent and thoroughly worth reading.

GEN ABOUT DRAGONS AND AVIATORS

Natural Wonders, by the_glow_worm

5k words. AU where Laurence is a naturalist instead of a Navy man, and meets a feral Temeraire.

unfinished poem by prince zhi, by WerewolvesAreReal

1k words. Lung Tien Chuan and Prince Mianning.

Mutiny on the Reliant, by WerewolvesAreReal

16k words. AU where after Temeraire hatches, he and Laurence are rejected from the Reliant, and accidentally become leaders of a pirate fleet.

Captain, by StrangerWithMyFace

2k words. Perscitia and her captain.

All Great Things are Simple, by lorata

4k words. Volly POV about the day he got to be heroic.

A Room With a View, by hollimichelle

5k words. Perscitia finding her way in British society and figuring out how to be political in the way she wants to.

SHIPFIC ABOUT LAURENCE/THARKAY

What Was Written, by the_glow_worm

6k words. Laurence and Tharkay reading old letters aloud to each other.

the days when it shines, by rolameny

5k words. Post-war as they discover what it can mean to have their time and attention be their own to use as they like.

all flowers in time, by lastwingedthing

7k words. Tharkay wants to make sure Laurence and Temeraire feel fully at home on his estate.

The Reward of Service, by yunitsa

4k words. Domestic fluff on Tharkay's estate.

the heart of perfect wisdom, by malfaisant

11k words. After everything is over, Tharkay leaves to wander the world on his own for five more years, and Laurence doesn't know why he left.

To Timbuktu (And Back Again), by novembersmith

5k words. The dragons attempt to court Tharkay on Laurence's behalf.

The Constraint of Conscience, by ellen_fremedon

6k words. Laurence wrestling with what it means to be responsible for his decisions and actions, in the wake of his treason.

tinker tailor soldier spy, by meretricula

2k words. Early-days about Tharkay's changing perspective on Laurence.

[coderedblood]

Not a request just a cute thought I had and wanted to share. MJF worried because Jade is showing interest in the world title so he pays hook to beat her in a match but hook just uses the money to take jade, the baddies, and danhausen out for ice cream.

(Artistic License is taken here - in my universe the Baddies are Jade, Kiera, Velvet, Leila and Sonny. Further artistic license is taken bc we know TK doesn't have any meaningful storylines for the women's roster of AEW if you aren't The Outcasts or Britt Baker!)

The note only said one thing: "There's something huge for you if you come here after tonight's taping."

Ordinarily that would be alarming, but Hook strangely recognizes the handwriting somehow. He still keeps a level of caution about himself, texting his closest friends his location and to come get him if he took longer than twenty. As he walks to the allotted location, it becomes dreadfully familiar. He tightens his jaw around his gum in displeasure and knocks on the door with a tight fist.

The door opens to a suit a hideous shade of yellow and a Burberry scarf.

"Hook!" MJF grins like they've known each other for years. "How's it goin', buddy? C'mon in."

"What do you want, Friedman?" Hook asks bluntly, not wanting anything to do with any of this but wanting to see what the "something" is.

"Ah, yes, right to the point. That's how you are. You're really different from your dad, you know that?"

Hook doesn't show it in his face or his body but that comment really irks him. He knows how privileged he is but he's not just the son of the legendary Taz. He's his own man and his story will not be written with his father's pen. He simply remains silent, staring at MJF, whose microexpression bares his nervousness before he rights himself quickly.

"Right, right. I called you here to talk about Jade Cargill."

"What about her?" Hook is very fucking good at hiding his emotions and he's grateful at this ability right now. He doesn't like that AEW's biggest jackoff is bringing up one of his friends.

"I have a lot of respect for her, actually. Her underlings all adore her, she's powerful and commands respect and loves glory and money as much as I do. That said, her declaration of war is not something I'm taking lightly."

MJF is testing Hook's emotional limit. The Baddies aren't Jade's underlings, they're her treasured friends, companions and sisters. "You mean how she wants to challenge you for the AEW World Championship." Declaration of war, what a dramatic baby.

While Jade loves her TBS Championship like a beloved pet, she's decided it's "lonely" and needs a friend. What better friend, she said, than the AEW World Championship? She went straight up to TK, the other Baddies with her, pointed to her immaculate record, and made excellent points about how wrestling isn't meant to be gendered and she's a strong competitor, the top competitor in the company who doesn't have a single loss, so she deserves a shot at the top championship. Her argument couldn't be broken and TK agreed with her, booking her match against MJF for this month's pay-per-view.

MJF's eyebrow twitches. "Yes. That's exactly what I mean. And that's where you come in, my friend."

"We're not friends. What do you mean by that?"

"'Course we're pals. We're both New York born and bred, baby. We're brothers in arms. Aside from that, you have a reputation of getting things done...quickly." MJF reaches into his pocket and pulls out a wad of money. All visibly Benjamins. "I want you to make sure she can't face me at the end of the month."

Hook isn't given a chance to refuse since MJF grabs his wrist and slaps the wad into his hand before Hook can move to break his nose. He glances at the money in his hand. A thought pops into his head and a slow, devious smirk grosses his face. "Consider it done." With that he turns around and exits the room, pocketing the money and feeling MJF's smarmy smirk on his back.

He walks down the hall and shoots his friends a text to his friends, letting them know he's safe before he pushes his way out of the building into the night.

"Hook!" Danhausen's voice cries and he smiles, looking up and pocketing his phone just in time to catch the demon man into a hug. "We are glad to see you weren't consumed."

"I wasn't."

A limo pulls up to the front of the building, and a head of electric blue hair pops out of the window. "Get in!" Kiera hisses with a grin, flinging the door open, and Hook grabs Danhausen's hand and drags him to the limousine. No sooner than Danhausen's shut the door the limo pulls away.

"You're okay," Leila smiles, looking relieved.

"That's good, we were worried," Sonny says and places her hand on Hook's knee, giving it a light squeeze before pulling away.

"Who was it? What did they want?" Jade asks, crossing her legs. She looks calm and is, but there's concern and curiosity in her eyes.

Hook responds by laughing and pulling out the cash. "It was Friedman and he wants me to make sure you don't face him at the pay-per-view this month."

"You took the cash," Velvet notes, narrowing her eyes at it in Hook's hand.

"The Baddies are our friends," Danhausen says, looking confused.

"Yep, which is why I'm not doing it. We're going for ice cream."

The tension melts immediately and everyone breaks into smiles and laughter. "Great idea, Hook!" Leila claps her hands.

"I could go for something sweet right about now," Velvet licks her lips.

"I'm sorry you were put in that position," Jade apologizes, holding her hand out to Hook, which he takes. "But I'm glad you chose me."

"Always will, J. And besides, since I'm honest, why don't we move the match?"

Jade frowns. "Why would I do that?"

Danhausen snaps his fingers. "Oh! Oh! Danhausen gets this! It is so we can dedicate a whole event for Jade and her honor and win!"

"Bingo, D. Exactly it. There's no way Friedman can beat Jade."

Sonny hums in thought. "And with this match being so huge, TK would definitely go for it."

Jade grins. "He can keep the pay-per-view. I refuse to make Hook a liar, and I want my event."

"That's the spirit. Now...ice cream, anyone?"

[amewinterswriting]

For @ahordeofwasps (who also mentioned the RP story in tags) and @violets-in-her-arms-writes

Meeting my wife while roleplaying is simultaneously one of the craziest quirks of fate but also feels very oddly inevitable. We were on two different continents, we both happened to be RPing in the same fandom at the same time in the same vague social circles on the same website (this little ol'hellsite!) and I often think about what if that hadn't happened. But the thing is, we had so many things and fandoms in common that sooner or later, I know we would have met eventually, even if not at that specific time, despite originally being half a world away.

Since then, we navigated the difficulties of a long distance relationship for years, made a few long-haul flights in both directions and wrestled with the requirements of immigration and now we're physically in the same place and still just as nerdy and dorky as you could imagine from two people who met on the RP side of Tumblr! (As an aside, if anyone wants information on the immigration process for personal reasons or writing research or just curiosity, feel free to send a question! Our situation was USA to Britain, family visa, and the information directly from the government is only a very basic indication of what the requirements actually are. It's also an ongoing presence in our lives - we need to renew her visa next year and have actively made financial decisions based on the requirements needed rather than what would be in our best interests if we didn't have that coming up)

On audio samples: you might say superpower, or you might say the power of autism combined with a few years of audio editing. And I will point it out incessantly. There's currently an advert on TV that features two younger people playing videogames on their phones on a family holiday that are making a variety of 'annoying sounds' (the whole thrust is that the kids aren't appreciating the holiday enough so the parents leave them?? It's a garbage advert on many levels) but perplexingly, one of the annoying sounds is just the windows 'error' chime and another is four notes from Super Mario Bros (overworld theme) but played as an alert or reaction to something instead of the background music (which is almost certainly for copyright reasons - I think they're playing with fire with just those four notes). If you think I don't point that out every time it's on TV, you are sorely mistaken. (A little while back, there was a supermarket advert that used the Sonic 'ring collect' sound to represent money/making savings and I haven't seen that advert lately so I think someone might have gotten into trouble over that one)

Our cat is Blackadder, and he has grown into the name excellently. He is a wonderful blend of 'smart enough to know exactly how to get and direct our attention, even if it's through evil means like threatening to nibble on electronics' and 'silly enough to forget that he still has food left over from dinner in his bowl'.

And thank you! Juggling writing and publishing research around my day job is a bit of a challenge, but I'm determined to make this the year that I get something original out there in the world. It's been years of 'this year I will finish something' that never panned out for various reasons and I'm going to break that cycle.

[militantinremission]

Is Rafael Warnock the Canary in DNC Coal Mine?

So The Democratic Party is expecting Blackfolk to go out & vote overwhelmingly for Sen. Raphael Warnock, but I STILL haven t heard about a Specific Black Agenda from Dems or the Warnock Camp. I don't know about U, but I have been inundated w/ emails from Warnock's Camp asking for donations. I wanted to see what was being offered in return for My donation. What I read was a combination of cookie cutter 'Rising Tide' Class Based Policy, & Herschel Walker doom & gloom scenarios... Once again, EVERY GROUP gets Specific Policy for their Lot, except Blackfolk.

Rev. Warnock rode into The Senate on the coattails of Black Georgians, but he has yet to propose anything specific for The Group that put him in Office. The Fact that he has to endure a Run Off against Herschel Walker reveals how flawed he really is. Funny how 'democratic shills' dance around Warnock's inherent weakness when they're questioned about Walker's resilience; in spite of multiple Self Inflicted blows. Dems anticipate low GOP Voter turnout, & just enough support from Black Georgians to push Warnock to Victory... Sounds feasible.

The Problem that Dems face, is Blackfolk are not as receptive to 'Operatives' representing Us, as We were just 2Yrs ago. Recent Events, where Black Men were singled out for their actions; while White Men acting badly were glossed over, served as a Wake Up Call for many. The # of 'Black Operatives' in Entertainment, Sports, & Politics became apparent when We saw Who were speaking out against these Black Men. We preach that Black America is not a Monolith, but that doesn't mean that We don't share Common Core Ideals as a Collective.

Critics have been quick to say: What exactly is this 'Code' that we're All supposed to get on? It's really not that complicated. The 'Code' that We speak about, is simply a Declaration to uphold, preserve, & protect The Cultural Values of The ADOS/ Black Family. This entails representing:

Black Excellence in All Fields

Positive Black Images- In Public, On Screen & On Air

Black Love & The Spiritual Covenant between Black Men & Women

Black Economics & Generational Wealth

Proper Examples of Black Manhood & Fatherhood

Protection of Black Womanhood & Femininity

Protection of Black Children & Childhood Experiences

We ALL KNOW instinctively when we're acting less than Righteous. The essence of being 'On Code', is a Spiritual Connection w/ the Cultural Collective. That 'instinct' then becomes Common Sense among The Collective. It becomes easier for individuals to acknowledge being Off Code, when Our neighbors can reinforce that notion [non verbally], as We question & wrestle w/ it internally. The Governmental Effort to break the Traditional ADOS/ Black Family Structure over the last 50Yrs has led Us into adopting some pretty Bad Habits.

Not only has The Democratic Party been Front & Center @ the helm of Benign Neglect Policies that drained Black Communities of vital resources & upset Our sense of Communal Rapport; They stood silently as the Republican Party denigrated ADOS/ Black America for circumstances instigated by Liberal Progressives, w/ help from their Black & POC Political Operatives. It's pretty clear that Dems need 'The Black Vote', but according to Congressional Minority WHIP Elect- Katherine Clark, The Democratic Party Platform is: 'Workers, Women, & Climate'.. Where exactly does ADOS/ Black American Families fit into this?

Raphael Warnock is in an interesting position. His adherence to Democratic Party Philosophy, as it pertains to ADOS/ Black Americans, is why he had to spend $388M since 2020 on Campaign expenditures. Sen. Warnock may stoke enough fear to win his Run Off Election against Herschel Walker. He was expected to win his Senate Seat outright, so he shouldn't celebrate too much if he wins. That said, if he doesn't offer Blackfolk a Return on Our Investment, he most likely won't survive a future Election. He should learn from Stacey Abrams' experience.

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Okay, I’ve seen this post come around a few times and have some stuff to add to it. First of all, I agree with everything in it. Well almost everything, I do think Hank Jr. is a bit of a dick. But to each their own, reasonable people can disagree on that. Hank Williams Jr. makes country music that I mostly don’t love, but it’s definitely country music and lots of people like it.

I have liked his son, the grandson of the original Hank Williams, who performs as Hank III. I used to absolutely love this song until I realized how easily it can be taken an anthem for terrible people (and I still kind of love it, just with the heavy caveat that I would like to distance myself from every single other person who’s ever enjoyed it):

(Actually I just listened to it for the first time in a while and fuck, I forgot how much of it is white nationalist dog whistle. God damn it. I would like to hugely distance myself from everything to do with it, actually. But I used to enjoy it so much.)

Anyway. What I want to say is, there is still good country music out there. And not just the occasional song or artist that you can uncover if you look hard enough. The tradition that can be traced back to Hank Williams (Sr.), into the Highwaymen (a supergroup consisting of Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson, they put out two albums as a group and they’re both excellent)-era people, did continue. It never ended. It just stopped being on the radio.

Exactly how and why and, importantly, when this happened is complicated. Country music is like all other art, in that in all its eras, lots of people have talked about how it’s not what it used to be. I recently heard an interview from 2003 in which Andy Zaltzman and Stewart Lee said it’s tough to do good satire anymore because reality is more ridiculous than anything they can make up. 2003.

Country music is like that too. Waylon Jennings released a song in 1975 called Are You Sure Hank Done it this Way, about how then-current country music had got too commercial and away from its roots that were created by Hank Williams (Sr.) in the 40s and 50s. Kenny Rogers released The Gambler in 1978, and years later, said he regretted putting out something that started a trend of more pop-oriented country, once he saw where his trend had led.

Having said that, I think even with some historical perspective, it’s fair to say that in the 00s, country radio took a hard turn for the pop-influenced, the commercial, and the ‘Murica Fuck Yeah bullshit. To the point where I would argue that it turned into something that’s more pop than country, and doesn’t count as country music at all anymore. Why do I get to say Kenny Rogers was pop-influenced country but Luke Bryan was just pop music incorrectly marketed as country? For many reasons that I used to spent ages discussing in the comments sections of country music blogs, when I was really into those. No need to get into all that here, but the point is that I think there’s some justification for saying that what got big on country music radio around the 00s crossed over to the point where it’s fair to call it just pop music, rather than bad country music.

I often try to avoid mentioning the name of the sport I coach on here (not because I want it to be a secret, just because I don’t want that word appearing all over my blog so I’ll start appearing in searches for it), but at this point it’s relevant to say I coach wrestling. I see the Luke Bryans of the world as similar to the WWE. The WWE isn’t a bad version of the sport of wrestling. It’s a completely different thing, that co-opted our name even though the sport’s been here for thousands of years so they should really get their own fucking name. I hate that when I say I do wrestling, people think I mean jumping off ropes and throwing chairs at people. For the same reason, I hate that when I say I like country music, people think I mean that ‘Murica Fuck Yeah Luke Bryan bullshit. Because that’s not just a bad version of it, that isn’t it. It’s something else that gets inaccurately called country.

But country music does still exist, and it’s not even that hard to find. People never stopped making country music. There’s lots of recent actual country out there - good country music and bad country music. Country music that appeals to my subjective tastes (John Moreland) and country music that doesn’t (Hank Williams Jr.). The genre of the Highwaymen and the late great John Prine didn’t stop just because around 9/11, they stopped putting it on the radio and replaced it with some other mislabeled bullshit.

Here’s just a tiny taste of some good stuff from the twenty-first century:

If you want something that explicitly isn’t all ‘Murica Fuck Yeah, here’s a song by my favourite currently touring country singer (that would be Jason Isbell, my favourite all-time country singer is Kris Kristofferson and everyone should look both of them up) that he wrote in 2017 to show support for the anti-Trump protesters:

Jason Isbell also announced in 2020 that if Joe Biden won his home state of Georgia in the presidential election, he’d make an album that consisted entirely of covers of songs by artists from Georgia. Biden did win that state, and Isbell did release the album, and it was awesome. All proceeds from that album’s release went to various charities. If that doesn’t make you feel slightly better about humanity, what will?

Everyone may *think* they hate country music, but when Jolene, Before He Cheats, Take Me Home Country Roads, or Life is a Highway comes on, everyone is suddenly a liar.