#honestly love this wm

[ssruis]

I honestly don’t even think rui fucked with tsukasa as a person until after wonder halloween maybe. I think it took until like… dazzling stage for him to even realize he wanted to be even closer to tsukasa than just “interesting friend I do shows with” like he was still very thankful for Tsukasa’s existence dgmw but having the kind of close friendship they have now was a completely foreign concept to him. “What do you mean I can have a relationship with someone outside of shows” kinda thing. He clearly wanted to know more tsukasa lore from the beginning but I think that simple curiosity slowly morphed into a desire to get to know him and be a part of his life outside of a show context. Not that I think he was aware of that for a very long time.

what an interesting guy -> fuck this dude -> what an interesting guy who I’m kinda still holding onto some resentment for -> we’re friends I suppose (word used loosely) -> oh damn I actually wish I knew more about him and was closer. Is that allowed. Would he even want that. -> now that he’s more used to friendship and all it entails and knows there can be more to it than shows he’s taking steps to try and get closer -> now we are close friends (pandemonium)

Romantic feelings could have started forming at any point after or during wms maybe but I don’t think it was love at first sight nor do I think he would even realize there’s a romantic undertone to his desires until after pandemonium at the very least.

[nodirectionhome-ao3]

Ohhh can I get on the train to piss off the Snape apologist too?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again Snape’s wm perfectly shows how he constantly victimizes himself. Let’s be real, he likely committed horrible acts as a Death Eater, including torture or even murder, yet none of those were his wm. And we can’t forget the memory of him revealing the prophecy to Voldemort, which directly led to the death of the woman he supposedly loved and that made her son an orphan. But was that his worst memory? Nope. Instead, it was the time he got bullied at school. Apparently, getting embarrassed as a teenager hurt more than causing the death of Lily Potter. It’s pathetic, honestly. Snape is the ultimate gaslighter.

PREACH!🙌🙌🙌

Snape is worthless trash. He wasn’t even bullied in school; the text makes it abundantly clear that he gave as much as he got and he clearly deserved what he got. Snape’s Worst Memory is Snape’s Worst Memory not because of anything the marauders did or said, but because that’s the moment that Lily finally accepted that Snape was unworthy of any respect or love.

Honestly feel a little bad for the people who are so media illiterate that they couldn’t grasp that very simple misdirect lol

[ladyyy--stardust]

now that im somewhat alive again- MAN. MANNN.

i need iyo sky to retain her championship yall. i totally understand the hype for bianca and rhea to win but honestly? itd be better for both of their character stories if they didnt.

rhea is obvious- she needs to hit rock bottom. like officially lose everything and this time not be able to blame anyone but herself. yes- liv screwed her over HOWEVER i think a lot of people miss the fact that... that was, in part, rhea's fault too. wwe didn't do a very good job at showcasing this but rhea DID fuck over liv first and made her this way. liv's a heel because of the way she went about her revenge, just like rhea is a heel/becoming a heel now because of how she's handling her frustrations and trauma. this is the heel trend right now- sympathetic heels. obviously if rhea loses at WM, this is a great opportunity to give her a heel run before rebuilding her into a stronger babyface. i think people struggle with this though because they like rhea so much and i get it! rhea is one of the BEST wrestlers out there right now but it can feel like the overwhelming love for her overshadows her actions and most of all, how the other womens wrestlers are viewed. this brings me to bianca.

i'm personally of the opinion that bianca hasn't done anything wrong except for participate in pushing iyo aside. you can argue that she "betrayed" rhea's trust but i honestly see it has a misunderstanding being poorly communicated. bianca DID have a right to be out there and see who she's facing at WM and even if she didn't, rhea still REACTED poorly. thats the point. rhea is lashing out- her feelings are reasonable but her actions are NOT. bianca has just been retaliating against this and i'm sure her very recent trauma with naomi/jade is also making her just as distrustful of rhea and probably iyo at this point. NOW with all of this being said- i still think she should also lose at Mania. i think what happens with jade v naomi on night 1 will effect bianca's performance the next night and take it out on rhea specifically- continuing to ignore iyo.

they will BOTH lose with rhea being pinned by iyo and that is the BEST thing for all of them.

rhea and bianca will both be distracted. both by trauma being flared up and the rage from it being focused on each other instead of the ACTUAL champion, iyo sky. iyo is the babyface underdog. the shining example and the message of this whole fued. shes the only one with a good relationship with her team- even if theyre all out on injury rn. shes the ONLY one looking at this match with a clear vision and goal. bianca and rhea, though? they both have unfinished stories that they need to face in order to fully see the picture. rhea HAS to hit rock bottom and build herself back up. and yes she has to do it alone. no judgement day. no damian priest. the only person who can let go of everything is HER. she needs to rebuild trust in people and in herself and the only way she can see that is when her blinders are forcibly shoved out of her vision. bianca on the other hand isn't completely blind. out of the two, shes the more "stable" one but honestly? i think shes purposefully ignoring the situation with jade/naomi and whatever happens in that match WILL effect her in the three-way. just like rhea, she needs to realize that shes costing herself and i think, while rhea is initially not going to take her reality check well, bianca will start to realize what she really needs to focus on. making things right with jade and naomi.

by making things "right" i mean in a personal sense. i dont think they will be friends again, esp not naomi, but bianca clearly needs closure with both of them. before ALL of this, there were always signs pointing to bianca being jealous of jade and her skill. naomi ATTACKED jade because she was "stealing bianca's spotlight" and in turn, also made it about her in a way. i think bianca needs to get involved again and prove that she doesnt need EITHER of them to be the talent that she is. she doesnt need jade's association OR naomi's "help" to be bianca belair- the EST. making her THE babyface of that fued. at least thats how i think it should play it.

iyo is the underdog who will unintentionally show both bianca and rhea the doors to healing their traumas. she is the BEST example and rival for them to have and thats why she needs to retain and have a nice, long reign. she needs to be a CONSTAST reminder of what they both costed themselves. she also deserves it! shes been the one focused this WHOLE time. shes worked her ass off for SO long too and i hope her reign isnt just for bianca and rhea's characters but also gives a chance for other interesting storylines in the womens division! bring more focus to the other girls! give them chances! id LOVE that honestly. also ik im biased because- points at my pfp- im clearly a huge iyo fan. but im also a fan of rhea and bianca and the womens division as a whole.

idk ik this is a long, messy asf rant where i said the same thing over n over again lmao ive just been thinking about this match a lot <3

[oceanblueeyes03]

Did R & S really break up? I've seen they did, then seen it said they had been spotted out and never did. And that they all post on their private accts now so fans can't follow any of the 4 and why A's page has been quite? I don't know how'd they know about what's posted in private pages as they are private, but that's the rumors I heard around. I 💯 agree L isn't in love or lust or anything with A, who even knows if she likes him, she seems just as miserable to me. Seems he uses her to have someone, she uses him for the perks/fame, and then his friends imo use him for the same as you can't tell me the jobs they have pay for what we were seeing as their lifestyle. I think after Italy he wanted to start over as his little stunt didn't work and he wasn't getting offers thrown at him, that's why we see the hard push now if back to fan loving, happy with N, guy. 🙄

Side note: I think he took offers from the hotels and such in the summer as his funds from his lifestyle were dwindling but wanted to keep up the trips. I honestly think maybe that's even why he took WM as it gave him a job that was not a long commitment. I mean we all have to work to pay for things so I don't knock it, I just think he needs to be cautious.

Didn’t know they had privates now, but do people even care that much for them now?

I think they did break up, S goes to trips without him, spent her bday without him. 🤷‍♀️ maybe they are together they are all so weird and attention seeking as well.

I think at first A loved the idea of what Luke could offer her. She was excited, but now I think deep down she pretends she doesn’t care but she hates she didn’t get any fame. Jade has over 35k followers and she wasn’t even with Luke when he became well known like now. Antonia also hates how people compare Luke’s interactions with her and Nicola. He can’t even act like he’s happy to be around her and he ACTS for a living 😂

A is quiet cos Luke told her to be quiet. Her perk of being quiet was a follow by Nicola.

A lot of the trips Luke has gone to were probably free due to his celeb status. Celebs get a lot of perks like free trips, hotels, food, clothes, makeup etc. that’s why those trips with friends were maybe all free or discounted for them. I think Luke also uses his friends to drop hints about him, like the NYE kiss, his hbs. Luke pretends to not be constantly on line but he is.

JB and REge were bigger than him and we never get these fake pap pics. It’s all planned on Luke’s end

Luke is the one that planned instyle stunt, he is the one that planned all papgates, the photo drops in the elevator etc. he prendas like he doesn’t know or care but he does.

That’s why fake Luke acted all sweet with Nicola. He. Saw that fans thought he should have complemented her more been more grateful to being able to play Colin etc. he changed for those 5 hrs so dumb people could say he is such a sweet pookie.

Would a sweet pookie leave his gf in a hotel room and treat her like garbage? Antonia is his puppy he puts her in a cage and takes her out when he wants to.

[aeligsido]

[WM — September 2024] Prompt 5 — Spell.

Rating: G.

TW: none.

Characters: Remus Lupin, Sirius Black; guest appearances of Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom.

Additional Tags: first war against Voldemort (technically); established relationship; Neville & Harry are babies; domesticity; fluff; this is just Sirius and Remus being very in love I promise.

Summary: Sirius wonders if babies can cast spells.

Words count: 800.

A/N: Hey!! I’m having a bit of a hard time writing but I managed to get this one out — it came a bit less on the humor side as I wanted and more on the fluff side, but I'm not mad honestly, I like it better this way! Hope you like it 💕

@wolfstarmicrofic

read on ao3.

-

When Remus came back into their room with two mugs full of hot chocolate into his hands, it was to immediately notice Sirius’ absence from their bed. With a quickly raised-and-gone-down eyebrow, he turned around to cross the corridor, passing James’ and Lily’s door to enter the nursery.

As he suspected, Sirius was sitting in front of the crib — big and carefully settled with various wards and protective runes Remus couldn’t even recognize —, watching the babies sleep. His eyes were not leaving the pattern of their small chests, rising and falling and rising again. He looked enraptured, enamored, even.

Remus took a minute to lay his own eyes on the boys; Neville with his rosy skin and faint blond hair and his mouth open in his sleep, Harry with his brown skin and already wild dark hair and his small hands closing and opening in time with his breathing. They were so tiny, and so precious, and so—

“Moony,” softly said Sirius, not once looking up at him and yet still giving him a part of his attention, “do you think babies can cast spells?”

Remus let himself fall beside his husband, carefully handing him his mug of hot chocolate. Then, he looked back to the boys, and couldn’t stop the warmth in his heart, nor the smile at his lips.

“It does feel like it, doesn’t it?”

“They’re so perfect.”

They were, agreed Remus — he didn’t even have to say it out loud either. None of them could stop saying it since the boys were born, already weeks ago, just weeks ago. It felt like forever and nothing at all, and the fear and excitation for the future, their future, was constantly palpable.

They stayed here in silence for a little while, shoulder to shoulder, sipping at their warm drink and enjoying each other’s presence. Then—

“Do you think we could get one of ours, one day?”

Remus wondered, a brief instant, if Sirius had to reunite all his courage for this simple question. It felt enormous, like being at the verge of a precipice you hadn’t noticed the presence of, like the free fall of a lifetime, like the dive to safety in the middle of a storm.

Looking at Neville and Harry, it felt so terribly easy.

“I think I would like it,” he answered softly, so softly he would have worried Sirius hadn’t heard him if they hadn’t been pressed against each other.

He could imagine it with so much clarity — a child with his curls and Sirius’ grey eyes, with dark or sandy or plain brown hair, maybe freckles, maybe tanning in the summer and a smile to the sun and laughing hard and fast, with small hands which would fit perfectly into theirs and a small life tucked against their hearts.

“Yeah?” Sirius tilted his head, looking at him now, face so open and so tender Remus could lose himself in it.

“Yeah,” he whispered.

He took Sirius’ hand, squeezed it, and Sirius looked like the whole goddamn galaxy, unable to stop emitting the most beautiful light.

“We should probably practice, you know.”

“The child-rearing?”

“The conception.” Sirius gave him one of his small, cheeky grins, and Remus let out an equally as small but amused laugh.

“I don’t think it's how it would work for us,” he pointed out, biting his lips to stop them from widening in mirth.

“We won’t know for sure if we don’t try, won’t we?” Sirius retorted without missing a beat.

“I thought you were under a spell?” Remus waved toward the still thankfully sleeping children, and Sirius took a few seconds to look over at them, completely besotted, before coming back to him with yet another one of his signature grins — the one saying he has a plan, truly, and he’ll get what he wants, because he’s Sirius Black and nothing will stop him.

“Lily said something about Muggle fairy tales and True Love's kisses breaking spells…”

“Would I be your True Love, then?” It sounded perhaps a bit too honest, a bit less joking than Remus intended; it only softened Sirius’ gaze, and made his own heart beat faster under it.

“I choose my True Love,” affirmed Sirius, his tone final, his hand soft as it came stroking his cheek. “And I choose you.”

Remus melted, his stomach fluttering and his cheeks warming under Sirius’ hand. No matter how long they’ll be together, how many times Sirius will make this type of declaration — Remus was so, so weak for it.

“Sap,” he said still, too soft and tender to be anything else.

“You love it,” replied Sirius.

His hand slid to Remus' neck, and then they were kissing; and maybe they were under a different kind of spell, now, yet still one of love and wonder.

[thlayli-ra]

I could put on a serious face and do some proper analysis of Wrestlemania 41 BUT instead I'm just gonna write all the stupid thoughts I had during it!

Night 1

- OOH! Jey Uso's vest is soooo sparkly!

- I swear the underseam of Gunther's trunks are getting higher each week - look at all that thigh! I love it and I think it should go even higher until he's practically wearing a thong!!!

- The artwork of the three-headed unicorn where one head has died!!!!! 😱

- Dear lord, Naomi! Think of my little bi brain!

- JADE! PLEASE! MY LITTLE BI BRAIN!!!!

- WON'T ANYBODY PLEEEEASE THINK OF MY LITTLE BI BRAIN!!!!!!!

- (My little bi brain is dead. RIP little bi brain)

- That moonsault into a BFT was stunning! Beautiful! My baby boy has been doing some amazing ring work recently! (But I'm still very sad)

- My little bi brain was resurrected for Tiffany and Charlotte then promptly died again.

- The little hype video before Punk's entrance, 'This Fire Burns', Living Colour, Paul Heyman and Punk doing the watch thing! Punk's smile! My heart is so full of joy!

- Punk took that full bin (sorry, trash can!) shot to the head. Sweetie! Stop worrying us for crying out loud!

- Somebody better have posted a video of Punk screaming in pain in the Boston Crab or so help me I'm gonna-! ( @d-lanx I'm trawling your blog later!)

- Was equal parts heart-broken and turned on when Paul low-blowed Punk, ngl...

- I enjoyed that! Now I will dream about Punk all night (and I did!)

Night 2

- Good thing my little bi brain is dead now... it wouldn't have stood a chance with these three.

- Every time I see Iyo Sky these days, I feel more vindicated with my decision to make her a dominant in the fem! Valetverse. She's so dominant-coded!

- Drew won.... wait, what? Drew.... w-won??? He won?????? (Yay!)

- Finn Balor and his Marigolds! 🤣

- Sorry about the guy you considered a brother stabbing you in the back Finn, but uhhh... now can you go back to being a face and wearing the trunks? Maybe?

- When I think back to how brilliant the camerawork and cinematography of it was last year, this year feels really shoddy. Some great reaction shots weren't even shown (like Finn looking up at Dom in the ring). Why?

- Kerry King playing at WM is so fucking cool!!!!!!

- JOE HENRY!!!! HOLY SHIT!!!!! IT'S JOE HENRYYYY!!!! AAAGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! MY EAST COAST HERO!!!!!!!!!!!

- Of all the insane things I could have possibly predicted, Arthur's Seat being on the Titan Tron at Wrestlemania was never one of them! Honestly, THIS, this right here, was my highlight of the entire weekend! An extinct volcano from the city I love with all my heart being on the Titan Tron at WM. It's just.... wowww......

- AJ Styles V Logan Paul - SSSSSKIP!

- I'm sorry but the sheer glee in Stone Cold's face as he drove like a maniac around the ring only to crash his buggy was hilarious (although I do hope the lady in the crowd is alright)

- I'll be honest with you, I didn't pay much attention to the Cody/Cena match... because the whole time I just wanted to stroke Cody's velvet tights! Like, they looked so soft and plush that I was distracted the entire time!

- Oooooooh! Everything is falling into place for my master plan! *rubs hands together evily*

[crzytgther]

my intro! ⟡

hi!! i'm gianna or gia :) i love nicknames so honestly call me whatever u want lol i'm a minor, i go by she/her, i'm american and i LOVEEE byler !!!! :33 i am in fact wuh luh wuh 😼 i don't exactly know what i am lmao but i like girls, i like to identify as unlabled/queer/sapphic !1!! :3 my fav color is pink! ( + blue and yellow as honorable mentions ofc 😽 ) my favorite character is mike & my fav season is 3, although 4 is a close second ! ^^ milkvan anti but respectful if you're respectful to me!! <3 i mostly just post about byler, but i might start posting about some other stuff here and there as well! i also ship lumax, elmax, jancy, rockie, ronance, steddie, jopper & more!

other interests i have (in no specific order):

- kpop (bts/beomhan ult) - one wheat mark - conan gray - chappell roan - beabadoobee - heartstopper - young royals - hamilton - spiderman/marvel - yellowjackets

more about me:

im an ENFP! (ambivert) i have adhd (and probably ocd) so i can't focus for shit half the time 🤗💖 i also get distracted easily & i'm forgetful so if i don't reply to you right away or i reply saying i'll do something and then never do it that's probably why 😭 i mainly use alight motion to edit but i sometimes use capcut for smaller things like panning, small effects & wm! i don't usually talk to moots on here, but if u wanna have a convo im active on tiktok and instagram too!! i also have youtube but there isn't even a dm option on there soo 😭

anyway that's it ! 💗 feel free to ask anything or message me about anything if you'd like, just be respectful and appropriate pls :)

[gingerylangylang1979]

How Colorism fuels BW/WM swirls in media

I guess this is maybe a counterpoint/companion post to this one and the dialogue started with @theonlyamazingtazmin in the comments.

That post was an ask that black women set personal boundaries around how the ship and media about the ship is effecting our well being. But an equally important conversation is why do we so often have to look to interracial couples for a well written romance for dark skinned black women. While I'm cautious about the level in investment in these pairings, I cannot deny the appeal and why it's almost a default because of how much romance for dark skinned black woman is gate kept.

My initial remedy to this frustration of how we attach ourselves to this pairing was, we need to watch and support black romance and and black tv shows and movies. But a lot of the problem is in doing just that. I watched mostly black shows in my youth and the pattern was already established of me always seeing the dark skin woman alone or butch while the lighter girls had their pick.

My favorite show as a teen was A Different World. And as ground breaking as that show was in many respects I do have to call out the paradigm it reinforced. Dwayne was obsessed with Whitley, the whitest looking woman shown on campus, and he was the darkest man shown on campus. Ron liked her best friend, Millie, a light skin girl, after that wasn't a thing it was like so crazy that he ended up with Jaleesa. His mom (the fab Patti LaBelle) kept telling him to get with the dark skinned girl with the pretty teeth, but it was like he resisted vehemently beforehand. He does, but then ends up with biracial Freddy and Jaleesa ends up with an old man and becomes a stepmom as her best option.

Back when I had HBO (I only pay for one subscription at a time and my current roommates decided to do the Disney+ package, but I only end up watching Hulu) I watched Insecure but didn't finish. I'm curious to see what happened romantically with the characters. Did they follow the same playbook? I don't want to be spoiled because I hope to continue that show one day, so please don't tell me. But I remember in the precursor to this show, Awkward Black Girl, Issa's love interest was a like pretty average, kinda lame white guy. Her black crush never panned out. I kind of rooted for her and white boy but like not that enthusiastically. I just wanted her to be loved, so tried to be into it, but honestly was like, is this her best option? I didn't finish because it frustrated me that he was her best option. Personal note: I need to finish an Issa Rae show.

Fast forward to literally as of yesterday. I started watching Queen Sugar (Hulu tries to represent black shows and movies but the selections aren't the best, if anyoen has recs, please share) because I said I want to watch more black entertainment like I did in my youth. The most recent try before this was Atlanta and I just wasn't impressed. Come to find out how douchey Donald Glover is about black women and got turned off. Anyways, I did get invested in QS after a few episodes and even cried. So what turned me off a bit and I hope doesn't put me off the show? Spoiler alert: The darkest woman, Nova, is a white cop's mistress. This isn't revealed right away. It opens with them having a sensual morning after but for some reason despite him being hot, I felt ick. Like, I predicted there was something ick coming, and sure enough she's the long term side piece. Her fine af dark skinned brother's ex is a light skinned woman and there seems to be a mild flirtation with his son's Latina teacher. The light skinned sister is married to a man about her skin tone. The aunt who is medium skin tone has a husband darker than her. So it kind of reinforced the colorism and that Nova's only option out of everyone else has to be a white man, and a white man that can't fully commit to her at that.

Now, let me jump back to why I got so invested in Richonne. I know some people probably like does this girl only hardcore ship traumatized curly haired blue eyed white men with dark skinned black women? Not intentionally, haha! But that was the most epic love story I've seen with a black woman who looks anything like me. I wasn't even expecting to ship anything on that bleak ass show. Not my fault. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough? But yeah, when I reached my adult years I kind of got tired of looking for the romance I wanted to see, that represented me, in black media and being disappointed. Because the dark skinned girls didn't get the same love as the lighter ones (or they are lesbians but that's a whole other post). I'm not saying white media isn't guilty. It's just white media when they tend to give a dark skinned black woman a romance it's with a white man if she isn't alone or a lesbian, just like black shows, but the romance tends to be deeper if it's main plot point, or at least that's what I see in Richonne and Carmy x Sydney.

I think there is a good and bad side to this. On one hand yes, give it to me. On the other is it only palatable for a dark skinned black woman to get love in a show with a mixed cast with a white man because there is still and aversion to black love for these women? It's so complex. This is why when I wrote my Syd and Carmy fic I intentionally made her ex a dark skinned black man. Carmy is mad jealous of him. It's not a real love triangle, he just frames it as one because he's insecure of her highly successful, young Idris Elba looking almost fiance, who her dad loves and is a family friend. So, of course Carmy is in his feelings. Although Syd dated white guys I didn't want the strongest competition to be another white guy. And I have Syd speak to the lameness of these other white men on purpose, on multiple occasions. She was always kind of chasing a Carmy replica but not because they were white, it's because he imprinted on her. But she chased trying to be with her ex just as hard, but for different reasons and in a different way.

Anyways, I don't even know what to expect from media at this point because often what we see onscreen does reflect reality. I'll describe myself. I'm a petite, slim curvy girl, cocoa complexion, kinky curly who often gets that "so pretty for a black girl" type compliment in the black community and from racist white people. My dating history has been mixed and mostly white (two Asians also in the mix) in my latter years by default. When I was in high school the few black boys (I went to a mostly white school) chased the white, Latina, or light skinned girls. And the few that were interested were not desirable trouble makers. One was so bad he verbally abused me in front of people consistently and then I found out he had a crush one me. No thanks, red flags galore. The first somewhat decent boy that was interested and actually knew me was my white boy best friend who tried to make a move one day. I wasn't interested, didn't see it coming, but it started a pattern. I just wanted to be his bestie because we were both film geeks, had family trauma, were loners, smoked weed, and were in theater together. It's so funny because he was a dead ringer for Leonardo Dicaprio and all the white girls swooned for him and I was like eh (never thought Leo was all that). So, no, I didn't view him as a prize romantically. But this same type thing continued with white guy friends secretly having a crush and me like not being that excited. But one day I did like one, gave it a try, and was like, ok cool, I can try this. And since then I get way more interest from white men than black men.

*Caveat, I'm currently single and don't think race has any influence on quality of men. My long term Asian ex was the worst boyfriend of my life and I'm still traumatized. Long story.

So should I be this surprised that media reflects my same experience? I don't know what the solution is going forward. Like, will media change and influence society or does society need to change to influence media?

[jccatstudios]

do you think, under a cut maybe, you could add a version with a watermark?? Id love to make your art a phone background or something but I feel weird putting someones wm myself or not using one with a wm!!

Honestly, I have no concerns over what anyone does with my stuff, just as long as it follows my FAQ page. If it's just for you, do whatever you want with it! If you're reposting it somewhere, just make sure to put visible credit in the description. I also just don't like putting watermarks on my work, especially my comics. The reading experience is what's most important to me, so I don't like adding elements that detract from that.

When it comes to my art and comics, I like to conduct myself professionally. I'm still a student comic creator, but when I look at my favorite professional creators, they're not putting a ton of energy into dictating how their readers use their art, so neither will I. That time is better spent making comics!

[notbecauseofvictories]

*taps gently on your window* you said you like the history of chicago? do you have any fun facts specifically related to the history of chicago as the original and eternal capital of pinball? any tidbits that ideally would beyond those found in a typical timeline of pinball history? (ignore this ask if you don’t know anything and/or aren’t interested in the topic ofc)

Weirdly enough, I do! Maybe not a lot, but I know that---much like alcohol---Chicago tried to ban gambling and gaming periodically throughout the 20th century. And I know that---also like alcohol---they failed, completely and utterly.

For those of you not in the know, Chicago technically "banned" pinball games from the 40s to the 70s. Technically, the city enforced such prohibitions.

Technically.

Due to selective enforcement and honestly, people just straight up ignoring the law, Chicago became a powerhouse of gaming activity anyway. Pinball games were part and parcel of that process. I'm talking about Chicago Coin, which was founded in the 1930s, but didn't achieve true success until they started churning out pinball games in the 1960s and 70s. Bally Manufacturing was into pinball games and slot machines long before it ever sold tennis rackets and activewear. Williams Electronics/WMS industries hit the jackpot in 1981 when it produced Defender. (The company has since moved to Las Vegas.) There's a whole complicated history to explore, and I highly encourage everyone to do so.

However, my absolute favorite bit of writing about the city and its symbiotic relationship with pinball is this Chicago Reader piece. It's very clearly an elegy to a dying art form---written in 2005, it's clear that the world of pinball machines is passing away. Still, it loves the arcades of old. Even today pinball games represent an enormous, significant weight on the fabric of the city; sitting in my apartment right now, I'm about a 10 minute walk away from the nearest pinball machine. (Maybe less, I haven't been to every bar in my neighborhood.)

In short, there's a reason that the Pinball Expo has been happening here since 1985---Chicago is the uncrowned queen of the flippers.

So who cares if John E. Cassidy tried to ban them, or that there was an even older 1895 prohibition against mechanical gambling devices? They're as Chicagoan as ketchup-less hotdogs, and complaining about construction on the Kennedy.

[hms-tardimpala]

Wrestlemania 41 matches ranked

Okay, I've watched my first Wrestlemania, and overall, it's been a very fun time. I definitely have favorite matches and matches I really didn't like, so I thought I'd do a little ranking, so I have a trace of what I thought if I want to come back to it in the future.

From best to worst IMO:

1 - Seth Rollins v. CM Punk v. Roman Reigns

I didn't expect this to be so good, but the three of them are great professionals and the match was gripping. Punk's entrance brought tears to my eyes. I'm okay with Punk's loss because it made sense. I don't want to see more of Seth/Punk, though, I want Punk to do something else and Seth to be feuding with Roman.

2 - Iyo Sky v. Rhea Ripley v. Bianca Belair

All I wanted! It was fast and powerful and they worked their asses off, and Iyo won as she should! It gave me such a rush.

3 - Dominik Mysterio v. Bron Breakker v. Penta v. Finn Balor

The best, most spectacular in-ring for the men this WM, I think. It was so fun to watch, the performance by all was incredible, and I really liked how it was filmed, too. Dom's win was an explosion of joy for me. The last good match before things went downhill.

4 - Tiffany Stratton v. Charlotte Flair

Honestly this match could be on 3, I loved it so much. It was very aggressive, full of hatred, visceral. Charlotte was perfect as a mean heel, she put little touches here and there that really made it work: replying to Wade Barrett, asking the cameramen to make way, pinning Tiffy by putting her hands on her face, etc. Tiffany was visibly beat up by the end and she credibilized herself a ton by resisting and ultimately using Charlotte's weakness to win. A delight.

These four could all be on the same spot, really, I have loved them all equally, and the next one is barely below them.

5 - Drew McIntyre v. Damian Priest

The build wasn't great, but they showed up and put in the work to make this match a very good moment of violence. Damian's selling was generous as usual, and Drew was perfect in his attitude and his character. The tweeting and trolling was fun. The damage was believable. There's no negative thing to say.

6 - Jacob Fatu v. LA Knight

The action was good, I liked Jacob's technique. I didn't expect him to win, but it felt deserved. I'm not interested in either wrestler story-wise, so my appreciation is just technical on this one. Good wrestling!

7 - New Day v. War Raiders

An unfortunate placement on the card because the crowd was numbed by the yeetman's win, but good tag team action. I liked the New Day's quick and perpetual tags, they ran circles around the Raiders, who were as usual impressive by their agility and strength. Obviously two veteran teams who know what they're about.

This is where I start having issues.

8 - Jade Cargill v. Naomi

I looked forward to that one a lot because I've loved Naomi's heel turn and presentation. I knew she would be sacrificed to build up Jade, but I was still disappointed because of how obvious it was during the match that Jade is not as good a wrestler as her. Jade is a good powerhouse, her strength is impressive, but her rhythm isn't great. You can see her wait for moves, you're reminded that it's a choreography all along. Not my cup of tea.

9 - Jey Uso v. Gunther

This match didn't go as I wanted. It looked way too easy for Jey to win, and that choke at the end lasted less than ten seconds. It made Gunther look very bad for no reason. But I wanted Jimmy to be avenged, and he is.

10 - John Cena v. Cody Rhodes

Whoa, I didn't like that. I get that it's the point, that's exactly what Cena said he would do, and he's doing it. The psychology of it is good. It makes you feel for Cody (and even for John, in a way). I'll say that for it: it's not boring. But the Travis Scott thing was too much and it put me off. I understand why this was the main event, and I'm happy Cena got his seventeeth, because that's the most interesting route, but come on. The women's triple threat, or other matches, would have deserved that spot for their quality.

11 - Randy Orton v. Joe Hendry

I was prepared to have a lot of fun with this depending on who the opponent would be, I wanted to see Randy squash someone. But it just so happens that Joe Hendry is an ick for me. Fortunately, it was so short it almost didn't happen.

12 - El Grande Americano v. Rey Fénix

A very sad affair. Sad for Rey Mysterio, sad for Dragon Lee, who was better situated to get this opportunity IMO. Good in-ring, of course, but I don't like the racist luchador caricature. We've crossed over from "absurd satire" to "joke in bad taste".

13 - Logan Paul v. AJ Styles

Logan Paul, what do you want me to say? I'm also not into AJ Styles. I got my Karrion Kross crumbs and that's it. Hate that it was the night's second-longest match at 18 minutes.

14 - Lyra Valkyria & Becky Lynch v. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez

Honestly this match could be higher, but it's the only one I'm actively pissed off about, the one I'm the most disappointed in, so it ends up here. I looked forward to seeing three of these women and Bayley battle it out because I knew from the previous matches they had that the action would be great technically. I also love Liv and Raquel, their championship run completely convinced me, and they were built strong enough to retain.

I hate that Bayley's well-deserved WM spot was given to Lynch at the last moment, I hate that the championship run that worked so well was aborted in favor of a fake tag team that won't stay together for long after that, I hate that it was so short and dull, and I hate that Lynch's starpower was more important than the good wrestling and the story we could have had here. This is my first exposure to Becky Lynch, and it's dreadful. I hope this will be fixed quickly and Bayley will be given something to compensate for that mess.

There are few women's matches as it is, and we get this bullshit? Okay.

I know this post ends on a sour note, but it started on a very high one! I loved a lot of what I saw this weekend and I will be rewatching some of these several times without a doubt.

[pro-logue-epi-logue]

Hey, just wanna drop in to say that I love your will & alex hate, hahahaha! I'm glad i found someone who's as infuriated of will as i did. He's so fucking annoying. Nightfall really ruined his character for me. He used to be my fav horsemen, but after nightfall, the only male characters i like are micah and rory. Don't even get me started with alex. She's like a whole different character in nightfall, and i hate how pd turned her character an OWD (other women drama). She was great before nightfall, why did pd had to ruin her character like that?

I was also pissed when people kept on mentioning how emory was jealous of other women with will, but these same people never mentioned how will always treated emmy badly when HE was the one who had to deal with his jealousy of seeing emmy with other men? Like the hypocrisy? 🙄 i love dark romances, but overall, i think this series just aint for me because i like no main male characters here, and that's literally the opposite goal of a romance story.

I don't find Will romantic enough because his words and actions are just so icky. Just because he went to jail for his crimes that are related to defending emmy, and kept on having loving thoughts of Emmy in his head, doesnt mean it excuses every other hurtful things he's ever said or done towards her, you know. And that's the thing, i'm aware that emmy was not fully innocent either, but at least we saw in her pov that she wasn't delusional about her bad treatment towards will, unlike will towards emmy? And his admission was only near the end, and it was so short and dismissive too? It was so unsatisying, I need a big grovelling.

How do you like the series so far though? Have you found characters that you like better now? Or worse? Do you already have a ranking in mind, or are you the kind that decides it at the end of the series? Do you think you'll like will by the end of the series? Hahaha!

Hi 👋

😅 yeah i kind of hate those two idiots (not adorably) but i technically LOATH alex and just want will to use his brain and i am fine.

1 thing is for sure WILL too deserves hate just because he loved emory that didn't erase that he was awful to her at times.

And honestly i hate all the horsemen, none of them are my favorite.

I the entire series the males whom i loved are my precious MICAH and RORY. There is nothing they did that made me hate them, they were in blackchurch where they were put by their families to suffer but guess what they found someone they lived and thought "hey lets just chill".then they saw emory and was like "now i am intrigued, why exactly is she here?".

I just love these two cuties, they are the definition of the word pookies (i honestly hate this word)

But yes I LOVE THEM, and i want emmy to adopt them.

She probably has, they are her brothers.

Now coming to Alex, i don't think she is a different person in Nightfall, its just we get to see more of her, the real her in nightfall. A bitch who just cant understand her position.

She was not the other woman in nightfall, she was the other woman ALWAYS! thats what her character is. Let me explain.

I conclave she explains how she met aydin.

He was someone else's FIANCE!!!!. and she was thet girls BEST FRIEND.

Imagine your best friend and fiance backstabbing you so bad. I am pretty sure she has a life time trauma because of these 2 *insert a bad word her of your choice*.

And in nightfall Alex always ALWAYS interrupted and meddled in between when will and wm are talking, a thing they barely did..

Honestly she was playing a long game to marry will, considering how she wanted will to put that necklace on her.

So when she realized "hey, em is here will wants her, and aydin is not even looking at me. Then what happens to me??"

For me she was not great before nightfall either, for me she was barely there.

She took banks to shopping not because she wanted to help her but because kai PAID her, and she will do anything for money.

She took winter to fare because will asked her and she never left him alone.

She was with winter when damon was not because damon asked her and she is afraid of her.

So yeah she never was a girls girl to me.

Emmy was jealous yes but its obvious she will feel that way because she loved will hey atleast she never behaved as rudely and childish as alex.

I hated will in present chapter, i get it you want to get revenge, as idiotic your reason is but hey have some spine and just say something.

In past he was like "i will do anything for you, depend on me, i won't let anyone touch you."

In present he was like "yes so what alex slapped her even though i know she was abused for years. Who cares? Fuck this bitch."

"I know you know how to take a beating"

So yes present chapters are the reason i say EMORY deserves better than someone like will who would choose anyone be it alex, damon over emmy.

I just know if martin had been there and hit her in present chapter se would have done nothing.

So yeah thats why i never hate aydin for hitting will.

In this series i hate all the man, just like you.

But the thing is i LOVED kai at first, then he showed why i shouldn't.

So yeah they all can die.

Pd did a poor than poor job writing willemmy, okay so the fandom wants alex, let me write her for half the book,

The fandom wants damon and rika, like me, here we have 4 or 5 chapters for them

O willemmy? Its their book right? Yeah well no one said that they want to read them to me. Duh... i will ignore them, what other option do i have?.

I think will is romantic, i think he is the most romantic of all the horsemen, and i can never forget how he danced in front of the entire cafeteria to make emmy smile when he thought she was sad.

Its just we don't get to see it, we all have to accept the fact that pd don't love kaibanks and willemmy and we are never getting anything about them. If only someone stops thinking about rika,damon and alex in all scenarios this series would have been amazing and not grated on my nerves.

YES! Emmy is not innocent either but atleast we know from her pov what she feels, Will's pov were all him acting like a little bitch. And that short admission of his was so weird.

I have this feeling pd went out of their way to make thing infuriating in this book on purpose. How can you compare alex to emmy.

Will was a let down but only in present.

I don't need groveling, all i need is 3 or 4 chapters of will being true to his feelings, telling em straight forward that he loves em not alex he don't want her. Treat em right for once.

Even aydin treated em better than will and he was not her love interest, will was.

All throughout nightfall i was waiting for that 1 chapter of willemmy alone and in disgustingly in love. But we didn't.

As for this series, pd did not do good with backgrounds and plotline, there were soooooooo many loopholes.

And it was soooooo obvious who their favorite character are.

Favoritism is what killed this series.

I liked reading these books the curious factor was there but why would you write a book if you clearly hate both the fmc and mmc is beyond me.

So yeah it is great but not for me, i hope others like it.

I am here just because i can't get willemmy out of mind 😭😅.

The characters i like-

Banks, Emmy,Micah,Rory, Emmy's college roommate ( she was the true girls girl)

Worse characters-

Alex wins the crown, i definitely see a divorce

Aydin

The horsemen

Rika, its just because of favoritism.

She had 5 books for her while others barely hat 0.5.

Okay my ranking-

The horsemen (some is holding a gun at my head, i am joking obviously)

Daddy issues- kai

Will

Damon

Michael

The girls, i refuse to call them cowgirls

1. EMMY( she is my baby)

2. Banks

3. Winter, because i have neutral feelings towards her

4. Rika

In hell burning- Alex, who never told a girl about rapist

As for Will, i like the past will, i like the will in fire night. But the present will can die.

Even the past will is going to judge present will.

That's all from me, thanks for this ask, feel free to send more 😊 if you want.

[ladyyy--stardust]

yk as much as i hated logan paul and el americano winning (and i have complicated feelings on cody/cena like i kinda get Why it was underwhelming but yk. felt weird anyways im not sure how else to describe it.)

i enjoyed this wrestlemania ^ otherwise <3 The thriple threats yes were highlights but can we please acknowledge how great some of these other matches were too? LA Knight and Jacob Fatu is underrated as hell I LOVE LOVE LOVEE that match. Jade and Naomi was an CLEAN 10/10 for me. We got Joe Hendry with Randy Orton and a Becky Lynch return. JEY IS A WORLD CHAMPION. DOM IS A MID-CARD CHAMPION AND FINALLY BETRAYED FINN RAAH!!! And honestly? Yes Chad's gimmick is weird but I'm so happy that Rey Fenix and Penta got to be in Wrestlemania this year! Incredibly deserved and both of them KILLED in their matches! That four-way was incredibly from everyone. Idk- I personally really enjoyed most aspects. It's hard to match up to the hype WM 40 had and that's okay! I'm still leaving WM 41 with so many ideas and a lot of interest in most of these storylines so overall I'm pretty happy.

This is the first WM my friends got to watch and it was so so much fun getting to experience their raw reactions and theorize with them this weekend! Literally so much fun and exactly what I needed after this crazy semester. I hope yall have had a good WM weekend too! <3

[cinnamonswanton]

Hiii pal 💜 if you want maybe you can talk about how your wrestling ocs would win the Royal Rumble, since we are in Rumble mood

hai :3

so for anyone who doesn’t know, i currently have 2 wrestling ocs: Willow Richards & Polaris Richards. they are mother & daughter respectively !!!

for Willow, i honestly don’t think she would ever win the rumble, mainly cause she’s now considered retired. so i think she would just show up as a HOF legend 🥺

i could also see Willow showing up in the men’s rumble one year, since she wrestled men for most of her career

as for Polaris, i could actually see her winning in her debut rumble appearance! i see her entering somewhere between 20-30, getting called up from nxt. i could see her & Rhea being the final 2, and then Polaris wins the whole thing! it would definitely make her a big deal on the main roster & she’d probably go for the RAW women’s title (assuming Liv would still have it by the time WM season starts)

i love any chance to talk about my OCs so thank you so much for sending this ask!! 💜

[aeligsido]

[WM] Prompt 28 — Outsider POV.

Rating: G.

Characters: Ginny Weasley, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin; brief appearance of Harry Potter.

Additional Tags: Ginny POV, Ginny & Sirius friendship, established relationship, nightmares, a bit of insomnia, mentions of CoS, trauma.

Summary: Ginny is getting used to Grimmauld Place.

Words count: 852.

A/N: Fun fact, I adore Ginny. Also, I think Sirius would have loved having her as a goddaughter-in-law, just saying. Hope you like it! ❤️

@wolfstarmicrofic

—

Ginny has a hard time sleeping. It’s the unfamiliar environment, added to the general gloom of Grimmauld Place, and, obviously, the whole Voldemort-is-back thing.

Her nightmares are back in full force, now. She was just starting to get rid of them.

Hermione is sleeping soundly in her bed; Ginny slowly, carefully gets up, and out of their shared room. Maybe a glass of water, or some tisane, will help her sleep.

She has barely started making her way toward the stairs when she hears a noise. Reflexively, she hides between shadows and angles and watches as Professor Lupin — Remus? it’s still weird — passes by. He’s carrying two mugs, navigating the hallway with a familiarity she only noticed in Sirius. He keeps on going, up until Sirius’ room where the door opens just as he arrives, and closes right behind him.

Ginny escapes toward the kitchen, and when she’s back in her room some thirty minutes later, she sleeps a bit better.

-

She doesn’t think too much about it, admittedly; she’s probably not the only one having bad nights, and having a friend around is probably a huge help. Ginny doesn’t feel comfortable being vulnerable around Hermione, not to this point, and there’s no way she’ll go to her parents or siblings — they’ll just baby her more, and she doesn’t need more reminders of her mistakes.

Still, two days later she’s clearing out yet another sitting room alone with Sirius when the question blurts out of her mouth.

“Do you have nightmares too?”

Sirius freezes before looking over at her. He doesn’t look surprised, nor even angry — thoughtful, more like.

“Yes,” he answers honestly.

“I thought so,” she says, louder than she intended. “I just, I saw Professor Lupin going into your room last time, so I was wondering.”

Sirius smiles, and she would swear it’s amused, now. “Right.” Then, more serious, “do you?” At her expression, he clarifies, “have nightmares?”

“Oh.” She lowers her head; those days, it’s always at the back of her mind — the Basilik, the fear, the loss of control and the illusion of friendship, and Tom. “Yeah.”

She looks up; Sirius is still looking over at her, open and neutral, and he’s not her ex-teacher or someone who used to be close to her brother or a strict auror or any of her family — but he is an adult and Harry trusts him, and Harry rarely trusts anyone.

“Did anyone ever tell you about my first year?”

“I don’t think so,” he says, and sits down, and he lets her talk.

-

Ginny still wakes up in the middle of the night, sometimes. She still catches Professor Lupin going into Sirius’ room — the first time she doesn't bother to hide, he blushes furiously.

It becomes easier, slowly. They’ve started talking about bringing Harry in, hopefully soon — he’s not going to be happy about it anyways.

Sirius and Lupin are constantly into each other’s personal space, she notices. Maybe it’s how they’ve always been as friends — maybe it’s not. She knows Professor Lupin is living here, but not since when (before them, after Sirius moved in?), or even where his room is (she only ever saw him in Sirius’).

Ginny’s too busy with the house and her homeworks and her terrors to think too much about it.

-

Harry arrives. It’s chaotic for a while, what with the Dementors and the trial and Harry's expected anger, and it’s enough of a distraction that she’s too exhausted to dream at night.

It doesn’t stay this way long. Ginny spends a terrible night where she sleeps very little and cries silently a little too much, and she barely can keep her eyes open the next day.

“Go take a nap,” Sirius tells her as she yawns once again. They’re cleaning a bedroom today.

“I’m fine,” Ginny mutters, before yawning again. In truth, she doesn’t want to be alone; at least, at night, she can focus on Hermione. Now, she doesn’t want to think of what kind of stage it would put her in.

She closes her eyes one, two seconds, and then there’s a hand on her shoulders, steering her away.

“Come on,” Professor Lupin says. “I need to do some research in the library, and there’s a nice sofa to rest on.”

She could protest, she thinks. But when she looks back, Sirius gives her a smile and Harry a slightly confused thumbs up, and she feels more relaxed, somehow.

Ginny falls face first into the sofa. She’s asleep before she knows it.

(Ginny wakes up briefly. There’s a blanket tucked around her, and sunshine passing through the window. Professor Lupin is reading some books, his back turned toward her, and taking notes carefully.

She closes her eyes. She opens them again; Sirius is here, bending over Lupin, his face soft and fond and loving, and Lupin is looking at him just the same way.

They kiss, she thinks, but maybe she just falls asleep again. It doesn’t matter, still; she knows this expression, has seen it so many times before on her parents face.

Guess it’s not just Sirius’ room, then.)

[thlayli-ra]

i think you can be slowly frogboiled into liking sethpunk if punk gets a feud with finn balor and they bring up the occasional ballins reference. thats what happened to me with punkintyre. loyal cmjf fan, couldn't see drew's appeal. and then drew starts saying he needed guidance from punk when he was young and vulnerable, reminiscent of a certain rich brat, and then everything clicks into place!

Ok so;

A) if Punk and Finn had a feud I'd be freaking out because I've wanted that for nearly a decade

and B) I think you're absolutely right that I could be "frogboiled" (LOVE that term btw, I'm stealing that!). I really enjoy their chemistry together, there's a real feeling of hurt between them both. I loved their first promos when Punk came back to WWE and I loved how Seth became collateral damage at MITB thanks to Punk and Drew. Honestly, I didn't even mind Seth as the special guest referee - it was fun and messy - and I got my two brutal matches afterwards.

But the latter part of their feud didn't grab me at all and I think it was because it was TOO similar to the Punkintyre one. I think Seth works better as the wounded mentee abandoned by his mentor as they do actually have a history together but since this angle was already used for Drew/Punk (and MJF/Punk), it lost a lot of its bite.

However, I really enjoyed their match together and was left wanting more! Then seeing them at it in the Rumble piqued my interest again. I need a bit more than trading vague barbs at each other though; I need high stakes, I need drama, I need terrible consequences!

It looks possible that we're getting that in the build-up to WM so I'll watch this space... ☺️