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dream-a-little-bigger-x · 4 years ago

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Don’t Go Breaking My Heart | Charlie Gillespie

Requested by anonymous: Hi! Could you possibly do a Charlie x reader fic where they are filming season 2 & there is a new character (fashion expert/can see ghost/a little bit of enemies with Luke at first) but off screen they are very close (always hanging out/on ig posts & stories/dance partners/they sing karaoke/adventure) & the whole cast likes to tease them about it but they deny any feelings however they are about to film a very important scene that involves their characters & might change everything between them.

Pairing: Charlie Gillespie x reader

Warnings: fluff

Words: 2,789

Season 2. Finally Season 2. Everyone had been hoping, wishing, praying for a season 2 of Julie and The Phantoms, and after months of waiting, Netflix finally picked it up for a second season. After those months, the actors had just to wait a little while longer while the crew wrote up the first drafts of scripts and made it perfectly save for the actors to do their work. Once all of that’s ready and they’re good to go, the cast finally reunite again in Vancouver. They even meet some new cast members. Like you. You had auditioned for the role of Daniela Ramos, Julie’s cousin and Victoria’s daughter, and got it pretty much straight away. Daniela is a fashion student at a High School in Melrose Hill and Julie asks her for some help with costumes for her next gig with her band. To Julie’s surprise, Daniela can actually see the boys, even when they’re not playing, which causes for a lot of trouble in the band and family, especially between Julie and Luke. This is your first big role on the small screen and you’re the most excited you’ve ever been. You met the other cast members at the summer bootcamp before the filming process would start, and though almost everything had to be done with a face mask covering half of everyone’s face, it still was a lot of fun getting to meet everyone and spend the most fun summer ever. Every day, you grew closer and closer to everyone on set, and soon became best friends with Madi, Jadah, Savannah and Tori, doing plenty of sleepovers. Besides the girls, you also grew closer to Charlie, Owen and Jeremy, but mostly Charlie. For some reason, the two of you just clicked instantly. You have the same humor, the same taste of adventure, the same passions and dreams. You, Charlie and Owen even rented a place together to live in for the time being in Vancouver. You got even closer during filming, especially since you and Charlie have a lot of scenes together. “Oh my God, Luke, you’re so annoying!” you yell at him when the two of you are in the garage, taping a scene. It had taken you about ten takes and you still couldn’t help but giggle at the shocked face he pulled every time. “If I’m so annoying, Dani, why do you keep coming back?!” The angry face he pulls resembles that of an angry kitten, which just makes you crack up again. “God dammit, Y/N!” Charlie laughs now too as Kenny yells “Cut!” “Sorry! Sorry, guys! I promise I’m a real actor!” You hold your hands up in defense, then cough to get ready for another take. This time around, you could finally manage to get through it without laughing. “Yes!” Charlie exclaims when Kenny yells “Cut!” again. He holds his hand up for a high five, which you giddily give him. “Do you need any more takes, Kenny?” he asks the man himself. “Nope, you’re good! You can go on your break now!” he pats Charlie’s shoulder. “Nice job, guys!” “Thanks, Kenny,” you say, the smile growing on your face. “I need food, Gillespie,” you tell your best friend, linking your arm with his. “Let’s go get food!” The two of you head down to catering and sit down at a table with a plate full of food. “What are we doing tonight?” he then asks before taking a bite of food. You swallow your bite of food and take a sip from your drink. “Don’t you have a night shoot tonight?” you ask, remembering him saying something about a late call. “No, that’s tomorrow, after our dance rehearsal,” he replies after swallowing the food. “Oh! Okay!” You start thinking of things to do, “We could go to karaoke? Bring the others maybe?” He raises his eyebrows, looking at you questionably. “I’ve always loved karaoke,” you shrug with a giggle. “Yeah, okay!” Charlie nods his head agreeingly. “Karaoke it is!” The two of you smile up at each other, teeth showing, both of you glowing. “What are you love birds discussing?” Owen asks when he joins them, his voice muffled from the mask covering his face. He pulls it down to under his chin as he and Jeremy join the two at the table. “We’re thinking about going to karaoke tonight with the whole team!” you tell them, completely ignoring the ‘love birds’. “Ooh, fun!” Owen exclaims with a smile that nearly reaches his ears. “Yeah, we’ll leave after shooting the last scene tonight,” Charlie suggests, looking at you for confirmation. You nod your head agreeingly. That night, you and the rest of the cast head to the nearest karaoke place you know. You’ve linked arms with Savannah and Tori, giggling through the night, trying to keep your balance on your heeled boots. Meanwhile, without you realizing, Charlie has been keeping his eyes on you the whole way there. He finds it adorable how your giggle floats through the night air and your hips bump against the other girls’. He couldn’t lie, you had easily become the light in his life. “So, what song shall we begin with?” you ask the gang as you settle into the booth. “Pick the first one on the list,” Jeremy replies when no one else does. You nod your head curtly and press play on the first song, which is Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi. You can already tell after that first song; tonight is going to be a fun night. You sing a couple of songs with the girls, there are many group numbers, and you even sing one with your roommates. After singing with Owen and Charlie, the latter points at you. “We’re going to sing together now!” he exclaims excitedly before turning around and picking a song for you to sing. When he’s picked one, he grabs your hand to pull you closer towards him. You blink a couple of times, unable to process what’s happening right now. The opening notes to Don’t Go Breaking My Heart by Elton John and Kiki Dee chime through the booth. You glance over at Savannah and Tori, who offer you an encouraging smile. Then you look at Jadah and Madison, but they’re too busy giggling and whispering, and it makes you wonder if that’s about you and Charlie. Your eyes dart over to the boys – Jeremy, Owen and Sacha – who just offer you suggestive smiles and eyebrow-wiggles. Charlie’s voice captures your attention again, and you turn to him. “I couldn’t if I tried,” you sing back to him. The encouraging smile on Charlie’s face calms you down a little up to the point where it almost seems like the two of you are the only people in the room. You have no clue what is happening or why it’s happening. All you know is that you’ve wanted it to happen sooner. Though you wouldn’t ever admit that to anyone. It’s the way he looks at you and the way he makes you feel like you’re the only person on this planet that matters. It’s been the way he’d looked at you since that first day of meeting him. “I won't go breaking your heart,” you sing the very last line to him ever so softly, not even looking at the screen anymore, but instead, looking into his eyes. “Don't go breaking my heart,” he sings back. The song ends and you both lower your microphones, staring into each other’s eyes. If it wasn’t for the rest of the cast breaking out into cheers and applause, you would’ve kissed him then and there. But it startles you, and you step away from him upon realizing how close you are and how that must look to the others. “So, when’s the wedding?” Madison asks teasingly, which makes the others laugh, and you blush. After that night at karaoke, the two of you had silently agreed to forget anything ever happened. Savannah said you were in denial, but you believed you weren’t. You told her it was just the atmosphere in the air that night, the both of you had consumed a little bit of alcohol and it might’ve just been that. No one stopped teasing you though. On every possible occasion, they’d ask you if you’d kissed him yet, or when your next date it, or started singing Don’t Go Breaking My Heart randomly. You just shook it off every time, finding it amusing how consumed the cast was with this ‘relationship’ you had with Charlie. There was nothing more going on than just a really, really tight friendship. Until the dance scene happened. Your character, Dani, was supposed to go to a school dance with her crush, but she was nervous because she had never slow danced with anyone before. When she tells Luke, he insisted on teaching her, saying he’d gone to plenty of school dances back in ’94 and ’95 before he died. You and Charlie know this choreography by heart, you’ve been doing it for weeks on end at bootcamp and during rehearsals. It had always just been fun and games, the two of you being immaculate dancers and bouncing off of each other so well because of your tight friendship. “I could teach you?” Charlie says as Luke, stepping closer to you. You raise your eyebrows at him. “I’ve gone to numerous dances in my days, Dani…” One corner of his mouth curls up into a teasing smirk. “Unless you want to embarrass yourself in front of… Jake.” He emphasizes the name of your fictional crush, to which you react with wide eyes and a blush spreading on your cheeks. “Come on, Dani!” He reaches out for your hand, which you place hesitantly in his. Dani being able to see ghosts, is also able to make them corporeal. The lights on set dim a little, except for one spot on the pair in the middle of the studio, and then the music starts playing through the speakers. Charlie starts singing the song they’d learned at bootcamp, one the cast wrote together during the quarantine. The atmosphere in the studio has suddenly become really intense. You can feel the butterflies erupting in your stomach as the man in front of you sings to you, mere inches away from each other as he leads you in this beautiful dance Paul Becker and Tori Caro choreographed for you. Just like at the karaoke booth, it feels like the two of you are the only people on set. Just you and him. You and Charlie. You and your best friend. There’s no denying you have feeling for him anymore. You knew you did, you just told yourself it wasn’t a good idea and suppressed those feelings, pushing them down. It worked for a while. Until now. “Cut!” Kenny yells after your scene. You step away from Charlie, glancing down at the floor as you try your hardest to hide your flustered face. “That was perfect, guys! It really looks like the two of you were in love!” he claps his hands in excitement, then tells them to do it again. After four takes of the dance, Kenny tells you to go and take a break. Without saying another word to Charlie, you rush off set and towards your trailer where you sit down on a chair, trying to calm your breathing. Charlie might not like you the way you like him. Admitting to these feelings might just ruin everything the two of you have. With this in mind, you grab your phone and text Savannah, asking her to come over to your trailer. Maybe she could help you. “Are you okay?” she asks when she enters and finds you staring at the ceiling. “No…” you reply and take a deep breath, “I think I’m in love with my best friend?” “Oh, sweetie…” Savannah sighs, and pulls you up to take you in a hug, “I know…” You pull her away again to face her properly. “What do you mean ‘you know’?” “Everybody knows,” she starts, “The two of you have been inseparable since the day you met, and everyone can see the way you look at each other. Plus, your duet the other night was a little intense for it to be a platonic one.” She chuckles, and you can’t help but chuckle too. She then grabs her phone from her back pocket, opening Instagram. “You know fans have caught on too, right?” She shows you the comments on some of Charlie’s pictures on his account. One picture is of the two of you, napping in Julie’s bed on set, cuddled up. He even posted pictures from your hikes on your days off. All of them are bombarded with comments from fans saying, ‘I ship it!’ or ‘Y/S/N’. Sav then opens her dm’s which are flooded with fans asking if you and Charlie are dating yet, and how the two of them are so in love with each other. “Charlie isn’t in love with me?” you deny, not believing one bit about it. “He is, though…” This does not come from Savannah’s mouth. Your eyes widen when you recognize the voice, and peek behind Savannah to find your best friend standing at your open trailer door. “Sav, can you give us a minute?” he asks the younger girl. “More than a minute,” she chirps, offering you a wink before leaving the trailer. Charlie steps in completely and moves until he’s in front of you. He takes your hands in his, and chuckles at your overwhelmed and confused expression. “Are you okay?” he asks, that beautiful smile of his persistent on his face. “Y—yeah? No? I’m not sure?” you sigh, trying to get your thoughts in order. “Charlie, wha—?” “Can I talk? I’ve been going over this conversation in my mind a billion times, and if I don’t say it now, I think I’m going to forget what I’m supposed to say…” You nod your head in response. “Y/N, I’ve been in love with you since the very first time I saw you walking in at bootcamp. You looked adorable with your little nervous smile and your polite hellos to everybody. I knew from that moment on that I wanted to get to know you better, and that I wanted to become more than just friends…I didn’t think you’d feel the same way, so I told myself that it was okay if we’d just stay friends. Especially since your character kind of hates mine and you bring Dani to life so convincingly, that I was almost sure you hated me too,” you chuckle at that, “But I can’t hide it anymore, Y/N. I am so embarrassingly in love with you that I could’ve kissed you after that scene we just did and that I could kiss you right now even though I’m—” before he can finish his sentence, you lean up and crash your lips onto his, your hands flying into his hair. He’s a little startled at first, but quickly melts into the kiss and presses you closer to him. “I am so embarrassingly in love with you too, Charlie,” you whisper when you pull away, pressing your forehead against his. “They’re going to be so relieved,” you tell him with a chuckle. He frowns his eyebrows at you. “Who?” he asks. You take his hand in yours and lead him towards the door of your trailer, pushing it open and making it bump against whoever was closest to the door. All of your cast mates scramble, trying to act natural while Owen rubs his forehead since he was the one that got a door in his face. “Ah, them!” Charlie chuckles. “Thanks for the door in my face, guys,” Owen says disgruntled. “That’s on you, buddy,” you tell him with a grin. “Don’t you guys have a scene to shoot or something?” Their eyes widen at the realization and, after yelling at the two how happy they are for them, rush to set in a hurry. “So, where were we?” Charlie turns back to you when everyone’s gone. “Don’t you have a scene with them?” “Shit!” he grumbles and jumps off the small steps in front of the trailer. He starts running towards set but turns around almost immediately to you and kisses your lips quickly, but sweetly, and then runs off. You watch him with an amused smile on your face. There was nothing to be afraid about after all and nothing changed between you two. You were still the best of friends, just friends that kiss and are in love with each other. But both of you happy.

Taglist: @hannahhistorian92 @marinettepotterandplagg @thequirkybookaholic @parkeret @lukeys-giggle @gingerxarmy @lovesanimals

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naktergalen · 4 years ago

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Rivamika Fic Suggestions List 2

Hey there again! It’s been a while since my last rivamika post and I apologies for that. I caught the reading bug and have just been hitting book after book. I might be doing a book of the month suggestion starting in March. I’m still thinking about it but if that is something your interested in let me know. Or if you just want book suggestions just message or ask me. But for now, I’m back with my second Rivamika Fic Suggestions List.

First of all, I want to thank you for all the comments and messages I received from my first list! I think it has over 150 notes now which is crazy for me. I was going to be ecstatic if it got like 10 likes or something hahaha! I’ve enjoyed talking to some of you about fics and other snk stuff. Feel free to do the same after this post! I know I take awhile to respond but swear I get there eventually.

Same rules as last time. I’ve split this list up into four categories. I wanted to let people know the status of some of these fics in case they did not want to start an incomplete or in progress story. All of these fics can be found on AO3. I’m going to try to link them but we will see how tumblr acts today. If you have any fic suggestions for me, feel free to message me with them and I can add them on to the next list. If any author sees their story on here and wants me to take it off the list, please let me know I don’t wish to make anyone feel uncomfortable. Also, last thing, I highly recommend leaving comments and kudos to the authors. I know that they greatly appreciate it and it helps them with improving their writing through feedback. Okay shutting up now, ON WITH THE LIST!

DISCLAIMER: I know that not all of these stories are not for everyone, these are just my opinions and suggestions.

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Completed:

- Thunder Clouds

Author: K_Lionheart

Rating: Mature

Sometimes I like to go to the very back of the Rivamika archive on AO3 and look for fics that have gotten buried over time. Low and behold what I have found lol! I enjoyed the emotional roller coaster when I was reading this fic, though sometimes I wanted to pull my hair out. Set after the titans are gone, humanity has to repopulate so arranged couples by the monarch are made to be wed. While this new order is being enforced, Mikasa and Levi are trying to work out their strained relationship. A slow burn with angst that will have you staying up till 3am dying to know what happens next. I know that there is a sequel to this fic called Nimbus and I’m slowly working my way through that one. Honestly, it will probably go on my next list.

- Red is the Only Colour

Author: mongoose_bite

Rating: Mature

A cute fic that was a quick but wild ride. A Little Red Riding Hood type of AU where Mikasa is a hunter of some sorts traveling through a town. I don’t want to say how Levi plays into all of this since it gets border line spoilers but just know that he is there. It is an opening ending fic for the author to come back if they plan on doing so but it can be interpreted in different ways. All in all, a fic worth of the quick read.

- Sing Me a Song

Author: LazyTrash

Rating: Mature

First I have to get this off my chest, I love the author’s name hahaha! I freakin wished I would have thought of that for mine! Anyway, this fic is wonderful but I will warn you that its a gut punch. If you like hurt and angst put together, then this is the story for you. I love these types of fics because I adore them so much but they hurt me in my soul. I don’t know what that says about me but whatever. I don’t want to delve into the story too much for spoilers but I would suggest rivamika fans to check this one out.

- Midnight Musings

Author: Raewyll

Rating: Teen

I just started to read Raewyll’s fics so I’m slowly working my way through all her works. This one caught my eye and I had to read it. This is a cute take on a chance meeting through texting the wrong number. I love the way Levi and Mikasa’s relationship blossoms into something more serious after causally texting back and forth. It’s one of those stories that I can only describe as being cute as shit! I’m definitely going to be checking out more of Raewyll’s fic in the future.

Ongoing:

- Beyond the Walls

Author: helena3190

Rating: Matue

If you love RIvamika angst, then look no further than this baby right here. This is currently my favorite ongoing fic. It was supposed to be a shorter story, but the author keeps adding more chapters so I’m not complaining hahaha! This fic is pretty much how I would *personally* picture canon Mikasa on how she would deal with realizing that she’s falling in love with someone. Its mostly told in the perspective of Mikasa as she is dealing with the after effects of war and trying to figure out what should she do with her life now that she is no longer a solider. Her feeling for Levi come with a lot of confusion as she’s discovering emotions that she has never felt before. She has a hard time pinpointing on what exactly describes her relationship with him. I’m anxiously waiting for the final chapter for this fic and dying to see how it will end for Mikasa and Levi.

- After the War

Author: loneackerman

Rating: Mature

I am loving this rivamika slow burn fic right here. Its similar to Beyond the Walls but I think the author adds their own taste of the 1920s into it. Set after the war is over (obviously), Mikasa and Levi have to figure out what they are going to do the rest of their lives. It has great tension, a perfectly paced gradual romance and just the right amount of humor to combat the emotional turmoil it puts you through. Again in my opinion, this is close to how I would realistically perceive Levi and Mikasa’s relationship evolving. I’m really enjoying this story and I’m looking forward to more updates to come!

- The Sound of Lightning

Author: LycheeGreenTea

Rating: Mature

A new fic that is just getting started but I can tell that what the author has in store is going to be interesting. Set several years after the end of the war, Levi and Mikasa are loving parents to a single child. Their peaceful life comes to an end when the family has a threat against them. There are not many long fics about Mikasa and Levi being parent so I was very happy when this one popped up on the AO3 feed. An exciting adventure awaits the Ackerman family now and I can’t wait to see where this fic goes in the future. There are three chapters as of now so head over there and check it out.

Incomplete:

- Home

Author: MissErikaCourt

Rating: Mature

One of the gems I found when diving back into the Rivamika archive. Ugh I HATE that this fic is incomplete!!! Its a good long fic but I’m greedy and I need more! I will give a warning first that this fic does contain heavy themes. Mikasa and Levi are in the underground to fight against a criminal ring. This story is a slow burn with action and emotional trauma. There is a wonderfully written OC that you easily get attached to its not even funny. Even though its not completed, I would highly recommend checking it out. I still have three more chapters to finish but I had to put it on this list. I know that I’m going to be pissed once I reach the last chapter written. If someone know MissErikaCourt, let her know that she needs to comeback to finish this masterpiece!

- Shiver

Author: bornsinner

Rating: Mature

Another one that I DISPISE its incomplete!!! Ugh such a great Office AU. It’s everything that I would want in an Office AU setting. Mikasa struggles between her committed long term relationship and her growing attraction (which starts to develop into some feelings) to her boss, Levi. Its hot, sexy and intriguing and it pisses me off that its not finished! The author writes each chapter as a one-shot but collectively together they tell the whole story. Highly recommend even though its so short. BORNSINNER where ever you are in the universe I hope you come back to finish this!!!

- Two Lines

Author: Crejhov

Rating: Mature

When this was getting updated it was my favorite on-going Rivamika fic. I would find myself checking to see if the author updated with a new chapter every week! The unplanned pregnancy trope is a classic one, but Crejhov does a fantastic job on keeping readers enthralled with soo many anticipated character meet up that are bound to cause hurdles for our expecting parents. This story is told from the perspectives of Mikasa and Levi in order for us to understand where their mindsets are as they plan for their expecting child and deal with their relationship. AHHHHH I want more of this!!! I was soo excited to see where this awkward journey was going to take Mikasa and Levi. CREJHOV COME BACK PLEASE I KNOW YOU HAVE WORK BUT PLEAAASEEEE! I NEEEEEEDDDD!!!

- Cabin Fever

Author: AmayaOkami

Rating: Mature

All I should have to say about this is that its written by AmayaOkami and that should explain it. Amaya is the one that gave us the beautiful incomplete rivamika fic Romance and Rivalry. I just adore her writing. Levi and Mikasa relationship evolves as they are standing guard over the arrested Kenny Ackerman. Secrets are discover about the Ackermans and it gets pretty steamy between our two favs. Great fluff and great sexual tension that leaves you wanting more chapters! Again AmayaOkami where ever you went I hope for some miracle that you come back and complete this one too!

One-Shot:

- Jade

Author: shulkie

Rating: Mature

This one-shot feels like I read a novel, it has such a great storyline. An arranged marriage between Mikasa and Levi leaves the relationship strained in the beginning. Their relationship evolves over time as Levi patiently brings down Mikasa’s wall. With smut added for all of your one-shot needs. Definitely worth the read in my opinion.

- What Remains

Author: Mirime

Rating: Mature

This one-shot gives us a glimpse into the secret relationship that Levi and Mikasa have been having while there are still scouts. This fic is sad but I would say it has a bittersweet ending. I think this was supposed to be part of a collection but I can’t find the rest of them. Still a great read by itself.

- Agape

Author: alienheartattack (Sanneke)

Rating: Mature

This fic is cute as shit! A College AU where Mikasa and Levi are childhood friends. Levi has to deal with Mikasa being at the same college as him while he is struggling with his changing feelings towards a grown up Mikasa. Worth the read as I said cute as shit, leaves you all warm and fuzzy lol!

- As Seen in Shadows

Author: MoraLeeWright

Rating: Explicit

FUCKING MORA! LEE! WRIGHT! UFFFFGGHHH Fuck I’m in love with her writing style. I really have nothing to say more that just go read it! Its hot and sexy and the sexual tension is off the fucking charts in this one. Its just MoraLeeWright smut thats all I can say. It’s great! JUST READ IT LMAO!

- Remedy

Author: NSummer

Rating: Mature

Another hot smut one-shot coming your way! Levi and Mikasa have had an ongoing affair and this just recounts their first time together. Its just some good ol’ Rivamika smut that I think that everyone in this community would enjoy.

- Nutty: Drunk in Love

Author: Hallow17

Rating: Mature

A fun smut to read about Mikasa getting “revenge” on her asshole boss, Levi. Things don’t go the way she plans as things get a little heated in the sexy way. A quick smut that I think is perfect for a little Rivamika crave.

- Spicy: Jalapeno

Author: Hallow17

Rating: Explicit

Another fun smut to read by Hallow17. Levi has been stressed out at work and Mikasa finds a way to help him get his mind off it (if you know what i mean). Again perfect for a Rivamika quick fix.

#rivamika #rivamika fic #levimika #mikasa x levi #levi x mikasa #Levikasa #levi and mikasa #mikasa and levi

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lancearcherinrippedjeans · 3 years ago

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Eternity - Chapter 6

***********

And we are BACK folks! Did you guys miss us?

Shoutout to @adriii-omega cause she wrote MOST of this chapter while Parker, (me, lancearcherinrippedjeans) has school and was sick!

***********

Starring - The MAGNIFICENT OC’s, Kenny Omega, Ricky Starks, The Best Friends, Private Party, Excalibur, Taz, Brian Cage, The Young Bucks and Tony Khan

Word Count - 6,792

Category - Fluff, tiniest bits of angst, comedy

6/?

Summary - The tournament is finally starting, how will it go with Nova on commentary?

Warning - Cussing, drinking, slight possesivness

Other author’s notes - Private Party are the STARS of this chapter, and this might look a little weird cause it was posted on mobile, also, follow @adriii-omega

***********

“First you leave me out of the tournament, and now you want me to go out on TV and play commentator?” Nova huffed, as she tried her best not to upset her boss; Tony Khan. “I know you’re not happy about being excluded , but I promise we have plans for you to do big things here in AEW,” he stood in front of her to block her path, “Plus, it’s only Youtube.” Nova let out a long sigh, “For how long?”

“Just until you become a fan favorite, you know like…” Tony stopped mid-sentence, trying to rethink his words. “Like Sawyer and Veronica?” Nova asked, already annoyed. “The fans are going to love you, I promise,” Tony grabbed the cream-colored folder off his desk and handed it to Nova, “This is the match card for tonight. Excalibur should have more info on all of the competitors, but you should know most of them.”

“You could just say Sawyer, Veronica, and Ricky. I promise you won’t hurt my feelings,” Nova joked, heading for the door, “Thank you Tony, but I hope this isn’t a waste of my time.” She shut the door, opening up the folder, and looking over the card for tonight.

She smiled to herself, looking at her friend’s names for the first round of the tournament. A long shadow caught her eye, causing her to look up and seeing Team Taz walking right her way. She gave a small wave to Ricky, making him turn all his attention that was on Taz onto her.

Ricky jogged over, “What weird stuff do they got you doing this week?”

Nova smirked, looking at Taz who was already annoyed they had to stop, “Well, I’m gonna be on commentary tonight!” She announced, plastering on a smile she definitely didn’t have in Tony’s office. “Does that mean you’ll be out there for my match?” his brows perked up in anticipation, “I’ll have the best seat in the house.” she laughed. Brian smiled as Ricky planted a kiss onto Nova’s cheek. Taz cleared his throat loudly, “Well if you guys are done making goo-goo eyes at each other, we gotta get going.” he pointed at his watch symbolizing the time.

“What are you talking about? The show doesn’t start for another two hours?” Cage spoke up from behind them. Nova and Ricky let out a small chuckle at Taz’s new expression. He stood with his mouth agape, darting his eyes at the FTW champion, “Thanks, Brian for correcting me,” he said through gritted teeth. “Is there anyone else that would like to make me look like a complete idiot?” He said through a fake smile. Nova raised her hand, “If it makes you feel better…I’m not on the card tonight,” Taz gave her an obvious expression. “Why would you be-”

“Instead I’ll be sitting next to you on commentary!” She gave him a bright smile, as his smirk disappeared. “The-the whole show…?”

“All twenty-four matches!”

“Oh HELL NO!! AYO TONY!?” Taz angrily marched down the hallway leaving Cage, Starks, and Nova in a laughing fit. “I can’t believe you,” Ricky said through laughs. “I don’t think I've ever seen him that mad.” Cage jokes, “Or run that fast.” He added, causing them to continue their laughter. “Poor Tony.” Ricky pointed, as an annoyed Tony Khan tried to reason with a loud mouth Taz. “I’m going to make sure he doesn’t get fired, I’ll catch up with you guys later.” He said while jogging down the hall. Ricky finally caught his breath and held his hand out. “Come on, I want to spend time together before you and Taz kill each other.” he smiled, making her giggle. “I’m looking forward to it, maybe I can get him to… hate me less?” Ricky chuckled before placing a kiss on her forehead, “You’re lucky Excalibur will be out there.”

“And making her way to commentary… The SuperNova Jay!” Justin Roberts introduced, as the small audience of professional wrestlers cheered. “It’s a pleasure to be able to sit next to you,” Excalibur started, “You haven’t even said anything and you’re already better than Taz!”

“Shut up Excalibur,” Taz grunted.

Nova smoothed out her dress before taking her seat. “I’m so happy to be here.” She gave a smile as the camera was on her. “It’s been such an amazing few weeks for you already here in AEW, first you officially signed with All Elite Wrestling, and now two of your closest friends; Veronica and Sawyer are competing tonight for a chance to challenge Hikaru Shida for the AEW women’s championship.” Nova nodded, as Excalibur opened his mouth to ask a question, but was cut off, “I have a question for you Nova,” Taz joined in, “How does it feel that your own BEST FRIENDS are worthy enough of participating in this tournament, and you are…out sitting on the sidelines?” Taz smirked, as he saw Nova bite the inside of her cheek. Excalibur looked between them trying his best to move forward. Luckily Sawyer’s theme music began to play causing the tension to be lifted.

It was towards the middle of the match when Sawyer and Madi were tied up in the corner. “I’m going to try an arm drag-” Sawyer whispered, so only she could hear it. “No, you aren’t. I am not letting you look stronger than me,” Madi attempted to kick Sawyer in the stomach, but failed, as she lost her balance. Taz face planted himself, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more unfocused wrestler than Wrenkowski.” He complained as they slightly laughed, “Thank god Sawyer is one of the most professional women wrestlers there is,” Nova started, “You see I’ve known both of these females for quite a long time and this rivalry trails way further back than you would think.”

“Is that so…please tell us more,” Excalibur asked with interest. Nova began to speak but instead looked over and saw Taz staring at her with a half-smile. “Well, for starters Madi had ALWAYS been jealous of Sawyer. Though unfortunately, she was the champion at the time, Sawyer always got all of the attention, and that’s something Madi always wants.” They both nodded understanding, shortly later hearing the bell ring.

“Here is your winner: Sawyer Holden!” Justin’s voice echoed throughout the arena. She slowly stood up, allowing her hand to be raised by Aubrey Edwards. Nova sent an evil grin to Madi Wrenkowski as she clenched her neck from the Canadian Destroyer that was given to her. She rolled her eyes before stomping off through the tunnel. Veronica sat with the Young Bucks at the monitor watching everything go down. Nick let out a sigh, as Madi walked past them knocking over a few trash cans in frustration. “God, she’s so annoying,” he commented, making Veronica laugh. “Good thing you don’t have to go against her,” Matt chimed in, “I wouldn’t be able to take it.” They nodded in agreement just as Sawyer made her way back. She sent a small smile their way earning a thumbs up from Matt. “Are you guys still upset with each other?” he nudged Veronica, as she looked over and saw Sawyer in deep conversation with a group of wrestlers. “No, we’re cool.” She half lied. The brothers gave each a look, knowing something was off.

“Hey have you guys seen Kenny?” she spoke up, trying to get the conversation changed from her and Sawyer. Nick sighed, “He’s getting ready for his match with Sonny tonight since Janela was taken out.” She mouthed an “O” before grabbing her phone and opening the messaging app.

Is everything alright? Nick just told me Joey is out.

The next match had started, and Penelope Ford was going against Allie. Shortly later her phone buzzed.

Kenny: Everything is fine. Where are you at??

Sitting next to the Bucks, my match is coming up soon.

Kenny: I'm on my way over there, see you in a bit.

A smile crept up onto Veronica’s face as she began to watch the match. On the other side of the hall, Sawyer stood next to her friend: Chuck Taylor.

“I don’t know man,” she whined, “I don’t think she even wants to look at me.” Chuck rolled his eyes before placing both hands on her shoulders. “SAWYER. GO. ASK. HER.” He gave her a push before leaning against the wall. Everything was headed smoothly, as she made her way next to where Veronica was sitting…

“Hey V!” she piped, causing The Young Bucks to give her a hard stare. Veronica smiled as she leaned back into her chair, “I was wondering after the show tonight we could go to our favorite restaurant. Just us three - like old times.”

A voice cleared their throat from behind making Sawyer turn around. A perplexed Kenny Omega looked over at the group. “Don’t mind me. I just came to see my GIRLFRIEND.” He shot a look at Sawyer, before walking behind Veronica’s chair, “You were saying?” he smirked. Sawyer’s face grew with anger before she turned on her heels, “Just forget about it.” she mumbled. Chuck watched in disgust as Kenny began to laugh. Veronica bit her tongue until she heard the bell ring meaning her match was soon. “Sawyer, wait,” she called out, causing everyone to look at her. “I’ll be there. Meet me in the parking lot at 9?” she suggested. Sawyer held back her stun expression before nodding and walking off with Chuck as he made an “L” gesture with his finger and pointed at Omega.

The Bucks looked between the two, “We’re going to head back to the locker room now, we’ll see you guys later.” Nick scratched the back of his neck, as Matt gave them both a tight lip smile and followed his brother. Penelope Ford came back with enthusiasm since she would be advancing to the semi-finals against Sawyer. She gave a quick hug to Veronica, congratulated her, and went to celebrate with her fiancé. Veronica began to walk towards the tunnels as she noticed her opponent, Serena Deeb, was warming up.

“Are we going to talk about it?” Kenny spoke up, making her stop in her tracks.

“Is there really anything to talk about? I'm going to get dinner. That’s it.”

“But seriously? With…HER?” he scoffed, “When will you finally see she is no good?” Veronica turned around walking slowly towards her boyfriend, “Babe, you don’t understand how Sawyer and I’s friendship works…we’re fine.”

“I don’t buy it. I am trying to protect you. I am trying to protect US.” he ran his hands through his hair, “Kenny….” “She doesn’t like me, Veronica! She’s trying to break us up because she thinks you deserve better,” He stopped his rant, before giving a sly laugh, “But honestly…it doesn’t get better than me.” He clicked his tongue, before lifting her chin, and planting a soft kiss on her lips. “I love you, don’t ever forget that.”

Back out at the commentary table, Excalibur and Nova went over some of the other matches, while Taz stayed rather quiet compared to how he usually is. “And the main event for this evening, Veronica Rodriguez vs Serena Deeb in a semi-final qualifying match for the AEW Women’s championship tournament,” Nova announced happily, looking between the monitor and the stage for what was coming next.

Ricky Starks’ theme came blasting out the sound system of Daily’s Place, and both Nova and Taz snapped their heads towards the tunnel. Ricky walked out, playing air guitar and looking over at commentary. “Ricky Starks is one of the most charismatic and talented wrestlers there is now,” Taz started, hyping up his client, “Just look! Look at the physique!”

Nova shook her head, “I couldn’t agree more, Taz.” She stumbled, too busy watching Ricky to even get her words out.

Ricky looked towards the commentary table, Taz yelled some stuff at him, before Ricky looked directly at Nova. He winked, then blew her a kiss, looking back at the ring and climbing in to start his match.

“AYO STARKS!” Taz yelled, even though Ricky didn’t look over, “THAT WAS UNPROFESSIONAL!” Nova giggled to herself, looking down at the monitor to watch her man wrestle. Excalibur looked at Taz, who was still frustrated, before looking back at Nova, “Hey Nova you look a little red there? Everything alright?”

Nova smiled, Taz glared, “Shut up Excalibur!” They both shouted in unison, in two completely different tones.

Nova knew she couldn’t be like this the whole match. If she couldn’t wrestle, this was one of the ways to showcase herself, she couldn’t mess it up.

Taz and Excalibur went on about the match and each opponent, when she spoke up, “I think everyone can agree that something changed once Ricky stepped into AEW. I mean there isn’t a star like him. He moves quickly, he’s entertaining, his theme is so catchy, honestly Taz, I think you hit the jackpot with this one,” Nova smiled at him, he opened his mouth to speak when she continued, “I mean, between Ricky and Cage, they’re on fire. Just imagine them without you.”

Excalibur tried to hold in his laughter, Taz snapped his head over at Nova, “Now hold on just a second-” The bell rang, interrupting Taz. “Here is your winner: Ricky Starks!”

Nova smiled proudly at Ricky, as he made his way back to the tunnel. He gave her one last wink, before turning around, barely even looking at Taz. “While that match was very entertaining, let’s move onto our next matchup of the night, Nyla Rose vs Abadon!” Excalibur announced, straightening his suit.

The match went quickly, Nyla Rose would face whoever wins against Veronica and Serena. The camera was shot at the commentary table, and the three looked up. Nova smiled at the camera, listening to Excalibur announce the rest of the week’s matches. “And tomorrow night, make sure to catch Wardlow and Hangman in the semi-finals for an opportunity at the AEW World Championship.” Nova looked away from Excalibur and to the camera, clearing her voice, “And make sure you don’t miss Being The Elite on Monday, the best Youtube comedy show,” Nova paused, “But how about our main event tonight? I don’t know about you guys but I am bouncing off the walls excited.”

Excalibur smiled, “I’ve been waiting for this match before the night even started.” Veronica’s theme music played, she walked out, looking around the small crowd of people before looking over to Nova. “Hey girl! That’s my best friend! Kick some ass!” Veronica smiled, even more hyped up after the words from Nova.

“Now unlike Sawyer, no offense bestie, Veronica has held so many championships. She beat both of us in a title match a few years ago.” Nova mentioned, as Veronica set her shades down.

“Now Nova I have to ask, how do you think this match will end,” Excalibur looked over to her, “While Veronica is very strong and could make anyone tap...Serena Deeb is also-” “Yeah yeah she’s a yoga instructor, look at her record. Veronica is one of the best there is now. I don’t think we should underestimate her, Excalibur,” Taz interrupted, looking at the monitor to watch the match. “Took the words right out of my mouth.” Nova mumbled, focusing on the action in the ring.

Veronica finally got the upperhand, pulling Serena into a submission move. Deeb tapped on the mat, and Veronica stood, not able to hold back the smile on her face. She let Bryce Remsburg raise her hand, winking into the main camera.

“That main event was off the charts. I can’t wait for next week.” Nova said. “Yes, but first you have to catch AEW Dynamite tomorrow night on TNT,” Excalibur announced, looking to Nova to take it away, “Of course, one of the best parts of the week, I can’t wait to be back next week for commentary everyone, goodnight!”

The crew called out that the cameras were off, and Nova let go of a giant breath. “That was outstanding for your first time,” Excalibur complimented, “Can’t wait for next week.” He shook her hand before leaving the table, Nova being only with Taz. She looked over at him nervously, before he stood up, holding out his hand, “Not bad, kid. You’ll do just fine these next few weeks.” Nova shook his hand, smiling out of disbelief as he walked away.

Time Skip

The girls all laughed as they took a seat at their table. “You made Madi look like she could wrestle,” Nova insulted as Veronica nodded. “I think it may have been her best match yet.” The waiter placed a basket of rolls on the table mentioning he would be back shortly to take their orders. Sawyer reached in and took a bite. “Your match with Serena was really exciting , a couple of the wrestlers gathered around to watch. It was great.” Veronica smiled, “Thank you, it means a lot…but let's talk about Ricky blowing that kiss to Nova. You guys must be serious.” She wooed, as Nova rolled her eyes. “Taz was totally cock blocking though,” Sawyer added, making them burst out in laughter. Veronica’s phone started going off on the table making her sigh. She set the phone on silent and placed it in her purse.

“What does he want now?” Nova groaned. “Probably wanting to know her exact location this time,” Sawyer mumbled as she placed another roll in her hands. Veronica let out a small chuckle, having it fade quickly as she began to play with her fingers. “He’s just worried about me,” she started. “I can’t blame him. It can be a bit much at times, but he loves-”

“Eck, don’t use that word. I can’t believe you almost said that word.” Sawyer rambled. “You ain’t use it for anyone else, don’t start now.” Veronica opened her mouth to argue but was cut off as the waiter arrived putting the conversation aside for the moment. Once the waiter left, Nova snapped her head over to Sawyer, “But I must ask you, Sawyer, what’s going on with you and Mr. Chuck Taylor?”

Sawyer almost spit out the very expensive champagne, “What?”

“Oh c’mon. If you and Wardlow aren’t together, there has to be something between you and Chuck,” Veronica hinted, Sawyer just shook her head, “No way. No way! He and I are just best friends. And he would’ve tried already.”

Veronica and Nova exchanged a sly look, they knew Sawyer was oblivious, but for now, they planned to focus on the appetizer.

For the most part - the dinner went great. There were no more topics about Kenny (who seemed to be the main problem), and they all ate until they were stuffed, not having to worry about the bill at the end.

“Well if it isn’t the three most beautiful ladies in AEW.” A voice shouted through the hotel lobby. Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen danced their way over with their million-dollar smiles glowing. “What y'all been up to?” Veronica grinned. Marq placed his arm around Nova causing her to flick it off.

“Just came back from training with Matt, nothing too exciting.” Isiah crossed his arms, leaning on the nearest wall. “You started freaking out didn’t you?” Sawyer questioned.

“Just a little bit.” Kassidy giggled as he started cheering. “It was Matt HARDY. Can you blame me?” He began to do the famous Hardy Boy dance before remembering he was in public and cleared his throat. “Anyways, we came to see if you guys wanted to do something tonight. We barely had the chance to hang out yet.”

“Sure why not? We have nothing better else to do.” Nova shrugged. “I’m cool with it, as long as Veronica is too,” Sawyer adds. The thought of having a good night with some of her friends fogged her memory, as she spoke before she got the chance to think, “Come over in about thirty minutes.”

Nova had walked to the nearest grocery store to gather a couple of items before Marq and Isiah would be coming over. “I feel like this night could go incredibly wrong if we’re not careful.” Sawyer brought it up. “How so?” Veronica laughed. “Just imagine, all of us? DRUNK? That sets up for disaster already.” Her attention was taken off of Sawyer when her phone began to ring again. She almost answered, before looking at the caller ID. She stared at it for a bit, before a pillow was flung at her.

“Veronica? Are you even listening to me?”

“No, sorry. Kenny was calling-” She looked back at Sawyer who sat with a blank expression. “Don’t look at me like that! I didn’t even answer.”

“But did you want to?” Sawyer crossed her arms. “Maybe...I just haven’t talked to him since the show, it’s killing me.”

Sawyer bit back her words, as her friend’s facial expression read it was affecting her. “And I know you guys aren’t fond of each other, but I supported you and Wardlow.” she stopped as she let out a breath, “He’s different Sawyer.”

“Wardlow and I are back together.” She blurted, but quickly covered her mouth as Veronica’s neck snapped. “YOU GUYS ARE WHAT?” she yelped. Sawyer secretly thanked herself for blabbing, to avoid another argument. “Shush! It’s not that big of a deal,” she laughed. “We just didn’t want to tell anyone yet.” Veronica nodded understandingly, “So, now I’m just ‘someone’? That’s cool.”

“Oh no , I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I’m kidding, I’m not one to talk about keeping secrets. I’m happy for you.” She smiled, as the door flew open. “Your favorite party people are here!” Marq exclaimed as Isiah followed in after with BOTTLES of alcohol. A couple seconds later a panting Nova stood in the doorway. “You guys saw me struggling. WHY DID YOU NOT HELP ME?!” She dropped the bags and flopped on the couch.

“I was holding my children.” Kassidy gasped as he raised his beverage in the air. “That was payback for flicking my arm,” Marq moved next to her and placed his hand on her knee. “But how about I make it up to you?” he sent her a wink as Veronica and Sawyer hid back their laughs.

“THAT'S MY BOY!” Kassidy yelped as he poured his first shot. Nova groaned in response, getting up from her seat and popping a cork on a wine bottle, “It’s going to be a long night.”

The Next Morning

A loud siren blasted through the room, Veronica shifted around in her sleep noticing her bed has been replaced with something way more uncomfortable. A snore caused her to jump, instantly regretting it as the effects of last night began to hit. She felt around, finding she was passed out in a bathtub. Veronica’s face flashed with confusion and was about to call out until she saw a slumped Isiah Kassidy on the toilet. “Zay?” she squinted as he began to stir. “Wake up!” she grabbed the nearest thing next to her, a bar of soap, and flung it at him. “AGH-” He shouted, waking up from his slumber. “What the hell…WHERE ARE MY PANTS?” he looked down in fear until a grin popped up. “Are you… fully clothed?” he peeked in the tub and sighed as, unlike him, was still in her nightclothes. “Damn, I thought I got some.” he snapped his fingers in disbelief. “How are you thinking of sex right now?

“Because I could have pounded that ass, but you wanted to be loyal, and have no fun. Mama ain’t raise no snitch.” He raised his hands in defense, “Plus this is normal. I party every night, and all night. Is this your first time drinking?” He asked in a mocking tone. He held his hand out to help lift her, accepting that she groaned as the room started spinning. Her arm rested around him, as he made her way to her bed. “Did you want me to grab your phone, I’m pretty sure I saw it somewhere in the living room-”

“NO.” she yelled startling them, “It’s fine where it is.” The events of last night began to become less of a blur. Multiple shots, loud ass music, and even more calling and texts from Kenny. At one point, she couldn’t take it anymore and used her phone as target practice as she lunged it anywhere she could. They reached the room and saw Nova spread out on both beds that had been pushed together, and Sawyer hanging upside down on the armchair. “Ah that’s right, Marq did a 450 splash off the dresser. It’s all coming back now.” They both nodded and exited the room. “Here, you sit here, I'll get you something.” He searched through the cabinets, sighing when nothing was found. Sawyer soon stumbled in and found her way next to Veronica on the couch. “I am never drinking with them again.” She leaned her head on her friend’s shoulder. “They’re too advanced for us.”

“We’re on a different level.” A voice boasted behind the couch making the two jump. “MARQ? WHY ARE YOU BEHIND THE COUCH?” Sawyer shrieked. He shrugged as he began to rub his head. “So, you guys have absolutely nothing- AHH MARQ?!” Isiah threw the cup of water and held his chest. “You damn near killed me.” he breathed out. Sawyer groaned, “You just spilled water on our floor!”

“Could you guys be any louder-” Nova started, but wasn’t able to finish as she glided down the hall. Isiah raised his hand to his mouth to stop the laughter from slipping out. “Please tell me this is water…”

“This Ain’t Water.” They said in unison, before bursting out in laughter. Veronica went to gather her friend, after for a fact, reassuring her it actually was just water. “As I was saying, before Marq scared some of the skin color off of me, you guys don’t own shit. If y'all planned to get wasted you should have packed some aspirins.” He suggested, earning an ear thump from Sawyer. “We didn’t plan to end up like this. You guys got us drunk.” Marq nodded, “She’s not wrong.”

“Is there anyone that could go pick something up?” Nova suggested, before feeling more effects as she rushed to the nearest bathroom. “I’m sure Kenny could-”

“Nope, I got Trent and Chuck on the way. We don’t need anyone else.” Sawyer blurted out, quickly sending a text to the Best Friends. Veronica's lips straightened, as she slowly backed out of the living room, and into the kitchen. A sigh escaped her lips, as she realized having to explain to her boyfriend why she had been so distant wasn’t going to be anything she was looking forward to.

The door opened, and Trent and Chuck both rushed to Sawyer’s side. “We came as soon as we could, I hope you like sushi.” They shoved the bag of food onto her lap, before taking out their drug store bag filled with a couple of pills. “Oh, you didn’t have to bring us food-”

“Speak for yourself,” Kassidy and Quen snatched the box out of her grasp, and began to pick at it. She threw her hands up in annoyance before Chuck placed his hand on her forehead. “Have you thrown up yet?” He questioned. “Not yet,” she answered, as she stared at him carefully. “Oh you will.” he sent her a smile, and for a moment she felt warmth until he stopped.

“Hey are the guys here with the aspirins…oh hey.” She stopped herself, as she made contact with them. “I’m Veronica, it’s nice to finally be able to meet you.” Slowly walking over, she reached for the bag from Chuck who pulled his hand back.

“So, you’re the famous Veronica Rodriguez....” Trent started, “I got to say Kenny chose well.” Chuck smirked, as Trent walked up to her. “I guess you’re too far up his ass, to realize you’re in for a load of trouble though.” She was taken aback until Trent began again. “I don’t see you around backstage a lot, Sawyer claims it’s because you’re always hanging out with the EVP’s. I bet if you suck them off hard enough, you could get lucky and get a title shot.”

Her fist clenched, but they held each other's stare until a cough from Kassidy broke them up. “Well, this is getting exciting. We got a bed in the back if ya’ll want to settle your differences there.” Sawyer face-planted herself, before grabbing the bag from Chuck and walking to the kitchen. Trent shortly followed shoulder bumping her, and letting out a small laugh. “It was nice meeting you.” Chuck spat at her, before making his way where his other friends were.

Veronica sat next to Private Party with an unfazed expression, “Of course they would hate me.” She thought of the multiple times Sawyer had run to them in the past couple of weeks, ever since she got with Kenny. Marq offered her the container of food, where she sunk into the couch and began to pick at the bits that were left.

“I’m going to head out for a little bit,” Veronica said, handing the food back. “Are you sure that’s such a good idea?” Isiah questioned. “No, it’s not - but it’s not like I’ll find anything here that will help me.” She grabbed her sweatshirt and made her way to the door. “Have Nova help you guys clean this mess up, I’ll be back soon.” With a sigh, she closed the door and didn’t know where she would end up.

Sawyer slid down the patio door with a groan. “I bet you learned your lesson.” James, better known as Orange Cassidy, laughed over the phone. He had called Chuck wanting to get a daily update on the situation. “Hang up on him, or I’m going to toss your phone off the balcony.” Sawyer threatened making Chuck hold his phone to his chest. “Alright man, I got to go.” They said their goodbyes when Trent opened the sliding door. “Here’s your aspirin, and a bottle of water.” She took the items and took them almost immediately. Chuck let his eyes wander as he stared at her current state. Trent nudged him in the side causing him to snap back to reality. His eyes widened a bit as he smirked, and pointed in between them. Sawyer tossed the bottle to the side and closed her eyes. “You guys seemed heated in there,” She mentioned. “Towards V, was that necessary?” she laughed.

“Oh it was more than necessary,” Trent admitted. “She had the nerve to reach for the bag, after everything she’s done to you.” Sawyer held her tongue, knowing that it wasn’t all Veronica’s fault, they both were acting childish. “He’s right, she’s never looked in our direction either, her ego is only going to get worse around The Elite.” he took a seat next to her, relaxing his hand against hers. “I know you see it. I know you see her becoming something she’s not.” A calming silence rang through them. Sawyer thought over his words that seemed to hit her right in the face. Everything was starting to make sense.

At 9 in the morning, Veronica sat in the hotel lobby. Waving to some of the people that crossed by before beginning to hear her stomach growl. She looked for the nearest breakfast bar until she saw the people she was trying to avoid. Kenny sat at a table with The Young Bucks and seemed to be in a deep conversation, she slowly backed out and into the room next to her. It was mostly empty, except for a familiar guy in the corner… with a beer bottle and cowboy boots.

“We got to stop meeting like this,” she made her way over onto the stool next to him. He finished his glass, before taking a glance at her. “Rough night?” he asked. Veronica sighed before starting, “Is it that obvious?” she groaned. He put his glass down, looking her up and down, and bit the bottom of his lip. “Yea. You look terrible.” He lied. Hangman liked how the ‘Morning After’ look appeared on her, but she didn’t need to know that.

“Gee, thanks. I’ll make sure to let Private Party know.” His brows rose in surprise, “You drank with them? How are you still alive?” He cracked a smile at her dead expression. “How are you when you’re drunk? The daredevil type maybe?.” It was his turn to have a dead expression, as she laughed. “I’m the complete opposite actually, from what my friend’s told me… I can get handsy if I’m with someone. Other than that, I keep to myself in my small corner.” He raised his glass to her, and sipped it. “You’re drunk right now…aren’t you?” He let her look him over closely and started to feel himself get hot, “No, but I’m getting there.” Veronica took the glass from him, and drank the rest of it down. “You don’t need to be alone anymore, Page.” She placed an arm around him, “You’re safe with me now.”

“I'll hit you with this damn mop, if you don’t put her phone back!” Nova chased Kassidy around the living room, as he snapped another selfie of him. “Come on! Are you not curious at all to read one of these 400 text messages from Kenny?” He attempted to unlock her phone, before it was snatched out of his hand by Nova. “Hey!” he whined.

“Go get more paper towels.” She said while fully shutting the phone down, and onto the counter. “Ouu, so demanding. Kinky. I like that.” He flirted with Nova groaning. Marq came from the bathroom, and looked around. “Damn where did everybody go?” he scratched his head, as Kassidy made his way back into the living room. “Sawyer is on the patio, and I don’t know where Veronica went-” a knock interrupted them making his head perk up. “Must be her now.” Isiah went to the door, but let out a groan. “Ugh. It’s just Ricky.”

“Ricky?” Nova questioned as she made her way to the door. There he stood with a small bag, and a dumb found expression. “Oh I didn’t know you were here.” He looked between them with a hurt expression. “What? Oh no it’s not like tha-” Nova began to explain as Marq peeked his head out as well. “Why are you talking to my girl?” he squinted. Ricky’s eyes widened, as Nova slapped the back of his neck. “Go inside.” They stuck their tongue out, and closed the door leaving them alone.

“Just to be clear… there is nothing going on between you and them? Right?” Nova laughed, “Nah they just came over last night, and still haven’t left.” He let out a sigh of relief, before turning his full attention onto Nova. “Well, what did you need? I still gotta clean this place or they’ll destroy everything.”

“So you know our first date, when I told you I knew the artist from the bowling alley?” Nova nodded, remembering the date, “Yeah, have you told him I think he's talented, and about a possible merch design?” Ricky chuckled, “Yeah, about that…” He reached and grabbed the bag that he brought with him, pulling out a t- shirt, “I wanted to surprise you, since he knows what he’s doing, I got this designed for you.”

Nova grabbed it from his hands, her jaw dropped, “Oh my God…” “What’s wrong? Do you not like it?” Ricky asked, worried.

“I love it. This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.” Nova gushed, admiring the pink design. “Well, the reason I did this is because I had to ask you something.” Ricky smiled, waiting for Nova to look at him. “Well, what is it?”

Ricky took a deep breath, “When I first laid my eyes on you, I was mesmerized. And after our first date, I knew you were someone special. And the dates and calls after just continued to prove my point.” Nova smiled, Ricky said a bunch of stuff like this before, but this time felt...different.

“You are the most amazing person I have ever met, and I know I gotta ask before I don’t get the chance,” He grabbed her hands, “Nova Jay, will you please be my girlfriend?” Nova smiled so big, “I’d thought you would never ask.”

Ricky pulled Nova in, and let his hands rest on her backside as they shared a kiss. He lightly pushed her onto the wall, without breaking contact and let her rub against him a bit. A groan almost escaped his lips until the door swung open.

“Nova, I accidentally clogged the toilet- OH MY GOD.” Marq screamed, causing them to jump. His hands covered his mouth, as he quickly shut the door. “What’s wrong with you? You seem like you just saw a ghost.” Kassidy said while he flipped through the channels on the TV. “I just walked in on Nova and Ricky doing mouth to mouth, I’ve never been more devastated in my life.” Kassidy dropped the remote, and let his eyes close. “He’s out there kissing OUR GIRL?”

“How could she do this to us?”

Sawyer then came into the room with Chuck and Trent, “Have you guys seen Nova?” She made her way to the door, but was pulled back by Marq. “Don’t go out there! It’s dangerous and could lead to serious trauma!” Isiah cried. Chuck and Trent looked at each other with odd expressions, “What? Let me look.” Sawyer took a peep through the peephole and started screaming as she saw Nova and Ricky making out. “FINALLY. GET IT NOVA!” She cheered, making sure they could hear on the other side. Marq whipped a fake tear from his cheek, before leaning against Kassidy for support. “At the start, we had three girls…now we only got one.” Isiah glanced at Sawyer, making her cringe. “Now is not the time.” she reminded herself, as she and Wardlow wanted to keep their relationship private.

Chuck tensed, as Kassidy put his arm around Sawyer. “Have I ever told you, you were my favorite?” He smiled, but was met with an elbow to the ribs. “Too late, I got my eye on someone already.” she said, as she shot a look at Chuck who began to blush. Trent began to speak up until the door opened, and a giggling Veronica walked in with a tipsy Hangman Adam Page.

“Did you guys see Ricky and Nova outside? I first thought it was some random dude, but when I got closer,” she leaned onto Hangman “I noticed his big forehead, and instantly knew it was him.” She laughed.

“Well if it isn’t Hangman Pussypants Page.” Isiah rolled his eyes, at the sight of Veronica against him. “Did you get her even more drunk than she already was?” he asked with concern. “SHE drank my glass of whiskey, I had nothing to do with it.” “So, you couldn’t have taken it from her?” Trent interrupted, making Veronica lunge at him. Hangman picked her up, and tossed her over his shoulders. “Calm down.” he ordered as he set her on the couch, Hangman sat next to her letting his arm rest against her thigh. “I don’t know what happened before I got here, but it ends now. Veronica and I are both going to sober up a bit, and we need pills. Do yall got any here?”

Sawyer shoved Chuck, making him groan, he handed the bag over and Trent rolled his eyes. Nova then came in with Ricky, and they starred at the group. “Well isn’t this something,” Ricky started. “I thought you guys we’re going to suffocate out there.” Sawyer jokes, as she went to hug her friends. “You have gotta tell me the details.” Sawyer mumbled to Nova who nodded. “How about we put on a movie to ignore the sound of my heart shattering?” Isiah mentioned as Nova groaned, “Get over it!” “NEVER.” He cried. “A movie is fine with me,” Ricky shrugged as he took a seat on one of the chairs. “First we should take a picture, it’s crazy to see all this talent in one room.” She chirped.

“All this talent… and Veronica.” Trent laughed, making Veronica turn her head to face him. “I’m going to hurt him,” she started to get up until Hangman grabbed her hand. She took a deep breath before giving his hand a squeeze. Nova smiled as they took the perfect photo and posted it onto her instagram. It was only then till Hangman released Veronica’s hand, and took her face in his hands and kissed her.

#aew fanfiction #aew x reader #aew #all elite wrestling #aew fanfic #kenny omega #kenny omega x reader #chuck taylor x oc #kenny omega x oc #ricky starks imagine #ricky starks x oc #ricky starks #best friends aew #the young bucks #hangman page x oc #hangman page

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fourcolour-ace · 2 years ago

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Supergirl Season 6 Thoughts

This is gonna have finale spoilers, so watch out if you're one of those people who didn't finish the season.

First off, some general, overall stuff: this season was too short. The pacing was off, and too many things happened offscreen. There wasn't enough time for everything to happen in a way that felt good. I particularly felt this with Lena's arc, but basically everything in the second half of the season felt that way.

The fact that a giant cat attack that lasted all of six minutes onscreen was a highlight for me explains a lot about my experience, I think. The best part of the season was the Midvale stuff(not just because I love Peter Sudarso) because it was actually paced okay and felt good. The characters were handled well, even Kenny(i thought he might show up in the present but no) and it actually wrapped up nicely without feeling incomplete.

Everything post Phantom Zone was... eeh. Nyxly was a good character, but I feel maybe for the final season a villain we already knew would have been better. Some people have suggested Brainiac, which I approve of, though one wonders if it would have been the one from the Krypton show. I'm not sure myself, maybe just Lex would have been good, but the fact is that there was no time in the second half of the season. Zero reprieve for characters or viewers. I missed seeing National City as a setting that the characters actually lived in.

Characters who got decent arcs were: Alex, Kelly, and Kara. J'onn was just sort of there, Nia's arc was ???, and don't even get me started on Brainy(he gets his own paragraph later). I do feel like Alex and Kelly's adoption and marriage was a good progression for them. They are very wholesome lesbians, but c'mon y'all this is the CW, the best we'll get is Nia yelling and wanting to murder(very good work Nicole). Not even touching Lena and Kara, they were fine. Just fine. I think Lena needs friends more than anything else. Nia was great this season but her arc was just so not. I mean I get that she wanted her mom, but they just glossed over that in season 5 so it felt really out of nowhere. She just seemed all over the place in season 6. Lena's arc was paced poorly, and while there's nothing wrong with magic, there hasn't been much precedent for it in Supergirl(except maybe in crossovers? idk) so same as above. I have no idea what to say about Kara revealing her identity. I guess she felt it was the right choice, but doesn't she realize what will happen? You've got enemies Kara, and they've already come after your friends, now they'll come after even more of them. I suppose it was meant as a conclusion to her ongoing identity crisis but man, literally anyone who's read the comics knows why superheroes have secret identities, especially the Superfam. This problem could have been solved the way I thought they were going to seasons ago, by having Kara go to the future to join the Legion, but that would have required a very different procession of events, for longer than just season 6. Do I mean KaraDox? Yeah, I guess, but I no longer care at this point. Supergirl is just a little disappointing, in general.

As for how they massacred my boy... Brainy's characterization and arc for the first part of the season were not bad. I feel like they gave up and just made him a joke character, but also tried to keep giving him depth? Most opportunities for deeper exploration were passed over in S6, including his relationship with Nia. They hardly spend any good time together in this season, and I'm expected to believe he said "sprock the timestream" for her? I barely believe it even if I can hear Jesse's voice in my head as I type. His end-of-season arc was just so random and poorly executed. Those sorts of things can only be meaningful if the character goes through with it! But they just said no, he's gonna come back without sacrificing himself actually. I'm also certain it was out of character for him. He'd rather Brainiac 5 die saving his planet, because then he's finally redeemed his family name, and there will be no more Brainiacs(presumably, in this universe). Do you agree, fellow Querl Dox syndrome havers? I think having him go and not come back, and showing him giving up his sense of self to the(so-called) Big Brain would have been a meaningful end for him.

*sigh* I've run out of steam, but this post is long enough. Thanks for reading.

#supergirl #supergirl spoilers #supergirl season 6 #my thoughts #long post

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breadclubrising · 4 years ago

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Your thoughts on Ibushi feeling mentally weak because of his loss? I feel like he hurts(? If that makes sense like he is not being enough for his idol and that affects his performance in some kind of way, also DT proposing a new partner downplaying Tanahashi's effort and them being pushy in "beg us for the titles! Muahahaha" gives out they want it more than GA since they already decided not to go for a rematch until they win one. In the end just want to hear your thoughts Ibushi's storyline

Ha, Anon. You know not what you ask. I have been working on an essay about this for a while now (aren’t you shocked!), so I’ll excerpt some of it here. And now this is becoming an essay in its own right.

(I made a post about this and...)

---

Aw thanks, Anon. I will try to address all of this. It is very long, and I’m sorry.

---

I’ll start by saying this: Golden Ace made me stop watching wrestling for a while. It hurt that much. Just to put out there how many feelings I have about this.

First things first:

I do not know that I can convey with human language how much I love Hiroshi Tanahashi. My favorite readings of his character give him a tragic edge; to me the shining superstar is not nearly as interesting without his dark side: his need to control, his unwillingness to admit that he is slowing down, his single-minded view of what is Good and Right. His career arc—where he began as an iconoclast who in-kayfabe single-handedly saved NJPW from ruin and saved its wrestlers from the brutality of Inokiism, and has morphed into a well-meaning but narrow-minded patriarch who Knows Best, in part because of his being so beloved for what he achieved, gracelessly pretending he is not getting slower—is heartbreaking and beautiful. He beat the man only to become the man. He sacrificed so much and tries to impose his way on others as a way of justifying his sacrifices. I have... just so much written about Tana’s career arc. It’s one of my favorites ever.

And honestly, I love the story of Ibushi and Tanahashi as a story. It’s heartbreaking and beautifully performed. On an out-of-kayfabe level, I adore both of them and their ability to share of themselves so deeply while still making a story for public consumption.

But in kayfabe, as an Ibustan? Tana and I are gonna have a problem.

(so, so much more below this cut. you have been warned.)

My slacker genius hero

idk if you’ve noticed this, but Ibushi is consistently depicted as kind of weird. And I confess I’m projecting a bit here, but part of being Weird On Main is that you do it because you cannot be not-weird no matter how hard you try. Maybe sometimes you can contain it, but your default state is weird and whatever it is that normal people do, you do not understand it nor are you capable of doing it.

His entire career has been guided by his heart first and ambition second. That’s how he is, he follows his heart. The dearth of fucks he gives about what he should be doing is truly awe-inspiring. And that was probably for his own survival: when you are that fucking talented, what you should be doing is a weight you carry with you at all times. People constantly wondered why he didn’t try to ‘do better’ than DDT. As soon as he got to NJPW, people wondered why he wasn’t bulking up to move up to heavyweight. As soon as he was able to gain enough weight, he was in the G1 (where he promptly got a concussion).

He has always seemed to struggle with the weight of Living Up To His Potential, knowing that talent like his obligated him to answer for it, but also knowing that he doesn’t feel invested in things unless he’s enjoying himself. Career achievements were never much of a motivator for him—he wanted them, of course, but always ran into the wall of having to sacrifice his own happiness or mental health to get them. But like... normal people do that all the time, right? Sacrifice and hate their lives in order to reach some long-wanted goal? And like many Weirds, Kota seemed to spend a long time stuck in the tortuous I SHOULD be able to do this, normal people can do this brainspace.

The best example of this is something that Tanahashi would have admired: at one time, Kota was the first wrestler in a major promotion to have two home promotions. Like literally two full-time jobs as a wrestler; on the full-time roster at both DDT and at NJPW. What kind of wrestler is worth that physical risk and scheduling nightmare? What kind of wrestler is worth sharing as a commodity with one of your competitor promotions? Kota Fucking Ibushi is.

This burned him out quickly—he says, far more emotionally than physically—and he left wrestling altogether for a while, with the official excuse of finally getting surgery on a herniated disc in his neck. He wrestled at WWE for a bit before, shockingly, finding it too constrictive.

Finally, he decided to become a freelancer, which is A Choice when you are one of the most naturally talented people a sport has ever seen. It means you won’t be winning major titles and you won’t get a ton of investment from any one promotion, but it also means you get to control what you do, when you do it, and how much of it you do. Ibushi rejected any career path that would lead to traditionally-defined success, and he did so intentionally, in service of his mental health and ability to love his job.

Because like. He tried to do what a normal person with his level of talent would do, and he couldn’t stand it. It made him hate wrestling and his life. He pushed himself hard and he failed. Not meaning that he did not succeed in terms of his career—he was doing great when he left NJPW, and WWE offered him contract stipulations and money that were unheard of—but meaning his body and mind began failing him. Finally, he’d been forced to accept that the world’s expectations simply did not work for him. And then he had decided to be unashamed of that, and built himself a way of being that fit him, in a culture where obedience is a sign of maturity and poise (you can see it in the word: 大人しい; “quiet, docile, obedient”; literally “like an adult”).

The Ace and the Golden Star

Tanahashi and Ibushi may sort of be coming to a place of understanding now, but they haven’t historically seen each other as equals. Ibushi calls Tana a god, and Tana has always admired Ibushi’s talent, but been disappointed by his work ethic. (Hiroshi “Very Extremely Healthy And Non-Fucked-Up Relationship With Work Ethic” Tanahashi and Kota “Reacts Well To Being Told Not To Do Things” Ibushi.)

When Ibushi came back to NJPW for the G1 in 2017, he was coming back to it on his own terms, as a freelancer. He debuted his finisher Kamigoye (which, in case anyone has never read my blog before, means “go beyond god”) to beat Tanahashi during that same G1.

Ibushi lost his subsequent challenge for Tanahashi’s IWGP Intercontinental Championship, and at the end of the match, he tearfully embraced victorious Tanahashi, who patted his very worthy rival on the head. Ibushi felt humbled, like he hadn’t lived up to his potential. By losing, he felt he’d disappointed Tana.

And maybe Tana didn’t disagree. Tana spent the 2018 G1 (and the theme continued through the latter half of 2018) saying in his backstage comments that Kota Ibushi wasn’t living up to his potential. That he needed to work harder and put his nose to the grindstone to become Great.

Tanahashi genuinely admires Ibushi and is amazed by his talent, so he truly saw it all as coming from a place of love. He’s a big fan! He just wanted to see Ibushi do his best, and Tana has a really strong opinion about what “doing your best” means. In Tana’s mind, Ibushi (who one thousand percent Did Not Ask) needed to get serious and win some titles, needed to commit and work harder, devote more of his time and energy to wrestling, and generally follow exactly the path Tana himself had in order to succeed. And Tana didn’t mind saying so without invitation, and to the press.

Oh, and don’t forget that coincidentally Ibushi was on a tag team with Kenny Omega, whom Tana disliked for reasons he juuuust couldn’t put his finger on. (Later it came out: Kenny’s an immigrant! Ha ha! Great and good! I could do a whole other essay about this storyline. It was REALLY good and they had to abandon it completely.) Ibushi needed to get serious about his life and stop wasting time with that loser (IWGP Heavyweight Champion) Kenny Omega. Kenneth was dragging Ibushi down, said Tana, which—regardless of whether you agree with Tana or not—is uh... probably not an opinion you should just volunteer out loud to the press about someone you purportedly care about.

Tana was offering ‘helpful’ suggestions without realizing that not only was Ibushi happier than he’d ever been, he was happy because he had already tried the things Tana was helpfully suggesting, and had deliberately decided to do the opposite of that, so that he could be happy.

When your entire thing is in my career I do things on my terms, this is who I am and I’m not sorry, and someone is telling you you’re doing your career wrong, it’s gonna sting extra. Because you’re a fucking weirdo, and if you could do things the expected conventional way, you would in a heartbeat. So the thing that you are “doing wrong” is a thing you have fought tooth and nail to do in a way that works for you. If it meant being shamed for it, it didn’t matter, because there was no other way you could have done it.

So, Tana didn’t know it, I don’t think, but his ‘the way you’re managing your career is wrong’, tragically, really meant ‘the way you are is wrong’, when applied to Ibushi.

(And? When you’re doing it wrong and part of what you’re doing right now is being extremely fucking gay? That “get serious about your life” plays into a whole mess of extremely unfortunate tropes about gays. I have no idea if these tropes exist in Japan as well, but western gays are deeply familiar with them. Of course I don’t at all believe Tana meant it that way, but unfortunately, as A Gay, it’s too familiar for me not to hear it there. Feels bad man.)

YOU’RE NOT MY DAD

After all that well-meaning (?) shit talking, Ibushi and Tanahashi faced each other in the 2018 G1 finals. Ibushi lost. Was Tana right about all that untapped potential? Was Ibushi once again humbled because god beat his ass?

Last time Tana beat Ibushi, they hugged, Tanahashi magnanimously recognizing the great effort on Ibushi’s part. This time, he held out his hand for a handshake. They’ve come so far as rivals. Right?

Ibushi looked at it, then held up both hands in front of him, shaking his head and backing away. He said backstage that Kenny would have hit Tanahashi, and Tanahashi clearly wanted a handshake as equals. But, he said, he is not Kenny, nor is he Tanahashi. He does things on his terms.

He didn’t care if it looked disrespectful: Tanahashi’s handshake was a patronizing offer of forgiveness for Ibushi’s failure to live up to Tana’s ideal. Ibushi’s rejection was not disrespect, but demanding respect from someone who had explicitly told him he did not deserve it from them unless he became a different human being than the one he’s fought to be.

Ibushi left with his head high, so defiant in his weirdness that even if God Himself says you need to change who you are to be worthy of my approval and acceptance Ibushi says, actually the way I am is great, thanks, and I will love myself whether you approve or not.

I can’t say how much he means to me, because of that. Him rejecting fucking god telling him to be someone else—someone who did not love himself—was more than I could have ever dreamed I’d get out of wrestling. A man who had found, as I had in my life, that no amount of wanting to be able to do things the way that normal people do them would grant that ability, had then decided to find a way that would work for him, and do that. And so had I, and around the same time (Kota and I are also p much the same age). And then, when defeated, instead of allowing someone to say ‘this is because you did not conform,’ he said ‘I cannot be truly defeated because tomorrow, I will still do things the way that makes me happy and fulfilled.’ I could write so much more but I’ll stop here: it meant everything to me.

I mean... dad?

Fast forward to the 2019 G1. A lot had changed. Ibushi had signed full-time with NJPW, much to Tana’s satisfaction. In the leadup to Wrestle Kingdom that year, Tana had very deliberately and openly used Ibushi as a cudgel against Kenny Omega, saying Omega did not deserve his partner, Ibushi, and did not deserve his home, Japan. He had told Omega, who had dutifully worked his way up the NJPW ranks to become the most beloved gaijin in NJPW’s history, that he should not be the third Musketeer (the big 3 guys in the promotion from each generation; the others of this generation being Naito and Okada). Putting a gaijin in that role is Not Done, and Kenny was already Top Gaijin, which was the highest a gaijin should be allowed to go. Further, Tana believed that Ibushi, a part-time freelancer who was not signed with NJPW, should be the third Musketeer, because he is Japanese and Kenny isn’t.

In kayfabe, Tana had negged Ibushi’s Golden Lover right out of Japan, but NJPW seemed pretty determined to erase the memory of Omega, so Ibushi and Tanahashi were on friendly-ish terms,

“Everything I am begins and ends with Tanahashi,” Ibushi said before the match. Kota won, which almost everyone was expecting, but the real question we all had: how would he treat the Ace once he’d won? Once he embraced him, once he’d pushed him away. Who was Kota Ibushi now, in relation to god? And in relation to the company itself, which Ibushi had recently committed to ‘for the rest of my life’—and which Tanahashi personified? Victorious Ibushi crawled over to Tanahashi and gratefully clasped his hands in fervent appreciation, foreheads together, Tanahashi smiling approvingly, patting his head like ya did good kid. Later backstage, Tana said something like “I sensed a lot of pain in you when we fought, but I can tell you used it to overcome your shortcomings, let go of what was holding you back, and reach your potential.” And at the end of the match, Ibushi had seemed to be in agreement, looking prostrate and humbled, seeking forgiveness for his past sins.

I was saying ‘i-BOO-shi’

Except, like… his “past sins” were: soul-searching and learning what was important to him. Healing physically and emotionally from burnout. Making his way back, on his own terms and no one else’s, to the career he’d had to leave to save himself. Reuniting with a his lost love—not without complication, but undeniably making him happier than he’d been in years, finding the joy in wrestling again, giving himself the emotional energy to invest more and more in his career, but smartly this time, protecting himself. And then telling the Ace of New Japan that he would continue to do things his own way, and no one else’s.

He did all of this against the backdrop of a culture that punishes individualism or makes it a spectacle. He asserted himself nevertheless, because it was either that or a breakdown. And all of those things were what Tanahashi felt he should be apologetic for, what he had wanted Ibushi to excise from his wrestling and his personality in order to Reach His Potential.

And... it worked. Ibushi played by the rules, conformed to expectation, and not only did he win, he was accepted and forgiven for his waywardness. Turns out, Tana was right all along: Ibushi needed to be less himself in order to be truly successful. Not only that, through career success and sacrificing the things that made him happy (because they also made him most himself which, again, was bad), he was finally truly fulfilled.

After an entire career’s worth of refusing for his own sake to do what others expected of him, he finally lived every Weird Person’s wildest fantasy, wherein we sacrifice every strange thing about ourselves that we’ve spent our lives learning to love, in order to Conform, but instead of blowing up in our faces, THIS TIME, FINALLY, it worked, and at long last we found that being Normal truly does bring happiness and success and our parents finally love us. He’s through the looking glass, but he can’t hear us on the Weird side anymore, and doesn’t even remember that there ever were Weirds. And now all the Weirds back home have seen the horrible truth, that changing who you are fundamentally in order to be obedient is… actually the right thing to do, which of course means they were right about us all along. We aren’t good enough just as we are, fundamentally; our parents were justified in withholding unconditional love and everyone else was right to mock us. We throw all our Kurt Vonnegut books into the garbage and we weep.

That was the story.

So at first I kind of half-heartedly tried to convince myself that all of this was that thing where no matter how much sincere emotional work you do, you will never stop secretly craving your parents’ approval; we are practically hard-wired to want it. And then I moved toward seeing the grateful gesture as a sort of forgiveness, a recognition that his pedestal of Tanahashi had finally toppled and shattered. After all, Ibushi is the sort of dude who got all the way down on the ground to bow to both Nagata and Yoshi-Hashi after beating them in G1 matches, and that certainly wasn’t an apology, it was humble gratitude for their work. So maybe this was a true going beyond god—Thank you truly. I don’t need you anymore.

But... it probably wasn’t that, and it was hard to believe my own bullshit. Ibushi is also the sort of dude who, in his first entrance upon his return in 2017, had gotten all the way down on the ground to bow to fans in deep apology for having been gone for two years; ie apologizing for caring for himself. Heh. But uh... maybe this Tana thing was just a heat-of-the-moment thing, like a quasi-kayfabe act of true honesty?

LOLNO! Time for Golden Ace to immediately win the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Championships, thus not only cementing Ibushi’s return to the Well-Behaved fold and certifying Tanahashi as The Guy Who Was Right About You, but also having all of these things be kayfabe events that happened within the span of a little more than two years:

Ibushi gets an emotional gay reunion with his tag team and life partner

Tanahashi uses Ibushi as a weapon against said partner, who is forced to leave the company, vindicating Tana’s opinions about both Ibushi and Omega (I don’t care how much you hate Omega, that is a shitty thing to do even if we only care about Ibushi’s feelings.)

Ibushi and Tanahashi win the tag team belts that the Golden Lovers never even got to challenge for

COOL AND GOOD. LOVE THAT.

That story really hurt. I couldn’t watch them be a team.

Haha unless? This current story really hurts too, honestly. But maybe it’s making the past hurt a little less. MAYBE.

So, Tana has been getting physically stiffer and slower for a while now, and now it’s kinda becoming hard to ignore.

And maybe, hanging out with Tanahashi seemed cool at first but then when Ibushi realized he’d excised every interesting thing about himself in order to conform to what Tana expected of him, it started to wear on him. I’m hoping I can be allowed to have that interpretation.

So Ibushi’s forced to be like ‘hey I need you to step up your game bro,’ which, if Ibushi ever fantasized about turning the rhetorical tables on Tanahashi’s criticism, doesn’t seem to feel nearly as good as he’d hoped it would. It feels bad for both of them.

And Tana seems humbled, because he’s been so embarrassed and stubborn about admitting that maybe, possibly, potentially, he could be slightly perhaps showing signs of failing to be immortal. But maybe he also now sees that his ‘tough love’ criticism of Ibushi didn’t make Ibushi better, ultimately, it just made him care about and value the same stuff Tana does. And oops, now maybe Ibushi has ideas about success that don’t really take into account the limitations Tana has, even if he’s worked very very very hard to try to push through them until he was forced to admit that he needed to find another way. This sounds familiar and I hate it!

Tanahashi is now trying to find his way. And Ibushi, once humbly appreciating Nagata and Yoshi-Hashi after beating them, is now hard-eyed and almost deliberately lacking awareness of others’ need for compassion. Tana got what he wanted—Ibushi in his own image—but now he’d probably be a lot better off with the sparkly-eyed mischief-maker who doesn’t care as much about titles as he cares about loving wrestling.

Of course, Kota very much had his own reasons for doing this too—he felt the pressure to win titles to match his talent at least as much as Tana felt it for him—but it’s still kinda heartbreaking that he became the determined and serious never-getting-too-close-to-anyone company man that Tana envisioned him as, and then it worked. That’s a completely new way of judging his worth as a person, when he’d spent his career before that judging his worth by how happy and fulfilled he was. So when he loses now, he’s even more hard on himself because he’s also letting Tana down, and Tana really believed in him.

But I think he’s also starting to get uncomfortable, because he’s getting dangerously close to re-learning a lesson he has already learned pretty painfully. He’s done all this work and sacrifice only to find that—shockingly— winning and being seen as a Top Guy is still not worth your happiness and mental health.

And it was PRETTY shitty of him to walk away from Tana getting a beatdown! That felt VERY bad. But Tana has been failing to admit that he can’t do the shit he used to do, to his own detriment. IMO that doesn’t justify Ibushi leaving him to deal with shit on his own but also, I kinda don’t blame him if he feels resentful of Tana for asking him to be a different person in order to fit within Tana’s vision of him, all while Tana refuses to admit that he himself does not fit the vision he has for himself, which is ultimately making it harder to do the thing Ibushi now feels more driven to do than ever—partially because of Tana’s influence—which is win. WHEW.

FEELS BAD.

But! Hey! Then Tana did exactly what Ibushi asked and like cut a little fat and got more serious about his hair and tan. And then he got a pin on Dangerous Tekkers and now he deserves a title shot. And he’s like ‘Ibushi in Soviet Russia god stans u’ and Ibushi is like “excellent sir, ready 2 only care about my personal success!” So now they’re friends again? And they’re even, because a person not accepting that they have to conform to others’ expectations, and a person not accepting that they are aging like every human being does, are totally morally equivalent? And all that nuanced storytelling was totally in my head?

Yay?

So where is this going?

Bro idk. I’m so deflated by this storyline it’s hard to think of a scenario that would make me stop being devastated by potentially having THE major reason wrestling means so much to me (Kota Ibushi’s weirdness and perpetual defiance of expectation, for the sake of fiercely and unwaveringly committing to himself and the belief that he deserves to be valued for who he is, his hard-fought path that he carved for himself when he saw that he couldn’t do stuff the way he was Supposed To, succeeding because he is unapologetically honoring that in a world that demands conformity and obedience and punishes deviation; PLUS GAY, which makes everything even more poignant I’M TOTALLY FINE) permanently written out of existence.

If Kota learned that forcing yourself to be normal 1. totally works, 2. brings instant success, and 3. was the right thing to do all along because the way you were was stupid and foolish and the fact that you ever thought you should be accepted, let alone allowed to feel okay about yourself, let alone happy, when you can’t even do the most basic human functions correctly, just goes to highlight how deeply alien and unacceptable you are, fundamentally, as a person LIKE I SAID I’M FINE IT’S FINE, then I should probably stop caring about wrestling and get to figuring how to live a 9-5 existence and how not to care about things to a degree that makes other people laugh at me and not use ten-dollar words and stop making men feel nervous because I’m way smarter than they are, and also i guess have a dog and find a monogamous husband whom will get me pregnant with some kids, and I’ll go to bed at a reasonable hour! Because! If Kota can do it and be successful then goddammit I can too.

I’m fine.

But idk. It’s hard to imagine why they’d do this little rift storyline and have nothing come of it except Golden Ace are better bros than ever before. I don’t even know what I want. Right now it feels like this arc is about Tana’s development, and Kota is kinda a supporting character.

Maybe it felt valuable to in-kayfabe acknowledge the fact that Tana sometimes looks like his knees and hips don’t bend, but ultimately show that the Ace has still got it! And also Kota Ibushi is a selfish asshole who talks down to his elders. I mean, a stern but fair leader? I mean a driven, tough-love champion?

Maybe Tana will fail in the title match despite his cosmetic improvements, because he has still fundamentally failed to earnestly engage with his limitations.

Maybe he really has accepted and learned to work with a new reality and now he’s on fire.

I think the only way to make this feel satisfying would be to turn it into a long-term rivalry of some flavor, where Tana had the Ace Wars with Okada, now he can have a God War with Ibushi. When Tana can no longer be NJPW’s heart and soul, I don’t think anyone can fill those shoes. But he has already in many ways passed on the soul of NJPW to Okada which was cemented with the Ace Wars, so maybe this is how he’ll eventually (hopefully a while from now) pass on the heart of NJPW to Ibushi; make Ibushi earn it the same way Okada had to unequivocally prove he was worthy of Ace, including to Tanahashi himself.

I could see a rivalry where they go their separate ways but are grateful for having learned some things together. They truly both feel like equals now, and they support each other living their best lives. This would be a rivalry where they constantly push each other to be better; Ibushi figuring out a way to be true to himself and still win, and Tanahashi figuring out how to have a glorious, once-in-a-century late career and gaining new vitality as he throws off the weight of pretending he’s still in his prime.

RACHEL ARE WE GETTING A HEEL TURN OR NO

ORRRR I guess one of them could turn heel, because they’re both the shiniest babyfaces and that would rule. While they both know how to heel when needed and take up the mantle gleefully, neither has had a proper heel run really.

In normal times I’d say ‘but I don’t really think it’s likely that either of them will turn heel’, but these are not normal times. I truly don’t know what to think or expect. Bullet Club is missing its heavy hitters and may be for a while (can it be Yujiro’s time to shine at last??), which is why EVIL and Dick Togo are there now. In a way I could see a heel Tanahashi take advantage of that power vacuum and it would be incredibly badd ass.

I could see Tanahashi resenting Ibushi and getting real mean about it, doing that thing where someone provokes Ibushi until they go too far and get rekt. Like going back and using all that ‘i’m your father and i disapprove’ bullshit he did. Ibushi wins the HW title, Tana challenges and loses bc he makes the same old ‘but i’m actually 27 years old still’ miscalculations that have been a problem for Golden Ace. But he gets his groove back and eventually beats Ibushi for the HW title, and gets a later-career run he deserves (i lov u tana).

But... it actually would NOT rule at all to see Ibushi turn heel.

Which is a major shame, because you have no idea how on board I am, in theory, with him donning the black and gold, dyeing his hair back to black, being sadistic all of the time, thinking up tag team moves for him and ZSJ, getting evil smiles of approval from The King, and somehow becoming good at not only talking but saying mean things, which he never ever does even when people are mean to him. In a just world, I could be very down with Suzuki-gun Ibushi.

But we do not live in a just world, we live on Earth in the system Sol in the year 2020 AD. If Ibushi did a heel turn now, it would most likely be in further service of the narrative that his desire for independence and happiness was selfish and bad, his individualism and unapologetic strangeness were embarrassing, and Tana was right to tell him to stop being gay and start destroying his body more. Because a dude that disrespects his elders and role models is Not A Good Dude. Because rebellious people whose biggest act of rebellion is loving themselves when everything around them tells them they shouldn’t are Wrong, Actually.

So as much as in theory I’d love to see him in Suzuki-gun, in practice I would probably never be able to watch wrestling again because it validated the worst fears I have about how I move through the world. If Kota Ibushi is Wrong for being weird then perhaps truly nothing is salvageable for me about this horror show of a planet. (Also, practically speaking, the Bullet Club being down so many folks might mean that the other true heel faction is less likely to get new members.)

Like, in-kayfabe, yeah, this story already feels like a betrayal. But also out of kayfabe, if it turned out that the Lesson was ‘if you conform you will be successful and loved’? And Kota took part in that story? I know it sounds extremely well-adjusted of me to say, but I’d feel a little like he betrayed me; showing me it was okay to be weird so convincingly and then going ‘actually I always hated being weird, I don’t regret giving up everything I thought I loved about myself, in order to be normal. which means not only is it possible to overcome being the off-putting freak you are, but you are failing at doing it every single day.’ Or—perhaps even worse—the story I thought I saw, that made me feel seen (like, actually), was never there to begin with. Which... would mean that the story I saw was actually just what actually happened in real life to a person I admire so much, who has brought me so much joy. I don’t think I could take any of those outcomes and still enjoy wrestling.

That’s totally a normal thing to feel, right?

Epilogue in which ya girl has been exposed to too many harmful chemicals recently

In order to soothe my faltering ability to find joy in wrestling, I shall note a very cracky theory, which is The Middle Path:

Ibushi’s a strange dude, and he plays by his own rules. He does not like factions; he’s in Hontai more or less by default... but NJPW’s resident Island of Misfit Toys faction is down one heavyweight, and was already very small.

Perhaps Ibushi and Tanahashi will agree to disagree about whether you should be weird and happy or drill your body into a fine pulp until you die, and their rivalry will take a more official form when Ibushi’s arc comes full circle: where he once graciously tried to accept his old friend back into the fold so many years ago, his old friend is now well and truly the Shuyaku, and welcomes him, fist raised, to the loving arms of the Weirds. Milano Collection AT weeps because he can now stan more fervently. La Estrella Dorada Ingobernable has, after all, always been the very definition of ungovernable. (This seems unlikely because of Ibushi’s gr9 rivalries with SANADA and Naito, but in a world where EVIL joined Bullet Club, do we really know what’s real anymore?)

---------

WHEW! Anon, if somehow there is anything you feel I did not address sufficiently, please let me know. Otherwise, as always, thank you for giving me an opportunity to write about something that interests me, and I am sorry for who I am as a person.

#kota ibushi #hiroshi tanahashi #njpw #well you asked #and i didn't even get into tana's history with nakamura and the ibushi and nakamura parallels and tana's attempts to be Aloof aaaaaaa #i have long been wanting to write a book or something about the little constellation of tanahashi - nakamura - ibushi #featuring kenny omega with important appearances by okada - shibata - naito #this is 5.5k words #why do you guys put up with me honestly #who am i even writing for?#(me. always me.)#it's true about the harmful chemicals #hahahahaha acab #the lowkey anti-immigrant storyline they were doing w/ tana and kenny was SO good but they had to stop bc kenny was leaving #immigrants: we do not complete the job #anyway i love you tell me if you guys read or liked this

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terramythos · 6 years ago

Text

My thoughts on October Daye #12 “Night and Silence” oooor “Dammit, Janet!” (suggestion courtesy of @mistressofmuses ).

And with this I am officially all caught up! Well, I haven’t read all the novellas and short stories, but caught up on the main series. Now I have to wait for #13 this year like a normal person! Gah!

-So, leading off from all the horrible shit that happened last book, things aren't going.. great.

-You know that intense, extreme trauma 2 members of the main cast experienced @ the end of last book? Yeah that. Didnt go away

-There's a line about how Tybalt keeps seeing Toby as her mother Amandine... the person who kidnapped and basically tortured him last book. And he's basically terrified of shapeshifting at all and has just stayed in his humanoid form. And he's refusing help from anyone and disappearing for long stretches. And maybe going just a little bit Fuckening Crazy. G-great start, guys!

-And there's a flashback where he's just MEAN and like you can understand why but MAJOR YIKES and also pain.

Ok unexpected May feels ;-;

-Gillian Is Missing Again but I have a feeling this is not gonna be much of a retread...

-And.. boy this sure is a callback huh? May and Quentin being the found family, Gillian is missing, Tybalt is antagonistic...

-ok Jocelyn is a creepy fangirl character

-ok I'm 5 chapters in and wondering where this is going. Apparently there's Quite The Twist in this one or at least that's what I suspect is going to happen

-oooohkay they find like this weird pocket dimension with like. A miniature house that is also a chicken (and no one even mentions Baba Yaga). And idk what it is about the scene but it is fucking eerie and creepy as hell somehow.

Shade appeared in like book 6 as a Literal Cat so.. here she is showing up and being relevant for 5 minutes

-but what the FUCK is with this place. I got nothing and that exposition just raises more questions. There's no magic scent at all (except MAYBE cinammon), a bunch of rare fucking plants, and a fucking miniature baba yaga hut just wandering around

-that opens another rabbit hole because Golden Gate Park is ALSO completely unclaimed for no particular reason 🤔

This might be a waste of picture and might get deleted later but like, that's fucking creepy, right???

-god I know there HAS to be someone with cinnamon in their magical signature who we've MET but... it's been 12 books, dog. I dont fuckin remember

-The closest I can think is Simon with "mulled cider" because that's cinnamony... BUT it's pretty unlikely he did this, and that part of his magical signature is PRE corruption and we have the corrupted version running around.

-We just found a SECOND creepy unexplainable house hidden in plain sight so that's starting to feel Thematic.

-And she smells the false Queen's magic in this house :) someone supposedly asleep for 100 years in Silences. So that's great.

-Aaand there's Gillain! Not even halfway through the book. Way too easy.

-It's not Gillian. It's a Baoban Sith which is apparently *googling* a.. vampire. Ok

-My crack theory is pretty much dead in the water lol

There's more than this bit but ;---; fuck dude

-But yeah! After a book and a half of hiatus, Tybalt's back! A little.. broken and suffering from severe PTSD, but you know.

-They go to Goldengreen based on a hint and Marcia is there baking cinnamon rolls. It really stresses the fact that she's making cinnamon rolls.

UM.

-.... holy shit.

-Ok. Ok ok. Assuming that's the truth that means Amandine's mother was.. a human? Making her a fucking CHANGELING Firstborn? What the fuuuuuck

-Oh that is fucking hysterical with what a fucking blood purist Amandine is. She looks down upon changelings and the beast races SO MUCH. Janet implies Amandine has no idea her mother was human, or at least never knew Janet. I'd bet she figured out she was part human because the Dochas Sidhe's whole deal is messing with one's heritage for fun results. Gosh. Hmm.

-And this mirrors everyone hiding October's heritage from her BEAUTIFULLY.

-I don't remember quite when "Miranda" was introduced but it was pretty early on. And now that I think of it there was NO REASON for her to fucking exist! What the fuck! The story would have made just as much sense with Cliff being a single dad raising Gillian. Miranda was just an antagonistic extra detail who didn’t... really do much. God damn it.

-Cliff “accidentally” marrying Toby's maternal grandmother who is somehow Human and also like, alive, in order to help raise Toby's daughter is. Fucking Something, huh.

Oh lore??? (Oberon, King of Faerie, kinda a nice guy it turns out, accidentally knocks up a human. Uh... whoops?)

-Fuck dude, that was the blood memory flashback we had in book 9. The Luidaeg begging her mom not to leave on The Ride. Oof.

-So Janet is, yes indeed human and YES INDEED Toby’s grandmother. She’s cursed with immortality because of all that shit she pulled.

-And BOY does that lore regarding Janet make the whole "Amandine was doted on and given everything she ever asked for" make sense cause... THAT'S WHAT THEY DID WITH HUMANS. And here we have a fucking FIRSTBORN born from a fucking HUMAN. Gosh. Jeez.

-and Katy pointed out to me that that's a big book 3 reference because Toby's family holds her down when THEY try to remove her from Blind Michael's version of the Ride, and SHE wildly shapeshifts through dozens of forms.It was a Tam Lin retelling only I don’t think I ever expected the actual thing to be relevant.

-And FUCK Evening/Eira, by the way. I think that goes without saying at this point.

-So is Blind Michael's Ride supposed to be a replacement of the old one? 500 years ago the fae used The Ride to sacrifice a human every 7 years--until Tam Lin and Janet fucked it up. Fast forward to the present and we had Blind Michael showing up every couple years stealing children for what HE called The Ride.

-soooo Toby killing Blind Michael might have not been a great thing if you follow that line of reasoning. I mean, he was a fucking monster, BUT... Because The Ride is supposedly to maintain balance, hence the sacrifices. Whatever the fuck that ultimately means. And by stopping it...

-Add that on to all the stuff last book about how Blind Michael wasn't always such a shitty person, and... uh hmmm.

-OK this part might be a stretch but: the Dochas Sidhe are the only descendants we know of that are just... one hundred percent descended from one of the Three. The human part is largely irrelevant in fae terms. They’re directly Oberon’s, not some mix of Maeve/Oberon or Titania/Oberon. Would that mean Oberon is actually Dochas Sidhe? He did, after all, create the hope chests, and the Dochas Sidhe are literally living, breathing hope chests. IDK MAN.

Tybalt, PLEASE.

-So it is, predictably, the false Queen behind this whole situation, helped by Jocelyn. And I just FUCKING REMEMBERED that it was that dickbag Dugan who had cinnamon in his magical signature .-.

-The Baoban Sith just be like "yeah sorry about almost eating you I uh straight up hadn't eaten in 40 years lol. Anyway I'm Kennis, what's up?"

OH FUCK! I FUCKING *CALLED* THIS SHIT OUT IN BOOK SIX! I remember it being mentioned offhand as something that could happen. I fucking KNEW we were going to turn a character into a Selkie for plot reasons. But I gotta say I didn't expect it to be Gillian!

FUCK DUDE ;___; in this house we stan The Luidaeg. Best character. I'm not crying. (I am.)

-She has a line a few pages later about anxiety and catastrophic thinking, and how what you THINK will happen is never as bad as what actually happens. She compares it to "chasing the tide" and honestly that's such a useful metaphor, as someone often caught in that trap...

-They take down Dugan, yay, he was a loose end. He's not DEAD, but.. This is another one where the villain felt pretty secondary to the big plot revelations.

-And Tybalt stepped down (temporarily) as King. Jolgeir's daughter is apparently going to temporarily take things over so I expect we will be introduced to her later??

---

-And, like the last few books, theres a novella epilogue at the end. This one is "Suffer a Sea-Change" and looks to be from Gillian's perspective.

-ok so Gillian has this whole scene where she TALKS to Firtha (whose skin she's wearing now) and I can't help but wonder if all selkies have this weird scene with the Roane whose skin they inherit when they ascend or whatever?

-The Answer Is "No", The Story Explicitly Says

-Gillian is honestly pretty funny. She's up to here with this bullshit.

-The Luidaeg would like to remind everyone that she’s nice to October and Quentin but she’s not actually all that nice to most other people and Definitely Has Her Own Agenda. Although she seems to have taken in Poppy as an apprentice of sorts so... *vague shrugging*

-And The Luidaeg speaking fondly about her "little brother Michael" who liked interior decorating despite being entirely blind. This is my uncomfortable face based on all my Analysis earlier.

-So Gillian is a Selkie now! That's not a twist I expected. And the next book (not out until September) is about The Luidaeg finally calling in their debts. So uh. That was one hell of a way to make the stakes personal on that.

-Im probably gonna make a master post overview of the series now that I read the whole thing in relatively short order. I'm glad I'll have a chance to read other books, but I'm anxious for the next one too based on the recent developments...

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traitor-boyfriend · 7 years ago

Note

I just read your post about Stan and Kyle's relationship and I totally agree, but I was wondering if you might elaborate on what you mean when you said Kyle acts as a moral/ethical guide for Stan? I'm not disagreeing but I'd love to hear you talk more about it

sure!

kyle is obviously the most morally fixated of the four boys and i would say after about season four or so is when they really began to take this direction with his character. whenever something transpires within the group, kyle is almost always the first to disagree w whatever plot they (’they’ almost always meaning cartman) start brainstorming to keep themselves from getting into trouble, that they should instead own up to their mistakes and take responsibility and suffer the consequences that come along w it. rarely if ever does anyone actually listen to kyle and he’s cajoled into complicity but that doesn’t stop him from offering his disapproval at every turn in the name of wanting to do the right thing. the best example of this is ‘toilet paper’ where they tp their art teacher’s house for making them stay late; kenny and stan are immediately on board when cartman suggests it but kyle is uncomfortable w the idea entirely, and after it’s done he’s racked w guilt and is seen as the weakest link in all of them b/c of his compulsion to tell the truth. we get to see kyle struggling w guilt pretty often and the apex of it is usually when some outside force is preventing or coercing him from coming clean about whatever it is he’s done. though stan and kyle both shared the whole ‘gay little speech’ element in the very beginning, it’s pretty much been exclusive to kyle for the majority of the series -- kyle is the one to always explain what they learned at the end of the episode, to tie together the moral lesson you’re supposed to take away from it

because he’s a kid, kyle can occasionally be swayed out of his conviction if the consequences are great enough for him to be afraid of (this tends to be his mom). when butters’ gets the ninja star stuck in his eye in ‘good times with weapons’, kyle initially panics and agrees with cartman’s idea to kill butters and bury him in kyle’s backyard b/c he’s so petrified by the idea of his mother finding out what he was doing. but even then his moral center comes back around, even if he doesn’t follow through; he protests the idea of taking butters to a vet instead of a hospital and later tries to get rid of his ninja weapon and instead confess to what happened. in ‘crack baby athletic association’ kyle is outraged and disgusted by what he sees as cartman exploiting the babies born addicted to narcotics and wants to expose him, but he changes his tune after learning how much money cartman is making. so he eventually joins cartman but justifies it to himself as taking care of these babies, giving them opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise get, raising awareness, etc -- even though he’s in the wrong, kyle tries to view his actions through a benevolent lens in that what he’s doing -is- the right thing; that’s why it bothers him so much when stan tells him he sounds just like cartman. stan is seeing both of their actions clearly in the same vein, but in kyle’s mind, he’s incapable of conceiving himself being in anyway like cartman and has to further delude himself into seeing the positives of his actions. he goes as far as showing up in stan’s bedroom in the middle of the night to legitimize his actions, both to himself and to stan, because stan’s opinion of him matters so much that kyle can’t move past it unless he’s able to convince stan that he’s in the right. to his credit, kyle does try to rectify his actions with the ea sports deal and building an orphanage and whatnot. two wrongs don’t make a right, but that won’t stop kyle from trying.

basically i’m just trying to fully highlight the extent of kyle’s dedication to being honest, being kind, being a good person etc. it matters a lot to him and it’s also touched on briefly now and then w regards to his being jewish -- that being a good person is important if not only for the sake of being a good person.

it’s not that stan isn’t concerned w being a good person or doing the right thing, but he has more of a selfish or self-centered impulse than kyle does. stan cares a great deal more than kyle of what people think of him and is more desperate to be accepted or liked by his peers, so he’s often subservient to the whims of passing trends and fads or following the crowd. this is a debatable point but i also think because of this stan is generally more prone to blatant egotism than kyle -- when he leads some kind of superficial crusade (’butterballs’, ‘scause for applause’, ‘bass to mouth’), it’s pretty plainly about himself and his own feelings whereas when kyle gets wrapped up in a similar power-trip it’s usually at least manifested/disguised in some cause greater than himself, even if it’s a self-centered one.

i’m gonna touch on the examples i provided above briefly:

-butterballs: stan begins the anti-bullying campaign initially out of concern for butters but when he sees how highly his classmates regard him for taking a stand, it very quickly divulges into stan riding the high of peer approval w regards to the music video, making it seen, going on dr. oz etc. kyle is the only one who finds fault with it -- “don’t act for me, stan, really” is a really caustic but honest assessment of the situation on kyle’s end b/c he sees that stan is more concerned w how his efforts are being received and praised rather than helping butters. again highlighted by their interaction in the bathroom when stan insists his video needs to be seen by everyone and kyle tells him to put it on the internet for free instead if he feels that way. stan is dumbstruck b/c he doesn’t know how to defend himself b/c he knows kyle is right, and he cares more about accolades/profit more than he does actually making any kind of grand social change.

-scause for applause: my favorite example, i think. again, stan’s refusal to take off the bracelet starts as something personal to him and very, very quickly transforms into a selfish movement about himself, ‘stanground’, b/c he loves the positive affirmation he receives as a result. craig then accuses him of having lied, and stan berates him in front of everyone in a really acerbic manner and only fuels the fire that eventually brings him down. when everyone hates stan after finding out he actually did cut off his bracelet, kyle tries to nudge stan in the right direction by urging him to tell the truth, but stan only doubles down and tries to get everyone on his side again w a convoluted scheme to make it seem as if the whole thing was intentional. when this blows up in his face, again, kyle -- without judgement -- confronts him about having asked heidi to borrow superglue the week before. stan scoffs and i think he says something like “you’re still on that, dude?” and of course kyle is! why wouldn’t he be! he doesn’t want to see his friend dig himself any further a hole than he already has.

-bass to mouth: everyone participates in the wikileaks gossip site at school but kyle; he’s the only one who has an outright problem with such an invasion of privacy, and stan tries to get him to lighten up. kyle remarks that it wouldn’t be funny if something about stan were written on there; stan responds flippantly that there isn’t, only for something about him to show up shortly after. cue stan leading the charge to find out who the site-runner is only for kyle to remind him during the meeting that, okay, now that it happened to you, it isn’t funny, right?

not necessarily in the same vein of selfishness, ‘two days before the day after tomorrow’ is another great example of kyle wanting stan to do the right thing. after they destroy the dam, cartman and stan agree not to tell anyone, but when stan is confronted by the destruction his actions have caused with the people of beaverton being trapped in their flooded homes, he feels immensely remorseful. cartman sternly demands that he not tell kyle b/c kyle will obviously try to get him to confess to what they did. stan ends up telling kyle anyway to the exact result, advising him to let everyone know he’s responsible so the people stranded can receive actual help. cartman becomes irate when he realizes kyle knows, but instead of following his advice, stan tries to do the right thing in a roundabout way: rescue the people himself so he can “do the right thing, but still lie about it.” this doesn’t work and only serves to put the boys themselves in grave danger, and kyle pleads for stan to own up to what he did if for their sake only. he calls randy and comes so close to following through only to decide against it, to which kyle is visibly angry and upset with him. by the time stan does come around to telling the truth it’s too late -- everyone thinks he’s speaking metaphorically about breaking the dam instead of literally which leaves him frustrated.

there’s more examples of this, but kyle very frequently is the first one who tries to intervene when stan gets himself in more trouble than he can handle by trying to guide him toward what’s honest and what’s right. stan is often described as the everyman or the straight man of the group, and for the most part i agree with this -- stan himself is a very average kid. but i think it helps to also look at his family dynamic; he has no siblings he can really rely on as shelly is far too volatile, and though she’s shown some moments of genuine concern and care for stan (that i love and wish there was more of!) she generally holds stan with disdain and irritation. sharon is shown to love and care deeply for stan’s well-being but is also largely unaware of the extent of his problems as her hands are usually tied up elsewhere (and doesn’t receive enough one-on-one interaction with stan for me to really comment on how well she handles those problems). randy is a fucking mess and speaking as someone w a parent who was a functioning alcoholic as randy is, i can attest to how fragile and chaotic a relationship like that can be. randy is certainly no role model of decency. i mean, christ, there’s an entire episode based around the concept of randy teaching stan how to lie effectively wherein which he demonstrates ‘tells’ for stan only to exhibit them when he tells stan he loves him. obviously this is played as a joke, but stan notices this and is rightly upset. randy, as a parent and a person, is incredibly selfish, has no sense of boundaries, acts in his own self-interest, and treats stan like a friend instead of son -- not a very good friend at that. not that randy has absolutely no redeeming qualities, but they’re few and far between, and the rare occasion we see him genuinely try to help or bond with stan usually ends up in another wacky misadventure. my point being, stan doesn’t have a very strong support system within his home and thus has to rely entirely on his own will to guide himself.

kyle is one of very few who is really ever shown to expect better of stan, to want him to be better than he is, to want him to be better for the simple fact that he should want it for himself as well -- not so he can get anything out of it.

that was what i mean by kyle being a moral guide for stan and helping keep him grounded. sorry this became so long, but i hope this answered your question!

#south park #kyle broflovski #stan marsh #Anonymous

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cryptoevent · 4 years ago

Text

Angst and anger as NFTs claim high-culture status

It’s as immutable as a blockchain company: Irreplaceable tokens, or NFTs, have made art history forever. While some in the Arterati movement swoon at the thought of unwashed digital hordes besieging their domain, the reality is that the two worlds of great art and crypto are destined to become one.

You may never have heard of Mike Winkelman, but at least one art icon is willing to say he can get a spot next to Pablo Picasso. The 39-year-old artist, better known as Bipple, has managed to make his way into more than half a dozen different encyclopedias after auctioning off his career summary collage, The First 5000 Days, for a whopping $69.3 million today.

Son of a bitch.

– beeple (@beeple) March 11, 2021

The auction set numerous records and earned Winkelman a number of superlatives that collectors and NFT competitors will no doubt be rubbing their hands with: third most expensive item sold at auction by a living artist, first all-digital NFT auction at Christie’s, and most expensive NFT ever sold.

Except that the $69 million price tag not only exceeds some of the biggest records, but also marks the end point of no return. If ever there was a chance to shake up the narrative, to change the course of the zeitgeist, it has passed. Beeple is now an artist of world historical importance; Beeple is high culture. Bipple has sold his work as NFT; NFT is the new medium of high art. The debate is over and we wonder what it all means.

As told by Kenny Schachter, writer-artist-curator-teacher-dealer:

Whether the art world likes it or not, this is the art world of today […] These are the people who will revolutionize the industry – they already have – and change the way people collect and what they collect. It’s already happened.

The great irony, of course, is that the world of fine arts and that of cryptocurrencies have more in common than not. While the guardians of high art scramble to protect what Miner calls the last bastion of expression untapped by the media from the corrupting invaders of the NFT, the existing culture, ethics and technology of the NFT could ensure that the last bastion retains its elite status for generations to come.

Abundant Fear Quotes

Bipple is one of the nation’s largest digital artists and one of Christie’s largest traditional auction houses, said Aaron Wright, co-founder of OpenLaw Auction and NFT Flamingo DAO Investment Group. NFTs no longer operate on margin. They settle in the heart of the art world.

It’s a change that even people who have long been involved in the NFT field, like collector and developer Nate Hart, haven’t gotten around to. Just two years ago, Hart was participating in NFT hackathons and shipping independent projects; now he’s being interviewed about his collection on national television news.

Beeple is a pretty crazy thing to me. It doesn’t strike me as something that can be classified as high art, but I’ve long expected some of the more elite NFTs like CryptoKitties #1 and/or CryptoPunk Aliens to end up at Christie’s or Sotheby’s, Hart said. I have a couple of NFTs that are now worth 6 figures and I’m wondering: Am I now a top quality art collector?

This is exactly the time when the elite of dealers, collectors, gallery owners and other standard-bearers of the art world are having an apoplectic fit. There was a wave of grumbling, disguised as food for thought, from representatives of the art world, high and low: Georgina Adam cited scary quotes that most established participants in the art world would be appalled by much of the art offered as NFT; Brian Droitcourt called most offerings on SuperRare derivative junk and said the broader crypto space is fundamentally pyramidal in nature ; And before dismissing some of his statements in the Cointelegraph interview as foolish, Schachter combined Adams and Droitcourt’s views by saying that much of the NFT art doesn’t communicate and only has its exchange value.

Art critic Blake Gopnik was particularly clear in an interview with Marketplace:

No one, I hope, is suggesting that these are timeless works of human creativity and genius, because as works of art they are just commonplace.

In addition to these qualitative arguments, allegations against Artereti’s custodians have been circulating lately in the form of accusations of catastrophic environmental impact from the NFT, a tired old galoot that the broader crypto-currency world has been pushing away for over a decade. The thing about crypto is that it can fight over and over again: Outsiders vastly underestimate the fun nerds take in creating rebuttal blogs.

pic.twitter.com/jenl2Bl31u

– Moxarra Gonzalez (@Moxarra) March 10, 2021

If digital currency enthusiasts feel like they’ve heard it all before, that’s because they have – It’s going to be Blockchain, not Bitcoin…. It’s a nice experience,but there’s no way to keep it up….. It’s a Ponzi scheme; the only value comes from the biggest fools. There are some minor variations in terminology and language (art instead of currency), but ultimately it’s the same long-dollar-note cocktail.

Strange, my bed is the son of a swallow

Even those in the art world with a greater sense of nuance (or the financial interest in embracing a new trend, take your pick) notice the cyclical nature of these critics’ arguments.

Noah Davis, a specialist in post-war and contemporary art at Christie’s and curator of the Beeple auction, told Cointelegraph that the clutch’s reaction was not unlike the rise of the street art category as a major collectible, with the controversy surrounding the work of maverick artists like Banksy paradoxically legitimising the work of auction houses.

A similar opinion is shared by Damien Hirst, the iconic British artist who recently stated that he loves cryptocurrencies and would print them. When Hirst and other young British artists appeared on the scene in the late 1980s, critics began the same predictable and frighteningly violent tirades, even writing entire books about why Hirst’s work was a sham. Today he is one of the most attractive artists at auctions.

Hurst told Cointelegraph that a critical robbery is a rodeo he has been to at least once:

I have yet to hear a good argument as to why this new cryptographic art is not art, and this is how it always starts, there is no doubt that Bipple (Mike Winkelman) is a damn great artist, and why shouldn’t he put himself on par with all the great artists in history? I love it when something upsets the narrow-minded art world, and when that happens, in my experience it usually doesn’t go away anytime soon.

The Santimillionaire also spoke about his own project, NFT Currency, which will be released later this year – a release that makes him the most prominent institutional artist to make the jump into the NFT art world.

Ideology, art and technology

What makes Artery so picky is that the NFT, as an art movement, resists easy historical contextualization. It is not a semi-homogeneous aesthetic trend like Pop Art or Post-Internet, nor is it a mere technological advance like photography – nor can it be reduced to an ideological movement like the Situationists or Dadaism. It is a free and dynamic mixture of ideology, art and technology. But despite this ever-changing landscape, critics have sought and found the necessary ingredients in this suspension to cause dyspepsia.

On the contrary: The participants of the youth movement are extremely optimistic. The gmoney NFT manifold has three major technical innovations:

I think there are a few things that distinguish art from blockchain as a movement. Firstly, the artist can come into more direct contact with his collectors. The second is the demonstrability of the work and the possibility of being paid for that work. And thirdly, it is an international market that is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Combine these characteristics of blockchain with a free and open nature and an aesthetic that, for better or worse, tends to be bright and more or less expressive, as Hart says, and you have the contours of something that at least vaguely resembles a full-fledged art movement.

Critics, however, point out that, with the exception of blockchain-based technological advances, everything the NFT arts movement puts forward has been done before. According to Droitcourt, pure digital art has been experimented with since the 1990s, and many observers note that NFT artists are mainly introducing well-thought-out forms that artists have been experimenting with since the emergence of digital art in the 1960s.

Aside from these annoyances, most critics just don’t like NFT art. The reason for this is that: NFT art doesn’t know how to remove the little finger.

The descriptions are lurid, cartoonish and similar to what you might see in the back of a pickup truck. We need a little more critical engagement. There is more than a faintly paternalistic belief that NFT artists need to open a few history books and learn art-arts if they really want to have a lasting historical impact.

Tin Tulips

Most of the above comments come from one particular critic: Miner. But someone who describes himself as the most democratic person you’ll ever meet, holding a position in the visual arts world, has since given up at least some of that and now thinks NFT art is heading for an institutional takeover.

Anyone who laughs at it will have it hanging on their wall in five to ten years’ time, he told the Montelegraph.

Rather, Shachter’s face reflects the transformation of the rest of the art world. And how could they not? The cryptocurrency market is fast approaching half a billion dollars, a growing percentage of the overall art market. If you want blockchain tech and blockchain new money, existing cultural capital blockchain art is the necessary stick.

The air is out of the ether and nothing will push it back, Schachter said. There will be price hyperinflation with some specific phenomena, but it is by no means a bubble.

However, in both worlds, marriage requires a period of mutual maintenance. Mr. Schachter is currently teaching an NFT course at New York University (it was supposed to be a course on the history of furniture design, but the students asked for more current content), and is delving into the history of NFT and NFT art.

He says he loves anarchy and nihilism, I love it when these people upset and shake up the art world, but he laments the lack of contextualization of NFT artists in terms of their place in art history.

I wrote for my grandmother @opensea pic.twitter.com/3NNZgEI0ck

– kenny bergmann (@kennyschac) 7. March 2021

Some of these artists don’t know who Calder, Giacometti, Miro or the most famous artists are, he said. […] These people are artists, I don’t care if they know who Basquiat is or not, if someone does something that is a visual medium, then everything is fair. But if you want it to be art, or call it art, open the book.

It is a burden he places on himself, on the NFT artists and on the art world, which must learn from each other’s stories and adapt to the new technological world.

Covid has accelerated the art world’s dull and foolish relationship with technology, moving it forward 15 years in one year, he said. There’s no turning back.

To bring these two worlds together, Miner is curating NFT’s Breadcrumbs art exhibition, which opens September 9. April in the German gallery Nagel Draxler. The preview shows that the Cryptopunks and Pepe, among others, will be there:

Breadcrumbs is an NFT art exhibition at @nageldraxler in Cologne, Germany, which will open on 9… April will be open. A list of artists to follow…. pic.twitter.com/MmHHC7HpIu

– kenny bergmann (@kennyschac) March 10, 2021

If there is a battle line between the traditional art world and the NFT world, Miner’s position is clear (even if he throws grenades in different directions). By asking for breadcrumbs, the commissary’s theme was not subtle:

It’s about making the art world believe it’s art, whether you like it or not.

Citadel, meeting with Bastion.

Of the dozens of reviews I read, only one was nearly correct.

In an article for her publication, Marion Maneker, president of ARTnews, portrayed cryptocurrencies as barbarians who have successfully taken down financial skeptics and are now scouring the country to flatten another city – a city that, as Maneker implies, exists only in her imagination.

It’s not about art. It’s not even about the money, he wrote. […] He is about to overthrow what many proponents of cryptography consciously or unconsciously consider the last bastion of a distant, opaque and gnostic high culture.

Mr. Maneker, whose resume is surprisingly long (he has worked for three different publications with New York in the title), suggested that the idea of an isolated, elite art world was absurd, using largely unpublished quotes – a notch above the quotation marks. After reading his resume, I don’t believe it.

Snobbery aside, Maneker was finally treading on the right path of psychodynamic diagnosis, but he just came to the wrong conclusion. Barbarians don’t always break and fall; in fact, there is good historical evidence that barbarians are sometimes lovers, not fighters. And like ancient Rome, the art world can skillfully bring strangers together.

Bitcoins and cryptocurrencies joke about the Citadel, a dystopian future in which they have become a permanently entrenched neo-aristocracy after the collapse of the outdated financial system. The Citadel needs art – and residents need to feel important. The barbarians don’t want to burn down the Last Bastion, they want a ticket.

For now, the art world wants cryptocurrencies; soon, after a few more years of snobby quotes, it will want art too. The Citadel and The Last Bastion will become one, and visual art and NFT will consummate their marriage. The two already intolerable communities are destined to produce terrible ideological children who will undoubtedly earn the guillotine, and the cycle will begin again.

Water falls from the sky, but the oceans never fill up. Blockchain and art are shaped by a destructive/regenerative dual energy – an energy that excites artists like Hirst:

Picasso made childlike art when he was a grandiose old man, Cy Twombly sells paintings for millions that look like doodles that know very well. Who knows what will happen next? Which is appropriate. Let those who are not yet born decide.

Related Tags:

rarible,nft art,beeple nft,Privacy settings,How Search works

#Crypto #Bitcoin

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racingtoaredlight · 4 years ago

Text

RTARL’s 2020 NFL Season Week 8 Extravapalooza

Well, here it is. The last week of football before Election Day. Nobody knows what the hell things are going to be like society-wise in the immediate aftermath, no matter which candidate is declared the winner (or WHEN a winner will be declared, for that matter). Will Leitch thinks that if Trump wins, or at least refuses to concede, athletes might decide not to play anymore. I don’t think I can go that far, I’m probably too cynical to believe that anyone would really give up the giant piles of cash that a truly prolonged protest would cost. It would be pretty damn wild if it happened, though. Maybe things post election will be pretty much business as usual, with perhaps a bit more weeping and gnashing of teeth on our Facebook timelines than we’re used to. Whatever the case, at least we have this one last oasis of NFL action to enjoy in peace and relative calm before things go buckwild.

My picks are in BOLD, and the lines come to us courtesy of our friends at Vegas Insider. I use the “VI Consensus” line, which is the line that occurs most frequently across Vegas Insider’s list of sportsbooks. Your sportsbook of choice may offer a different number, and if you’d like my opinion on said number A) you are insane, and B) leave a comment below and I’ll try to answer at some point before things kickoff today.

EARLY GAMES

Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers (-6.5)

In what will be the case for several games on the slate this week, the weather looks windy, cold and miserable for this one. A dysfunctional Vikings team that already looks to have thrown in the towel playing in shitty, uncomfortable conditions against a dick like Aaron Rodgers who would gleefully run it up on anybody at any time seems like a recipe for an ass-whoopin’ featuring many hilarious shots of bundled up, checked-out Vikings on the sideline.

New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills (-4.5)

In case you were wondering how things are going in Pats Nation, I was visiting with my grandmother this past Wednesday and she was wondering aloud if they should try playing Julian Edelman at QB since he played there in college. Since this conversation, both Edelman and fellow WR N’Keal Harry have been ruled OUT, so my grandmother’s outside-the-box thinking can’t be properly utilized even if she’d managed to convince Bill Belichick to try it via a steady campaign of email harassment. QB Cam Newton has looked like he’s trying to play while wearing a medieval suit of armor for the past 2 games and now he has absolutely nobody to throw to outside of RB James White. Oh, and reigning DPOY CB Stephon Gilmore is also out for this game and might be on the trade block. Not great! If the Bills don’t cover here I’m officially declaring them frauds, and the AFC East will join the NFC East as true dumpster divisions whose winners absolutely should not be permitted into the playoffs.

Tennessee Titans (-7) at Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals will be missing 3 starting offensive linemen for this one, which you’d think would be less than ideal for my boy Joe Burrow. But A) his offensive line has been absolute trash all year anyway, and B) the Titans are terrible at generating a pass rush. If there’s ever a situation where missing 3/5 of an O-line is okay, it’s this one. Joey’s gonna sling it all over the yard, baby! Well, except for the huge chunks of the game when Tennessee uses Derrick Henry to chew clock and grind the Bengals defense into dust. Joey won’t be slinging anything then.

New York Jets at Kansas City Chiefs (-20)

You should only be able to view this game on the Dark Web.

Las Vegas Raiders at Cleveland Browns (-2)

The weather is supposed to be fairly nasty for this one, with rain, strong wind gusts whipping off of Lake Erie, and gametime windchills in the low 30s. Both teams like to run the ball a ton as it is, so they won’t have to adjust strategies all that much. With that said, the Browns run defense is much stronger than that of the Raiders, so I’m giving them the nod. My nonsensical-but-very-real vendetta against the Raiders may also be a factor.

Indianapolis Colts (-3) at Detroit Lions

I was pretty surprised to see the Colts as road favorites here. Since getting studmuffin WR Kenny Golladay back in Week 3, Detroit is 3-1 and looking pretty good. Indianapolis has had a very cake-like schedule, and I’m not sure they’re as good as their 4-2 record would indicate. Gimme Stafford and the Lions all day.

Los Angeles Rams (-3.5) at Miami Dolphins

I feel bad for Miami (now backup) QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. He seems like a great dude, and the team was playing reasonably well with him at the helm. That said, I’m excited to see what Tua can do. If he’s 100% healthy, I think he’s gonna be a hell of a lot of fun to watch. Not so much this week, though. The Rams D and Aaron Donald are a rough way to break in.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens (-4)

It’s weird, but even though this looks like a high-quality game between two legit contenders who happen to be bitter division rivals, I don’t really have anything to say about it. It’s the marquee matchup of the week, I have no idea who will win, and you should watch it if you can.

LATE GAMES

New Orleans Saints (-4) at Chicago Bears

Here’s another game where the weather could be a factor, with the forecast calling for sustained winds of 25mph with gusts up to 40 mph. The combination of the wind, the Bears’ excellent pass defense, and the fact that WRs Michael Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders are once again OUT would seem to suggest that increasingly noodle-armed Drew Brees is gonna have a rough go of it.

Los Angeles Chargers (-3.5) at Denver Broncos

This is absolutely a game between a couple of AFC West teams, don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.

San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks (-3)

San Francisco looks like the best team in football when they get a decent lead and can just pummel their opponent into submission via Kyle Shanahan’s masterfully schemed running game. Whenever the game situation calls for a shift to a more pass-heavy attack, they’re in trouble. Every Seahawks game this year has been a shootout, and they’ve failed to score at least 30 points in a game only once. I can’t bank on Handsome Jimmy to keep pace with Russell Wilson.

SNF: Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles (-11)

Yeah, I know, Dallas is starting a Madden Create-A-Player named “Ben DiNucci” at QB for this game. But, this Philly squad that lost to the Football Team by 10 and only managed to beat the Giants by 1 doesn’t deserve to be a double-digit favorite against anybody. Even if DiNucci is pretty bad (and he most likely will be), he still has Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb, Michael Gallup, and Zeke Elliott at his disposal against a not-particularly-strong Eagles defense. GRIP IT AND RIP IT, BENNY BOY!

MNF: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-12.5) at New York Giants

Oh boy, I bet Giants Head Coach and cartoonishly over-the-top redass Joe Judge is gonna make his guys practice EXTRA HARD after this beatdown. Everybody that knows the douchier and more hostile you are, the better your football man brain is. It’s science.

Last Week’s Record: 5-8

Season Record: 49-46-4

#Sports!#Football #NFL #Gambling

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julystorms · 7 years ago

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Thoughts on the newest chapter of SNK?

I had a lot of thoughts and I feel like I lost them all. But here have a smattering of Thoughts about it!

#1 thought: Falco is such a good and pure bean. I’ve adopted him; he is my son now. I just really, really hope that Isayama gives us a reason for him wanting to outshine Gabi so badly to protect her. I feel we’re really missing something important there.

But for the rest of the chapter in order...

Annie’s disguise was um...interesting but all I have to say about it is that it just makes me feel more and more certain that she’s dead. Something Zeke said in a semi-recent chapter about how he felt that Paradis had at least two powers if not more on their side made me suspicious that the “female titan” was under Paradis’s control, but this makes me feel much more sure that Annie is dead, and that these flashbacks are all we’re going to get of her (i.e., he’s trying too hard).

I also find it hard to believe that Annie managed to spot Kenny? Seems a bit forced, but...eh.

Flocke cameo had me dyin’.

Cute addition with Bert’s poses but Reiner breaking up a fight between Eren and Jean got to me a little bit. Mostly because of the next scene.

Annie. Look, it’s no secret that I’m like half a step from despising Annie as a person, but I’ve been holding out hope that her character would remain appealing and I feel rewarded for that patience in this scene. As it turns out, Annie was working her ass off while Reiner played soldier/friend/big brother to other characters. I don’t like what Annie does at all but this honestly and truly makes me dislike Reiner; after she went out of her way to do all the work while he slacked off, he still made Annie “prove herself” to him? God, Reiner, you’re a bigger dick than I thought you were. :/

I think the part that really gets to me about this scene though is that Annie wanted to cut their losses and run with the information they have, while Reiner is the one who wanted to breach Rose. It honestly makes his attitude toward Annie even more despicable.

This is extra sad if she is dead in the current story; I feel like this narrative is skewed from Reiner’s perspective and we’re meant to see him as looking back on this and realizing what a horrible person he was to Annie. The entire scene makes Reiner out to be awful.

Something I do like about Annie is that she’s an unrepentant bitch but she never ever pretends to be anything else. That Reiner’s suggestion that “gaining the trust of the enemy” makes her want to puke/upsets her? That puts her in better standing with me. At least her character is consistent and she has morals she stands by.

Something that fandom argued about was the old man who hung himself. There were a lot of theories about RBA killing him (which seemed super legitimate), but then we have Bertholdt here asking why that old man told them that story right before he killed himself. If Reiner had been saying that I’d say they did it and he doesn’t remember because it’s not his warrior personality in control. But it’s Bertholdt! So...honestly? I think the way the panel zooms in on Reiner is telling us something: he did it.

When you consider this entire scene seems to be showing us some of the worst things Reiner has done, it makes sense that this is another “confession” of his own thoughts that exists in his memories. (Unfortunately things Gabi will learn about him if she takes over, and possibly something Reiner wants to avoid at all cost.)

Then we get the flashback to Eren.

The placement of this panel is wonderful. “Do what you need to do.” This isn’t said with pomp and circumstance. For Reiner, it’s just how things are. “We were just kids. We didn’t know a thing.” I really liked that line because it just hammered home how Reiner feels about all of the things he did and said and felt. He was just a kid and he probably really does regret a lot of things he chose to do.

To the extent that he came really close to taking his own life in this chapter, something I hate to see joked about. I’m not a fan of Reiner’s by any stretch of the imagination; he’s done some really, really awful things. But he knows a lot of what he did was misguided and now he’s trapped in this situation where he doesn’t see a way out that isn’t awful. I feel for the guy. I hate what he’s done to others, but I feel for him.

Then Falco shows up declaring he wants to make a change. He has to. Obviously this is perfect for his future discussion with Reiner but I don’t think his words are what change Reiner’s mind so much as his presence--a reminder that he can still do some good in the world.

My brain: I wonder what Porco would think of Reiner here in this chapter.

I haven’t seen anyone talk about this scene and there’s not a ton to say but I want to point out the interesting choice to include it even though nothing in particular is going on in it! Artistically I feel confident we’re meant to see the kids goofing off and the adults shuffling to and from work, and we’re supposed to see that these kids aren’t much younger than Falco, if they are at all, and yet Falco walks with the adults/like the adults to. He’s carrying a burden children who are allowed to be children don’t yet bear. Sad. :/

I know this could be a dig at Marley being hollow-souled, but I wonder if the statue being hollow will come up as a strategic thing later in the series.

Willy “The Giver” Tybur. He’s okay I guess. I find him a bit annoying. I feel like he’s the “biggest bad guy” we have to worry about but I dunno. He’s giving me Giver vibes though: an observer who knows a lot via memories but not an active participant in anything that matters. I’m almost hoping he gets eaten lmao.

Theo Magath is not a good man but at least he’s interesting and he’s not a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed dope. Shit’s real and he knows it--makes no bones about it. I can respect that. I like that lumps Marley civilians in with the ignorant masses basically, because the Eldians fear being sent to war to become cannon fodder as titans or soldiers, but Marleyans have no idea what it’s like to be on a battlefield except the few who have actually seen and lived through active combat--comparatively very few.

This panel of Zeke has me tipping my head. Is he on the phone to someone in particular? Are we meant to think he’s connected to the Tybur family after Magath’s conversation with Willy? Or are we meant to think he’s watching Falco? P:

Mr. Kruger. :)

Eren’s manipulation of Falco is sad, but great It makes me think Eren was waiting to “wander away” to a mailbox on his own sooner or later, and kept the letter on his person to mail at first opportunity; Falco just happened to become that opportunity without knowing it. SO GOOD.

Basically this chapter is the most interesting one in a while. I hope we get to see a little bit of the main cast but I think it might be a while yet before that happens--unless we see another bit of a timeskip (a few weeks or months maybe). That said, I wonder which of his allies are in Marley already! The post won’t send shit to Paradis so I wonder who else from Paradis is in Marley and where they’re stationed at/hiding. It makes me think Eren snuck into Marley with them and then they cooked up the military plan--for him to “sneak into the important areas” via joining the military with an injury; nobody would think twice about another injured soldier they’ve never seen before haha. Good shit. Did Armin think of it? Did Hange? I’ll be excited to see them but honestly I’m kind of happy to stay in Marley because it seems this is where the good stuff is. :3c

#snk #snk spoilers #chapter 97 #snk hour with july #snk meta #cute anons #replies to friends

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potionsandmagicmilk-blog · 8 years ago

Text

April Fool’s Day

April Fool's Day had always been Seth's time to shine. He got more and more creative with the pranks every year, from classics like toothpaste in the Oreos, to more ridiculous stuff like covering Dale's truck in post it notes. It had always been his favorite holiday. And this year—he had missed it.

"You did get to help save the world instead," Kendra said. She was busy bustling around the kitchen, putting together some cookies for Hugo to take to the dryads. "That's not too bad a tradeoff."

Seth didn't lift his head from the kitchen table and let out a groan. "I was in a dungeon at the time, Kenny. A freaking dungeon. We saved the world after April Fool's Day."

"It's been a month since then, and now you find it in you to get upset over that?" Kendra rapped him on the head with her wooden spoon, making Seth jump.

"I know! But there were so many other things going on, it's not like I had the time to think about it!" Seth squished his cheek on the table again. "It's kinda petty, yeah," he mumbled, "but I'm really sad I missed it."

Kendra stopped mixing the ingredients together for a moment and pondered. "You could always make it up," she suggested. "A new April Fool's Day, just a little bit late."

Seth looked up. "You really think everyone's just gonna go with that?"

Kendra shrugged, and a devilish smile crossed her cheeks. "If you're going to be running around pranking them, it's not like they're going to have a choice."

Seth shot up straight in his seat and banged his hands on the table. "Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh yes. Yes. Let's do this!"

He was about to run up the stairs when Kendra grabbed him by the back of his shirt. "You have to tell them first!"

"Oh yeah. Haha. I was going to do that."

It took some time and a lot of dragging Dale away from his work, but eventually the Sorenson siblings managed to gather a family meeting in the living room. Even with all the couches and chairs, there wasn't enough sitting space for all of them, leaving Kendra perched on the arm of Tanu's chair and Seth standing in the middle of the room.

"Okay, I have a super-duper important announcement to make!" Seth waved his arms to get everyone's attention, but between Stan and Ruth discussing preserve business and Tanu and Dale exchanging info on plants, it was near impossible. Even Elise, who usually noticed when Seth was talking, was half trying to complain to Tanu about something and half screaming into a pillow.

"Need a hand, angelito?" Vanessa asked. She was lounging on the couch, her feet kicked up on a sleeping Warren's lap.

"Yeah—please," Seth sighed, clearly exasperated. He had gotten better with patience, but he still needed work.

Vanessa put her fingers to her lips and gave a taxi cab whistle that would've put a New Yorker to shame. Next to her, Warren jerked awake.

"Okay!" Seth clapped his hands like an excited child, clearly ignoring everyone's confused looks. "So guess what I'm doing!"

Seth quickly bounced his idea for a make-up April Fool's Day.

"I'm gonna make it... this Thursday," he finished. "That gives me—and anyone else—tomorrow to prepare. Okay love you guys bye!"

Before Stan could tell him otherwise, Seth had bolted up the stairs.

There was a moment of silence before Warren sleepily leaned back again. "I'm not sure if he's joking or not, but if he springs a single prank on me, I will demolish him." Warren gave a grin. "I am the pranking god."

Vanessa snorted but didn't say anything.

—

Tanu had been having a strange day.

First it was everything in the fridge staring at him with googly eyes—that prank must've been for Dale or Ruth, since they were usually the first ones up in the mornings. Then it was waking up Vanessa, who had locked her door to keep Seth from pranking her and then slept through her many alarms. It took a lot of knocking and yelling through the door before Vanessa came stumbling out, glaring and bedhead and all. A half hour later, he and Dale had to head out to the cabin to figure out why Warren hadn't gotten up yet. Seth had tucked Warren's sheets in a way that Warren couldn't get up, and then doodled a little smiley face on Warren's forehead in pen. Apparently even the cabin wasn't safe.

Now, of course, there was this.

Tanu sighed and poked at the jello encasing his cell phone. Several other objects that had been left on his desk had been treated the same. Honestly, most surprising part was that Seth had the patience to pull this off.

Seth hadn't been seen all day, but Tanu had heard enough complaints to know he was probably shadewalking around, leaving behind nasty little tricks. Kendra, the only one who had gotten off prank-free, was lounging in the living room practicing her writing, and most of the others had either ditched the preserve for a little while or were just keeping out of Seth's way.

After a bit of digging, Tanu got out his cell phone. Seth had wrapped it in plastic wrap—that was nice, at least it meant none of his stuff was actually damaged.

7 missed calls from Vanessa. Fuc—fudge.

Tanu quickly dialed the number and put it on speakerphone. He and Vanessa had struck up an odd sort of friendship in the past month, mostly involving cooking and complaining to each other about life, preserve business, and Warren (that last one was mostly Vanessa). She had made it clear that she didn't appreciate being made to wait for too long without at least a notice on when the next free time to talk would be.

"Yo, Tanu!" Vanessa's voice crackled over the phone. "I called you like a half hour ago, where were you?"

"Uhh..." Tanu brushed a few remaining bits of jello off his phone screen. "I was a little caught up."

"Hm," Vanessa mused, "well, two things. Firstly, do you need anything from Walmart, because that's where I am right now. Secondly, Warren's on the line too, I had to patch you in, Tanu. Say hi, Warren."

"Hi!" Warren yelled. Tanu could hear his voice from both the phone and downstairs, along with Kendra yelling at him to be quiet, she was thinking.

Tanu laughed. "Hi Warren, and no, I don't need anything from Walmart. Can I ask—why Walmart? The one in our area stinks, even by Walmart standards."

"This is the only place I can get soap in bulk."

"That... sort of answers my question but not really."

"Vanessa's gunning for revenge on Seth," Warren explained. "She thought she'd get away with being not pranked, but yeah, right. He—"

"Let me explain!" Vanessa interrupted. "So I'm trying to take a shower, right? But when I get out, I don't feel clean. I had this like sticky feeling—like when you have gum or something. So I took another shower. No dice. I figured maybe it's just the shower near my room, so I used the one downstairs. Nada. So finally I unscrewed the shower head to figure it out, and Seth had put a fucking hard candy in there!"

"I'm sure you smell wonderful," Warren joked.

"I don't even smell like candy," Vanessa muttered bitterly. "My pride is hurt. I'm getting revenge."

"That's... a terrible prank for him to pull." Tanu finally managed to get his stapler out of the jello.

"You're distracted," Vanessa noted. "What're you doing?"

Tanu quickly explained the jello issue. Warren promptly burst into laughter.

"Dude! That's awful! Ness, I'm sorry, but I think Tanu has more of a right to complain," Warren choked out.

"Oh man, yeah. Is that why you weren't picking up? That's fair."

Tanu snorted. "Yeah. Warren, I know you're downstairs, get your butt up here and help me with this."

"Sure!... though I have a question for you."

Tanu hesitated. "Your tone worries me."

"It should! I'm helping Ness get revenge—no way in hell am I going to let Seth be the undisputed prank king. You want in?"

Tanu thought about Vanessa and her bulk pack of soap, then lightly poked his pencils, each of which had been individually encased in jello.

"I'm in."

—

Kendra had gotten off lucky with Seth—due to the fact that they shared a room, they had agreed not to prank each other this April Fool's Day. There was one upside about sharing a room with her brother.

She hadn't seen Seth all day, except for the one time in the morning when he popped out of the shadows and scared the living daylights out of her. He had just stopped by to say hello, apparently. And to tell her not to take a shower. Her skin care routine was going to go to hell, but she listened.

So now finding Seth laying down in front of the attic door, trying to poke his phone underneath it, wasn't too surprising. He looked completely focused on his task.

"Please tell me you aren't trying to prank me," Kendra said.

Seth jerked up and hit his fingers on the door. "Frick—ow!" He curled up and grabbed his fingers. "Ow... hi Kendra."

"Hi."

A beat of silence passed.

"Ugh." Seth propped himself up and shook his hand, tucking his phone back into his pocket. "No, I'm not trying to prank you. We made a promise."

"Good, because I'll beat you up if you do. Or I'll get Vanessa to. What are you doing?"

Seth grinned and rubbed his hands together like a mad scientist. "Well, sister dearest, I think Warren, Vanessa, and Tanu left a prank for me, and my phone camera can't see it."

"Really?" Kendra stooped down and tried to look under the door. "Everything looks normal. You sure?"

"Definitely." Seth starter ticking things off on his fingers as he talked. "Vanessa had a whole lot of stuff from the store, she and Warren were talking and giggling about something in a very prank-planning way, and Tanu had this huge bucket and refused to tell me what it was for. He's a bad liar. Kinda suspicious, if you ask me."

"Yeah, a little." Kendra lightly tapped the door, but luckily nothing happened.

"Plus, Warren just came out of our room saying he was just returning a couple of highlighters he borrowed from you. Did he borrow any highlighters?"

Kendra's head shot up. "He didn't."

"Aha!" Seth snapped his fingers. "I knew it."

"So now we can't go inside without falling into a prank," Kendra sighed. "That's great."

Seth sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, I didn't think you'd end up facing that much. Pranking someone in their room in the middle of the day is hard. I didn't think anyone would try."

"It's okay, you can't know what everyone is going to do." Kendra sat down on the stairs, and Seth soon joined her.

There were several minutes of silence before Kendra spoke.

"I'm assuming you're planning something."

Seth blinked. "Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Your face gets this... look," Kendra waved her hands a bit in a failed attempt to illustrate her point.

"Hmm." Seth leaned forward on his knees. "I gotta work on that. But yeah, I'm thinking."

"...of?"

"How to get one of them to fall into their own trap." Seth tapped his chin. "Did you leave one of the windows unlocked?"

"Yeah. I always do. It's not like the fairies can get in, you know."

"Warren is downstairs, right?"

"He should be."

"I've got it!" Seth shot up, a smile on his face and his hands on his hips like a superhero.

"Oh no," Kendra said.

Seth grasped Kendra by the shoulders. "Do me a huge favor," he said. "Make sure Warren is closest to the stairs, and don't freak out too bad when I start yelling."

"I'm slightly worried."

"I'll see you in a few minutes!" Seth dashed down the stairs, his clothes already melting into the shadows.

There wasn't much else to do but find Warren, so that was what Kendra did. Warren was talking with Vanessa and Tanu in the living room, with the third looking slightly nervous and the other two looking excited.

Kendra crossed her arms. "I don't appreciate you guys setting up a prank in the attic," she said.

Warren leaned back. "Oh. Sorry Kens, we thought you were out!"

"Look on the bright side, you didn't fall into it," Vanessa said. "So... how is Seth?"

"He's... uh—"

Kendra was spared from answering when a piercing scream came from the attic. All of them jumped, and Kendra hadn't even processed what was going on before Warren had dashed past her.

"Oh." Vanessa had covered her mouth, eyes wide. "Maybe that was a little mean?"

"He might've gotten soap in his eye—" Tanu mumbled. "I told you guys we could've done something else!"

They were just moving towards the stairs when a crash sounded from upstairs. Vanessa and Tanu both froze.

"I think... I think that was the prank actually going off," Vanessa said.

Kendra giggled. "I'm pretty sure Seth climbed in through the window," she said. "He wanted you guys to fall into your own prank. Congrats."

"Ohh..." Tanu dropped his head as though he had a headache.

Warren was stumbling down the stairs, one of Dale's plastic buckets in his hands. Soap dripped down his face and soaked his clothes. His eyes were scrunched shut to keep the soap out.

"Vanessa," he said, clearly trying to keep his mouth as closed as possible, "please tell me you got no-tears soap."

Vanessa didn't even hesitate in taking out her phone and snapping a picture. "I'm using this for blackmail, darling."

"I love you too, honey." Warren rubbed his eyes, but succeeded in nothing.

Seth came trotting down the stairs, perfectly fine, a terrific grin from ear to ear. He struck a pose on the landing.

"I," he declared, "am the ultimate prank king!"

—

Later that night, Seth and Kendra were lazing around in the kitchen. Stan had effectively ended April Fool's Day after the soap incident, so Seth had ended up chilling out and doodling a bit in his notebook and Kendra had been baking again. The two of them had been sitting in comfortable silence for a while. Kendra was trying to make cookies from the leftover scratch, and Seth was close to nodding off.

"That was an adventure, I suppose," Kendra said.

Seth gave a sleepy nod. "Nothing compared to our bigger adventures, but still an adventure," he agreed.

"Vanessa's still pissed. Watch your back." Kendra grinned.

With a slight smirk, Seth gave a half wave of his hand, still not bothering to open his eyes. "I'll deal with that when that comes."

"Sure. Here." Kendra dropped a couple of cookies on the table in front of Seth, prompting him to finally crack open his eyes. "Those ones came out lumpy, so you can have them."

"Sweet, thanks!" Seth picked one up. "Why'd they come out lumpy?" he asked before shoving one into his mouth.

"Well, I'm not really sure..."

Seth's face scrunched up in disgust, and he heavily swallowed.

"...probably because I put salt in them instead of sugar! Ay! Gotcha!" Kendra whirled on Seth, shooting out Seth's signature finger guns.

"No fair!" Seth whacked his hands on the table, knocking the rest of the cookies onto the floor. "We promised no pranks on each other!"

"Consider it revenge for getting a prank set up in our room," Kendra said smugly. "Keep your title as prank king, but just know that I still got you."

Seth stuck out his tongue, but he didn't argue. "You're the worst."

"So are you, you rascal." Kendra scooped up a salt cookie and bounced it off her brother's head. "Happy April Fool's Day!"

#fablehaven #seth sorenson #kendra sorenson #warren burgess #vanessa santoro #tanu dufu #tanugatoa dufu #phoenix writes

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fanfictionobsessednerd · 8 years ago

Text

Juice Ortiz/OC Part 2

As Lex attempts to get comfortable in her situation and with those around her, Gemma introduces her to a new job.

Warnings: Some teenage angst.

In case you missed Part 1 of this story, here's the link: http://fanfictionobsessednerd.tumblr.com/post/155836728965/juice-ortizoc

Chapter 2 ________ The sun was setting by the time I was finished putting all of my things away. I'd found a small spot on the balcony to stash my weed where hopefully Gemma wouldn't notice, and besides that I just had my medications to put away. I heard a small knock on the door and it gently opened.

"Hey sweetheart, you alright?" It was Gemma.

"I'm fine. I just wanted to get all my stuff unpacked, you know. Feel more at home."

"Bullshit, but that's ok. You'll come around and talk to me when you're ready, darling.” Gemma chuckled and took a seat on my bed next to me.

“I’ve got some good news. Clay, Jackson and the rest of the guys are going on a run tonight. That’s why they were all here earlier, to say goodbye. I’ve invited Tara and Lyla over, figured you could benefit from some pep talk. Tara is Jax’s girlfriend and Lyla is a good friend of the club. You could say that she does...business with them.”

I tried not to raise my eyebrow too high when I heard that Jax had a girlfriend, but I decided I wouldn’t say anything to Tara. I wasn’t here to start drama, after all. Gemma’s head turned as she looked around my room, and her eyes landed on my two medication bottles sitting on my drawer. She leaned over and picked them up.

“Hey...” I tried to speak but she cut me off.

“Zoloft? Xanax? The hell have they got you on?”

“I didn’t ask for it, but it helps...most of the time.”

“You do realize I’m going to have to take this and monitor it for you, right?” I sighed, I had seen that coming.

“Yeah. Actually, I think that would be a good idea.”

“Well you’d better, because it’s not like you have another choice kiddo.” Gemma just loved to push people’s buttons. Her phone began buzzing in her pocket and she answered it.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear the doorbell. I’m up here talking to Lex. Yeah, she got here today. Alright, be down in a second.” She snapped her flip phone shut and turned to me.

"Tara and Lyla are here, come on." She motioned for me to get up and I followed her downstairs. The living room that was once filled with bikers was now empty, but the smell of their beer and cigarettes still lingered in the air. I pictured the man I'd met earlier, Juice, in my mind. On the outside he appeared to be a funny, dorky and laid back guy. That look in his eyes that I'd seen after I rudely ended our conversation was still burned into my thoughts. It was a sadness that I knew all too well and it made me wonder what else was going on inside of his head. Now that I was calmed down, I felt a tinge of regret for being mean to him. If he didn't think I was crazy before, he definitely did now. Gemma answered the door for two women, one was a blonde and the other a brunette. They appeared to be a couple years older than me but they were both very pretty.

"Lex, this is Tara and Lyla." Lyla had long, gorgeous wavy blonde hair and big blue eyes. Tara had straight, dark brown hair that fell a bit past her shoulders and she had striking green eyes. Tara quickly greeted me and then ushered Gemma into the kitchen to speak about something, she seemed slightly ticked off. I was suddenly craving a cigarette so I walked off onto the porch and sat down, Lyla followed me out and sat next to me. The sun was beginning to set, and I couldn't help but notice that dusk looked beautiful when it loomed over Charming. I put my cigarette in my mouth and lit it, then I passed my lighter to Lyla so she could do the same.

"So how tight of a leash does Gemma have you on?" Lyla asked me.

"Jesus, does everyone know about me?" She laughed and took a drag of her cigarette.

"We know very little of why you're staying here, just the bare details. Gemma knows all the gritty stuff but she hasn't said anything to anyone, after all she does want you to be comfortable here. So if anyone says anything to you just ignore them, because I can assure you that they don't know shit." I was already beginning to like Lyla, talking to her was comfortable and felt natural. Knowing that information didn't make me feel any better about Juice, but at least I knew now that Jax had been talking out of his ass. Taking a drag of my cigarette, I attempted to steer the conversation away from myself.

"So Gemma told me that you do business with the club?" Lyla smirked.

"So is that what Gemma called it? No, it really isn't that bad. I own a porn studio called Red Woody. I don't star in any of the films but I produce them. I used to be an escort, no shame there. I did what I had to do to take care of my kid, and I gradually moved up the ladder."

"That's actually pretty awesome. Any jobs openings?" I said jokingly. I didn't see Lyla as lesser than anyone else because of her profession.

"Gemma would kill me! But I do know that she's putting you to work. You're gonna love your summer gig so don't worry."

"You know anything about that?"

"It's a surprise, Lex." She took a final drag of her cigarette and flicked it away. I did the same thing as I was thinking about how much I hated surprises. The front door swung open and Gemma's head poked out.

"Come on inside ladies, we've got to get this baking started."

"Baking?" I questioned as Lyla and I got up and walked back inside of the house.

"I was going to tell you about it when the boys stopped over but it slipped my mind. Charming's having their annual carnival tomorrow night and they always expect me to come up with the good stuff. I agree to it because the club and this family do a lot for this town." I noticed Tara standing in the kitchen, looking a lot more relieved than she did when she first came in, cracking eggs into a big bowl. I guess she and Gemma had sorted out whatever was bothering her while I had been outside talking to Lyla.

"We have to get the majority of this finished by eight, Gemma. Lyla and I have to pick up the kids from Opie's. Donna can't watch Ellie, Kenny, Piper, Abel and Thomas by herself all night.” Tara was obviously preoccupied with other things and quickly going through the motions of making chocolate chip cookies.

"Woah, that sounds like a lot of kids. I could babysit sometime if you ever needed me to, Tara." I didn't want to be dead weight all summer so I figured I would offer to help out wherever I was needed, plus I liked the fact that one of the children shared my brother's name. She exchanged glances with Gemma and than looked at me.

"Yeah, sure. Maybe." I could tell she was feeling a bit standoffish, I tried to brush it away. She just didn't know me to well, that was all.

"Well if you ever wanted to take Piper off my hands for a few hours while I'm doing a shoot that would be great." Lyla chimed in, attempting to make me feel better. She seemed a lot more welcoming than Tara, I liked her a lot so far.

"Well before we get to any of that sweetheart, I propose we get these baked goods finished. And if you do a good enough job, I might let you go to the carnival tomorrow night, as long as one of these lovely ladies keeps an eye on you." Gemma said with a wink towards Lyla and Tara. I washed my hands and started putting together a brownie mix while Lyla handed me the various ingredients. Tara put her cookies in the oven while Gemma stood watch with a smile on her face, holding a box of cake mix. Gemma's phone began ringing again and she motioned for Tara to follow her out into the hallway, leaving Lyla and I alone again.

"Tara really is a sweet girl, her and Jax are just going through another one of their rough patches. They have two kids together, Abel and Thomas, but the club's been putting some stress on their relationship lately. Gemma seems to feed into it, even though she loves Tara. We can get kind of complicated sometimes, but you're in good hands. I promise."

"Well, when I first got here I was kind of rude to this guy who was just trying to talk to me. I was feeling a little overwhelmed and I took it out on him. So I can definitely understand how difficult emotions can cause you to be a little...hostile." I didn't know why it felt so important to me to get that off of my chest, but I knew if there was anyone I could talk to besides Gemma, it was Lyla.

"You mind if I ask who that guy was?"

"You may know him...he said his name was Juice." Lyla laughed and shook her head.

"Juice is a sensitive little shit. He probably ran into the nearest closet and cried after you did or said whatever it was. All jokes aside, he's a sweetheart. Probably the nicest guy to ever be in a motorcycle club...ever. That's why the crow eaters walk all over him, and he's always coming to me crying about how one of them broke his heart again. I told him that the next time it happens, I'm just going to stop helping him get laid."

"I guess I should apologize to him next time I see him. He's actually kind of cute but...I mean, not that I have a crush on him or anything. Gemma would never allow that even if I did." Shit. Why did I let that slip so easily?

"Well, hypothetically, if you and Juice ever wanted to hang out in...private, away from Gemma, I could cover for you. I wouldn't personally suggest you jumping into bed with any of the club members, but Juice is only twenty four, which isn't creepy old man territory, and he's genuinely a nice guy." With that, Lyla placed our brownies in the oven underneath Tara's cookies.

"Thanks, but I don't think anything is going to happen between us. I've only met the guy once, and the last thing my life needs right now is more complications."

"I only said it hypothetically, Lex." Lyla said it to me with a mischievous smirk.

"Could you do me a favor and keep this entire conversation between us?”

"Of course, sweetheart."

Gemma and Tara came back into the kitchen, Tara was throwing a light camel jacket over her shoulders and zipping it up.

"Lyla I've got to go, the kids are driving Donna crazy. You mind if I bring Piper back to my place with Abel and Thomas? Gemma will give you a ride over there when you're all done here."

"Yeah sure that's not a problem. Go do your thing, I'll see you later." Tara nodded and headed for the door.

"Bye, Lex." She said softly as she stepped outside and closed the door behind her. Gemma shook her head and turned to us.

"Tara can be a headache sometimes, but she does love our boys more than anything in this world. Now let's see, what's left? We've got this cake, cupcakes, muffins and a pie to get through." Lyla and I both groaned while Gemma chuckled. This was going to take a while. __________________ By the time everything was baked, frosted, individually wrapped, and placed inside of tupperware containers and labeled, it was about eleven o'clock at night. Gemma trusted me enough to stay in the house by myself for a little while when she went to go drop off Lyla. She did threaten my life if anything was misplaced in her house by the time she got back, so I made sure to just stay in my room. Although I did make sure to exchange phone numbers with Lyla before she headed out, and promised to shoot her a text if I needed anything. Gemma mentioned something about Clay not being home until the early hours of the morning, which made me wonder exactly what the Sons did when they went out on their runs, but another part of me didn't even want to know. I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I got upstairs and fell apart on my bed. I got up to take off my bra and change into a black tank top and a pair of pajama shorts. I always quickly removed my eye makeup and brushed my teeth. I threw on a flannel and sat on my balcony for a moment to smoke a cigarette. Now that I was finally alone, I could unravel myself again. Hot tears made their way down my cheeks as I finally let my emotions out. I had decided not to give any of my family members a phone call until three days had passed because I needed to give myself time to adjust. Right now, more than anything in the world, I just wanted my brother Thomas. Before he got sick, he had been the glue keeping me together. After him, it was Jason, and then it was substances. Now, it was nothing except for these moments where I could just be alone. When my cigarette was finished I flicked it off into the distance and exited the balcony. I shut and locked the doors leading out and plopped onto my bed, feeling defeated. After about an hour of tossing and turning, sleep found me.

I woke up that morning to someone banging on my bedroom door, and Gemma's voice.

"Rise and shine sweetheart, you've got work to do!" I opened my eyes, still groggy, to see morning light attempting to make its way into my room through the doors leading out into the balcony.

"I'm up, I'm up." I said weakly, lifting myself out of the bed. Half asleep, I pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie and ran a brush through my hair. I made my way down to the kitchen to see Gemma standing over the oven, making omelets, looking chipper as ever. Clay was sitting at the head of the living room table, drinking black coffee and reading a newspaper. He had been out all night apparently, but he still looked more refreshed than I did. Guess he was used to it. He smiled at me when he saw me come downstairs, looking half dead.

"Good morning, dear." He looked right back into his newspaper after he greeted me.

"There's coffee in the pot. Cream's in the fridge, sugar's in the cabinet. Eat your breakfast quick and get dressed, you're starting work today." Gemma's voice was stern and it sounded like she was commanding me more than she was telling me. I did what I was told, and the first thing I noticed was how strong Gemma made her coffee, although I wasn't surprised.

"You’re starting today at Gemma's flo-..." Clay began to speak but was immediately cut off.

"Don't spoil it for her, Clay! Idiot." Gemma yelled at him. She definitely was hyper in the morning. Clay grunted and went back to his newspaper. After breakfast was over I offered to do the dishes for Gemma which she appreciated, and then I went upstairs to take a shower. While I was getting dressed I decided on a white button down short sleeve crop top and a pair of blue boyfriend jeans. I also threw on a red and white oversized flannel and a pair of sneakers. I teased up my wavy chestnut brown hair to make it more voluminous and applied my usual eye makeup and lipstick.

"Jesus Christ Lex, are you finished getting ready yet?" Gemma called from downstairs. "I'm coming now!"

"I'm starting up the car, you've got two minutes!" I grabbed my bag and headed downstairs, quickly waving goodbye to Clay on my way out. I hopped into the passenger side of Gemma's car. She looked me over as she turned the key into the ignition and flicked her cigarette out of the window.

"I don't know who you're trying to impress, getting all sexy for. But I can assure you that Jackson is going to be working at TM all day." She said with a wink. I cringed internally at the thought of Jax. Sure, he was extremely attractive, no one was denying that, but he rubbed me the wrong way. I wasn't about to let Gemma know that I didn't think her son was all that, though. We drove through Charming, passing the Teller-Morrow auto shop and the infamous clubhouse that housed the Sons of Anarchy. After about fifteen minutes, Gemma stopped in front of a cute looking shop with the words 'Rose Madock-Teller Flowers & Co.' plastered on the front in pretty pink cursive letters.

"Gemma, what is this?" I asked her as we both got out of the car. I followed her inside of the shop, which was pretty spacious but completely empty. There was a counter in the center that looked like it was supposed to be a cash wrap and lots of window space and empty shelves.

"My mother loved flowers. She always wanted her own shop before she passed. When I first moved to Charming I bought out this store space in hope of making that happen, but one thing after another went on and this always got pushed to the back. But you, my dear, will be running this place all summer." I wasn't exactly sure how to react. The store was completely barren, I had no idea what to expect next.

"Don't look so scared, honey. One of the boys is on his way now with a shipment. I ordered everything ahead of time so it would be here upon your arrival. Flowers that are already bloomed and ready to go out are on their way. Today your responsibility will remain solely on getting the place set up and looking pretty. I've also ordered you plenty of vases, soil, seeds, etc. There's a pretty big garden space out back for you to plant. The first round of flowers is on me, but you'll have to plant all the other ones yourself. You'll be making floral arrangements for costumers, and rearranging the color patterns of the flowers in the store once a week. It's also your responsibility to order new stuff when you run out. I'm giving you one full week to prepare to officially open the store. Now come on, let me show you around." Behind the counter and to the left was a door that lead out into a small hallway. There was a unisex bathroom and what appeared to be a tiny break room. Other than that, there was a door leading outside. The break room was so small, it could fit about four people at the most. There was a mini fridge and a pantry.

"There's some ginger ale and some old ice packs in the mini fridge, and granola bars in the pantry. You'll have to supply your own snacks from now on as well." The last thing we checked out was the garden space in the back. It was a decent size for the amount of flowers I'd have to produce, and there was a cute little sidewalk leading from some parking space to the back door.

"So, any questions?" Gemma asked me as we walked back into the main store area.

"I'm amazed that you're giving me all of this responsibility."

"Well don't completely fail me and you might get a raise, sweetheart. Think about it this way to, flowers are relaxing, healing and therapeutic. I discussed this over with your father, he thinks it's a great idea. My motto is, the best way to teach young people responsibility is to put them to work."

I nodded my head, trying to take it all in. I really liked the idea, I was just nervous that I wouldn't be able to live up to Gemma's standards.

"Anyway, I've got to head over to TM. God knows I'm the only one there that keeps everything together. Just relax, smoke a cigarette, wait for your shipment and make me proud. Think you can do that?" I took a deep breath. "Yeah Gemma. I've got this. Thank you."

"Atta girl." She said, giving me a quick hug. She handed me a store key and a house key. As she was heading out the door she turned around and said one last thing to me before driving off.

"And don't you even think about having any scandalous sex with the guy bringing your shipment. I'm watching you." As she drove off, I attempted to give myself a pep talk.

‘You've got this, you've got this. Flowers are relaxing, healing and therapeutic, just like Gemma said.’

I stepped outside to have a cigarette while I waited for this mystery guy to come bring me my stuff. My heart dropped when I looked up and realized who Gemma had tasked with delivering the shipment of flowers. Juice parked the truck in the back of the shop and I sighed as I locked the front doors and made my way outside through the back entrance to meet him. I swung the back door open, not realizing he was standing right there, and accidentally smacked his attractive face with it, sending him backwards. Shit. Why was I always such a clumsy mess around him?

"Oh my god I'm so sorry Juice." I began apologizing. He was wearing a tight black t-shirt underneath his kutte, showing off his muscles very nicely. He stood up, still recovering from the blow.

"No, no its ok. I shouldn't of been standing so close to the door. My bad." Once again he was taking the blame for something that was clearly my fault. I almost wanted to smack him with the door again for being so cute.

"Why don't you take a minute before we unload the shipment? Come sit down. There's a pantry, and I can get you an ice pack."

"Sounds like a plan." He nodded his head, sounding exasperated. I lead him to the small break room, and I didn't realize how tiny it was until I was alone in there with Juice. He sat down at the table while I got him an ice pack and a ginger ale. He gratefully accepted both and I sat down across from him. It was silent for a moment as he held the coldness to his forehead. I sat there awkwardly, trying not to stare even though he was the only thing to look at. Finally, he took it upon himself to break the silence.

"Do you always run people over in hallways and smack them with doors?" "No. That seems to be specifically just with...you." I pushed my hair back behind my ear and looked down.

"Well that makes me feel special." He chuckled at my embarrassment. I figured now was the time to say what had been on my mind since I'd first met him.

"So..uh..I'm sorry about being a moody bitch yesterday." Juice looked up at me, his gorgeous chocolate brown eyes meeting mine.

"It's alright, I get it. You're new, I probably freaked you out with my head tats and what not." He couldn't of been more wrong, but I was glad he wasn't holding a grudge.

"I like your tattoos. No one else could pull it off, but on you they look awesome."

The words slipped off my tongue before I realized what I was saying and I felt my cheeks flush. Juice gave me one of his signature beautiful smiles. "No one has ever said anything to me like that before. Thank you."

I nodded my head, unsure of what to say next. Juice seemed more confident now, I really enjoyed that his ego wasn't through the roof.

"I think it's really cute that you're going to be working here. I'm just imagining you, with your punk rock style, tending to flowers and it's adorable." I was smiling now, and it was a real smile. Not the faked, cringe worthy smile I gave to my parents or Gemma. Sitting and talking to him, for some reason, made me genuinely happy.

"What do you do, Juice? I mean, besides being in the club?"

"Well I own twenty percent of this weed shop called Clear Passages on Crest field, so I guess I'm into the whole flower shop thing to." He said with a smirk.

"Besides that, I'm a mechanic, usually spend a lot of time at TM." "Sounds like you're not a man that has too much free time."

"If you ever wanted to hang out, I mean I would love to spend more time with you...there's a carnival tonight."

"I was going to go with Lyla and Tara, but we can definitely meet up."

I knew that I wanted to see him tonight, although the happiness radiating from inside me also had me frightened. The last time I'd been this happy, I'd later found out that Jason was dead. I also didn't know if it was appropriate for me to move on this quickly. It had been six months since he passed away in that car accident and I still sometimes saw his face in my dreams. The reality of it all didn't hit me until I no longer heard his voice when I dialed his cell phone number, knowing that no one would answer. I also knew that this would never be ok with Gemma or my father, so I wasn't entirely sure where I was going with this. I just knew, in that moment, that I wanted to see him tonight.

"So it's a date." Juice was smiling to. If he was sad on the inside, he hid it well. I didn't understand how someone who was emotionally broken like me could make him smile, but here he was, smiling ear to ear like a goofy idiot. An incredibly sexy goofy idiot, that is.

"Hey Lex, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"Why are you staying here with Gemma?" My brain scrambled, trying to find the right answer. I didn't want him to know the truth about me, it was too soon. I didn't want him to look at me and only be able to see my depression or anxiety before he got to know me.

"I'm just here to work the flower shop for the summer. My dad's good friends with Gemma. Figured he could get me to do something productive until I started school in the fall." Juice seemed saddened that I would be leaving for school, but he didn't press the subject any further.

"So how about we start unloading this shipment?" I suggested, trying to drop any awkward tension.

"Yeah we should get started now, if we ever want to make it to this carnival tonight." He said with a smirk and abruptly got up from his seat.

"Thanks for the ice pack and the soda."

"No problem. You need any help with the boxes?"

"No, some of them are pretty heavy even though it's all flowers. Just leave the back door open and I'll bring in everything for you."

"Ok, thanks."

I put a door stopper underneath the back door and watched as Juice made trips back and fourth bringing all the boxes in. Upon inspection, I discovered that boxes with holes pocked in them were flowers, while other boxes contained glass vases, ground soil, and seeds. The already bloomed flowers wrapped in cellophane needed to be taken care of immediately. There were Iris, Tulips, Lilac, Zinnia, and my personal favorite, red roses. I got out some vases and packed them with fresh soil and carefully added the flowers to them. I set them up in the windows where there was sure to be lots of sunlight. It was already beginning to look more lively in the shop but there was still a lot of work to be done. I didn't notice that two hours had passed. Juice never left, once he was finished unloading boxes he took a seat and watched me as I set up my shop. I had music playing in the background and we talked the entire time. I found out that he was Puerto Rican and originally from Queens, New York, which explained his distinct accent that I loved. He never got too involved speaking about his family but he did mumble something about his mom and sister. l talked to him about my brother Thomas, who I loved dearly, and his battle with cancer. I told him about my friends from back home and some of the adventures we'd been on. It wasn't until his phone rang that we were both snapped back into reality.

"Oh hey Jax. Church? Yeah. Be there in a minute. Bye." "Church?" I questioned.

"It's club stuff. Anyway, are you almost finished? I know Gemma had asked me to give you a lift home."

"Yeah, I'm ready. The place is starting to come together. Going to have to come in early tomorrow morning and start planting."

"Cool, let's head out." He said, getting up from his seat.

"What are you in such a rush for?" I playfully questioned him.

"Well the quicker I drop you off and head to the clubhouse, the quicker I'll get to see you tonight." He said with a wink. I just smiled at him as I made sure the lights were turned off and the place was locked up. We both headed outside into the truck, Juice opening up the passenger side door for me, which definitely earned him some points. I wasn't sure if biker dudes knew anything about chivalry, but Juice seemed to. The ride home was relatively quiet, but there seemed to be a mutual understanding between the two of us. The radio was playing softly, and every time there was a chance for him to, his fingers lightly interlaced with mine. He parked the truck across the street from Gemma's house, and I was slightly saddened that I had to be separated from him even if it was only for a couple hours.

"Is this alright?" He asked me.

"Yeah, this is fine."

"So I'll uh, see you later?"

"Yes, Juice."

“Cool. I Can’t wait.” He seemed just like a little kid at a candy shop, and it was adorable.

"Bye."

I said softly, but before I could get a chance to open the door our eyes met. There was a moment where I felt like he might kiss me, or he was debating in his mind if he should kiss me or not. He leaned in and pecked me on the lips, a sweet, innocent gesture. Just the smallest touch from him set my body on fire, and it took all of my will power to get out of the truck and not hop into the back seat with him. I lit a cigarette as he drove off, trying to wipe the cheeky grin off my face. Gemma was going to kill us both.

I’ve added some pics of my OC’s clothes, hair and makeup to give you guys a better visual :)

Thank you for reading this chapter! I would love to hear your thoughts :)

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